Longzang

Chapter 237 Still Says He's Not a Waste
It is midnight.

Both sides have completed their formations, and the renowned beasts of the Wu tribe have officially made their appearance.

The beasts were nearly two zhang tall, resembling rhinoceroses, with thick bony plates spread out behind their heads like natural armor. They had armored saddles built on their backs, inside which were several shamans and archers.

The beasts themselves are covered in thick scales, but the witch clan also clad them in heavy steel armor, making them like mobile fortresses.

But what is truly remarkable are the five great shamans lined up in the air.

The central high shaman was much larger than the other high shamans, even larger than the raging beasts. He stood in the air, unleashing his power without restraint, and a dark green tornado shot straight into the sky!
Beside Wei Yuan, Master Chuhe said with a solemn expression, "If that old thief Fenhai is here, call him out quickly. And call out as many of your other sect elders as you can. This old Daoist can't handle so many opponents on his own."

"The elders are all hiding in the shadows, waiting for their chance," Wei Yuan said as if it were the truth.

After hearing Wei Yuan's words, Master Chuhe's expression softened.

At this moment, Yu Zhizhuo took out a long, thin cylinder and held it in front of him, looking eastward. He then said, "The main force of the Western Jin is holding back, it seems they intend to make us both suffer heavy losses."

Master Chuhe said, "The main force of the Western Jin is hundreds of miles away. The witch qi here is blocking the way. What kind of magic weapon do you have that can see that far?"

Yu Zhizhuo put down the round tube and said, "This treasure of mine can be adjusted. What we are looking at now is the morale of the army. The morale of the Jin army has not been affected, so they have no intention of sending troops at all."

"Wasn't this expected?"

Yu Zhizhuo said angrily, "These fools, don't they know the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'?"

Master Chuhe said, “Nephew Yu, you are being pedantic. Only the Prince of Jin is as close to us as lips and teeth. What are those governors and generals worried about? If they lose their territory, they will just move to another place to continue their official duties.”

Yu Zhizhuo had no good impression of the old Taoist priest at all, and said irritably, "Don't talk to me about military and national affairs when you're just a farmer. Tell me how we're going to fight!"

Master Chuhe glanced at the several great shamans opposite him and said, "Fortunately, immortal swords are not forbidden in this realm, so this old Daoist will naturally take on the next one."

Yu Zhizhuo said, "Then we fellow disciples will also take one."

“Nephew Yu, you are not yet at the Dharma Aspect level, so don’t be arrogant. This old Daoist is still looking forward to the day when your Dharma Aspect surpasses mine.”

"You won't be disappointed! But what about that big guy in the middle?"

Wei Yuan then said, "We should act according to the circumstances."

At this moment, the high platform of the central army of the Wu army had been pushed to the edge of the boundary. The vanguard officially stepped into the boundary. The surging military aura split through the pure aura of the human realm, like a black dragon rushing into the boundary.

With a sharp whistling sound, countless heavy arrows shot into the sky and were hurled towards Xuanwei Liu. These heavy arrows were all four feet long and weighed ten pounds. When they fell, they would easily pierce through not only wooden houses, but also houses with blue tiles and stone walls.

A dense rain of arrows fell on the city, with only a few scattered screams heard. Clearly, there was almost no one under the densely packed shacks; everyone had taken refuge underground.

The main force of the realm was arrayed fifty miles behind Xuanwei Liu, and fortifications were being built on the spot. At this moment, people were still digging.

This time, the Wu army had ample troops, sending 10,000 to approach Xuanwei Liu, while the main force of 100,000 directly attacked the center of the realm.

Just as the main force of the Wu tribe crossed Xuanwei Liu, a tarpaulin suddenly appeared in the previously silent city, revealing two ballistae! The ballistae were already aimed and fired as soon as they appeared. The giant magical crossbows, each over ten feet long, pierced the bellies of two ferocious beasts a thousand feet away!

The two beasts, in pain, reared up, throwing all the shamans on their backs to the ground. Their front hooves then trampled and killed another group of shaman soldiers.

