Dragon Canon

On a plain, Ji Liuli looked at the glow of the fengshui array in her hand while ordering the several hundred people behind her, “There’s a camp up ahead. Your mission is to storm in, kill anyone you see, and set fire to any supplies you find. Once they realize what’s happening, make your escape. I’ll be waiting for you here. As long as I see smoke and you return alive, you’ll become full-fledged guardians of the realm! Now go!”

Though the cultivation levels of these few hundred people weren’t particularly high, every one of them wore a fierce expression. They immediately scattered upon receiving the order, each employing their own methods to sneak toward the distant camp. Moments later, the sound of battle erupted, and flames shot skyward. The group of hundreds had stormed into the camp, killing anyone in their path. They then hurled oil flasks that were strapped to their waists in all directions, setting vast swathes of the encampment ablaze with every throw.

The garrison troops inside the encampment were a split second too slow to react.They emerged from their tent and launched a counterattack. Well-trained and well-equipped, they swiftly cut down the invaders in droves. Seeing the tide of battle turning against them, the raiders let out a whistle and turned to flee.

It was at this moment Wang Ziyan emerged from the central command tent, shocked and furious, and soared directly into the sky. He saw that the raiders, having met a crushing head-on assault, had already begun to scatter in every direction.

Wang Ziyan swooped down from the sky and, with a sweep of his massive hand knocked out a dozen or so stragglers. By this point, over half of the several hundred raiders who had stormed the camp had been slain, with only about a hundred managing to escape.

Wang Ziyan ordered his men to round up all the survivors for immediate interrogation. He simply could not fathom why the outer sentries had failed to react, allowing this rabble to launch a successful raid on the camp.

The raiders were fierce, but there weren’t many tough nuts among them. They all confessed after just one interrogation.

They were originally horse bandits and thieves who had been recruited by the realm of Qingming just a few days prior. Overnight, they had been transformed into the realm’s regular army and even given the designation, “Loyal Brave Battalion”.

Today, they had been dispatched by those upstairs to raid a camp. If they were successful, they would be rewarded upon their return. These outlaws lived by the sword and couldn’t care less who was inside the camp—they simply followed orders and charged in, slaughtering everyone in sight.

Wang Ziyan cursed the Palace of Absolute Beginning for its treachery there and then. On the surface, they had called for a one-on-one duel. Beneath the waters, they had secretly sent men to raid the camp.

Fortunately, Xu Xinhui had made prudent arrangements and left Wang Ziyan behind to hold the fort. That was why their losses weren’t too severe. That said, this confirmed that the realm of Qingming was not a force not to be reckoned with—they were even using bandits fresh off the mountain as regular troops.

But on second thought, it made a lot of sense. It was a newly formed realm with its supply lines cut off—what strength could it possibly have?

Back at the summit where the duel was taking place, a blood-soaked Xu Xinhui was glaring at Wei Yuan with eyes blazing with fury. The Immortal Sword Young Sky was circling above his head and emitting a constant, mournful wail. The flames on the blade had nearly died out, leaving behind only a faint trace of golden-red light.

Wei Yuan was also covered in wounds, many of which were charred black. He could barely hold his eight-chi-long saber steady.

After battling each other for half a day, both men were close on the verge of exhaustion.

Wei Yuan had to admit that Xu Xinhui was a formidable opponent. Although the young Northern Liao chieftain shared the same cultivation as him, Xu Xinhui could have easily crushed several of him with ease. It might look like there was only a one tier gap between an immortal foundation and a heaven foundation, but that difference might as well be night and day.

On top of that, Xu Xinhui possessed profound cultivation, masterful Dao spells, unwavering resolve, and divine swordsmanship—he had absolutely no weakness whatsoever. Even with the power of his immortal sword greatly diminished, he remained a formidable and respectable opponent. Unable to take any shortcuts to victory whatsoever, Wei Yuan had no choice but to trade blows with him and grind him down bit by bit. That was how they had reached this point.

By now, the Immortal Sword Young Sky barely had a spark remaining. It abruptly plummeted from the air and was caught by its owner. “You’ve got me good this time!” Xu Xinhui growled, “I admit defeat. Guard your lair well, for next time, you won’t be so lucky!”

Xu Xinhui soared into the sky and swiftly vanished into the distance.

Wei Yuan did not give chase. He simply watched the swordsman until he had disappeared into the distance. It was only after his figure had vanished into the horizon that he gave his body a stretch. His blood abruptly rushed back to every part of his body, and his wounds closed so rapidly it was as if time was reversing. In the blink of an eye, he was nearly fully healed.

Xu Xinhui spotted several columns of smoke in the distance before he had even returned to camp. Startled, he hurried back just in time to see Wang Ziyan coming out to meet him.

The young man gave in to his temper and shouted the moment he saw Xu Xinhui, “Those bastards from the Palace of Absolute Beginning knew you wouldn’t be here and raided our encampment! They’re just a rabble, though. Nothing but former bandits. We lost over twenty men, but we killed over a hundred and captured just as much. I’ve already interrogated them. There are over three thousand organized troops in the realm, but more than half were ordinary mortals who’ve never cultivated before. Let’s just charge in and wipe them out already!”

Xu Xinhui remained silent. It was only then Wang Ziyan noticed the strange look on his Big Brother’s face and asked, “What’s wrong? Did they break their word and attempt to gang up on you?”

Xun Xinhui sighed and forced out a wry smile. “No, it really was a one-on-one duel. It’s just... the Shamans had altered that part of the world and sealed off all immortal swords.”

Wang Ziyan was speechless for a moment.

