Deep in the Western Regions, the outline of a new city had already taken shape. Warriors in crisp, gleaming armor patrolled along its four borders, while many other soldiers who had shed their heavy armor were constructing watchtowers, delineating the city's boundaries.
Within the city lord's manor, a pale-faced young scion draped in a brocade robe was studying a sand table map. Crafted with exquisite precision, the map laid bare every topographical detail. The city sat on the eastern edge of the map, while the three thousand li to its west was densely dotted with red markers of varying sizes, representing the current cities and settlements of the Shamans.
Along the southern fringe of the map were a few purple dots, indicating the domains of the Mountain Folk.
The young scion held several tokens representing different military forces and branches, experimenting by placing them on the map and pushing westward. Standing on the other side of the table was an elderly general holding tokens for the Shamans, deploying formations to hold him off.
The young scion advanced in multiple columns to execute a pincer attack, only to have each crushed piecemeal. When it came to the decisive battle, he found himself short of troops, and his main army was routed.
The elderly general said at this point, "When two states clash, conventional forces are primary, while stratagems and surprises are secondary. Since our military strength is superior, we must force the enemy into a frontal engagement; deploying surprise tactics serves solely that objective. One must never forsake the fundamental for the trivial and rely blindly on trickery."
The young scion was unconvinced. "War isn't a game of chess. If I strike along multiple routes, how could you possibly see them all?"
The veteran general sighed inwardly. "It was this subordinate's oversight."
The young scion set up another game, still dividing his forces into multiple routes.
The entire city resembled a massive construction site. The city lord's manor was already complete, and barracks were currently being built. Judging from the layout and distances between structures, this city was exceptionally ambitious, planned to house five million people. With hundreds of thousands of workers bustling across such a vast expanse, the area hardly even seemed crowded.
Just then, a flying boat appeared on the distant horizon, flying toward the new city.
In the skies above, Cui Chengxiao looked down over the entire city, taking in at a glance where work was done well and who was slacking off. Yet the moment he spotted the flying boat in the distance, his pupils narrowed, and he immediately flew up to meet it. Another figure soared out from within the city, following close behind him.
A moment later, Cui Chengxiao and the other elderly man landed aboard the flying boat. The hull was riddled with scars, stained with blood and marred by damage everywhere. There was even a gaping hole torn through the hull, from which all the cargo inside the cabins had spilled out.
Several flying swords were impaled into the deck; one four-foot sword pinned a crew member fast to the deck. The crew member still had a breath left in him, screaming continuously, yet no one on the entire flying boat came out to help him. All surviving crew members were gathered at the formation array in the lower hold, entirely focused on coaxing more speed from the vessel.
The elderly man's face turned livid. "Who dares to be so bold as to touch our Cui family's flying boat?!"
This elder had newly stepped into Scenery Command and was also a Song Cui elder sent to assist Cui Chengxiao. Cui Chengxiao walked over to the crew member and drew the flying sword out; the man let out a sharp cry and finally expired.
Cui Chengxiao did not spare him a glance, merely inspecting the flying sword. The four-foot blade was identical to the flying swords Qingming had test-fired that day, except this time there was no Qingming insignia on its blade.
Cui Chengxiao's face turned icy, and he said in a chilling voice, "Well played, Zhang Sheng. You actually dared to make a move!"
The elder asked, "Qingming did this? Have they gone mad?"
Cui Chengxiao said slowly, "It seems that child Cui Yu harbors resentment against us and has been fanning the flames."
The elder said, "That boy's talent was mediocre to begin with. Now that Xi's divine sea is repaired, Xi's natural aptitude is far superior to his. With the new city established, we have no further need for Qingming anyway. It truly was not worth squandering precious resources on him."
"I only fear the people of Qingming do not see it that way."
The elder sneered. "This is ownerless land in the first place—does it matter what they think? Still, since they attacked our Cui family's flying boat, they must give us an accounting for this! Unless we take several of their lives, they probably won't learn their lesson. For every one of our crew members injured, they shall repay ten times over!"
