Dragon Canon

Upon returning to the Homeworld, Wei Yuan immediately checked his entire body. A forceful escape like this could not possibly come without a price. Generally speaking, damage to one’s cultivation and Dao Foundation was the norm.

Sure enough, thirty wisps of fortune had vanished from his sea of consciousness[1].

Although he was safe, Wei Yuan couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of dread. The realm of Coldbelow was indeed incredibly dangerous. After composing himself, he proceeded to recount his ordeal to Zhang Sheng.

After asking Wei Yuan a series of detailed questions, Zhang Sheng said, “What about the soil and rocks you dug up? Manifest a sample for me to examine.”

A pile of soil and rocks were lying on an open patch near his jade hill, emitting wisps of cold vapor. Wei Yuan manifested a small heap, and the temperature within several zhang of the master and disciple plummeted instantly, as if they were in the middle of winter.

“This soil....” Zhang Sheng picked up a small handful and examined it closely. Unfortunately, he could not discern anything unusual. So, he summoned Ji Liuli and Sun Yu.

The trio examined the sample together. Sun Yu, the most knowledgeable of them all, believed the soil to be a type of nether soil as it was rich in quietude energy. Certain rare spirit plants could be cultivated using this soil. While it might be of little value to others, it was highly prized by the Jianmu Hall and the Mother Nature Monastery, which specialized in cultivating spirit plants and medicinal herbs. The Xuanming Hall also had a significant demand for it.

The soil in Wei Yuan’s hand possessed no physical substance, but what the spirit plant required was the quietude energy—a form of extremely high grade worldly origin qi—it contained. Whether the soil itself had a physical form was irrelevant.

After Sun Yu finished his explanation, he asked, “Do you have more? I require some for my experiments. Perhaps I can cultivate a few new varieties with it.”

“I do.” Wei Yuan materialized another large heap of soil.

Sun Yu calmly removed his robes and wrapped up the soil, sweeping even the scattered grains on the ground into the fabric and leaving not a single speck behind. Only after all the soil was securely packed did Sun Yu reveal a wealthy smile.

Seeing the look on his Senior Uncle’s face, Wei Yuan asked, “Is this soil expensive?”

“Not really. If you exchange it at the merits hall, it’s only worth one tael of immortal silver per qian[2],” Sun Yu replied casually.

Wei Yuan didn’t think much of it at first until he heard the final unit of measurement. He instinctively did the math and suddenly realized that he had just given Sun Yu dozens of catties of soil, or thousands of taels in immortal silver! No wonder his senior uncle had gone so far as to take off his robe—a top-grade mystic artifact—to wrap the soil!

Seeing Sun Yu’s satisfied smile, Wei Yuan felt a pang of pity and said, “I have plenty more with me. You can have them if you want.”

“No, no, this is enough.” Sun Yu smiled contentedly, clearly the kind of person who was content with what he had. As a result, Wei Yuan felt it inappropriate that he still had several thousand catties of soil in his Dao Foundation. In fact, most of them were stones, which contained even more quietude energy.

That said, because the stones and soil from the Realm of Coldbelow lacked physical form, they couldn’t stray too far from him even though he could materialize them. That was why he couldn’t exchange them to the Palace of Absolute Beginning for immortal silver.

If just the soil was so valuable, even “a land full of treasures” was not an adequate description for the sheer value the Coldbelow possessed. Wei Yuan immediately prepared himself to enter the realm once more.

After receiving some pointers on what to watch out for from Ji Liuli and Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan set off again on his second adventure to the Coldbelow.

As soon as he entered the realm, Wei Yuan realized that his surroundings had completely changed. He found himself in the center of a vast basin, surrounded by cliffs that were hundreds of zhang high.

The basin floor was uneven, but the ground was extremely tough. The small hill where Wei Yuan had originally been standing had vanished without a trace. Naturally, the hole he had dug had disappeared as well.

Wei Yuan looked around again until he finally confirmed that he was standing within the footprint of that Outside creature. Had he not witnessed the giant claw descending upon him with his own eyes, he might have assumed this was simply a natural basin.

