The Avalon Of Five Elements

"Again!"

Boom!

A loud sound rang as white flames sprayed out from the pagoda cannon’s barrel.

As Fatty’s body sank a little, vapor rose up from all over his body.

A faraway hill exploded suddenly, causing fragmented rocks to fly everywhere. It was a magnificent sight.

The observing audience gasped in surprise.

"Wow, Fatty, you’re amazing!"

"What Fatty? Is that how you should address him? Don’t be foolish! Call him Master Fatty!"

"Oh yeah, Fatty’s a Master now. We gotta call him Master Fatty."

"But… Master Fatty doesn’t sound suave at all!"

"Still gotta call!"

...

Everybody was rather interested in Fatty’s performance. Time passed and the Spear of Heavy Cloud gradually recovered from their disaster. The respect and courtesy other military units had showered them with along the way gave even the lowest ranked elementalists a new lease on life.

They raised their heads and puffed out their chests, striding forward in high spirits. Their demeanor and appearance had undergone a complete transformation.

They sustained heavy injuries, but they were the victors. They had accomplished something people regarded as an impossible miracle.

The difficult victory had given this novice combat division an extraordinary morale boost. They were no longer afraid, and the painful loss reminded them not to be arrogant or get carried away.

Fatty had become a popular figure in the Spear of Heavy Cloud. If not for his last shot, the strange white flames that almost collapsed the Ardent Flower Blood Division, their victory wouldn’t have been certain. Even if they had won, they would’ve incurred a heavier loss.

Every time they pitched camp, Shi Xueman would allow Fatty to demonstrate his pagoda cannon.

Until now, Fatty was still unsure of his Path of Master. Shi Xueman was very knowledgeable, but was somewhat unable to make any sense of it either.

Fatty’s cannon attack had indeed become entirely different.

Placing the same pagoda cannon in Fatty’s hands would produce a very disparate power when used by another gunner. Ordinary fire elementalists’ cannon attacks would only produce a long thin flame that carried a red glow and injured the target by piercing through its body. In Fatty’s hands, however, the flames sprayed by the cannon barrel were much bigger. The flames were pure white and burned even more fiercely. Its damage was much more variable as well. Sometimes it would produce white flames like in the previous battle, but it could also produce an explosion and even ring-shaped bullets.

Yet, Fatty was unable to account for this.

Including Fatty, other than being overwhelmed with shock and admiration, everyone felt glad. Only Shi Xueman was keenly aware that a whole new profession had been born.

Fatty was the first ever Pagoda Cannon Master.

No one really placed heavy regard onto the pagoda cannon since it was a new weapon that hadn’t been released for long. Even the core members of the Central Pine Valley didn’t think highly of it. If not for the Spear of Heavy Cloud’s mass recruitment of fire elementalists, Shi Xueman wouldn’t have thought about using pagoda cannons in battle.

New fire elementalist recruits were rather weak. Even with the help of snow lava in their daily training, they needed a much longer time to reach an elite elementalist’s level. Because of that, the pagoda cannon, which demanded little from fire elementalists, but produced considerable power, came into Shi Xueman’s field of view. After a period of verification, it ultimately became the Spear of Heavy Cloud’s standardized weapon.

At that time, she even purchased, through Qiao Meiqi, a batch of lava-spitting beast snouts in order to forge more pagoda cannons.

The emergence of a pagoda cannon Master allowed the Pagoda cannon’s might to undergo a fundamental change.

The pagoda cannons in ordinary fire elementalists’ hands were more like a strengthened bow and arrow. It was mightier than an ordinary bow and arrow, but its rate of fire was much slower and required more manpower to operate.

Yet, in the hands of a Pagoda Cannon Master, its flaws disappeared. It became mightier, and more importantly, more battle tactics became available for use.

It was very difficult to become a Master. Fatty also became a Master somewhat accidentally, and only heaven knew when the next Master would emerge. Yet, the birth of a Pagoda Cannon Master meant that its potential had far exceeded everyone’s initial prediction.

Shi Xueman was thinking about how to unleash its full potential and decided to pester Fatty for every single detail.

"How did you control the cannon attack?"

"Was the snow lava able to sense it? What state was it in?"

...

Tormented, Fatty felt as though his brain was about to combust. He was someone who went by gut feeling. Ai Hui was the one who liked digging up roots and getting to the bottom of things. Although Fatty was very pleased about becoming a Master, he absolutely did not dare to act boastfully in front of Big Sister. Even Ai Hui lowered his noble head before her abuse of authority, so Fatty was merely a docile baby in front of her.

Shi Xueman started gathering more and more information to gain a rough idea of the special traits of a Pagoda Cannon Master.

She asked Fatty, "Do you think there’s still room for improving the pagoda cannon?"

"Of course!"

Indeed, Shi Xueman thought to herself. She added, "How so?"

Gesturing with his fingers, Fatty started, "The cannon’s structure can be simplified. I’m able to use it single handedly because I’ve stripped it down many times. It would be good for Ai Hui to use it too since that fellow would definitely modify until it was unrecognizable. The lava-spitting beast’s snout makes a pretty decent cannon barrel, but it’s a little weak and is unable to endure a slight increase in the amount of snow lava. Leaving snow lava in the fire reservoir is simply too hazardous…"

Fatty rambled on, as if enumerating one’s family valuables.

