When Wei Yuan opened his eyes once more, he had returned to the domain.
Outside the window, the sky remained a crystal-clear red, and Qingming trembled incessantly. The infused azure qi had long since been depleted, leaving only half the pool of azure water within Qingming.
Paying no heed to the heartache of parting with karmic luck, Wei Yuan cast thirty strands of it into the pool in a single breath. The depletion visibly slowed, allowing him to finally exhale in relief.
He stepped out of the room and looked around. All the grand formations were still holding, but the main peak was deserted; the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning had all departed to reinforce the various formations. Streaks of red light drifted everywhere across the sky, causing the grand formations to shudder violently upon the slightest contact. Only with the Palace of Grand Beginning's cultivators manning the nodes could defenses of this caliber avoid being breached so easily.
According to the information Dream Eater had shared, the Nether Shaman behind this strike was named Shu Li. Among Nether Shamans, he was considered mediocre, and Dream Eater's tone when speaking of him had bordered on contempt. Yet even the most ordinary Nether Shaman was an untouchable existence to Wei Yuan. This time, without his true body even present, Shu Li's curse had crossed millions of li and forced out every single one of Wei Yuan's trump cards.
At present, the domain housed not only Wei Yuan himself, but also numerous prodigies from the younger generation of the Palace of Grand Beginning—and yet they could barely hold out for a single day.
A thought suddenly crossed Wei Yuan's mind. He flew down from the main peak and rushed into the prison. Only a few cultivators stood guard there now; even Xu Wan'er had gone to assist at the defensive formation nodes.
Wei Yuan walked straight into one of the cells.
Lying on the bed was an exceptionally tall Shaman man, his long tail dragging across the floor with three heavy chains wrapped around it.
Hearing the cell door rattle, he rolled over. Seeing Wei Yuan, he sneered, "Looks like this is the only time you come to your senses."
"Who cast the curse?" Wei Yuan asked.
"Either Shu Li or Lord Feng Ye. Those are the only two Nether Shamans nearby. But I have nothing to do with either of them. If you're trying to scheme using me, you're looking in the wrong place."
"Do you have nothing to say about your ransom?" Wei Yuan pressed.
"At a time like this, my ransom will only drop, not rise! What on earth are you thinking?" Tianyu scoffed. After being locked up for so long, he was brimming with resentment toward Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then suggested, "A retreat of their army?"
"Do you think that's possible?"
"A guarantee never to invade the domain again?" Wei Yuan probed a step further.
Tianyu burst into loud laughter. "Do you think I'm worth terms like that?"
Wei Yuan sighed. "If you can't show any sincerity, I won't bother considering the possibility of collecting a ransom. I hope you won't regret it."
Tianyu said coldly, "At worst, it's just death! Which Power Shaman fears dying?"
"Aren't you Shaman Scholars all rather afraid of death?"
Tianyu froze, then spat, "Those bastards are born nobles who coast through life relying on inherited bloodline power! A true Power Shaman must constantly shatter his own limits and undergo metamorphosis into a higher form of Shaman! That path is narrow, with death lurking at every turn—anyone afraid to die would never become a Power Shaman in the first place!"
Wei Yuan replied calmly, "Quite the temper. We'll see about that."
Leaving the prison, Wei Yuan looked up to find that the clear red glow in the sky was finally beginning to fade.
This wave of assault had been fiercely intense, but it had not lasted very long, proving even shorter than the previous two Great Shaman blood curses. Even so, it had consumed half of Qingming's nurturing power. Had Wei Yuan not accumulated a vast amount of karmic luck, this single strike alone would have wiped out the vast majority of the mortals in the domain.
When it came to warding off a Nether Shaman's blood curse, karmic luck proved unimaginably potent, far surpassing even Qingming itself.
Watching the lingering crimson light across the firmament, Wei Yuan scattered spiritual materials around himself and laid out a simple feng shui formation. This time, the formation was aligned toward intuition. As the domain lord, Wei Yuan naturally enjoyed the empowerment of Qingming, making the feng shui formation remarkably effective.
A moment later, the formation took effect. Wei Yuan's heart stirred as a suffocating pressure washed over him—heavy as a mountain and reeking of blood and cold steel.
An army was bearing down on them!
The intuition was extraordinarily distinct. Aside from the formation's enhancement, it was also because the Shamans had made no attempt to conceal their intentions.
The danger was approaching from the northwest. In that direction, Wei Yuan had established a city of twenty thousand people. At present, only a dirt wall several feet high had been erected. Guided by cultivators, all the mortals were digging underground tunnels day and night without rest. On the surface, the city consisted only of sprawling shanties, but the ground beneath had almost been hollowed out completely.
