Boundless netherlight shone down upon the earth, and the ground writhed incessantly as creatures crawled out from the soil one after another. Covered entirely in dark cyan armor, these creatures bore several flickering dark red lines across their heads. Over a zhang tall, they stood several chi taller than ordinary Liao people, their limbs thick and powerful like the limbs of beasts. What surprised Wei Yuan was that they were all humanoid.
The area illuminated by the netherlight was vast, and thus the creatures numbered immensely. With just a sweeping glance from afar, Wei Yuan spotted millions of them, with even more continuously surging out from beneath the earth.
Silver Moon's expression shifted several times, turning from contemplation to despair. "The Rakshasa Sea! It is actually this calamity—"
The calamity zone spanned a thousand li, perfectly cutting off Silver Moon's northern route of retreat. The warriors rising from the earth turned their heads one by one, fixing their gazes on Silver Moon and his Liao army.
Gritting his teeth, Silver Moon came before Wei Yuan and said in a heavy voice, "Open a corridor, and I will owe you a favor."
Countless schemes flashed through Wei Yuan's mind in an instant. He said slowly, "This is not a matter of favors. This is a matter of... whether you can survive this killing tribulation."
Silver Moon said sharply, "Even if you succeed in kicking a man while he is down, it will only allow the Shaman Clan to drive straight in without resistance. What good does that do you? Once the Shaman Clan triumphs, wouldn't they sweep through your Human Clan as well? Do you think the flimsy ties between you and the Strength Shaman could ever keep an Ancestral Shaman from invading humanity? Now that humanity's Heaven-and-Earth Severance is broken, what will you use to withstand a Heavenly Shaman?"
Wei Yuan replied, "Save your breath. Whether the Shamans march on us is a matter for the future. But right now, I can sever an arm of the Liao Clan. Strengthening oneself and striking the enemy—that is an eternal, unchanging principle."
"Shallow, shortsighted fool!"
Wei Yuan paid it no heed at all, simply waving his hand to issue orders and prepare for battle.
To the north, the boundless ranks of cyan-armored warriors began to move, charging toward the Liao cavalry like a torrential flood! Each held a long scimitar in both hands, their running speed matching Liao horses. Most critically, their numbers were infinite and inexhaustible—as soon as one wave departed across the netherlight-bathed earth, another would rise in its place.
The rear guard of the Liao Clan shifted formation on their own initiative; rather than retreating, they advanced, splitting into several columns to plunge fiercely into the enemy ranks!
Yet before the cyan tide, the white spray of cavalry grew increasingly fragmented and scarce, finally vanishing altogether. In a single charge, the Liao cavalry lost thirty thousand men. Still, the rear guard's sacrifice bought a sliver of hope for the main army.
Silver Moon's expression hardened with resolve. He soared into midair, his voice ringing like a bronze bell and shaking the heavens and earth. "My warriors! Were we of the Liao Clan born to suffer calamity? Are you resigned to this? Calamity has descended from the heavens today, and perhaps this is our fate. But death is just death! Why not show those bastards who think they can block our way what our Great Liao is made of?! If they yearn so eagerly for our demise, why not drag them down into death with us?"
A myriad-commander bellowed fiercely, "Great Khan, you leave first! Leave this place to us!"
The generals joined in one after another, their blood-red eyes burning with suicidal resolve.
Silver Moon swept his divine sense over all his Liao riders, slowly shaking his head. "For decades, you have followed me through fire and blood across north and south. Now that calamity hangs over our heads and great foes stand before us, how could I, as your Great Khan, turn and run?"
With a wave of his hand, Silver Moon cast down a silver curtain of light spanning a hundred li. It looked fragile and thin, yet the moment those bizarre warriors crossed through it, they suddenly collapsed dead, crumbling into heaps of shattered stone.
Having temporarily held off the calamity, Silver Moon drew his blade and pointed toward the Qingming defense line, shouting, "Today, we die together!"
The blood of a million Liao iron cavalry boiled in an instant. Column after column of riders accelerated, paying no heed to the calamity at their backs, braving the rain of flying swords and artillery fire to charge death-defyingly at Qingming's defense line!