Although there were only thin clouds in the sky at the moment, Wei Yuan still calculated the future weather just to be safe. It was a simple, minor spell, so the result he received was equally straightforward: no rain, light breeze.

Wei Yuan paused. Was it just him, or was there something weird about the spell?

Still, he chose to trust Dream Eater for the time being. It didn’t matter even if the weather forecast was inaccurate, Wei Yuan had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

Prior to returning to the Realm of Coldbelow, Wei Yuan had crammed at the last minute and learned three new Dao spells. The first was called the Thick Earth Shield. The second was called Shadow-Hiding and Form-Concealing Spell. The spell allowed Wei Yuan to transform into a wisp of shadow, hide within an object, and use that object’s energy to mask his own. The third spell was called Dazzling Sun. Capable of simulating sunrays in an instant, it was the advanced version of the basic Flash spell.

Wei Yuan didn’t dare linger in the center of the basin, recalling how he saw countless shadowy figures darting about when the colossal creature’s claws had come crashing down from the sky. The Realm of Coldbelow was, in truth, far busier than it seemed.

Without hesitation, Wei Yuan cast the Shadow-Hiding and Form-Concealing Spell and hid himself inside a small pebble. The pebble immediately took flight, heading toward the edge of the basin.

In the dim light, a small pebble skimming the ground was virtually invisible. If Wei Yuan had one complaint, it would be that he was moving rather slowly—only half of his original speed.

After drifting along at this sluggish pace for quite some time, the pebble finally reached the cliff’s edge. It then skimmed upward along the cliff face, flying for a while longer before finally reaching the top.

Just as it was about to emerge over the cliff’s edge, a long saber suddenly swept past Wei Yuan’s skull without a trace!

The blade left behind a trail of black smoke that slowly dissipated over time. It was an exceptionally skilful strike that naturally drew upon the surrounding worldly origin qi—not even Feng Tingyu’s saber technique was as good as this.

It would have struck the pebble squarely if it had risen just a head’s height higher!

Startled, Wei Yuan withdrew his presence, and the pebble clattered to the ground at the cliff’s edge.

“Hmm? I definitely felt something coming up. How did I miss? And what kind of stone is this?”

A hand reached out, picked up the pebble, and examined it closely.

A pair of pale amber eyes appeared before Wei Yuan, their pupils marked with strange, winding patterns. By human standards, it was an exceptionally beautiful face, though several metallic-looking lines on her cheeks added an air of mystery and eeriness.

She studied it closely for a moment but couldn’t figure anything out. Still, she wasn’t ready to give up. She placed the pebble on her blade and pulled, cutting it in half.

The pebble remained a pebble despite being split open. Wei Yuan had ducked to the other side.

Another voice came from nearby. “It’s just an ordinary pebble. Something down below must have sensed our presence and tainted it with a trance of its essence. Then, they tossed it up to test our reaction. Now that we’ve been exposed, that thing has probably gone into hiding, so let’s go—we’ll find another spot to lie in wait. With the Sky Beast roaming about, there’s plenty of prey to be found.”

She nodded and casually tossed the two stone fragments back into the basin. Then, she unfurled three pairs of wings from her shoulders and flew off with the other figure.

The world spun violently as Wei Yuan plummeted back into the basin. He cursed inwardly. It had taken him a long time to fly up, only to be casually tossed back down. Now, he would have to do it all over again. Hiding inside a stone and using his own Dao energy to control its flight was exhausting—far more tiring than flying on his own.

Wei Yuan emerged from one part of the cut pebble, intending to find another one to possess and fly back up to his original spot. Those two had most likely headed elsewhere to lie in wait; it wouldn’t make sense for them to still be guarding the same spot.

Just as Wei Yuan was about to move, his hair suddenly stood on end, literally! The next moment, the debris and clods of earth around him started floating one by one into the air!

The center of the basin suddenly swelled like something was about to burst out. Then, the ground cracked open and spewed forth a massive, dark blue pillar of light straight into the sky!

Countless earth dragons appeared, rapidly spreading toward the edge of the basin. Wherever they passed, streaks of blue light shot skyward and reduced everything they touched to nothingness. Even if an Immortal Lord were to unleash their full power, it would likely be no more devastating than this!