Time was simply too short to construct proper city fortifications; going underground was their only option.
As soon as the blood curse receded entirely, Wei Yuan began rallying the army. All the elites gathered toward the center of the domain, while the various cities were left in the hands of their respective city guards. The so-called city guards currently consisted of cultivators who had to provide their own armor and magical items. Many of them were barely at the level of the Shayang Village militiamen; far from possessing proper armor, they could not even scrape together complete weapons. But with no time for reservations, they could only brace themselves and face the brunt of it.
After issuing his orders, Wei Yuan found Cui Yu.
The young master of the Cui family was inspecting the Yong'an city guard. He examined each recruit with great care, occasionally pulling out frail, underage youths and nudging them back toward the civilians. The youths were reluctant, but Cui Yu remained resolute.
Seeing Wei Yuan arrive, Cui Yu handed his duties over to a deputy and asked, "What are the Domain Lord's orders?"
Wei Yuan frowned slightly, though there was nothing he could do. In front of others—especially the mortals—Cui Yu insisted on addressing Wei Yuan as Domain Lord. He maintained that only by doing so would the domain's subjects understand who truly ruled, preventing any subordinate from overshadowing the master or leaving openings for those with hidden motives.
Wei Yuan said, "The Shamans are coming."
Cui Yu was startled. "So soon?"
"They haven't arrived yet, but they cannot be far—perhaps less than a thousand li away."
Cui Yu let out a breath. "Then there's still time. The Yong'an city guard can muster three thousand men. All of them have undergone basic training and possess some fighting capability."
Wei Yuan said, "Can you use the Cui family's channels to notify the imperial court of the Shaman advance?"
Cui Yu replied, "No problem. Since the court has re-established the prefectures and commanderies, they naturally bear the duty to defend the land against a Shaman invasion."
Cui Yu's reasoning was sound. With the Shamans invading and Western Jin steadily funneling troops into Ningxi, the court could not simply sit by and watch the Shamans run rampant. Another massive war in the Shattered Lands was inevitable.
It was hard to say who would emerge victorious. Wei Yuan did not know the exact strength of the invading Shaman forces, only that it would be formidable. Cui Yu produced a palm-sized slip of jade paper, inscribed his request upon it, and tossed it into the sky.
The jade paper instantly transformed into a paper bird, piercing through the clouds and streaking into the distance.
Even with Wei Yuan's sharp perception and at such close range, he could only faintly detect the ripples of Dao power. The paper bird was exceptionally fast, highly discreet, and capable of transmitting a vast amount of information—it was truly immensely practical. The depth of a great clan's foundation was readily apparent in such proprietary Dao arts and magical items.
"I'll return to mustering the troops, then." Seeing that Wei Yuan had no further instructions, Cui Yu lingered no longer and headed straight back to the military camp.
Wei Yuan watched him leave.
Cui Yu had grown visibly thinner. His skin had taken on a tan usually seen only among common laborers, and the lines across his entire body had hardened into something far more rugged. He no longer looked anything like the refined young master of an aristocratic family he once was.
A pang of sorrow tugged at Wei Yuan's heart. He wanted to call out to him, but upon reflection, he did not know what to say, and could only let him go.
By the evening of the following day, the Shaman vanguard finally appeared within Wei Yuan's sensory range.
Wei Yuan and Bao Yun immediately flew out of the domain, using Bao Yun's Seven Marvels Treasure Tree to conceal their presence while scouting the Shaman forces.
The Shaman army approached from the northwest, marching steadily along the gentle slopes skirting the mountain range. Billows of green qi rolled over the entire host—clearly fortified by powerful shamanic arts, allowing them to march for long stretches and deploy into battle at any moment.
Carefully steering clear of the powerhouses within the army, Wei Yuan took a brief count and tallied thirty thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry.
Unlike the Shamans he had encountered before, every warrior in this force wore heavy armor, with many having fur lining beneath their helmets. Their armor was an ash-grey splashed with pale green patches, completely distinct from the dark-green armor of ordinary Shamans. Their overall strength far surpassed any Shaman army Wei Yuan had ever seen, and from the commanding generals down to the rank-and-file soldiers, they radiated an unmistakable, suffocating bloodlust.
Hardly anyone in the entire force spoke. They marched forward in silence, striding like an ancient serpent winding its way across the earth.
Seeing this, Wei Yuan was almost certain: this army had been transferred from the north!
