The moment Leiying died, the surrounding Wu domain erupted into turmoil. Wei Yuan sensed at least four or five colossal divine senses sweeping toward him, with two rapidly closing in.
The heaven and earth of the Wu domain reacted as well. Wei Yuan's body grew heavier by the second, his flight slowing. He stowed his spray canisters and retracted entirely into his Shaman shell, which eased the suppression slightly.
Countless waves of malice rose from every direction. Some came from armies, some from powerful Shamans, and others pulsed from distant sacrificial altars. In that single instant, an untold number of Shamans mobilized to hunt down Wei Yuan.
After a brief thought, Wei Yuan summoned the enlightened dharma idol warrior and handed over all the captured Shamans. Strapping two spray canisters onto his back, the dharma idol warrior gathered the Shamans and soared higher into the clouds. Channeling a breath-concealing Daoist art, he flew straight toward Qingming.
Wei Yuan, on the other hand, maintained a mid-to-low altitude flight toward the desolate, frigid mountain range north of Qingming, slightly staggering his trajectory from that of the dharma idol.
Although the power of heaven and earth hindered him, Wei Yuan possessed Ju Ling's wings and carried the aura of a Spirit Shaman. As a result, the domain's natural suppression was not overwhelmingly strong, and he remained exceptionally fast.
Now that the entire Leize Tribe had been alerted, Wei Yuan abandoned all attempts at concealment, pushing his speed to its utmost limit. Even with the Wu domain's resistance, he moved faster than Leiying ever could.
As long as he maintained sufficient speed, the enemy would never manage to encircle him, leaving each pursuer only a single opportunity to intercept.
A pair of blood-red eyes suddenly tore open across the sky, fixing its gaze upon Wei Yuan with a furious roar. "How dare you murder an elder of our Leize Tribe! Whoever you are, halt and accept your death, and you may yet die swiftly!"
Wei Yuan ignored it entirely, hurtling forward at full throttle.
Once formed, the blood-red eyes were immovable. Watching Wei Yuan's figure recede into the distance, it could do nothing more than howl in futile rage. Suddenly, a massive bolt of crimson lightning plunged from the sky, striking Wei Yuan dead-on!
Wei Yuan sank beneath the impact, but quickly regained his lift. His momentum dulled only slightly before steadily accelerating once more.
That Nether Shaman had struck from an immense distance using sacrificial power; having spent that single strike, he had nothing left to give and could only watch helplessly as Wei Yuan vanished.
Moments later, an enormous hand descended from above Wei Yuan, swatting down at him like a fly. Another Nether Shaman!
Wei Yuan let out a thunderous shout. Gripping Brutality, he abruptly veered upward and slammed into the colossal bloody hand at maximum speed, piercing through its palm in the blink of an eye. The hand detonated violently; in this clash across distance, Wei Yuan had taken the upper hand.
These two Nether Shamans were stationed too far away, able to project only a fraction of their might, which Wei Yuan systematically dismantled. The Leize Tribe had five Nether Shamans in total. Wei Yuan had already killed one—though admittedly the weakest—and had now broken through two interceptions. He was on the verge of tearing free of the encirclement.
Right then, a section of chain materialized from the void, unexpectedly forcing the invisible karmic chains wrapped around Wei Yuan's legs into physical sight! The phantom chain latched firmly onto his karmic fetters, snapping taut in an instant! Wei Yuan stumbled, momentarily arrested in midair before surging forward, yet the drag reduced his speed to a mere thirty percent of what it had been.
The karmic chains around his legs had been forged from refining eight hundred thousand Shaman troops; now held fast by Shamans, they carried the subtle weight of the Heavenly Dao.
Wei Yuan felt as though he were hauling a small mountain, dragging the heavy chain step by laborious step. Still, he pressed on with all his might, the strain pulling a mournful wail from the invisible links.
At this pace, numerous formidable presences began steadily closing the gap. Directly ahead, military qi reared upward like a sheer cliff face!
Layered like treacherous mountain peaks, bizarre and menacing, only one force in the Western Regions possessed such military qi: the Flying Hawk Cavalry of the Leize Tribe.
