Longzang

Chapter 417 War
In the Witch Realm, within the canopy of an ancient tree, a pair of eyes suddenly opened, staring into the distance. There appeared a troop of human knights, running with light, quick steps, their military aura gathering close to the main force.

As the cavalry approached, a figure leaped from a tree, spread its wings, and flew away into the distance. But a streak of fire suddenly descended from the sky, engulfing its figure.

Wei Yuan wiped out the Wu Clan's spies with a single Taoist technique; he had lost count of how many he had eliminated along the way.

He led this small cavalry unit in a relentless advance, charging forward and charging again. They didn't attack any villages or towns they encountered along the way, leaving those for the follow-up troops.

Wei Yuan suddenly sensed something and discovered a group of witch clan members moving along another road several thousand feet away, heading in the same direction as him.

He immediately flew over to inspect the area and discovered that it was a migrating tribe, totaling more than 20,000 people, carrying several hundred boats and carts, with about 5,000 armored soldiers, as well as a mobile altar built on an eight-wheeled cart.

Wei Yuan immediately returned to his troops, and the entire team turned and moved diagonally in front of the shaman tribe, occupying a small hill. The shaman tribe was thrown into chaos, scrambling to form ranks. A high shaman in the ranks ascended the altar and began the tedious ritual.

Just then, a sudden clatter of hooves erupted from the rear of the Wu tribe's ranks, as two cavalry units of a thousand men each charged in from behind!
Wei Yuan launched his attack at this moment, and the three sides attacked from the same direction, instantly defeating the opponent. Wei Yuan used more than ten Taoist spells in succession to bring the Great Witch to the brink of death, and then captured him and distributed the Heavenly Power to his team.

With the outcome of the battle decided, Wei Yuan continued to lead the vanguard deeper into enemy territory, leaving two cavalry units to indiscriminately slaughter the surviving witch tribe members. The first principle Wei Yuan established for this battle was to kill all mobile witch tribe members of the Rain Kingdom.

Half an hour later, in the vast landscape, the enemy markers around the two cavalry units had almost completely disappeared, with only a thousand or so Wu tribe members fleeing into the mountains. Without even cleaning up the battlefield, the two cavalry units headed off in two other unexplored directions.

Two hours later, another Wu tribe army appeared.

Shocked by the carnage of the battlefield, they couldn't resist gathering the scattered loot, only to be discovered by a third cavalry unit of a thousand men passing by. This unit launched a surprise attack, slaughtering most of their forces. After defeating the enemy, this cavalry unit, like the others, didn't clean up the battlefield and continued deeper into enemy territory.

Wei Yuan's objective in this battle was clear: the city of the Rain Kingdom, hundreds of miles away. That city had a history of over a thousand years, inhabited by hundreds of thousands of witches, with over a million more scattered in the surrounding villages and towns.

Wei Yuan consistently followed the plan, controlling his speed and conserving his energy.

If any witch tribe groups they encounter heading towards the city are encountered along the way, they should be eliminated first. These small groups, when gathered together, amount to a considerable number, and if they are allowed to hide in the city, it will be a big problem.

It wasn't until the last twenty miles that Wei Yuan began to lead his troops in a charge.

The surrounding area consisted of gentle hills, with countless wooden planks standing in the low-lying ponds—the paddy fields upon which the Wu tribe depended for their livelihood. Villages dotted the fields, their houses half-submerged in the water.

A faint green mist rose from the village houses, constantly spreading into the surrounding world.

The Wu tribe members working in the fields straightened up, looking somewhat bewildered at the passing Azure Iron Cavalry, not understanding what was happening. After a moment, some of them reacted, screaming as they fled back to the village, sounding the alarm bells and then lighting alarm fireworks.

In an instant, more than ten fireworks burst into flame, heading straight towards the city!

Wei Yuan, riding ahead, had already spotted the city in the distance. Smoke signals were lit within the city, bells rang incessantly, and the gates were slowly closing. Many members of the Wu tribe were rushing through the gates, while those who couldn't keep up scattered into the surrounding countryside.

Wei Yuan arrived so suddenly that the city's protective formation hadn't even had time to be activated.

