Dragon Canon

Translator's Note: Micro-insects have been changed to micro-bugs, which I believe is a more general term than insects. As usual, thank you very much to everyone who contributes to fixing the various mistakes/typos and improve the translation!

It was exactly midnight.

Both sides had finished forming their battle lines. The Shamans’ world-famous Mad Beast had also made their grand entrance.

A Mad Beast was almost two zhang tall and shaped like a rhinoceros. It had thick bony plates extending from the back of their heads, forming a natural armor. Armored saddles were mounted on their backs, each carrying several Warlocks and archers.

A Mad Beast was naturally covered in thick, hardy scales, but the Shamans had further clad them in heavy steel armor and transformed them into veritable moving fortresses.

What truly drew everyone’s attention, though, were the five Great Warlocks lined up in a row in the air.

The Great Warlock in the center of the row was much larger than the others—even slightly larger than the Mad Beasts themselves. Standing in the air, he radiated an unbridled aura of inevitability as a dark-green tornado shot straight toward the heavens!

Beside Wei Yuan, Trueman Chu He said a grave expression, “If that old scoundrel Fen Hai is present, then summon him now. In fact, call every other senior from your hall. This old Daoist cannot fend off this many opponents by himself.”

“The elders are all lying in wait, biding their time,” Wei Yuan declared as if it were the truth.

Upon hearing Wei Yuan’s words, Trueman Chu He’s expression eased slightly.

At that moment, Yu Zhizhuo took out a slender cylinder, held it before his eyes, and looked toward the east. He then said, “Western Jin’s main forces are holding their ground. It seems they intend to let us wear each other out.”

Trueman Chu He looked puzzled. “The main forces of Western Jin are hundreds of li away, and Shaman qi is blocking the view. What kind of mystic treasure are you using to see that far?”

Yu Zhizhuo set down the slender cylinder and replied, “That’s not all. This treasure of mine is adjustable. Right now, I'm only looking at army aura. The Jin army’s aura hasn’t stirred at all, so it is clear they have no intentions of deploying their troops.”

“Isn’t that exactly what we expected?”

Yu Zhizhuo uttered resentfully, “These fools—don’t they understand that when the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold?”

Trueman Chu He remarked, “Naive and rigid. The King of Jin will suffer if he loses us, yes, but what do the inspector-general, generals, and more have to lose? If they lose this territory, they’ll simply move elsewhere and resume their service.”

Yu Zhizhuo had zero goodwill toward the old Daoist and snapped, “Don’t lecture me on matters of the state, farmer. Now, let’s discuss battle plans!”

Trueman Chu He swept his gaze across the few Great Warlocks across from him, saying, “Fortunately, immortal swords aren’t sealed within the realm. This old Daoist will take one on.”

Yu Zhizhuo replied, “Then me and my sect fellows will take one as well.”

“Junior Nephew Yu, you aren’t an Avatar yet. You mustn't push yourself. This old Daoist is still looking forward to the day your Avatar surpasses mine.”

“Trust me, I won’t let you down. But what about that big guy in the middle?”

Wei Yuan interjected, “We’ll play it by ear.”

By now, the Shamans’ central command platform had been pushed to the edge of the domain. At the same time, the vanguard officially set foot into the realm of Qingming, their surging army aura cleaving through the Pure Realm of Humanity as they charged forward like a dark green dragon.

Amid piercing whistles, countless heavy arrows flew up into the sky before falling toward Xuanwei Six City. Each heavy arrow was four chi long and ten catties heavy. Forget wooden houses, even stone houses built from limestone roofs and stone walls were easily pierced.

The dense hail of arrows rained down on the city, but only a few scattered cries of agony could be heard. Clearly, the densely packed shantytowns were largely empty. Nearly everyone had taken refuge underground.

The main force of Qingming had formed a battle formation fifty li behind Xuanwei Six and constructed fortifications on the spot. Even now, the men were still digging furiously.

This time, the Shamans invaded with ample troops: they dispatched 10,000 soldiers to close in on Xuanwei Six, while the main force of one hundred thousand charged directly toward the center of the realm.

Just as the Shamans’ main force passed by Xuanwei Six, several canvases were pulled away in the previously still city, revealing two bed crossbows! The bed crossbows had long been taking aim at the moment, shooting the moment they were unveiled. The massive mystic artifact-grade crossbow bolts—each over a zhang long—penetrated the bellies of two Mad Beasts from a thousand zhang away!

The two Mad Beasts, writhing in pain, reared up on their hind legs and flung off every Shaman on their backs. When their front hooves came down, they trampled another group of Shaman soldiers to death.

