Now that Qingming had recognized him as master, the world within a hundred li began to transform. Wei Yuan's divine sense expanded outward from near to far. Soon, everything within several li—every flying insect, bird, and fish—could no longer escape his perception.
With a shift of thought, Wei Yuan discovered about a hundred warriors scattered around the small hut where Yun Feifei was hiding. Among them were five at the Dao Foundation stage, led by none other than the young swordsman whose face he had battered with a golden cauldron that day. Ten li to the west was a squad of several dozen Wuyu Clan warriors, including two at the Dao Foundation stage.
At this moment, the young swordsman was staring toward the hall in shock and doubt, not understanding why it had suddenly collapsed. However, the one inside the hall was an elder of his clan with a dharma idol, an overbearing figure of vast power; nothing could possibly happen to such an exalted cultivator. Thus, the young swordsman had not come over.
On the other side, the Wuyu warriors were growing restless. The two Dao Foundation experts stood up and paced back and forth in agitation. They were far more sensitive to changes in the environment; right now, their surroundings no longer felt comfortable. Their skin grew extraordinarily dry and began to itch incessantly. They scratched relentlessly, soon leaving countless bloody claw marks across their flesh.
Wei Yuan frowned slightly. Drawing upon his limited store of general military wisdom, he pondered the order of engagement.
At present, Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains remained manifested, its area just happening to cover the young swordsman and his group. As Qingming transformed the world, wisps and strands of spiritual qi began to well up from the earth, replenishing Wei Yuan's body. His parched Dao power finally began to recover bit by bit.
After some thought, Wei Yuan realized that striking either side first made no difference.
Decisive as ever, he immediately sprinted toward the young swordsman, intending to deal with this one who had delivered himself to his doorstep first. As he ran, two stones within his Dao Foundation began transforming into square cauldrons. Wei Yuan moved with astonishing speed, yet his footsteps made no sound. Not a soul, including the young swordsman, noticed a thing. Now that Wei Yuan was the master of this realm, he naturally enjoyed countless advantages in every action, while anyone hostile to him naturally suffered suppressed senses and sluggish circulation of Dao power.
Only when a golden cauldron slammed down right over his head did the Jade-Faced Immortal Sword look up in belated realization. Before he could do more than let out a furious roar, he was pinned beneath the cauldron. Wei Yuan produced another golden cauldron, slightly smaller, and struck the giant cauldron with all his might. With a deafening clang, the melodious tone reverberated ceaselessly through the sect grounds.
Even Wei Yuan felt a wave of dizziness in his head, to say nothing of the young swordsman trapped inside. Wei Yuan lifted the golden cauldron; sure enough, the young swordsman was already unconscious, thin trickles of blood seeping from his mouth, nose, and the corners of his eyes.
The guards moved to rush forward and rescue their master, but Wei Yuan slashed down three of them with a single Water Blade Art, forcing them to face reality and freeze in their tracks.
Wei Yuan beckoned Xu Wan'er over, shoved Immortal Sword · False Sun into her hands, and instructed, "Watch this fellow. If any of them dares take a step closer, stab him once. If any of them dares take a step away, stab him once as well. If this fellow dies, it will be the fault of the guards moving without permission."
Xu Wan'er looked at the flaming blade, which was as wide as a palm, and asked with some worry, "What if I stab him to death?"
Wei Yuan cared nothing for the young swordsman's life or death. Turning away, he said, "If he dies, it's just his bad luck."
"Senior Brother, where are you going?" Xu Wan'er called out.
"There's still a squad of Wuyu to the west. I'm going to wipe them out!" Wei Yuan replied.
Passing by several Xu family guards, Wei Yuan casually plucked a spear from one man's hand. The man stood dazed, an expression of mixed emotions on his face, offering no resistance whatsoever.
Wei Yuan's figure flickered and vanished. Augmented by Qingming, his speed was fifty percent faster than usual, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the squad of Wuyu warriors like a ghost. Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains manifested, instantly plunging the entire squad of Wuyu warriors into the human clear domain!
