Terms

Though that cavalry detachment numbered only five thousand, its speed was astonishing—twice that of an ordinary elite cavalry charge. Sweeping wide around the frontal battlefield, it drove straight behind Li Chengfeng, clearly aiming to sever his retreat. By now, the officers under Li Chengfeng also sensed the danger and immediately barked orders to intercept. But under the furious bombardment of artillery, their formations were thrown into utter chaos; how could they be redeployed in time? The few who managed to charge toward Wei Yuan's front ranks were cut down by the soldiers in the vanguard wielding flying sword guns. Li Chengfeng had only two thousand personal guards at his side and could spare just one thousand to mount an interception. Yet one look at the military qi hovering over Wei Yuan's cavalry made it clear they were consummate elites. Li Chengfeng's thousand guards had no hope of stopping them. Above Wei Yuan's head, the Jade Mountain manifested and then faded away; without even employing that path-clearing divine relic, his cavalry drove straight through the personal guard. "Retreat!" Li Chengfeng ground out the word through clenched teeth. The blare of the horns barely pierced the thunder of the cannonade to reach the frontline troops. Li Chengfeng immediately ordered several generals to break out and head for the rear city to muster reinforcements. In truth, he knew full well that the fifty thousand garrison troops in the city were merely second-line forces, completely incomparable to the fifty thousand world elites currently in his hands. Moreover, Wei Yuan's army remained at full strength; calling up the troops from the rear would do nothing to alter the course of the battle. Several generals accepted their orders, but seeing that Li Chengfeng made no move, one asked in confusion, "Your Highness, what about you?" Li Chengfeng shook his head. "I shall live and die with the army." The generals and strategists were aghast, rushing to dissuade him. But Li Chengfeng's heart had turned to cold ash. He merely shook his head and urged his officers to hurry and fetch aid. By this point, the five thousand cavalry led by Wei Yuan had completed their flanking maneuver, cutting off Li Chengfeng's escape route. They advanced slowly, closing in to form an encirclement together with the main force ahead. Li Chengfeng let out a long sigh. A sudden chill wind gusted, stirring the hair at his temples. His eyes grew desolate as he stared straight ahead. Wei Yuan wasted no time at all. The ring of encirclement drew tighter by the moment; there was no way any reinforcements from the rear city could arrive in time. Just then, an elderly figure appeared in the sky, his face dark with fury. With a wide sweep of his sleeve, he prepared to intervene. But behind him, a soft, melodious female voice suddenly sounded: "If I were you, I wouldn't meddle in the games of juniors." The elder's hand froze midair. He said coldly, "There are two of us, while you are alone. You cannot stop us both." The woman did not show herself, her clear, crisp voice echoing like music from beyond the heavens. "The realm is a chessboard. No matter how many ordinary soldiers fall, they are mere pawns and chips. As long as the players remain, the game can still be played. However, this Void-Extinguishing Dagger in my hand can still be used once. It can shatter twenty percent of a mindscape world. It wasn't easy for any of us to cultivate to our current heights. Why throw away your own dao paths over a few mortals?" Another majestic voice boomed through the air: "If you dare touch the Marquis of Shanyin, you will not escape a blow from this King." The woman replied serenely, "I knew there were two of you, so I prepared another treasure—though using it on you would be something of a waste." At once, a strange wisp of aura surfaced, so terrifying that even an immortal would tremble at its scent. The majestic elder gasped in horror. "A Yin Bomb! How did you get your hands on that?!" "Only in my hands can peace be preserved." The Marquis of Shanyin said, "The Fourth Prince's life must not be harmed!" "Nor will his dao path be damaged," the woman said. "However, after you return, not a word of the Yin Bomb being in my possession may be breathed to anyone." The two Zhao Scenery Command masters swore solemn oaths on the spot. Down on the battlefield, Li Chengfeng was besieged on all sides, seized by the desolate chill of a warrior on the brink of doom. With a bitter smile, he slowly drew his sidearm sword, preparing for a final fight to the death. Suddenly, the cannon fire ceased, and Wei Yuan's voice carried over from afar: "Fourth Prince, care to talk?" Li Chengfeng looked around. By now, he and his central command had long been blasted off the high ground by artillery and forced to regroup with the main army. Everywhere his gaze fell lay dead and wounded. Even the several high-level dharma idol cultivators were covered in grime and soot, each bearing wounds. They had been intercepting cannon shells, draining more than half their dharmic powers in a short span of time. Pulling himself together, Li Chengfeng called back, "Have your men hold their fire. I will come over myself." "No need to trouble Your Highness," Wei Yuan said. "I will come to you." Wei Yuan revealed himself and flew directly into the Zhao army's central force, treating the tens of thousands of enemy soldiers as though they were nothing. Standing in their midst, his garments were crisp and clean, untouched by a speck of dust, forming a striking contrast with the dust-caked, blood-splattered foes surrounding him. Wei Yuan cut straight to the chase: "Still want to fight?" Li Chengfeng gave a bitter smile. "Master Wei's command of troops is divine; Chengfeng is thoroughly bested. Name your terms, Master Wei. But let