The Qingming warriors along the defense line were battle-hardened veterans; casting aside all fear and stray thoughts, they fired with everything they had. The crowd of template Dao foundation cultivators each drew a fiery-red pill and swallowed it down; blood and qi surged through their bodies in an instant, boosting their strength by thirty percent out of thin air!
Silver light erupted over the foremost Liao riders. Flying swords that would have pierced straight through their bodies now only cut shallow gashes. When shells exploded, so long as they were not at the center of the blast, the riders could continue charging forward. This was Silver Moon's blessing—yet with so many Liao riders, granting a blessing over such a vast scope strained his very foundation.
Yet Qingming's firepower was too dense, and Liao riders fell one after another. Finally, a single rider breached the layered defenses, galloped beneath the fortifications, leaped high into the air, and cleared the wall!
Yet the instant he cleared the wall, dozens of flying swords shot forward, pinning him in midair before slamming down with a roar!
The rider and mount split apart and crashed into the dust. Only then did people see that the rider had long been shot into a sieve, and the horse's belly had blown wide open, its viscera nearly emptied out. At least a dozen flying swords were impaled in the rider's body, his wide, glaring eyes long devoid of focus.
Suddenly, the Liao rider twitched and yanked a formation disk at his waist. A tempest erupted in an instant; whipping wind and grit beat dozens of Qingming warriors into submission, while several were swept straight into the sky, ground to bits amidst the swirling sand and stone, and rained down as a shower of blood—a scene of utter carnage! And the Liao rider himself was ground into nothingness within the storm.
In the blink of an eye, more and more Liao riders broke through the barrage and mounted the walls. The lightly wounded fought where they stood, while the heavily wounded detonated themselves directly; those who lacked even the strength to self-detonate found any way they could to drag Qingming warriors down with them.
Along the steel wall, tornadoes and sand blasts erupted ceaselessly. Even dharma idol cultivators detonated themselves, their blasts obliterating entire areas around them. Not a single Qingming warrior within radius was spared.
The entire million-strong Liao cavalry had begun a suicidal charge, and the self-detonations of several dharma idol cultivators ripped open gaps in the defense line, creating lapses in the gunfire.
With casualties climbing sharply, many Qingming warriors wavered in fear. Confronted by foes who had gone completely mad, several young generals panicked as well, commandeering the Buddhist power channel to submit reports requesting a withdrawal.
They immediately received an order. It came not from their immediate superiors, but directly from Wei Yuan: Anyone who retreats shall be executed!
After commanding that not a single step back was permitted, Wei Yuan rose into the air. In the sky churning with blood qi, Silver Moon was already waiting.
"The Great Khan is not leaving?" Wei Yuan asked.
"A son of the Great Liao keeps his word!" Silver Moon said with resolute finality.
"You still have a grand future ahead, Great Khan, whereas these soldiers and generals can be replenished in a few decades," Wei Yuan said, gently coaxing.
"Spare me the nonsense. Didn't you want to drag me to my death? Do you dare fight me within the calamity?"
The calamity was impartial to all living beings of this world; within it, Wei Yuan and Silver Moon would normally have endured equal pressure. But now, faint black qi clung to Silver Moon, clearly marking him out by the calamity, which placed an even heavier burden upon him within it.
Although Wei Yuan was not yet an immortal, he walked the path of the Yuangu era cultivators, and his current strength was no different from an immortal's. Strictly speaking, it was a fair fight between them.
Wei Yuan raised his brows. "Why wouldn't I dare?"
The Qingming generals were aghast and pleaded one after another, all saying that the Realm Lord must not put himself in danger.
Wei Yuan countered, "Only today can Silver Moon be trapped here, and only today can a million Liao elite cavalry be forced to ram headlong into our steel defensive line. If I do not fight this battle against Silver Moon, this golden opportunity will slip away."
The generals refused to listen and continued to earnestly remonstrate.
Wei Yuan laughed. "Look at you all, acting as if I'm certain to lose! Have you forgotten? Ever since I attained Scenery Command, have I ever feared a single immortal? Cease your nagging and get back to your posts at once!"
With that, Wei Yuan soared into the air, following Silver Moon straight into the calamity.
Once inside the calamity, the netherlight turned almost tangible. As it fell upon him, Wei Yuan felt his Dao power being stripped away layer by layer. He glanced at Silver Moon and saw a thick sheen of silver water-light rippling over Silver Moon's body, causing ripples to spread across the netherlight shining upon it.
