Longzang

Chapter 190 Reason for leaving

When Wei Yuan opened his eyes again, he had already returned to the realm.

Outside the window, the sky remained a clear, crimson red, and the azure abyss trembled incessantly. The injected azure energy had long since been exhausted, and now the pool of azure water within the azure abyss was only half full.

Wei Yuan disregarded the loss of his luck and poured in thirty streams of luck in one go, which visibly slowed down the consumption of the Azure Nether Pool water, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

He stepped out of the room and looked around. All the great formations were still intact. There was no one left on the main peak at this moment; everyone from the Taichu Palace had gone to support the various formations. Red light bands permeated the air everywhere. The slightest contact would cause the great formations to tremble violently. Only when the cultivators of the Taichu Palace were in charge could the formations not be easily broken by such an attack.

According to the information revealed by the Dream Eater, the sorcerer who made the move was named Shu Li, a middling figure among the sorcerers, whom the Dream Eater spoke of with considerable disdain. However, even an ordinary sorcerer was an unattainable figure for Wei Yuan. This time, the opponent's true location was still unknown, yet a single curse attack spanning millions of miles forced Wei Yuan to reveal all his trump cards.

Wei Yuan is not the only one in the realm now; there are also many young geniuses from the Taichu Palace, but they cannot even last a day.

Wei Yuan suddenly remembered something, so he flew down from the main peak and rushed into the cell. At this time, there were only a few cultivators guarding the cell, and even Xu Wan'er had gone to help with the defensive array nodes.

Wei Yuan walked straight into a prison cell.

Lying on the cell bed was an unusually tall witch man with a long tail that dragged on the ground, bound with three chains.

Hearing the cell door open, he turned over and saw it was Wei Yuan. He said irritably, "It seems only times like this can bring you to your senses."

"Who cast the curse?" Wei Yuan asked.

"It's either Uncle Li or Lord Feng Ye, these are the only two Nether Witches nearby. But neither of them has anything to do with me, so if you're thinking of making a move on me, you're mistaken."

"Don't you have anything to say about your ransom?" Wei Yuan asked.

"At this point, my ransom will only decrease, not increase. What are you thinking!" Tianyu sneered. Clearly, after being imprisoned for so long, he harbored a great deal of resentment towards Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Retreat?"

"Do you think that's possible?"

"Promise not to invade the territory again?" Wei Yuan probed further.

Tianyu burst into laughter: "Do you think I'm qualified for that condition?"

Wei Yuan sighed and said, "If you can't offer any sincerity, I'll have no choice but to disregard the possibility of collecting ransom. I hope you won't regret it."

Tianyu coldly replied, "The worst that can happen is death! Do you think any power sorcerer would be afraid of death?"

"Aren't you wizards all quite afraid of death?"

Tianyu was taken aback, then spat and said, "Those are all born nobles, relying entirely on their innate bloodline power to get by. A true power sorcerer must constantly break their own limits and transform into a higher form of sorcerer! This process is fraught with peril, and those who are afraid of death will never become a power sorcerer!"

Wei Yuan said calmly, "You've got quite a temper. We'll see how it goes."

As Wei Yuan left the cell, the clear red light in the air finally began to fade.

This round of attacks was extremely intense, but it didn't last long, even shorter than the previous two Great Witch Blood Curses. Even so, it consumed half of Qingming's nurturing power. If Wei Yuan hadn't accumulated a large amount of luck, this single attack would have wiped out the vast majority of mortals in the realm.

In resisting the blood curse of the Netherworld Witch, the effect of Qi Luck is stronger than imagined, even much stronger than Qingming itself.

Gazing at the lingering red light in the sky, Wei Yuan scattered spiritual items around himself, setting up a simple feng shui array. This time, the feng shui array was enhanced by intuition. As a realm lord, Wei Yuan already received Qingming's blessing, making the feng shui array exceptionally effective.

A moment later, the feng shui formation took effect. Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and he suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure, a pressure as heavy as a mountain, with a clear sense of impending war and violence.

Troops are approaching!

Their intuition was extremely clear, and aside from the influence of feng shui formations, it was also because the Wu clan made no attempt to conceal their intentions.

Danger is coming from the northwest, where Wei Yuan has placed a city of 20,000 people. Currently, only a few feet of earthen wall remain, and all the mortals, led by cultivators, are digging tunnels day and night. The city is now filled with rows of shacks, but the underground is almost completely hollowed out.

