Dragon Canon

Since its establishment, the northern mountain gate had been situated on the front lines of the battlefield. It was only after more than one Immortal Lord and numerous True Lords lay their bones to rest here that it expanded to its current scale.

This place had always been a thorn in the side of the Liao. Over thousands of years, the two sides had fought countless life-and-death battles here. It was the graveyard of countless cultivators and Liao tribesmen.

The northern mountain gate boasted many unique features, such as Dao Soldiers and War Daoists.

To become a War Daoist, one must not only master combat techniques, but also study military tactics, battlefield formations, offensive and defensive strategies, as well as military equipment, logistics, troop maintenance, food supply management, and more. In addition, they must have some knowledge of metalworking, artifact-forging, pill-making, and apothecary. The study of all these skills was centered entirely on battlefield combat and differed significantly from general academic disciplines.

Take battlefield medicine, for example. For the same blade wound, a healer of the Xuanming Hall would first meticulously clean the wound, remove the residual mystic energy, repair the body’s muscles and tendons[1], and finally regenerate flesh and bone. Battlefield medicine, on the other hand, involved first stuffing a handful of medicinal powder into the wound to fill it up and stop the bleeding. That was the first priority and took precedence over everything else. If the bleeding still wouldn’t stop, then they would stuff a bandage inside for good measure.

The Dao Soldiers could be regarded as the Palace of Absolute Beginning’s own private army. Trained with a focus on quality over quantity, virtually every one of them possessed several special Dao techniques. Currently, the northern mountain gate had a reserve of 20,000 Dao Soldiers, and even the most ordinary foot soldiers had achieved completion in the Body-tempering stage.

In addition, the northern mountain gate had trained up 300,000 elite troops and nearly a million civilian volunteers. It was thanks to this army of one million and countless high cultivators that they had managed to survive the Liao’s endless, tidal-wave-like offensives.

Xuan Tongzi had gritted his teeth as he selected 50 Dao Soldiers from the reserves and handed them over to Wei Yuan. He also clearly outlined the criteria for military merit. Combined with the 50 Dao Soldiers already stationed in the military fort, this totaled 100 Dao Soldiers. The merit exchange was a one-for-one exchange—meaning that Wei Yuan had to slay a number of Liao warriors equivalent to 100 Dao Soldiers to break even.

Late at night, a massive force of Liao cavalry took advantage of the darkness to attack. Wave after wave of heavy arrows whistled as they rained down on the fort.

The fortification style at the northern mountain gate also differed from that of Western Jin. The walls were thick instead of tall, and most of the structures behind the walls were partially underground. The roofs were covered in iron-clad wooden planks so that they could withstand the heavy arrows falling from the sky.

The forces under the command of the Palace of Absolute Beginning were small in number but formidable in combat strength. They were not afraid to engage the Liao cavalry in close combat. If anything, they wanted the Liao cavalry to dismount, scale the walls, and enter the city to fight them in the urban areas. That would be playing right into their hands.

Facing the Liao cavalry, Wei Yuan immediately deployed his three Dao Foundation stage warriors to exchange fire with the Liao cavalry, shooting down one Liao rider after another. After leaving behind dozens of corpses, this scouting party of Liao cavalry retreated, and there was no further movement for the rest of the night.

It was a resounding victory, but Wei Yuan felt terrible and impatient. He had only seven days in total, and now, in the blink of an eye, a whole day had passed by just like that, with only a few dozen small fries to show for it. This battle achievement was nowhere enough to satisfy his needs.

So, Wei Yuan changed tactics. Throughout the day, he ordered the hundreds of soldiers in the fort to dig defensive works, spreading a network of trenches in all directions like a spider web. He then ordered the garrisons in the military forts on his left and right flanks to retreat, leaving his own stronghold isolated on the front lines. Finally, he raised a large banner bearing a message in Liao script that paid homage to the female ancestors of Cang Lei, Myriach of the Liao.

At first, the Liao forces remained silent, but on the fourth day, two 1,000-man units suddenly appeared, occupying the abandoned two military forts and cutting off Wei Yuan’s retreat. Immediately afterward, a Liao army of over 10,000 surrounded his military fort. At the time, the garrison inside numbered no more than 1,000 defenders and 30 Dao Foundation stage warriors.

The first wave of attack, as expected, consisted of a deluge of heavy arrows that pinned the defenders down to the point where they couldn’t even raise their heads. At nearly the same time, hundreds of elite Liao cavalrymen mounted a charge toward the military fort. Their coordination was flawless, proving that they were indeed a race naturally gifted in mounted archery. On top of that, these elite riders were masters of horsemanship, and the Liao horses easily leaped over the rows and rows of trenches.

