Dragon Canon

Chapter 140: The Fire of Mortals

It was dusk again. Xu Wenwu took his horse out for a run after finishing his writing. The great immortals of the Palace of Absolute Beginning had also returned from their journey and begun processing today’s thirty thousand words.

Thanks to yesterday’s experience, Xiao Yu had learned the trick of filtering and sifting through information before committing it to memory. As a result, he was able to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s fate.

While reading, Xiao Yu complained non-stop, “Useless, drivel, non-stop gibberish! What on earth is this? I feel like I’ve been reading for ages, yet I can hardly find a single useful sentence!”

Wei Yuan felt the same. Out of the thirty thousand words Xu Wenwu had written today, only nine hundred were useful. The rest had all been archived as trash. With that done, the group briefly exchanged what they had accomplished today.

Wei Yuan had explored about three hundred li in the direction of Willow Ash Town, gaining a general understanding of the terrain and topography, as well as the small groups of humans and Shamans scattered throughout the region.

Besides that, Wei Yuan also confirmed the limitations on his Dao Foundation. Because the Great Realm had become one with Qingming, its power gradually diminished the further away he strayed from the domain.

During this exploration, he had repeatedly tested the extent to which his Dao Foundation was weakened. According to his calculations, the Great Realm would weaken below normal levels when he was approximately 1,500 li away from Qingming, and become nigh impossible to manifest at 3,000 li. Any further than that, and he would be left with his physical body only. He would not be able to utilize his Dao Foundation at all.

Fortunately, it wasn’t all bad news. The range in which he could utilize his Dao Foundation was constantly expanding with the domain. At the moment, Qingming’s domain was thirty li in radius. In other words, he could operate within a range of up to a hundred times the size of the domain. Beyond that, he would not be able to manifest his Dao Foundation, and he could only exert two or three-tenths of his full power.

The fifty times mark was yet another dividing line. Within this range, the Great Realm would receive a boost from Qingming and become stronger than usual. Beyond that, it would weaken.

Wei Yuan felt a mixed bag of emotions after confirming his findings. On one hand, he was glad that he wasn’t completely trapped within the domain, and he had some room to maneuver. On the other hand, he would not be able to go anywhere else for the time being. If he wished to do so, then he would have to focus on developing the territory in front of him. For every li Qingming’s domain expanded, he would gain a hundred li of new territory to explore.

Exploration wise, there was really nothing of note in this direction. The venture was mainly to assess the extent of his Dao Foundation’s diminishment.

Bao Yun and Ji Liuli had traveled much, much further. For starters, Ji Liuli had covered nine hundred li of ground in one go, gaining a clear picture of the distribution of the Shamans’ bases along this direction. Since this direction wasn’t a priority for the Shamans, she had found only eight bases of varying sizes and two small tribes. The bases held a total of five thousand troops, and the two tribes had a population of over four thousand.

Bao Yun, however, demonstrated astonishing efficiency and scouted 1,500 li of ground in one go. She was able to confirm that there was a tribe numbering fifty thousand people and four smaller tribes numbering several thousand within a thousand li of the realm of Qingming.

This region was originally the territory of Ningxi Commandery. After the humans were defeated, the Shamans slowly but surely started infiltrating the place. From the looks of it, they were intending to reclaim their lost land.

In fact, Bao Yun also discovered a Shaman encampment housing ten thousand fighters at the edge of the area she was exploring. However, she detected signs of activity by Great Warlocks near the encampment, and dusk was falling. So, she decided not to take any further risks and hurried back before nightfall.

Many shamanic abilities were much stronger during the night, and daytime was a lot shorter in the Shaman realm than it was in other realms—at least two hours shorter each day. Although Bao Yun’s stealth capabilities were on par with that of an Avatar Trueman, there was no need to put herself in danger. She planned to wait until the following day before venturing further into the depths.

As it happened, the 1,500 li mark was the dividing line of Wei Yuan’s Dao Foundation. However, the domain would grow to a range of forty li by tomorrow, and the range in which he could maintain his strength would increase to 2,000 li. Give it another day, and his combat strength would increase even further.

