Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 130 - 127: The Literary Dragon, Singing Rhyme Child

Chapter 130: Chapter 127: The Literary Dragon, Singing Rhyme Child

Wang Yuan handed the makeup box-like "Money Box" into the hands of Lady Peach Fairy, entrusting her to manage this treasure.

He stood up and gazed at the vast city walls shrouded by a boundless curtain of rain, separated by the wide expanse of Luoshui.

After dispelling the first wave of Tribulation Energy, they were aware that today’s Luoyang City was a whirlpool, yet they didn’t rush to strategically relocate.

After all, how could there be any unbroken eggs in a nest that has been overturned?

The most crucial point was, if one didn’t even know when the nest would collapse or in which direction it would fall, death would be both unexpected and unjust.

Many from small sects and households, who didn’t have the qualifications to be chess players in troubled times, came here with pretty much the same idea in mind.

Those truly qualified to wrestle with the Dynasty needed to be the sects!

After experiencing the first Calamity, Wang Yuan had come to realize deeply.

Having obtained the "Small Book of Life and Death" to cultivate the "Earthly Que Golden Book," he was essentially just a crossing pawn amidst the opposition of Heaven and Earth.

The world was one of duality, of Yin Yang inversion, but victory had not yet been completely determined.

The underlying hue of the Great Dao was neither entirely white nor completely black but a chaotic gray.

All Cultivators and the entire world were like tightrope walkers; with every individual that mutated into a Fallen Demon, the world slid a little further towards chaos and weirdness.

If he could bleed the opposing force of the demonized world by sending them to soak in the San Tu River through resolving one Calamity after another,

it would indeed be possible to let the Dao soar to the skies while providing the world with a respite.

Therefore, from now on, he was destined to dance along with various "Calamities."

Especially now, as he was newly initiated into the path and still quite feeble, only surviving in the crevices between all factions.

If he failed to grasp the grand situation, to understand the times, and plunged headlong into a vortex, he would likely meet his end in the Netherworld with no chance for redress.

At this moment, it was Noon.

With the sound of a deep and ethereal Dragon Roar echoing in his ears,

Wang Yuan saw, amidst the smoke and rain that had barely ceased since early summer, something indescribable and colossal suddenly heave itself over.

In the "eyes as deep as azure," a hint of its massive form came into view.

It resembled a gigantic, long-neglected machine that hadn’t moved in many years.

Now, as it started up again, it inevitably produced a grating screech of parts grinding together.

"This... the image manifested by the Dragon Qi Prohibition seems somewhat familiar?"

Wang Yuan took out the White Jade Scroll engraved with Taoyuan and shone a beam of Heart Light upon it.

Immediately, the image of a Yellow Dragon fiercely colliding with the "Undying Tree," carrying the sun and moon on its back, was imprinted upon his heart.

The "Dragon Qi Prohibition," guarding the myriad people, clearly had deep connections to the Underworld.

The next moment,

Roar—!

It wasn’t just Luoyang City; throughout the Great Yan Realm, the sounds of Dragon Roars followed one after another.

For a while, they attracted the attention of great figures in Immortal Dao, Outer Demons, Heavenly Officials, Earth Spirits...

Although others couldn’t see what the Great Sacrificial Officer at the heart of the Capital was like,

after brewing for a full Two Hours,

suddenly the Dragon Roars transformed into a somber human voice:

"Imperial Decree: Sacrificial Technique! Five Grains Harvest! Open!"

This Imperial Decree spread from the Capital to the state cities of Jiuzhou, from state cities to hundreds of Prefecture Cities, and from there to thousands of counties...

Visible pillars of golden light burst skywards from all major cities within the Great Yan Realm.

In an instant,

the heartfelt desire of all Yan Han people for a Five Grains Harvest seemed to replace the indifferent Will of Heaven at that moment, starting to stir the winds and clouds.

The rain, which had inundated the north for so long, began to move southward while the dry heat of the south began to retreat step by step.

To replace Heaven’s Will with the people’s will!

In this unusual natural disaster caused by the Little Ice Age, the increasingly decrepit Court finally seemed to show the commoners a glimmer of hope!

...

As the clouds over Luoyang began to scatter,

armies fully armed and brimming with the aura of battle and fire rapidly ascended the city walls under the direction of their officers, poised for action.

"Form up, load the powder!"

Officers, with long swords and short firearms at their sides, gave their commands unceasingly.

Upon hearing the order, the Soldiers stood up their Firearms, filled them with gunpowder, and loaded the bullets.

The Thunderclap Cannons, which had been placed atop the city walls a long time ago, had their rain covers removed, revealing their fierce muzzles to the outside world.

Clearly, these Soldiers were not the decadent Garrison Soldiers who had originally been stationed in Luoyang City, but a battle-hardened Border Army!

The military defense of Great Yan was mainly divided into two parts: the Capital Camp and the Border Army, each roughly accounting for half of the Court’s military strength.

As for the other local Garrison forces, they lacked both the war-hardened experience of the Border Army and the resource supply of the Capital Camp, rendering their combat capability almost negligible.

In fact, during times of peace, strong local Garrisons were more of a liability than an asset to the Dynasty’s rule.

The Emperor only needed to firmly control the Capital Camp and the Border Army stationed at the Nine Borders to secure his rule.

Should any part of Divine Land face turmoil, an immediate thunderous strike would be dealt!

The Capital Camp was stationed outside of Yunjing City, at Emperor’s Ridge.

It is said, "When the Capital Camp is deployed, all directions submit in terror."

Most of the thirty-six camps of Great Yan Daoist Soldiers are part of the Capital Camp. Nie Hongying and her subordinates, the "White Tiger Elite Soldiers," started from Emperor’s Ridge and accompanied the Winter Official here.

