This Shaman assault consisted of an elite legion numbering roughly three hundred thousand, yet only a single Nether Shaman took the field.
Whenever an otherworldly monster manifested in the Shattered Lands, the area remained within its line of sight for some time afterward. In the previous offensive, the Shamans had misjudged the humans' Scenery Command combat strength, never anticipating humanity could muster seven Scenery Command experts—each exceptionally formidable—and had suffered a grievous defeat as a result.
This time, their intention was obvious. Lacking superiority in the number of high-tier Scenery Command cultivators, they planned to use one Nether Shaman to tie down multiple human Scenery Command experts, dragging out the fight until it provoked the otherworldly monster, thereby bringing about mutual destruction.
On the ground, their primary force comprised fast elite units pressing an all-out assault, striving to strike a decisive blow before Qingming's defenses could be repaired.
Following their retreat after the previous defeat, scouts from both Qingming and the Shamans had clashed fiercely outside the domain. Seeing heavy losses among his scouts, Wei Yuan had personally ventured beyond the boundary to sweep the field, severely wounding two ambushing Great Shamans. Only then had the Shamans reined themselves in, and Wei Yuan had restricted his scouts' reconnaissance range to within two hundred li to prevent situations where he could not come to their aid in time.
The Shaman army moved swiftly. Two hours later, they were already at the domain's edge, commencing their assault on the city.
Just as the airborne Nether Shaman was about to make a move, a stream of sword-light tore through the air!
The white-robed swordsman remained harmonized with heaven and earth as crisscrossing sword-lights filled nearly half the sky. How could this possibly resemble a mere dharma idol? His display was grander than that of many Scenery Command experts!
The Nether Shaman countered with sweeping clouds of blood, annihilating and tearing against the sword-light in fierce combat. In the blink of an eye, that lofty, chilling otherworldly will descended once again.
Su Xuejing showed no fear, continuing to strike with all his might. The Nether Shaman managed only two more moves before the gaze of the otherworldly will settled upon him. Letting out a wretched scream, the Nether Shaman turned and fled, vanishing into the distance in an instant.
At that moment, Wei Yuan's aura was still peaked at an unprecedented summit. Suddenly, a premonition struck him. He abandoned his pursuit of a Great Shaman before him, reined in his aura completely, and froze in place.
The otherworldly monster's gaze swept over Wei Yuan, distinctly pausing on him with an apparent hint of doubt before slowly shifting away.
Countless sword-lights still swam back and forth across the sky. The white-robed swordsman stood poised aloft in dashing grace, sword qi illuminating the entire battlefield, yet the otherworldly monster showed no reaction to him whatsoever.
A sudden wave of indignation rose in Wei Yuan's chest!
It was common knowledge that otherworldly monsters generally only targeted cultivators at or above the Scenery Command realm.
Wei Yuan felt that both he and the white-robed youth were in the Dharma Idol realm—why was one able to let sword qi sweep across the sky and dazzle the entire battlefield under the very nose of the otherworldly monster, while the other had to suppress his breath, freeze, and not dare make a sound? Across the entire battlefield, above and below, the sole focus of every gaze was that white-robed youth alone!
Wei Yuan grumbled inwardly: *Why didn't Yin-Yang's sword cut off something back then? Even poking a few small holes with sword qi would have been fine!*
The Shaman army had only just reached the outskirts of Ding'an City when, to their shock, their own Nether Shaman had already fled in defeat.
They had barely deployed their battle lines just out of the short-barreled cannons' range when several monsters tens of feet tall rose within their ranks and hurled house-sized fleshy orbs toward Ding'an City!
The orbs howled through the air, numbering more than a dozen. Defending the city, Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo could intercept only half; the remaining seven or eight slammed directly onto the battlements, instantly bursting into massive splashes of black water.
Warriors splashed by it screamed in agony. Even the short-barreled cannons began spewing thick smoke, their carriages rotting away moments before the barrels crashed to the ground.
Sun Yu's expression changed. His Cinnabar Scorpion dharma idol manifested, shooting beams of black light from its stinger. Upon striking the black liquid, the color shifted until, miraculously, vast patches of black water transformed into clean water.
Even so, that single strike claimed the lives of several hundred cultivators. After flinging the orbs, the Shaman army immediately began retreating, simultaneously casting a blood curse over Ding'an City to deter pursuit.