However, time was of the essence, and the brief window of respite they had earned after slaying a Great Warlock was going to disappear very soon. There was no way they were going to give Wei Yuan the time to grow his strength gradually.

A quick discussion later, it was decided that Bao Yun would continue her exploration early the next morning, followed by Wei Yuan and Ji Liuli. If no Great Warlock was stationed at the encampment, then they would launch an immediate surprise attack and aim to wipe it out in one fell swoop.

For this reason, Xiao Yu would be the only one guarding the realm tomorrow. Zhang Sheng would be accompanying the trio to the west as well, though he wasn’t expected to take action. He was there just as a precaution. Although Zhang Sheng’s immortal swords were sealed and half as effective as they would normally be, they were still potent enough to injure an Avatar.

After night fell, all human cultivators working outside the realm immediately withdrew back into the domain. If a Shaman had infiltrated the realm, Wei Yuan would detect it immediately. But outside the realm, it was all too easy for someone to fall prey to an ambush.

After discussing their plans for the next day, they all went about their business.

Wei Yuan had plans to patrol the realm, check on the two Star Dragon Trees, and inspect his horse. He also planned to check on the seriously injured. Should their condition worsen, Wei Yuan might be able to save their lives using the domain’s power.

When Wei Yuan was passing by the little stone house, he was surprised to see light shining out of the window. Inside, Xu Wenwu was seated at his desk and writing fervently.

Wei Yuan would be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised. Hadn’t the guy already met his quota for the day? Why was he still writing? Curious, he stepped inside the house and asked just that. Xu Wenwu responded saying that writing thirty thousand words a day was just too much, and it so happened that he was feeling up to the task at the moment. That was why he decided to stay up late and chip away at tomorrow’s workload. At the very least, he wouldn’t feel as stressed out the next day.

Wei Yuan thought that it made a lot of sense. He hadn’t intended to push Xu Wenwu so far, but he had also entrusted the guy to Bao Yun. Thus, he did not feel like it was his place to interfere. He would know if his sect fellow’s methods were working after a few days of observation.

After stepping out of the stone house, Wei Yuan thought for a moment before walking over to the cultivator’s camps and grabbed a bowl of meat porridge cooked using Liang rice. He then went back to Xu Wenwu. The guy’s cultivation was poor, and he was planning to burn the midnight oil. Wei Yuan was sure that he was going to feel hungry.

When Xu Wenwu saw Wei Yuan again, he was so surprised that he nearly dropped his brush on the floor.

The young man did not say anything. He simply placed the bowl of porridge on the table and enveloped it in a wisp of Dao energy. It was enough to preserve the porridge’s heat for a full night.

After Wei Yuan was gone, Xu Wenwu suddenly wiped his arm across his face a couple times before gulping down the porridge. When the hot meal entered his stomach, he felt a spike both in energy and his cultivation.

After that, Xu Wenwu set down the bowl heavily and began his work. He was determined to write until he dropped.

Wei Yuan returned to the central peak and carried over a boulder. He then summoned a Fake Sun and cut it into neat, square bricks. Next, he refined them with his Dao energy, causing the bricks to shrink slightly in size but become exceptionally sturdy.

Since Wei Yuan no longer needed to cultivate anymore, he decided to get to work and build something himself. They had to move out of the ruins eventually.

Less than an hour later, he had created a little over a thousand bricks. It was far from enough to build a house.

Suddenly, Ji Liuli’s voice rang beside his ears. She was summoning everyone to the northside of the central peak.

Spanning over ten li in length, a stone valley lay thirty li to the north of the central peak and outside Qingming’s domain. In an open area of the valley, various items such as mortars and pestles were strewn here and there. There was also a newly carved stone table with more than a dozen piles of black powder sitting on its surface.

When everyone had gathered, Ji Liuli pointed at the piles of black powder on the stone table and said, “Gunpowder.”

Wei Yuan’s eyes widened. Did she actually do it?

Everyone perked up, wanting to see just how incredible the mythical gunpowder was. A spark flew out of Ji Liuli’s fingertips and ignited a small pile of black powder. There was a bang, followed by a huge ball of fire. It burned for a bit before dissolving into black smoke.

“I’ve tested several different ratios and come up with varying results. You definitely can’t just mix them randomly.”

