A New Defensive Line

Dozens of massive chariots rolled out from the rear, driving straight into the blasted trench. These chariots were fitted with the latest three-cylinder engines and fueled by high-grade Dao Foundations, giving them immense power. The front of each vehicle was mounted with a specialized blade that dug up and leveled the loose earth as it drove along the trench bed, carving out a wide trench with a flat bottom. Dozens of engineering vehicles mobilized simultaneously. Each had to cover less than two li, finishing their sweeps in under a shichen. Meanwhile, thousands of trucks swarmed toward the work site, each loaded with several pre-cast concrete structural components. Dao Foundation cultivators then simply lifted them down and fitted them into the trench. Components weighing thousands of jin were impossible for ordinary mortals to move, but two template Dao Foundation cultivators were more than enough. Yu Zhizhuo had thousands of template artisans under his command and had temporarily conscripted another five thousand template Dao Foundation cultivators, making the assembly speed unprecedented. Once the concrete components were in place, mortal artisans rushed forward to weld the exposed rebar at both ends together, then set up retaining boards and poured concrete. That way, only a little over a foot of concrete had to be poured on-site. Step by step, the operations linked together in seamless, orderly progression. Several shichen later, when the two well-rested Shamans and Liu Lan appeared at the front lines, they were stunned to find a hundred-li-long concrete trench defense line that had seemingly materialized out of thin air! "What is this? Where did this defensive line come from?" The Shaman on the left spoke with a voice contorted in shock. Several Great Shamans on the front line did not dare even breathe loudly. One braced himself and replied, "Last night, the humans blasted open the ground and used some bizarre contraptions. On top of that, their Dao Foundation cultivators were as numerous as aphids! In the span of a single night, it was... completed." "You didn't go and stop them? Didn't I give you troops?" The Great Shaman steeled himself and said, "We did try to stop them. We fought all night and suffered sixty thousand casualties, but we couldn't break through Wei Yuan's line." The Shaman on the right barked harshly, "Your attempts failed—why didn't you inform us?!" The Great Shamans exchanged glances. Both lords had explicitly stated they were resting and were not to be disturbed under any circumstances; who would dare disturb their rest over a matter like this? Seeing that no one answered, the Shaman on the right flew into an even greater rage. He seized the Great Shaman who had spoken first and hoisted him into the air. His pupils shifted from silver to black. An expression of sheer horror crossed the Great Shaman's face as his body deflated like a punctured ball, shriveling rapidly until, in the blink of an eye, he was reduced to nothing more than a sheet of skin. "Useless trash!" The Shaman on the right tossed the skin carelessly onto the ground. The remaining Great Shamans could not help but tremble. A late Dharma Idol stage Great Shaman—snuffed out just like that? Gazing at the thousands of trucks shuttling back and forth endlessly on Qingming's side, both Shamans wore grim expressions. They turned to Liu Lan. "Commence the assault now! You will command the front lines!" Liu Lan offered an obsequious smile, but inwardly cursed them up and down. How could an army of several million be mobilized at a moment's notice? Without so much as a battle plan, they had dumped the entire command into his lap. These two fools were just as brainless as the rumors claimed. Yet no matter how much he raged internally, Liu Lan had to endure it and immediately begin deploying forces for the offensive. The trouble was that he didn't even know the commanders of the various units and had to scramble to summon them for a meeting. Amidst the chaos on the enemy side, construction had already begun on low concrete parapets behind Qingming's defense line, along with bunkers erected every li or so. The bunkers were constructed from massive cast-steel plates hauled directly to the site, welded together on the spot, and then covered in poured concrete. Once the concrete cured, an extra layer of steel plates was bolted over vital sections. Having fought the Shamans for so long, Yu Zhizhuo, who had extensively studied material properties, had long since discovered that steel plating fared poorly against the Shamans' corrosive curses, whereas concrete was remarkably resilient. Thus, the bunkers' design was inverted from outer steel plates to inner steel plates. The plates on critical sections were made of hardened steel specifically to