Dragon Canon

Chapter 330: Refining the National Fortune

The swift demise of a Great Warlock sent a wave of terror through the rest of the Great Warlocks. They stopped holding back.

A mist of blood erupted from one Great Warlock’s body and engulfed Trueman Chu He before he could react, scorching him until he screamed in agony. The snake and its opponent traded forceful blows with each other and took damage to their mystic bodies. During this time, the Great Warlock seized the opportunity to break free.

The cat moved like lightning, dodging its opponent’s full-powered strike and even landing two counter swipes that flung the Great Warlock back to their original position.

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan suddenly turned back to the battlefield after pushing Shui Hou away. The Great Warlock realized his mistake and tried to engage him in combat, but by then Wei Yuan had already crossed back into Qingming’s domain and was flying much faster than before.

Trusting in his combat instincts, Wei Yuan ignored Trueman Chu He, whose aura was rapidly plummeting, and instead lunged at the Great Warlock that was locked in combat with the cat.

The Great Warlock was already at a disadvantage in the first place, and they were lugging around a massive body that was neither particularly swift nor agile. When they saw Wei Yuan charging them, they instantly panicked and tried to escape. But just as he was about to flee, four immortal swords rained down around him and pinned him in place. Despite not having communicated at all beforehand, both master and disciple had unanimously chosen to eliminate the weakest target first.

The Great Warlock was covered head to toe in thick, insect-like carapace. He also possessed a robust life force and formidable defenses. As a result, Zhang Sheng’s four swords only stripped away half of its lifeforce.

Trueman Chu He’s cat swiped twice with all it got, yet it could barely scratch its carapace.

Wei Yuan drew the Crimson Night Slayer of Immortals, and the slender immortal sword suddenly looked like it weighed 10,000 jun in his hands! While holding the sword upside down, he thrust it into the void in front of him like he was planting a mountain into the ground.

A sense of foreboding so intense it felt as if their heart would explode gripped the Great Warlock. They desperately tried to flee, but as Wei Yuan’s immortal sword descended, their body only grew heavier and heavier. In the blink of an eye, it felt as though he were carrying a boulder weighing hundreds of thousands of catties on his back.

The Crimson Night Slayer of Immortals finally plunged upright into the void. Wei Yuan then flicked his finger against the blade and unleashed The End of All Vicissitudes for the first time.

An intangible sword intent enveloped the Great Warlock and instantly covered their entire carapace in dense, fine cracks. It wasn’t just their surface that was covered in cracks either—their whole body was broken from the inside out!

With just one strike of The End of All Vicissitudes—a technique he had only just begun to grasp—Wei Yuan had severely wounded the Great Warlock. Immediately afterward, he raised the Immaculate Pure Land, thrust it forward, and ripped a massive hole in the middle of their body.

Seeing that the Great Warlock was on the verge of death, Wei Yuan did not hesitate to grab them and fling them toward the Cui clansmen.

However, the Great Warlock’s body suddenly jerked midway through its tumble and slightly altered its trajectory. As a result, it crashed directly into the midst of the group. The spoiled wastrels were so terrified that they scattered in all directions, panicking like chickens with their heads cut off or pigs fleeing from a wolf, completely forgetting the fact that they possessed various mystic arts.

Unfortunately, the Great Warlock’s life was already flickering like a dying candle in the wind after suffering a series of grievous blows in rapid succession. The sheer lethality of The End of All Vicissitudes had exceeded Wei Yuan’s expectations as well. As a result, the Great Warlock had perished before they even hit the ground.

Wei Yuan had no time to dwell on his failure to sell more Heaven Merits. Instead, he flew at full speed toward the rear of the Shaman city, then ordered 20,000 elite troops to flank the city from either side and cut off their retreat. After that, he flew above the rendezvous point and faced down three Great Warlocks with the Immaculate Pure Land in hand. Although he was outnumbered three to one, he did not show the slightest fear. As long as he was still within Qingming’s domain, the three Great Warlocks would not dare to step inside.

With the Great Warlocks gone, the Shaman city was essentially without a leader. Hence, the railgun array resumed their bombardment, but this time every shell was jam-packed with gunpowder.

