Chapter 152

Wei Yuan spread out the map, tapped it three times, and said, "The Shaman tribe has split into three routes this time. The northwest direction has the strongest strength, possibly several tens of thousands; the west has about twenty to thirty thousand; the southwest is the weakest, perhaps less than twenty thousand."

This was Wei Yuan using the power of Qingming to perceive the changes in the Qi of heaven and earth. The troop numbers were all estimates and not accurate, but the relative positions were quite precise.

Of the three Shaman army routes, the closest was less than two hundred miles away, while the farthest was still over three hundred miles away, and they were also several hundred miles apart from each other.

At this time, the people from the Grand Void Palace, along with Yun Feifei and Xu Waner, were all present, so Wei Yuan said, "I plan to strike the southern route first. The Shaman tribe certainly won't expect us to leave the domain and take the initiative to attack; we can catch them by surprise."

Afterward, Wei Yuan said to Bao Yun, "I must trouble Senior Sister to go and take a look at all three routes. If there are no problems, come and rendezvous with us."

Bao Yun nodded, and her figure disappeared.

Wei Yuan left Xiaoyu to guard the home as usual, with Zhang Sheng accompanying to provide support. He then gathered all the elite cultivators, had Ji Liuli cast a Feng Shui array to bless them with good luck, and left the domain, rushing toward the southwest.

This time, Wei Yuan could be said to have mobilized his entire force, leaving only a dozen or so injured guards in the domain.

Half an hour later, Bao Yun rendezvoused with the troops and brought back the latest intelligence.

The northwest was the main Shaman force, numbering fifty thousand, and they had brought a large amount of heavy supplies, looking as if they intended to build a camp at the edge of the domain in preparation for a long-term battle. The west had fifteen thousand and also brought many supplies, so both these routes were moving slowly.

The southwest route only had nine thousand. This route had relatively the most supplies; they didn't look like they were here to fight a war, but rather like they were here to settle down.

Among the three army routes, Bao Yun did not see any traces of hidden Great Shamans.

After hearing Bao Yun's intelligence, Wei Yuan judged that the Great Shamans had likely already sensed the so-called immortal means in his hands.

If they hadn't sensed it, such a large force would certainly have Great Shamans presiding over it. But now, with not a single trace, it instead indicated that all the Great Shamans were hiding, intending to trick him into revealing the immortal means first.

According to the location provided by Bao Yun, Wei Yuan calculated silently, pointed to a hilltop several dozen miles away, and said, "We will set our ambush there."

An hour later, the large group of Shaman warriors finally appeared in their field of vision.

They were divided into two teams: one team marched in a normal formation, while the other followed a small river. The river contained many small, flat-bottomed boats piled high with supplies, being towed by Shaman warriors on both sides of the river.

These boats had smooth bottoms and were coated with a special oil layer, allowing them to move even in muddy swamps. If all else failed, as long as there was mud on the ground, they could be pushed along; in this Western Region land, they were much more practical than human carriages.

Seeing the Shaman army enter the ambush circle, Wei Yuan immediately deployed: Ji Liuli would suppress the central army, as that was where the Shaman noble clans were concentrated and where the strongest individuals were.

Bao Yun would strike first to suppress the vanguard, and then Cui Yu would lead the guards to attack together. Yun Feifei and Xu Waner would lead the Western Region cultivators to attack the transport troops along the river.

Finally, there was Wei Yuan; Wei Yuan would lead all the young masters and young ladies to assault the Shaman rear guard.

Among these troops, the Shaman rear guard had the most majestic and imposing military appearance, numbering two thousand!

The group of young masters and young ladies looked at one another, all remaining silent. Including Wei Yuan, there were only seventeen of them in total; it was no exaggeration to say they were facing a hundred enemies each. Although everyone was in the Dao Foundation Realm, the Shaman rear guard also had a significant number of Dao Foundation warriors and Shaman priests.

The youth with the best eyesight looked far into the distance, his face turning pale as he said, "Twenty-one Dao Foundations, four in the middle stage and one in the late stage."

A talent! Wei Yuan praised him in his heart, then patted his shoulder and asked, "Which one is the late stage?"

The youth pointed it out, and Wei Yuan kept it in mind, preparing to send him on his way first in a moment.

With the plan decided, Wei Yuan waved his hand, and the group separated, stealthily moving toward their predetermined positions. With Bao Yun and Ji Liuli present, the entire Shaman force remained completely unaware of the ambush.

