Chapter 329: Siege

All the steel shells were a size smaller than the original models. They also flew at varying speeds and in different ways—some as swift as lightning, others drifting like falling leaves. Each steel shell was controlled by a cultivator using their perception[1].

Since the Shaman city was now under Qingming’s domain, these Dao Foundation stage cultivators could control the steel shells from dozens of li away, ensuring their own safety.

The sudden turn of events caught the Shamans within the city off guard, but they remained composed. They continued to cast a variety of spells, as well as more than ten long-range mystic artifacts, to intercept the attack.

However, the steel shells exploded the moment they came into contact with the attacks and scattered more than ten smaller steel shells from within. These small cylinders—only two chi long and as thick as a bowl’s rim—tumbled toward the Shaman city following erratic and unpredictable trajectories!

There were simply too many of them. Only the Great Warlock Shui Hou and a dozen or so Warlocks possessing deep cultivation were assigned to intercept them. Seeing that several hundred steel shells were falling toward the city, the Great Warlock Shui Hou had no choice but to intervene. Within the city-wide defense array, patches of milky-white light transformed into spinning blades and shot into the sky, instantly slicing all of the steel shells in half.

This single interception alone caused the milky-white light within the city-wide defense array to diminish by one-third.

However, the severed steel shells were all empty; Not a single one was loaded with explosives. This first wave had been fired solely to bait the enemy into wasting their energy.

Before the debris from the first wave had even hit the ground, the second wave was already soaring overhead.

A total of three railgun arrays were aimed at the Shaman city at the moment, and each launch involved joining five large steel shells together and firing them simultaneously. When they flew over the designated areas, the assigned cultivators would automatically take control of them using their perception.

This time, Shui Hou did not intercept them all. They only blocked seventy percent of them.

However, several of the steel shells that broke through the interception suddenly exploded. The violent blasts instantly caused ripples in the city-wide defense array as it absorbed the full force of the explosions. Nothing was scarier than an area-of-effect attack for any array designed to safeguard an entire area.

As the second wave of steel shells was mixed with submunitions filled with explosives, the Shamans had no choice but to continue their interception efforts. The third, fourth, and fifth waves of attacks quickly followed. By the time the sixth wave of attack was launched, the milky-white light within the city-wide defense array—also the mystic energy reserves Shui Hou had left in the array—had been completely depleted. Now, the Great Warlock would have to draw upon the incredibly precious ritual energy within the grand altar or their own mystic energy to continue intercepting the attack.

Only one-third of the submunitions within the sixth round of bombardment contained gunpowder. However, after receiving orders from the rear, the cultivators switched to the steel shells marked with a red horizontal stripe. This time, seventy percent of the submunitions were loaded with explosives.

Although steel was cheap in Qingming now, their gunpowder production was still insufficient to meet demands. That was why they had to use it sparingly.

When this wave of bombardment rained down, explosions erupted one after another. In fact, the flashes of many explosions merged into a single, continuous blaze that caused the Shamans’ city-wide defense array to shake violently. This one round of bombardment had stripped the array of a full 30% of its energy reserves and left it with less than half.

The Great Warlocks inside the city were both shocked and angry. The humans’ steel shells had shrunk in size, but their firepower had actually increased. Also, the humans had only thrown a few dozen steel shells at them during the previous battle, but today, they had hurled over thousands of them, all during the start of the battle. It was so much pressure that even Great Warlock Shui Hou’s mystic energy reserves were completely drained! Where on earth did the humans even get so much steel? Were they just falling straight out of the sky?

In the blink of an eye, the tenth round of bombardment arrived, and the city-wide defense array’s energy reserves dwindled to just 10%. Left with no choice, the Shamans temporarily shut down the array, and numerous Warlocks and nobles, wielding their mystic artifacts, climbed to high vantage points within the city to intercept the incoming barrage.

As a new wave of small steel shells rained down from the sky, a dazzling radiance suddenly rose from within the Shaman city. It looked like a massive, iridescent carpet was rising into the air—an extraordinarily magnificent sight.

Above the city, the light of spells, fire, and gunpowder smoke all intertwined into one. The violent explosions shook many a perception and caused countless Shamans to experience a throbbing pain in their heads, making it temporarily difficult for them to lock onto targets.

Watching from afar and realizing that the size of the core force entrenched within the city had exceeded expectations, he immediately ordered the bombardment to continue for another five rounds!

Fortunately, the amount of ammunition stockpiled within the realm of Qingming had also surpassed the Shamans’ expectations.

Moreover, compared to the Shamans or Western Jin’s prices, the current prince of steel within Qingming was practically a giveaway.

Finally, a steel shell landed and exploded within the city, instantly leveling everything within a three-zhang radius. Even mid-stage Dao Foundation stage Warlocks and nobles were injured by the blast. Those who weren’t even in the Dao Foundation stage naturally suffered heavy casualties.

Every time a steel shell hit the ground, the gaps in the city’s defense would widen. By the time the five rounds of bombardment were done, at least half of them had exploded within the city, inflicting devastating casualties upon the Shamans. The number of spells and mystic artifacts that had been originally deployed to intercept the shells had also dwindled to less than half their original count. Even the Great Warlocks were forced to disregard the drain on their mystic energy reserves and take action.

At this point, the first phase of Wei Yuan’s plan—destroying the Shaman’s city-wide defense array—was officially complete.

The bombardments had turned out to be exceptionally effective. Wei Yuan hadn’t even needed to use his Golden Light Water Blade spell. At least 1,000 shells had landed within the city and exploded successfully, wounding at least hundreds of Warlocks and nobles. Heavens only know how many those below the Dao Foundation stage were killed.

