Dragon Canon

The man seated in the center was, of course, Wei Yuan. The rest of the group were the young masters and ladies he had brought along this time.

Wei Yuan had a lot on his mind and couldn’t eat much, but the young masters and ladies were ravenous, devouring their food with abandon. Over the past few days, they had nearly been reduced to eating dirty. There was nothing to eat in the Realm of Qingming—or rather, only various pure grains or dried meat that tasted even worse than the grains. They had almost forgotten what fine cuisine tasted like.

The Xu Clan’s chef turned out to be pretty skilled, and the branch family’s pantry was well-stocked with an abundance of ingredients Xu Jinfeng had also become quite perceptive; he noticed the greedy glint in everyone’s eyes and quietly instructed the kitchen to serve extra dishes and bring out their signature specialties. This instantly endeared him to the young masters and ladies.

At that moment, Wei Yuan said, “It seems our commandery administrator isn’t living too well. Here’s what you’ll do: you’ll host banquets every few days from now on, and you’ll do it right in the main hall so that those outside can see them too. You’re the head of the household—you should eat as well as you can.”

Lord Yuan will definitely want to kill me... Xu Jingfeng thought to himself before asking, “But I can’t host these banquets without a reason, can I?”

Wei Yuan replied, “That’s easy. Say you’re in a bad moon today, or that you slept in. If you really can’t think of anything, they can take turns visiting you and joining you at the table.”

Xu Jingfeng immediately caught on to Wei Yuan’s plan—this guy was planning to provoke Yuan Qingyan!

But Xu Jingfeng himself was young and hot-headed. He still remembered all too clearly how Yuan Qingyan had dismissed him after accepting his gift. Now that Wei Yuan had given him the green light to really rile the commandery administrator up, he was determined to take his revenge to the fullest.

Next, Wei Yuan asked, “You mentioned earlier that the residence is protected by ancestral spirits?”

Xu Jingfeng hurriedly replied, “This was a secret only known to the head of a household. I didn’t know about it at first until representatives from the main branch arrived and formally appointed me as the new patriarch. They also took me through the ritual to acknowledge my authority, which granted me the right to command the ancestral spirits and summon them to battle when necessary. If you’re interested, I can take you to see for yourself right now.”

Wei Yuan nodded. “Why not? Let’s take a look right now.”

The two left the main courtyard and made their way to the side compound. Xu Jingfeng arrived at a secluded courtyard that appeared to be uninhabited and pushed open the door. He then bowed deeply toward an ancient tree in the center of the courtyard and recited an incantation before saying, “Ancestor, Jingfeng has brought a friend to visit you.”

Seemingly awakened by Jingfeng’s incantation, the tree trunk began to writhe. A weathered face surfaced before long.

Upon seeing Xu Jingfeng, the old tree smiled and said, “Very good, very good. Your cultivation has improved, and your fortune is also excellent! You bring great honor to the Xu Clan. Where is your friend?”

Wei Yuan stepped out from behind Xu Jingfeng and bowed to the old tree. He replied, “Xu Yuan of the Heaven Fighting Gang greets you, ancestor.”

The old tree finally got a clear look of Wei Yuan and wore a look of contemplation and puzzlement. ‘He bears the Xu surname as well? That makes sense. I seem to sense a hint of Wangu’s aura in him. Is he from an estranged branch? Come closer, boy. Let me take a closer look.”

Wei Yuan had already sensed that the old tree possessed profound cultivation. It was likely to be a late-stage Avatar. However, its perception was somewhat sluggish, and its thoughts were similarly slow, seemingly due to its unique state—a human’s primordial spirit being nourished by a tree’s body.

When it came to dealing with ancient tree spirits, Wei Yuan had plenty of methods at his disposal. He released a faint trace of the aura of the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree tree branch and mixed a bit of the aura of the Xu Clan’s Sixth Elder. Only then did he step before the old tree, ready to manifest a long cauldron at a moment’s notice.

The old tree scrutinized Wei Yuan for a moment, then sniffed him intently. It couldn’t explain why, but it felt a mix of familiarity and inexplicable awe. He said, “Excellent. Quite excellent! With such innate talent, you should return to your ancestral lineage! I will now give you a token. Take it to the main household and seek out the members of the Elders Council. When they see my token, they’ll naturally make good arrangements for you. A junior like you doesn’t deserve to be left estranged from your clan.”

