In the winter of the fifteenth year of Hongjing, Qingming split its forces along three routes and launched an all-out assault on Ganzhou. Several heavily fortified pass cities in southern Ganzhou fell in a single battle.
The Qingming main army then advanced steadily, while several vanguard legions stormed forward with furious momentum straight to the second defensive line, hemming in all three of the Lu clan's southern Ganzhou commanderies and severing the retreat of two hundred thousand elite southern troops.
Wei Ying subsequently abandoned the defensive terrain, and without waiting for allied forces to close the encirclement, personally led an all-out charge, pitting thirty thousand against two hundred thousand. Leading three hundred Dao Foundation cultivators as a vanguard, she plunged directly into the enemy center and, with an early dharma idol cultivation, struck down the Lu clan's commanding general, who was in the late stage.
The southern legion thereupon collapsed, the vast majority surrendering while a few fled into the barren mountains and forests.
Capturing one hundred and fifty thousand enemy troops in this battle, Wei Ying claimed the premier distinction.
Over one hundred thousand more troops of the Lu clan's southern legion were scattered throughout the three commanderies. With their escape route severed, most surrendered, making it only a matter of time before the three commanderies of southern Ganzhou fell entirely into Wei Yuan's hands.
At the border between Ning and Gan, an elder sat atop a rocky mountain peak, calm and composed. Behind her stood more than a dozen youths, evidently either disciples or younger relatives.
The old woman said, "A Qingming flying boat will pass by shortly. These vessels are large but flimsy, quite fragile. The escort, though a dharma idol cultivator, has shoddy cultivation and is no match for this old ancestor. When the time comes, I shall strike and destroy this flotilla. Record it well with shadow-recording orbs to serve as proof when offering our allegiance."
A sweet-looking young girl plucked up her courage and asked, "Why must we offer our allegiance to the Lu clan? Qingming clearly has far greater momentum and is backed by the Palace of Grand Beginning, possessing much more power than the Lu clan."
Evidently quite fond of the girl, the old woman explained patiently, "Adding flowers to embroidery is easy, but delivering charcoal in the snow is hard. High-ranking cultivators are as plentiful as clouds in the Palace of Grand Beginning; among them, I would be lost in the crowd. The Lu clan is different. They are now at a disadvantage and will surely thirst for talent. Only by turning to them now can we receive generous courtesy. I still have thirty years of lifespan remaining, and another ten years before my cultivation begins to decline. That should barely suffice to shield you from the wind and rain. After that, you must fend for yourselves."
The youths were all deeply moved and bowed in unison. Yet the girl remained uneasy and asked again, "What if Immortal Ancestor Lu is slain? That Wei Yuan has killed an immortal before, after all."
The old woman replied, "I once heard a hidden secret: the immortals of the Thirteen Prominent Families never break. Therefore, Immortal Ancestor Lu will surely come to no harm. As long as the Immortal Ancestor is safe, all gains and losses on the battlefield are merely temporary."
Only then did the girl feel reassured. Suddenly, the old woman said, "Conceal yourselves well, the flying boat is coming!"
The disciples hurriedly hid within the formation, concealing their presence.
A black dot appeared on the distant horizon, slowly drawing closer. It was a flotilla of several floating airships flying at an altitude of merely a thousand zhang or so. Their speed was slow, indicating they were laden with supplies. At the prow of the lead vessel stood a dharma idol cultivator of dignified bearing.
Yet in the old woman's eyes, a single glance revealed that this dharma idol's aura was superficial and his dharma light scattered—a showy piece of goods devoid of real strength.
When the flying boat drew near, the old woman struck without warning. With a wave of her sleeve, a bolt of dark light like a silk banner whipped toward the first ship!
"Insolent old thief!" The dharma idol cultivator on the lead ship was startled and enraged. He cast out a stream of light formed of countless shimmering fragments, striking hard against the dark light!
Yet the dark light was only slightly diminished, cleaving straight into the flying boat and slicing it in two!
Exchanging blows directly between dharma idols, the Qingming cultivator's face instantly went pale as he spat a mouthful of blood. Meanwhile, the hair at the old woman's temples flew wild like a rampaging lion; though her dharma idol was unremarkable, her late-stage cultivation was on full display, awe-inspiring and majestic.
She was about to strike at the other vessels, preparing to destroy the entire flotilla in one breath. As for the injured Qingming dharma idol, she had no intention of pursuing him.
