Longzang

Chapter 1058 Trump Card
One massive fireball after another rose into the sky, sweeping away the soldiers and Taoist warriors of the Ji Kingdom. The Ji Kingdom's government troops had already scattered and fled, but the falling missiles left them with nowhere to go; it seemed as if everywhere was a fiery hell.

A missile landed near Xu Wenwu, blasting him backward and sending him sliding dozens of feet across the ground. As he struggled to his feet, he saw another missile falling from the sky, heading straight for him.

Xu Wenwu smiled nonchalantly, about to close his eyes and await death, when suddenly a familiar figure appeared beside him, reaching out to catch the missile falling from the sky, and then the missile exploded in that person's hand.

A huge fireball illuminated the battlefield once again, and as the man closed his five fingers, the fireball actually changed from expanding to collapsing, and was finally completely gathered into the man's palm.

Xu Wenwu was somewhat dazed, and only then did he realize that the person who had come was Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan slightly parted his fingers, and several streams of fire shot out, reaching over a hundred feet away. Wei Yuan slightly rotated his fist, and the fire swept across the entire area, igniting large groups of Dao soldiers.

The stream of fire shooting from between Wei Yuan's fingers was no longer the flame of a primitive missile explosion; it now contained specks of golden light, imbued with a mutated Great Sun True Meaning by Wei Yuan. This mutated Desolate Realm Sun God Fire also possessed a strange vitality, making it flammable and capable of burning anything for an exceptionally long time.

Once touched, the numerous Dao soldiers instantly transform into human torches, with all their Dao power becoming fuel, burning exceptionally fiercely!
Wei Yuan pointed to the sky again, and a spark flew into the night sky, growing brighter and brighter! By the time it reached a height of a thousand feet, it had transformed into a blazing, malevolent sun!
This round of red sun was eerily bright and dazzling. All sentient beings illuminated by its light felt a sense of heat and rage, with a volcanic vitality surging within their bodies. However, this vitality led to rampant growth, which would ultimately lead to destruction.

This was originally a surprise Wei Yuan had prepared for his next enemy—the strange vitality emanating from the Desolate Heavenly Pillar. It was a true meaning almost on par with the origin of the Great Dao, possessing boundless power. But now, Wei Yuan suddenly didn't want to think about it anymore and used it directly.

Suddenly, the evil sun exploded, transforming into countless fiery raindrops that fell upon the earth. In an instant, it was as if the end of the Dharma had arrived, with celestial stars falling and streaks of fire tearing through the night sky, like the most magnificent fireworks display between heaven and earth.

Each spark seemed to possess a spirit, automatically seeking out the surviving Dao soldiers and instantly burning them to ashes. In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of Dao soldiers were transformed into torches!
High in the night sky, Cangwu's expression changed upon seeing Xie Yang. He was both terrified and relieved, muttering to himself, "No wonder the master advised us to force this seemingly useless Xu Wenwu. He really did force out Wei Yuan's true trump card! What's wrong with this sun? It's so strange that even I don't want to get involved with it!"

At this time, only a little over ten thousand Dao soldiers remained, less than one in ten, all of whom retreated into the night. The remaining Ji State soldiers had long since fled without a trace, leaving only a dark mass of corpses on the battlefield.

Once the Dao soldiers had fled far away, Cangwu reached out and grabbed a small piece of the soldier bean. This small piece was mostly charred, with only a trace of green. As an immortal, Cangwu looked pained at this moment. He put the remaining soldier bean into his gourd to nurture it before leaving.

In the center of the battlefield, only Xu Wenwu and Wei Yuan remained. Xu Wenwu stood still, his breath weak, yet his gaze remained piercing. He silently stared at the spot where Xie Yang had once stood. Although it had been completely shattered, a ring of afterimages lingered in the air, refusing to dissipate for a long time, eerily unsettling.

Xu Wenwu suddenly shivered and dared not look any longer.

