And You Say You're Not Useless

The stroke of midnight. Both sides had finished forming their ranks, and the world-renowned rampaging beasts of the Shamans officially took the field. The beasts stood nearly twenty feet tall, resembling rhinoceroses, with thick bone crests flaring behind their heads like natural suits of armor. Armored howdahs were mounted on their backs, housing several Shaman Scholars and archers. The beasts themselves were already covered in heavy scales, but the Shamans had further clad them in thick steel plating, turning them into moving fortresses. Yet what drew the most attention were five Great Shamans lined up abreast in the air. The Great Shaman in the center was far larger than the others, even slightly dwarfing the rampaging beasts. Hovering aloft, he unleashed his aura without restraint, sending a dark green tornado roaring straight into the sky! Beside Wei Yuan, Perfected Chuhe wore a grave expression. "If that old scoundrel Fenhai is around, call him out immediately. And whatever other senior masters you have, summon as many as you can. This old Daoist cannot withstand so many opponents alone." "The seniors are all concealed in the shadows, awaiting the right moment," Wei Yuan said, sounding entirely convincing. Hearing Wei Yuan's words, Perfected Chuhe looked somewhat relieved. At that moment, Yu Zhizhuo pulled out a slender cylinder, held it to his eye, and peered toward the east. "The main force of Western Jin is holding back, sitting on its hands. It looks like they plan to let us fight to the bitter end and destroy each other." Perfected Chuhe said, "The main Jin force is hundreds of li away, and shamanic qi blocks the view here. What sort of magic treasure can see that far?" Yu Zhizhuo lowered the cylinder. "This treasure of mine is adjustable. Right now, I'm looking at their military qi. The Jin army's military qi hasn't stirred in the slightest. They haven't the faintest intention of deploying." "Isn't that just as expected?" Yu Zhizhuo said bitterly, "Those fools. Do they not understand that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold?" "Nephew Yu, you're being pedantic," Perfected Chuhe remarked. "Only the King of Jin shares that cold-teeth dilemma with us. Why would those governors and generals care? If they lose this territory, they'll simply move somewhere else and continue serving as officials." Yu Zhizhuo had no good impression of the old Daoist at all, snapping peevishly, "A farmer like you shouldn't be lecturing me on grand statecraft! Tell me how we're going to fight in a moment!" Perfected Chuhe cast his gaze over the opposing Great Shamans. "Fortunately, immortal swords are not banned within the domain. This old Daoist will naturally take on one." Yu Zhizhuo said, "Then my junior brothers and I will take one as well." "Nephew Yu, you haven't yet condensed a dharma idol; do not act rashly. This old Daoist is still looking forward to the day your dharma idol surpasses mine." "I won't disappoint you! But what about the big fellow in the middle?" Wei Yuan said, "We act as the opportunity arises." By then, the high command platform of the Shaman center army had been pushed to the edge of the domain. The vanguard officially marched into the domain, their surging military qi splitting the pure qi of the human domain like a dark ink dragon plunging into the territory. Amid sharp, piercing whistles, countless heavy arrows shot into the sky, arcing toward Xuanwei Six. Each of these heavy arrows was four feet long and weighed ten jin. When plunging down, let alone wooden shacks, even houses built with blue tiles and stone walls would be easily pierced through. A dense rain of arrows cascaded into the settlement, eliciting only a few scattered screams of agony. Clearly, virtually no one was under the dense spread of shanties; everyone had hidden underground. The main force of the domain was arrayed fifty li behind Xuanwei Six, where fortifications had been erected, and people were still ceaselessly digging trenches. This time, the Shamans had ample troops. They dispatched ten thousand to close in on Xuanwei Six, while their main force of one hundred thousand marched straight for the heart of the domain. Just as the Shaman main force swept past Xuanwei Six, tarpaulins inside the previously silent settlement suddenly flew open, revealing two ballistas! The ballistas were already aimed and fired the instant they were exposed. Massive ten-foot enchanted bolts slammed violently into the bellies of two rampaging beasts a thousand zhang away! Wracked with agony, the two rampaging beasts reared up on their hind legs, hurling all the Shaman Scholars from their backs. When their forehoofs came crashing down, they trampled a swath