Wei Yuan remained motionless. The otherworldly monster's will had not departed yet, lingering around him.
The battle came to a hasty conclusion. The Shaman army's main force had suffered no real harm, maintaining orderly military qi and leaving behind only two or three thousand corpses—a negligible loss compared to earlier clashes.
Wei Yuan had no choice but to call off any pursuit. Without him personally leading them, the army was strictly restricted in its movements beyond the domain.
With Wei Yuan present, sheltered doubly by the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World and military qi, the troops were largely immune to the environmental suppression of the Wu domain. But without Wei Yuan, their combat strength would be sapped by at least twenty percent. At this moment, Wei Yuan dared not move a muscle, let alone lead an army in pursuit.
The white-robed youth appeared before Wei Yuan, eyeing him with some confusion. The wound inflicted by sword qi was still on Wei Yuan's body; though not large, it pierced straight through, leaving an opening front to back.
Seeing Wei Yuan standing motionless like a statue, the white-robed youth casually withdrew the residual sword qi from the wound—and blood immediately gushed out! Seeing that Wei Yuan had no intention of staunching the bleeding himself, he had to seal the wound with his own sword qi, then waved a hand before Wei Yuan's eyes in bewilderment.
Wei Yuan glared at him and whispered in a tiny voice, "The otherworldly monster is still here!"
Su Xuejing thought, *What does whether the otherworldly monster is here or not have to do with you?* He figured Wei Yuan was severely injured, did not wish to fight anymore, and was using the otherworldly monster as an excuse.
From their earlier clash, he had already gained a general understanding of Wei Yuan's strength. Possessing such combat prowess upon newly entering the Dharma Idol realm was indeed terrifying. Since he had learned what he came to learn, and Wei Yuan was gravely wounded and truly unable to fight on, he merged into heaven and earth and vanished.
Only long after the white-robed youth had departed did Wei Yuan feel the otherworldly monster's gaze turn elsewhere. He let out a long breath, finally beginning to seal his wound and mend his body.
This whole fight had been utterly bizarre. Had the Shamans not launched a sneak attack, Wei Yuan would not even have known how to bring it to a close.
The white-robed swordsman was exceptionally powerful. His sword qi could virtually substitute for a realm of heaven and earth; while not a mindscape world, it surpassed one. No wonder he possessed the confidence to hold off a Nether Shaman, and had indeed traded blows back and forth with one in earnest.
Without unleashing Maiden Yin-Yang, Wei Yuan would likely suffer defeat against a Nether Shaman right now. In terms of swordsmanship, Su Xuejing and Xu Shiqi were evenly matched. But in terms of overall combat ability, Su Xuejing, heir to the Sword Palace's heritage, was distinctly a cut above.
Wei Yuan landed on the ramparts of Ding'an City as Bao Yun rushed over. Cultivators who had hurried to assist were using long-handled hooks and rakes to haul corpses out of the black water, laying them in one place. The bodies were ghastly to behold; some were reduced to mere torso fragments. Stray belongings floated in the black water, their owners having completely dissolved into nothingness.
Sun Yu took samples of the black liquid and began testing its toxicological properties on the spot, formulating a corresponding antidote. Yu Zhizhuo, meanwhile, conjured and shaped several boulders out of thin air, cordoning off the black water so it would not spread.
Appearing beside Wei Yuan, Bao Yun said, "The Shamans have changed their methods. They're growing harder to deal with."
Wei Yuan nodded with a grave expression.
Xu Henshui arrived in a hurry only now, having been indisposed while refining a cauldron of medicinal pills. The moment he arrived, he took over the toxicological research from Sun Yu. Sun Yu then gathered several fragments of the leftover orb tissue, sealing them carefully for detailed study.
After fighting the Shamans for so long, some of Qingming's past measures were no longer as effective. For instance, the giant beast spewing black water countered underground fortifications, single-handedly turning the earthen redoubts Wei Yuan had meticulously constructed into death traps.
These fleshy orbs packed with black water were another new weapon. They exhibited immense resistance to Dao arts, able to be destroyed only by attacks focused on physical force. Even the city-guarding grand array could not effectively intercept them.
This reminded Wei Yuan of the time he had used railguns to lob gunpowder barrels into Shaman City.
Fortunately, with over a hundred thousand brilliant minds in the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, Wei Yuan remained fully confident in staying ahead in methods of warfare.
