Dragon Canon

Prior to beginning the exploration of the grotto-heaven, Wei Yuan had set up a few traps outside. Only then did he feel confident enough to lead his group through the entrance into the fragment of the grotto-heaven.

A thousand li away, in a hidden location, an old man covered in wounds materialized in midair. Upon landing, he lost his balance and nearly stumbled on his feet. Several people emerged from a building in the hidden location to support him, asking, “Seventh Elder[1], how did you sustain such severe injuries?”

The old man grunted and pushed away those supporting him. He said, “They’re just flesh wounds; nothing to worry about! I wasn’t expecting them to come out in full force—they had even brought their sole Avatar Trueman. Naturally, I suffered a minor setback. Still, thanks to this battle, they’ll surely believe that a great treasure resides within the grotto-heaven fragment and obediently enter the place, exactly as I planned. And once they’re inside, hmph! They’ll not come out!”

A younger disciple nearby whispered, “Elder, your wounds are still bleeding.”

“Like I said, it’s just some minor wounds. Prepare some hot water; I need a bath and a change of clothes.” The old man ignored his still-bleeding wounds and strode into the room with his head held high.

The Seventh Elder was famous for his vanity. This was his way of showing that his injuries weren’t serious. However, judging by the trail of bloodstained footprints on the floor and the fact that his blood was turning a bluish hue by the second, they looked anything but minor.

After entering the room and closing the door, the Seventh Elder quickly took off his clothes and examined his wounds. He was startled to find many of the wounds had turned bluish black and completely numb—no wonder he hadn’t felt much pain earlier!

Cursing Wei Yuan’s cruelty, the Seventh Elder tried to search for his antidote pills. Just then, a searing pain shot through his perception, causing him to grow dizzy and collapse face first!

Faced with the peril of death, the Seventh Elder summoned astonishing willpower. He somehow managed to crawl to the door, push it open, and extend a hand. Only then did he allow himself to lose consciousness.

Outside the grotto-heaven, Sun Yu suddenly sensed a disturbance in his merit booklet. When he scanned it, he was surprised to find that he had just received an influx of Heaven Merits. Where had it come from? Without time to ponder further on the subject, he followed the others into the grotto-heaven.

Wei Yuan passed through dark ripples that were floating in the air. The scene before him shifted, and he found himself in another world.

Ahead of him stood a towering gate crafted entirely of white jade and ten zhang high. It bore four large words: “Vast Sky Grotto-Heaven.” Wei Yuan looked behind him and saw only a layer of faint mist. It was the boundary of the grotto-heaven.

At the moment, the mist was churning erratically. Sometimes, it was so thin that the black void behind it was revealed. Unlike the Void of the Outside, this void was the gap between the grotto-heaven and the Homeworld. If someone was swept into it, they would likely never escape.

Just then, Trueman Chu He, Sun Yu, and the others gradually materialized into existence, emerging from nothingness and solidifying into form. He was able to witness the entire entry process from the start until the end.

Ji Liuli looked around and said, “We’re in luck; this must be a side entrance into the grotto-heaven. Be careful though; there are likely traps nearby, and there’s no saying if they’re still active or not.”

Wei Yuan also performed a mental divination. The result indicated that there were no immediate danger. However, he had little confidence in his own divination skills, so he quietly slipped on a bracelet. It was actually a feng shui array infused with the aura of the Red Lotus Bodhi. It could enhance his fortune and save him in times of danger.

Behind the white jade gate, a broad road sloped gently upward, leading to a small town not far away. Judging by the number of houses in the town, at least several thousand people had lived here. The town was fully equipped with taverns, restaurants, and all kinds of shops. The roads were all paved with limestone and wide enough for two horse carriages to pass side by side. One could imagine how prosperous it had been.

This was likely where the ordinary disciples and mortal servants had resided. Following the main road upward, there were large clumps of palaces and pavilions at the mountaintop—that was the heart of the grotto-heaven.

The terrain within the grotto-heaven consisted of gentle slopes, with the highest point reaching no more than two or three hundred zhang. Between the small town at the foot of the mountain palaces at the summit lay a gentle slope stretching a couple dozen li. The steeper sections, where spirit qi was clearly abundant, had been terraced for cultivation of spirit herbs and plants. The rest were used for growing spirit rice. However, the cultivated plots were rather limited presumably due to insufficient spirit qi.

The sky above the grotto-heaven remained pretty bright. It looked like it was mid-morning or so. However, a distinct dividing line was visible on the distant horizon, beyond which lay a dark void. It was a vast expanse of shifting light and shadow, deep and ominous, like a gaping wound that existed above the grotto-heaven—one that was slowly expanding no less.