The ballistae flashed continuously, firing arrow after arrow. Except for the first shot, the archers didn't care about accuracy; they just fired the remaining arrows as quickly as possible. In the blink of an eye, each ballista had fired five arrows. The archers shouted, and just before the witch army charged, they threw down their ballistae and burrowed into the ground.

After a brief period of chaos, the central army of the Wu army continued to advance, with 10,000 warriors spun out and charged into Xuanwei Six. They first smashed the ballistae, then rushed underground, beginning a battle for each passage.

The vanguard of the witch army closed in on Wei Yuan's main force, and then a hail of arrows rained down. However, the green magical energy attached to the heavy arrows was quickly consumed during flight. The heavy arrows, now devoid of energy, were greatly weakened, and a gust of magical wind above the ranks blew most of them off course.

The main force below raised their shields in unison, and the rain of arrows only injured a few dozen men.

As the witch clan advanced, they continuously fired arrows, unleashing wave after wave of rain. Meanwhile, the raging beasts relentlessly unleashed spells and heavy arrows from their backs.

At this moment, the covers on several high mounds of earth in the army formation were pulled open, revealing six ballistae. Huge crossbow bolts shot into the witch army's formation, each bolt leaving a bloody trail. In the blink of an eye, four ferocious beasts were struck by the giant crossbow bolts. Although they had thick hides and thick flesh, they could not withstand the terrifying power of the ballistae and fell to the ground, unable to get up.

As the horns sounded in the witch army, all the berserk beasts began to charge, with the vanguard following closely behind.

Wei Yuan raised his hand, and only brought it down hard when the Wu Clan had killed them dozens of feet away!

Suddenly, a rank of soldiers emerged from the earthen mound in front of the battle line, raising their guns and firing. A flash of fire, and the vanguard of the witch army fell in an instant. This group of infantrymen fired and ran, then the next rank fired, and so on. After several rounds of firing, all the soldiers at the front line had fled, handing the position over to the witch tribe.

The Wu tribe had never seen this tactic before. The vanguard commander was stunned for a moment before ordering his troops to seize the position and simultaneously sending soldiers to destroy the ballistae. Countless Wu tribe soldiers swarmed towards the ballistae and quickly shattered them into pieces.

The vanguard commander felt a growing unease, as if he were being watched by something. He was looking around when suddenly the ground shook violently, six ballistae cracked open beneath the earth, and a fierce explosion instantly blasted countless witch warriors into the air!

Subsequently, numerous explosions occurred in the forward positions, and many Wu tribe warriors searching the trenches were instantly blown to pieces.

The violent explosion startled the raging beasts, many of them rearing up or charging wildly in all directions. The sorcerer on the beast's back desperately cast spells and finally managed to control the beast.

Just then, a faint wisp of sword energy pierced through the thick smoke and pierced the forehead of the Wu Clan's vanguard commander. The vanguard commander's expression froze instantly, and he fell backward.

The Wu tribe's vanguard was only briefly thrown into disarray before a general raised his command flag, took over command, and continued the pursuit of Wei Yuan.

At this time, Wei Yuan had already led the main force to retreat three miles, where a large number of Body Forging cultivators were frantically digging and had already completed fortifications. The main force would immediately move into position upon their return.

The witch army pursued again, but the human warriors grabbed their reloaded muskets and unleashed three more volleys, felling a swathe of witch soldiers. Smoke billowed several meters high, obscuring the view between the two sides, who could only discern the battlefield's situation by scanning it with their divine sense.

More than ten powerful divine senses swept across Wei Yuan's army without restraint, repeatedly searching for Wei Yuan's central army, extremely arrogant.

However, at this moment, three sticks of incense had already been lit in Wei Yuan's central command tent, emitting pale purple smoke. The central command tent, where the incense was burning, was empty, and the guards outside held their breath, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The shaman swept his powerful divine sense across the area, treating it like a morning market. With each swipe of his divine sense, the pale purple smoke dimmed. In the blink of an eye, the purple smoke in the central command tent was miraculously cleared away.

