That black gunpowder would eventually leak had long been within Wei Yuan's expectations; in Xipu, a new firearm corps had already been formed. Yet for it to fall into the hands of the Shamans so early was entirely unexpected, and the timing was deeply intriguing—had it happened before the Karma Great Curse?
"Who was the person who leaked the gunpowder to you?" Wei Yuan pressed.
"I... I don't know! Only Lord Hongye knows that! The one who went to Qingming to make contact was also Lord Hongye's confidant, Yin Xiao. All I know is that after he returned that time, we started researching gunpowder."
Wei Yuan cross-examined him repeatedly, but no further details could be pried loose. It seemed this Great Shaman's status was indeed limited, not high enough to stand before Hongye.
Wei Yuan then asked about the output and stockpile of gunpowder. On this matter, the Great Shaman knew quite a lot and spoke in a steady torrent.
In the eyes of the Shamans, black gunpowder was actually a rather mediocre thing—it held some value, but genuinely not much. This was largely the same view once held by Wei Yuan and the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning. Had it not been for Ephemeral Multitude, along with the adoption of trenches and tunnels, gunpowder would never have seen widespread use in Qingming.
It was only when Sun Yu formulated the optimal ratio for black gunpowder that its use gradually became widespread. Later, after they developed the far more potent thunder gunpowder, fire guns finally became the primary weapon of Qingming's forces.
Although the Shamans had obtained the formula for black gunpowder, they had not found the ideal ratio; its overall power was only about sixty percent of Qingming's black gunpowder. Furthermore, the Shamans had never found a way to produce it on a massive scale, largely because their supply of saltpeter was scarce. In addition, the Nether Shamans did not place much importance on gunpowder, so after accumulating it for some time, they had only produced several tens of thousands of jin. The self-destructing war beast had consumed twenty thousand jin in a single blast.
Add to that the explosive arrows, and the Shaman army now likely held less than ten thousand jin of gunpowder.
Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. The issue of gunpowder output that had once troubled Qingming was evidently far more severe for the Shamans.
From the Desolate Ancestor Tribe, Wei Yuan had bought nine hundred thousand jin of thunder sand in one go. Day and night, new gunpowder was being mixed without pause, capable of yielding a total of three million jin. For the time being, there was no need to worry about gunpowder production.
Wei Yuan continued interrogating him regarding the Shaman army's troop strength, deployments, and objectives. Then the Great Shaman mentioned having once overheard a Nether Shaman speak of "mending heaven's deficit."
For reasons unknown, Wei Yuan felt a sudden jolt in his heart upon hearing those words, and the shadow in the moon seemed to stir as well. The sensation was fleeting, but Wei Yuan was no longer the man he had been during his Dao Foundation days. The numerous immortal plants within his dharma idol made him exceptionally sensitive to karmic luck, to say nothing of Maiden Yin-Yang and the shadow in the moon; such an impulse would never arise without reason.
However, this Shaman truly lacked the status to be privy to confidential secrets. He was completely oblivious as to what "mending heaven's deficit" meant; he had merely heard the Nether Shaman mention it in passing. Though he did not understand the phrase, he had found it inexplicably mysterious and overbearing, and so had committed it to memory.
Wei Yuan had a faint premonition that it might be connected to his Gate of the Many Realms.
Wei Yuan began asking about recent changes among the Shamans. The more he asked, the graver his expression became. The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was brought into full operation, recalculating and deducing the war's trajectory from scratch.
At this moment, nine hundred li from Qingming, what had become the Shamans' forward base of operations was covered in countless tents and makeshift buildings.
In a clearing within a military encampment, several hundred Shaman warriors were tied naked to wooden posts. Shaman Scholars held specially crafted carving knives and made slashes across vulnerable areas such as their chests, abdomens, and flanks, instantly carving dozens of fine wounds. Then, they smeared a black mud-like medicinal paste onto the warriors' bodies.
The moment the black mud touched the wounds, the Shaman warriors screamed frantically in agonizing pain, but bound securely, they could not move in the slightest. The Shaman Scholars then chanted incantations, causing bloody light to surge from each warrior as the areas smeared with the black medicinal mud began to swell slowly.
There were at least several hundred such clearings; hundreds of thousands of Shaman warriors were undergoing this modification.
In a vast open ground on the other side, a colossal beast lay on its side with its belly opened. Teams of Shaman laborers carried crates of gunpowder, piling them into its stomach.
