Dragon Canon

Seated at the head of the room was an old Daoist with long eyebrows that fell to his shoulders. To his left sat a young Daoist, and to his right, a female Daoist.

All three were scrutinizing Wei Yuan. Just as Wei Yuan felt as thought every secret of his being was about to be laid bare, the shadow in the moon stirred. Instantly, Wei Yuan’s fortune was shrouded in a thin veil, becoming indistinct and impossible to discern clearly.

The young Daoist had been looking at him with a smile, but the smile froze on his face the moment his gaze fell upon Wei Yuan.

Next, a cloud of primal chaos rose from the girl Yin Yang, shrouding Wei Yuan’s sea of consciousness and blocking all gazes from the outside. The long-browed True Lord in the center opened his eyes slightly, a look of surprise on his face.

But the female True Lord seemed unwilling to give up just yet. Layers of blue qi flickered in her eyes, as if she intended to dispel the cloud of primal chaos.

At that moment, the Red Lotus Bodhi swayed gently, and the tens of thousands of mortals, who had been going about their business up until this point, suddenly felt as if the end of the world were upon them. However, they seemed to have known all along that this day would come and showed no panic. They simply sat quietly and awaited death to claim them.

A grayish black hue began to emerge between the female True Lord’s eyebrows. The light in her eyes faded, and she said with a faint smile, “Wei Yuan, you little scoundrel! You just tried to burden me with karmic debt, didn’t you? How on earth did a simpleton like Xuan Yue manage to raise such cunning disciples and successors?”

Wei Yuan couldn’t respond to this lightly as a matter of course. He merely said, “Er, this junior doesn’t know what’s going on either.”

The female True Lord chuckled and said, “It’s good that you’ve returned. As for the secrets you carry, as long as they do not endanger the Palace of Absolute Beginning or hinder your own Dao path, we will not ask about them.”

Before entering, the disciple guiding him had already informed him of the three figures’ identities. The long-browed old Daoist in the center was Dan Mingzi, also known as True Lord Dan Ming. He was the abbot of the Mother Nature Monastery and currently presided over the northern mountain gate. The young Taoist was True Lord Yan Shi, and the female True Lord was the Hallmaster of the Jianmu Hall, True Lord Huang Yun.

With all three True Lords gazing at him simultaneously, Wei Yuan naturally felt immense pressure.

The long-browed old Daoist then said, “It is great that you have returned safely. Tell us about your experiences in the north.”

Wei Yuan immediately gave a concise account of how he had ended up in the north, how he had been discovered and hunted down by the Liao, and how he had managed to escape back. He also mentioned the incident where the ancestor of the lost clan had tried to possess him only to be vanquished in the end, though he omitted the details regarding the True Dragon descendants.

Even so, the three True Lords were visibly astonished by his account.

When Wei Yuan finished speaking, True Lord Dang Ming remarked, “This journey was truly a brush with death. It had indeed taken an immense fortune for you to return safely. When the Great Karmic Curse was activated that day, only an Immortal Lord could have resisted it. The Palace Lord has been in seclusion for many years, and their current condition is unknown. Unless the Palace is facing a life and death situation, none may disturb them. As for us wishing to lend a hand, unless we share a significant karma with you, we would need to prepare a great array days in advance and rely on its power to intervene even slightly.

“Therefore, it is not that the Palace had abandoned you that day; it was simply that the incident occurred so suddenly that we were unable to come to your aid in time.”

Wei Yuan replied, “This disciple understands and harbors no resentment.”

The long-browed Daoist softened his expression slightly and said, “It’s good that you understand. Back then, when you had established the realm of Qingming on your own whim, though your intentions were good, it truly did not benefit the greater good at all. I had strong reservations about it at the time, and of course, my view on that still hasn’t changed[1]. However, it is a fact that you’ve managed to tenaciously hold your ground against all odds and repeatedly defeat powerful enemies—that is truly no small feat.

“Over the past year, the Palace of Absolute Beginning has been faced with growing difficulties. Since most of our resources have been diverted to the north, we’ve been unable to provide much of the support you deserved, and I do feel somewhat indebted to you. Here’s what we’ll do: You’ve just told me that on your journey back, you had slain two Avatars. Whatever, Heavenly Merits you’ve earned this time, I’ll pay out of my own pockets to give you an exact match. Use it to acquire some high-grade elixirs and mystic treasures to build your accumulation. As for your founder... Well, let’s just say that you may never receive the reward you justly deserve if you were to place all your hopes on him.”

Wei Yuan hurriedly bowed. “Thank you, True Lord!”

True Lord Yan Shi also laughed and said, “It’s a great thing that you returned! Haha, since Senior Brother Dan Ming has given the word, I, as your elder, cannot be stingy. I too—”

Mid-sentence, True Lord Yan Shi suddenly felt a twinge in the pit of his heart and swallowed the rest of his words. He silently performed a calculation within his sleeve, then changed his tone, “... am looking forward to your continued success.”

