Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Read online

  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.