Longzang

Chapter 346 The situation is over
The fierce battle raged beyond the heavens when suddenly a series of blood droplets rained down from the sky, falling towards the summit of the main peak. As the droplets reached mid-air, they transformed into various strange and grotesque chunks of flesh, each resembling a small mountain.

Wei Yuan finally unleashed the True Lord's hidden move, holding nothing back. His aura suddenly changed, and a huge immortal sword appeared in his hand.

The sword looked ordinary, and indeed it was. But when Wei Yuan held the giant sword upside down and plunged it into the void in front of him, the Dharma Elder of the Xu family felt as if he were facing a heavenly tribulation. He frantically tried to escape, not even caring about the thunderous attack locked on by the two puppets.

Wei Yuan flicked his sword, and a silent sword cry reverberated, instantly filling the surrounding world with a desolate and bleak atmosphere, like a tragic song after the fall of a millennium-old dynasty.

The Dharma Elder's primordial spirit trembled, and his mind went completely blank for a moment. His next thought was inexplicably cleared, and he didn't even know what he was supposed to do.

Although he immediately remembered, his body was already bursting like fireworks, all his life-saving techniques were activated, and in that instant of stagnation, he had already suffered countless heavy blows.

A wisp of black and red flame shot down from below, striking the elder's ankle and instantly turning the magic power in his entire lower leg blue, emitting a fishy stench.

Sun Yu waited until this moment to make his move, directly crippling one of the elder's legs and rendering him unable to fly. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the two puppets on the left and right rushed forward and grabbed the Dharma Elder's two arms respectively.

The elder steeled his heart, and a bright light suddenly shone on his Dharma image, followed by a terrifying storm of magical power that swept across a hundred feet!

He was actually going to self-destruct his Dharma form!

The magical storm destroyed everything within a hundred feet in the blink of an eye, and Sun Yu escaped somewhat disheveled. In the blink of an eye, the storm subsided, and Wei Yuan was still standing in the same spot, his giant sword blocking the incoming magical storm.

The two puppet figures were completely tattered; if they were human, they would probably have been blown to pieces.

Surprisingly, the Dharma form of the Xu family elder was not completely destroyed; a small part remained. His Dharma form was originally a giant spiral tortoise, but now the tortoise shell had completely disappeared, turning into a slender lizard. The lizard's tail and limbs had also exploded, and if you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for a snake.

This elder's Dharma form is unique, and his ability to preserve his life is unparalleled. Who would have thought that his self-destructing Dharma form could only shatter its outer shell?
He hadn't expected that the two warriors were actually puppets, as they neither dodged nor avoided the attack. A normal human cultivator would instinctively try to dodge.

Sun Yu breathed out another mouthful of pill fire from afar, burning the elder's other foot.

Wei Yuan shouted and swung his giant sword, slashing down on Elder Faxiang's head!
This sword strike shattered the elder's last bit of magical power, slicing open his skull, which had been tempered to be comparable to a top-grade magic weapon, and stopping right next to his brain.

Wei Yuan reached out and grabbed Cui Yu, who instinctively grasped the hilt of the greatsword.

"Slay!" Wei Yuan shouted.

Cui Yu was taken aback, his face instantly burning, but he knew this was not the time to be coy. He gritted his teeth, unleashed his Dao power, and pressed down with both hands, cutting the elder in half!
Wei Yuan, along with the two puppets and Sun Yu, charged towards Feng Tingyu's direction. The Dharma Elder was already terrified out of his wits. Despite being slashed by Feng Tingyu, he turned and flew out of the realm, never to return.

Wei Yuan could have caught up, but he didn't. Instead, he flew with two puppets to a hill at the edge of the boundary. Suddenly, countless openings appeared on the hill, and a massive army of 30,000 emerged from the ground. With their steps perfectly synchronized and under the supervision of two Dharma-image puppets, they marched along the boundary edge towards the northwest, aiming to cut off the Xu family army's retreat!
Upon seeing the towering military aura that stretched for hundreds of feet in the distance, Xu Zhongxing gasped in astonishment!
This was Wei Yuan's trump card; from the very beginning, he intended to leave the entire Xu family army behind!
Xu Zhongxing made a decisive decision and immediately ordered a retreat, while ordering Fan Donghe to lead the rear guard to intercept the suddenly appearing elite force.

