Harvest

The moment the Pupils of the Six Realms manifested, the immortals retreated. Even Immortal Zhao Li vanished on the spot without so much as saying goodbye to Wei Yuan. Empowered by the Spirit Abode, the Pupils of the Six Realms were simply too tyrannical. Even at the rank of an immortal, it was hard to withstand them; each immortal had their arts dissolved to some extent, without exception. Thus, the assembly of immortals departed not because the raw power of the Pupils of the Six Realms was overwhelmingly terrifying, but because they feared having their vulnerabilities laid bare for their enemies to see. They all hurried to put distance between themselves and this place, unwilling to linger for even a single breath. Once the immortals were gone, Wei Yuan stood above Qingming, suddenly overcome by profound exhaustion. From the moment he laid eyes on Lu Changhe to the end of the final clash, less than half an hour had elapsed. Yet in Wei Yuan's heart, this battle felt as if an entire century had passed. With every breath and every instant, the situation had shifted. The attitudes and intentions of every immortal were impossible to divine. Moreover, those stepping onto the stage one after another were all immortals. Even someone like Xu Shuhe had not been a mere pawn, but a player holding the pieces. When a player took the board in the guise of a pawn, he himself became the greatest variable. With so many immortals playing against one another across plots that spanned centuries or even millennia, the variables were far too vast and chaotic. No one could say with certainty what would happen the next moment. When the Venerable Master intervened, Wei Yuan had in truth prepared himself for death, merely pondering how he might make the Venerable Master pay the steepest possible price. At that moment, no one remained to check the Venerable Master. Whomever his strike targeted should have died. In the final instant, Wei Yuan had contemplated summoning the King Buddha back to his position, but he had only vaguely sensed the King Buddha's golden dharma idol, unable to move it. Wei Yuan had also considered whether to invite a Strength Shaman for aid in advance. Yet Jiumu was a Heavenly Shaman, and every move he made drew the eyes of the entire world. Furthermore, given Wei Yuan's authority and strength within the Desolate Realm, the portal he could open was fundamentally inadequate for a Heavenly Shaman to cross. Let alone a Heavenly Shaman, even Yaolan back when they first met—when she was not yet a Heavenly Shaman, but merely a Desolate Shaman—could not have passed through. Hence, the sudden opening of the Desolate Realm's gate and Yaolan's appearance to forcefully block the Venerable Master's fatal blow had completely exceeded Wei Yuan's expectations. This was a true variable outside the board. Had Yaolan arrived in Qingming early to lie in wait, she most likely would not have escaped the Venerable Master's divine calculations. Ultimately, relying on countless unexpected turns and coincidences, he had finally survived this deadly trap. Only— Wei Yuan glanced at Xu Shuhe, who was now missing a leg, and smiled bitterly in resignation. Xu Youyi had stayed her hand at the last second, changing her strike from slicing him in half at the waist to merely severing a leg, then taking it and leaving without a shred of hesitation. Wei Yuan needed to preserve all his measures to counter whatever follow-up moves the immortals might make. Therefore, over a mere immortal leg—and an old, cured leg whose lifespan had run out, no less—not only did Wei Yuan, with his immense wealth, see no reason to fight over it, but even the immortals felt it was not worth contesting, let alone completely turning against Xu Youyi over such petty scrapings. As a result, neither the immortals nor Wei Yuan had made a move, allowing Xu Youyi to withdraw entirely unscathed. Looking back now, among the immortals of the great clans, Xu Youyi was unexpectedly the only one who had made a modest gain, while the rest had all lost something to varying degrees. Among them, Old Madame Bao had lost an azure dragon grotto-heaven, appearing to have suffered the most disastrous loss, with Bai Kaishui losing a sword-qi grotto-heaven close behind. However, Cangwu's killing move had been successfully trapped, and Ji Liuli had forcibly analyzed nearly half of it. If Cangwu ever faced Qingming again in the future, this technique would likely be rendered useless. Compared to the first two, his loss was perhaps not much less. Cui Zhengxing had vanished holding a black stone, while Cui Wantong's starry river of night had been torn to shreds. All the immortals had witnessed this. As for how much each had gained from it, that depended on individual fortune. Immortal Zhao Li was in a peculiar state; a corner of the Go table he had manifested had been shaved away, clearly exposing a