Inside the two war chariots sat dozens of gunners, each covered from head to toe in talismans.
The chariot commander observed the battle ahead and waved downward. One of the gunners waiting in line stepped up to the gun position. He turned the muzzle slightly to the right, then adjusted it back, glanced at the slip of paper pasted beside the gun mount, and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "This shot was fired by me, Chen A'cai of Xichuan!"
With a thunderous boom, a shell burning with karmic fire shot out, plugging another breach in the line. After Chen A'cai fired a second round, the gun commander pressed a silver medallion forged of immortal silver into his hand, saying, "All done. Head to the transport carriage in the back to recuperate. Next!"
The next gunner took his position, also fired twice, and then left the chariot to rest and recuperate in the rear transport carriage. Stationed in the transport carriage were several beautiful disciples from the clinic, assisted by gentle caretakers, while a cultivator held a roster, calling out names and checking them off one by one.
"Chen A'cai: discharged to recuperate for one year, granted one hundred Qingyuan. In addition, you may choose from the following three options—"
Chen A'cai raised his hand immediately. "I choose to study!"
The officer glanced at him and said, "Smart!"
The two war chariots fired continuously, swapping out gunners every two rounds. The gunners fired in strict accordance with regulations, manually aiming before each shot. Even when already aligned, they would adjust the muzzle slightly and then dial it back, just as Chen A'cai had done. In this manner, most of the karma from the karmic-fire cannon fire was borne by these gunners.
The karmic-fire cannons fired only at the flanks. Though those who died looked utterly miserable, the actual death toll was not high. By firing only two shots each, the karmic debt backlash they shouldered would leave them weakened for about a year. Aside from rest and reward silver, during this year they had three choices: entering an academy, enrolling in a military school, or undergoing enhanced Body Casting.
Consequently, so many had signed up to be gunners that a rigorous screening had been required just to select one hundred.
In a mere hour, the Song army collapsed completely, fleeing in all directions. Furious, the woman in palace attire unleashed streaks of true fire, slaying over a hundred deserters in an instant. Yet the army's defeat was already sealed. The moment anyone in the rear guard halted, they were shoved down by those behind them, followed by countless boots trampling over their bodies, silencing them in the blink of an eye.
A long bloody swath stretched across the earth, over which Qingming's five thousand armored infantry surged like an iron torrent, grinding the trail of blood into a road of mingled gore and mud.
The fifty-thousand-strong Song Cui army was pursued over ten li by Qingming's five thousand armored troops. Casualties were beyond count, and in the end, fewer than ten thousand escaped the battlefield.
Seeing Feng Chutang draw a third talisman, Cui Chengxiao finally knew he could gain no advantage today. With a wave of his hand, he scattered a sheet of frost, instantly flash-freezing hundreds of Qingming's front-rank soldiers. Pulling the woman in palace attire with him, he was about to depart when he heard Zhang Sheng call out from afar: "Leaving just like that? Care to set up a duel to the death?"
Cui Chengxiao paid no heed and simply wanted to leave.
He had already grown fearful of Zhang Sheng. His methods were endless, each harsher and more ruthless than the last, leaving no room for retreat. His only option now was to return to the city first, seek aid from the clan, and then figure out how to clean up the aftermath and handle the Immortal Ancestor's reprimands. And to pass this hurdle, the woman in palace attire in his grasp was key.
Hearing Zhang Sheng's words, however, the woman in palace attire wrenched free from Cui Chengxiao's grasp, spun around, and shouted, "How shall we fight?"
Zhang Sheng pointed at her and said, "Naturally, between you and me. One-on-one, a duel to the death! What, surely you aren't afraid?"
The woman's eyes blazed with fury, and she ground her teeth. "A mere Dao Foundation dares act so insolent! You must be tired of living! Fine, I will fight you! Today, I shall tear that face of yours to shreds!"
"Today?" Zhang Sheng gave a faint smile. "A duel today would be taking too much unfair advantage of you. Let us set a three-month deadline. Use these three months to prepare well: go into seclusion if you need to, buy magic treasures if you want to. Three months from now, come here and accept your death."
