Longzang

Chapter 87 Chasing the Light Northward, Riding the Wind Southward (Two Chapters Combined)

Sun Chaoen appeared beside Wei Yuan at some point. After reading the entire letter, Sun Chaoen said, "You can let go but not rein it in. You are arrogant and unrestrained. If the teacher sees your handwriting, you will surely get another scolding!"

“Indeed.” Wei Yuan nodded, then suddenly two tears fell and shattered on his chest armor.

Wei Yuan raised his hand to wipe his face; his hand was warm. When he turned to look at Sun Chaoen, his clothes were already soaked with tears.

Wei Yuan wiped his face again and suddenly noticed an arrow in the corner. It was the signal arrow that Wei Yuan had left for Fang Hetong. As soon as it was shot, Wei Yuan would know that a powerful enemy was attacking and would rush back immediately.

However, despite the arrow being within reach, Fang Hetong never used it.

Wei Yuan thought for a moment before he understood. The Liao barbarians had launched a massive southward invasion, and the surrounding area was already engulfed in war. Those with the resources to provide assistance had already done so. Wei Yuan himself didn't have a strong foundation, and no one would turn back to save him. Fang Hetong, with his keen insight into the world, had long seen this through the comparison between Wei Yuan and Li Zhi.

If the arrow is fired, Wei Yuan will be the first to arrive, and only Wei Yuan will arrive.

Wei Yuan wiped his face again, put down the signal arrow, and then scanned the Jingguan with his divine sense. Suddenly, he was startled: "Where's the head?"

Fang Hetong had achieved the Dao Foundation, so even if he died, a trace of his spirit would remain in his sea of ​​consciousness and wouldn't immediately dissipate. However, when Wei Yuan scanned the hundreds of heads in the Jingguan, there was no sign of any primordial spirit being forged among them, and Fang Hetong's head was not among them.

Sun Chaoen also scanned the area with his divine sense, and suddenly his expression changed: "It's a Liao barbarian tradition to make wine cups from the skulls of powerful enemies! Junior Brother Fang's skull..."

Wei Yuan felt something rush upwards from below, straight to the top of his head, and then explode at the top of his head!

At this moment, Wang Delu was still kowtowing repeatedly before Fang Hetong's corpse. Sun Chaoen was now furious. He strode over, drew his long sword, and was about to strike him down!
Wang Delu was so terrified that he collapsed to the ground, kicking his legs and backing away, shouting, "Lord Sun, we are both officials of the imperial court! You, you can't kill me! According to the law, execution can only be carried out after the prefect issues an order and reports to the governor! If you kill me, you are committing unauthorized killing of an official of the imperial court!!"

Sun Chaoen's sword stopped in mid-air. He was only half a rank higher than Wang Delu, and according to the laws of Jin and Tang, he could not kill Wang Delu; otherwise, it would be unauthorized killing, punishable by death and the extermination of his entire clan.

Just as Sun Chaoen was grappling with his own anger and the laws of the court, he suddenly felt a lightness in his hand, and the long sword was already in Wei Yuan's grasp.

"Immortal Master, please spare me..." Wang Delu's scream came to an abrupt halt. Wei Yuan raised his sword and brought it down, the head flying far away, the blood spurting from the neck splashing at Fang Hetong's feet!

Wei Yuan beheaded Wang Delu, said nothing, and walked out. He took one step and was already out of the ancestral hall, and the second step was already at the gate of the fortified village.

With a long neigh, the warhorse galloped towards them. Wei Yuan leaped up and landed lightly on its back. A flash of lightning appeared, and a twelve-foot-long spear pierced through the air, landing in Wei Yuan's hand.

The horse was an ordinary horse, and the gun was an iron gun.

As Sun Chaoen rushed out of the ancestral hall, he saw the spear suddenly grow thicker and longer, its aura profound and boundless, and mysterious patterns appearing on its shaft. Strands of black energy seeped into the warhorse's body, causing it to neigh in agony and stamp its hooves repeatedly, clearly in excruciating pain. But with each stomp, its size increased, transforming in the blink of an eye into a colossal horse, ten and a half feet long, incomparably powerful and domineering!

The warhorse's hooves, now the size of water vats, suddenly emitted faint bluish-green flames. When it stomped the ground again, the entire village trembled, leaving behind charred hoofprints.

With a resounding neigh of a warhorse that shook the heavens and the earth, Wei Yuan spurred his horse northward, heading towards the Liao region!
Sun Chaoen suddenly realized what was happening and grabbed the county magistrate, shouting, "Quickly send someone to inform General Li Zhi, and also tell Liao Jingwu to send troops immediately! They must provide support..."