Suddenly, several square boxes popped up ahead of them. Amid a deafening roar, countless flying swords shot out in a fan-shaped pattern and riddled the leading group of cavalry with holes. Right after that, Dao soldiers emerged from the trenches on both flanks and mowed down the Liao cavalry with heavy crossbows.

The Liao commanding general flew into a rage and immediately dispatched a 1,000-man unit to reinforce the front line. In response, the multiple Dao Soldier squad leaders on both flanks raised their flying sword-gun and unleashed a barrage of fire. Wei Yuan had to rush to produce these flying-sword guns, so the flying swords were only seven inches long. It had just enough power to injure a Dao Foundation stage cultivator, but kill a Body-tempering stage cultivator.

These guns required absolutely no training whatsoever. The dozen or so Dao Soldier squad leaders only needed a bit of guidance to be able to wield them. They guided the flying swords with their perception and achieved 100% accuracy within 100 zhang. This batch of flying swords had also been modified so that upon launch, half their power came from the pre-loaded Dao energy, and the other half came from the wielder’s own Dao energy.

Having fought the Liao for a long time, these Dao Soldiers knew their enemies’ vulnerabilities well. They aimed every flying sword not at the riders but at their horses, instantly trapping the second wave of reinforcements in the quagmire as well.

The Liao commanding general hadn’t expected his opponent to be so fierce; he had lost several hundred cavalrymen in exchange for just several glimpses of the enemy. He immediately deployed two 1,000-man units to attack the left and right flanks. Wei Yuan responded by withdrawing his flanking troops and instead relied on the military fort to engage the enemy in close combat.

This was Wei Yuan’s first time facing the Liao forces as a commander. He patiently maneuvered his troops, deploying his three Dao Foundation stage warriors at critical moments. Sometimes, they used their flying sword-guns. Sometimes, they used the Water Blade spell. Sometimes, they just rushed in and fought in melee. Time and again, he repelled the Liao attacks, but not once, from start to finish, had Wei Yuan resorted to any form of Avatar-stage combat strength.

The battle raged through the night. With nearly 2,000 Liao corpses strewn across the battlefield, the Liao commanding general could no longer contain himself and deployed three chiliarchs for the first time. However, these three were each engaged by Xuan Tongzi, Wei Yuan, and another Palace Trueman. The two sides clashed in the air in a battle so fierce it seemed to set the heavens ablaze and the earth alight.

The Palace of Absolute Beginning had the advantage of terrain, while the Liao chiliarchs were bolstered by army aura. The two sides were evenly-matched. Seeing the stalemate, the Liao commanding general decided to dispatch another two chiliarchs.

Seeing the reinforcements arrive, the chiliarchs who were already engaged in combat were greatly emboldened and began to attack with full force. The chiliarch facing Wei Yuan, noting that Wei Yuan was merely at the peak of the Dao Foundation stage, intensified his assault even more, unleashing a thunderbolt straight at his head. To everyone’s surprise, Wei Yuan neither dodged nor evaded the attack—he took the bolt head on!

When the lightning faded, Wei Yuan was only a little singed. However, a scholar and a towering warrior had appeared on either side of the attacker, each wielding a rotary sword cannon.

Wei Yuan raised the Crimson Night Slayer of Immortals and, harnessing its immortal might, pinned the chiliarch in place with The Beginning of Myriad Autumns. Instantly, the chiliarch was engulfed by not one, but two torrents of flying swords. As if that wasn’t enough, the two Dragon Guards were each swinging a greatsword with one hand while firing their sword cannons with the other. It took only moments before the chiliarch perished in combat.

The two reinforcing chiliarchs had been firmly held in check by Xuan Tongzi and the other Avatar Trueman, which was why they were unable to come to his aid. With the fall of a chiliarch, the Liao finally retreated and brought the great battle to a close.

In this engagement, the Liao left behind 3,000 corpses and one chiliarch, while Wei Yuan’s losses amounted to fewer than 200. A post-examination of the bodies revealed that most of the Liao had been killed by the flying swords fired by the Dao Foundation stage warriors; fewer than 200 had died from bows and crossbows.

The Liao were much quieter over the next two days, leaving Wei Yuan with truly nothing to do. He even had to resort to studying the layout of the Liao encampments to pass the time.

This time, no matter how much Wei Yuan provoked them, Liao forces maintained a strict defensive stance and refused to engage him in battle. However, the sectors outside Wei Yuan’s defense zones were subjected to a series of fierce attacks

By the time Wei Yuan rushed over to provide support, the Liao forces had already gone quiet again. After this back-and-forth occurred several times, Wei Yuan grew wary, realizing that the Liao forces weren’t truly afraid of him, but were instead trying to find a weakness in his movements so they could ambush and kill him in one fell swoop.