Ten minutes later, the world suddenly changed; a giant tower several zhang tall appeared out of thin air, suppressing most of the central army in one fell swoop!

Although the Shaman tribe had dozens of Dao Foundation Shaman priests in the central army, they were all suppressed to the point of being almost unable to move, struggling bitterly to hold on. This time, Ji Liuli focused primarily on suppression and secondarily on killing, first pinning down their movements and then grinding them to death bit by bit. If the Shaman tribe couldn't escape the range of the Demon-Suppressing Tower, they would all be suppressed and killed after half an hour.

Bao Yun continued to raise the wind and sand; this attack excelled in its persistence and massive coverage, and it had a special effect on the Shaman tribe. Once the wind and sand rose, the Shaman vanguard fell into chaos. Although the Shaman warriors who were hit by the wind and sand were not severely injured at first, they felt extreme pain, making it almost impossible for them to concentrate.

As soon as the wind and sand rose, Cui Yu had already led the guards to arrive, taking advantage of the Shaman chaos to launch a charge; the timing was captured perfectly.

Xu Waner, Yun Feifei, and other Western Region cultivators were exceptionally familiar with this terrain, scattering like a pack of wolves to attack everywhere. Those towing the transport boats were not elites either, and they quickly fell into a mess, with many abandoning their boats and fleeing.

Wei Yuan spurred his horse and leveled his spear, charging toward the Shaman rear guard.

The young masters and young ladies, each holding long spears and broadswords, followed Wei Yuan in the charge, but many of them had pale faces and trembling hands. They were here to build merit and establish a career, not to throw their lives away!

Knowing there were a hundred times as many enemies, and being outside the domain, charging forward—if this wasn't throwing their lives away, what was?

Several of them immediately intended to slow their horses and quietly fall behind, preparing to turn around and run as soon as the situation turned bad. Wei Yuan was not Cui Yu; to be honest, these people were still not convinced by Wei Yuan. They could live and die with Cui Yu, but Wei Yuan was not yet at that level.

However, these young masters and young ladies were horrified to discover that no matter how they urged their horses, they couldn't slow down at all, and they couldn't even change direction! One young master, in his panic, pulled desperately on the reins, but even though the horse's head was pulled back almost to the point of breaking, it still charged straight ahead!

The Shaman rear guard had already discovered this raiding cavalry, turning in unison, with countless long spears flashing with chilling cold light, pointed in their direction.

The group of young masters and young ladies crashed into the steel forest formed by the long spears just like that; a few of them couldn't withstand the pressure and screamed out loud!

An indescribable feeling suddenly descended from the sky, covering the surrounding hundreds of zhang of heaven and earth. The young masters and young ladies discovered that they were suddenly filled with strength, feeling better than they ever had before.

But strength was one thing, and fear still existed. They looked out, and their field of vision was filled with strangely dressed Shaman warriors and countless weapons hacking toward them! Driven by the instinct for survival, these few people swung their weapons desperately, sweeping away the Shaman warriors around them. Only then did they discover the benefit of long weapons; when swung, they were incomparably fierce, and whether sweeping or hacking, they cleared a path with every strike. Some immediately discovered that the Shaman tribe didn't seem as strong as they had imagined—at least weaker than the interceptions they had encountered on the way here—so they suppressed their fear and focused on the battle.

Others remained controlled by fear, screaming while attacking desperately; at this time, only madness could suppress fear.

Time seemed very short, yet also very long.

The young masters and young ladies suddenly found the space in front of them empty; there were no more enemies. They looked around blankly, only then discovering that they had unknowingly charged through the enemy formation, leaving a trail of corpses behind them.

Ahead, Wei Yuan turned his horse around. In the sky in front, a jade mountain whistled down, smashing the newly gathered Shaman army to pieces. Immediately, Wei Yuan charged again, and all the young masters and young ladies followed closely, each one fearless of death!

A sweet girl had been overly frightened during the last charge, resulting in her exhausting her Dao power in one go, and now her whole body was weak, unable to even lift her spear. When the warhorse carried her to charge at the enemy formation again, she finally broke down and wanted to jump off the horse.

However, an invisible force enveloped her entire body, sticking her firmly to the horse's back, making it impossible for her to jump off. At the same time, power continuously surged into her body, squeezing out much Dao power she had thought didn't exist.