Explosions resounded again and again within the Shaman city. Bricks, wood, and the corpses of countless Shamans flew everywhere. It was like the end of the world.

This round of bombardment focused on the city walls. Since all the submunitions were controlled by cultivators, they could ensure precise targeting and hit wherever the crowds were densest. The Shamans on the walls were completely overwhelmed by the bombardment and suffered heavy casualties.

Amid the fierce bombardment, three elite human forces—each numbering 10,000 troops—began closing in on the walls. The Shamans on the walls were so decimated by the explosions that barely any arrows fell down to stop their advance.

In the blink of an eye, Qingming’s forces had closed within ten-plus zhang of the city walls. They first exchanged fire with any Shaman who dared to peek over the walls, wiping out the archers in an instant. Then, a multitude of soldiers leaped right onto the walls that were several zhang high!

Since the Shaman city currently fell under Qingming’s sphere of influence, the attacking soldiers could all be empowered with Life is a Flash. Their power skyrocketed, and they pounced on top of their enemies like gods and devils.

Most of the soldiers who scaled the walls were Dao Foundation stage cultivators as well. Empowered by Life is a Flash, even the Immortal Sword Fake Sun could slaughter the Shamans—who were only in the Body-tempering stage—like pigs.

Most crucially, the Shamans did not have the support or leadership of a Great Warlock. When Trueman Chu He flew to the city ramparts and unleashed the aura of an Avatar Trueman without reserve, the Shamans’ morale finally collapsed, and they began to scatter and flee in disarray. Many of them rushed toward the western gate, while the physically robust literally leaped over the city walls and fled into the wilderness.

Soon, the three attacking human armies had seized their respective city gates and began mopping up the remaining Shaman forces within the city.

The retreat route for the Shamans fleeing through the western gate had been cut off by 20,000 elite troops personally led by Wei Yuan as well.

The bloody battle raged from noon until dusk. In the end, it ended with large numbers of Shamans fleeing into the wilderness.

Over 60,000 Shamans were killed in this battle, and more than half of them had perished under artillery fire. Fewer than half had actually died by a blade or a Dao spell.

Additionally, 110,000 Shamans had been taken prisoner, almost all of whom were civilians. Regrettably, over 100,000 Shamans still managed to flee into the wilderness. Wei Yuan had pursued them only as far as the edge of Qingming’s domain before calling off the chase. Beyond the boundary lay the Shaman realm where Life is a Flash could not be used, and the humans were the ones who would be at a disadvantage in a drawn-out fight. Thus, it wasn’t wise to pursue any further.

The three Great Warlocks, seeing that the situation was hopeless, had already retreated long ago.

Wei Yuan led his forces back to the Shaman city and ordered his troops to mop up the remaining enemies within it. He himself made his way to the grand altar in the city center.

After months of construction, the grand altar had reached a considerable scale. It was 100 zhang in circumference and 50 zhang in height. Directly to the north of the altar stood a large temple. The battle inside the temple was still raging; many Warlocks and their personal guards and suicide warriors were hiding there.

Nearly all the disciples of the Skyblue Hall were fighting inside the temple. With hundreds of Dao Foundation stage cultivators under their command, they fought room to room and drove the remaining enemies all the way to the rear of the temple. There, they slaughtered them all.

The disciples of the Skyblue Hall were exceptional in combat as a matter of course, not to mention that they had a natural penchant for battle. In fact, launching an assault against a temple like this was extremely dangerous. Nearly every Skyblue Hall disciple bore injuries on their bodies, and one even had an arm burned off by a Shaman spell.

A limb destroyed by a shamanic spell was truly lost. Even if it was regenerated with a Dao spell, the cultivator would have to retrain it from scratch.

In any case, only sporadic skirmishes remained in the city now.

Wei Yuan stood at the center of the grand altar. Before him lay a massive mystic array with runes that were cast from metal. In the center of the array was a hole where a segment of flesh—it kinda looked like a lizard’s tail—was writhing constantly and struggling to break free.

It was at this moment a huge cat the size of a small hill came crashing down from the sky and meowed its opinion: I want it braised.