At this moment, several shamans and generals in the shaman army suddenly clutched their heads, screaming as they fell to the ground. Their primordial spirits were in excruciating pain, as if they had been doused with strong acid. If their divine senses were ten parts when they went out, they would only have eight parts when they returned, and they were even tinged with a faint purple hue.

Those three incense sticks were Sun Yu's earlier creations, specifically designed to damage the mind and spirit, and were extremely insidious. Years ago, when Sun Yu entered a secret realm to compete for an opportunity, he saw a precious medicine but instead of taking it, he lit these corrosive incense sticks nearby and hid himself.

Other cultivators who discovered the precious medicine were all afraid of an ambush and dared not act immediately. They first used their divine sense to check for danger, and as a result, they all fell into the trap. The opportunity was obtained by Sun Yu alone.

In this chaotic situation, Wei Yuan lit the Corrosive Incense in his own central army, which has a similar effect.

Another wisp of sword energy quietly traveled through the chaotic witch formation, but the newly appointed witch chief was surrounded by his personal guards, and he was enveloped in a thick green aura, so he was on guard against a sneak attack.

The sword energy didn't strike him, but instead severed the command flag, and then killed the most powerful sorcerer in the vicinity.

More than ten high-ranking wizards fell to the ground, and the command flag suddenly dropped. Countless wizard warriors were still unaware of what had happened, and some chaos ensued.

Wei Yuan acted decisively, launching a red beam of light into the night sky and activating the Instantaneous All Beings skill. All the Azure Nether warriors leaped out of their trenches and charged towards the Witch Army. On each flank, a thousand-strong cavalry unit emerged from the darkness, crashing into the Witch Army's flanks. The two armies instantly clashed!
Now, all the Azure Nether warriors, upon seeing an enemy, will fire a shot at them head-on; some of the more valiant ones will even press the barrel of their gun against their opponent and fire. With a single shot, the entire Witch Clan will be blasted backward.

With the support of countless foes and numerous muskets, the casualties of the Witch Clan's vanguard rose sharply, with large numbers of soldiers falling. However, the mad beasts finally displayed their ferocious fighting power, rampaging through the Azure Nether Army, unstoppable by anyone.

Seeing the situation was dire, Wei Yuan led his knights forward. As he brushed past a raging beast, Wei Yuan activated his Heaven and Earth Madman technique, thrusting his spear with all his might into the beast's belly! The twelve-foot-long spear almost completely pierced the beast, then the tip shot out and exploded, shredding the beast's body into a bloody mess!
Wei Yuan took a second spear from his horse and charged towards another raging beast, then swept past it. The beast howled loudly, then spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with its entrails, and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The other knights, empowered by the Heavenly Madman technique, were able to pierce the thick armor of the mad beasts with a single sword and spear, then desperately channeled their Dao power into their wounds. In the blink of an eye, several mad beasts fell to the ground under the combined attack of hundreds of knights.

However, the Wu tribe's numerical advantage was simply too great, and after a brief period of chaos, they quickly recovered, and the battle entered a stalemate.

Wei Yuan led his knights through the witch formation, then circled around from the rear, simultaneously firing a yellow light bullet into the air.

The Azure Warriors immediately retreated, their speed bordering on a rout. The Witch Clan was once again caught off guard. Seeing Wei Yuan's army retreating, they were about to give chase when suddenly more than ten explosions erupted on the battlefield. The Witch Clan's vanguard, already terrified by the previous bombings, halted in shock, intending to wait until the battlefield had been completely cleared before pursuing them.

But there were only a dozen or so explosions on the position, and then there was no more movement. The 100,000-strong Wu tribe army watched helplessly as Wei Yuan's troops fled to the third line of defense several miles away.

The vanguard commander did not immediately attack, but instead halted to regroup. Yan Xin finally lost his temper and roared, "You still say you're not useless?"

(End of this chapter)