The long-browed old Daoist cast a suspicious glance at Yan Shi. As a dabbler of fortune, Yan Shi had always been, understandably, shrouded in mystery. However, he was also incredibly wealthy. It was said that the most outstanding disciple of his hall was very close to Wei Yuan, so be it in terms of sentiment or principle, he should have made some gesture of goodwill. So what was going on with him?

Meanwhile, True Lord Huang Yun said, “I heard that my many-great-grand-disciple, Chu He, is also residing in your realm. That child has been mischievous since childhood, unwilling to devote himself to cultivation and fond of grabbing. If he wasn’t fortunate enough to form a brotherhood with two Avatar-stage spirit beasts, he likely wouldn’t have been able to leave the mountain gate. Now that you are just one step away from becoming an Avatar, I ask that you do not indulge him any further once you have passed through the threshold.”

Wei Yuan was shocked. So that was the true relationship between Trueman Chu He and his “pets”! He had always assumed that the two spirit pets regarded him as their master! That old Daoist had kept it a complete secret this whole time—his acting was truly masterful!

True Lord Huang Yun appraised Wei Yuan. Seeing his striking, painterly features, she grew fonder of him the more she looked, so she said, “Since Senior Brother Dan Ming has promised to double your Heavenly Merits, then I shall....”

Mid-sentence, she suddenly caught a subtle look from True Lord Yan Shi and quickly changed her tone, “... give you a few spirit plants.”

At this point, if True Lord Dan Ming still couldn’t sense that something was amiss, then he might as well feed all his cultivation to a dog. As the current head of the northern mountain gate, though he remained seated, his divine thought had already left his body. He brought out the merits ranking. He then tapped the “Dao Foundation” column and examined it closely.

The moment he looked, the old Daoist was so startled his long eyebrows nearly flew off his face!

Wei Yuan’s amount of Heavenly Merits had undergone a significant change, jumping all the way to 26,000! In other words, upon his return from the north, Wei Yuan had earned a full 10,000 Heavenly Merits!

But how was this possible? Hadn’t he said he’d only slain two Avatars? What kind of Avatars could yield 10,000 Heavenly Merits? The long-browed old Daoist had taken pride in his cultivation his whole life, but he knew that he was worth at most 4,000 Heavenly Merits when he was still an Avatar—and even that was a stretch.

For a moment, the old Daoist was actually curious as to who Wei Yuan had killed, almost forgetting his promise to pay him an equivalent amount of Heavenly Merits. Alas, he couldn’t. The moment he thought that he would have to give up 10,000 Heavenly Merits—even with his vast wealth—caused him to wince internally.

It was only now the old Daoist realized that True Lord Yan Shi must have calculated something earlier. That was why he had suddenly changed his tune and secretly warned True Lord Huang Yun about it.

That said, True Lord Dan Ming possessed incredibly high seniority, and his cultivation was no joke either. He was even a notch above Xuan Yue. Given another three or four decades of cultivation, he stood a good chance of breaking through and becoming an Immortal Lord. Given his standing, it was unthinkable for him to go back on his word, so he cast a wordless glance at True Lord Yan Shi instead.

True Lord Yan Shi pretended not to notice.

True Lord Dan Ming ultimately could not contain his curiosity and asked, “Do you know the names of the Avatars you killed?”

Wei Yuan thought for a moment before replying, “I don’t know about the other one, but I know that one of them was called Dragonhawk. He isn’t too bad.”

True Lord Yan Shi’s eyebrows shot up. “Dragonhawk? No wonder.”

True Lord Dan Ming threw him another glare, but once again True Lord Yan Shi pretended not to notice.

True Lord Dan Ming said, “Rest and recuperate at the mountain gate for the next few days. Your founder, Xuan Yue, is injured and currently in seclusion to heal. He won’t be emerging for another seven days. Your cultivation has advanced too rapidly this time, you should need to consolidate it. For now, don’t concern yourself with the matters of the Avatar stage.”

Wei Yuan stood up to express his gratitude before asking, “Is Master all right?”

True Lord Dan Ming replied, “Her Dao Foundation was destroyed, and her original Dao path is severed. However, the White Lotus of Tainted Earth has reshaped her physical body, giving her a second chance to embark on the path to immortality. The problem is her Dao Heart, which has become compromised. She would need to go through the challenge of reshaping it.”

It didn’t sound good, but Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief—at least she wouldn't have to reincarnate and start over.

[2]

1. Refer to chapter 124. ☜

2. There’s a random ad to a different book here that the author uses as his excuse to take a day off. I’m not going to TL it but it’s wild, man. If it was me I wouldn’t even have told y’all about it and just take the leave. XD ☜