Cui Chengxiao swept the vessel with his divine sense, then reached out and hoisted the flying boat's captain up to the deck with a grasping gesture. "Who attacked you?"
The captain, seeing Cui Chengxiao, regained a shred of composure. "There was a vast quantity of goods this time, too much for one flying boat, so two came—"
Cui Chengxiao cut him off immediately: "Where is the other one?"
"They were entangled by the enemy's flying boats. We managed to escape by luck and sped here to deliver the news."
Before the captain could finish his sentence, Cui Chengxiao's figure had already vanished.
Cui Chengxiao and the elder flew at top speed, their silhouettes flickering in and out of view, covering several li with each flicker. A thousand li passed in the blink of an eye. Ahead, they finally spotted a flying boat ablaze with raging fire, slowly descending toward the ground. In the air above, two ash-green flying boats were still relentlessly firing flying swords at the plummeting vessel.
Seeing Cui Chengxiao and the elder approaching, the two vessels ceased firing, unfurled flags, and began a slow withdrawal. Emblazoned upon the flying boats' large banners were three flamboyant characters: Sky-Soaring Gang.
These two flying boats were half the size of the Cui family's vessel, yet they were fully clad in steel plating—steel with a dark cast, armor plate alloyed with nether crystal. These two smaller vessels were clearly forged for aerial combat; the Cui family's cargo boats were naturally no match.
Furious, the elder was about to strike when he noticed Cui Chengxiao standing motionless. The wrath on his face did not diminish, but his body pulled back sharply, waiting for Cui Chengxiao to move first.
Cui Chengxiao's face was ashen. He sensed that out of the unseen void, three gazes were fixed upon him, each bearing a distinct threat. One was piercingly cold and venomous, as though carrying innate malice. Another was extraordinarily sharp, causing his skin to prickle with faint pain.
The intrinsic quality of these two gazes was exceptionally high, but in cultivation stage they seemed slightly lacking—enough to make him wary, but not enough to force him back. What truly rooted Cui Chengxiao in place was the third gaze.
This gaze was so faint as to seem almost nonexistent; had Cui Chengxiao not possessed an innate divine ability, he would not have detected it at all. Both its intrinsic quality and cultivation stage were sufficiently high, clearly belonging to a Scenery Command expert consummate in concealment and assassination.
With such an expert lurking nearby, Cui Chengxiao dared not make a reckless move; doing so would inevitably invite a thunderous strike. He worried even more for the elder beside him: even he had to exert his senses to the utmost to detect it, while the elder was oblivious. If this hidden powerhouse targeted the elder, a single blow would likely maim him.
During Cui Chengxiao's brief hesitation, the two armored flying boats slipped into the Shattered Lands. Cui Chengxiao told the elder, "Save the people first."
The elder started, then realized a formidable enemy must be lurking nearby, which was why Cui Chengxiao had not moved. Without a word, he dashed toward the burning vessel, extinguished the flames with a sweep of his wide sleeve, supported the hull, and guided it gently downward.
Hovering in the air, Cui Chengxiao said in a deep voice, "With such ability, Your Excellency cannot be a nobody. Why adopt the ways of a rat, hiding your head and tail, not daring to show your face?"
He repeated this several times, but met only silence. A moment later, even the faint gaze vanished.
A ball of venomous frustration stuck in Cui Chengxiao's chest, impossible to vent.
Just then, a Cui family cultivator flew over from behind at full speed, shouting, "Elder, disaster! A band of horse bandits suddenly appeared and raided four of our patrols back-to-back, killing and wounding over three hundred men before escaping. These bandits call themselves the Heaven-Battling Gang!"
Cui Chengxiao felt the name sounded somewhat familiar, yet could not recall where he had heard it.
***
Wei Yuan held up a glowing red steel plate, carefully assembling it onto a massive steel frame.
Wisps of blue smoke rose from his hands, but Wei Yuan paid them no mind. Looking on, the many Strength Shamans were awed to the core, and scattered wisps of karmic luck continually settled upon him.
