Longzang

Chapter 704 Stalemate
Despite the horrific vomiting that left him weak, Sun Yu received tangible benefits. Mu Hewen's Dharma form was ultimately digested by his giant scorpion carrying the cauldron, resulting in numerous runes appearing on the cauldron's surface. The scorpion also noticeably grew larger, with its scales possessing a more refined texture and subtle patterns.

Moreover, sand and grass began to appear around the scorpion, which is a sign that it has begun to enter the Myriad Transformations Realm.

Although he had saved himself more than ten years of hard work, Sun Yu showed no joy at all. Instead, he looked at Wei Yuan with deep apprehension, an expression exactly like Ji Liuli's.

Apart from his bones being mostly shattered, Mu Hewen's physical body was still quite intact, so Wei Yuan collected and sealed it away, preparing to transport it back to Qingming on the next flying boat. As for the few magical treasures he carried, the other cultivators didn't think much of them, so Wei Yuan sent them to the palace to exchange for military merits.

With Muhewen's fall, the Liao cavalry retreated, leaving behind about two thousand corpses. However, the guards also suffered nearly a hundred casualties. Many were shot in the head by a swift arrow as soon as they peeked out to observe the enemy's movements.

Wei Yuan urgently ordered Qingming to produce 100,000 helmets reinforced with Nether Iron and transport them to the northern mountain gate as soon as possible.

Before Qingming's flying boat even arrived, the Liao tribe's first large-scale attack had already begun. At dawn, the terrifying will of the immortals swept across the land once more. Wei Yuan successfully evaded it, but Sun Yu was unfortunately struck, vomiting a liter of blood.

Ripples could be seen spreading across the sky, indicating that the two True Lords were engaged in a fierce battle beyond the heavens.

A sandstorm, as large as a mountain, appeared on the horizon, accompanied by faint rumbles of thunder, and the earth began to tremble. Wei Yuan suddenly felt a vague unease. He immediately ordered all the spare steel shields in the warehouse to be moved to the city walls. Every two defenders would be issued an extra heavy shield.

The storm only began to subside more than ten miles away. Holding the token, Wei Yuan activated the defensive ability without hesitation. He then felt the spiritual energy stored in the northern mountain gate slightly decrease, and the warriors within ten miles of Wei Yuan were all faintly illuminated by spiritual light, which enhanced their magical shields.

Amidst the sandstorm, countless Liao tribesmen surged forth, like a vast net, pressing down upon the small town of Weiyuan.

Wei Yuan's heart skipped a beat; there were far too many Liao cavalry!
He held nothing back and immediately ordered the artillery to fire at full capacity. However, after a volley of fire from more than a dozen infantry cannons, only a few plumes of smoke exploded amidst the surging Liao cavalry, creating just a ripple before being swallowed up.

This round of bombardment only killed a few dozen Liao cavalrymen? Seeing the magical light flashing on the Liao cavalrymen, Wei Yuan immediately understood that this would be a tough battle.

Then a fierce wind arose on the battlefield, blowing sand and gravel violently towards the defenders, making it difficult for the soldiers to open their eyes.

An unusual whistling sound filled the wind as swift and light arrows, concealed within its currents, flew into the town. Those who were unprepared and still running around the town suffered heavy casualties.

Suddenly, tiny points of light appeared in the sandstorm. Before Wei Yuan could react, the lights transformed into Soul-Locking Arrows, flew into the city, circled back, and pierced the backs of several Foundation Establishment captains!
The captains immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to even scream. Sand kept gushing from the wounds in their backs, rapidly enlarging. Their comrades around them were powerless to stop it, and their spiritual power had no effect. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the wounds grew to the size of buckets, opening up from front to back, before dying.

Wei Yuan appeared beside He Fang and asked, "Should we use the power of the mountain gate to disperse the storm?"

He Fang shook his head and shouted into the howling wind, "The power of the mountain gate is running low, we must conserve it and use it only at the most critical moment! I've seen plenty of sandstorms, this one is just a bit bigger than usual. Let them get close to fight, or if that doesn't work, let them fight inside the city, then the sandstorm will be useless!"

Wei Yuan suddenly remembered that this was the same tactic he had used when he first met Fang He. Back then, the militia was far too weak, and they could only resort to using human lives and flesh and blood to fight off as many Liao tribesmen as possible.

Unexpectedly, several years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Wei Yuan suppressed a faint sadness, inspected the defenses, and adjusted the artillery fire. Although He Fang was of average talent, as the leader of the Daoist soldiers, he had extremely rich combat experience, and Wei Yuan valued his opinions.

Previously, the northern mountain gate soldiers were also equipped with a small number of firearms, but the main force was still bows and crossbows. Firearms were greatly reduced in power in the sandstorms of the Liao region, far inferior to heavy arrows and heavy crossbows. In addition, the Liao people were physically stronger than the Wu people, so the firearms designed by Wei Yuan specifically for the Wu people were somewhat ineffective.

