Stalemate

Though he had vomited pitifully to the point of utter weakness, the benefits Sun Yu gained were genuine and substantial. Muhawen's dharma idol was ultimately digested by his Cauldron-Bearing Giant Scorpion. As a result, numerous runes appeared on the surface of the cauldron, the scorpion grew noticeably larger, and its scaly carapace gained a richer texture, etched with delicate patterns. Moreover, sand, soil, and patches of grass began to manifest around the scorpion—a telltale sign that he had begun stepping into the Myriad Transformations Realm. Although this spared him more than a decade of bitter cultivation, Sun Yu did not look pleased in the slightest. Instead, the gaze he directed at Wei Yuan was filled with deep dread and wariness—an expression identical to Ji Liuli's. Aside from having nearly every bone pulverized, Muhawen's dharma body was remarkably well preserved. Wei Yuan stored and sealed it away, planning to ship it back to Qingming on the next flying vessel. As for the few dharma treasures on the corpse, none of the cultivators thought much of them, so Wei Yuan sent them to the Palace of Grand Beginning to exchange for military merit. With Muhawen's fall, the Liao cavalry retreated, leaving behind some two thousand corpses. Yet the defending Dao soldiers also suffered nearly a hundred casualties. Many had poked their heads up just to scout the enemy's movements, only to have a sudden swift arrow blow their heads apart. Wei Yuan issued an urgent order for Qingming to rush the production of one hundred thousand helmets reinforced with nether iron and transport them to the Northern Mountain Gate as soon as possible. Before the flying vessels from Qingming could arrive, the Liao Clan's first large-scale offensive was already underway. At dawn, the terrifying will of an immortal swept across the land once more. Wei Yuan managed to evade it, but Sun Yu was unfortunate enough to be struck, vomiting a liter of blood. Ripples continuously spread across the sky, signs that True Monarchs from both sides were already locked in fierce combat beyond the heavens. On the horizon, a mountain-like storm of yellow sand loomed. Faint thunder echoed through the air as the earth began to tremor. A vague sense of unease suddenly crept into Wei Yuan's heart. He immediately ordered all spare steel shields in the storehouses hauled up to the city walls, granting every two defenders an extra heavy shield between them. The storm showed no sign of weakening until it was roughly a dozen li away. Holding his token, Wei Yuan activated its defensive power without hesitation. He felt a slight dip in the spiritual power stored within the Northern Mountain Gate, and a faint spiritual glow shimmered over every warrior within ten li of him, cloaking them in protective dharma shields. From within the howling sand and dust, countless Liao warriors charged forth like an immense net bearing down upon Wei Yuan's small garrison city. Wei Yuan's heart tightened. There were far too many Liao riders! Holding nothing back, he gave the order for all artillery to open fire. But after a volley from over a dozen infantry guns, the few blossoms of smoke that detonated amidst the tide of Liao cavalry produced barely a ripple before being swallowed whole. That round of shelling had only killed a few dozen riders? Observing the faint light of protective spells flickering over the Liao cavalry, Wei Yuan understood immediately that this would be a grueling battle. Then a gale swept over the battlefield, blasting sand and grit directly into the defenders' faces so fiercely that the soldiers could barely keep their eyes open. Strange shrieks mingled with the howling wind as swift arrows and light arrows flew into the garrison city, masked by the squall. Those who were unprepared or still running back and forth within the city suffered catastrophic casualties in an instant. Faint specks of light abruptly materialized amidst the swirling sand. Before Wei Yuan could intercept them, those lights condensed into soul-locking dharma arrows. They streaked into the city, circled back, and slammed into the backs of several Dao Foundation captains! The captains collapsed instantly without even a chance to scream. Sand poured ceaselessly from the wounds in their backs, expanding rapidly. Their surrounding comrades were powerless to stop it; channeling Dao power produced no effect whatsoever. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the wounds enlarged to the size of water buckets, punching entirely through their torsos until the captains drew their final, despairing breaths. Wei Yuan appeared beside He Fang and asked, "Should we use the mountain gate's power to disperse the storm?" He Fang shook his head, shouting into the howling wind, "There isn't much mountain gate power left! We have to conserve it and save it for the most critical juncture! I've seen plenty of sandstorms—this one is just a bit larger than usual. Let them close in before we engage, or let them into the city if all else fails; once inside, the sandstorm will be useless!" Wei Yuan suddenly remembered that this was the very tactic Fang Hetong had employed when they first met. Back then, the militiamen had been too weak; they could only throw flesh and blood against the enemy, sacrificing human lives to drag down every single Liao warrior they could. Who could have guessed that several years had already slipped by in the blink of an eye? Pushing aside a pang of melancholy, Wei Yuan inspected the defenses and corrected the artillery's aim. Though He Fang possessed mediocre talent, as the leader of the Dao soldiers his combat experience was vast, and Wei Yuan valued his judgment greatly. Previously, a small number of fire guns had been issued to the Dao soldiers of the Northern Mountain Gate, but their mainstay was still bows and crossbows. Fire guns lost much of their power amidst the fierce winds and sand of the Liao domain, falling far short of heavy arrows and heavy crossbows. Furthermore, the