Silver Moon possessed karmic luck as well, and it was so profound and dense that it was virtually unmatched by anyone Wei Yuan had ever seen in his life. Even Immortal Zhao Li, who specialized in human luck, fell far short! This was Silver Moon's true foundation.
Silver Moon closed his eyes for a moment. Opening them again, he slashed out a blade light with a wave of his hand, intending to continue competing against Wei Yuan in Dao power. Wei Yuan had no objection, flicking out sword qi after sword qi to slash back at Silver Moon.
The two were locked in a war of attrition of Dao power, a contest of combat arts, and a trial of karmic luck foundations. Both possessed peerless inheritances: Wei Yuan carried the legacy of the Palace of Grand Beginning, whose very foundation was spell-dueling; Silver Moon, having undergone hundreds of major and minor reincarnations, had secretly accumulated who knew how many ancient heritages.
After trading moves for a while, both realized that the other's combat arts were at the absolute pinnacle of this era and neither could gain an advantage. Thus, braving the illumination of the netherlight, they clashed Dao power directly. Tens of thousands of blade lights and sword qi crossed back and forth—a fight spectacular to behold, yet fundamentally plain and unadorned at its core.
Wei Yuan's body also shimmered with the glow of karmic luck, using human luck to counteract the calamity's power. At the current rate of consumption, it burnt through nearly ten million points of human luck in an hour. Even Wei Yuan was taken aback by this number, gaining a visceral understanding of the calamity's terror.
At this rate, all the human luck accumulated by the State of Zhao over an entire year would not suffice to endure a single day in the calamity.
Wei Yuan kept his eyes pinned on Silver Moon's every movement while fully releasing his divine sense to gather all surrounding data. Within the Splendor of the Many Realms, the Azure Dragon flew faster and faster, noticeable distortions rippling around its body as terrifying temporal power continued to accumulate.
The moment Silver Moon exposed the slightest flaw, Wei Yuan prepared to warp time and deliver a fatal strike. Needless to say, Silver Moon undoubtedly had hidden trump cards of his own.
As the two tangled in the calamity, the battlefield below reached a boiling white heat.
Under the continuous suicidal detonations of the dharma idol myriad-commanders, a breach finally tore open in Qingming's battle line, allowing large detachments of Liao cavalry to surge through. Not a single one of the Liao riders who charged into the breach took the opportunity to flee; instead, they turned around to fight to the death.
Qingming had template cultivators as numerous as ox hairs, but most had attained the Dao within the past dozen years. By the time they grew up, Qingming had already finished fighting Jin, Zhao, and the State of Ji; looking around, no formidable enemies remained, so every battle of their lives had been a smooth sailing affair. When had they ever witnessed such gory, flesh-and-blood melee?
One template cultivator watched as a comrade beside him was grabbed by a legless Liao rider. The comrade screamed in terror, stabbing the Liao rider more than a dozen times, but the rider refused to let go even in death. Several Liao riders immediately swarmed over and tore that comrade to pieces alive. A jet of blood squirted out, drenching the template cultivator from head to face!
Broken at last, the template cultivator shrieked and turned to flee.
Across the entire front, Qingming warriors were fleeing everywhere. The detonations of the Liao riders rose one after another; facing opponents who had gone completely insane, many template cultivators suffered a collapse of their Dao heart.
Seeing the dire situation while Wei Yuan was absent, several dozen human Dao foundation cultivators suddenly equipped shields and battleaxes, throwing caution to the wind and actually pushing back against the Liao Clan!
These were veterans who had followed Wei Yuan in his early years, having weathered countless vicious battles between life and death. Most of the surviving warriors had gradually attained the Dao foundation later on, and they were not templates.
Seeing morale falter, they stood forward without hesitation to charge headlong against the Liao!
A burly man stood atop high ground, raised his broadsword, and roared, "Want to see who's less afraid to die than your daddy? Come on!"
He leaped high into the air, crashing into the Liao cavalry like a meteor. In an instant, he chopped down a swath of them, his battle robe drenched in blood. In the end, he grappled with a Liao Dao foundation cultivator, rolling over and over. Both were heavily wounded and lacked the strength to fight with weapons, so each bit at the other with everything they had. After rolling for a while, both went still.