As the old tree spoke, it shook its branches vigorously and dropped a twig in Wei YUan’s hand. It bore a greenish fruit that appeared to have just ripened.

“You may eat the fruit; it will benefit your cultivation. Now I... need to sleep for a while....”

Bearing this fruit seemed to have drained the old tree of a great deal of energy. It slowly closed its eyes, and its features sank back into the bark. Before long, it had transformed back into a tree.

Xu Jingfeng was stunned. His expression was also a little odd, wondering if his master’s surname really was Xu. If he truly possessed a trace of his immortal ancestor’s bloodline, then all the fighting to the death between their sides earlier would be rather absurd.

Wei Yuan knew what he was thinking, of course. “There’s a saying,” he remarked coldly, “called ‘old eyes see poorly.’”

Xu Jingfeng hastily agreed.

Wei Yuan plucked the half-ripe fruit from the tree and casually tossed it to Xu Jingfeng. “This fruit offers special benefits to those of the Xu family lineage. You can have it.”

“Y-You’re giving it to me?” Xu Jingfeng nearly dropped it.

“Yep. Now, please step outside for a moment,” said Wei Yuan while keeping his eyes fixed on the side room.

Seeing the gravity on Wei Yuan’s face, Xu Jingfeng didn’t ask any questions. As soon as he stepped out of the courtyard, he sprinted toward the main residence to summon the scions of the noble clans.

The look on Wei Yuan’s face was all Xu Jingfeng needed to see to know that something had entered the courtyard. And whatever it was that had Wei Yuan on high alert—and eluded Elder Tree’s perception completely—was far beyond his ability to handle. He had to find help.

Behind the window of the side room, a charming and radiant woman in red appeared. She was sitting by the window and holding a book in her hands, watching Wei Yuan.

She was clearly sitting there, yet Wei Yuan felt a strange sense of unreality from her. Moreover, Xu Jingfeng couldn’t see her at all.

The woman-in-red passed through the wall and walked up to Wei Yuan. She looked radiant and alluring, exuding a lazy, captivating charm, yet Wei Yuan could sense no warmth emanating from her—not a single trace of flesh and blood.

The woman-in-red suddenly smiled and said, “You actually can see me. You truly live up to your reputation as one of the most outstanding disciples of the younger generation. I am Zhu Yuanjin of the Clear Sky Monastery. I have some history with your grandmaster, Fen Hai.”

Realizing she was a senior from his own sect, Wei Yuan hurriedly bowed. “Greetings, Grandmaster-Junior[1]!”

The woman-in-red explained, “The old tree of the Xu Clan possesses quite a bit of power, and it has been accumulating energy for several centuries. If it were to unleash its full might, the consequences would be devastating. That was why I came to keep an eye on it—one, to make sure that it doesn’t sense anything amiss, and two, to give you a way out should such a time come.”

The woman-in-red spoke as if it were nothing, but the fact that she could provide Wei Yuan with an escape route must mean that her mastery of the Dao arts was truly earth-shaking.

“When is this time, exactly?” Wei Yuan asked.

The woman-in-red replied, “It could be tomorrow, it could be never. It depends entirely on your actions.”

Wei Yuan felt a pang of unease. If he really went all out, he had a feeling that he would need to make a run for it this very night. However, at a certain level, it wasn’t a matter of will, but fortune. How could he have known that a random Shaman he kidnapped would turn out to be one of, if not the greatest genius the Shamans had ever produced in thousands of years?

Just then, Xu Jingfeng burst into the courtyard with a squad of men. Before he even assessed the situation, he bellowed, “Who dares invade my ancestral home? Hand over my master at once, demon, and I may yet spare your life. Otherwise, I’ll burn your soul over true fire for forty-nine days before I allow you to die!”

Only after he had finished shouting did Xu Jingfeng realize something was amiss. He quickly turned to Wei Yuan and asked, “Why are you alone, my lord? Where is the demon, and what did it look like? Has it already fled?”

Wei Yuan didn’t know what to say.

The woman-in-red was standing right next to Wei Yuan, watching as Xu Jingfeng tried his damndest to court death.

1. There’s an excellent explanation by toleroid in this Wuxiaworld forum thread: https://www.novelupdatesforum.com/threads/how-would-you-translate-these-wuxia-terms.168161/ I am not using the same translation, but my translation was inspired by it. ☜