Within a heavily guarded camp, several hundred Shamans of varying forms reclined or sat at ease, enjoying a continuous delivery of fine food and wine. Though their appearances differed vastly, all of them were master archers capable of striking enemies ten li away with pinpoint accuracy.
In the main hall of a building, over a dozen Shaman Scholars gathered around a battered short-barreled cannon, meticulously dismantling every component and drafting detailed sketches on paper.
Several other Shaman Scholars scraped the cannon's bore, placing the residues into crystal boxes and sealing them.
Tens of millions of Shamans bustled like ants. The place had transformed entirely into a base for war!
***
In Qingming, Wei Yuan summoned the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning. Once everyone arrived, he relayed that the Shamans had obtained the gunpowder formula from Qingming, then said, "It is highly probable that this same person leaked my aura and brought about the Karma Great Curse."
Zhang Sheng's eyes turned cold. "If that is truly the case, they cannot be spared."
Xu Henshui said, "Our domain currently employs new gunpowder, numerous wartime medicinal pills, and various new firearms. If that person is still in Qingming, the Shamans will certainly not let them be; they will force them to find a way to steal more secrets. With the prior deed hanging over them, that person will have no choice but to comply."
Bao Yun said, "Yet that person might have already left Qingming. If the Shamans cannot contact them, they will not be exposed. Thus, our best course is to seek aid from the palace, requesting that more disciples be dispatched to support us—and not a single one who has been here before should be missing."
Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo exchanged glances, remaining silent. The implication of Bao Yun's words was abundantly clear, but since Zhang Sheng had said nothing, it was not their place to speak.
With this matter settled, the council hall suddenly fell into silence.
After a moment, Wei Yuan said, "Everyone saw the outcome of this battle with their own eyes. That was merely a probing force sent by the Shamans, not even a true vanguard, yet our casualties were already immense. Without reinforcements, this battle will be exceptionally arduous."
Bao Yun said, "I will return once."
Xu Henshui sighed. "It will be useless even if you go back. That Old Ancestor of your family never wanted you to come here in the first place. If you return, I fear you will not only fail to secure reinforcements, but you will also be detained at home, never to leave again."
"Then what should I do?"
Xu Henshui smiled casually. "Eight or nine times out of ten, worldly affairs do not go as one wishes. Since aid is unlikely anyway, why bother going back? We might as well stay here and fight a glorious, resounding battle against the Shamans together. It will make for a fine tale in the future."
Wei Yuan felt a surge of solemn respect; he had not expected Martial Uncle Xu to be a man of such fiery spirit.
Yet Xu Henshui's very next sentence inadvertently gave him away: "If we truly can't beat them, we can just run. It's not like the Shamans can catch us anyway."
Xu Henshui's intentions were good, but sadly, no one in the room laughed.
Cui Yu hesitated, then said, "I have already sent a letter home. The clan will likely send support. However, the distance between the two lands is simply too great; transporting an army here is impractical."
"It does not matter." Wei Yuan held no expectations for the Cui family. The truth was just as Cui Yu had stated: bringing several thousand men might be feasible, but an army of over a hundred thousand was out of the question.
No one mentioned the Palace of Grand Beginning. Right now, the situation at the Northern Mountain Gate had turned critical once more. The Liao Clan had suddenly reinforced their numbers on a massive scale, and the Little State Preceptor had advanced his battle formation, pressing down so hard that the True Monarchs could barely catch their breath.
There was little point in lingering on the subject of reinforcements; no discussion would yield a solution, and after exchanging a few remarks, they let the matter drop.
Wei Yuan discussed how the new fortifications should be constructed with Yu Zhizhuo for a while longer before everyone dispersed to attend to their duties. Feeling unsettled, Wei Yuan flew to the front line once more. Hovering above Ding'an City, he watched as corpses were pulled from the ruins one by one and transported to the open ground south of the city.
The procession carrying the bodies formed a long dragon, moving sluggishly. The open ground outside the city was already covered in dead, laid out densely and neatly in an aura of chilling sorrow.
Wei Yuan descended upon the staging ground and walked among the corpses, looking at every face. Many still bore the final expressions of their lives—fear, rage, panic. All walks of mortal life were frozen upon their features.
Wei Yuan's eyes suddenly fell upon a face that still held a trace of youthfulness. He remembered this face; just a few days ago, the youth had forged his Dao Foundation in the training class, drawing considerable attention for doing so before turning twenty. Yet who could have foreseen that having only just stepped onto the path of cultivation, he would perish on the front line?
