Longzang

Chapter 488 Living towards death
The leak of gunpowder was entirely expected by Wei Yuan; the Western Jin Dynasty had already formed a new army of musketeers. However, the early leak to the Wu tribe was surprising, and the timing was also intriguing—before the Great Curse of Cause and Effect?

"Who was the person who leaked the gunpowder to you?" Wei Yuan pressed.

"I...I don't know! Only Lord Hongye knows about this. The one who went to Qingming to make contact was also Lord Hongye's confidant, Yinxiao. I only know that after he returned that time, we started researching gunpowder."

Wei Yuan questioned him repeatedly, but couldn't get any more details out of him. It seemed that this great shaman was indeed of limited status and couldn't get close to Hongye.

Wei Yuan then inquired about the production and stock of gunpowder. This great shaman seemed to know quite a bit, and thus spoke at length.

In the eyes of the Wu Clan, gunpowder was actually quite a useless substance; it had some value, but not much. This was actually similar to the views of Wei Yuan and the cultivators of the Taichu Palace. If it weren't for the existence of the instantaneous beings and the beginning of the use of trenches and tunnels, gunpowder wouldn't have been used extensively in Qingming.

Gunpowder only began to be widely used after Sun Yu formulated the optimal ratio of black powder. Later, with the development of the much more powerful Thunder Powder, muskets finally became the primary weapon of the Qingming Army.

Although the Witch Clan possessed the formula for gunpowder, they hadn't found the optimal ratio, resulting in an overall power output only about 60% of that of Azure Nether Black Powder. Furthermore, the Witch Clan hadn't yet found a method for large-scale production, primarily due to the limited quantity of saltpeter. Moreover, the Witch Clan didn't place great importance on gunpowder, so after a period of accumulation, they had only produced tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder, while the self-destructing behemoth consumed 20,000 kilograms in a single go.

With the addition of explosive arrows, the Wu tribe army may now have less than 10,000 jin of gunpowder left.

Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. The gunpowder production problem that had once plagued Qingming now seemed to be much more serious among the Wu tribe.

Wei Yuan purchased 900,000 jin of Thunder Sand from the Wild Ancestor Tribe in one go. He is currently working day and night to prepare new gunpowder, which can produce a total of 3 million jin. For the time being, there is no need to worry about the production of gunpowder.

Wei Yuan continued to question the Wu Clan about their troop strength, deployment, and objectives for this trip. Then, the Great Wu said that he had once overheard a Netherworld Wu Clan saying that they wanted to mend the flaws in the heavens.

For some reason, Wei Yuan felt a sudden stirring in his heart upon hearing those words, and then he sensed that the shadow in the moon seemed to move as well. This feeling was fleeting, but Wei Yuan was no longer the same person he was when he was at the Foundation Establishment stage. The numerous immortal plants within his Dharma Image made him extremely sensitive to fortune, not to mention the presence of the maiden Yin Yang and the shadow in the moon. Therefore, he would never have a sudden whim without reason.

However, this shaman was not knowledgeable enough to understand the secrets. He was completely clueless about what it meant to mend the heavens. He had only heard the sorcerer mention it briefly. Although he did not understand the meaning of the word, he felt it was mysterious and powerful, so he wrote it down.

Wei Yuan vaguely felt that it might be related to his own Gate to All Realms.

Wei Yuan began asking about the recent changes in the Wu tribe, his expression growing more solemn with each question. The Human World also went into full swing, beginning to re-analyze the battle situation.

At this time, nine hundred miles away from Qingming, it had become the main base for the Wu tribe's advance, with countless tents and temporary houses.

In an open area of ​​a military camp, hundreds of Wu tribe warriors were naked and bound to pillars. The shamans used specially made cleavers to make cuts in their chests, abdomens, ribs, and other vulnerable areas, instantly creating dozens of fine wounds. Then they smeared a black, mud-like ointment on the warriors' bodies.

The black mud clung to their wounds, instantly causing the witch warriors to scream in agony, but they were all firmly bound and completely unable to move. The witches then chanted incantations, and blood-red light rose from each warrior's body, causing the areas where the black mud had been applied to slowly swell.

There are at least several hundred such open spaces, and hundreds of thousands of Wu tribe warriors are undergoing transformation.