He watched as an earth dragon extended all the way to his feet instantly as soon as it emerged from the center of the basin. Aghast, Wei Yuan dropped all pretenses and took to the sky as quickly as he could!

At this point, Wei Yuan realized that the two entities from earlier had long since noticed his movements. However, they had intentionally feigned ignorance and deliberately cast him back into the basin. They must have known all along that a destructive light show was about to erupt in the basin, and they intended to use the power of nature to annihilate him.

Though Wei Yuan was flying at full speed, the outburst of colorful light was far too swift, reaching his feet in just the blink of an eye. Wei Yuan’s panic was so thick that his primordial spirit nearly boiled over—there was no way he was going to make contact with even a fraction of the natural might!

In his desperation, Wei Yuan manifested a slender golden cauldron in each hand. Clutching them against his sides, he activated them in rapid successsion—one firing downward, and the other shooting sideward.

Amidst a deafening roar, Wei Yuan soared over a hundred zhang in an instant as if he’d been kicked into the air, then flew sideways a hundred zhang as if he had been slapped by a giant palm. In the end, he just narrowly avoided the colorful light with milimeters to spare.

Before he even hit the ground, Wei Yuan sensed something approaching him at breakneck speed. His senses were so sharp that they were borderline a mystic ability, so he acted without hesitation: an unnaturally long immortal sword appeared in his hand, and he slashed viciously at the approaching object!

The immortal sword struck nothing, but Wei Yuan had already sense it: the object had vanished the instant it was about to be struck, but it also inevitably left behind a faint trace of Dao energy. It was the female Warlock who had hurled him back into the basin!

The female Warlock had moved with unbelievable elusiveness, and it seemed she was capable of traversing the void itself. It was practically impossible to guard against her. Wei Yuan had intended to lure her out for a direct confrontation, but she didn’t fall for it. She was clearly a master hunter.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he turned away and flew off into the distance. A short while later, he dug a hole in a small valley between two hills and quietly set up a mark. He then cast a defensive array over it. After gathering a few small items from the surroundings, he returned to the Homeworld.

Shortly after Wei Yuan left, two figures appeared at the spot where he had placed his mark. One of them was the female Warlock with three pairs of wings. The other was a youthful-looking Warlock with a tall, strapping frame.

The Warlock remarked, “He probably never imagined we’d be able to locate the place where he buried his mark, did he? After all, we have that treasure in our possession.”

The female Warlock surveyed the surroundings and said, “He set up an array. A wise precaution. Let’s find out what he’s stashed here first, and investigate what type his Dao Foundation is and what kind of Dao spells he specializes in. Then, we’ll lie in wait here and teach him a lesson when he returns!”

“Hmph. Any human who dares to enter the Realm of Coldbelow isn’t going back alive.”

The female Warlock touched the array Wei Yuan had left behind, activating it. A passage of text immediately appeared before her:

“There is a cage containing several chickens and rabbits. There are thirty heads and eighty legs in total. How many chickens and how many rabbits are there?”

The female Warlock was taken aback for a moment. Then, she burst out laughing despite her attempt to hold back her reaction, “This guy lives up to his lineage all right; he doesn’t know any other tricks! However, he’s also way inferior compared to his seniors. My cat could’ve solved this problem!”

The Warlock shook his head as well, deeply concerned about Wei Yuan’s intelligence.

The female Warlock casually wrote down two numbers and entered them into the array. Suddenly, a blinding light rose before their eyes, as if they were looking straight into the midday sun!

Dazzling Sun!

Both Shamans possessed keen senses. Naturally, the spell instantly burned their eyes and blinded them. The next second, a surge of Dao energy detonated the array, engulfing the two shamans in a massive fireball and hurling them away like broken dolls!

As it turned out, the question Wei Yuan had left behind wasn’t meant to deactivate the defensive array. It was meant to be triggered so that an explosion could be set off.

1. You might start to notice how OP it is to be a Chosen One. ☜

2. Unit of weight, one tenth of a tael. ☜