Behind Wei Yuan, a sound like surging ocean tides rose and fell. Over a hundred Strength Shamans were bellowing continuously at the components before them, heating them up.
Wei Yuan grabbed the glowing red parts one by one, assembling them with precision. Temperatures hot enough to set an ordinary Strength Shaman ablaze did no more than scorch the surface of his skin.
Gradually, an intricate contraption took shape. Once Wei Yuan fitted the final component and while the heat remained, he cast down two strands of top-tier Desolate Shaman karmic luck. Yet only a sheen of flowing light rippled across the machine's surface before falling still, clearly lacking that final push. Gritting his teeth, Wei Yuan poured in the karmic luck obtained from Ronglong as well. The entire machine instantly burst with brilliance, sending a pillar of light straight into the heavens.
With a resounding boom, thunder detonated across the firmament. Boundless dark clouds surged in from all directions, blanketing a thousand li in an instant, blotting out the sun and turning day into night.
Just as the heavenly tribulation was about to take form, a black-red streak suddenly surged from the distant horizon like a colossal blade over a hundred thousand li long, slicing open the tribulation clouds in a single stroke!
Wei Yuan was astonished. During the flame explosion, the Flame Demon Heavenly Pillar could actually interfere with this realm's heavenly tribulation! This gave him a newfound appreciation of the Flame Demon's power.
Before that colossal black-red blade, even the Desolate Realm's heavenly tribulation seemed as fragile as a speck of sand. When the Flame Demon's first slash failed to scatter the tribulation, a second followed immediately. Just then, an immense phantom surged into the sky, slamming head-on into the giant blade and perishing together with its edge. Seizing this brief respite, the tribulation clouds managed to knit back together, and a bolt of tribulation thunder crashed down, striking the newly constructed machine dead on.
In an instant, a third colossal blade descended. This time, with no phantom to meet it, the tribulation clouds were shattered in one blow.
Fortunately, light had already begun surging across the machine, slowly shifting through colors twice before returning to its original red.
It was still lacking that final breath—Wei Yuan glanced at the dissipating tribulation, gritted his teeth, and directly invested the azure qi of a million people's mortal luck. At the same time, he called out, and four Strength Shamans flew overhead carrying a massive vat, dousing the machine in black-red Flame Demon blood rich with sacrificial power!
At last, a dragon's roar resonated. From the machine rose a small dragon, jet-black beneath blazing flames, which circled once in the air before diving back into the mechanism.
With a soft click, the machine's casing fused seamlessly with its interior parts, turning faintly translucent to reveal a black flame dragon swimming within.
Wei Yuan let out a long breath, wiping the sweat from his brow. He had calculated everything in advance, but never anticipated that during the flame explosion, the active Flame Demon Heavenly Pillar could interfere with this realm's heavenly tribulation!
Without a complete heavenly tribulation, the artifact he forged would not undergo sufficient tempering. It would struggle to align truly with the Great Dao, and the spirituality born within it would drop a grade.
Thankfully, Wei Yuan had ample karmic luck on hand. Only by throwing in all his Desolate Shaman karmic luck was he able to fill the void and forge it to perfection.
Only then did Wei Yuan breathe easily, the tension in his chest easing slightly.
For some reason, Wei Yuan had felt an inexplicable sense of urgency lately, one that only grueling labor could slightly relieve. He constantly felt as though something in the unseen shadows was chasing him from behind; if he slackened even a little, he would be overtaken and never able to catch up again.
Now that the core receiver was complete, the rest was straightforward. Wei Yuan directed the Strength Shamans to install the pre-made components, and before long, the outline of a colossal ballista appeared. This ballista differed greatly from ordinary bed crossbows: it had three tiers of bow arms stacked vertically, and all the bow arms faced forward.
Ronglong appeared beside Wei Yuan at some point, studying the giant ballista intently. After a moment, he said, "Didn't you come all this way for nothing?"
"I've gained more than enough." Wei Yuan continued directing the assembly.
Chapter 922