However, with the front lines in complete chaos, retreating was no easy task. The warriors in the realm were all seasoned veterans, and seeing that their opponents were showing signs of retreat, they immediately pressed on relentlessly, determined not to let them escape.

A resolute look flashed across Xu Zhongxing's face. Suddenly, he brought down his sword, and several Foundation Establishment cultivators died silently!
At this moment, Zhang Sheng was already severely injured from blocking the True Lord's attack, barely managing to unleash a sword aura, which Xu Zhongxing easily dodged. He tried to approach Zhang Sheng, but Zhang Sheng instantly teleported a hundred feet away. With the power of the domain enhanced, even in his weakened state, Zhang Sheng's speed was no less than Xu Zhongxing's.

Realizing he couldn't catch Zhang Sheng, Xu Zhongxing immediately changed targets, slashing more than ten times. The black energy climbed a little further up his neck, but he ignored it.

The Azure Warriors finally wavered. Faced with a Dharma Image like Xu Zhongxing, sending more people would only be a pointless death.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xu Zhongxing finally managed to withdraw his troops from the position. However, the Qingming Army still had some ammunition, and suffered several thousand casualties during the retreat.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Wei Yuan arrived with a Dharma Image puppet, accompanied by Sun Yu and Feng Tingyu, and together they besieged Xu Zhongxing.

Wei Yuan enhanced the luck of Sun Yu and Feng Tingyu, and then used the Dharma Puppet to withstand most of the attacks, which barely managed to stop Xu Zhongxing, leaving him no time to kill ordinary soldiers. The two armies then began to engage in battle on their own.

The main force of the realm finally left its position and began a relentless pursuit.

On the other side of the battlefield, Fan Donghe's rear guard also intercepted the mysterious force. Every soldier in this unit wore a mask, revealing only their eyes. Their gazes were all expressionless, sending a chill down Fan Donghe's spine.

Fan Donghe's rear guard consisted mostly of archers, who began raining arrows down from two hundred feet away. However, the troops raised their shields in perfect unison, transforming into a moving steel dragon, and their marching speed only slowed slightly.

Several volleys of arrows rained down, yet the enemy suffered fewer than a hundred casualties. The quality of their shields was truly exceptional; only the elite private army responsible for defending the ancestral lands of the Xu family could be equipped with such heavy shields.

The enemy force was about to bypass them, leaving Fan Donghe with no choice but to order his infantry to attack. Just as the main force of infantry charged within twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters), muskets suddenly emerged from the gaps in the shield wall. With a deafening roar, the first thousand men were all shot down!
The morale of the entire infantry collapsed instantly, and they scrambled back in panic. Meanwhile, this elite force marched towards their designated position without hesitation, their footsteps perfectly synchronized. Fan Donghe was caught in a dilemma, his face extremely grim.

Having led troops for many years, he knew that the army was on the verge of collapse, and another attack might lead to a rout. But if they didn't attack, their retreat would be cut off.

The only hope now lies in the battle between the two cultivators, but after fighting for so long, it's clear that Qiuniu is at a disadvantage. Moreover, after fighting for so long, a terrifying aura that makes one's primordial spirit tremble is brewing in the air.

The situation at the Dharma Minister level was also at a stalemate, and it was impossible to rely on them to protect the troops. At this moment, the army's morale was wavering, and collapse was imminent.

In desperation, Fan Donghe took out a scarlet medicine bottle and resolutely swallowed the pill inside. His face suddenly flushed red, as if he were drunk, and his aura surged.

"Keep firing! Don't stop!" After giving the order, Fan Donghe picked up his broadsword and flew towards the opposing army, but was entangled by the Dharma puppet.

Suddenly, several cylindrical barrels were pushed out from the mysterious force. Several men held one up and aimed it at the archers a hundred feet away. The next moment, flying swords shot out from the barrels, whistling as they fell into the archer ranks!

Although these flying swords were ridiculously weak by Dao Foundation standards, and there were only a few hundred of them, they were the last straw.

Some members of the archer squad began to flee, and once one person started, the entire squad began to run away! Fan Donghe sighed deeply, knowing that all was lost.

