Several dozen missiles once again reflected in Liu Lan's pupils, and fire nearly spewed from his handsome, dark-silver vertical slits. The sharpshooter Great Shamans stood at the ready, yet they all appeared somewhat listless and unmotivated, barely displaying any fighting spirit.
Horns sounded across the military camp. Shaman warriors rushed out of their barracks and took up positions in open spaces throughout the camp, raising heavy shields. They spaced themselves out almost uniformly; looking down from above, there were neither crowded clusters nor sparse gaps.
The missiles screamed in, accelerating as they agilely maneuvered past most of the intercepting heavy arrows. Reaching the airspace above the camp, they showered down swarms of short flechettes, just as they had done on previous occasions.
Warriors on the ground fell in droves. The heavy shields in their hands offered only meager defense, leaving only a fortunate few to escape the fate of being pierced through. Fortunately, the warriors were widely dispersed; while the casualties appeared catastrophic, in truth only a few thousand had fallen.
"Aaaaargh!" Liu Lan's roar reverberated for a hundred li, even drawing gazes from beyond the heavens. The issue was not the number of casualties, but rather that facing missiles that could not be intercepted inevitably filled Liu Lan with deep humiliation and frustration.
He stared at the ground strewn with corpses, bristling with fury. Yet this rage was entirely futile—it could neither stop the missiles nor prevent morale from sinking.
Over the past dozen or so days, Liu Lan had suffered a wave of missile strikes every single day. Consequently, the army advanced at a crawl, their martial vigor languishing. Even now, they were still two hundred li away from Qingming's formal defense line, well outside their own attack range.
Liu Lan had already figured it out: inside each missile's warhead sat a guinea pig endowed with a trace of spirituality.
Guinea pigs possessed sharp divine sense, rapid reflexes, and an innate timidness. Having undergone training, they had learned how to steer the missiles to evade danger, instinctively dodging whenever they spotted a Great Shaman's heavy arrow incoming.
Compared to the guinea pigs, the Shamans' heavy arrows were still a bit too slow, resulting in dismal interception rates—barely one in ten missiles was successfully brought down. Furthermore, the guinea pigs were clearly well-drilled; they knew to dive into crowded gatherings, plunge into tall or dense buildings, and crash straight toward altars.
Seeing Liu Lan's fury, a trusted subordinate spoke up: "Calm your anger, My Lord. Missiles of this sort are surely limited in quantity; they cannot keep this up for long."
Liu Lan detested such empty comfort. He snapped, "A single one of these low-grade spirit beasts can birth hundreds in a year. Wouldn't they have as many as they could ever want?"
The subordinate hurriedly explained, "My Lord, I was not referring to the guinea pigs, but the incoming rockets. I have examined them; these rockets are exquisitely crafted, their components fitting together seamlessly. Only master artisans could possibly forge them. Even if a skilled craftsman worked themselves to the bone, they could scarcely produce a single one in ten days to half a month.
"That Wei Yuan has already hurled nearly a thousand rounds all told; his stockpile must be running dry. Trading a few common foot soldiers to expend such formidable war implements is actually quite a bargain for us."
Liu Lan slowly nodded, finding the reasoning sound. His mood finally improved slightly, and then he suddenly burst into loud laughter. The subordinate was bewildered, but naturally had to ask, "Why does My Lord laugh?"
Liu Lan said, "Everyone around claims that Wei Yuan is so formidable, but as I see it, he is nothing special! Narrow-minded and lacking strategy! Hmph, had I possessed such weapons, I would surely have hoarded them in secret. Only when our grand army charged the front line would I unleash them all in a single breath, targeting nothing but the altars!
"Now Wei Yuan squanders such treasures, flinging them away just to kill a handful of ordinary soldiers. What difference does that make to the broader conflict?"
The subordinate finally caught on, deeply convinced, and praised, "My Lord commands troops like a god—those ugly people cannot hold a candle to you!"
Liu Lan gave a slight nod, rather self-satisfied.
***
Within the Weaponsmith Workshop of Qingming, Yu Zhizhuo stood beside Wei Yuan with a face full of discontent. Pointing at the mountain of warheads before them, he grumbled, "Haul them away, fire them off, do whatever you want—just get these things out of here right now! The warehouses can't fit a single one more. The three massive warehouses finished just last month are already packed full after barely a dozen days!
