Dragon Canon

"I’m sore today, so I’m not in the mood. If you’re that eager to get to work, you can wait a couple of days until I’ve recovered. If you really can’t wait, I can get Second Aunt and Fifth Aunt to come over,” the woman said.

Wei Yuan quickly replied that it wasn’t necessary.

That evening, as the campfire blazed, the woman took off her clothes and mended them by the light of the fire. Wei Yuan couldn’t see her anyway.

She also took the opportunity to sew together the wolf pelt that had been wind-dried all day and made a new leather coat for Wei Yuan. Meanwhile, Wei Yuan was feeling his way around the room and processing the snow leopard. He had manifested several small knives to skin and butcher the animal, extract the tendons, and treat them with Dao energy. He then carved a piece of wood into a crossbow. He tossed it to the woman and taught her how to use it.

Feeling that the distance between himself and the woman was growing closer and closer, Wei Yuan no longer felt the need to hide his power. He only thought of recovering as quickly as possible so that they could leave this place sooner.

Still, the house was warm and cozy, peaceful and serene—It didn’t seem like that bad of an idea to just keep living like this forever.

Wei Yuan suddenly asked, “What’s in the forest?”

“A temple.”

“Shall we go take a look tomorrow?”

“Sure.” This time, the woman agreed readily. She must have gained confidence in Wei Yuan.

According to the woman, it should take a little less than an hour to reach the temple through the forest. However, they needed to leave the woods before it was afternoon, or they would encounter the undead monsters.

The very moment noon struck the next day, the two entered the forest. Today, Wei Yuan had recovered a bit more and was now able to keep up with the woman perfectly. Holding Wei Yuan’s left hand, the woman led the way as they made their way through the woods.

The wolf pack and the snow leopard prowling the woods had already been hunted down, so this expedition went exceptionally smoothly. They did not encounter any obstacles. However, this wasn’t good news for Wei Yuan. He was currently blind, and his perception couldn’t reach far. There was no way he could keep up with a deer or the like, meaning that his only hope for a satisfying meal was for a prey to walk into his trap.

The two quickly made their way through the woods and arrived at the temple. The so-called temple was actually a natural cave, with a gatehouse built by the villagers from stones and wood at the entrance. Two days ago, when he first entered the forest, he already vaguely sensed that something here was calling to him. Now that he had reached the entrance, that sensation had grown even clearer.

Before entering the shrine, the woman lit a torch and asked, “You can’t see anything, so what are you hoping to see here?”

Wei Yuan paused. She was right; why had he been in such a hurry to come here when he still couldn’t see? But of course, he wasn’t about to show his weakness so easily. He replied calmly, “I can’t see, but I can feel, can’t I?”

The woman fell silent for a moment before remarking, “You’re in luck. The murals here are carved.”

Not long after they entered the temple, the space opened up. A series of murals were carved into the rock walls on both sides. Wei Yuan ran his finger over them carefully. The carving was very primitive and crude, showing no technical skill at all. It also closely resembled the ancient murals he’d seen in the history books.

The first mural depicted a gigantic monster that had just died. Its body had shattered into pieces and was falling from the sky.

The second mural depicted fiery meteors raining down from the sky and transforming into various creatures upon hitting the ground—some humanoid, some beast-like, and even some bizarre, alien forms.

The third mural depicted these beings, born from the fiery meteors, engaging each other in fierce combat. The defeated were devoured, while the victors grew even stronger.

The fourth mural depicted an exceptionally weak life form that was born from the fiery meteors. It hid in the mountains and forests, in the rivers and valleys, and among herds of beasts.

By staying hidden, it managed to survive the chaotic battle at the beginning. However, it wasn’t long before the ultimate victor tracked it down. No matter how it ran or hid, the hunter drew ever closer.

As Wei Yuan ran his fingers over the stone carving, he actually sensed the weak creature’s despair, helplessness, and regret. If it had joined the battle from the very beginning, the hunter would never have grown as powerful as it had.

Startled and seemingly realizing something, Wei Yuan moved onto the next mural.