of Shaman soldiers to death. The ballistas flashed with continuous light, firing bolt after bolt. Aside from the very first shot, the crews paid no heed to accuracy, focusing solely on discharging the remaining bolts as fast as possible. In the blink of an eye, each ballista had emptied five bolts. With a collective shout, the crews abandoned the ballistas a split second before the Shamans reached them and dove underground. After a brief moment of chaos, the Shaman center army pressed forward. The detached force of ten thousand warriors charged into Xuanwei Six, first smashing the ballistas to splinters before plunging underground to contest the tunnels passage by passage. As the Shaman vanguard closed in on Wei Yuan's main force, a torrential barrage of arrows blackened the sky. Yet the green qi and magical power suffusing the heavy arrows were rapidly drained during flight. Stripped of magic, the arrows lost most of their lethal momentum, and a gale conjured by Daoist arts above the ranks blew more than half off course. Below, the main force raised their shields in unison; the falling arrows wounded only a few dozen men. The Shamans advanced while firing in continuous volleys, sheets of arrows pouring down. From atop the rampaging beasts, shamanic spells and heavy missiles bombarded relentlessly. At that moment, tarpaulins covering several raised earthen mounds in the battle line were pulled away, unveiling six ballistas at once. Colossal bolts ripped into the Shaman ranks, each carving a channel through flesh and blood. In an instant, four rampaging beasts took direct hits. Though their hides were thick and tough, they could not withstand the terrifying power of the ballistas and collapsed, unable to rise. Horns blared among the Shamans. Every rampaging beast broke into a charge, with the vanguard surging right on their heels. Wei Yuan raised his hand and brought it down sharply only when the Shamans were dozens of zhang away! A row of soldiers suddenly popped up from the earthen mounds before the line, raised their firearms, and fired. A flash of gunfire lit the field, and a whole swath of the Shaman vanguard fell instantly. After discharging their weapons, the foot soldiers turned and ran, while the next rank fired and did the same. After several such volleys, every soldier on the front line had pulled back completely, handing the positions over to the Shamans. This tactic was something the Shamans had never witnessed before. The vanguard commander froze for a heartbeat before ordering his troops to seize the works while sending men to destroy the ballistas. Countless Shaman warriors swarmed the ballistas, quickly hacking them to pieces. The vanguard commander felt a faint prickle of unease, as though being watched by something sinister. Just as he looked around, the earth suddenly convulsed. Fissures split open beneath the six ballistas, and violent explosions instantly blasted countless Shaman warriors into the sky! Follow-up detonations tore through the frontline trenches, violently blowing apart the bodies of the numerous Shaman warriors searching them. The deafening blasts spooked the rampaging beasts; many reared up or stampeded wildly. The Shaman Scholars on their backs cast spells frantically, barely managing to bring them under control. At that very moment, a wisp of faint sword qi slipped through the heavy gunsmoke and sank into the forehead of the Shaman vanguard commander. His expression froze instantly, and he tumbled backward. The Shaman vanguard suffered only brief disorientation before another general raised the command banner, assumed control, and resumed the pursuit of Wei Yuan. By this time, Wei Yuan had already led his main force back three li, where a great number of Body Casting cultivators had been digging furiously, having already prepared defensive earthworks. The main force immediately occupied the trenches upon their retreat. The Shamans pursued once more. The human warriors picked up their preloaded fire guns and fired three more volleys in succession, cutting down another swath of the enemy. Gunsmoke drifted dozens of feet high before the positions, blinding both sides to the point that they could only assess the tactical situation with their divine senses. More than a dozen formidable divine senses swept brazenly across Wei Yuan's ranks, repeatedly searching for his center army with utter arrogance. Yet at Wei Yuan's command post, three sticks of incense were already burning, releasing wisps of pale purple smoke. The command tent where the incense burned was completely deserted, while the guards outside held their breath, treating the moment with supreme caution. The powerful divine senses of the Shaman generals and Shaman Scholars