With these old veterans leading the countercharge, the cultivators who had fled were filled with shame and turned back one after another, shouting their defiance for a battle to the death! Qingming still had the advantage of superior armor and firearms, after all, and gradually regained the upper hand in the brutal melee.
The great battle raged from afternoon until late at night. Wei Yuan and Silver Moon exchanged countless strikes, yet neither displayed a single flaw. Just as it seemed they would fight until the end of time, the glow of karmic luck upon Silver Moon suddenly dimmed!
Silver Moon's karmic luck was exhausted!
Wei Yuan immediately warped time—Silver Moon's killing technique was coming!
Silver Moon's expression was serene. He cupped his arms as if embracing a full moon within the moonlight. Then blade light flared, a single strike igniting Silver Moon's sea of consciousness and soul before turning into a soft, pure blade light—like water, like the wind—that still surged forward through Wei Yuan's warped time, shattering layer upon layer of karmic luck barriers as it poured ahead!
Silver Moon had actually sacrificed himself to unleash this strike that stunned heaven and earth!
Wei Yuan had always thought Silver Moon would still try to flee; only upon seeing this blade strike did he realize in shock that Silver Moon truly possessed a death wish. Furthermore, this strike was not aimed at Wei Yuan—it was directed toward the million Qingming warriors below!
Wei Yuan was horrified. A strike Silver Moon unleashed by sacrificing himself would likely wipe out more than half of the million-strong army! As for karmic backlash, Silver Moon had sacrificed his very self—what backlash could he possibly fear?
At that moment, Wei Yuan turned cold all over, having no means left to block this strike. For the first time since the battle began, he lost his composure. Freezing time with a palm strike, he roared at Silver Moon, "Why?!"
In this gap of frozen time, Silver Moon smiled freely and said, "It is very simple. Rather than escaping only to be manipulated life after life, I would rather die. Though the next incarnation of me might no longer be me, that is still far better than becoming a plaything in the Buddha's palm.
"As for you, how could striking you ever bring you more pain than slaughtering the army under your command? Haha! That's what you get for underestimating the heroes of this world!"
The gap of frozen time could no longer be maintained, and reality resumed. Wei Yuan could only watch helplessly as that blade light split into countless rays, cascading downward like the Heavenly River spilling from the sky, descending upon the heads of the Qingming warriors!
Wei Yuan felt an indescribable ache in his heart, yet this strike could no longer be stopped. He could only clench his teeth.
By now, Silver Moon could no longer stand and fell toward the earth. His body was wrapped in the cyan threads of the calamity, but his insides were already empty. Watching the blade light descend, Silver Moon's eyes were filled with pure vindication.
He and Wei Yuan were truly of the same kind; naturally, he knew exactly what would hurt Wei Yuan the most, just as Wei Yuan had seized his fatal weakness in a single stroke.
Yet suddenly, heaven and earth shone bright with clarity as immeasurable radiance surged forth!
Boundless light rose, gently cradling the blade light and dispersing it into nothingness.
Seeing Bodhisattva Boundless Radiance emerge from the void, both Silver Moon and Wei Yuan were stunned. Silver Moon's eyes were filled with confusion and defiance; his lips trembled as if wanting to say something more, but before a single word could leave his mouth, his body was dragged into the earth by the calamity.
"Heh—"
Leaving behind only a smile of profound sorrow.
Even with Wei Yuan's composure, he was stunned for several moments before recovering his senses. He bowed deeply toward Boundless Radiance and asked, "May I ask the Bodhisattva, why did you do this?"
Boundless Radiance smiled faintly and said, "In my heart, the Great Dao comes before me, and the Human Clan comes before the Great Dao. Otherwise, why do you think Suchan was so devoted to me back then?
"Though I had not yet attained the Dao in those days, my sense of righteousness was no different from his. It was only when it came down to a choice between him and myself that I put myself before him."
Wei Yuan did not know what to say, feeling only profound respect.
Boundless Radiance said, "Yet my forcing a passage here today has cost me no small price. If you and I find ourselves on opposing sides in the future, could you perhaps strike with a gentler hand?"
Wei Yuan immediately replied, "In honor of today's favor, I will surely handle you with care!"
Chapter 1388