Seeing the city gate closing, Wei Yuan flew directly onto the city wall, and two small figures darted out from his body. They pounced back and forth, as fast as lightning, and wherever they passed, the Wu Clan warriors fell in droves.

Two high-ranking warriors, filled with shock and rage, rushed forward to meet the attack. But the moment they showed themselves, one of the high-ranking warriors was riddled with holes by Wei Yuan's Immaculate Reincarnation. After Wei Yuan advanced to the Dharma Body realm, the firing rate of Immaculate Reincarnation increased accordingly, and a casket of twenty flying swords could miss in a second. Such a ferocious attack was simply too much for an ordinary high-ranking warrior to withstand.

The other great shaman was attacked back and forth by two small figures and torn to pieces in a short time.

By this time, the cavalry had arrived at the city walls. Several knights used heavy hammers to chisel holes in the wall and then filled them with explosives.

With a deafening explosion, half of the city gate collapsed, and the defensive array was destroyed. The cavalry replenished their explosives, this time completely knocking down both massive gates. Then, like wolves among sheep, the cavalry stormed into the city!
At this moment, Wei Yuan took to the air and scanned the entire city. A brand-new city defense map quickly appeared in the vast landscape, and details were continuously added.

The flying ferrets and cats raced across the city walls, specializing in destroying large ballistae and other war machines, as well as nodes in the defensive array. They moved incredibly fast, and the three great shamans chased after them desperately, but could not catch up no matter what they did.

Wei Yuan quickly located the altar, and the cavalry that had entered the city instantly changed direction, charging towards it. The city was in chaos; small groups of Wu tribe soldiers had no idea what was happening, or even where the enemy was.

An elderly high priest sat atop the altar, his entire body submerged in a pool of blood. The entire altar emanated a hazy, bloody light, and a palpable aura of blood rose from it.

In Wei Yuan's eyes, some imperceptible power rose from the altar and spread into the heavens and earth. In return, the heavens and earth fed back some primordial energy, which continuously flowed into the blood sorcerer's body. This exchange seemed to be the essence of the sacrificial ceremony.

Wei Yuan observed quietly for a while, without making a move immediately. This was a rare opportunity to observe the Wu Clan's sacrificial ceremony. And this sacrifice was clearly extraordinary; there were hundreds of human heads and corpses around the altar, most of them young and strong.

The blood flowing towards the center of the altar was full of vitality, but after entering the blood pool, what flowed out from the bottom was a pale white viscous liquid, which was discharged as wastewater, and the blood essence had disappeared.

Under Wei Yuan's observation, the life force in the blood seemed to be sent to heaven and earth, not used by the old shaman. The old shaman absorbed the vital energy fed back from heaven and earth. After Wei Yuan occupied the altar, the cavalry changed their target, splitting into ten hundred-man squads and heading to the various key locations that Wei Yuan had scanned.

The vanguard cavalry was composed entirely of Dao Foundation Establishment cultivators, each armed with a flying sword spear. A small force of two or three hundred Wu tribe members would be decimated in a single encounter, and any further hesitation would result in total annihilation.

The knights would also throw explosives into the surrounding houses from time to time, and a few shots would blow up a building.

The great commotion in the city finally caught the attention of the old shaman at the altar. A surge of blood energy rose from the altar, and he slowly opened his eyes, trying to awaken from the ritual.

Wei Yuan stopped observing, took out a box of explosives, and threw it directly into the blood pool.

With a deafening roar, a column of blood rose dozens of feet high from the blood pool, and the old witch's body flew into the air, tumbling like a tattered rag doll.

Wei Yuan pointed to the sky, and streams of fire fell from the sky, instantly engulfing the old witch!

When the smoke cleared, the altar was a mess, all the magic arrays were destroyed, and the blood had been burned into large scorched marks.

The old witch's four arms had all disappeared, and his withered, aged body was writhing in pain. Wei Yuan looked at the city and then at the state of his knights. He felt that it was not easy to distribute this small amount of Heavenly Merit in a short time. A mere hundred Heavenly Merit was not worth the trouble. He could only shoot out a water blade to destroy the old witch's sea of ​​consciousness.