swept through one after another, treating the camp like an open morning bazaar. With every sweep, the pale purple smoke dimmed slightly. In the blink of an eye, the purple smoke in the command tent was miraculously cleared away. At that moment, several Shaman Scholars and generals in the Shaman ranks suddenly clutched their heads, howling in agony as they collapsed. Their primordial spirits felt as if drenched in caustic acid; of the full strength of the divine sense sent out, barely eighty percent returned, and even that was tinged with faint purple. Those three sticks of incense were an earlier craft of Sun Yu's, created specifically to harm divine senses with vicious malice. Back then, Sun Yu had entered a mystic realm to compete for opportunities. Upon spotting a precious herb, he did not harvest it; instead, he lit a stick of this Soul-Eroding Incense beside it and hid. Other cultivators who discovered the herb feared an ambush and dared not seize it immediately, first using their divine senses to scan for danger. Every one of them fell into the trap, allowing Sun Yu to claim the prize entirely for himself. Now, amidst the chaos of battle, Wei Yuan lighting the Soul-Eroding Incense in his command post served an identical purpose. Another strand of sword qi slipped silently through the disordered Shaman formations. However, the newly appointed Shaman commander was surrounded by personal guards and enveloped in dense green qi, guarding against surprise attacks. The sword qi did not strike at him; instead, it severed the command banner, then slew the Shaman Scholar with the highest cultivation nearby. With over a dozen high-ranking Shaman Scholars collapsing and the command banner abruptly toppling, countless Shaman warriors had no idea what was happening, falling into disarray. Wei Yuan seized the moment, launching a red flare into the night sky before activating Ephemeral Multitude. Every Qingming warrior leaped out of the trenches and charged the Shamans. From the darkness on both flanks, two thousand-strong cavalry contingents struck, slamming into the Shaman flanks. The two armies instantly collided in brutal melee! Now, whenever a Qingming warrior met an enemy, they first fired point-blank into their face; the fiercest even pressed their gun barrels against their foes before pulling the trigger. With a single blast, the Shaman would be hurled backward through the air. Under the empowerment of Ephemeral Multitude and numerous fire guns, casualties in the Shaman vanguard climbed sharply, bodies falling in swaths. Yet the rampaging beasts finally displayed their ferocious combat prowess, rampaging through the Qingming ranks without restraint. Seeing the situation turn dire, Wei Yuan led a band of knights in a charge. As he brushed past a rampaging beast, he unleashed Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, driving his twelve-foot spear into its flank with all his might! Nearly the entire spear sank into its body. Then the spearhead shot forward and detonated, shredding the beast's vitals into a gruesome mess! Wei Yuan drew a second spear from his mount, charged toward another beast, and swept past. The beast let out a shrill shriek of agony, spewed blood mingled with shredded organs from its mouth, and crashed heavily to the ground. The other knights bolstered by Outlaw of Heaven and Earth could likewise sever the thick hide of the rampaging beasts with blade and spear, frantically funneling Dao power into the wounds. In moments, several beasts collapsed under the concerted assault of over a hundred knights. Yet the numerical advantage of the Shamans was simply too overwhelming. After a brief period of confusion, they swiftly recovered, and the melee settled into a stalemate. Wei Yuan led his knights straight through the Shaman formation, circled around from behind, and simultaneously fired a yellow flare into the air. The Qingming warriors pulled back instantly, retreating at a pace that looked almost like a rout. Caught off guard once more, the Shamans watched Wei Yuan's army pull back and prepared to pursue, when over a dozen explosions suddenly rocked the abandoned position. The Shaman vanguard, having already learned to fear the blasts, halted in terror, intending to wait until the position finished detonating before advancing. Yet there were only those dozen-odd explosions, after which everything went completely silent. The hundred thousand Shaman troops could only watch helplessly as Wei Yuan's forces escaped to their third line of defense several li away. The vanguard commander did not immediately press the attack, pausing instead to reorganize his ranks. Yanxin finally lost his temper, roaring in fury, "And you still dare say you're not useless?"