physical bodies of the Liao Clan were tougher than shaman bodies, leaving Wei Yuan's fire guns—which had been designed specifically against the Shamans—somewhat lacking in punch. He Fang preferred deploying fire guns during urban street fighting inside the city. They were convenient and fast, wiping out wide swathes with a blast, requiring neither extensive training nor precise aiming—just pointing in the general direction by feel and firing. Even apprentice Dao soldiers in the Sinew and Muscle Realm could handle them with ease. In He Fang's words, they were far more useful than swords and blades. Half of the Qingming Army Wei Yuan had brought were at the peak of Body Casting, armed with flying-sword guns. Even suppressed by the howling sand, they still commanded an effective range of a hundred zhang. Thus, Wei Yuan remained patient, waiting for the Liao warriors to draw near. Yet this time, the Liao forces merely unleashed a continuous barrage of arrows from afar. Aided by the gale, their screeching shafts flew farther and struck with greater force. Suddenly, a volley of arrows rained down. A captain beside an infantry gun roared, "Shields up!" The gunners hurriedly hoisted the giant shields from the ground, instantly forming a tight steel dome. Amidst uncanny shrieks, countless armor-piercing heavy arrows plunged down. Even deflected by steel shields, the impact struck the shield-bearers like blows from heavy warhammers. Screams rang out incessantly beneath the rain of arrows as gunners were struck down one after another. Suddenly, an arrow hit a stockpile of shells stacked nearby, triggering a massive explosion. A fireball instantly engulfed the surrounding soldiers, hurling the infantry gun over the parapet to crash below the walls. "Double the shields! Protect the ammunition!" Wei Yuan issued two commands in rapid succession. The Dao soldiers immediately rushed over with shields to protect the gun crews, while forming another shield array over the ammunition piles. Something flashed faintly within the dust storm. Wei Yuan grabbed it out of the air—it was a nearly transparent little serpent! The serpent's head suddenly morphed into a human face. Fixing its slit-pupiled eyes on Wei Yuan, it shrieked in a shrill voice, "I will avenge Muhawen! Await your death, human swine!" The transparent serpent dissolved back into a light arrow. Wei Yuan casually snapped it in two, cast it aside, and continued directing the battle. By now, the Liao cavalry within the range of his divine sense alone numbered three hundred thousand. Factoring in the forces inevitably detached to assault the garrison cities on his left and right flanks, had the Liao Clan mobilized in full force for this campaign? The gale howled, the eerie shrieking within the wind growing sharper and more piercing. The clatter of heavy arrows slamming into steel shields rang out incessantly like torrential rain drumming against plantain leaves, punctuated from time to time by agonizing screams. Half of the infantry guns had fallen silent, while the remainder still fired back with stubborn resolve. The massive host of Liao cavalry finally launched their assault, swarming across the plains and hills in overwhelming numbers as they attacked both the satellite forts and the garrison city simultaneously. Two hours later. Wei Yuan stood atop the city wall, spear in hand. Sheets of fiery rain fell from the sky before him, incinerating one Liao rider after another into ash, whether airborne or on the ground. Corpses of Liao cavalry littered the ground all around the garrison city, but the seven satellite forts Wei Yuan had constructed outside were now completely overrun, their garrisons wiped out to the last man. Wei Yuan had garrisoned each satellite fort with four hundred Dao soldiers and one hundred members of the Qingming Army. Across the seven forts, that made three thousand five hundred men—all of whom were now corpses. In exchange, the Liao Clan had left four times as many bodies surrounding the forts. Bodies were strewn everywhere atop the city walls and inside the garrison city. Heavy arrows continued to shriek down incessantly—capable of punching directly through the roofs of civilian houses and embedding deeply into the earth. Some heavy arrows packed such devastating force that they pierced through two or three floors in one go. Hiding indoors offered little safety; only pressing tightly against stone walls offered a slim chance of survival. Wei Yuan finally activated the token. Pure qi welled up from the earth, briefly scattering the violent winds and stripping the protective wards from the Liao cavalry. Seizing this fleeting window, the defenders on the walls rushed to their battle stations and mounted a swift counterattack, mowing down a swath of Liao warriors in an instant. Yet the Liao's ferocious retaliation struck down numerous archers on the ramparts as well. By now, the garrison city's gate had been shattered by the brute force of a Liao dharma idol, which Wei Yuan's storm of Dao arts obliterated moments later. Even so, the Liao cavalry did not rush into the city. Instead, they circled the perimeter at full gallop, continuously picking off any defender who dared to show their head above the ramparts, pinning the garrison down so thoroughly they could scarcely raise their eyes. Yet hiding entirely behind the battlements was impossible, as Liao warriors took to the air from time to time to shoot down at the defenders from above. High-level cultivators had to react swiftly, sniping down any Liao warrior bold enough to take flight. The Liao cavalry seemed inexhaustible, with numerous formidable dharma idols lurking within their ranks. With the battle reaching such a pitch, even Sun Yu stepped onto the field with bow in hand. His giant scorpion had only one last breath of poisonous fumes left, and he had to save it for a worthy opponent. Wei Yuan continued fighting while silently tallying the toll. At this point, casualties had been reduced to cold, unfeeling numbers.