Wei Yuan recognized the other faces as well, or at least knew their names and basic records. That was the downside of being a dharma idol cultivator with an exceptionally strong divine sense: his memory was far too sharp, and when he truly could not remember, he could store the information within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Thus, every single person lying on the cold earth was known to Wei Yuan, even familiar. With tens of thousands of bodies stretched out, it formed an ocean of the dead. Wei Yuan felt his chest tighten, overcome by a suffocating weight.
At this moment, a cultivator rushed over and asked, "Domain Lord, the physicians and generals suggest cremating them. What do you think...?"
"No!" Wei Yuan rejected the idea without a second thought.
"B-but if we wait any longer, disease will spread, and they will become material for Shaman sorcery. We also don't have enough time to bury them; our urgent priority right now is constructing city defenses."
The cultivator poured out a barrage of points, which were indeed reasonable.
Wei Yuan pondered briefly, then said, "Tag the identities of the fallen, gather them together, and cast freezing Dao arts to preserve them. When we have time, we will bury them one by one."
"But—"
"Those who fall on the battlefield have earned the right to a burial!"
The cultivator said no more. Casting a glance over the endless sea of corpses, he sighed and hurried away.
Within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, tens of thousands of mortals suddenly dropped to their knees, bowing three times toward the central Jade Mountain. After paying homage, a change seemed to come over them; their spiritual intellect rose considerably, the confusion in many eyes cleared, and they began bustling about.
By now, the new defense design within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had been completed. Built upon and optimized from Yu Zhizhuo's concepts, it met with Wei Yuan's approval upon review. Over a dozen Dao Foundation warriors then appeared and headed for Ding'an City to overhaul the fortifications.
Wei Yuan felt another stir in his heart: the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had finished analyzing the trajectory of the war. He entered the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World immediately and began reading thoroughly.
The war analysis was composed of over a dozen reports outlining the possible paths the conflict might take under various strategies. All deductions were based not only on Wei Yuan's own military experience but also drew upon contributions from Zhang Sheng, Cui Yu, Xu Yi, and others, making them remarkably sound.
And yet...
Every single plan ended in only one outcome: defeat.
Wei Yuan slammed the reports onto the ground. His figure vanished with a flicker, reappearing before Maiden Yin-Yang. It seemed that only by taking refuge here beside her, surrounded by distorted space, could he find a measure of peace.
Forcing himself to calm down, Wei Yuan retrieved the reports again and studied them meticulously, losing all track of time.
At times he sank into contemplation; at times he sprang to his feet, shouting and screaming, even smashing the ground with wild abandon. Only in this solitary moment when no one was around could Wei Yuan cast aside all restraint and vent the fury and fear within his heart—mostly the fear.
The fear of defeat.
If they lost this war, casualties would be counted in the millions, and all their efforts would come to naught.
Maiden Yin-Yang merely watched him quietly from the side.
Each time he finished venting, Wei Yuan would return to the reports, constantly writing and drawing upon the map manifested before him. Yet no matter how he studied it, the result remained unchanged. The disparity in strength between the two sides was simply too vast. The number of Shaman warriors already exceeded the entire population of Qingming; this was not a war Qingming could currently endure!
Wei Yuan's heart gradually submerged into despair, and a bone-chilling cold gripped his body, as though the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had plunged into deep winter.
Suddenly, a speck of light flew from between the Maiden's brows and sank into Wei Yuan's body. From the full moon in the sky, a beam of otherworldly fortune descended, silently fusing with Wei Yuan as well.
Oblivious to it all, Wei Yuan continued his frantic deductions. He did not know how many cycles he had run through when a spark of inspiration abruptly flashed through his mind, like a bolt of lightning piercing the dark, instantly illuminating a corner of the world! This method was not included in any of the analyzed plans!
Yet this strategy...
Wei Yuan hesitated briefly before sending the new strategy into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World for optimization and refinement. In truth, there was no need to send it; Wei Yuan already knew that this was the sole and final path.
Only...
Wei Yuan drew a deep breath, his resolve hardening.
In the past, Wei Yuan had won every battle against the Shamans, and this one would be no exception; he would emerge victorious in the end! The price would inevitably be steep, but Wei Yuan was prepared.
Wei Yuan knew that every gift of fate came with a price tag already affixed in secret.
He looked toward Maiden Yin-Yang, who had silently kept him company all this time, and said, "...I don't care about reputation."
End of Volume Five: If Love Were Heaven's Will.
Chapter 486