After observing for a while, Bao Yun said, "I'm heading back to rest."
Wei Yuan nodded, not pondering the implications of her words, and returned to his own quarters. The first thing he did upon returning was enter his sea of consciousness to find Maiden Yin-Yang and confer over the clash with the white-robed swordsman.
By now, Maiden Yin-Yang possessed natural, innate spirituality. Under her influence, the surrounding heaven and earth shifted accordingly, spontaneously forming an innate array. As Wei Yuan passed through the array, he distinctly sensed a hint of danger. It seemed this innate formation not only obscured sight and perception, but also possessed offensive capabilities against enemies.
Wei Yuan was suddenly reminded of how, not long ago, the mortals' spiritual enhancement had instinctively driven them to construct walls and fortresses before he had put a stop to it.
At the time, Wei Yuan had thought: *This is all inside my own sea of consciousness; where could an enemy possibly come from?* Yet seeing that the formation spontaneously generated around Yin-Yang also possessed defensive functions, he felt something was slightly off.
Entering the array, he found Maiden Yin-Yang with her eyes closed, motionless. But around Wei Yuan, countless leaping figures abruptly appeared, all of them projections of her battle against Su Xuejing. This was one step closer than a true-meaning legacy; experiencing them was practically no different from Wei Yuan having fought the battle himself.
After taking in the entire battle, Wei Yuan still needed to inspect Maiden Yin-Yang's body to ascertain the lethal effect of Treading Snow on Kunlun's sword qi upon striking a target. In that battle, Maiden Yin-Yang had braved innumerable strands of sword qi to launch three consecutive strikes, forcing Su Xuejing back three hundred zhang.
Sensing Wei Yuan's thoughts, Maiden Yin-Yang suddenly shed her garments piece by piece, returning to her initial state. Only now, her spirituality was consummate, and every detail was equally consummate.
Wei Yuan was stunned!
Her clothing was actually part of Maiden Yin-Yang's true form; inspecting sword qi marks was the same whether she wore clothes or not, and switching between clothed and unclothed was merely a matter of a single thought—there was no need to take them off piece by piece at all.
Wei Yuan was in the prime of his youth, his vigor burning like a furnace, and he had already tasted the pleasures of the flesh. Meanwhile, Maiden Yin-Yang was born intimately attuned to the Dao, flawless in every inch. An instantaneous toggle between clothed and unclothed would have been fine, something Wei Yuan could barely withstand. But watching them slide down piece by piece—and not even vanish—who could possibly bear that?
Looking at Maiden Yin-Yang standing amidst the fallen garments, Wei Yuan's body reacted naturally to his thoughts, changes immediately mirroring onto his avatar within the sea of consciousness.
Maiden Yin-Yang suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze drifting downward.
Wei Yuan realized at once, crying inwardly that things had gone wrong. Relying on his precise control over his physical body, he forcefully suppressed every abnormality. But Maiden Yin-Yang's lips curled upward in a mocking smirk.
By this point, Wei Yuan had nearly lost all focus for inspecting sword qi. Gathering his wits, he managed to begin the examination. Sure enough, this investigation revealed many nuanced effects of the Treading Snow on Kunlun sword qi, allowing Wei Yuan to take a massive stride forward in knowing his opponent as well as himself. In a future rematch, the efficacy of that sword qi would instantly be degraded by ten percent.
Once he finished inspecting the sword qi, Wei Yuan had Maiden Yin-Yang readjust the layout of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, gathering everyone brought inside into a specific zone, then severing that zone's perception of the surrounding space.
This way, whoever entered the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World would see only a small surrounding area, unable to glimpse the whole picture.
Having arranged all of this, Wei Yuan withdrew from his sea of consciousness and resumed dealing with the mountain of official business.
At that very moment, lying in bed, Bao Yun opened her eyes for the third time, awakening from slumber. She had tried several different ways of falling asleep, yet each time she had failed to enter the mindscape world Cui Yu had spoken of.
Bao Yun changed methods again, disguising her consciousness as an ordinary maidservant in the estate, and drifted off into dream once more.
In truth, she could simply have asked Wei Yuan directly, which would certainly have granted her entry to the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. But Bao Yun felt that doing so would give Wei Yuan time to make preparations and arrangements, keeping her from seeing what she truly wanted to see.
Chapter 447