Wei Yuan paid no heed to the turmoil outside and continued to concentrate on reading history.
The flame demons merely threw a few low-strength war beasts into the fortress to stir up chaos, while they themselves obediently laid siege step by step. Far from taking flight, they were unwilling even to leap high, for reasons unknown.
Power Shamans were stationed everywhere throughout the fortress. Every building and courtyard was an individual bulwark; even if the flame demon army broke in, they could not shake the city defenses.
The ground tremors persisted without pause, but Wei Yuan simply acted as though they did not exist. In any case, stepping outside would not let him join the fighting. Right now, Power Shamans were surely stationed covertly in every direction, never permitting a single flame demon to draw near him.
At that moment, Wei Yuan held a sheet of jade paper in his hands, lost in contemplation over an image of a flame demon depicted upon it. The heads of these flame demons closely resembled faceless humans. Where the eyes should have been, there was only a long, narrow slit spanning the entire face, radiating a dark red glow.
Gazing at this slit, Wei Yuan pondered: if this was indeed an eye, what light could it perceive, and why was it a single narrow slit? Immortal Monarch Yanshi had once proposed an unusual eye structure capable of perceiving images invisible to others, but that structure featured two slits, not one.
Amidst his contemplation, a dull thud suddenly resounded, as though something had slammed against the Library Hall's main doors.
Wei Yuan's heart stirred, as if an invisible chord had been struck. He examined himself with his divine sense. Bolstered by Daoist mental arts, he instantly perceived the source of this premonition: Zhengang.
Zhengang had been tasked with standing guard outside the Library Hall to ensure no enemy disturbed Wei Yuan. Had it been Zhengang who just slammed into the doors?
Setting aside the text in his hand, Wei Yuan climbed the steps, reached the hall's main entrance, and pulled open the heavy doors. Instantly, the stench of blood rushed over him, mingling with snarls, battle cries, and agonizing shrieks that crashed violently against his face.
Grasping an axe in both hands, Zhengang stood like a mountain before the entrance. Yet his upper body was soaked in crimson, and a massive gash ran across his shoulder, having nearly severed one arm and the shoulder along with it!
Swinging his battleaxe with a single hand, Zhengang roared, "Come at me again! If your granddaddy retreats a single step, I was born of you bastards!"
A sudden flash of dark light appeared, arriving right before Zhengang's eyes in an instant!
Zhengang's eyes went wide. Only one thought had time to cross his mind: *Seems I boasted a bit too much today...*
Yet the scene before him abruptly shifted sideways. That dark streak suddenly veered off course, shooting straight into the sky!
Pushing Zhengang aside with his left hand, Wei Yuan parried the crossbow bolt that had become a streak of dark light with a flick of his spear. He stepped forward, covering the distance to the crossbow-wielding flame demon in a single stride, and ran his spear clean through its throat!
This strike was clean and unambiguous, devoid of the slightest flourish. It was sheer speed—so fast that even a flame demon renowned for swiftness and reflexes knew precisely where the spear was aiming, yet could not dodge.
The strike was also immensely heavy. Though devoid of any grand celestial flair, it punctured the sturdy body of the flame demon like a paper doll, driving straight through.
Solid Breaker activated. The flame demon's upper body detonated in an instant, disintegrating into a shower of blood.
Without sparing a glance at his kill, Wei Yuan turned to Zhengang and asked, "Can you hold on?"
Blood welled unceasingly from Zhengang's mouth as he gasped with great difficulty, "I'm... still holding... These flame demons are ruthless. All the brothers around me... dead. Didn't even have time... to give a shout. I'm truly useless... could only try my best to hold... the door..."
Wei Yuan snapped, "Quiet! Maintain your dharma idol!"
Yet mouthful after mouthful of blood continued to pour from Zhengang's lips. Sensing disaster, Wei Yuan pressed a hand against Zhengang like lightning. Discarding all need for concealment, he directly unleashed the life-preserving Soul-Illuminating secret art from the Hall of Xuanming, sinking a cluster of white radiance into Zhengang's body.