Half a day later, Wei Yuan returned to the central peak and summoned the members of the Palace of Absolute Beginning for a meeting.

Ju Liuli asked as soon as she saw him, “Are your injuries serious? Do you need me to treat them for you?”

Wei Yuan hurriedly replied, “There’s no need, Senior Sister. I’m fine, really[1]!”

Even before returning to the realm, Wei Yuan’s injuries were almost all gone. Once he was inside the realm, Jia Wood Nurtures Life restored him to perfect condition in just an hour.

Ji Liuli smirked. “Sorry to make you fight him for this long.”

Wei Yuan couldn’t help but recall the battle with a lot of disgruntlement as well. He had always fought going all out with full-on aggression, relying on overwhelming force to crush his enemies head-on. That was why most of his battles had ended in no time. However, Xu Xinhui was both stupidly resilient and without weakness. As if that wasn’t enough, he refused to give in even though the battle was obviously a lost cause and persistently fought Wei Yuan for an entire half a day.

In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Wei Yuan couldn’t use his stockpile of over one thousand Dao Foundations, his firearms, his Bay Laurel Immortal Tree branch, his fortune, Ji Liuli, Baoyun, or even his shifu. He even had to emulate Feng Tingyu’s example and return one strike for every two he received. After several hours of non-stop hacking, he finally managed to send the annoying bastard away.

Xu Xinhui’s status was unique. He was both a member of the Xu Clan and a high-ranking disciple of the Sword Palace. Thus, killing him was out of the question. If he were to be killed, they would need to come up with a valid reason, and so far, Wei Yuan had not yet devised one.

For this western expedition, Xun Xinhui had brought a thousand elite clan soldiers and four thousand auxiliary troops with him. Bao Yun had uncovered all this information yesterday; even discovering the location of the auxiliary troops’ main encampment.

During yesterday’s discussion, everyone agreed that Xu Xinhui was likely a vanguard force the Xu Clan had dispatched to test the waters. A main force was certain to follow behind them. Thus, Wei Yuan urgently requested additional intelligence from Xu Jingfeng. Though not very detailed, the young master was able to provide him with key intelligence such as age, background, cultivation level, position, and some personality traits.

Combining all this intelligence, Wei Xuan then scoured through the history books and found numerous figures who were similar to Xu Xinhui. He was a high-ranking disciple of an Immortal Sect with a distinguished background. He had also risen to prominence at a young age. The fact that he had been leading troops within his clan for years, but were just now commanding five thousand men on a reconnaissance mission suggested that his military leadership skills were quite mediocre. Otherwise, given the ample opportunities that were available to him in his youth, he would have achieved fame at a young age and been leading a large army long ago.

Take Bao Yun, for example. During her time at the northern frontier, she had commanded a major battle involving tens of thousands of troops and annihilated over ten thousand enemies belonging to the Liao barbarian’s main force in a single stroke.

Besides that, Xu Xinhui was a sword cultivator. Naturally stubborn and obstinate, he often became fixated on the finer details and even took pride in his meticulousness.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Wei Yuan decided to feign weakness and intentionally reveal some of his trump cards to the enemy—such as the sealing of all immortal swords.

Xu Xinhui’s immortal sword was sealed, so he wouldn’t be able to personally lead the troops in person. To send Wang Ziyan to attack the realm alone was a suicide mission as well. As long as they did not attack the realm, they would never be able gauge its true strength.

However, Wei Yuan also wanted to give Xu Xinhui some intelligence on the realm—only those he didn’t mind giving, of course. And how could he convey this information? By hinting it via subtle details, of course.

Thus, Wei Yuan dispatched a group of horse bandits he had recently recruited to ambush Xu Xinhui’s encampment. As expected, they suffered a crushing defeat, with only about a hundred men escaping back.

The three-thousand-strong city defense force they had been integrated into was a real unit. The majority of this force indeed consisted of ordinary mortals as well—ones who weren’t particularly strong or fit, either. Everyone in the city defense force—everyone in Yong’an City, even—believed that they were the only military force in the realm besides the upper immortals.

Thus, as far as the horse bandits were aware, the realm of Qingming was severely lacking in military discipline and military training. Their comrades were nearly all mortals, and their equipment were so inadequate that they couldn’t even field enough wooden spears. As for the few upper immortals who were supposed to be their commanders, they were practically nowhere to be found.

This was hardly surprising. Any realm that had only been established for a month—assuming that they hadn’t received any clan reinforcements—would likely be in a similar state. In fact, most other realms couldn’t even afford to maintain an army of three thousand.

These were all intelligence Wei Yuan had allowed Xu Xinhui to interrogate out of the horse bandits bit by bit. The swordsman had no idea that the picture he was piecing together was exactly what Wei Yuan wanted him to see. Moreover, intelligence gleaned through such detailed analysis usually possessed a captivating allure that most people were unable to tear away from.

In reality, the true main force of Qingming consisted of eight thousand Body-tempering stage cultivators. These individuals had already been transferred separately to another military camp and kept isolated from Yong’an City. Yong’an City was currently off limits to anyone coming from the east, west, and north direction including the mortals. It was all to prevent classified information from leaking.

With the blessing of Life is a Flash, five thousand of the eight thousand cultivators could instantly reach the level of the Nine Armies of Great Tang, while another one thousand would temporarily overcome the chasm to become Dao Foundation stage cultivators, falling only slightly short of the scions who had arrived at the western regions with Cui Yu.

1. You sure? Don’t you miss how good her hands feel? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) For those who don’t remember, refer to Chapter 60. ☜