In time, this grotto-heaven fragment would be devoured by the void and vanish from the world entirely.

After entering the small town, Wei Yuan picked a random mystic artifact shop, smashed the wooden board sealing the door, and stepped inside. The shop was quite spacious, and the counter and shelves were of exquisite craftsmanship. However, the shelves lay completely empty, devoid of any merchandise. The area behind the counter was also spotless. It was clear that everything had been cleared away.

There were other signs of removal in the shop. For example, the light fixtures that had been mounted on the walls were gone, presumably removed. The entire shop was just an empty shell—anything of even slight value had been taken. However, it seemed that the shop owner had intended to return to the shop and resume business, as the counter and shelves had been left in place, and the door had been carefully sealed shut.

After inspecting one shop, Wei Yuan knew the rest were more or less the same. Perhaps there were hidden treasures left behind in some secluded spots, but the likelihood was slim.

A thorough search of the town would take considerable time, but the advantage of bringing such a large group came into play at this moment. Wei Yuan made a sweeping gesture with his hand, and over a hundred Dao Foundation stage cultivators scattered throughout the town to conduct a search.

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan accompanied Trueman Chu He to inspect the spirit fields. The spirit fields in the mountains, once used to cultivate spirit rice, lay completely abandoned and overgrown with weeds. When Trueman Chu He bent down, scooped up a handful of soil, and examined it, he said, “There’s little spirit qi left in the earth. Perhaps the spirit gathering array had lost its effectiveness after the grotto-heaven shattered, or maybe it had been destroyed on purpose during the evacuation.”

With the fields now nothing but a thicket of weeds and little to see, Wei Yuan and Trueman Chu He headed toward the spirit herb field next. Trueman Chu He’s little cat was following behind them in a contented stroll, when suddenly, it turned its head to look behind them, fur bristling. However, it couldn’t detect anything.

After communicating with the cat for a moment, Trueman Chu He said, “A shattered grotto-heaven is fraught with danger. However, the greatest peril lies with the void. It may have sensed that an area is about to shatter and become exposed to the void.”

“Trueman, where is the peerless treasure you sensed?”

Trueman Chu He gave him a wry smile. “A grotto-heaven is a world in its own right. The moment I entered this place, my mystic ability automatically became ineffective. Otherwise, this old Daoist would have explored this place a long time ago....”

So, he wanted to monopolize the goods for himself... Wei Yuan thought. But then again, people didn’t rise early unless there was money to be gained; it was only natural for the old Daoist to have his own plans. Considering the abundant spirit qi contributed by those few patches of nether soil, Wei Yuan could easily tolerate some greed.

Upon reaching the edge of the herb garden, Wei Yuan felt strangely uncomfortable for some reason. His body felt sticky and damp as if he hadn’t bathed in days. It felt like he was plagued by curses, or something bad was about to happen.

For this reason, Wei Yuan didn’t hurry into the herb garden. Instead, he tried casting a divination spell on the spot but yielded no result. Just as Trueman Chu He had said, a grotto-heaven was a separate world on its own, and many spells and arrays were ineffective within it. This was also a key means by which many grotto-heavens defended themselves against external enemies.

Seeing that he could not divine any danger, Wei Yuan placed a drop of white-gold sap into his bracelet. He was borrowing the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree’s power to boost his fortune and ward off any unknown risks.

Wei Yuan’s movements were discreet, and Trueman Chu He’s full attention was on the herb garden. As a result, he did not notice what the young man had done. Upon entering the herb garden, the old Daoist became visibly excited. “The standards of these herb fields are quite impressive,” he said. “The Xu Clan has certainly sunk a significant amount of investment into these lands! Hehe, they may have taken all the spirit herbs with them when they left, but some spirit herbs can regrow as long as a single root remains! Let this old Daoist see if anything has slipped through the net—”

As he spoke, the old Daoist suddenly missed a step and tumbled down to the next tier of terraces.

The little cat rushed to save him, but as it leaped, its hind paws suddenly slipped, and it tumbled down as well.

But Trueman Chu He was too excited to care about his disheveled state. He immediately scrambled to his feet and resumed his search. After a thorough search, he actually managed to discover several regrowing spirit roots. They were all upper-grade spirit herbs that were useful even for a True Lord and of the same grade as the Red Jade Lantern and the variant Star Dragon Tree.