stop armor-piercing heavy arrows, treating them as expendables. When an ordinary Dao Foundation-level Shaman mighty archer loosed a heavy arrow, it could pierce over a foot into concrete. Pure concrete also could not withstand heavy hammer blows, so rebar had to be embedded inside, while temporary steel plates were added to the exterior. The speed of bunker construction was astonishing, practically limited only by the curing time of the concrete. Nor did the Qingming cultivators simply wait around for it to set. Instead, several Fire-attribute Dao Foundation cultivators gathered around to apply heat, while a Water-attribute Dao Foundation cultivator accelerated the evaporation of moisture. In this manner, it cured completely in under two shichen. Liu Lan led dozens of Great Shamans back to the front lines as several Shaman legions marched out of the main encampment, heading toward various positions to prepare for the attack. To coordinate an offensive on the scale of a million troops in such a short window proved that Liu Lan was indeed a capable commander. Watching the humans toiling like ants on the opposite side, one Great Shaman suddenly remarked, "Where did they get so much steel?" The Shamans were taken aback. Doing the math, they realized that merely constructing this single defensive line had consumed no less than a hundred million jin of steel, and their faces darkened. One Great Shaman forced a laugh. "Perhaps they scraped the bottom of every barrel they own!" The other Great Shamans could only accept this explanation. A new round of combat began, and from the very start, the Shamans' offensive bogged down into a quagmire. Landmines blanketed the ground—rarely fatal, but heavily crippling. Artillery fire from above never ceased, and dozens of missiles even bombarded the altars in the rear. This time, however, since the altars were under direct threat, the Shamans spared no expense. They deployed dozens of curse-wielding Great Shamans to defend them, who instantly cursed and killed the guinea pigs inside the missile warheads, causing every missile to veer off course. On the ground, all Qingming forces hunkered down inside the fortifications, holding their ground against the Shamans. Sheltered by the works, their artillery could drop shells just twenty to thirty zhang before their own positions, creating a wall of fire to halt the advance. Both sides clashed fiercely across the sprawling battle line. Once the Shaman tide crested the trenches, casualties skyrocketed on both ends. Qingming engaged in hand-to-hand combat and close-quarters melee, while the Shamans were forced to face crossfire sweeping in from every direction. Present-day Qingming was vastly larger than it had been during the battle with the Land of Rain, making encirclement virtually impossible. Even a simple flanking maneuver took considerable time to execute. As a result, both sides were locked in a grinding stalemate on the frontal battlefield, devolving once more into a quagmire of attrition. Suddenly, a deafening rumble shook the earth, drowning out even the frontline gunfire and war cries. Clouds of dirt and smoke shot into the sky behind the first line of defense; Wei Yuan had actually begun blasting the trenches for a second defensive line. Inside the Shaman command tent, the two near-identical Shamans wore identically grim expressions. The one on the right said, "We cannot continue fighting like this." "Indeed. The humans' stockpiles are far greater than anticipated." "Liu Lan never reported this—what an idiot!" "Now is not the time to blame him. Anyone else would only be more foolish. Should we use that?" "No word has come from Master yet. Likely, this game hasn't gone smoothly and ran into unexpected interference." "Did another human immortal intervene?" "I do not know. We had better await news first. Send a force east to sever Qingming's connection to Western Jin, lest they obtain further supplies from there." "Good idea!" *** In a space of absolute darkness, a shaft of light descended from above, illuminating a youth seated cross-legged at the center and Xu Lanshan kneeling before him. The youth opened his eyes and said slowly, "A Shaman legion is advancing toward Hanyang Pass." "I have already reinforced the city defenses, but our forces are somewhat lacking. The clan's elites are all in the north." The youth said, "Do not the various branches and households maintain numerous private retainers and guards? Those are the true elites. Have each household contribute a share and place them under your command." "This... I fear the elders may voice objections. Furthermore, the Shamans might not necessarily be aiming to attack Hanyang Pass." The youth said placidly, "Whether they truly intend to attack does not matter. We shall treat it as though they already have."