After Qingming had acknowledged a master, and the environment within a hundred li was changing toward the Pure Realm of Humanity, Wei Yuan’s range of perception was slowly growing further and further as well. Right now, he could perceive the birds, fishes, even the insects within several li of him.

It was at this moment Wei Yuan noticed a hundred warriors surrounding the dilapidated house Yun Feifei was hiding at. There were five Dao Foundation stage cultivators among the group, and their leader was none other than the young swordsman whose face had been smashed open by his golden cauldron.

Ten li to the west, there was a group of Shaman fighters. It was dozens strong and boasted two Dao Foundation stage warriors.

At the moment, the young swordsman was looking at his direction with astonishment and puzzlement. He did not understand why the main chamber had collapsed all of a sudden, but he wasn’t worried. The Avatar inside the hall was his clan elder; one who was known for his authority. There was simply no way an accident could befall a high Avatar, which was why the young swordsman decided not to check out the situation.

On the other side, the group of Shaman fighters grew restless all of a sudden. Its two Dao Foundation stage cultivators had gotten to their feet and were pacing back and forth with clear anxiety. Shamans were more perceptive toward the changes in the environment than humans, and right now they could tell that their surroundings no longer felt comfortable. Not only did their skin feel unnaturally dry, it was itching non-stop and causing them to scratch themselves incessantly. It wasn’t long before everyone’s skin was covered in bloody marks.

Wei Yuan furrowed his brow slightly and drew upon his limited knowledge of military strategy, pondering the order of his future actions.

The Great Realm was still manifested in reality, and its sphere of influence was just wide enough to encompass the young swordsman’s group. As Qingming transformed the world around it, wisps of spirit energy were beginning to flow out of the earth and enter his body. Finally, his depleted Dao energy was recovering little by little.

A moment of quick thinking later, Wei Yuan realized that it did not matter who he attacked first. The outcome was the same regardless. Thus, he made the snap decision to charge toward the young swordsman. It made sense to deal with the one who delivered himself to his doorsteps first.

As he took off into a run, two rocks on his Dao Foundation took the shape of a square cauldron. He was running at high speed, yet his footsteps were perfectly soundless. No one, not even the young swordsman, noticed a thing. It was because he was now the master of this heaven and earth and granted the privilege of various benefits and conveniences. On the other hand, his enemies suffered limitations such as reduced senses and sluggish circulation of their Dao energy.

It wasn’t until a golden cauldron was falling right on top of his head that the Jade-faced Immortal Sword finally realized the danger and looked up. All he managed was an angry shout before he was suppressed and trapped inside the object. Not done yet, Wei Yuan summoned a smaller cauldron and smacked it against the massive cauldron with all his might. There was a loud bang, and a metallic ringing echoed throughout the entire mountain gate.

Wei Yuan himself suffered a moment of dizziness, much less the young swordsman trapped within the cauldron. When he lifted the cauldron, it was revealed that his victim was unconscious and bleeding from his mouth, nose, and eyes.

The bodyguards immediately tried to rescue their young master, but Wei Yuan opened their eyes to reality by cutting down three of them with a single Water Blade spell. No one dared to make a move after that.

Wei Yuan beckoned Xu Wan’er to his side and shoved a Fake Sun into her arms. He then instructed, “Watch him. If anyone tries to approach you, stab him. If anyone tries to leave, stab him as well. If he dies, it would be their fault.”

Xu Wan’er stared at the immortal sword with a blade as wide as a human hand for a moment. It was also wreathed in flames. Worried, she asked, “What if he couldn’t survive a stab?”

Wei Yuan did not care if the young swordsman lived or died at all. He replied as he turned to leave, “If he dies, then he’s just unfortunate.”

“Where are you going, Senior Brother?” Xu Wan’er called out.

“There’s a troop of Shamans to the west. I’m going to wipe them out!” Wei Yuan answered.

While walking past the Xu Clan bodyguards, Wei Yuan casually snatched a spear from one of them. The original wielder simply stood there and watched him with a complicated expression. He did not resist.

Wei Yuan’s figure flickered. Qingming had increased his speed by a whopping fifty percent. Thus, he reached the troop of Shaman fighters in just the blink of an eye and appeared behind them like a ghost. He then manifested the Great Realm and trapped them all within the Pure Realm of Humanity!

Empowered by Qingming, the Great Realm’s Pure Realm of Humanity was much stronger than usual. Clear qi was visibly seeping out of nothing and blasting the Shaman fighters from every direction.

The Shaman fighters screamed in unison as wisps of bluish smoke rose from various parts of their bodies. It was as if they had been doused with powerful acid. At the same time, Wei Yuan pointed a finger upward and shot several Water Blade spells into the sky. They exploded above the Shaman fighters’ heads and rained countless water blades like a downpour!

Water and Wood type Dao spells were naturally more potent in the Shamans’ territory. Qingming was Wei Yuan’s home ground, and he had manifested the Great Realm as well. The triple boost instantly doubled the potency of his Water Blade spell and enabled each spell to fire almost two hundred water blades at once. As a result, everyone suffered a significant amount of injuries in no time. Only the two Dao Foundation stage cultivators were faring slightly better. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Seeing that the Water Blade spell was effective, Wei Yuan decided not to bother with a different Dao spell. He squeezed out every drop of Dao energy and unleashed a dozen or so Water Blade spells in a row, all of them exploding above the Shaman fighters’ heads.