On the other side of the vast open space, a giant beast lay on its side with its belly open, and teams of witch tribe laborers were carrying boxes of gunpowder and piling them into its belly.

In a heavily guarded camp, hundreds of witches of various appearances were casually lying or sitting, enjoying a steady stream of delicious food and wine. Despite their vastly different appearances, they were all sharpshooters, capable of accurately hitting enemies from ten miles away.

In the lobby of a building, a dozen wizards were gathered around a broken short-barreled cannon, carefully disassembling each part and then meticulously drawing it onto blueprints.

The other wizards scraped the cannon barrel, put the residue into a crystal box, and sealed it away.

Tens of millions of witches were busy like ants, and this place had been completely transformed into a war base!
Qingming, Wei Yuan summoned all the cultivators of Taichu Palace. Once everyone had arrived, he told them about how the Wu Clan had obtained the gunpowder formula from Qingming, and then said, "This person is very likely the one who leaked my aura and attracted the Karmic Curse."

Zhang Sheng's eyes turned cold, and he said, "If that's really the case, then we can't let him go."

Xu Henshui said, "The current realm uses new gunpowder, as well as many wartime pills and various new firearms. If that person were in Qingming, the Wu Clan would definitely not let him go and would make him find another way to steal secrets. Given the previous matter, he had no choice but to comply."

Bao Yun said, "But this person may have already left Qingming. The Wu Clan can't contact him, so he won't be exposed. Therefore, it's best to ask the palace for help and request that more disciples be sent to support us. Those who have been here before should not be left out."

Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo exchanged a glance, remaining silent. Bao Yun's words were quite pointed, but since Zhang Sheng hadn't spoken, they didn't say anything either.

After the matter was settled, the council chamber fell silent.

After a moment, Wei Yuan said, "Everyone has seen the result of this battle. This was just a probe force of the Wu Clan, not even a real vanguard, but our casualties have already been extremely heavy. Without reinforcements, this battle will be very difficult."

Bao Yun said, "I'll go back once."

Xu Henshui sighed, "It's no use going back. Your ancestor didn't want you to come in the first place. If you go back, you'll probably not only fail to get reinforcements, but you'll also be detained at home and never be able to get out again."

"so what should I do?"

Xu Henshui laughed and said, "Life is full of disappointments. Since we're unlikely to get any help anyway, why go back? Let's just stay here and have a great battle with the Wu Clan. It will be a legendary tale in the future."

Wei Yuan was filled with respect, never expecting that this Uncle Xu was such a man of courage and integrity.

But his next sentence inadvertently revealed his true intentions: "If we really can't beat them, we'll just run away. Anyway, the Witch Clan can't catch us."

Xu Henshui had put in a lot of effort, but unfortunately, no one in the room laughed.

Cui Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "I have already sent a letter home, and the clan should provide support. However, the two places are too far apart, and it is not realistic to send a large army over."

"It's alright." Wei Yuan had no expectations of the Cui family. Indeed, as Cui Yu said, transporting a few thousand people was possible, but an army of hundreds of thousands was simply unrealistic.

No one mentioned the Taichu Palace. The situation at the northern mountain gate had become extremely urgent again. The Liao tribe had suddenly increased their troops significantly, and the Junior Grand Preceptor had moved his position forward, making it difficult for the True Lords to breathe. There wasn't much to say about the reinforcements; discussions yielded no results, and they were only mentioned briefly before being dropped.

Wei Yuan discussed with Yu Zhizhuo for a while how to build the new fortifications, and then everyone went about their own business. Wei Yuan was somewhat agitated, so he flew to the front line and stood above Ding'an City, watching as corpses were carried out of the ruins and transported to an open space in the south of the city.

The procession carrying the corpses stretched out in a long line, moving slowly. The open ground outside the city was already filled with bodies, arranged densely and neatly, exuding a cold sorrow.

Wei Yuanfei landed in the morgue and walked among the corpses, looking at each person's face. Many people still had the last expressions of their deaths on their faces—fear, anger, and panic—all the complexities of life were frozen on their faces.

Wei Yuan suddenly saw a still somewhat youthful face. He remembered this face; it had just formed its Dao foundation in the training class a few days ago. Because it was not yet twenty years old, it had attracted quite a bit of attention. He just never expected that it would die on the front lines so soon after embarking on the path of cultivation.