The snake appeared next and insisted on slicing the meat, dipping it in sauce, and eating it raw. Its reasoning was sound: good ingredients should be enjoyed for their natural flavor.

Trueman Chu He landed last and suggested cutting the flesh in half so that they could both enjoy their fill. As usual, the guy was decisively indecisive.

The flesh was a segment left behind by the Great Warlock Shui Hou. It was a full half a zhang in girth, and it was impossible to say how much more remained inside the altar until they physically removed it. Shui Hou’s mystic body was shaped like a giant serpent, and when they initially spotted Wei Yuan, they had frantically pulled out over 10 zhang of it from the hole. Alas, they ran out of time and had to make the ruthless decision of slicing off the remaining portion.

Wei Yuan summoned several cultivators to hook the segment of flesh with giant hooks and pulled it out bit by bit. When all was said and done, it turned out to be five zhang long!

When it came to processing the physical bodies of Great Warlocks, none were more skilled than Trueman Chu He and Sun Yu. So, Wei Yuan handed the body over to Trueman Chu He before grabbing the bronze ring cast into the ground array patterns. Exhaling and letting out a loud cry, he gave it a mighty tug and successfully lifted the 10,000 catties heavy array hub into the air, revealing a passageway that led underground.

The altar was the holiest place to a Shaman. Ordinary members were forbidden to set foot there. Only Great Warlocks and a very small number of Warlocks with noble bloodline were permitted to enter its interior.

Wei Yuan walked through the entrance and descended the stairs. This was the first time he had obtained a grand altar intact.

The interior of the altar was hollow and bathed in bright light thanks to the wall lamps powered by mystic energy lining the four walls. Vertical array patterns adorned the walls, and more were etched into the floor. This three-dimensional, cage-like array structure was unique to the Shamans. The human race had long attempted to imitate it but had never succeeded, managing only to construct some rudimentary three-dimensional arrays.

Numerous grooves were carved into the floor to conduct blood into the central blood pool. A blood lotus with several lotus leaves were growing inside the pool.

Rows of sacrificial tables lined the walls inside the altar. These tables automatically drew blood from the pool, continuously transforming it and dispersing it into Heaven and Earth, which in turn returned ritual energy that was stored within the altar’s mystic array.

Wei Yuan flicked his finger and fired several lumps of Water Blades that destroyed the sacrificial tables. The entire altar emitted a buzzing sound as its operations finally ceased.

As soon as the altar stopped, countless human skeletons floated up from the blood pool, and the stench of blood so dense it was almost tangible gushed out in every direction. At the same time, an ocean of resentment emerged and gradually dispersed into Heaven and Earth.

After dealing with the sacrificial tables, Wei Yuan summoned Trueman Chu He to ask what the blood lotus in the pool was.

The moment Trueman Chu He laid his eyes on the blood lotus, he found himself unable to move.

He walked around the blood pool once before saying, “This must be the Mara Blood Lotus. It only grows in places of extreme evil and wickedness, and where murderous intent brews. However, it is capable of absorbing and releasing the purest worldly origin qi. Look!”

Trueman Chu He gave the blood water in the blood pool a slap and caused ripples to spread out. As the water undulated, a vicious, malevolent aura burst forth from the water, all of which was absorbed by the blood lotus’ leaves. The next moment, threads of origin qi began to seep from the leaves.

“In the past, whenever we obtained a blood lotus, we would often place it in wastelands or cursed lands so that they would gradually transform into blessed and auspicious lands over the course of several centuries. In addition, the Exquisite Blossom Pure Land has a Virtuous Achievement Lotus Pond where this type of blood lotus can also be accumulated for the purpose of accumulating blessings and tweaking fortune. It is unquestionably a priceless fortune-tweaking treasure!”

“Why do the Shamans grow it?” Wei Yuan asked. As far as he could tell, the Mara Blood Lotus seemed to be useful for humans only.