With a forceful effort, large patches of blood appeared on his chest and back, and his vision went black as he fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Wei Yuan broke through the billowing yellow mist and charged into the Liao Domain. As soon as he entered the Liao Domain, an invisible giant net covered Wei Yuan's head, and his body was covered with a greasy, sticky feeling, as if there were foreign particles everywhere. His vision was immediately halved, and the circulation of his Dao power also slowed down a bit.

But in Wei Yuan's eyes, there was a faint white light flickering ahead, like a candle flame in a storm, which could be extinguished at any moment. This was a trace of spirituality scattered from Fang Hetong's primordial spirit that had not yet dissipated. Even a Dharma Aspect True Person would find it difficult to detect. Only Wei Yuan, who was born with extraordinary senses and possessed near-supernatural hearing abilities, could see it.

Far ahead, a faint light flickered, and further still, another. These faint lights guided Wei Yuan along a path northward.

In the midst of his frantic run, a thought suddenly surfaced in Wei Yuan's blank mind: "If Brother Fang knew I could see the radiant spiritual light, he might just self-destruct his primordial spirit..."

This idea quickly vanished into the blankness of my consciousness.

The flames on the warhorse's hooves grew increasingly intense, and its hooves gradually lifted off the ground, as if it were walking on air. The spear's tip was sharp and twisted, unlike any weapon of the present day. Every time the spearhead swept across, it left a black trail, like ink marks left by a brush on paper, lingering for a long time.

The vast Liaodong Peninsula stretched out like a turbid sea. A lone rider braved the waves and rode northward, leaving a long trail behind him.

The wind ahead had become so thick it felt almost tangible, no longer a gust of wind blowing against him, but more like a giant wave crashing down on him. Wei Yuan felt as if he were covered in countless spiderwebs, and every movement required several times more effort than before. The yellow energy that had been broken through and left behind was unwilling to give up, rolling in relentlessly after him.

Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness surged, and the black energy that had accumulated over many years dissipated one by one, offsetting the malice from the world.

Yes, malice.

It seemed as if the entire Liao region was awakening, staring at this overconfident insect with hatred, and using more and more power to stop him, strike him, and destroy him.

Wei Yuan didn't know how long he had been running, but by now the faint light on the road ahead had disappeared! The yellow aura of the Liao region had formed a storm, completely extinguishing Fang Hetong's last spiritual fire.

The jade toad appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness, its eyes turning pure black. No, that wasn't black, but nothingness, a nothingness that could devour everything, including black.

A few glimmers of light appeared on the road ahead.

Wei Yuan suddenly realized that the faint light he saw was not real, but rather the faint light that had not yet gone out a moment ago.

Wei Yuan lowered his body, becoming one with his horse, and his speed increased dramatically again as he chased the light northward!

A gigantic yellow storm appeared in the distance, its billowing yellow vapors swirling slowly, forming a tornado with a core spanning dozens of miles, connecting the earth and the sky. Within the storm, a faint light flickered. Without a second thought, Wei Yuan spurred his horse and charged into the storm!

At the eye of the storm, there was a small, crystal-clear lake. The water was so blue and transparent that you could see right to the bottom. The bottom wasn't sand, but countless colorful pebbles, which rippled like a rainbow in the water.

There are groves of trees along the lake, and beyond the trees stretches a vast, carpet-like meadow dotted with countless unnamed wildflowers.

This is a land blessed by heaven and earth, teeming with life, tranquil and beautiful. Snow-white tents dot the grassland, and not far away, herds of snow-white warhorses, each two feet taller than ordinary Liao horses, are exceptionally magnificent. These warhorses do not graze on the grass, but rather eat their fodder obediently from their troughs. Occasionally, they raise their hooves, but they land gently, as if afraid to harm this precious land bestowed by heaven.

Inside the tent, strong men, even among the Liao people, could be seen coming and going. Sometimes they would fetch water, sometimes they would check on the horses. Everyone was barefoot, without boots, for fear of trampling on the grass.

In the largest tent, the young Liao man who had kicked over the wheel sat in the center. He was a head taller than the other men in the tent, standing nine feet tall, his robes wide open, revealing a body covered in thick chest hair and bulging muscles. His face was very young, looking as if he were only twenty years old, and his bronze skin was flawless.

He sat back in his animal-skin chair, a rhinoceros horn wine cup in his left hand, lost in thought, appearing somewhat dejected and helpless. The low table in front of him was laden with vegetables and fruits, devoid of any meat; only milk tea and milk wine were considered a delicacy. On this sacred lake, meat was considered disrespectful.