Then, the young girl watched in horror as her own hands swung the long spear, stabbing and tossing the enemies away one by one; the sharpness and ruthlessness of her spear technique were far beyond what she herself possessed. At this moment, she could do nothing but count how many people she had killed one by one. This was the only thing she could control regarding her own body right now.

In a daze, the sweet girl followed the cavalry and charged through the enemy formation once more, and the number in her mouth reached seventeen.

Wei Yuan turned his horse back and pointed a hand toward the sky. This time, the jade mountain hadn't even appeared, but the Shaman rear guard had already collapsed, fleeing in all directions.

!.

Wei Yuan only pointed at the sky; no jade mountain appeared. The enemy was too scattered now, leaving his most lethal Dao technique with no place to be used.

Clap, clap, clap! Suddenly, a round of applause rang out, and they saw an ordinary soldier in the Shaman rear guard standing still, clapping one beat at a time. Among the Shaman nobles fleeing in all directions, this most inconspicuous little soldier appeared completely out of place at this moment.

Looking at this little soldier, Wei Yuan suddenly had the feeling of being stared at by a ferocious beast, and the hairs all over his body stood on end!

This was a formidable enemy!

That ordinary little soldier ignored his fleeing colleagues and walked toward Wei Yuan step by step. All Shaman warriors within three feet of him would automatically detour, but they seemed unaware that they had made a detour, thinking they were running in a straight line. In their eyes, they also seemed completely unable to see this little soldier.

Wei Yuan gasped; did this already have the flavor of entering the Dao?

Seeing that little soldier, the group of young masters and young ladies also felt something was wrong. They only had little experience, but their vision was not low; they all saw the extraordinary nature of this little soldier and knew that a real major battle was about to arrive.

The young masters and young ladies no longer held back, one after another taking out their trump card treasures. Some took out supreme-rank magic tools, some opened rare talismans, and others simply wrote a letter on the spot and then waved their hands, turning it into light that flew away.

This letter was not calling for help—how could calling for help be in time now? He wrote clearly in the letter who the enemy was, asking his family to send people to avenge him.

Wei Yuan waved his hand, and the warhorses automatically moved backward, taking this group of young masters and young ladies away to avoid getting in the way.

Just watching the little soldier's pace as he walked through heaven and earth as if on flat ground, Wei Yuan felt a pressure he only felt when facing a Great Shaman's Dharma Form.

The little soldier walked until he was ten zhang away before stopping his steps. If he took one more step forward, Wei Yuan would be unable to resist launching an attack.

The little soldier stared at Wei Yuan and said, "So there are such grand and imposing figures among the human race, with the Qi of heaven and earth in every gesture; it is truly rare to see! I heard that changes occurred in the East, and I guessed that heroes must have emerged, so I rushed over to take a look; it was indeed not a wasted trip!"

Wei Yuan dismounted and said, "You flatter me."

The little soldier said, "I am Tianyu Wuye. What is your name?"

"Wei Yuan."

"Good, Wei Yuan! Let me see if you are qualified to be an opponent of me, Tianyu!" The little soldier ripped off his armor, revealing a burly and robust body, and then he grew section by section, in the blink of an eye reaching a height of twelve feet!

Wei Yuan didn't move immediately but observed the other party carefully, suddenly asking, "Are you very famous?"

"I am also a person of note on the Power Shaman Ranking; what do you think?"

"Power Shaman Ranking? What realm can get on this ranking? Are Dharma Form and Dao Foundation both okay?"

Tianyu shook his head: "Power Shaman, Dharma Shaman, Blood Shaman, Dao Shaman—these four rankings only evaluate Shaman priests, which is what you call Dao Foundation."

So it's a Dao Foundation... Wei Yuan looked solemn, releasing a wisp of the aura of ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains. His entire person's momentum rose infinitely in an instant, faintly possessing the feeling of the vastness of heaven and earth, and then he said: "Since you are willing to regard me as an opponent, then I naturally will not let you down! But I want to know, is this a decisive battle between us, or a battle between our two races?"

Tianyu was startled: "What is the difference?"

"If it is a decisive battle between us, then let it end with us. If it is a battle between our two races, then it would be better to call out the teachers and elders directly and finish it all at once."

Tianyu said: "I came alone; where would I have any teachers or elders? Naturally, it is a battle between you and me."

"Very well, one last question."

"Speak."

Wei Yuan asked: "How much can your ransom be?"

(End of chapter)