Now, the young masters from noble families who follow Wei Yuan all possess considerable Heavenly Skills, so there's no longer any need to worry about a few points affecting their current battles. They're no longer the same people who would turn green with envy at the sight of Heavenly Skills.

With the altar destroyed and the cavalry launching indiscriminate attacks, the entire city descended into chaos. The witch clan had no idea how many enemies had arrived; all they heard were gunshots, flames, and continuous explosions, with magnificent buildings collapsing one after another.

At this point, Wei Yuan felt somewhat fortunate. If the Wu tribe's buildings had steel reinforcements inside, as Xu Wenwu had said, they would never have collapsed after being bombed.

At this point, the cavalry split up again, forming groups of twenty or thirty men, advancing through the streets and alleys. When they encountered the Wu tribe troops, they were met with a barrage of fire, leaving corpses strewn everywhere in the blink of an eye.

The flying swords are incredibly powerful against civilians and ordinary warriors of the Wu tribe; it is common for a single strike to sever limbs or pierce through three or four people.

When they encountered houses where witches were lying in ambush or hiding, the knights would simply throw explosives to blow up the entire building, burying all the witches inside.

Every now and then, a warrior from the Witch Clan would risk everything and charge to the side of the knights, only to discover in despair that these heavily armored and sharp-bladed cavalrymen were all Dao Foundation cultivators!
Wei Yuan flew slowly through the air, occasionally casting the "Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" spell on the troops below. When he saw signs of the enemy army gathering, he would throw several "Flowing Fire" spells at them, directly scattering them.

There were six high shamans in the city, but three have died and the other three have escaped. Wei Yuan appears relaxed, but his magical power is actually being rapidly depleted. He is using all his magical power to replenish the morale of his troops; otherwise, the knights would be significantly weakened if they were directly exposed to the shamanic realm.

At this moment, a majestic military aura appeared in the distance, and the central army of 20,000 cavalry and infantry finally arrived!
From the moment Wei Yuan's vanguard entered the city to the arrival of the main force from the rear, only about an hour had passed. However, an unexpected incident occurred on the way to the main force, causing them to arrive a moment later than planned.

With the arrival of the main force of the central army, there were no further surprises, and the entire city fell into Wei Yuan's hands.

Cui Yu led the main force of the central army. After arranging for the troops to take over the city and clean up the battlefield, he went to find Wei Yuan and said with great emotion, "How come it was so easy to win? Are the Wu tribes so weak?"

Wei Yuan was taken aback: "How is it easy?"

Cui Yu said, "You see, once the army crossed the border, they marched straight ahead without any fighting along the way, except that quite a few carts broke down. Then, once they arrived here, they went straight into the city to finish things up."

Wei Yuan then realized that from Cui Yu's perspective, the battle had become a matter of the main force setting out, entering the city, and occupying Sanbu. A city that hundreds of thousands of Wu tribes had occupied and managed for thousands of years had fallen into their hands just like that, as if it were child's play.

Wei Yuan patted Cui Yu on the shoulder and said, "It won't be easy. The real battle is yet to come."

As the main infantry force entered the city, the Wu tribe knew their fate was sealed and fled through the four gates. Wei Yuan did not allow any civilians to remain in the city, driving them all out; those who were slow to escape were executed. In Wei Yuan's eyes, the only difference between Wu tribe civilians and warriors was whether they carried weapons; in times of war, he made no distinction, killing anyone who moved.

Next, the infantry began dismantling the city's defensive formations, collecting spoils of war and sacrificial offerings from the surviving humans, while the cavalry began to rest.

Six hours later, a supply convoy arrived in the city on time, replenishing Wei Yuan's vanguard cavalry with their consumed flying swords, bullets, and explosives.

Twelve hours later, a supply convoy carrying heavy supplies such as food arrived on time, replenishing the troops' rations for five days.

The two supply convoys were led by officers who were originally Xu family private troops or government troops. They had advanced to the Dao Foundation stage in Qingming and thus stayed behind wholeheartedly.

For them, this was also an unprecedented war experience.

The marching routes were all given in advance, specifying exactly when to reach which point. They marched according to plan, unloaded their goods at the designated locations, and then returned to load new goods, much like traveling merchants in peaceful regions.

(End of this chapter)