The young Liao man had a tray next to him with a human head on it.

"Young Master, it's just a southern sheep. Killing it is no big deal. Why overthink it?"

The young Liao man looked at the wine in his cup and said, "You don't understand. He is a hero, but there are heroes in Nanyang too."

The people inside the tent looked at each other, somewhat confused. Someone said, "Didn't he die at the young master's hands?"

The young Liao man shook his head: "Some heroes cannot be measured by strength. Although he was defeated, I never saw fear in his eyes, nor the false rage that fear transformed into. He was calm, calmly exerting his greatest strength, killing the most people, and then calmly facing death. It's a pity he rejected my goodwill. If such a person were to submit to me, he would be my best and smartest hunting dog. A good dog is much more valuable than dozens of cavalrymen."

No one knew what to say. Suddenly, the ground of the tent shook, all the plates on the low table jumped up, and then several screams rang out from outside.

"Enemies!" The warriors in the tent rushed out in a swarm, but the young Liao man remained calm, picking up a long-handled battle axe. Before leaving the tent, he looked at the severed head on the tray and asked, "Is it your friend?" The head, of course, did not answer.

The young Liao man lifted the tent flap and went outside.

At the edge of the meadow, Wei Yuan swung his spear, throwing a knight to the ground. Seven or eight corpses lay around him.

The warhorse snorted, spewing out two balls of fire, then trotted forward. Its flaming hooves slammed into the grass, instantly scorching a large patch of earth.

A tall Liao man who stepped out of the tent witnessed this scene and flew into a rage. He leaped up and swung his sword at Wei Yuan! His long sword had a five-foot blade and a three-foot hilt, making it exceptionally fierce. This Liao man's strength was even slightly superior to that of an ordinary centurion, and Wei Yuan looked around and saw at least seven or eight others like him!

Seeing the blade slashing down at him, Wei Yuan neither dodged nor evaded. His spear moved like a dragon, striking first despite being behind, and pierced directly through the Liao man's chest!

The longsword continued its downward slash, striking Wei Yuan in the shoulder. The armor, battle robes, and even flesh were cleaved by the blade, ultimately stopped by bone.

More and more Liao soldiers emerged from their tents, howling as they charged towards Wei Yuan. The weakest of these Liao cavalrymen were equivalent to ordinary Liao cavalry captains, roughly on par with humans who had achieved the Great Perfection of Body Refinement.

Wei Yuan spurred his horse forward, neither dodging nor avoiding. Every time a Liao soldier slashed at him, he would return the favor with a spear. In the blink of an eye, Wei Yuan was stabbed dozens of times, leaving a charred path on the grass, with countless corpses lying by the roadside.

In Wei Yuan's eyes, this picturesque lakeside paradise was filled with yellow mist, so thick it resembled rippling water. Every move Wei Yuan made consumed his Dao power rapidly. If it weren't for the celestial fortune he had accumulated over the years, Wei Yuan would have collapsed from exhaustion by now. Therefore, Wei Yuan didn't hesitate to choose to trade injury for life, killing as many enemies as possible as quickly as possible.

In the blink of an eye, only the young Liao man and two centurion-level subordinates remained before Wei Yuan. The young Liao man had been observing Wei Yuan without making a move. Now, he nodded in satisfaction and said, "You are strong, but too young, still a fledgling. You cannot defeat me. Why don't you come with me? I will ask the Grand Preceptor to give you a Liao body, and from now on you will be my best hunting eagle! I will take you hunting freely under this endless sky! With you, my hunting grounds will no longer be limited to Agula!"

Wei Yuan didn't say a word, dismounted, and strode forward. His spear dragged across the grass, rose up, and thrust straight at the young Liao man's heart!

The young Liao man's pupils contracted sharply. Wei Yuan's shot had no fancy moves, it was just fast and heavy, faster than anyone could have imagined!
The young Liao man never expected that Wei Yuan's first move would be to take them both down with him! At this moment, he had no time to dodge, let out a deafening roar, grabbed the gun with one hand and held it tightly, while swinging his battle axe down fiercely on Wei Yuan's head.

The young Liao man possessed unparalleled strength, yet he was no match for Wei Yuan, whose physical strength was equivalent to several Mingwang Palace Heavenly Rank Dao Foundation cultivators. The spear shaft rubbed against his palm, relentlessly advancing with a piercing metallic scraping sound. When the spearhead struck his bronze skin, the very tip was twisted by the iron-hard flesh, but it still managed to break through the skin and penetrate the flesh, finally lodging between his ribs.