Even after two hundred thousand years, the primary enemy of the Wuyu Clan remained Northern Liao, not the humans. Their true elite forces were all engaged in bloody battles with the Liao Clan on the northern frontier. In the previous engagements across Ningxi, the Shamans had deployed only second-line units. Why had they suddenly mobilized northern border troops here?
From the occasional snippets of conversation within the ranks, Wei Yuan learned that this was merely the vanguard; the main army was still a hundred li behind.
"Let's head back and prepare for battle," Wei Yuan said.
Judging from the vanguard's marching route, wherever the main force's ultimate objective lay, this advance detachment was heading straight for the domain. A clash was unavoidable.
Upon returning to the domain, Wei Yuan gathered everyone from the Palace of Grand Beginning for final pre-battle deployment.
Cui Yu arrived a little late, but he looked visibly elated. The moment he stepped through the door, he announced, "News just arrived from my family. Provincial Commander Yue Jinshan of Ningxi has set out with fifty thousand troops. He will gather additional forces along the way to assemble an army of eighty thousand, then march north of the domain to strike straight at the Shaman army's center. Depending on the marching speed, he might also hit the gap between their center and rear armies."
"Is that true?" Wei Yuan's first reaction was skepticism. Would Western Jin truly send troops to relieve the domain?
"Absolutely true." Cui Yu hesitated for a moment before adding, "Several generals under Commander Yue's command are our Cui family's informants."
Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. If Western Jin was willing to deploy troops, this battle could still be fought.
However, he suddenly realized that Bao Yun was not present at the council. He had no idea where she had gone, which stirred a faint sense of unease in his heart.
Bao Yun and Ji Liuli were accustomed to coming and going as they pleased, and Wei Yuan could hardly restrict their movements. With the military situation so pressing, Wei Yuan decided not to wait for Bao Yun and convened the meeting without her.
Beside a small stream several dozen li from the main peak, Bao Yun was walking downstream, eventually coming to a halt by a small pool of water.
A whirlpool suddenly stirred within the tranquil pool, and the figure of a middle-aged man rose from its center. He possessed handsome features, yet carried a deeply gloomy demeanor that naturally inspired dread.
Seeing Bao Yun, a gleam flashed deep within the middle-aged man's eyes before he said calmly, "The Family Head has decreed that you return immediately."
"For what reason?" Bao Yun asked.
The middle-aged man frowned in displeasure. "The Family Head naturally has his reasons for issuing the command."
Bao Yun said indifferently, "If I withdraw at a time like this, my reputation will be ruined. If the Family Head wishes for me to commit such a perfidious, cowardly act of desertion, he must provide a sufficient reason. Or could it be that the Family Head never issued such an order, and certain people are merely passing off their own wishes as his command?"
The middle-aged man's expression shifted slightly. "The elders only have your best interests at heart."
"Thank them on my behalf, and tell them to spend more time worrying about their own worthless descendants instead of bringing shame to the Bao family."
Unable to keep his composure any longer, the middle-aged man snapped furiously, "What are you doing mingling with that boy of no background or standing? It's utterly disgraceful!"
Bao Yun replied coolly, "Those cousins of mine certainly have plenty of background, and they've even cultivated for several more years. Yet I wonder if all of them put together could withstand a single blow from him."
The middle-aged man's cheek twitched. Knowing that despite his seniority, he was far outmatched by Bao Yun in both wit and debate, he refrained from arguing further. Reaching into his robes, he produced a jade pendant and tossed it to Bao Yun, saying, "The Family Head's exact words: if you wish to stay, you must keep this jade pendant on you at all times. The moment the elders in the clan sense something amiss, they will pluck you away across the void. Furthermore, whether this jade pendant is activated or not, you must return home once this battle ends."
Bao Yun caught the jade pendant and sensed a strand of a Supreme Elder's divine sense contained within. Through this pendant, the Supreme Elder could perceive everything around Bao Yun at all times, allowing them to intervene across the void and rescue her in a moment of crisis.
Bao Yun did not leave, but asked instead, "Why?"
The middle-aged man scoffed and said, "With you here, their hands are tied, and there are many things they cannot do. Because of that, the King of Jin is furious, having flown into rages several times already. If this continues, there is no telling what he might do. Our Bao family holds far too many interests in Western Jin; we cannot afford to completely fall out with the King of Jin over a junior like you. If you still care for the Bao family in your heart, do not make things difficult for the clan."
Bao Yun stood in silence for a long time before finally saying calmly, "Tell Grandfather that once this battle is over, I will return."
Chapter 189