Sure enough, a dark cloud materialized ahead. As it drew nearer, it resolved into hundreds of giant hawks, each bearing an archer already aiming directly at Wei Yuan.
In a split second, Wei Yuan calculated the distance to the pursuers behind him and ruthlessly charged straight into the hawk formation!
Instantly, the sky rained blood and scattered black feathers as Wei Yuan felled hawk after hawk, sending them tumbling to the earth. Within moments, hundreds of black raptors plunged downward!
Just then, a smear of crimson flared from the karmic chain, rushing along its links straight into Wei Yuan's body. Within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, a rain of blood began to fall!
The mortals immediately scrambled toward the nearest buildings for shelter, while the celestial plants unfurled barriers of various sizes to block the downpour. Yet the city had grown too vast; the celestial plants left gaps even while shielding Central City, and the outlying islands were entirely defenseless.
The blood rain materialized directly above each mortal. Those in Central City fared relatively well, as most were sheltered by the celestial plants, with only several hundred struck down, their forms dissolving into nothingness and their spirits dispersing.
However, the several thousand mortals laboring on the newly developed solitary island could not escape disaster. Nearly all dissolved in the bloody rain; only a fortunate few managed to find cover and survive.
At that moment, the shadow within the moon was asleep, having just devoured Leiying's soul. Maiden Yin-Yang stepped out from the concealment formation. Infuriated, she reached out and drew a streak of sword qi from the celestial laurel tree, unleashing it with a sweep of her arm. The crimson beam transformed into a thousand-zhang greatsword that pierced the sky and vanished beyond the heavens.
The bloody light had been pouring steadily into Wei Yuan along the chain, but countless crimson sword rays now burst forth from his body, surging upstream against the current. They shredded the blood qi along the way, following the chain into the void.
A muffled shriek of agony and terror echoed from far away. No further blood qi assailed him along the links, which were now reduced to merely dragging his flight.
Wei Yuan abruptly spat a mouthful of blood that condensed into jade beads the instant it left his lips. He immediately summoned a sheet of true fire to incinerate the droplets. That blood curse had consumed a massive amount of sacrificial power, proving difficult for Wei Yuan to withstand at his current cultivation level. He could only wonder how many Shamans at the altar had survived Maiden Yin-Yang's furious counterstrike across the void.
A large flock of hawks pursued from the rear, slightly outpacing Wei Yuan and gradually closing the distance. As the gap narrowed, countless shamanic curses were hurled at him.
Wei Yuan's expression darkened. He spun around, the Crimson Night Immortal-Slaying Sword in his left hand and Brutality in his right. In the blink of an eye, he slaughtered over a hundred hawks. The riders attempting to take flight and flee were cut down in passing. Yet Wei Yuan also sustained more than a dozen wounds in the exchange.
Seeing the formation thrown into disarray, Wei Yuan broke off the assault and resumed his eastward flight. The Flying Hawk Cavalry gave chase relentlessly. The riders were at least noble Dao Foundation experts, but the giant hawks themselves possessed the strength of Great Shamans; the injuries Wei Yuan suffered were all pecks and claw strikes, as the Shaman riders alone could not pierce his dharma body.
Thus, whenever Wei Yuan turned to retaliate, he focused on slaying the hawks.
Individually, a hawk was slightly slower than Wei Yuan, but moving in formation and bolstered by military qi, their collective speed increased dramatically, edging just ahead of him.
Once they reorganized their ranks, they caught up to Wei Yuan once more. Wei Yuan would wheel around to fight, scattering their formation before continuing east. Thousands of Flying Hawk Cavalry pursued him doggedly, while Wei Yuan turned periodically to counterattack, sustaining fresh wounds with every clash.
By the time Qingming came into view, Wei Yuan was covered in injuries. The Flying Hawk Cavalry still clung to his tail when a swarm of silver lights suddenly appeared on the horizon, traveling at extraordinary speed!
These were the missiles summoned by Wei Yuan.
In an instant, clusters of fireballs blossomed across the sky, sending countless hawks tumbling toward the earth.
Chapter 585