Facing the axe coming down on his head, Wei Yuan bent his arm to block. The golden giant axe almost severed his forearm, and pressed down with it. Wei Yuan tilted his head, and the axe blade cut into his left shoulder, severing half of his shoulder bone, before finally getting stuck.

The young Liao man had already cultivated to the Dao Foundation and Spirit Nourishing Realm, beginning to nurture his Dharma Form, but he never expected that their first exchange would result in mutual destruction. Wei Yuan's physical body was even stronger than that of the young master of the Agula tribe, who had been renowned for his physique since childhood.

"This should be his limit," the young Liao man thought, preparing to persuade him one more time. There were many fearless southern sheep, so killing them was fine, but the death of a fledgling eagle was a great pity. A good falcon could be exchanged for an entire brave and warlike small tribe.

But before he could speak, he suddenly saw Wei Yuan's eyes. Those eyes were unfathomable, as if they connected to another world.

Dozens of black wisps of energy vanished simultaneously from Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness. The Heaven and Earth Madman activated, unleashing a chilling and ruthless killing intent. Several profound patterns appeared on the spear that had been stuck, propelled by an unparalleled force, slicing through the ribs blocking its path, shattering all the internal organs along its way, and then emerging from his back!
The two subordinates were shocked and rushed over to help, but Wei Yuan snatched the Liao tribe's young master's golden axe and used the handle to kill the two men.

The spear that had pierced through his body now felt as heavy as a mountain. The Liao tribe's young master's knees cracked and shattered as he fell heavily to the ground. For the first time, he showed panic, crying out, "Don't kill me! If you kill me, my father will know immediately, and you will never escape our territory! If you release me, I can give you the status of a Liao warrior, freeing you from your lowly status and allowing you to join my tribe..."

Wei Yuan withdrew his spear, and with a swift stroke, the young master's head flew off.

Wei Yuan grabbed the young master's head and entered the largest tent. A faint light was still flickering inside. Wei Yuan's gaze fell on the head on the tray. He paused for a moment before walking over and slowly picking up the head.

Blood gushed down Wei Yuan's arm, onto his hand, then onto Fang Hetong's head, flowing over his face and mixing with his blood.

Wei Yuan turned and left the tent. The lakeside paradise before him suddenly shattered like a bubble. The grass and trees were still there, but the small lake disappeared into thin air. In front of Wei Yuan, there was a jade bowl filled with clear water and colorful fine sand at the bottom.

Wei Yuan picked up the jade bowl and silently estimated the distance he had to travel back. When he came, Wei Yuan had only thought of retrieving Fang Hetong's head, but his primordial spirit had already memorized everything along the way. Now, reflecting on it, Wei Yuan realized that this place was a full 1,100 li from the border of the Liao Region. Unbeknownst to him, he had actually penetrated a thousand li into the Liao Region!
Wei Yuan put Fang Hetong's head and the jade bowl into his backpack, hung it on his warhorse, and prepared to return.

Just then, a yellow mist rose into the sky from afar, and a giant white eagle flew out from the mountain-like yellow mist, its wings covering the sky and the sun!

"How dare you harm my child! I will make you wish you were dead, your soul tormented for eternity!" The deafening voice echoed through the air, amplified by the surrounding heavens and earth. Countless yellow wisps of energy surged forth like ocean waves, transforming into layers of shackles, attempting to imprison Wei Yuan. With a cry from a giant eagle, a massive eagle talon appeared in the air, its claws, over ten zhang long, crashing down upon Wei Yuan!
Wei Yuan still remembered the aura of the giant eagle; it was the same Northern Liao Dharma Aspect expert who had fought a human True Person across the sky above Baoyunwu Fortress. At that time, he had fired four arrows from a distance of ten thousand feet, shooting down a flying boat and causing both him and the human True Person to be severely injured.

The giant claws, as large as mountains, pressed down with unparalleled force!

While there are many legends about the path to immortality, there has never been a precedent of someone who has not yet established their Dao Foundation fighting against a Dharma Avatar. Now that he is already within the range of a Dharma Avatar's attack, Wei Yuan has no chance of survival no matter what.

The giant claw was wreathed in a thick yellow aura, and even the surrounding world seemed to be aiding this attack.

Wei Yuan smiled bitterly to himself, wondering if the heavens and earth were giving him too much credit.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and await death, a cyan sword aura suddenly shot out from between his brows, transforming into countless raindrops that wrapped around the giant claw. Although the raindrops were fine, the giant claw was unable to fall, resulting in a stalemate!

The raindrops spread rapidly, climbing up the eagle's talons and reaching its entire body.

As the rain fell, the yellow mist dissipated. Zhang Sheng's figure emerged from the rain and mist, standing with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the giant snow-capped eagle that blotted out the sky, showing no fear. At that moment, Wei Yuan suddenly understood what it meant to have an invincible heart.

The eagle's talons, entangled in the rain, retracted, but the giant eagle extended another massive talon, slashing down fiercely! This time, the talon tore through the rain, its blade slicing across Zhang Sheng's figure, ripping him to pieces. As Zhang Sheng's figure shattered, another figure seemed to appear, but it too was torn apart by the eagle's talons.

Wei Yuan had long forgotten that Zhang Sheng had sealed a sword aura within him, but he never expected that after so many years, this sword aura would still be there. When Zhang Sheng's figure appeared, Wei Yuan almost thought his teacher had arrived. However, within that sword aura was a wisp of Zhang Sheng's primordial spirit, and as the sword aura was torn apart, Zhang Sheng's primordial spirit was also torn apart at the same time!

Wei Yuan felt his heart being violently clenched, followed by a fit of rage!
Large swathes of black energy vanished from Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness, and a massive shadow faintly appeared above his head, as if winding its way from ancient times! Wei Yuan took a step forward, raised his spear to the sky, and thrust it with all his might into the tip of the descending eagle claw. Spear and claw clashed, and surprisingly, they remained locked in a stalemate!

The giant claw alone had a claw tip that was over ten zhang long, and the giant eagle in the sky had wings that blotted out the sky. Wei Yuan, along with his spear, was only about two zhang long, less than an ant in front of the giant eagle. But this spear had withstood the giant claw, ignoring the difference in cultivation level, and unafraid of the obstacles of heaven and earth or the suppression of the great fortune.

Even if the sky were to collapse, there would be a spear to hold it up!
Wei Yuan never used any particular technique with his gun; he relied solely on speed and ruthlessness. This was the first shot he had learned from despair and rage: a counterattack.

A shadow darkened the giant claw, countless cracks spreading and crawling upwards along its hook. A painful cry rang out from the giant eagle in the air, its wings also stained black with countless feathers. The snow mountain eagle was forced to retract the claw, then its wings shrunk back, scattering clumps of blackened feathers. With a final scream, the eagle shrank instantly and disappeared into the distance, hovering motionless on the distant horizon. Countless yellow wisps of energy surged from the surrounding heavens and earth, converging around the giant eagle, and new feathers faintly began to sprout from the broken feathers.

The giant eagle of the snow mountain had already been injured on the battlefield, and now it was severely injured again, leaving it unable to fight. It had to rely on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to heal itself and was temporarily unable to move.

Wei Yuan looked up at the sky, glanced deeply at the yellow energy rushing towards the giant eagle, and turned to leave. But with each step he took, he left a bloody trail. The giant eagle's attack had aggravated all of Wei Yuan's injuries; even with his strong physique, he couldn't stop the bleeding.

It's time to escape.

However, Wei Yuan did not intend to simply escape.

He gestured, and a tall, pure black Liao horse in the distance suddenly neighed furiously, leaping about as if possessed. In Wei Yuan's divine sense, this Liao horse's soul was ten times stronger than that of an ordinary Liao horse, making it a demonic creature equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was extremely ferocious and violent, repeatedly shattering the black energy that tried to control it. But Wei Yuan remained unmoved; streams of black energy flowed into the Liao horse's body, ruthlessly crushing its soul!

The Liao horse quieted down and stood in front of Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan moved his backpack onto the horse, then picked up the head of the Liao clan's young master and the golden axe, and hung them on the back of the horse.

Wei Yuan mounted his horse, and the Liao horse let out a long neigh, its hooves blazing with fire, and galloped away on the wind.

The Snow Eagle Cavalry reveres white, and there is only one black horse in the entire camp—the mount of the Liao tribe's young lord—to highlight its exclusivity. Now, Wei Yuan is riding his horse, carrying his severed head and his personal weapon; this is a clear provocation.

Provoking the millions of Liao tribesmen who control the bow and arrow, provoking the snow-capped mountain eagle's Dharma form that stretches across the sky, provoking the omnipresent yellow aura, provoking this Liao territory!
When Wei Yuan came, he was determined to advance north, but when he fled, he fled with unrestrained arrogance.

He rode swiftly, like lightning, heading south on the wind.

P.S.: It's going to be available tomorrow. I'm ready, are you?
(End of this chapter)