The bed crossbow kept flashing as it shot out bolt after bolt. Except for the first shot, the shooters paid no heed to accuracy and simply focused on shooting the remaining crossbow bolts as quickly as possible. In the blink of an eye, every bed crossbow had used up all five of their bolts. The shooters then let out a battle cry and, right before the Shaman army would reach them, abandoned the bed crossbows and dove into the underground.

The Shaman’s middle guard continued to press forward despite the initial confusion. The 10,000 troops responsible for attacking Xuanwei Six first smashed the bed crossbows to pieces, then rushed underground to fight for control of each passageway.

Meanwhile, the Shamans’ vanguard was closing in on Wei Yuan’s main force. A storm of arrows rained down from the sky, but the green mystic energy imbued in the heavy arrows was rapidly depleted mid-flight, causing their potency to be greatly diminished. On top of that, a gale conjured by a Dao technique swept overhead and blew more than half of them off course. Finally, the main force under the arrow rain raised their shields in unison. Thus, only a few dozen men were wounded when the arrow rain finally struck their targets.

The Shamans never stopped shooting arrows as they advanced, unleashing wave after wave of arrow rains. Shamanic spells and heavy arrows were blasting out of the Mad Beasts’ backs as well.

Just then, the canvases covering several mounds of earth within Wei Yuan’s formation were pulled back, revealing six bed crossbows.

The next moment, huge crossbow bolts pierced the Shaman army’s ranks, each one carving a trail of flesh and blood. Four Mad Beasts were struck in the blink of an eye, and though they were tough and covered in heavy armor, they could not withstand the terrifying power of the bed crossbows either. They fell to the ground, never to rise again.

The sound of horns rang out from the Shaman army, and all of the Mad Beasts began to charge, with the vanguard following closely behind.

Wei Yuan raised his hand. Only when the Shaman army had closed to within dozens of zhang did he bring it down fiercely!

Suddenly, a row of soldiers emerged from the earthen mounds at the front of the formation and opened fire. A flash of fire lit up the scene, and the enemy troops instantly fell in droves. The row of infantrymen immediately retreated after firing their shots. As soon as they were clear, the row of infantrymen crouching directly behind them also fired their shots and retreated. This continued until every soldier on the frontlines had retreated, and they had effectively given up their ground over to the Shamans without ever making contact.

The Shamans had never seen a tactic like this before. The vanguard commander literally blanked out for a moment before ordering his troops to seize the position and dismantling the bed crossbows. Countless Shaman soldiers surged toward the bed crossbows, quickly hacking them to pieces.

The vanguard commander felt a vague sense of unease, as if something were watching him. Just as he was looking around, the earth shook violently, and the ground beneath the six bed crossbows split open. Massive explosions instantly hurled countless Shaman fighters into the air!

Not only then, countless explosions were erupting across the frontline positions they had just taken as well, blowing up countless Shaman fighters who were searching the trenches!

The deafening blasts startled even the Mad Beasts—many reared up on their hind legs or charged wildly in all directions. It took some frantic spellcasting from the Warlocks riding them to finally regain control.

Just then, a faint, imperceptible wisp of sword qi pierced through the thick smoke and struck the vanguard commander squarely in the forehead. His expression froze instantly, and he fell on his back, lifeless.

The Shamans’ vanguard was thrown into brief chaos, but a general quickly raised his command flag and took over the command. He then continued the pursuit of Wei Yuan.

By this time, Wei Yuan had already pulled back his main force by three li. Here, many fortifications had already been completed, and a large number of Body-tempering cultivators were frantically digging. The main force took up positions as soon as they had completed their short retreat.

When the Shaman army gave chase once more, the human soldiers grabbed their fully loaded guns and fired a total of three volleys just like before, mowing down swathes of enemy troops. The gunpowder smoke billowed several zhang into the air, preventing either side from seeing each other for a time. They had to rely on their perception to discern the battle situation.

More than a dozen powerful perceptions swept unchecked through Wei Yuan’s army, repeatedly and arrogantly searching for his central command.

Unbeknownst to them, three sticks of incense were lit at Wei Yuan’s central comment tent, emitting a faint purple smoke. Strangely, the tent was completely empty, and the guards outside were holding their breaths as if facing a formidable enemy.