me say this upfront: if you want the Bishui domain, that is out of the question. I would rather die." Wei Yuan said indifferently, "Leaving the Bishui domain untouched is fine, but then Your Highness cannot be spared. Take your own life, and I will spare your subordinates and leave Bishui alone." Li Chengfeng smiled wryly. "A deal!" He drew his sword and swept it toward his throat. "Your Highness, no!" "Stop!" "Protect the prince!" Amid a clamor of shouts, generals and officials grabbed his arms and legs, barely managing to hold Li Chengfeng back. A young girl suddenly dashed in front of Wei Yuan, spreading her arms wide. "Spare Brother Chengfeng! I can die in his place!" Wei Yuan looked at the delicate, lovely girl brimming with noble poise, and smiled faintly. "You are not worthy." The girl flared with fury. "Do you know who I am? I am the Lady of Huaguo—" Wei Yuan paused. Was this girl of the Zhao royal clan as well? Yet her features looked quite different from the sisters Li Ruyi and Li Chunyi, an entirely different style. The girl hesitated for a moment before continuing, "—'s sister's daughter! Brother Chengfeng is my cousin!" Wei Yuan nearly tripped over his own feet. He said coldly, "Then stripping naked in front of the entire army works too." The girl's face flushed crimson instantly. "You shameless scoundrel!" Wei Yuan did not bother with pleasantries. "Either you strip, or the Fourth Prince dies. If neither works, I open fire with the cannons." The girl moved to speak again, but Li Chengfeng said, "Ziyan, while I am here, there is no need for you to sacrifice yourself." Li Chengfeng stepped forward, nudging the girl aside, and said with a wry smile, "Ziyan is young and naive. Please excuse the embarrassment, Master Wei." Wei Yuan smiled. "Lady Ziyan is quite fine—pure of heart and untouched by worldly schemes." Li Chengfeng's face reddened slightly. Cultivators had countless ways to take their own lives; a dharma idol cultivator could easily detonate his dharma idol, so why bother slitting his throat? Furthermore, even if he did cut his neck, he wouldn't die—a single spirit pill would bring him right back. The strategists and generals had merely been putting on an act of panic, but Ziyan had been genuinely terrified. Wei Yuan said, "I won't beat around the bush. This time, I can leave the Bishui domain untouched and spare your men's lives. But what do I get in return? Or rather, what is the Fourth Prince prepared to offer to buy all this?" Beside them, Ziyan gritted her teeth, on the verge of tears. She cried, "Don't make things hard for Brother Chengfeng! I... I can—" Li Chengfeng swiftly flicked a burst of dao power, sealing back the word 'strip'. To put it bluntly, whether she stripped or not could hardly compare to the Bishui domain and tens of thousands of troops. Knowing he could not bluff his way out, Li Chengfeng forced a bitter smile and produced a painted scroll, unrolling it. The painting depicted a swirl of primordial chaos. Within the chaos, surging clouds rolled, partially veiling a cluster of celestial palaces that appeared and vanished. A golden radiance faintly shone through the palace complexes, tracing out colossal plumage where gold and jade green intertwined, shimmering with heavenly light. Looking closely, its crest resembled a nine-layered canopy, and its beak was like exquisite coral—it was a slumbering, colossal phoenix bird. Li Chengfeng said, "Depicted here is the Phoenix Fire Immortal Palace, where a divine celestial phoenix is said to have fallen. This painting was acquired by our clan's Immortal Ancestor during his early travels. By reaching into the painting, one can draw out a single treasure from the celestial palace. Exactly what you obtain depends on your personal karmic luck. Back then, our first-generation Immortal Ancestor drew out an immortal artifact from it. Later, he said that at least three immortal items remained inside, and so he left this treasure as a clan heirloom for descendants to seek their fortunes, using it to test each person's karmic luck." Wei Yuan beamed with delight. "Ah, this is far too precious! I would be ashamed to accept it!" He reached out to take it, but seeing Li Chengfeng watching him with a faint, unresisting smile, his hand halted just above the scroll. He gave an awkward chuckle. "This painting isn't for me to keep?" "It belongs to our Immortal Ancestor." Wei Yuan understood at once. He knew full well he was not yet at the level where he could snatch treasures from an immortal. So he asked, "Then how many draws do I get? The number of the Earthly Fiends, the Heavenly Spirits, or the Constellations?" Li Chengfeng did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Do you think you're scooping goldfish? This painting can only be opened once a year, and this year's turn has not yet been used. I was supposed to return it to the ancestral grounds after taking my draw. I will cede this opportunity to you. My turn comes only once every thirty years. Last time, when I reached perfected Dao Foundation at fifteen or sixteen, I drew a Scenery Command spirit treasure." Put that way, it was indeed worth more than half the Bishui domain. Wei Yuan said, "This alone is not enough. I have a few more conditions. First, you must purchase a batch of brocade from me—a total of one million bolts, at seven taels per bolt." Li Chengfeng blinked in surprise. Within Zhao, silk prices had soared, and brocade had already climbed to eight taels per bolt. What was more, Zhao brocade could not match the quality of Qingming's machine-woven brocade. Brocade was valuable and light; a million bolts could be shipped back on a single vessel, costing very little in freight. If he bought it at seven taels, he might even turn a modest profit. He nodded at once, declaring resolutely, "It's a deal."