And half a month ago.

After receiving a report of a gathering of evildoers within Luoyang City, the Court immediately dispatched a nearby Border Army for defense.

In addition to a small number of Daoist Soldiers from the "Iron Cavalry Camp" of the thirty-six camps, the main force was a Firearms Camp with a total of 2700 people.

Equipped with 1800 stands of Thunderclap Cannons (infantry firearms), 4500 pounds of combined powder, and 500,000 eight-coin lead shots;

stands of rapid-fire cannons (multi-barreled firearms), 400 pounds of combined powder; 200 handheld cannons (personal defense firearms for artillerymen); 80 "General of the Cups" (field cannons).

Enough for a major battle.

"Magnificent!"

"With such military might, demons and heretics are not worth mentioning!"

Even Prefect Song and Commander Cui, who were patrolling the city, felt a sense of relief upon seeing this army.

This is because ordinary soldiers had almost no power to resist in the face of Daoist Soldiers and Magicians.

Therefore, since the beginning of the uprising led by the Great Yan Ancestor, with the strong support of "Taiyin Xuanbing Dao," there has been a vast development of various firearms.

To this day, the rate of firearms among the infantry in the Border Army has already exceeded fifty percent.

Perhaps in field battles, these troops, equipped with firearms, can still be slaughtered by the highly mobile non-human Daoist Soldiers, but they are more valuable when defending cities and passes.

Most importantly, maintaining firearms is a hundred times cheaper than maintaining Daoist Soldiers!

The saying goes, "A starving camel is still larger than a horse." Even now, with continuous disasters and rebellions across the land, the power of the Great Yan Dynasty remains unquestionably the greatest in the world.

It boasts terrifying military strength in direct confrontations, capable of extinguishing any Taoist Sect’s mountain temple within the realm and only suffering minor injuries itself.

Otherwise, those heretics outside wouldn’t need to be inciting rebellions and sending people to probe weaknesses—they would have joined forces to attack and consume this leviathan long ago.

Outside the City God Temple.

For the sake of that sister who refused to learn calligraphy and embroidery, and instead filled her stomach with strategic and patriotic thoughts, and is now even emulating those who nobly sacrifice themselves...

General Wu Yi, Nie Renxiong, accompanied by his three trusted subordinates, endured the severe depletion of Taoist Skill from the "Dragon Qi Prohibition" and also stood guard here.

"Alas! The heroism of a brave woman shames us men!"

Watching the female general’s figure, the dark-skinned "Bear" could not decide whether to feel relieved or to sigh deeply with a headache.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

He turned around and knocked on the heads of each of his three subordinates, signaling them to retract their covetous gazes from his sister.

In the main hall of the City God Temple, just a wall away.

The aged Winter Official was kneeling under the statue, silently praying and meditating, sensing the subtle changes in the hub of Dragon Energy.

The Winter Official, who was capable of Casting, clearly was not among the Magicians who would fiercely conflict with Dragon Energy.

He was a Scholar who possessed a special Borrowing Technique—[Literati Ascension to Dragon Technique]!

Similar to the Curse Doctors of the Divination Department who practice Divination Skill, fundamentally, they were also Borrowing Technique.

The only difference being that the objects of borrowing for Curse Doctors are usually the local Human Ghost City Gods, whereas the [Literati Ascension to Dragon Technique] borrows "Dragon Qi Prohibition."

The [Sacrificial Technique for a Bountiful Harvest of Five Grains] was essentially the Great Sacrificial Officer performing [Literati Ascension to Dragon Technique] on behalf of the Emperor.

Because the Casting consumes Dragon Energy, even at the peak of the nation’s power, there were only a few capable of practicing this skill.

Typically, only when there is a vacancy, will they recruit successors, never carelessly bestowing the skill.

Suddenly, the Winter Official opened his eyes and looked at the void before him, shouting lowly:

"As commanded by the Scholar on the Literati Platform, one may hold the King’s Axe! Great Yan’s Divination! Nation’s destiny, push forward!"

A fictitious Literati Platform rose above his head, with endless characters flowing back and forth.

"The Great Yan’s Number is fifty, using forty-nine thereof.

Split to represent two, a notch for three, shaken four times representing the four seasons, returning the surplus to the notch to represent the intercalary, leap twice after five years, hence shake again before notching..."

Lines of dragons, either in fields, in depths, or in heavens...

Gradually formed a hexagram in the sky.

[Literati Ascension to Dragon Technique] relies on a single point of Heart Light to build the Literati Platform, with greater accumulation correlating to stronger Ability.

The Winter Official, from the Gongyang School, specialized in the "Spring and Autumn Annals" as well as "The Book of Changes", ranking as one of the few in the entire Great Yan Court most adept in that field.

However, at the moment when the hexagram took shape,

Outside the already closed city gates of Luoyang, seven or eight Singing Rhyme Children suddenly appeared. They sang in unison:

"Braving wind and rain, they return as they leave, tirelessly toiling like swallow flies; Once the mound is formed from the collected mud, in the end, it collapses back to mud!"

After singing, they slipped through the cracks in the city gate and scattered in all directions like smoke.

Soon, the same rhyme began to echo over the entire city of Luoyang.

As though the song was sung here, sung there, sung by everyone.

Witnessing this bizarre scene from a hill across the river, Wang Yuan’s pupils constricted.

Lady Peach Fairy even exclaimed in shock:

"It’s the unsolvable Weirdness: Singing Rhyme Child! A Sect has made its move! It must be the No-Life Dao, focusing on rebellion for over a thousand years!"

Then, the Tribulation Energy above Wang Yuan’s head also began to condense once more at this moment.