Time was too tight, and there was no time to build city defenses, so the only option was to dig underground.

As soon as the blood curse dissipated, Wei Yuan began assembling his army. All elite troops were concentrated in the center of the realm, while each city was assigned its own city defense force. These city defense forces consisted of cultivators who were required to provide their own armor and magical artifacts. Many were merely at the level of village militia in Shayang, lacking even basic weapons, let alone armor. But there was no time to worry about that now; they had no choice but to bite the bullet and charge forward.

After giving the order, Wei Yuan found Cui Yu.

The eldest son of the Cui family was inspecting the Yong'an city defense troops. He looked at each one carefully, occasionally pulling out a few very thin, seemingly underage children and pushing them back into the civilian population. The children were very unwilling, but Cui Yu's attitude was very firm.

Upon seeing Wei Yuan arrive, Cui Yu handed over his work to his deputy and asked, "What are your orders, Realm Lord?"

Wei Yuan frowned slightly, but there was nothing he could do. Now, in front of everyone, especially mortals, Cui Yu insisted on addressing Wei Yuan as the Realm Lord. He said that only in this way could the people within the realm understand who the true ruler was, so as to prevent others from usurping the throne or giving those with ulterior motives an opportunity to take advantage.

Wei Yuan said, "The Witch Clan has arrived."

Cui Yu was surprised: "So fast?"

"We haven't arrived yet, but it shouldn't be far, perhaps less than a thousand miles away."

Cui Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "There's still time. The Yong'an city defense army can mobilize three thousand men, all of whom have undergone preliminary training and have a certain combat capability."

Wei Yuan said, "Could you use the Cui family's channels to inform the imperial court of the Wu tribe's invasion?" Cui Yu replied, "No problem. Now that the imperial court has reopened prefectures and counties, it naturally has the responsibility to defend the territory now that the Wu tribe has invaded."

Cui Yu's words make perfect sense. The current situation is that the Wu tribe has invaded, and the Western Jin army is continuously being transferred to Ningxi. It is impossible to sit idly by and watch the Wu tribe run rampant. It looks like another major war is about to break out in the shattered region.

It was still uncertain who would win this battle, and Wei Yuan was unsure of the exact strength of the attacking witch army, only knowing that they were certainly formidable. Cui Yu took out a piece of jade paper the size of a palm, wrote his demands on it, and then threw it into the air.

The jade paper instantly transformed into a paper bird, breaking through the clouds and flying into the distance.

Even with Wei Yuan's keen senses and at such close range, he could only vaguely perceive the fluctuations of Dao power. This paper bird was incredibly fast, exceptionally stealthy, and capable of transmitting a great deal of information, making it truly remarkable. The profound foundation of a large family can be seen from these unique Daoist artifacts.

"Then I'll continue to muster the troops." Seeing that Wei Yuan had no further instructions, Cui Yu didn't linger and went straight back to the military camp.

Wei Yuan watched Cui Yu leave.

At this time, Cui Yu had lost weight, and his skin had become darker than that of a lower-class person. His features were more rigid, and he was no longer the elegant young master of a noble family he once was.

Wei Yuan felt a pang of sadness and wanted to call out to him, but after thinking about it carefully, he didn't know what to say, so he could only let him go.

The next evening, the vanguard of the Wu tribe finally appeared in Wei Yuan's perception.

Wei Yuan and Bao Yun immediately flew out of the boundary, using Bao Yun's Seven Wonders Tree to conceal their figures and scout out the strength of the Witch Clan.

The Wu tribe army came from the northwest, marching along the gentle slopes at the edge of the mountains. The entire force was enveloped in a green aura, clearly blessed by powerful witchcraft, enabling them to march for extended periods and be ready to engage in battle at any time.

Wei Yuan carefully avoided the strongmen in the army and quickly counted out 30,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry.

Unlike the witch tribesmen he had seen before, this army was entirely clad in heavy armor, with many warriors having fur padding under their helmets. Their armor was greyish-white with light green patches, a stark contrast to the dark green armor of the ordinary witch tribesmen, and their overall strength far surpassed any witch tribe army Wei Yuan had ever encountered. From the commander to the ordinary soldiers, everyone exuded an undisguised killing intent.

The entire unit was largely silent, marching forward in long strides like a giant, ancient python meandering through the air.