He withdrew his gaze and said to Wei Yuan, "Wasn't that your trump card? Why are you using it now? Did it delay your important matter?"

Wei Yuan said, "Well, if they had been hidden properly, at most two or three, but at least one Yu Jing would have died from this Evil Yang True Fire. Now, they've only killed tens of thousands of Dao soldiers. It will be difficult to deceive Yu Jing again in the future."

Xu Wenwu now has some insight and knows that Wei Yuan's Evil Yang Fire is terrifying, but it is slow to activate, so he has to impersonate ordinary solar true fire.

Even Yu Jing, once touched by the Evil Yang, would be utterly unable to withstand the terrifying power of the Heavenly Pillar's life force. If the enemy discovers the truth, they will surely flee at the sight of the Evil Yang, so the most effective strategy is to strike unexpectedly the first time.

Xu Wenwu felt uneasy and looked ashamed, saying, "It's all my fault for delaying your business."

Wei Yuan smiled slightly, patted his shoulder, and said, "What are you talking about? We've known each other since before Qingming existed. We've been together for so many years, we're practically brothers. Yu Jing will be killed sooner or later, but I think it's more important to stay here and hear your reasons for not wanting to leave."

"You can just take me with you."

"You'd rather summon missiles to bombard yourself than leave, there must be a reason. So I want to know the reason first, and then we'll leave. Only Xie Yang can instantly kill Dao soldiers, so we used him."

Xu Wenwu felt both uneasy and moved. After a moment of silence, he asked, "May I ask why there are no reinforcements?"

Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment, then revealed his entire rescue sequence without holding anything back.

Xu Wenwu asked in a trembling voice, "So these brothers are destined to die?"

Wei Yuan's expression was grave. He slowly nodded without offering any further explanation.

This arrangement was the optimal solution from a global perspective. Even the missiles Xu Wenwu used were originally prepared by Wei Yuan for the central camp's garrison to break out, but Xu Wenwu summoned them all to bombard himself. The missiles achieved brilliant results, but at the cost of Xu Wenwu's life. If Wei Yuan had arrived even a moment later, Xu Wenwu would have been dead.

Xu Wenwu remained silent for a moment before saying, "A merciful general cannot command an army. I understand. As long as our brothers die with meaning, there will be no regrets. You did nothing wrong."

Wei Yuan said, "You didn't do anything wrong. Let's go."

"What should we do with our brothers' bodies?" Wei Yuan sighed. "We can't take them back. We can only let them rest here forever."

Having said that, Wei Yuan flicked out a thousand sparks, this time flames carrying the pure aura of the Flame God Flower, turning the corpses of all the Azure Nether Warriors to ashes. The lingering spirits on the battlefield were all collected by Wei Yuan into the Yellow Springs Cave.

After completing these tasks, Wei Yuan and Xu Wenwu left and returned to Guantun County shortly afterward. At this time, an elite cavalry force had already assembled in Guantun County and was conducting final equipment checks.

With some time still before the rescue operation, Wei Yuan asked, "Why are you suddenly so brave this time?"

Xu Wenwu gave a wry smile and said, "In your plan, I should escape alone, right? At most, I should have fought to the very end and then run away."

"Yes."

"I don't know why, but seeing so many brothers fall in front of me, I suddenly became extremely angry. At that time, I didn't feel afraid at all. I just wanted to kill all the enemies in front of me and avenge my brothers! To be honest, when the missile was about to hit me, I was very calm and happy."

Wei Yuan didn't know what to say, and sighed, "This battle was truly unexpected. I didn't expect the rebels and government troops to suddenly join forces, so there was no time, and we could only deal with it hastily. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last."

Our true adversaries are immortals, and more than one. Their strategies always target our unexpected weaknesses and vulnerabilities. I can't predict everything perfectly; I can only adapt to their moves. In future battles, you must prioritize your own survival; staying alive is far more valuable.

