Until the End of Time

When the Qingming Army arrived before Hanyang Pass, the Zhao generals atop the gate tower had mixed reactions. Seeing how few men Qingming had brought, several generals sneered, declaring it pure delusion to think such numbers could breach Hanyang Pass, garrisoned by a hundred and fifty thousand troops. Yet more prudent, seasoned generals cautioned that although the Qingming troops were few, they were exceptionally well-equipped and must not be underestimated. Their words found little agreement, however. Another general retorted, "Qingming is well-equipped, but are we any worse? The Princess brought secret firearms this time specifically to deal Wei Yuan a crushing blow." At that, the older generals had nothing left to say and could only attend to their duties, organizing the city defenses. Within the Qingming ranks, Wei Yuan rose into the sky, gazing toward Hanyang Pass fifteen li away. With his current vision, he needed no aids like the telescopes of the outer realms to see the details atop the pass with perfect clarity. After studying the military qi above the fortress walls for a while, Wei Yuan turned back to his generals. "Looking at the Zhao army's military qi, it is nothing extraordinary. That they dare divide their forces in the face of our Qingming Army suggests they have something else to rely on. Tell me, where does Zhao's confidence lie?" The generals each offered their views, all with merit, but most failed to strike at what Wei Yuan was thinking. Only a rather young vice general with a scholarly air spoke up: "Zhao must have come prepared this time, perhaps bringing firearms they believe surpass our own. Seeing that they do not possess an unusual number of flying-sword guns, nor do their soldiers possess exceptional cultivation, they have likely brought a large number of cannons in secret, intending to exploit the height of the pass walls to bombard our besieging army." Hearing this, several young commanders scoffed. "As if Zhao could compete with us in firearms!" The scholarly vice general said, "Zhao values martial prowess and has always prioritized weaponry. They have numerous artisans, including many master smiths with dharma idol cultivation. Even children understand the principles of cannons, and the craft is not overly complex—more powder yields greater range and power. As for the cannon barrels, with high-level dharma idol cultivators purging impurities and refining the material properties, producing high-quality barrels is not difficult, merely limited in quantity. Therefore, for Zhao to manufacture cannons superior to our infantry guns is by no means hard. And if they poured the whole realm's strength into it over time, the numbers would not be small either." Wei Yuan was finally impressed. "Quite an extraordinary insight. What is your name?" The young vice general said in a deep voice, "This subordinate is Lu Yu. Originally, I was a nominal disciple under Master Yu Zhizhuo before joining the army, having completed two rounds of academy training. When our class began, the Domain Lord even came to address us." Wei Yuan searched his memory and finally located Lu Yu's profile. The man hailed from a minor clan that had been slaughtered by the Shamans, escaping as the sole survivor. He subsequently joined a second-grade grotto-heaven and formed a Heaven Tier Dao Foundation, possessing quite respectable aptitude. Upon joining Qingming, he was accepted by Yu Zhizhuo as a nominal disciple. Wei Yuan had needed to search the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to recall these facts, prompting a moment of self-reflection; he realized he had been somewhat remiss. In the future, when the Qingming Military Academy and advanced colleges held graduations, he would make sure to attend in person and memorize the files of all graduates. For a dharma idol cultivator, that was effortless—it was merely a matter of attentiveness. In the future, whenever Wei Yuan wished to show regard for worthy talents, simply calling someone by name and reciting their graduating class in Qingming on the spot would carry far greater impact than ordinary rewards. On the fortress walls, the Zhao generals watched as Wei Yuan methodically deployed his battle formations and set up camp. The red-armored female general raised a hand and pointed forward. "Send ten thousand light cavalry out of the pass. Test their mettle." Moments later, the fortress gates swung wide. Ten thousand light horsemen surged from the city, charging toward Wei Yuan's encampment. As Qingming was currently erecting its palisades, a square of breastplate infantry was dispatched out of camp to form ranks. While the light cavalry was still a hundred zhang from the infantry formation, the breastplate troops opened fire in succession. A storm of bullets shrieked through the air, instantly cutting down a swath of horsemen. Although Zhao's light cavalry carried fire guns of their own, their range fell far short of a hundred zhang, throwing them into immediate disarray. Some horsemen fired wildly, but how could they hit anything at such distance? Several veterans instinctively reached for their bows and crossbows, only to grasp empty air—bows and crossbows had already been removed from their equipment rosters. Seeing the situation turn dire, the cavalry commander immediately ordered a full charge. The Qingming breastplate infantry maintained impeccable order, doing nothing but reloading and firing, reloading and firing, cutting down the Zhao cavalry in swaths. When the charging horsemen drew within thirty zhang, a dozen flying-sword