Wei Yuan also knew the other faces, at least their names and basic information. This was the downside of being a Dharma Aspect cultivator with extremely strong spiritual sense; his memory was so good that if he couldn't remember something, he could store it in the mundane world.

So every person lying on the cold ground was someone Wei Yuan knew, even someone he was familiar with. Tens of thousands of corpses lined up looked like a vast ocean. Wei Yuan suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, a feeling of being unable to breathe.

At this moment, a cultivator arrived and asked, "Lord of the Realm, the physicians and generals intend to burn it. What do you think..."

"No way!" Wei Yuan rejected the idea without even thinking.

“But if we wait any longer, there will be a plague, and they will become materials for the witches to cast spells. We don’t have that much time to bury them. The most urgent thing now is to build city defenses.”

The monk said a lot in one breath, but it made sense.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Identify the fallen soldiers, then store them together, freeze them with ice magic, and bury them one by one when we have time."

"But……"

"Those who die on the battlefield deserve a proper burial!"

The cultivator said no more, glanced at the endless corpses, sighed, and hurriedly left.

Amidst the everyday bustle of life, tens of thousands of ordinary people suddenly knelt down and bowed three times to the central Jade Mountain. After bowing, they seemed to have changed; their spirituality increased considerably, the confusion in many eyes faded, and they began to busy themselves.

Meanwhile, amidst the bustling city life, a new city defense design had been completed. This design was a refinement and optimization of Yu Zhizhuo's ideas, and Wei Yuan agreed after reviewing it. As a result, more than ten Dao Foundation Warriors appeared and went to Ding'an City to renovate its defenses.

Wei Yuan suddenly had another thought: "Human World" had already completed its analysis of the war's trajectory. He immediately entered "Human World" and began to read it carefully.

The war analysis actually consists of more than a dozen reports, outlining the possible course of the war under different response strategies. All the analyses are not only based on Wei Yuan's existing military experience, but also on contributions from Zhang Sheng, Cui Yu, Xu Yi, and others, making them quite reliable.

however……

All the plans ultimately lead to only one outcome: defeat.

Wei Yuan slammed the report to the ground, his figure vanishing in a flash, reappearing before the girl Yin Yang. It seemed that only by hiding here with her, surrounded by distorted space, could he find a little peace of mind.

Wei Yuan forced himself to remain calm, took out the report again, and began to read it carefully, completely unaware of the passage of time.

He would sometimes fall into deep thought, sometimes stand up and shout, even slamming his fist on the ground, appearing almost insane. Only in these moments of solitude could Wei Yuan unleash his anger and fear without restraint, especially fear of defeat.

If this battle is lost, the death toll will be in the millions, and all efforts will have been in vain.

The girl Yin Yang simply watched quietly from the side.

Each time, Wei Yuan would vent his frustration briefly before reviewing the report again, constantly scribbling and drawing on the map that materialized before him. But no matter how much he studied it, the conclusion was always the same. The disparity in strength between the two sides was simply too great; the warriors of the Witch Clan already outnumbered the population of Qingming. This was a war that Qingming simply could not afford to wage!
Wei Yuan's heart gradually sank into despair, and his body felt a bone-chilling cold; the world seemed to have entered the depths of winter.

A ray of light suddenly shot out from between the girl's brows and entered Wei Yuan's body. At the same time, a ray of celestial fortune descended from the full moon in the sky and silently merged with Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan was completely unaware, frantically deducing the solution. He didn't know how many times he had done it when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him, like lightning piercing the darkness and instantly illuminating a corner of the world! This method wasn't in the analysis plan!

But this strategy...

Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still sent the new strategy into the real world for optimization and improvement. Actually, he didn't need to send it; he already knew that this was the only, and last, solution.

only……

Wei Yuan took a deep breath and gradually made up his mind.

In the past, Wei Yuan had won every battle against the Witch Clan, and this one would be no exception; he would ultimately triumph! However, the price would inevitably be heavy, but Wei Yuan was prepared.

Wei Yuan knew that every gift from fate came with a hidden price tag.

He looked at Yin Yang, the girl who had been quietly by his side, and said, "...I don't care about reputation."

Volume 5, If Love Has a Destiny, End.

(End of this chapter)