Just as the woman in palace attire was about to speak, Cui Chengxiao cut in: "A deal is struck!" With that, he forcefully swept her away in flight, abandoning the troops fleeing across the hills and valleys to Qingming.
As they fled, the woman snarled angrily, "I am at the perfection of the Dharma Idol realm! Why not fight today?"
Cui Chengxiao said, "This person is exceedingly insidious and crafty. Since he suddenly proposed a duel, he must have an immortal artifact in hand! Right now you are empty-handed, and rushing into a duel might lead to disaster. The Immortal Ancestor possesses an immortal artifact perfectly suited for this fight. Why not go back and beg him for it? That way, victory will be assured three months from now!"
The woman asked, "Do you mean that treasure capable of capturing souls?"
Cui Chengxiao nodded. "Qingming has developed so rapidly, and the armaments they use are bizarre and completely defy common sense. There must be a great secret behind it. But no matter what secrets they hold, once we capture Zhang Sheng's soul, that secret will be ours!"
"It will be Lian'er's! Are you still thinking of angling for benefits for those two bastards of yours? You had best not forget where the resources came from for your Scenery Command bottlenecks!"
"How could I forget? The best things will certainly be saved for Lian'er," Cui Chengxiao replied subserviently.
Only then did the woman let the matter drop, snarling through gritted teeth, "Once we capture Zhang Sheng's soul, I will definitely cast it into a female body and offer it up for hundreds, thousands of men to ravish! Only that will quell the hatred in my heart!"
With their commander fleeing, the Song Cui army suffered an utter rout, knowing only to run.
Yet how could two legs crossing mountains and ridges outrun troop transport boat-carriages? Zhang Sheng directed his forces to split into two wings, executing a pincer movement from left and right, scooping up most of the fleeing soldiers and capturing seven to eight thousand in one sweep.
As for the few thousand who ran especially fast, Zhang Sheng made no deliberate effort to chase them down. Fear required enough people to spread it; once these men returned, each would become a wellspring dispersing terror.
In Song Cui New City, the main gates of the Castellan Manor finally could not withstand the bombardment and collapsed with a tremendous crash. At that exact moment, a small knife suddenly appeared in He Zhiyou's hand. With a single strike spanning a hundred zhang, it flew to decapitate the masked horse bandit. But the horse bandit neither dodged nor evaded, catching the blade firmly in one hand!
The blade vibrated violently. The old man strained to recall it, but the cultivator held fast, a wisp of fresh blood slowly seeping from the palm.
He Zhiyou's eyes widened instantly, an exclamation nearly escaping his lips. This flying blade was also a Scenery Command spirit treasure. Even if its quality was somewhat inferior, it was still a genuine spirit treasure. Yet the cultivator before him had intercepted it barehanded and had merely sustained a small nick. Could this dharma body truly rival a spirit treasure?!
The masked cultivator brought up the other hand, gripped the small knife with both hands, and wrenched with sudden force—
The small blade struggled violently, even letting out a wail, but it still could not withstand the cultivator's terrifying physique. With a crisp snap, it was broken in two!
He Zhiyou violently spat out a mouthful of blood. Caring for nothing else, a dense forest manifested around him, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers—a mortal wonderland. The moment this scenery appeared, his fleeing speed doubled, carrying him a thousand zhang away in an instant.
Yet before he could retract his mindscape world, the masked cultivator suddenly hurled a woven doll into it. Where the doll landed, everything within dozens of zhang bizarrely flattened into two dimensions. The doll then sliced open the picture with a sword, ripped off a chunk, and devoured it.
A sharp, needle-like pain pierced He Zhiyou's mind, nearly causing him to plummet from the sky. Horrified, he hastily flew higher. Yet during that brief delay, a Cauldron-Bearing Giant Scorpion materialized from out of nowhere and spat a mouthful of alchemical poison into his mindscape world, instantly charring a vast swath of spiritual plants black.
