Coiling Dragon
Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga
Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
Translated by
Ren Woxing
Wuxiaworld Limited
Copyright © 2018 by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi, translated by Ren Woxing
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Foreword by the Translator
Coiling Dragon is one of the seminal web novels created by famous Chinese web novelist Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi, and I had the honor and privilege to translate this work of fantasy from the original Chinese to English. This was a major undertaking, as the original Chinese text spanned over 3 million characters!
This authorized translation was originally published on www.wuxiaworld.com, where we have many other works of translated Chinese fiction that can be read for free. For Kindle, we have divided up the twenty-one volume set into a total of eight books, all of which are being released in this Summer of 2018.
For the rest of the Coiling Dragon Saga
Book 2 - Dragonblood
Book 3 - Baruch Rising
Book 4 - Gods of Yulan
Book 5 - The Infernal Plane
Book 6 - The Four Divine Beasts
Book 7 - The Planar Wars
Book 8 - Lord of the Mists
Please also feel free to visit us at www.wuxiaworld.com to see many other translated novels, all of which can be read for free!
For another (free) completed work by this author and translator on Wuxiaworld, you can try the story of Ji Ning, ‘Desolate Era’.
Coiling Dragon
I. The Ring
1. Early Morning at a Town
2. The Dragonblood Warrior Clan
3. Growth
4. Coiling Dragon Ring
5. Magical Beast, Velocidragon!
6. Dance of the Fire Serpents
7. The Will of the Mighty
8. The Battle in the Sky
9. Catastrophe
10. The Coiling Dragon Spirit
11. Earth-Style Magic
12. Spring Ends, Autumn Comes
II. Growing Up
13. Magical Beast, Shadowmouse
14. A Clumsy Method
15. The Ernst Institute
16. ‘Bebe’ the Shadowmouse
17. Fenlai City
18. The Magical Aptitude Test
19. The Secret Dragonblood Training Tome
20. Instructions
21. A Congregation of Talents
22. The Bros of Dorm 1987
23. Wind-Style Magic
24. A Learning Period
25. Who is Number One?
26. The Proulx Gallery
27. A Wonderful Surprise
28. The Straight Chisel School
29. Six Years
III. The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts
30. Stone Sculpting
31. A Night at the Jadewater Paradise
32. The Price
33. The Invitation
34. The Journey
35. The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts
36. Wolf Pack
37. Danger
38. Cruelty
39. Bebe’s Prowess
40. The Black Dagger
41. The Foggy Gulch
42. Her Name Was Alice
43. Violet in the Night Wind
IV. The Dragonblood Warrior
44. Coming Home
45. Hogg
46. The Price of a Sculpture
47. The Rose in Winter
48. Experts Everywhere
49. Cracks
50. A Meeting
51. The Desolate Snow
52. Ten Days, Ten Nights
53. Liquefy
54. Returning to the Foggy Valley
55. Forbidden Skies
56. The Gloomy Depths
57. The Armored Razorback Wyrm
58. Viciousness
59. The Draconic Crystal’s Transformation
60. The Dragonblood Warrior
V. The Godsword Bloodviolet
61. The Mysterious Magical Formation
62. The Four Higher Planes
63. Piercing the Heavens
64. Grandmaster Sculptor?
65. Sword Training
66. Applying for Graduation
67. Second in History
68. The Upper Classes of the Yulan Continent
69. Abduction
70. Status
71. A Lack of Money
72. Rage
73. The Old Master
74. The Auction
75. A Sky-High Price
76. An Owner Found
77. Going Home
For the rest of the Coiling Dragon Saga
Part I
The Ring
1
Early Morning at a Town
In the Kingdom of Fenlai, due west of the largest mountain range in the Yulan Continent, the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, there was an ordinary small town known as Wushan.
As the morning sun rose in the town of Wushan, a slight hint of the cold, pure pre-dawn air remained. Despite the chill, nearly every resident of this small town had already left their cozy homes to begin working. Even the six- and seven-year-old children hustled out of their warm beds and were preparing to begin their traditional morning exercises!
A large group of children, somewhere between one and two hundred, gathered on an empty field on the eastern banks of Wushan. The rays of the morning sun broke through the surrounding trees, leaving behind scattered spots of light on the empty ground. The children were divided into three groups, and each group arranged themselves into several equal rows. All the children stood there silently, their faces solemn. The first group of children was comprised of those approximately six years in age, the group in the middle was composed of the nine- to twelve-year-olds, and the third and final group in the back was made up of the older children, those who were aged thirteen to sixteen.