A hazy white glow enveloped Zhengang's entire form. A faint, wispy phantom floated up from within, then crumbled into minute specks, scattering on the windless air.
Wei Yuan's expression turned as dark as still water. The soul had already departed and dissolved; even the Soul-Illuminating secret art of the Hall of Xuanming could not anchor it. He reached out and touched Zhengang's brow. As expected, the sea of consciousness was entirely shattered, the interior reduced to absolute ruin.
At that moment, the aura behind him abruptly froze. The surrounding world went dead silent, as if severed entirely from the Desolate Realm.
Wei Yuan turned around slowly and beheld a peculiar flame demon standing behind him. A vertical gold marking was inscribed upon its face, and it was looking down at the bisected corpse of the fallen demon on the ground, its entire frame trembling.
The flame demon suddenly threw back its head and wailed toward the heavens. Ripples continually pulsed around its flanks, triggering minute explosions in the surrounding rocks.
Wei Yuan felt a prickling numbness spread over the surface of his skin, and several patches of flesh squirmed uncontrollably, threatening to burst outward. Yet he tightened his entire body, instantly suppressing the anomaly.
This flame demon was weeping...
Receiving and discerning these vibrations undetectable to human ears through his divine sense, Wei Yuan combined them with the demon vocabulary he had just learned, picking out several concepts: *love*, *loss*, *vengeance*.
The surrounding space darkened abruptly as the temperature surged violently, as though he had been plunged into a realm of molten lava!
Flame demons marked with golden facial stripes all possessed the Scenery Command realm. At this moment, it had already unleashed its mindscape world, severing heaven from earth to suppress Wei Yuan under crushing pressure. A dark scimitar snapped out from its forearm, cleaving straight down toward Wei Yuan's head!
Wei Yuan had already swept his divine sense across the surrounding area. Several eerie spatial pockets had formed inside and outside the fortress, with terrifying power erupting in wave after wave. All the Desolate Shamans in the fortress were completely pinned down, while Ronglong was besieged by five Scenery Command flame demons.
On the day he arrived at Fengmang, Yanhu had told him there was no need to fear being overwhelmed by sheer enemy numbers. First, the size of a fortress was designed around its garrison force; only when forces increased would the fortress be expanded.
Second, the guardian of the Desolate Realm was Heavenly Shaman Jiumu. His nine eyes could survey every corner of the Desolate Realm. While not omniscient, an event as monumental as a massive demon siege would inevitably catch Jiumu's gaze.
As long as Jiumu saw it, he could manifest instantly wherever his sight reached, ensuring any fortress in crisis could be rescued in time.
Yet Yanhu had also added that "no need to fear" merely meant that Lord Jiumu was sometimes slow to react. As for why he was slow, those who knew dared not speak of it, and those who did not dared not ask.
At this very moment, Wei Yuan felt not the slightest sensation of being watched.
The gaze of a Heavenly Shaman could never escape the perception of Wei Yuan, who possessed an innate Diting divine ability and colossal karmic luck. Right now, for reasons unknown, Jiumu had not cast his gaze this way. Logically speaking, the battle had already raged for some time; why had Jiumu still shown no response?
Yet Wei Yuan did not care whether Jiumu would come or not. He merely needed to confirm that Jiumu's gaze was not upon this place.
The flame demon's blade had nearly struck Wei Yuan's skull when it suddenly pulled back, followed by an exponential surge in the world-suppressing force! That previous slash had merely been a feint; consumed by hatred, this flame demon intended to overwhelm him with cultivation realm, crushing Wei Yuan through the sheer force of its mindscape world!
Wei Yuan took measure of the weight bearing down upon him, then glanced down at his hands. They were drenched in blood—Zhengang's blood.
This dim-witted Power Shaman of humble origins had not only contributed top-tier karmic luck, but had surrendered his life without hesitation. Wei Yuan could not even fathom why he had done so. Was it merely out of veneration and a promise? Was he truly unafraid of death? Had he genuinely been fearless, he never would have survived in the Desolate Realm until now, much less called Wei Yuan granddaddy upon losing a duel.