There was no mural. Instead, his fingers touched a hand—a long, gaunt hand with broad, powerful knuckles.

Wei Yuan had studied the Six Arts and so had a superficial understanding of music, go, calligraphy, and painting. That was why he found himself appreciating the relief he was touching a lot.

He ran his fingers over it carefully, marveling inwardly at the mastery of the ancient artisans. The transition from mural to relief showed no trace of chiseling, and the craftsmanship was nothing short of divine. Not only did every detail stand up to the most meticulous scrutiny, the dry, rough texture of the skin was virtually indistinguishable from the real thing....

It was at this moment the woman let out a startled cry, “Stop touching it! That’s an undying monster!”

Wei Yuan’s scalp instantly prickled as a belated sense of danger finally hit him. He instantly realized his life was in peril!

The woman grabbed his hand and ran toward the exit, but the heavy footsteps behind them were only drawing closer. Suddenly, she said, “Carry me! I’ll lead the way!”

Wei Yuan immediately scooped her up in his arms.

“Run t—no, jump ten zhang forward!”

Wei Yuan immediately switched to hopping on one foot, covering two zhang with each leap. As expected, it greatly increased their travel speed.

“Five to the left, thirteen forward, four to the right...” The woman kept calling out directions and distances. Combined with Wei Yuan’s constant scanning of his surroundings, the two ultimately managed to escape from the cave.

A shrill, agonized screech rang out behind Wei Yuan. The undead monster had been struck by the midday sunlight, causing white smoke to hiss from its entire body. It retreated back into the cave.

Having narrowly escaped with their lives, and after they had regained their composure, Wei Yuan asked, “Didn’t you say the undead monsters wouldn’t come out at noon?”

“How should I know? Usually they hide deep within the temple, but for some reason, one had decided to show up today. It wasn’t moving at first, but you kept tugging at it and touching it....”

Wei Yuan thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s head back today, make some preparations, and come back tomorrow.”

“Why must you enter the temple?”

“Those murals are more than what they seem. I need to check out the ones further back. Perhaps they’re connected to why I ended up here. If I’m successful at unraveling this mystery, I might just be able to leave this place.”

The woman snapped, “So you are planning to run away!”

Wei Yuan hurriedly replied, “I promise to give the village a satisfactory answer before I leave.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

“If you’re lying, then lightning will strike you where you stand!”

Wei Yuan: “....”

Back in the stone hut, Wei Yuan waved his hands and caused the floor to suddenly become covered in broken rocks. His primordial spirit was currently weak and making it somewhat difficult to enter the Great Realm. That was why he brought the rocks out into the real world to work on them.

He picked up a rock and, with a casual pinch, shaped it into a flying sword about one chi long. But after giving it a touch, he felt it wasn’t quite big enough and attached another rock to it. Now, it was one-and-a-half chi long.

Wei Yuan kept working, shaping one identical flying sword after another. These flying swords possessed only a faint of gold and iron and absolutely nothing else. It was a definite step up—or down, depending on how you want to look at it—from the Radiant Devil-Subjugating Sword.

The woman had brought over a stool at some point and simply watched as Wei Yuan continually shaped the flying swords with his bare hands.

In the blink of an eye, Wei Yuan had fashioned twenty flying swords, all identical in every detail, with even the dimensions precise to the last fraction of an inch. He then took a rock, infused it with the true intent of the cauldron, and transformed it into a rectangular cauldron with two handles and four legs.

Wei Yuan then pressed the flying swords into the cauldron one by one. The twentieth flying sword was just enough to fill it to the brim.

Next, Wei Yuan fashioned another forty flying swords and two rectangular cauldrons. He packed all the swords into the cauldrons as well. After pondering for a moment, he retrieved all the flying swords and reattached a small, finger-thick circular disc to the tail-end of each one.

“What are you doing?” The woman finally asked.

“An interesting little trick,” Wei Yuan replied. He fashioned another disc, but this one was as thin as a sheet of paper. When he activated it, a fireball as large as a fist suddenly appeared in his hand.

The woman seemed startled for a moment. Then, she went back to watching as Wei Yuan continued his work.