With Qingming's empowerment, the effect of the human clear domain manifested by Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was also greatly enhanced. Clearly visible clear qi continuously welled up from the void, cascading in sheets over the Wuyu warriors.
Every Wuyu warrior shrieked in unison. Wherever the clear qi washed over them, plumes of grey-green smoke rose as if they had been drenched in strong acid. Wei Yuan raised a finger, sending several bursts of Water Blade Art flying into the air. They detonated above the Wuyu warriors' heads, pouring down sheets of water blades like a torrential downpour!
In the Wu domain, water and wood Dao arts received an innate boost. Furthermore, Qingming was Wei Yuan's home ground, combined with the manifestation of Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains—these three successive augmentations doubled the power of Wei Yuan's Water Blade Art outright, allowing each cast to unleash nearly two hundred blades of water. In an instant, every single Wuyu warrior was wounded, with only the two Dao Foundation cultivators faring slightly better.
Seeing how effective the Water Blade Art was, Wei Yuan did not bother with any other spells. Expending all his Dao power in one breath, he fired more than a dozen Water Blade Arts in succession, each detonating over the warriors' heads. After the dense barrage of Dao arts subsided, Wuyu warriors lay dead and wounded everywhere. Aside from the two Dao Foundation cultivators, only three or four were left breathing their last.
Only then did Wei Yuan reveal himself. Walking through the heap of corpses, he stabbed to death those who were wounded beyond saving one by one, leaving only the two Dao Foundation cultivators and a single ordinary warrior before finally dispelling Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains.
Using Dao arts to carry the three captives, Wei Yuan returned to the dilapidated hut and tossed them onto the ground. He then gathered all the Xu family guards in one place and declared, "You all surely know that the Xu family has been colluding with the Wuyu, secretly selling who knows how many humans to them. Doing such vile, wicked deeds, calling them traitors to humanity is by no means an exaggeration! I won't waste words. I have now reopened this domain; from now on, this will be six thousand li of land for our human race to live and thrive! Any who wish to rely on a heart full of courage to resist the Wuyu—no matter what you did in the past, as long as you're willing to stay and fight a battle alongside me, you are all brothers!"
Many guards looked moved, yet they still hesitated, holding back their response. At that moment, the young swordsman slowly came to his senses and suddenly shrieked at the top of his lungs, "Let's see who dares betray the Xu family! Do you all want to die?! Once Sixth Uncle returns, this kid won't even have a corpse left to bury!"
Wei Yuan's figure vanished and reappeared in the blink of an eye, holding Xu Guanwen's corpse in his hand. He said calmly, "Sixth Uncle? Do you mean this old fellow who used a bird claw as his dharma idol? I have already slain him."
Xu Jingfeng was terrified and cried out in disbelief, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Sixth Uncle reigned supreme for centuries—how could he be defeated?! Much less at your hands!"
Wei Yuan merely sneered. "I, Wei Yuan, hail from Sky Azure Hall of the Palace of Grand Beginning, journeying west alone on an Immortal Monarch's direct order! In truth, I achieved the Dao Foundation over a month ago. Your Xu family is nothing more than a borderland clan—what difficulty is there in slaying a dharma idol of yours?"
The guards listened in dumbstruck awe, their minds in utter turmoil. The four disciples of Lanshen Palace were also astounded beyond measure, hardly able to believe their ears! As for Xu Wan'er, her eyes glowed with brilliant light, barely able to contain her excitement.
"This... this is impossible!" Xu Jingfeng screamed hysterically until Wei Yuan tossed Xu Guanwen's corpse right in front of him. Staring at the familiar face, he could say nothing else, only repeating over and over that it was impossible.
Wei Yuan said in a deep voice, "I have the Immortal Monarch's order, and the army of the Palace of Grand Beginning will arrive any day now! The few black sheep in the Xu family who colluded with the aliens will surely face severe punishment! But right now, the Wuyu Clan's army is about to arrive. All we need to do is hold out for these two days until the reinforcements from the Palace of Grand Beginning get here. If you are real men, if you belong to the human race, stay and fight like hell with me! At worst, we perish together with the aliens—at least we'll leave our names inscribed in history!"