"What is that old thief Chuhe doing? How can he be loading warheads so slowly? He can't even install a thousand in a day?"
Wei Yuan offered an apologetic smile and patiently explained, "It isn't easy for him either. Guinea pigs are terribly forgetful; they must be trained and deployed on the spot, or else they forget everything after seven days. The newly selected disciples are still clumsy with the Beast-Taming Heavenly Heart, so we have to rely on veterans. Training five hundred a day is already the limit—pushing beyond that is simply unbearable."
Yu Zhizhuo knitted his brows. "What, are those guinea pig elders planning a rebellion or something?"
Once the guinea pig population reached a certain threshold, some among them underwent inexplicable changes, growing larger and significantly smarter. Eventually, guinea pigs with innate Dao Foundations and naturally awakened spirituality emerged. Originally, these spiritual guinea pigs had planned to lead their kin in tunneling through the Medicine Garden to escape Qingming. However, they discovered cats roaming above ground, snakes slithering below ground, and minks popping up among their kind from time to time.
When Perfected Chuhe discovered the anomaly, he gathered these guinea pigs together, formed a Council of Elders, and appointed them as elders tasked with managing all guinea pig affairs on the old Daoist's behalf.
As a result, these guinea pig elders wept tears of gratitude, feeling as though they had found the guiding beacon of their rodent lives. Having tasted the noble treatment reserved for humans, they looked down upon their muddle-headed kin, disciplining their fellow rodents with wholehearted devotion and exceptionally ruthless methods. That the old Daoist had been able to train guinea pigs to pilot rockets in such short order was largely thanks to these elders.
Yu Zhizhuo knew all this, which was why he had assumed something had gone wrong with the guinea pig elders.
To his surprise, Wei Yuan sighed. "Those elders are as steadfast as ever—no problems there. It's actually one of our trainers who went mad."
Yu Zhizhuo fell silent, then asked, "So what do we do now?"
"The Shamans will soon be in position anyway. Once they are, I'll launch all the rockets we can fire in a single salvo. Their frontline altars won't be able to escape."
Then Wei Yuan transmitted a dossier to Yu Zhizhuo, saying, "However, the results over the past few days show that rockets aren't very reliable. They sting, but they don't kill—and frankly, they don't even sting all that much; it's mostly just sound and fury. We need to bring out other measures."
Yu Zhizhuo took the dossier, studied it carefully, and said, "It seems that without striking the sharpshooter Great Shamans, we truly cannot deal a painful blow to the Shamans. But our current gunpowder weapons lack sufficient punch; relying purely on gunpowder to handle Great Shamans still falls a bit short."
Wei Yuan asked, "With our existing means, within what range can we pose a lethal threat to a Great Shaman?"
"Just last month I designed a new weapon, perfectly suited for the Dao soldiers. By the way, your new numinous treasure is nearly finished—only the final refinement of the artifact spirit remains. Since you're here, let's complete this step."
Wei Yuan flew alongside Yu Zhizhuo toward the Hundred Professions Engineering Academy. The newly established academy headquarters was located right in the Weaponsmith Workshop, and none of the academicians had raised any objections.
Within the engineering academy, Yu Zhizhuo commanded an entire complex of laboratories, with over two hundred assistants conducting more than a hundred research projects simultaneously.
Wei Yuan followed Yu Zhizhuo into a heavily fortified laboratory. Here, eight cultivators at the perfection of the Dao Foundation were fully absorbed in manipulating glowing spheres, processing tasks. Each of them could handle sixteen tasks at the same time, appearing quite at ease.
Wei Yuan took an extra look before entering the next laboratory.
It had to be said that the cultivators of Qingming were now accustomed to using the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, and their capabilities had grown dramatically. Back then, even Cui Yu had found handling sixteen tasks somewhat strenuous before advancing to the dharma idol realm; now, all eight of these perfected Dao Foundation cultivators could effortlessly manage sixteen tasks.
The number of concurrent tasks was a benchmark, representing the degree of spirituality in one's primordial spirit. The higher the spirituality, the greater the probability of advancing to a dharma idol, and the higher the likelihood of producing a high-grade dharma idol. Right now, a single laboratory under Yu Zhizhuo contained eight cultivators capable of managing sixteen tasks, all very likely to break through to the dharma idol realm; no wonder Wei Yuan had taken an extra look.