For one, it would avoid forging a mortal feud; if targeted by Domain Lord Wei Yuan, not even an immortal might be able to protect her. For another, dharma idol cultivators possessed countless divine arts and methods and were not so easily killed. Destroying the entire flotilla of flying boats would be more than enough to serve as a pledge of allegiance.
Just as she prepared to unleash a second bolt of dark light, a shudder suddenly ran through her entire body. The second floating airship erupted like a violently stirred hornet's nest as a dense swarm of dharma idols surged forth!
Aside from one who was an ordinary early dharma idol, the rest all possessed superficial auras, just like the one she had just injured. But the problem was that eleven dharma idols had flown out in a single breath!
The wounded dharma idol also flew back. Twelve dharma idols formed a battle array in the sky. The normal dharma idol at the head formed mudras and incanted a spell; in the blink of an eye, a gigantic sword materialized before him!
The old woman let out a terrified cry and turned to flee, but the giant sword had already torn through the air, whirling around her body and bisecting her at the waist!
The giant sword then soared into the sky, transforming into an eye. Its gaze swept down, instantly piercing through the concealment formation and exposing the dozen-odd youths hiding within.
The twelve dharma idols flew over, suspended in midair, gazing coldly at the young people below. The leading dharma idol cultivator said impassively, "Attacking a military supply flotilla in wartime is a capital crime! Accomplices share the same guilt as the ringleader. Slay them!"
With her last breath, the old woman's eyes nearly split with grief and rage. She cried out desperately, "This old woman can die, but can you spare them? Everything was my doing alone; it has nothing to do with them!"
The leading Qingming cultivator sneered, "This is Qingming's military law. Do you take it for child's play? Why would we leave behind the disciples and descendants of foolish, ignorant rustic cultivators like you—to wait for them to grow up and seek revenge? If you want to blame someone, blame your own blind greed for daring to target a Qingming fleet! Strike!"
The eleven Golden Pellet dharma idols struck together, slaughtering the dozen-odd young disciples in an instant. The leading cultivator beckoned them over to form a formation, then pointed a finger through the air, piercing the old woman's sea of consciousness.
A thin cloud suddenly gathered in the sky, and a misty drizzle fell. The auras of all twelve dharma idols began to climb steadily. Unfortunately, the drizzle ceased after only a moment, leaving all the dharma idols wanting more.
The eleven Golden Pellet dharma idols all bowed in thanks to the normal dharma idol in the center. He smiled and said, "This is the customary practice in the army. We fight side by side, so naturally we do not hold anything back."
Dao Foundation cultivators immediately set to work cleaning up the bodies, while several cultivators stayed behind to guard the damaged vessel and await follow-up salvage. The remaining flying boats then continued their flight toward the front lines.
This was merely a minor interlude along the vast front. Over these days, Lu Changhe had offered lavish rewards to recruit rogue cultivators into his service, and quite a few had indeed been tempted. The old woman was merely one of them, and she had set her sights on Qingming's floating airships.
What she had never imagined was that a seemingly ordinary flotilla would actually be escorted by twelve dharma idols. Though eleven were merely Golden Pellet dharma idols, the combined might of their array strike was still enough to critically wound a cultivator like her, who had barely stepped into the late dharma idol stage.
Meanwhile, within Splendor of the Many Realms, the Hall of Mountains and Rivers had also been erected. Inside was a complete map of Ganzhou. With a single thought from Wei Yuan, nine of the ten commanderies controlled by the Lu clan shifted colors. Only the ancestral commandery remained in the Lu clan's grasp.
This was Wei Yuan's plan: he intended to seize all nine commanderies. When the final hour arrived, many immortals would surely come to plead on the Lu clan's behalf, perhaps even unexpected figures among them.
Wei Yuan's bottom line was to take all nine commanderies and leave the Lu clan with only their ancestral home. A commandery housing their ancestral land would certainly not have many commoners. The output of a single commandery would not even suffice for Lu Changhe's personal cultivation; he would be unable to sustain his immortal power, which would slowly ebb away. As for the other cultivators of the Lu clan, not a scrap of resources would remain for them.
Wei Yuan was eager to see just how Lu Changhe would manage to survive on the output of a single commandery.
The only way forward would be to expand northward and wrest territory back from the Liao people. If he could not achieve that, then Lu Changhe, a dignified immortal, would simply have to live through hard times.
Chapter 1129