In front of this large group of children, there were three sturdily built middle-aged men clad in short-sleeve shirts and rough cut trousers.
“If you want to be a powerful warrior, then you must work hard from a young age,” coldly stated the leader of the middle-aged men, his head raised high, hands clasped behind his back. He swept his piercing, fierce gaze across the first group of children. All of those young six-year-olds and seven-year-olds pursed their lips while they gazed upon this man with their big, round eyes, none of them daring to make a sound.
The leader’s name was Hillman. He was the Captain of the Guard for the Baruch Clan, the noble clan that owned the town of Wushan.
“All of you are commoners. Unlike those from noble families, you won’t have access to any of the secret manuals that teach you how to cultivate battle-qi. If you want to become someone of worth, if you wish to be respected, then all of you must use the most ancient, most simple, and most basic way of improving yourselves! Exercising your bodies, and building up your strength! Am I clear?!” Hillman swept his eyes over the children, driving the point home with his stare.
“Yes, sir!” the children replied brightly in unison.
“Good.” Satisfied, Hillman gave them a curt and cold nod. The eyes of the six-year-old children still held the confusion of youthful innocence, while the eyes of the teenagers were steeled with determination. They understood the meaning behind Hillman’s words.
Virtually every male in the
Yulan continent would exercise diligently from a very young age. Those who slacked off now would be looked down upon by others in the future. Money and power—these were what determined a man’s status! A man without power would be scorned even by women.
If one wanted their parents to be proud of them, wanted the adoration and worship of women, and wanted to live a glorious life, there was only a single path open. They had to become powerful warriors! Every single one of them were common-folk, with no access to the precious manuals that taught the art of cultivating battle-qi. The only road to glory they had was paved with hard and bitter work, through exercising from a young age and gathering strength! They had to work harder than those nobles and sweat blood and tears in strengthening themselves!
“When the sun rises in the morning, all things begin to thrive. This is the best time to absorb the natural energy from our surroundings and improve the conditioning of our bodies. Same rules as always—legs spread apart, as wide as your shoulders! Both knees bent slightly, both hands pressed down at the waist. Assume the ‘Qi Building Stance’. When assuming this stance, remember—Focus your concentration, maintain a calm mind, and breathe naturally,” instructed Hillman. The ‘Qi Building Stance’ was the simplest, yet most effective way of exercising one’s body. It was developed by their forefathers through generations, and based on their experiences. Every single child on the field assumed the ‘Qi Building Stance’ as soon as the instructions left his mouth.
“Focus your concentration, maintain a calm mind, and breathe naturally!” Hillman barked out as he walked among the children, inspecting their stances. A brief glance was all he needed to discern that the teenagers in the third group were all maintaining the stance calmly and breathing naturally. They had attained the goals of being stable and steady in the stance, and it was clear that they had reached a degree of proficiency in the ‘Qi Building Stance’.
Hillman watched the children from the first group, the ones who had just left the shelter of their mothers, for a longer time. He noticed all of the bent backs and crooked knees barely bent in odd degrees, and the relaxed and loose legs. There was no doubt in his mind that their stances were unstable and without any power. He turned to the two men behind him, “The two of you, take charge of the second and third groups. I’ll go take care of the youngest children.”
“Yes, Captain!” The two middle-aged men immediately walked towards the second and third groups and started paying close attention to the children there. Every so often, they would kick the legs of one of those teenagers, checking to see who was standing in a firm stance and who was not.
Hillman walked towards the first group of children, sparking a burst of nervousness that arced through every child in that group.
“Crap, the Head Monster is coming!” A golden-haired child with large, bright eyes named Hadley said in a low voice.
Hillman marched into the middle of the group and walked among the children. He stared at them, his face cold and stern, masking the thoughts in his heart. “These kids are simply too young. They lack in both wisdom and strength right now. I can’t demand too much from them, but it's good to get them in the habit of exercising from a young age. If they start working hard right now, then they’ll have a higher chance of survival in the future when they’re on the battlefield.” The most effective way to teach children this young was to get them interested. If he forced them too hard, it would end up having the opposite effect!
“All of you, stand firm!” Hillman barked. Each and every child straightened their backs, stuck out their chest and stared forward.