Passing through another formation array, they finally entered Yu Zhizhuo's personal laboratory. It was more appropriately described as an experimental sector: shelves held hundreds of components, while a legendary anvil rested in the corner. This anvil was actually a top-tier numinous treasure; a master artifact refiner could hammer out any desired component upon it.
In the formation array at the center of the laboratory rested a spear, slowly rotating alongside the array. Countless yin spirits drifted within the formation, their varied faces undulating continuously, all appearing in agonizing torment. The formation was also linked to numerous smaller arrays that channeled dense yin power and fiendish qi into the center, subjecting the yin spirits to even greater agony.
Such a sight left even Wei Yuan somewhat startled. "What are you doing here?"
"Infusing an artifact spirit into your new magical implement. The more agony these yin spirits endure, the more inclined they are to merge with one another in an attempt to alleviate their suffering. Of course, in reality, the pain only increases, never diminishes. After all, the suffering one has always borne is precisely the suffering best suited to oneself; someone else's torment is even more unbearable."
Wei Yuan was taken aback, never expecting such profound wisdom from Yu Zhizhuo.
Yu Zhizhuo continued, "An artifact spirit born from numerous yin spirits has one major advantage: exceptionally high spirituality. The drawback is that it can become irritable or even run amok at times, which requires the master's divine sense and dharma idol to be extraordinarily formidable. Otherwise, one risks suffering a backlash."
Naturally, this was no issue for Wei Yuan; within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, he had excavated dozens of bronze men alone.
Yu Zhizhuo said, "Now only the final step remains: infuse a drop of your blood essence and a wisp of divine sense. Of course, it would be best to add a bit of karmic luck as well. With the enlightenment of karmic luck, the artifact spirit might take whatever form you desire—for instance, some beauty, hahaha!"
Wei Yuan's mouth twitched, and he urged earnestly, "Martial Uncle, we folks from the Hall of Heavenly Craft really shouldn't tell jokes in the future."
Yu Zhizhuo's laughter froze on his face. He let out a heavy harrumph and said, "Nephew, we've all heard plenty about your reputation. If you really end up conjuring a Princess Ningguo in a moment, I'm afraid you won't have an easy time explaining yourself!"
Wei Yuan's face darkened, and he hurriedly snapped, "Martial Uncle! Watch your tongue!"
Yu Zhizhuo also realized that this was hardly a time for careless words. The outcome of karmic luck refinement was utterly mercurial, and anything could happen. If the artifact spirit truly materialized as Princess Ningguo, chaos would ensue.
After this minor hiccup, Wei Yuan was seized by a strong premonition of misfortune and hesitated for a moment.
Yet under Yu Zhizhuo's relentless urging, Wei Yuan flicked a drop of blood essence into the formation after all. Countless yin spirits, like hyenas sighting flesh and blood, swarmed in from all sides, scrambling to plunge into the blood essence.
Still uneasy, Wei Yuan decided to invest some karmic luck as well. This was a numinous treasure he intended to use all the way through the Scenery Command realm, so he could not afford to be stingy. At present, he had no otherworldly fortune available. Aside from a vast quantity of azure qi human fortune, he possessed only a tiny sliver of golden glazed karmic luck left over from when the Red Lotus Bodhi underwent its tribulation.
Wei Yuan cast all the remaining golden glazed karmic luck into the formation. To his surprise, Yu Zhizhuo gasped beside him: "How do you have Pure Land Glazed Sky karmic luck?!"
Wei Yuan's heart sank, and he quickly asked, "Is there something wrong with this karmic luck?"
"Nothing wrong with it—it's just exceptionally rare. Even the Hall Master's personal collection only amounts to a few dozen strands, fewer than what you just threw in at once. I never imagined someone could spend such karmic luck by the handful. I was just... marvelling, that's all." Yu Zhizhuo shook his head as he sighed in admiration.
Wei Yuan's foreboding grew increasingly intense. Where the yin spirits converged, an elegantly contoured bald head gradually surfaced.
*Just as I thought... could my luck get any worse?* Wei Yuan sighed inwardly.
And then he saw a pair of azure eyes slowly open.
Chapter 843