Seeing this, Wei Yuan could almost conclude that this force had been transferred from the north!
Two hundred thousand years have passed, and the main enemy of the Wuyu tribe remains the Northern Liao, not the human race. Their true elite troops are fighting the Liao tribe in the north. In the several major battles in Ningxi, the Wuyu tribe only deployed second-line troops; why have they now brought in troops from the northern frontier?
From occasional conversations among the troops, Wei Yuan learned that what he had seen was only the vanguard, and the main force was still a hundred miles away in the rear.

"Go back and prepare for battle," Wei Yuan said.

Judging from the marching route of the Wu tribe vanguard, it is clear that no matter where the army's final destination is, this vanguard force is heading straight for the border, and a major battle is inevitable.

Upon returning to the realm, Wei Yuan summoned everyone from the Taichu Palace to make final pre-battle preparations.

Cui Yu arrived a little late, but seemed very happy. As soon as he entered, he said, "News just came from home. Yue Jinshan, the Ningxi Admiral, has set off with 50,000 troops. He will gather troops along the way to form an army of 80,000, and then take the northern route to directly attack the central route of the Wu tribe's army. Depending on the marching time, it is also possible that he will attack the area between the central and rear armies."

"Really?" Wei Yuan's first reaction was disbelief. The Western Jin Dynasty would send troops to rescue the border region?

“Absolutely true.” Cui Yu hesitated for a moment, then said, “Among the generals under Admiral Yue, there are spies from the Cui family.”

Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. If the Western Jin Dynasty was willing to send troops, then there was still a chance to fight this battle.

However, he suddenly realized that Bao Yun had not attended the meeting and he didn't know where she had gone, which made Wei Yuan feel a little uneasy.

Bao Yun and Ji Liuli often went about their own business, and Wei Yuan didn't want to restrict them. Given the urgent military situation, Wei Yuan decided to convene a meeting without waiting for Bao Yun.

Dozens of miles away from the main peak, Bao Yun was drifting downstream along a stream, finally stopping by a small pool.

A whirlpool suddenly appeared in the calm pool, and then the figure of a middle-aged man rose from within it. He was quite handsome, but his demeanor was so gloomy that it inspired a sense of dread.

Upon seeing Bao Yun, a glint of light flashed in the depths of the middle-aged man's eyes, before he calmly said, "The patriarch has ordered you to return immediately."

"What's the reason?" Bao Yun asked.

The middle-aged man said unhappily, "There must be a reason why the patriarch gave the order."

Bao Yun said calmly, "If I were to leave now, my reputation would be ruined. Since the patriarch wants me to do such a treacherous and unjust act of desertion, he must give me a sufficient reason. Or is it that the patriarch did not actually give the order, but that someone is falsely conveying the imperial decree?"

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly as he said, "The elders were only doing it for your own good."

"Please thank them for me, and tell them to keep an eye on their unworthy descendants so they don't bring shame to the Bao family."

The middle-aged man could no longer save face and angrily said, "What are you doing hanging out with that nobody? What kind of behavior is this!"

Bao Yun said calmly, "My cousins ​​have a solid foundation and have cultivated for several more years, but I don't know if they can withstand a blow from the other side when they're all together."

The middle-aged man's cheek twitched, but he knew that although he was an elder, he was no match for Bao Yun in either wit or verbal sparring. He could only stop arguing, took a jade pendant from his robes, and tossed it to Bao Yun, saying, "The patriarch's exact words: if you want to stay, you must carry this jade pendant with you. Once the elders of the clan sense something is wrong, they will remotely summon you away. Furthermore, regardless of whether this jade pendant is activated or not, you must return home after this battle."

Bao Yun took the jade pendant and sensed a wisp of the Supreme Elder's divine consciousness within it. Through this jade pendant, the Supreme Elder could perceive everything around Bao Yun at all times, so that he could intervene remotely and save Bao Yun in times of crisis.

Bao Yun didn't leave, but asked, "Why?"

The middle-aged man snorted and said, "With you here, they are hesitant to act, and they can't do many things. So the Prince of Jin is very unhappy and has been furious several times. If this continues, he might really do something. Our Bao family has so many interests in Western Jin, we can't completely turn against the Prince of Jin for the sake of a junior like you. If you still care about the Bao family, don't make things difficult for your family."

Bao Yun stood there for a while before calmly saying, "Tell Grandpa that I'll go back after this battle is over."

(End of this chapter)