The powerful perceptions of the Shaman Warlocks and generals kept sweeping through the area again and again as if it was a bustling morning market. With each sweep, the pale purple smoke in the air would diminish slightly. Given how many Shamans were scanning the area with impunity, the smoke was all gone in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, many Warlocks and generals within the Shaman ranks suddenly clutched their heads and collapsed to the ground, howling in agony as if their primordial spirits had been doused with strong acid. In fact, their perception had gone out in full strength, only to return with roughly eighty percent of their original power. They were carrying faint traces of purple as well.

The three incense sticks were something Sun Yu had created from his earlier days. Designed specifically to damage one’s perception, it was quite the insidious creation to say the least. Years ago, Sun Yu[1] had entered a secret realm to vie for an opportunity when he spotted a precious elixir. However, he did not reach for it. Instead, he lit the incense stick he named the Spirit-Eroding Incense near the elixir and hid himself.

When his competitors spotted the elixir, they all feared an ambush and dared not act immediately. Instead, they used their perception to scan for danger... only to fall victim to the Spirit-Eroding Incense one after another. Thus, Sun Yu became the sole winner of the opportunity.

Now, Wei Yuan was lighting Spirit-Eroding Incenses in his command central tent. It wasn’t the same, yet it definitely was.

Another wisp of sword qi silently weaved through the disoriented Shaman formation. This time, though, the newly appointed commanding general had surrounded himself in personal guards and enveloped himself in thick green qi—all to guard against another surprise attack.

The sword qi did not strike him. Instead, it cut down the command flag, then killed the strongest Warlock within the vicinity.

First, over a dozen high-ranking Warlocks had dropped dead. Then, the command flag suddenly fell from the air. Unaware what was happening, confusion rippled across countless Shaman soldiers.

Wei Yuan acted decisively, firing a red light projectile into the night sky. Then, he activated Life is a Flash. The next moment, every Qingming soldier leaped out of their trenches and charged toward the enemy forces. From the left and right side, two one-thousand-man cavalry units also burst out of the darkness and rammed into the enemy’s flanks. The two armies immediately clashed in fierce combat!

At the moment, every Qingming soldier engaged their opponents first with a gunshot to the face. The most ferocious ones even pressed the barrel of their gun-spear against their opponents before opening fire. One shot was all it took to blast an enemy backward.

The combined might of Life is a Flash and barrages of gunfire caused casualties among the Shamans’ vanguard to skyrocket. Their fighters were dropping left and right in droves. However, the Mad Beasts also finally got to unleash their ferocious combat prowess, rampaging through the Qingming Army with no one able to stop them.

Seeing the situation turn dire, Wei Yuan led his cavalrymen in a charge. As he brushed past one of the Mad Beasts, he activated Outlawed by Heaven and Earth and thrust his gun-spear with all his might into the creature’s flank! The one-zhang-two-long spear sank almost entirely into its body before firing its spearhead, causing an explosion that ripped its insides to shreds!

Wei Yuan then grabbed a second gun-spear from his saddle and charged toward another Mad Beast, repeating the same feat. The beast let out a piercing webmail, then spat blood mixed with entrails from its mouth before crashing to the ground.

The other cavalrymen, also empowered by Outlawed by Heaven and Earth, were also able to slice to the Mad Beast’s thick armor with every swing of their swords and every thrust of their gun-spears. Then, they frantically channeled their Dao energy into the open wounds. In the blink of an eye, several Mad Beasts had collapsed under the combined assault of over a hundred cavalrymen.

Alas, the Shamans’ numerical superiority was simply too great. After a brief moment of chaos, they quickly regrouped, staunched the uncontrolled bleeding, and forced the battle into a stalemate.

Wei Yuan led his cavalrymen to break through the Shaman’s formation before circling around the back and firing a yellow light projectile into the air.

The Qingming soldiers immediately retreated—so swiftly, in fact, that it looked like they were routing. Once again, the Shamans were caught off guard. Seeing that Wei Yuan’s main force was retreating, the Shamans’ vanguard tried to give chase when suddenly, over a dozen explosions rocked the battlefield. The vanguard troops, already terrified by the earlier blasts, halted in shock, intending to wait until the explosions had ceased before continuing their pursuit.

However, the battlefield fell completely silent after those dozen or so explosions. The hundred-thousand-strong Shaman army simply watched as Wei Yuan’s forces escaped to the third defensive li several li away, completely unhindered.

The commanding general of the vanguard did not launch an immediate attack. Instead, he halted to reorganize the troops. Seeing this, Rock Heart could not contain his anger any longer and roared, “And you were telling me that you weren’t useless?!”

1. Sun Yu living up to that mad scientist tag. With his master dead there’s basically no one to rein him in anymore. Ah, I pity his enemies.... ☜

Wei Yuan's Second Official Art: