Dragon Canon

Chapter 152: How Much Are You Worth?

Wei Yuan unfolded a map and tapped on three separate locations. He said, “The Shamans have divided their forces into three columns this time. The one to the northwest is the strongest. The column in the northwest is the strongest, possibly numbering tens of thousands of soldiers. The one in the west has roughly twenty or thirty thousand, and the one in the southwest is the weakest, perhaps fewer than twenty thousand.”

Wei Yuan had estimated this by borrowing Qingming’s power to sense the shifts and changes of worldly qi. It wasn’t entirely accurate, but the relative positions were precise enough.

The closest force was less than two hundred li from the realm, and the farthest one was over three hundred li away. There were several hundred li of distance between each column as well.

At the moment, everyone from the Palace of Absolute Beginning, Yun Feifei and Xu Wan’er were all present. So, Wei Yuan said, “I’m planning to attack the enemy first. I bet they won’t see me leaving the domain and launching a preemptive attack. I should be able to catch them by surprise.”

He then looked at Bao Yun and said, “But before that, can you please speak to Big Senior Sister and check if I’ve missed anything? If everything looks good, then come back and meet up with us.”

Bao Yun nodded and vanished on the spot.

For this expedition, Wei Yuan left Xiao Yu to guard the realm as usual. This time, though, Zhang Sheng would be accompanying him to provide support. After mustering all elite cultivators and having Ji Liuli cast a feng shui array that enhanced their luck, they left the realm and raced southwest.

Wei Yuan was striking out in full force this time. He had left behind only a dozen or so wounded to guard the realm.

An hour later, Bao Yun joined up with him and brought him the latest intelligence.

The northwest column was the Shamans’ main force, fifty thousand strong. They were carrying a large amount of supplies and equipment and looking to set up camp along the boundary for a protracted battle. The west column was fifteen thousand strong, and they were carrying a lot of supplies as well. That was why they were moving at a fairly slow pace.

The southwest column numbered only nine thousand troops. Relatively speaking, they were also the column carrying the most amount of equipment. It looked like they were here to settle, not fight a war.

Bao Yun could not find any sign that might suggest that a Great Warlock was hiding among the three forces. Hearing her report, Wei Yuan was almost certain that the Great Warlocks had sensed his fake immortal trump card. Otherwise, at least one of them would be overseeing the troops. The fact that there was nothing proved that they were hiding and plotting to bait out the trump card.

Wei Yuan performed some mental calculations based on the directions Bao Yun had provided and pointed at a hilltop tens of li away from them. He said, “That is where we’ll be setting up an ambush.”

Two hours later, the fighters of the Shaman’s army finally made their appearance. They had split into two groups. One group was marching forward normally, while the other was trailing along a small river. They were walking along the riverbanks and pulling many flat-bottomed boats carrying a ton of supplies.

The boats had smooth hulls that were coated with a special oil. This setup allowed them to move through muddy swamps. If all else failed, they could be pushed along the ground as long as it was muddy enough. Here in the western regions, the boats were far more practical than the humans’ horse-drawn carriages.

When the Shaman’s main force had entered the ambush zone, Wei Yuan immediately issued a series of orders.

Ji Liuli would suppress the middle guard first where most of the Shaman nobles were concentrated, and the strongest soldiers were gathered.

Bao Yun would then move to suppress the vanguard, followed by Cui Yu and his guards launching a coordinated assault.

Yun Feifei and Xu Wan’er would lead the western region cultivators and attack the supply convoys along the river.

Finally, Wei Yuan would lead all the young masters and ladies to launch a surprise attack against the Shamans’ rearguard.

Out of the entire army, the rearguard was the most imposing and formidable of them all, numbering as many as two thousand troops!

The scions were conspicuously silent as they exchanged glances with each other. There were only seventeen of them in total including Wei Yuan, meaning that this was literally a hundred-to-one battle. Although they were all Dao Foundation stage cultivators, the Shamans had plenty of Dao Foundation stage warriors themselves.

The youngster with the keenest eyesight gazed into the distance. His face turned slightly pale as he reported, “Twenty one Dao Foundation; four middle-stage, one late-stage.”

This one has real potential! Wei Yuan praised mentally while clapping the youngster on the shoulder and asking, “Which one’s the late-stage?”

The youngster pointed, and Wei Yuan memorized the Shaman’s face. He would personally send him to the afterlife very soon.

The plan was set, and Wei Yuan waved his hand. The group immediately split up and stealthily made their way to their designated positions. With Bao Yun and Ji Liuli present, not a single Shaman was aware of the ambush.

Ten minutes later, the air suddenly changed dramatically. A huge pagoda appeared in the sky and suppressed most of the middle guard in one go!

Although there were dozens of Dao Foundation stage Warlocks in the middle guard, the pressure pressing down against their bodies were so heavy that they could barely move. They could do nothing but hold on with all their might.

Ji Liuli’s main goal was suppression this time, so not many Shamans were killed. The plan was to pin them in place first and slowly kill them over time. Any Shaman who failed to get out of the Devil Suppressing Nine Level Pagoda’s range in time would be dead within an hour.

Next, Bao Yun summoned a sandstorm against the vanguard as she had so many times at this point. The attack boasted a wide area of effect and was quite effective against the Shamans. As the sandstorm swept in, the Shaman tribe’s vanguard fell into chaos. Though the fighters caught in the storm were not seriously injured at first, they suffered intense pain and found it nearly impossible to concentrate.

Cui Yu and his guards arrived the moment the sandstorm began. He seized the opportunity presented by the Shamans’ confusion and launched a fierce charge, timing his attack perfectly.

The western region cultivators led by Xu Wan’er and Yun Feifei were exceptionally familiar with this area. They scattered like a pack of wolves and attacked the enemy from all directions. As the Shamans dragging the supply boats were no elites, they quickly fell into disarray. Many of them abandoned the boats and fled as well.

Finally, Wei Yuan spurred his horse forward and charged toward the Shamans’ rearguard. The young masters and ladies were following closely with their spears and large sabers as well.

Many of them looked as pale as a sheet and were trembling like a leaf, though. They had come to make a name for themselves, not commit suicide!

The enemy outnumbered them one hundred to one, and they were outside of the realm stone’s domain. Yet, they were charging straight toward the enemy. If this wasn’t suicide, then what was?

A good number of them immediately tried to slow down their horses and fall behind the group. They were going to escape as soon as the situation turned awry.

Wei Yuan was not Cui Yu. Frankly, they hadn’t accepted him as their new leader yet. They could die for Cui Yu, but Wei Yuan? Not yet.

However, the scions quickly discovered in shock and horror that their horses weren’t slowing down in the slightest. No matter what they tried, they could not so much as change the direction of its charge! One young master was so scared that he pulled the reins with all his might, almost turning his mount’s head completely toward him. Despite this, it was still charging straight ahead!

By now, the rearguard had discovered the shock cavalry. They turned in unison and pointed countless glinting spears in the enemy’s direction.

The scions were charging headlong into the forest of steel against their will. Some of them simply could not withstand the pressure and let out blood-curdling screams!

It was at this moment an indescribable sensation suddenly descended from above and encompassed everything within several hundred zhang. The young masters and ladies suddenly discovered that they were overflowing with strength and feeling better than ever before.

That said, just because they had strength didn’t mean that their fear had magically disappeared. When they looked, they saw Shamans of all shapes and sizes swinging countless weapons at them!

Driven by the pure instinct to live, they swung their own weapons with all their might, hoping to keep death at bay for even a second longer.

It was at this moment they finally realized the advantage of long weapons. Devastatingly powerful when swung in a whirl, every sweep or slash could mow down an entire group.

Some quickly realized that the Shamans weren’t as strong as they had imagined—at least, they were considerably weaker than the ones they had encountered on the way here—and suppressed their fear, focusing on the battle.

Others, however, remained gripped by fear, screaming as they attacked frantically. At this moment, madness was the only emotion that could quell their terror.

Time seemed to fly by, yet it also seemed to drag on.

Suddenly, the space in front of them cleared up, and the enemies were all gone. The young masters and ladies looked around in a daze and realized belatedly that they had cut through the enemy’s formation, leaving behind only a trail of corpses in their wake.

This was not the end, however. Wei Yuan turned his horse around and dropped a jade hill on top of the enemy, scattering them right as they had assembled. Then, he threw himself into a full charge toward the gap, the scions right behind him!

One sweet-looking girl was so scared during the first charge that she had used up all of her Dao energy in one go. As a result, she was so weak and numb that she couldn’t even lift her spear right now. When her mount turned around and charged toward the enemy formation once more, she finally lost her mind and tried to jump off the horse.

It was at this moment an invisible energy wrapped around her whole body and glued her to the horse’s back, preventing her from tomfoolery. At the same time, more energy flooded into her veins and squeezed out Dao energy she didn’t think existed.

The girl watched in horror as her hands wielded her spear with a level of ruthlessness and ferocity that far surpassed her own abilities. She was impaling enemies in one move and flinging them into the air with another, but it wasn’t her doing at all—it was the strange energy that had taken hold of her. Unable to do anything, she could only count the number of enemies she had killed. It was literally the only thing she could control about her body at the moment.

Once more, they had charged through the enemy ranks. The number on her lips had reached seventeen as well.

Wei Yuan turned his horse around and pointed toward the air. However, the jade hill did not appear this time. It was because the Shaman’s rearguard had fallen apart and were scattering in every direction. This wasn’t a good thing because the enemy was so scattered that his strongest Dao art had lost its effectiveness.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The claps came from an ordinary soldier in the rearguard. He just stood there and clapped his hands slowly. Considering that even the nobles were running away, the inconspicuous, ordinary soldier’s odd behavior felt out of place to say the least.

Staring at the soldier, Wei Yuan suddenly felt as if he was being watched by a vicious beast. Every hair on his body abruptly stood on end!

It’s a powerful enemy!

Ignoring his fleeing compatriots, the ordinary soldier began walking toward Wei Yuan step by step. Whenever a fighter came within three chi of him, they would automatically move out of the way. However, they did not seem to notice that they had circled around the soldier. They seemed to think that they were running in a straight line. For all intents and purposes, the soldier did not exist to them.

Wei Yuan had to hide a gasp. It felt like the soldier had a toe or two in the Dao!

The young masters and ladies noticed the oddity as well. They were inexperienced, but they weren’t ignorant. They could all tell that this Shaman was no ordinary soldier, and the real battle was upon them.

They stopped holding back and brought out their trump cards. Some people brought out top-tier mystic artifacts, while others produced rare talismans. Some people even wrote a letter on the spot and sent it away in a beam of light.

The letter wasn’t a call for help, of course. Any help would arrive far too late at this point. It was a letter detailing the characteristics of his would-be killer and a cry for revenge.

Wei Yuan waved his hand, and the mounts immediately took the scions away. They would only get in the way.

The ordinary soldier was walking toward him like the ground beneath his feet was perfectly even and flat. Wei Yuan was sensing a level of pressure he felt only when he was facing a Great Warlock or an Avatar.

The ordinary soldier finally came to a stop when he was ten zhang away from Wei Yuan. Any closer, and Wei Yuan would have attacked him for sure.

Staring at Wei Yuan, the ordinary soldiers began, “So, the humans have a fortuitous figure like you as well. The world seems to follow your every move. What a rarity! I heard that something has occurred in the east, and figured that a hero must have emerged among the humans. I had rushed here to meet you in person, and I must say that I am not disappointed!”

Wei Yuan dismounted and replied, “You flatter me.”

The ordinary soldier introduced himself, “My name is Tianyu. Tianyu Blackleaf. What is yours?”

“Wei Yuan.”

“Well met, Wei Yuan! Now, show me that you are qualified to be my opponent!”

The ordinary soldier peeled off his armor and revealed a tall, muscular body. Then, he grew to the height of one zhang and two chi in the blink of an eye!

Wei Yuan did not attack immediately. He examined his opponent closely before asking, “Are you famous?”

“I am renowned even on the Strength Warlock Ranking. What do you think?”

“Strength Warlock? What level of cultivation qualifies you to be on this ranking? Dao Foundation? Avatar?”

Tianyu shook his head. “Strength Warlock, Mystic Warlock, Blood Warlock, and Dao Warlock. All four rankings rate Warlocks only—or a Dao Foundation in your language.”

Oh, he’s a Dao Foundation.... While wearing a serious expression, Wei Yuan unleashed a hint of the Great Realm’s aura. His aura immediately swelled to the point where he felt like the world itself. He then said, “Since you’re willing to view me as your opponent, I won’t disappoint you as a matter of course! However, I must know if this is a duel between us, or a battle between our two races!”

Tianyu was puzzled. “Is there a difference?”

“If this is a duel, then whatever the outcome of this battle might be, it will end with us. But if this is a battle between our races, then let us save everyone some time and bring out our elders already. We can wrap up both battles in one go.”

Tianyu responded, “I have come alone. Of course I haven’t brought my Master or elder with me. Thus, this is a duel.”

“Alright. I have one last question for you.”

“Speak.”

Wei Yuan asked, “What is your ransom?”