“The Shamans offer humans as sacrifices to their Heaven, and this generates a lot of resentment as a matter of course. Over time, the Great Warlock presiding over the ritual naturally becomes entangled in karmic debt and has to face additional dangers when advancing to the next cultivation level. However, the blood lotus allows them to transform this resentment and blood qi into pure worldly origin qi. That is why it is an essential item for a Shamans’ grand altar.

“Hehe, this is a top-grade spirit plant. In a moment, this old Daoist will collect it and transplant it to Qingming. I think that the plot of land between Sun Yu’s courtyard and the corpse field would be perfect—there’s plenty of resentment there. It does, however, require a small amount of nether soil, so please keep an out for it if you can, Junior Nephew.”

“I’ll leave it to you, Trueman.”

After the grand altar was destroyed, the Shamans in the city became visibly weaker. The mop-up operation proceeded very smoothly as a result. Just then, Ren Suxing hurried over. He hesitated slightly upon seeing Wei Yuan, but he still saluted him and said, “We just discovered a camp where sacrificial offerings are being held captive. We need you to deal with it, Realm Lord.”

Although Ren Suxing’s salute still seemed stiff and forced, it was a world of difference compared to when he first arrived. So, Wei Yuan followed him to a camp in the northwest corner of the city. The camp was surrounded by stone walls, and confined inside were over 10,000 humans!

The humans all looked very young, but they were unusually tall and robust. They also looked strikingly similar to one another, as if they were siblings born of the same parents.

Wei Yuan knew at a glance that they were sacrificial offerings raised by the Shamans themselves. This batch was of exceptionally high quality as well. Every single one of them had reached the peak of the blood-tempering stage, and their collective strength surpassed even that of the youths Wei Yuan had rescued from the grotto-heaven by a minor stage.

When Wei Yuan stepped into the compound, the human sacrifices all turned around to look at him. Their expressions were conspicuously calm. They did not seem to understand what fear or dread was, nor did they show any curiosity. They simply stayed where they were in silence.

“Can we save these people, Senior Uncle Sun?” Wei Yuan asked.

Sun Yu pulled a tall, sturdy youngster to his feet and examined him from head to toe. He then made the youngster hold a slip of paper in his mouth before retrieving it a moment later.

Sun Yu examined the color of the paper slip before answering, “It’s just as I thought. They look tall, but they’re actually not even ten years old. They’re also right at the peak of their vitality and soul powers. This is a batch of superior sacrifices, which is why the Shamans fed them good elixirs and preserved most of their souls and minds. They’ll regain their emotions after a period of rest.”

“Can they fight?” Wei Yuan asked.

“At the moment, no. They have no emotions, don’t know fear, and lack even basic instincts. Sending them into battle would result in heavy casualties, and the cost would far outweigh the benefit. But they’re fine for manual labor.”

“That’s good.” Wei Yuan nodded.

The Shaman city was built to accommodate 600,000 civilians. In fact, it was beginning to look like a metropolis. Thus, mopping up the remaining enemies and taking inventory of the supplies and loot was going to take several days longer. The decision to preserve or destroy the city required careful consideration as well.

Wei Yuan left his troops behind to handle the aftermath. He himself returned to the realm ahead of them.

Just as he flew out of the shaman city, Wei Yuan’s sea of consciousness suddenly trembled, and a surge of clear qi erupted from the Great Realm to merge with the dark-red skies above!

A fine, spirit rain began to fall from the sky. Life stirred within the soil, and numerous green shoots sprouted—shoots that had no counterparts within the realm of Qingming. As the spirit rain continued to fall, the color of the sky faded slightly from dark red to pale red.

Capturing the Shamans’ territory—which was home to 300,000 people—and destroying their central altar constituted a major victory even by the standards of the entire history of Western Jin. Thus, he was able to refine a portion of the national fortune.

After the refinement, Wei Yuan sensed that the rate at which the Great Realm absorbed and released origin qi had accelerated once more. Originally, his progress was four squares[1] per year. It had increased to five squares per year after he obtained the national fortune, and now five-and-a-half squares per year after the refinement. If he factored in the spirit qi contributed by various spirit plants as they matured as well, now he only needed another decade to complete the middle-stage of the Dao Foundation stage.

1. Refer to chapter 309 if you don’t remember what this is about. ☜