For such a Power Shaman to have survived until today was good fortune... right?
Wei Yuan suddenly raised his head. A faint full moon manifested in his pupils, and the illusory manifestation of the Great Yin rose around him, its lunar radiance casting aside the worldly suppression!
He then stepped forward. Protect Master, Void Piercer, and Solid Breaker engaged simultaneously. Moving abreast with time itself, a single thrust ran through the flame demon before it could react!
Wei Yuan withdrew the spear and thrust again, striking three consecutive times and piercing three clean, transparent holes through the demon from top to bottom!
With a booming crash, the flame demon detonated, dissolving into a sky of scattered blood!
Yet the surrounding worldly force did not dissipate. Under the terrifying pressure, the shattered flesh and blood recombined, reconstituting a haphazardly molded flame demon whose golden markings were scattered erratically across several parts of its body. Without a word, it spun around and fled!
Wei Yuan hurled his spear. Compassion transformed into a streak of lightning, piercing straight through the fleeing demon in an instant and shooting it out of the air!
Reaching out, Wei Yuan summoned the spear back across the void into his grasp.
The demon's mindscape world collapsed, and the severed space merged once more with the Desolate Realm. Shouts of slaughter and Desolate Roars flooded his ears anew.
Looking around, Wei Yuan saw that a breach had been blasted through the fortress wall, and massive ranks of flame demons were pouring through it into the fortress. Power Shamans on both flanks fought heedless of life and death, attempting to plug the breach. Yet though they threw themselves forward in relentless waves, they remained just a step short.
Outside the fortress, a section of the battlefield trembled violently as the ground shook. Even the indestructible earth cracked and burst open, hurling boulders weighing tens of thousands of jin into the sky. It carried the apocalyptic might of the end of days; that was Ronglong's battlefield.
Facing five opponents alone, he fought a bloody battle against five perfected Scenery Command flame demons. Even his body, sturdy enough to rival immortal artifacts, was covered in wounds. Yet he still whipped out his long tail, instantly stretching it thirty thousand zhang to entwine a flame demon near Yanhu and haul it back to his side.
Yanhu unleashed a thunderous roar. Blood sprayed from every wound on his body, yet as if reborn, an immense surge of strength welled within him. Grabbing a flame demon with both hands, he tore it clean in two.
The flame demons charging through the breach in the wall suddenly seemed to slam into an invisible barrier. Those in front froze, while those behind continued to press forward. Trapped in the middle and oblivious to what was happening, the demons shrieked in agony under the crush.
They could not see that at the very front of the line, a gaunt, unsightly shaman had appeared, holding an ordinary spear. His strikes were utterly plain, nothing more than thrust after thrust after thrust. Yet each strike claimed a flame demon's life.
Flame demons were sentient beings as well, subject to joy, anger, sorrow, anxiety, and dread. The demons at the front of the line were entirely consumed by terror, desperate to retreat, only to be held fast by the pressing ranks behind them. On either side were Power Shamans who had fought themselves into a frenzy, leaving no space to squeeze through.
Whether the flame demons retreated, dodged, or surged forward to risk their lives, the outcome remained the same. None received a second thrust, and none could evade the first.
No matter how they responded, Wei Yuan simply raised his spear and brought it down, raised it and brought it down, raised it and brought it down, his eyes dyed a solid crimson. Facing the surging tide of flame demons, he strode toward the fortress wall. Step by step, the entire demon force was forced backward.
In this moment, Wei Yuan was like a lone fish cleaving the waves, swimming against the raging current.
*Spears of wind and blades of rain cleave the azure vault,*
*Turbid waves surge to the heavens as mountains verge on collapse.*
*Should this mortal frame but soar forth as a dragon,*
*Through the dark of night, it shall light Fengmang for ten thousand li!*
Chapter 898