Zu Yan, who stood by the side, was stunned. He had never seen Fatty speaking with such frankness and assurance. To him, Fatty was a bum, all take and no give. He would never sit if he could lie down and would never stand if he could sit.

Shi Xueman noticed people approaching and interrupted, "I’ll leave the modifications to you then."

Fatty’s eyes lit up. He kind of liked that idea, but immediately started grumbling, "But there’s no master weaponsmith. If only Blind He was here."

Shi Xueman responded bluntly, "I’ll think of something."

Fatty was somewhat excited and somewhat distressed. "I’ll have to think about it too."

Shi Xueman continued, "I have a mission for you now."

She saw some elementalist guards stopping a group of people. The leader of the group wore armor and was surrounded by a bunch of guards.

Fatty was puzzled. "What mission?"

Shi Xueman said, "See that group of people? They’re interested in our Hellfire Pagoda Cannon. Go receive them."

Fatty stared blankly while pointing at himself. "Me?"

Shi Xueman replied, "You’re the first ever Pagoda Cannon Master. Of course it’s you."

Fatty was rather satisfied with her answer. "Then am I not quite powerful?"

"Of course," Shi Xueman answered with certainty. "You’re the secret weapon responsible for our victory. You deserve the most credit."

Blushing, Fatty responded, "Everyone worked hard together."

Immediately after, his tone changed. "Any reward?"

"Yes!" Shi Xueman answered straightforwardly. "Other than the God-subduing Peaks, Skyheart City also sent a batch of treasures and you’ll get to pick. Also, you’ll get essence elemental beans! A million of them!"

Fatty was over the moon. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "But how can I accept… how can I…"

Things were different now. There had been a steep decline in the production of essence elemental beans, so a million of them cost an enormous sum of money.

"But you know that the division’s budget is tight." Shi Xueman changed the topic. "Do you reckon it’s easy to imitate the pagoda cannons?"

After some thought Fatty answered, "It’s quite easy. Even I was able to create a simple single man pagoda cannon. Perhaps you’re worried about others making fakes? It’s easy, but they don’t have snow lava."

Shi Xueman asked, "Then can we sell snow lava to them?"

Fatty’s eyes shone brightly. "Oh my god! How could I have missed such a brilliant business idea? We’ll be a monopoly. That’s stable profit!"

Shi Xueman continued, "So, go demonstrate what the pagoda cannon can do. You’re the only one here who’s done business before. What do you think?"

Fatty patted his chest in assurance. "No problem!"

Shi Xueman led Fatty toward that group of people and greeted them in a friendly, manner "I am Shi Xueman, and you are?"

The man in armor half rose and responded politely, "My armor makes it inconvenient to bow, please forgive me. I’m Ke Ning, division leader of the Blue Flag Division."

Shi Xueman greeted, "Nice to meet you, Division Leader Ke."

Recently there had been innumerable combat divisions popping up like springtime bamboo shoots, and she was unfamiliar with many of those names.

Ke Ning gazed at the hill that had exploded earlier and asked somewhat curiously, "Was that a demonstration of the legendary pagoda cannon?"

"Legendary pagoda cannon" made Shi Xueman smile. "Yes."

Ke Ning’s eyes lit up, and he asked with embarrassment, "This is bold of me, but could I please take a tour around this area?"

Shi Xueman replied generously, "Sure, I’ll let Master Qian Dai bring you around. He is a Pagoda Cannon Master, the one responsible for singlehandedly securing our victory in the battle against the Ardent Flower Blood Division."

Ke Ning had thought that Shi Xueman would’ve kept such a high-level weapon confidential. Who knew that she would be so generous about it and even allowed a Master to demonstrate its power. He was overjoyed and hurried expressed his gratitude, "Thank you so much! Thank you so much! Thanks for the hard work, Master Qian!"

The Hellfire Pagoda Cannon, once unknown and disregarded, had become a mighty weapon. As more details about the Spear of Heavy Cloud became public, more people started attributing the victory of the combat division to the Hellfire Pagoda Cannon.

Shi Xueman responded, "You’re being too polite."

Fatty stood at the side with his chest puffed out. He nodded toward the group of people and said loftily, "Follow me."

Ke Ning and gang followed behind eagerly.

Sang Zijun was dumbstruck by it all and stuttered only after they were gone, "Boss, this…"

Shi Xueman wasn’t smiling. She gazed afar and responded after a short while, "We’ve lost too much this time. If not for Fatty’s breakthrough, we would be in a worse state. I’m wondering if we would have sustained less injuries if we had been better prepared and stronger? It’s worth working hard if it means we can sacrifice even one less member. Plus, the Ardent Flower Blood Division is merely a blood division. What if we bump into a god division in the future?"

Sang Zijun and Jiang Wei remained silent since they could relate to her thoughts.

Shi Xueman added, "We need more resources and more money in order to grow quicker and save more lives."

Everyone looked toward the nearby pagoda cannon.

Fatty was talking nonstop, his saliva splattering everywhere as he introduced his pagoda cannon to Ke Ning and gang, whose eyes were all brightly lit.