Several guards immediately stepped forward and declared loudly, "Immortal Wei, we're with you!"
Another guard joined them, shouting, "We did so many shameful things in the past. Fighting to the death in this battle, at least we can die with a clear conscience!"
"Wasn't it the old dogs of the Xu family who forced us? Good riddance to the old dog!"
"Fight the Wu to the death!"
In the blink of an eye, only five or six guards remained where they stood, hesitation written on their faces. The guards who had already sided with Wei Yuan did not berate them either.
Knowing that these few likely had their own difficulties, Wei Yuan said, "Leave your magical artifacts behind and head back on your own. Whether you return to the Xu family or go elsewhere is entirely up to you. I only hope we don't meet on the battlefield in the future."
Tears of gratitude streaming down their faces, those men left behind their weapons and magical artifacts, departing in haste.
Wei Yuan inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he had recruited a usable batch of people. According to historical records, in ancient times someone merely stood atop a rock and shouted, 'Human kings and Immortal Monarchs, are they born of noble blood?!', and immediately millions of people rushed over to bow their heads in submission. And according to Xu Wenwu, the protagonists of the era and children of the plane only had to exert an imposing tremor of their mighty frames, and countless people, no matter how far away, could catch the scent of the protagonist's imperial bearing and travel ten thousand li to pledge allegiance.
How come when it came to Wei Yuan, bragging to the heavens was useless, and he still had to rely on tragic empathy just to recruit a handful of cannon-fodder extras? It seemed he truly lacked the bearing of a great emperor and was not the protagonist of this era.
Wei Yuan had no real regrets about it, but felt somewhat uneasy instead—mainly because, to win people over, he had laid on his first boast a bit too thick. If Zhang Sheng ever found out about this, he would undoubtedly teach him a lesson on respecting teachers and honoring the Dao. In the tradition of Sky Azure Hall, one's tone could only be as grand as one's ability; for a disciple to talk bigger than his master was practically high treason.
Seeing that their hearts were ready to be rallied, Wei Yuan pointed to an open space, telling the guards to go set up camp, prepare their armaments, and await further orders. Then, Wei Yuan walked over to Yun Feifei, reached out, and patted her cheek. "Wake up. This place is my domain now; there's no need to fear the Wu curses."
Yun Feifei did not move.
Wei Yuan patted her again. Yun Feifei still did not move.
Wei Yuan patted her several times in a row, slapping half her face red, yet Yun Feifei remained entirely motionless. Wei Yuan grew somewhat impatient. Were these people, one after another, getting addicted to acting?
Just then, the woman in red said in an eerie, faint tone, "If you don't release the Soul-Restraining Formation, how am I supposed to return?"
Only then did Wei Yuan remember that this was still in effect. With a wave of his hand, he used a Dao art to erase the Soul-Restraining Formation on the ground. The woman in red looked at Wei Yuan with mixed feelings and said, "Impressive!"
"Are you Yun Feifei or her senior sister?"
The woman in red raised her eyebrows and snapped angrily, "What do you mean 'her senior sister'? I have a name and a surname! Gong Yufeng! Remember it, and don't get it wrong next time!"
Her expression suddenly shifted, turning sweet with a hint of slyness. "We are temporarily one body right now. Who comes out depends on what's needed."
Wei Yuan nodded and stepped aside. The woman in red walked up to Yun Feifei's body and plunged into it. Yun Feifei let out a soft groan and opened her eyes. With flushed cheeks, she said nothing, pulling up her skirt and tidying her robes. Then she shot Wei Yuan a glare, half her face suffused with bashful coyness.
In truth, the natural blush on her face had already faded, but the left half of her cheek had been slapped red by Wei Yuan and would not subside anytime soon.
Third Martial Sister suddenly turned and fled, only to run headfirst into a golden cauldron with a loud clang. She stumbled back several steps, fell backward, and passed out cold. On Wei Yuan's turf, did a mere foundation-stage cultivator really think she could escape?
Chapter 116