He Fang preferred to use muskets in urban street battles because they were convenient, fast, and could blast large areas at once. No training or aiming was required; one could simply aim and fire based on feel. Even a novice Dao soldier at the Muscle Realm could use them with ease. In He Fang's words, these things were better than swords.

Half of the Azure Nether Army brought by Wei Yuan were at the Great Perfection of Body Forging, and they all used flying swords and spears. Even when suppressed by the sandstorm, they still had a range of a hundred feet. Therefore, Wei Yuan remained patient and waited for the Liao tribe to approach.

This time, however, the Liao people only fired arrows from a distance, the whistling arrows flying farther and with greater force in the gale. Suddenly, a volley of arrows came, and the captain beside the infantry cannon shouted, "Raise shields!"

The gunners hastily grabbed the giant shields from the ground, instantly transforming them into steel spheres. With an unusual whistling sound, countless armor-piercing heavy arrows rained down, and even those that struck the steel shields felt as if they were being struck by heavy hammers.

Screams echoed amidst the rain of arrows as gunners fell dead one after another. Suddenly, an arrow struck a pile of cannonballs nearby, triggering a massive explosion. The fireball instantly engulfed the surrounding soldiers, and the infantry cannons were blown away, falling to the ground below the city walls.

"Double defense! Protect the shells!" Wei Yuan issued two orders in quick succession.

The soldiers immediately took up their shields and moved around the infantry guns to provide protection for the gun crews. They also set up a shield array on the shell piles.

In the sandstorm, something flashed vaguely. Wei Yuan grabbed it, and it turned out to be a small, almost transparent snake!
The little snake's head suddenly transformed into a human face, staring at Wei Yuan with eyes that had vertical pupils, and said in a shrill voice, "I will avenge Mu and Wen, you're going to die, you human pig!"

The transparent snake vanished, transforming into a light arrow. Wei Yuan casually broke it in two, tossed it aside, and continued giving orders.

At this moment, there were already 300,000 Liao cavalrymen within his divine sense range. In addition, they would inevitably have to divide their forces to deal with the two towns on the left and right. In this battle, the Liao tribe had come out in full force.

The wind howled, and the strange noises in the wind grew sharper and more piercing. The sound of heavy arrows hitting the steel shield clattered like raindrops on banana leaves, becoming more and more frequent, interspersed with screams of agony.

Half of the infantry artillery had fallen silent, but the rest continued to fight back tenaciously. Large numbers of Liao cavalry finally launched their attack, covering the hillsides and advancing simultaneously on both the garrison town and the town itself.

An hour later.

Wei Yuan stood atop the city wall, holding a long spear. In front of him, streaks of fire rained down from the sky, burning Liao cavalrymen, whether they were taking off or on the ground, to ashes.

The town was surrounded by the corpses of Liao cavalry, and the seven garrison towns that Wei Yuan had originally set up outside the city had all fallen, and the garrison troops inside had all died in battle.

Wei Yuan had deployed 400 Dao soldiers and 100 Qingming soldiers in each of the seven garrison cities, totaling 3,500 men, all of whom were now corpses. In return, the Liao tribe left four times that number of corpses around the garrison cities.

Corpses littered the city walls and the town itself. Heavy arrows continued to rain down, piercing rooftops and embedding themselves deep in the ground. Some arrows were so powerful they could penetrate two or three stories in one go. People were unsafe even inside houses; only by clinging to the stone walls could they increase their chances of survival.

Wei Yuan finally activated the token, and pure energy surged from the earth, briefly dispelling the gale and the protective gear on the Liao cavalry.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the defenders on the city walls immediately took their positions and swiftly returned fire, leaving a trail of corpses among the Liao soldiers. However, the Liao's fierce counterattack also felled several archers on the city walls.

At this moment, the city gate of the town had been smashed by the Liao clan's Dharma Image with brute force, and that Dharma Image died in the blink of an eye in Wei Yuan's magical storm. However, the Liao cavalry did not enter the city, but instead circled the city, constantly shooting down the guards who showed their heads on the city walls, pressing down on the guards so much that they could hardly lift their heads.

Hiding completely behind the city walls isn't an option either, as the Liao tribes will occasionally take to the air to shoot down the guards. At this point, high-level soldiers need to launch a swift counterattack and eliminate any Liao tribesmen who dare to take to the air.

The Liao cavalry seemed endless, and numerous powerful Dharma forms were hidden within their ranks. At this point in the battle, even Sun Yu drew his bow and entered the fray. His giant scorpion had only one last puff of poisonous smoke left; he would save it for a worthy opponent.

As Wei Yuan fought, he silently calculated the results of the battle. At this moment, the casualties had become cold, hard numbers.

(End of this chapter)