vulnerability. Yet he had claimed at the outset that he had turned off his divine ability, meaning he lacked the power to divine good fortune. Yet the final outcome proved that Immortal Zhao Li's defection mid-battle had been the correct decision. Had his ability to divine good fortune truly been deactivated or not? This question was of vital importance. Without resolving it, virtually no trap could snare that slippery old fox. Merely knowing one or two of his weaknesses was of little practical use. Naturally, there was no need to mention the two fallen immortals. Wei Yuan knew this was not the time to take detailed stock of his gains. Pointing a finger, he first cast Lu Changhe's immortal remains toward the Qingming boundary stone. As Lu Changhe's remains slowly descended, a faint, weeping cry suddenly rang out from afar: "No!" An ambush still? Wei Yuan looked up and followed the sound, discovering a faint abnormality in a pocket of void. However, the fluctuations leaking from this abnormality were exceedingly faint, completely imperceptible earlier on a battlefield crisscrossed with immortal light. Only now that the aftershocks had settled and the person concealed within could not help weeping aloud was she noticed by Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan looked over. Wherever his gaze fell, the distant barrier dissolved on its own, revealing several women within. Among them, a pair of young girls stood out strikingly. Beneath their cool aloofness lingered a trace of youthful innocence. Even more remarkable was that they looked identical, yet their temperaments were diametrically opposed. One wore white, pure and pristine as a frost lotus, while the other wore black, resembling a sovereign of the dark night. "Who are you?" Wei Yuan barked. In truth, the question was superfluous. One look at the terrified expressions of the two girls and the young woman who looked barely in her early twenties, bearing a seventy-percent resemblance to them, made it obvious they belonged to the Lu clan. Tears welled in the young woman's eyes; the cry just now had come from her. Wei Yuan sized them up and found that the young woman actually possessed early-stage dharma idol cultivation, which was quite rare. However, her dharma idol was insubstantial and could barely hold its form, scarcely stronger than a Core Formation dharma idol. Wei Yuan understood immediately how this dharma idol had come to be. A senior woman said tremulously, "We are female members of the Lu clan, ordered by our Immortal Ancestor to wait here and be presented to Lord Wei Yuan, the Realm Lord of Qingming. Just now, seeing our Immortal Ancestor perish, we were overcome with grief and could not restrain ourselves. We few women are willing to follow by Your Lordship's side and obey your every command." The faces of the women were ashen. They had all witnessed Wei Yuan suddenly strike with lethal force, slaying Lu Changhe in a single blow. Though they could not understand Wei Yuan's specific methods, they had clearly recognized the sudden ambush. Hence, they asked for nothing more than to preserve their lives. Mortal beauty held negligible appeal for immortals, so they harbored few illusions, suspecting Wei Yuan would most likely silence them to protect his reputation, given the rather underhanded nature of his strike. Having clarified their identities, Wei Yuan said, "In light of your enduring affection for him and your commendable courage, I shall not pursue the matter. Go." The women froze, standing rooted to the spot, not daring to move. Only when Wei Yuan waved his hand impatiently did they sluggishly take flight. The girl in the white dress seemed somewhat bolder. She suddenly turned back and said, "A-Aren't you afraid that we'll go back and talk recklessly?" Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "Even if you dare to speak, who would dare to listen?" The women froze once more. Having confirmed that Wei Yuan truly harbored no intent to keep them, they finally flew into the distance. After driving the women away, Wei Yuan looked down at Xu Shuhe's remains. This immortal body had already decayed, reeking of putrid death. Such an immortal corpse was best suited to nourish the Medicine Garden, and Wei Yuan had intended to do just that. Yet at the final moment, Wei Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. With a sweep of his hand, he severed the remains' two hands and its remaining leg, then cast the corpse into the Medicine Garden. As for the immortal remains' thigh and one arm, Wei Yuan planned to present them to Immortal Zhao Li, while the other arm would be offered to his sect, adding at least a bit of foundational depth to the main mountain. What a pity Xu Shuhe only had two arms and two legs. Having completed all this, Wei Yuan soared into the air. Disregarding the emptiness within him, he sped straight toward the Jin capital.