Two more points of spiritual light darted out from who knew where. Incredibly agile, they leapt hundreds of times in a fraction of a second—a marten and a cat. Each bound was a pounce, systematically exterminating the spiritual creatures within his mindscape world.
He Zhiyou was frightened out of his wits. The spirits within his mindscape world were all forest beasts, naturally adept at concealment. How could they be picked out with such precision? It defied all reason! Just then, his divine sense caught sight of a small bird wheeling continuously in the air, its eyes seemingly capable of seeing through everything.
He Zhiyou had no time to ponder whether there was anything unusual about the bird. Enduring the tearing agony, he sped away in an instant, abandoning the Castellan Manor to Qingming as well.
Having fled a thousand li in the blink of an eye, He Zhiyou finally breathed a sigh of relief. A wave of lingering dread washed over him, drenching him in cold sweat.
Only now did he realize how perilous and terrifying the Western Regions were. In any casual clash of arts here, one would actually run into a cultivator capable of tanking a spirit treasure with their bare flesh. And on top of that, he had encountered vile entities capable of damaging and corroding a mindscape world. Normally, finding even one such monstrosity was rare, yet in the Western Regions, they showed up in swarms!
Although He Zhiyou was already in the Scenery Command realm while these sinister abominations were only around the Dharma Idol realm, they innately countered mindscape worlds. It was like a mortal strongman who, no matter how burly as an ox he built himself, would still flee in panic when facing a swarm of hornets.
A white flag was raised atop the gate tower of the Castellan Manor. The defending Song soldiers had suffered heavy casualties and clearly lacked the courage to fight to the death.
Inside the manor, a young master attempted to break out and flee under the desperate protection of several guards. But the moment he took to the sky, he was instantly struck by a barrage of blows from a heavenly demon, the great sun, an immortal orchid, a pagoda, an alchemical scorpion, a mountain ape, a spiritual bird, a treasure rat... A kaleidoscope of immortal idols crisscrossed the sky—truly using a whole basket of ox-cleavers just to slaughter a duck!
Before the young master could even struggle, he fainted dead away, falling straight into the masked cultivator's arms.
When Cui Chengxiao and the woman in palace attire returned, they were dumbfounded by the sight of devastation. They rushed immediately into the Castellan Manor, nearly half of which had been destroyed. Sweeping their divine senses across the compound, they found the young master lying safely in bed within his own room, and only then did they let out a breath of relief.
The woman in palace attire pushed open the door and entered the room. "Thank goodness! As long as you're safe! I was worried to death—"
She stopped mid-sentence. She saw the young master lying beneath the quilts, facing the inner wall, trembling faintly. The section of his shoulder peeking out was lustrously fair and slender, his skin smooth as jade—he seemed to be wearing nothing at all!
Outside the city, the horse bandits were returning home, taking off their outfits one by one, folding them neatly, and packing them away with care. These outfits were being used more and more frequently, and within the army, only true elites were eligible to apply for one. The slots for horse bandits were limited, with most already claimed by those war machines in the New City. Therefore, to the Qingming soldiers, moonlighting as a horse bandit was a supreme honor, bringing even greater glory to their ancestors than joining the Nine Armies of Great Tang.
Several cultivators stood suspended in midair, watching the large band of horse bandits return to the secret camp. The cultivator in the center took off her mask and gave a toss of her cascading hair—it was none other than Ji Liuli. At this moment, her eyes sparkled with utter satisfaction, and she laughed. "I just love messing with these twisted little fledglings!"
A cultivator beside her also removed his mask, revealing an appearance only slightly less striking—it was Xu Henshui. He snorted. "When it comes to being twisted, who could possibly top you?"
Ji Liuli chuckled. "Haven't straightened you out in a while, so you miss my methods, do you? How about you summon your Fairy Linglan out and have her dance for me?"
Xu Henshui's boyish face flushed bright red in an instant, but though furious, he did not dare speak up.
Chapter 926