A hint of a smile played on Hillman’s lips. He moved to the front of the group and took off his shirt. The lines running across the powerful muscles on his body made the children’s eyes pop out. Even the children in the second and third groups couldn’t stop themselves from staring at him, raptured in admiration of his physique.
Beyond his perfect musculature, Hillman’s bare chest and back held countless scars from knives and swords amid dozens of other old wounds. The children stared at those wounds, their eyes shining with admiration and imagining the glory contained in every one of those marks. Knife scars. Sword wounds. These were a man’s medals! Their hearts were filled with veneration for Hillman. He was a mighty warrior of the sixth rank, a warrior forged in the struggle between life and death! He was considered an amazing individual, even in the large and populous cities. In the tiny town of Wushan, he was a man who was revered by every single person.
Hillman saw the ardent gazes of the children, and he couldn’t help but let a small smile escape his lips. This was exactly what he intended, he wanted to stir up a degree of hero-worship in the children. A burning desire to be just like him so they would work harder and be more motivated! “Let’s add some more fuel to the fire!” Hillman thought to himself with a grin. He walked up to a giant boulder, one that easily weighed somewhere between three and four hundred pounds, and lifted it up with one hand. He brandished it about in a relaxed, effortless manner.
The jaws of the children dropped and their eyes widened. The giant boulder had to weigh several hundred pounds, but it appeared to be as light as a stick of wood in Hillman’s hand.
“Too light! Lorry, if you have some free time after training go and get some larger boulders for me.” With those words, Hillman casually tossed the boulder away, sending it flying dozens of meters away. It crashed back down next to a large tree and the ground trembled from the impact. Then he casually walked towards a few random boulders and stood in front of them.
“Hah!” Hillman breathed deeply. All the veins on his muscular body popped out prominently as he directly struck at a nearby bluish boulder. His fist shattered the air, creating a howling sound that made all the watching children widen their eyes even further.
Hillman’s mighty fist smashed the boulder. Crash! The sound of the fist smashing into the boulder made the children’s hearts tremble. This was an extremely hard bluestone boulder! The bluestone boulder trembled, and then suddenly six or seven giant cracks appeared on it. Moments later, it split apart into four or five pieces with a ‘peng’ sound. However, Hillman’s fist wasn’t injured in the slightest.
“The Captain is as formidable as ever.” Lorry, one of the two other middle-aged men, laughed as Hillman walked back towards them. The other man, Roger, also walked over. Usually, when the children practiced the ‘Qi Building Stance’, it was time for the three of them to relax and chat freely. Of course, they’d also watch for any children who decided to slack off.
Hillman laughed as he shook his head. “No way. When I was in the army, I trained like crazy every day while engaging in bloody battles on the battlefield. Nowadays all I’m doing is relaxing and stretching my muscles a bit in the morning. I’m not filled with as much energy as I was in the past.”
The children stared worshipfully at Hillman. He had easily shattered that huge bluestone boulder with a single blow, then tossed that three- or four-hundred-pound boulder with an easy flick of the arm. What sort of power was this?
Hillman turned his head. Staring at the children, he felt very satisfied with the children’s reactions. “Remember, even if you aren’t able to cultivate battle-qi, in principle if you reach your body’s fullest potential you can still become a warrior of the sixth rank! A sixth-ranked warrior, upon entering the army, can easily become a mid-level officer and easily obtain the military manuals which teach how to cultivate battle-qi! Even if you cannot become a warrior of the sixth rank and can only become a common warrior of the first rank, you will still be qualified to enter the military. Remember! If a man isn’t able to become even a warrior of the first rank, that man can’t be considered a man at all!
“If you are a man, then you must raise your chest high, welcome any and all challenges, and fear nothing!”
Upon hearing these words, smiles appeared on the faces of all the six- and seven-year-olds. They forced themselves to remain expressionless. These words were Hillman’s oft-repeated mantra,
and he repeated these words endlessly to the children.
“All of you, stand straight. Look at your elders to the south, then look at how you are standing!” Hillman censured them. All the six-year-olds immediately tried to adjust their stance to be more stable.
All the kids felt their legs cramping fiercely, but they gritted their teeth. Still, after a while the six- and seven-year-olds began to wobble. After holding out for a short time the children began to collapse and sit on the ground one after the other.
Hillman’s face was cold and callous but he nodded inwardly. He was still very satisfied with the performance of these six- and seven-year-olds, and he simply continued to watch. After a short time some of the ten-year-olds in the middle group also could no longer hold out, and one by one they began to fall as well.