The enemy Liao commanding general was truly a master of strategy. After suffering just a minor setback, he had immediately adjusted his tactics and never again given Wei Yuan an opening to exploit. Wei Yuan himself dared not venture beyond the mountain gate because he suspected that the moment he stepped outside, the woman shrouded in lightning would immediately descend from the heavens.

Amid this stalemate, on the seventh day, news arrived that True Lord Xuan Yue had emerged from seclusion and summoned Wei Yuan.

When they met again, True Lord Xuan Yue looked as ethereal and graceful as ever, with mist swirling at the tips of his long eyebrows. Upon seeing Wei Yuan, True Lord Xuan Yue could not help but rise to his feet, step before him, and scrutinize him from head to toe before exclaiming, “Good, good, good! It’s truly good that you’re back!”

Wei Yuan keenly noticed that a pale flame was burning steadily deep within True Lord Xuan Yue’s pupils and hurriedly asked, “Founder, is that fire...?”

True Lord Xuan Yue chuckled. “It’s because of your little incident, of course! Back then, this old man took the initiative to provoke them, and that Sky Warlock certainly did not hold back—he really went all out on me. Too bad for them, it would take much more than just this bit of fire to burn this old man to death!”

Wei Yuan understood immediately. True Lord Xuan Yue had shouldered a significant portion of the Great Karmic Curse. Otherwise, he might not have been able to withstand it at the time.

Wei Yuan then said, “I’ve earned some Heaven Merits this time, which can be exchanged for merits or immortal silver. I was wondering if I should use some of it to repay part of the immortal silver I owe. I would like to leave the decision up to you, Founder.”

True Lord Xuan Yue chuckled. “Oh, you’re such a filial child! Earning Heaven Merits is always a good thing. How much have you earned this time? Let this old man take a look... Hmm... Hmm?!!”

True Lord Xuan Yue’s two long eyebrows shot up in surprise as he exclaimed, “Did you slay some old demon or something?”

Exchanging Heaven Merits to merits, then merits to immortal silver would net him over 1,000 taels. Even now, with the war raging and all kinds of merits increasing dramatically, meaning that the exchange rate for immortal silver was worse than before, it should still amount to 1,000 taels.

Even slaying an ordinary True Lord yielded no more than 5,000 Heaven Merits. However, Wei Yuan had earned 10,000 Heaven Merits in one go. Had he killed two early-stage True Lords, or one mid-stage old monster?

Wei Yuan replied, “I killed several Avatars this time. One of them seemed a bit strong.” He then briefly and concisely recounted the events.

True Lord Xuan Yue asked for some details, then praised him, “Good, very good! You may not realize this, but killing a genius Avatar like Dragonhawk is worth more than killing two early-stage True Lords! In this regard, I must say that the Palace’s Heavenly Merit tally is flawed. Still, you’ve performed a great service for the Palace this time, and I’m glad to see that old rascal, Dan Ming, hasn’t completely lost his head. He at least knows to grant you an additional reward.

“Keep the Heaven Merits you’ve earned to yourself and use it as you see fit. As for the Heaven Merits that old rascal Dan Ming gave you, you can hand it over to the hall for repairs. It’s not good for the main hall to lie in ruins all the time.”

The Skyblue Hall collapsed?” Wei Yuan was taken aback.

“That day, in order to block the Great Karmic Curse, I drew a bit too much of the hall’s fortune and caused it to collapse. But it’s no big deal. We can always rebuild it.” True Lord Xuan Yue truly didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

The founder took another close look at Wei yuan and gasped in surprise, “You’ve already reached completion of the spirit nurturing stage?”

Wei Yuan replied, “I devoured some blood qi and an Avatar, which led to a breakthrough in my cultivation.”

True Lord Xuan Yue’s expression grew stern, taking on a rare air of gravity, and he said, “How did you devour them? Tell me the details.”

Seeing how serious the True Lord was acting, Wei Yuan dared not conceal anything and recounted everything related to the True Dragon descendants in full detail. However, he did not mention the matter between himself and Zhang Sheng.

True Lord Xuan Yue meticulously examined Wei Yuan’s body and then looked into his sea of consciousness. However, when his perception entered, he was extremely cautious and strictly adhered to the rules of propriety—he did not look at the full moon nor at the girl, Yin Yang. He merely showed a moment of surprise when he saw the tens of thousands of ordinary mortals before withdrawing.

1. A reminder that tendon really means nerve in our world. As the author specifically differentiated them I cannot simply translate it all as nerves. ☜