Besides that, there was an unexpected windfall. In a small corner of the field, Trueman Chu He had discovered dozens of Earth Net Red Flowers. They were mid-grade spirit plants and the primary ingredient for qi-restoring pills used by cultivators at the Dao Foundation stage. This patch of Earth Net Red Flowers must have just been planted when the evacuation happened. That was why no one noticed them and took them away. A few years after that, they had all sprouted.

Trueman Chu He carefully dug up the tender sprouts, wrapped them, and tossed them to Wei Yuan. The old Daoist had zero interest in spirit plants of this caliber not because they were worthless, but because he now valued only the rarest types of spirit plants; the only types of spirit plants that could aid in his cultivation.

“I’ll trade these spirit herbs for a single leaf of your Bay Laurel Immortal Tree. If it’s not enough, I’ll make up the difference with what I’ve grown on the six plots of nether soil.”

“No problem.” Wei Yuan agreed without hesitation. He didn’t know what the old Daoist had grown on those six plots of nether soil, but it was definitely better than your average upper-grade spirit plants. It might not be top-grade, but it couldn’t be far off.

The old Daoist leaped lightly, preparing to climb up a tier. However, his foot caught on the edge of the terraced field, and he fell to the ground once more.

“Strange, strange. What’s gotten into this old Daoist today?” Trueman Chu He felt as if his body was drunk, yet his mind was clear as day. Just then, a meow sounded from behind him. As it turned out, his cat had slipped again as it leaped. As a result, it failed to gain enough height and crashed headfirst into the edge of the terraced field, tumbling down once more.

Wei Yuan pointed toward the palace above and said, “The ground is level up there.”

Trueman Chu He thought that his words made sense and so did not delve into the matter. He followed Wei Yuan out of the herb garden and headed toward the palace to explore.

But as soon as they left the herb garden, Wei Yuan acted with lightning speed and yanked the old Daoist aside—just in time to dodge a floating shadow that had appeared out of nowhere.

Trueman Chu He broke out in a cold sweat. The shadow was a manifestation of the void. If it had struck him, he might have lost a whole chunk of flesh, and if it had appeared inside his body, he would have been severely injured, if not killed outright.

Still shaken, the old Daoist wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said, “Thank you, Junior Nephew!”

“We should reunite with the others first,” Wei Yuan replied.

By now, Wei Yuan realized that the sap of an immortal tree was a little too potent. After it was incorporated into his feng shui array, Trueman Chu He’s fortune didn’t just plummet to the bottom, it had fallen straight into a bottomless abyss. Without exaggeration, the old Daoist might die of natural causes if he stayed with Wei Yuan any longer.

The old Daoist couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong with himself, but his instincts were screaming danger. So, he reluctantly set aside his desire to monopolize some treasures and followed Wei Yuan toward the palace.

Outside the palace on the mountaintop, all the cultivators of the Palace of Absolute Beginning had already gathered. They were just waiting for Wei Yuan and Trueman Chu He.

Suddenly, Ji Liuli let out a startled, “Huh?” and frowned. “Something’s off. Why is my fortune waning non-stop?”

Everyone else also sensed the oddity and immediately took measures to counteract it.

Ji Liuli activated her array disc and reinforced her feng shui.

Zhang Sheng summoned his four immortal swords and stabilized his fortune and the elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind.

Yu Zhizhuo produced a meteorite from the Beyond and used it as a shield. If someone were to strike him with a blade, they would most likely hit the meteorite instead. In this world, there were very few things that were harder than it.

Sun Yu stepped away from the group and lit a stick of Devil-Eroding God-Annihilating Incense.

Feng Tingyu’s countermeasure was the simplest of them all. She simply flashed an innocent, pure smile.

As the saying went, youth is full of joy. The disciples of the Bright King Hall all had pure, innocent hearts because their brains were mostly muscle. For this reason, they all possessed innate good fortune.

Everyone employed their own methods, and at last, they managed to halt their steadily declining fortune. Just then, Wei Yuan and Truman Chu He reached the group. Seeing their peculiar postures, a puzzled Wei Yuan asked, “What are you all doing—”

Before he could finish, Trueman Chu He suddenly let out a cry of surprise and slipped, falling flat on the ground.

A faint shadow appeared in the air, its claw reaching out to strike Wei Yuan. However, Wei Yuan just happened to stop in his tracks and turned to look at Trueman Chu He, so the shadow struck empty air and instead lunged toward the old Daoist on the ground.

1. Xu Guanwen, the Sixth Elder has been dead since chapter 114 or so btw. ☜

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