machine cannons were suddenly rolled out from the infantry ranks. Their terrifying rate of fire mowed down the Zhao troops like scythes through grass! Seeing the disadvantage, the cavalry general had no choice but to sound the retreat back into the pass. In that brief clash, over two thousand corpses were left on the battlefield, while Qingming's casualties did not even reach a hundred—and more than a dozen of those were injuries from barrel bursts caused by the sheer power of the new fire guns. Having lost the opening engagement, the female general bristled with murderous aura, enunciating every word: "Unveil the cannons!" Shouts echoed through the city as bare-chested men with bulging sinews hauled cannons gleaming with a faint azure sheen up to the fortress walls, maneuvering them into embrasures and beginning adjustments and calibration. Moments later, with a thunderous roar, a cannonball landed several li from the Qingming camp. To reach ten li—even with the height advantage of the fortress walls—was impressive indeed, rivaling the range of Shaman divine archers with dharma idol cultivation. Having tested the cannons, the red-armored female general waited patiently for Wei Yuan to attack. Wei Yuan was in no hurry either. After pitching camp, he rested his troops for three full days until his follow-up forces arrived and completely sealed all roads leading south. Only then did he sound the war drums and begin a slow, leisurely advance, so sluggish that the Zhao defenders atop the walls grew restless. Yet the Qingming army advanced only three li from their camp, halting two li outside the maximum range of Zhao's cannons. There, they began erecting earthworks and establishing artillery emplacements right where they stood. Dozens of wagons then rolled onto the position, where their wheels were promptly removed and iron stakes driven into the ground by mighty warriors to anchor them. When the wagon beds opened, inside each lay a heavy cannon two zhang long, gleaming with a deep, eerie blue luster. These heavy cannons were all breech-loaded. Beside each piece, cultivators holding charts consulted real-time battlefield data to calculate firing coordinates, while several peak Dao Foundation cultivators paced back and forth inspecting the setups. With over a hundred heavy cannons to prepare, the work stretched from morning until noon before all firing preparations were finally complete and word was sent to Wei Yuan that they were ready. Wei Yuan pointed toward the fortress pass. "Target: the fortress walls. Saturation fire." At his command, the gunners loaded shells into the chambers and sealed the breeches. The Dao Foundation cultivators responsible for firing then released arcs of lightning arts against the breeches. With an earth-shattering boom, the heavy cannons fired, hurling shells shrieking through the air toward the fortress! The Zhao generals atop the walls never imagined Wei Yuan would open fire from twelve li away! Not only did this range vastly exceed their own artillery, but Wei Yuan's heavy guns possessed massive calibers and horrifying power. Several dharma idol masters attempted to intercept the shells in midair, but the resulting explosions rattled their dharmic power, leaving them thoroughly shaken. Fewer than thirty percent of the dozens of shells were intercepted. Most of the remainder struck inside and outside the pass, and several landed squarely atop the walls. Within ten zhang of each blast, everything was leveled to the ground, and the cannons stationed in the embrasures were blown into scrap metal. After the first salvo, the Qingming gunners immediately rushed forward to eject the casings, swab the bores, reset the cannons, and recalculate firing parameters. Following another flurry of activity, lightning struck the breeches once more, and the guns hurled tens of jin worth of shells toward the fortress more than ten li distant. After three salvos, the gunfire became less uniform as the batteries switched to open fire. Wei Yuan continued saturation bombardment across the entire frontal wall of the pass, in no rush to concentrate fire on the gate tower. Having captured Hanyang Pass once before, Wei Yuan knew full well how wide its walls were—more than broad enough to station artillery. Zhao had surely hauled all their cannons onto the walls by now, and Wei Yuan intended to use his barrage to reduce every last one to rubble. After more than a dozen rounds of shelling, hardly a living soul could be seen atop the walls, and the military qi of the Zhao forces over the pass wavered visibly. Moments later, the fortress gates swung open as a detachment of light cavalry charged out in a desperate bid to overrun the artillery positions, only to be driven right back in the blink of an eye by infantry guns and flying-sword machine cannons. Inside Hanyang Pass, the generals could no longer hold their ground on the gate tower and had been forced to seek shelter within the city. Fortunately, the walls were exceptionally sturdy, resisting even Wei Yuan's heavy artillery. Listening to the unending thunder of bombardment, the woman in fiery red armor finally lost her composure and cried out, "How can they possibly have so many shells?!" She had come prepared, stocking fifty rounds per gun for a total of five thousand shells—crafted day and night by countless artisans, representing nearly half of Great Zhao's total shell production capacity. Yet in this opening clash alone, Wei Yuan had already hurled thousands of shells at them with no sign of stopping—as though he could keep bombarding them until the end of time.