Xu Wenwu nodded: "I also experienced the war in the Land of Rain, so don't worry. But you used your trump card today, are you sure it's alright?"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "We always have to use our trump cards eventually, it's just a matter of sooner or later. Besides, if we use one trump card, we can find a way to find a new one. If we really don't have any, then we'll just have to play it safe."

Xu Wenwu was suddenly filled with heroic spirit and said in a deep voice, "Alright! Let's do it!"

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "You should recover from your injuries first. I should get going."

By this time, ten thousand elite cavalry had already formed ranks. Wei Yuan flew into the air and disappeared into the cavalry's aura. Then the army left the city and rolled eastward.

At noon, Wei Yuan led his cavalry to the central camp, launching a pincer attack with the camp's defenders. During the battle, Wei Yuan pointed into the sky, and a faint, malevolent sun rose, hanging motionless high. Then Lu Jiande vanished, and Xiao Jingyuan did not appear; hundreds of thousands of troops from both sides, all below the Dharma Aspect level, clashed in battle.

The number of gray-clad Taoist soldiers among the rebels was pitifully small, numbering only twenty or thirty thousand. As a result, they were quickly routed under the combined attack of the iron cavalry from both inside and outside.

Wei Yuan focused his attack on the main rebel force. Although the main government army was close at hand, their shouts were deafening, yet they dared not approach and could only watch helplessly as the rebels were defeated.

Wei Yuan not only rescued the trapped garrison, but also tidied up the camp in front of hundreds of thousands of government troops, carrying supplies and the bodies of the fallen before slowly making his way away.

The main force of hundreds of thousands of government troops watched quietly, without making a sound, for fear of attracting Wei Yuan's attention.

When Wei Yuan returned to Guantun County, he nearly collapsed to the ground. He had been running back and forth throughout the entire battle, fighting countless bloody engagements, and was completely exhausted. He summoned two Dharma Aspect Warriors to support him and hurried to the medicine machine, where he swallowed hundreds of Dharma Aspect Qi-replenishing pills in one go, which finally helped him recover somewhat.

Then came the assessment of the battle results. The Azure Nether Force deployed a total of 10,000 elite troops in this great battle, suffering nearly 3,000 casualties, a considerable loss. The majority of the casualties were caused by the gray-clad Taoist soldiers.

On the Ji Kingdom's side, two Imperial Guards perished, the rebel army suffered 50,000 casualties, and the main force of the government army suffered 150,000 casualties. In addition, nearly 100,000 gray-clad Taoist soldiers were lost. Wei Yuan had long seen that these gray-clad Taoist soldiers were no ordinary beings, and their summoning came at a high cost. Therefore, killing Taoist soldiers was more effective than killing ordinary soldiers, and killing Taoist soldiers did not incur any karma.

As the Qingming troops' equipment became increasingly sophisticated, its effectiveness in battle began to show. On the battlefield, a dozen or so fully armored Qingming warriors could easily crush even hundreds of lightly armored or unarmored government troops and rebel forces.

So what weaknesses remain in the entire defensive line? Wei Yuan mentally reviewed the deployment map of the entire line, lost in thought. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he realized where the loopholes lay: the enemy's high-level cultivators might slaughter ordinary soldiers!
The Azure Nether Heavy Armor Warriors are not afraid of swords and blades, but they fear Taoist magic. Cultivators like Mo Fentian are the nemesis of heavy armored troops; with a single unleashed Dragon Flame Sea, he can send thousands of heavy armored warriors to their doom.

As for karma, if an opponent can slaughter tens of millions of mortals, they must have a way to resolve or even transfer karma.

After much deliberation, Wei Yuan finally decided to distribute the remaining millions of people he had to frontline soldiers and civilians, increasing the cost of the enemy's slaughter as much as possible, thus improving their chances of survival.

As for Wei Yuan himself, he originally did not rely on human resources to fight.

(End of this chapter)