Once sixty flying swords had been pressed into the cauldron boxes, Wei Yuan manifested a large rock and slowly shaped it into a cylindrical tube. The material glowed with a dark silver metallic sheen.

There was an opening at the bottom of the tube. Wei Yuan picked up one cauldron box and slid it into the tube. There was a click, and the box—packed to the brim with flying swords—snapped into place, its two handles perfectly hooking onto the notches inside the tube.

Wei Yuan wasn’t done, though. He carefully adjusted the tube’s dimensions until it fit the cauldron box perfectly.

With that done, Wei Yuan picked up the strange object to examine it—then recalled that he couldn’t see.

“What is this?”

Something to deal with the undead monsters tomorrow.”

“Can I give it a try?”

“You won’t be able to use it,” Wei Yuan said, but still handed the newly assembled weapon to the woman.

The woman tried to lift the weapon, only to accidentally drop it on the ground. She was fairly strong for a mountain woman, but the weapon weighed over 100 catties. Even she could barely hold it up.

“Let’s go to bed. We’ll be fighting tomorrow.”

As the two lay sleeping side by side, Wei Yuan suddenly asked, “What’s your name?”

After a moment, the woman answered, “I don’t have one.”

Wei Yuan didn’t press her. Instead, he naturally wrapped his arms around her, buried his nose in her long hair, and fell into a deep sleep.

At dawn, Wei Yuan awoke feeling a bit more restored. He also sensed a tingling, itchy sensation in his left chest. When he touched it, he found that a layer of skin had formed over the once-empty area, and flesh and blood were rapidly regenerating beneath it.

Wei Yuan got up to his feet, pushed open the door, and stepped outside. He took a deep breath as he faced the chilly mountain breeze.

The Great Realm trembled slightly, and streams of pale-white fire erupted from the cracks in the earth, blazing fiercely for a few moments before settling back into the chasms.

Wei Yuan felt as if he was watching the pale flames spreading along countless karmic threads and burning all those living, familiar faces in his life into ashes of tribulation once more.

Those touched by the flames were eventually reduced into ashes of tribulation. That was what remained after one’s karma had been completely burned away. Over time, it would dissolve into nothingness, never to enter the cycle of reincarnation or have an afterlife. For such victims, not even Wei Yuan’s All Gate of Reincarnation could save them.

Wei Yuan didn’t even dare to imagine just how many of his acquaintances and friends still remained if he were to return to Qingming.

He had avoided thinking about it over the past few days. On one hand, his injuries were severe, healing slowly, and generally muddling his head. On the other hand, Wei Yuan himself simply couldn’t bring himself to face reality at the moment. Like an ostrich, he wanted to bury his head in the sand for a while and pretend that all the world’s misfortunes would cease to exist.

But now that his body had recovered, it was time to face the pain head-on, to face reality.

I’m still too weak! Too weak! Wei Yuan thought as he unconsciously clenched his teeth. Suddenly, one of his teeth shattered from the sheer force he was putting on it!

The excruciating pain snapped Wei Yuan back to reality, but the anguish buried deep within his heart hadn’t lessened in the slightest. That helplessness in the face of overwhelming power, that final struggle that was little better than a moth flying into a flame—it must have seemed so laughable and ridiculous in the eyes of those in power, didn't it?

The woman asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wei Yuan sucked in a deep breath, regained his composure, and replied, “I was thinking about some friends. I wonder how they’re doing now.”

“You’re in pain.”

“That was a moment ago; something that’s happened in the past. But I won’t suffer like that anymore. Let’s go!” Wei Yuan flashed the woman a bright smile and held out his left hand. The woman took it. Together, they set off once more toward the temple.

He hadn’t died, so the heavens had granted him another glimmer of hope. From now on, Wei Yuan resolved to face everything in this world head-on. No longer would he harbor any illusions about his enemies or any expectations of those in power. He would run into problems, solve them, and crush every obstacle in his path. Even if the end came and he ultimately proved to be weaker than his fate, he still would rather die by his own hand and fall by his own decision.