At this moment, the other two Dharma Aspect Elders and Master Chuhe were fighting fiercely, their flying swords clashing, their magical powers exploding into balls of raging fire, each ball dozens of feet in size, resembling the end of the world. However, since Cui Yu killed that Dharma Aspect Elder, neither side had suffered any further injuries.

Outside the heavens, just as the terrifying aura of the heavenly tribulation was about to reach its critical point, Qiuniu sighed, and the battle finally ceased. Qiuniu and Zhu Yuanjin had both disappeared without a trace.

Wei Yuan left behind a puppet and Sun Yu and Feng Tingyu to continue holding off Xu Zhongxing, while he himself broke away from this battle and headed straight for Fan Donghe's side.

Xu Zhongxing was neither truly dead nor easily spared. In Wei Yuan's mind, holding off tens of thousands of Xu family warriors was far more important than killing a mere Dharma Aspect. Therefore, he chose to force Fan Donghe to retreat, leading his troops to seize key locations to the east and cut off the Xu family army's retreat.

Meanwhile, the sky was filled with the sound of whistling gunfire, and Yu Zhizhuo's artillery bombardment never stopped, preventing the Xu family's troops from regrouping.

At this point, Xu Zhongxing knew the situation was hopeless. He unleashed a series of deadly moves to force back Feng Tingyu and Sun Yu, then returned to his barely assembled cavalry. Using his own magical aura and military spirit, he stabilized the army's morale. He then led the remaining 20,000 cavalrymen in a frenzy of battle, rescuing troops caught in the chaos. Those who couldn't be rescued were allowed to scatter and flee for their lives.

Seeing that things were not going well, the two elders of the Xu family had already fled.

Master Chuhe was invigorated, and his eight immortal swords shone brightly as he began to slaughter the fleeing soldiers.

Xu Zhongxing repelled Wei Yuan, then came to the aid of Fan Donghe. He then attempted to attack the strange force led by Wei Yuan, but all two thousand cavalrymen fell within the range of twenty to ten zhang, with none surviving!

Xu Zhongxing was shocked. He glanced at the army and led his cavalry around Wei Yuan, over mountains and valleys, and left the territory.

Although the Xu family only lost one Dharma Aspect Elder in this battle, 60,000 of their 300,000 troops were killed, 160,000 were captured, and more than 30,000 fled into the wilderness, their whereabouts unknown. After the battle, Xu Zhongxing only managed to gather 40,000 remnants, a complete defeat.

More than 20,000 people died in the battle on Qingming's side. More than 10,000 of them were killed by Zhenjun with a single finger, and several thousand died under Xu Zhongxing's sword. Less than 10,000 people actually died in the battle.

However, the war was not over yet.

Xu Zhongxing, who had just withdrawn from the border, had just gathered some of his remaining troops when he received news that one of the two supply camps in the rear had been attacked by bandits. The eight thousand garrison was wiped out by less than five thousand bandits, and the supplies that could not be transported from the camp in time were all burned to ashes. In addition, all seventy thousand laborers in the camp were taken away by the bandits and their whereabouts were unknown.

Xu Zhongxing knew something was amiss as soon as he heard this. Bandits only knew how to rob money, so why would they plunder laborers?
But there was no time to worry about that now. Fan Donghe had taken a life-draining pill and was on the verge of death. Xu Zhongxing had the two Dharma Elders send him back to the Xu family for treatment, while he led a cavalry unit to cover the rear and escort the remaining soldiers back north.

However, before the tens of thousands of remaining soldiers had gone ten miles, a sudden surge of military spirit arose from the front. A force of only five thousand men emerged from behind the mountain, their military spirit fierce and clearly that of a battle-hardened army!

At this moment, military aura rose into the air from behind, and thousands of iron cavalrymen came with a clanging sound. This group of iron cavalrymen wore breastplates, carried muskets, and had long spears and swords hanging on the sides of their horses.

Surrounded by thousands of iron cavalry, Wei Yuan exuded murderous intent. At this moment, the blue steed beneath him underwent another change, growing larger, its long mane turning dark blue, its hooves drumming, and two waving fleshy whiskers sprouting from its lips, already showing a hint of dragon-like features.

Two cavalry units, one in front and one behind, blocked the remnants of the Xu family's army in the middle.

(End of this chapter)