The Strength Shamans threw themselves enthusiastically into rebuilding the fortress, entirely unaware of what had transpired. Ronglong, too, acted as though nothing was amiss, clearing rubble with his own two hands and laboring with the vigor of hundreds of ordinary Strength Shamans combined.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over the entire stronghold. The ambient light dimmed noticeably, and the stifling heat faded, replaced by threads of creeping chill. Many of the Strength Shamans and Desolate Shamans halted their tasks, but seeing Ronglong continue working as if nothing had changed, they quickly steadied themselves and resumed their labor without a care in the world.
Wei Yuan, leading his surviving subordinates, was busy rebuilding the blast furnace. Originally, he had three hundred Strength Shamans under his command; now, only a hundred remained alive, over a dozen of whom were grievously wounded. Across the entire fortress of more than four thousand Strength Shamans, a mere eight hundred or so had survived the cataclysmic battle.
The Strength Shamans in Wei Yuan's unit were currently in a weakened state, and their individual might held no advantage over the fortress average, yet their survival rate was markedly higher than any other contingent's—all thanks to their heavy armor.
Wei Yuan glanced up at the gloom descending across the sky, unconcerned, and went back to directing his shamans.
Back when Huiye had faced Wei Yuan one-on-one, she hadn't dared strike him with her own hands. Now, he carried the apex karmic luck of nearly a thousand Strength Shamans and two Desolate Shamans. Even if Wei Yuan simply stood there and offered his neck, she might not dare lay a finger on him. For her to strike him down now would be wounding the enemy by a hundred while costing herself a thousand.
As a disciple of the Palace of Grand Beginning well-versed in the Dao of karmic luck, Wei Yuan could transform over half that luck into karmic retribution and bind it to Huiye, even against an opponent of her caliber.
Ronglong looked up at the increasingly gloomy sky, finally pausing in his work. He spoke in a deep voice: "Don't go looking for trouble. Or if you prefer it rough, I can put it like this: don't refuse face when it's offered!"
Huiye manifested outside the fortress, her voice chillingly cold. "Ronglong! How insolent of you, daring to obstruct this seat's inspection! You must be harboring treasonous ambitions, skulking in the shadows and plotting illicit deeds! This seat now suspects you of colluding with foreigners and conspiring to rebel!"
Ronglong replied, "Had you come ten days ago when the battle first began, I would have respected you as a Heavenly Shaman and let you inspect whatever you pleased! But now, after we drove off the flame demons, you come rushing in to point fingers. Do you think I'm easy prey just because my wounds haven't healed? Heh. If I let you take a single step into this fortress, I'd be betraying every brother who died here!"
Huiye sneered. "A bunch of ants who aren't even Desolate Shamans, and you actually call them brothers? You've dragged the dignity of Desolate Shamans through the dirt!"
Ronglong's voice dropped low and hard. "Every shaman who fell at Fengmang, every shaman who fought to the death here—regardless of their background or cultivation—is a brother to me, Ronglong! As for you, you feared the flame demons like tigers, hiding outside the realm for ten days without daring to show your face. Only after the fight was won did you scramble over in a rush to assert your presence. Do you think you're worthy to speak to me?!"
Enraged, Huiye conjured a colossal full moon that rose in the sky. She barked, "This seat only arrived in the Desolate Realm today! How dare you slander me so shamelessly? If you wish to seek death, then this seat will grant it!"
"Grant my death?" Ronglong suddenly burst into a long laugh that shook the heavens for ten thousand li. An amber full moon emerged in the sky alongside hers, scarcely smaller than Huiye's own!
The moment the amber moon appeared, Ronglong vanished, leaving only his voice reverberating between heaven and earth: "I told you before not to look for trouble! Now that you've invited your own humiliation, I wouldn't mind pinning the title 'Disgrace of the Heavenly Shamans' onto your name!"
Staring at the amber moon before her, Huiye turned grim, already regarding Ronglong as a lifelong nemesis.
Yet she found herself baffled. In a place like the Desolate Realm, how had Ronglong cultivated such a bizarre mindscape world? This mindscape resembled a full moon, yet possessed not a shred of moonlight's radiance, and it seemed utterly incongruous with the Desolate Realm.
Right as the tension reached a boiling point, a massive hand suddenly materialized in midair. Jiumu kept his true body concealed within the vault of heaven, exposing only that hand as he tossed out dozens of shadow-recording orbs, scattering them across different vantage points.
Startled, Huiye demanded, "What are you doing?"
Jiumu replied, "Why, I want to record Lord Huiye's heroic glory! Truth be told, I've hated Ronglong's guts for the longest time—I'd love nothing more than to thrash him every single day! But the fellow is rooted in the Desolate Realm, making him terribly tricky to deal with. Besides, I'm just an errand boy; teaching him a lesson isn't in my job description!
"Today is different, though! You're here! This is simply marvelous! If you don't beat him half to death, it'd be an insult to your reputation as a Heavenly Shaman!
"Go on! Don't hesitate! Hesitating for even a single breath is practically slapping yourself in the face! Any more hesitation, and my heart will ache from all the face-slapping! Don't worry, I'm recording every second for you—not a single moment of your heroics will be missed! Charge in and take him on! If you don't beat him half to death, you're a Strength Shaman's whelp!"
Huiye was stunned, her expression darkening into a scowl. "What is the meaning of this?"
Jiumu poked his head out as well, looking thoroughly earnest. "Didn't I make myself clear? Charge in and beat him up! How could a Heavenly Shaman possibly fear a mere Desolate Shaman? In the eyes of you Nether Shamans, aren't Desolate Shamans just brainless vermin—maggots that can do nothing but squirm? So don't hold back on my account. Beat him within an inch of his life! If you kill him, I'll even cover a day of your rations as a tip for your trouble!"
Instead of flying into a rage, Huiye's expression calmed, her eyes filled with wary gravity. Today's events were far too abnormal. Ronglong's explosive temper was one thing, but Jiumu was someone who usually smiled and wiped spit off his own face without blinking—why was he fanning the flames so enthusiastically today?
Before she could make sense of it, Jiumu kept prodding: "Why haven't you moved yet? You can endure even this? Ronglong is practically walking all over you! What are you waiting for? Surely you aren't incapable of beating even a Desolate Shaman?"
The more Jiumu egged her on, the more cautious Huiye became. No matter how she looked at that amber full moon, something felt terribly off about it, though she couldn't pinpoint what.
Just then, countless fine lines abruptly appeared at the center of the amber moon, spreading outward at rapid speed. A vertical slit formed right down the middle, widening into an elongated almond shape. Then two invisible barriers closed from left and right, masking the amber moon in an instant and leaving the sky completely empty. A moment later, the barriers parted again, revealing the full moon once more.
Only through this uncanny development did Huiye finally realize that the thing confronting her in the sky was no moon at all—it was a dragon's eye!
Jiumu instantly deflated, sighing, "I was this close! Couldn't you have held it in a little longer?"
"Stared too long. Eyes were dry," Ronglong said.
Huiye cried out in shock, "You've already become a Heavenly Shaman?! That's impossible!"
Ronglong answered calmly, "Of course it's impossible. You're ugly enough, but are you blind as well? Look properly. I'm still a Desolate Shaman."
Huiye focused her gaze and scrutinized him. Only then did she see that Ronglong carried no Great Dao authority; he was indeed still a Desolate Shaman. Yet, despite not being a Heavenly Shaman, he was far more terrifying than one!
Suddenly realizing what was really going on, Huiye snapped in a surge of shock and fury, "Jiumu, how dare you! You had the gall to set me up?!"
Chapter 916