Just then, Wei Yuan soared into the sky and flew toward the Shaman city like a meteor. He made no attempt to conceal his presence like a tiger pouncing toward a den of sheep!

Several Great Warlocks rose into the air simultaneously and closed in on him menacingly. However, the moment they neared Wei Yuan, they suddenly scattered like birds and beasts, each fleeing faster than the next, as if their tails were on fire!

It was because every Great Warlock had seen the dim, flickering yellow glow on the tip of Wei Yuan’s spear. What other choice did they have except to flee?

Even Rock Heart couldn’t withstand the Twilight of the Immortal Path. There was only one possible outcome if they were struck by it: instant death[2].

Even Shui Hou[3] was forced to pull their body out of the grand altar—ruthlessly severing the portion that hadn’t managed to escape in the process—before fleeing in panic. After all, Wei Yuan was charging straight toward them!

None of the Great Warlocks had anticipated the outcome where, once Qingming’s domain had enveloped this area, Wei Yuan would be able to unleash the Twilight of the Immortal Path right within the Shaman city!

Due to the angle at which Wei Yuan had charged toward the city, and because the five Great Warlocks were all fleeing on instinct, they had scattered in three different directions. Aside from Shui Hou, who had flown straight out of Qingming’s domain, the remaining four Great Warlocks were still trapped in it.

Trueman Chu He soared into the air. For the first time in a while, he was able to fully embody the dignity of a Trueman. He single-handedly took on three opponents of the same cultivation level as he, his cat, and his snake each engaged a Great Warlock.

At the moment, the Great Warlocks were trapped in the Pure Realm of Humanity, while Wei Yuan was going wherever he pleased wielding the fearsome weapon, Twilight of the Immortal Path. Who would dare linger for even a second longer?

Consequently, none of them had any desire to fight, and their focus was solely on escaping.

Thanks to this, Trueman Chu He’s cat and snake got the upper hand against their opponents, while Trueman Chu He... fared less well, sustaining injuries the moment the battle began. That said, he was brimming with vitality, and his regenerative abilities ranked among the highest among all Avatar Truemen. It didn’t necessarily look good, but he still managed to lock down his opponent somehow.

Meanwhile, four immortal swords descended from the sky and encircled the last Great Warlock, causing their aura to plummet again and again. Half of their life force was instantly severed—and this was only because Zhang Sheng had purposely held back. Right after that, Sun Yu sprayed them with a burst of crimson-tinged-black pill fire, instantly causing a faint black toxic flame to ignite on their primordial spirit. It was so potent that their mind grew hazy, and their movements to stiffen.

Not far away, Yu Zhizhuo unleashed a beam of earth-yellow light that squarely struck the Great Warlock and caused its movements to become incredibly sluggish.

At this point, the Great Warlock knew that it was life-or-death. They struggled desperately, but trapped within the Pure Realm of Humanity and pinned down by three top-tier cultivators of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, how could they possibly make even a splash?

Just then, figures flashed below as dozens of cultivators rode the wind to the scene. They then unleashed a barrage of flashy Dao spells straight at the great Warlock, causing them to sustain a couple minor injuries!

The second wave of spells followed immediately after the first, but this time it was mixed with several exceptionally potent Dao spells! The Great Warlock was instantly gravely wounded, letting out a piercing scream as they struggled for dear life.

Sun Yu cautiously added another mouthful of pitch-black toxic flame, causing the Great Warlock to fall into a daze again. Fortunately, he managed to avoid killing the Shaman on the spot.

Among the crowd below, the Cui clansmen were all flushed with excitement and terror.

They had never come into such close contact with a Great Warlock before. The feeling was like an ordinary human encountering a lion in the wild with no cover to hide behind. With hearts pounding and hands trembling, they unleashed bursts of energy that barely, just barely qualified as Dao spells at the Great Warlock. It looked like a group of mischievous children pelting a mighty lion with pebbles.

Of course, their ranks also included disciples from the Skyblue Hall and the Water Moon Hall, who waited for the Cui clansmen to launch the first round of attacks before joining in on the second. Since their cultivation was roughly on par with Cui Yu’s, a single combined attack was enough to severely wound a Great Warlock, who was unable to defend himself.

Speaking of Cui Yu, the young man was watching from the sidelines. Although he was tempted to join in—in fact, Wei Yuan had urged him to do so from the very beginning—but he ultimately could not bring himself to accept handouts, so he kept his hands firmly behind his back and just stayed where he was[4].

During the third round of attack, a blaze of Dao energy engulfed the Great Warlock and finally killed them. Their defeat came as a surprise, and their death was a bitter and humiliating one.

A bookless, good-for-nothing young master from a collateral branch of the Cui Clan—dressed in lavish clothes with a greasy, powdered face to boot—suddenly let out a howl, “Five points! I actually scored five points of Heaven Merits! Hahahaha! Now I’m a man with Heaven Merits as well!”

Cui Yu kept a blank expression, but frustration was really churning inside his guts—pride really is a silent killer!

In truth, a few points of Heaven Merits meant little to Cui Yu. What he found unbearable was the fact that he would have to be ranked alongside such a good-for-nothing for the foreseeable future!

1. Looking back, I feel like instead of wasting “ken” on a one-time word that was probably a typo from the author it might have been cooler to just use ken for perception instead. At least it stands out as different from usual perception. ☜

2. You wouldn’t believe how many times the information gap has helped Wei Yuan out of sticky situations and into delicious ones again and again. ☜

3. God I don’t know how many times I’ve accidentally used he/him and have to retroactively correct it to they/them because they did not have a gender. I guess I could have used it but at this point it’s far too late for regrets. ☜

4. This guy really is too good for his own good. XD ☜