Ji Liuli proceeded to ignite the next few piles of black powder. As she said, some flames were bigger, and some were small. The biggest flame was over twice as big as the smallest.

After the first row of gunpowder was tested, Ji Liuli pointed at the second row of gunpowder and said, “These are made using the best ratio. Give them a try, will you?”

Wei Yuan carefully grabbed a small amount of gunpowder in his hand, finding the sensation quite novel. He then rubbed it between his palm a few times. Suddenly, an intense heat erupted in his palm, the pressure causing his fingers to relax slightly, and sparks to shoot out from between the gaps.

Wei Yuan loosened his grip and scratched his head awkwardly. He had thought it would ignite only if he burned it with fire. He had no idea that it was so... sensitive. When he wiped away the black soot, his palm remained as translucent as jade. The flame had failed to leave behind even a scorch mark.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu tried to give his gunpowder a rub and caused an explosion just like Wei Yuan. It numbed his palm and left behind a few faint yellow marks. While keeping a straight face, he wiped away the soot and the burned skin at the same time.

It was only now Xiao Yu recalled that Wei Yuan was a monster in terms of physical prowess. The guy might be okay after rubbing gunpowder with his bare hand, but he couldn’t make the same claim. The small amount of skin he lost was proof of that.

Zhang Sheng and Bao Yun weren’t going to repeat their foolishness, of course. They both wrapped their pile of gunpowder in Dao energy and ignited it that way. It allowed them to find out its strength without risking embarrassment or harm.

After everyone had tested the gunpowder, Ji Liuli procured three raw materials and tossed them into a mortar, grinding them into fine powder with a pestle. Then, she used Dao energy to blow it out of the mortar and mix them evenly in the air. Finally, she opened her mouth and blew gently at the powder, causing it to turn into tiny, sand-like grains.

This time, Ji Liuli created enough gunpowder to fill up an entire soup pot. She then condensed them into a ball and held it in her hand. When she ignited the gunpowder ball with her Dao energy, it exploded with a thunderous boom. The flames were enclosed within a globe of Dao energy measuring about one chi in length. There was a visible swelling of flames within the globe of Dao energy before it faded into thick, black smoke. When Ji Liuli relinquished her Dao energy, the smoke immediately surged toward the sky. At the same time, a hot wind blew across everyone.

“That’s about it,” Ji Liuli declared.

Wei Yuan reflected on what he had just felt before asking, “The smaller the area, the greater the power, right?”

“That is correct.”

Zhang Sheng remarked, “If this is all, then there are plenty of things that can replace it. For example, adding a drop of Profound Water into an Earthfire Flameheart can create an explosion that’s a hundred times stronger than this. It is strong enough to blow apart even the outer shell of a meteor from the Beyond.”

Ji Liuli clearly wasn’t expecting such a take from Zhang Sheng. “I didn’t know that you’re an expert in artifact-forging.”

Zhang Sheng turned a little red and gave her a vague response, “I dabbled.”

Bao Yun said thoughtfully, “This is just the preliminary test, and the result is already better than expected. I’m sure there are many areas about the formula that can be improved as well. Perhaps its potency will multiply if we mix it with other things. As for what we’re planning to add, we can try it batch by batch.”

Zhang Sheng nodded in agreement. “We can leave this to the Mastercraft Hall. They have many cultivators who specialize in adjusting formulas. They can come up with over ten thousand new formulas in just a month.”

“But this thing is nothing special. Why bother?” Xiao Yu asked puzzledly.

Wei Yuan replied, “For one, it’s cheap. One drop of Profound Water and one drop of Earthfire Flameheart is worth a thousand shi of gunpowder. Not only that, one thousand shi of gunpowder is way more potent than the two drops combined.”

“Does it matter though? No matter how much mortal flame you gather, it still can’t burn an Avatar to death, can it? It can’t even burn me to death,” Xiao Yu argued.

As the bearer of the Immortal Sword The Sun, his physical body was weak, but his fire resistance was something else. In this regard, he was only slightly inferior to Wei Yuan.

Bao Yun suggested, “Now that we have gunpowder, should we give the guns a try?”