When the barrage of Dao spells was finally over, most of the Shaman fighters were dead. Only the two Dao Foundation stage cultivators and four ordinary warriors were still barely clinging to life.

It was only now Wei Yuan revealed himself and stepped through the pile of corpses. He then stabbed everyone who was too grievously injured to be of use to death, leaving only the two Dao Foundation Stage cultivators and one ordinary warrior alive. Finally, he put away the Great Realm and bound the Shamans with a Dao spell.

After he returned to the dilapidated house, Wei Yuan dumped the captives on the ground and gathered all of the Xu Clan bodyguards in one place. He then declared, “I’m sure you’re already aware that the Xu Clan is colluding with the Shamans. Heavens only know how many humans they have sold to the Shamans in secret. It is such a wicked act that it would not be an overreach to call them a traitor!

“I’ll get straight to the point. I have just reestablished this realm. From hereon out, this land of six thousand li will become a place where humanity thrives! To those who wish to fight the Shamans, no matter what you’ve done in the past, I will treat you all as brothers if you choose to stay behind and fight by my side!”

Many bodyguards looked tempted to accept the offer, but they were still hesitating and unwilling to give a response. It was at this moment the young swordsman slowly woke up and shouted all of a sudden, “Who dares to betray the Xu Clan! Do you have a death wish? You realize that this bastard will die as soon as Sixth Uncle returns, right??”

Wei Yuan disappeared for a second before reappearing with Xu Guanwen’s corpse in his hand. He then said indifferently, “Sixth Uncle? Are you talking about this old man who made a bird’s foot into an Avatar? I’ve already slain him.”

Stunned, Xu Jingfeng blurted out in disbelief, “Impossible! This is simply impossible! Sixth Uncle had met no match for several centuries! How could he be defeated? How could he be defeated by your hands?”

Wei Yuan let out a cold chuckle. “I hail from the Skyblue Hall of the Palace of Absolute Beginning. I was dispatched to the west alone to carry out my Immortal Lord’s command! Moreover, it has been over a month since I forged my Dao Foundation, whereas your Xu Clan is just a minor clan on the frontier. How hard can it be for me to slay an Avatar of yours?”

The bodyguards were flabbergasted to say the least. The four sect fellows of the Swelling Water God Palace were so stunned they could hardly believe their ears. As for Xu Wan’er, radiant joy was shining in her eyes as she stared at Wei Yuan. She could barely contain herself.

“T-this is just impossible! Impossible!” Xu Jingfeng screamed at the top of his lungs. It wasn’t until Wei Yuan dropped Xu Guanwen’s corpse right in front of him, and his eyes rested on that familiar countenance, that the young swordsman finally lost his ability to argue. He could only repeat the word “Impossible” again and again.

Wei Yuan said solemnly, “I am the bearer of my Immortal Lord’s decree. The Palace’s army will arrive in a matter of days! A few black sheep in the Xu Clan are colluding with the foreigners, and they will be punished severely when the time comes! But right now, the Shamans’ army will arrive at any moment. What we need to do is to hold out for two days until reinforcements from the Palace of Absolute Beginning show up. If you’re a real man, if you’re a human, then stay here and fight with me, dammit! At worst, we’ll go down fighting against the foreigners and make our mark in history!”

A few bodyguards immediately stepped forward and declared, “We’ll fight with you, Upper Immortal Wei!”

Another bodyguard joined the fray and shouted, “We’ve committed countless shameful deeds in the past. If we die on this battlefield, at least it would be a guiltless death!”

“We wouldn’t have done what we did if this Xu Clan dog hadn’t forced us to! The old dog deserved everything he got!”

“Fight the Shamans!”

In the blink of an eye, all but six bodyguards had answered the call to arms. For whatever reason, they were still hesitating. The bodyguards standing on Wei Yuan’s side did not blame them for their choice either.

Wei Yuan knew that the six bodyguards probably had their own reasons for not joining him. So, he said, “You may leave after you’ve laid down your mystic artifacts. Whether you return home or go elsewhere is your choice. I sincerely hope that we won’t meet on the battlefield in the future.”

The bodyguards were beyond grateful for his mercy. They hurriedly took their leaves after leaving behind their weapons and mystic artifacts.

Internally, Wei Yuan let out a sigh of relief. After all that effort, he finally managed to recruit someone he could use. According to the history books, the ancient people only needed to stand atop a boulder and shout, “Are kings and immortal lords given their high status by birth?” Millions would instantly show up and prostrate themselves before them. According to Xu Wenwu, a protagonist or a chosen one of an era simply needed to give their mighty frame a shake to make countless capable individuals aware of his Great Emperor potential and draw them to him no matter the distance. So why was his spiel completely useless, and he had to rely on shared empathy and tragedy to finally recruit a bunch of walk-ons and cannon fodders? Looking at the results, it would appear he was neither the protagonist of the era nor a Great Emperor candidate.

That said, Wei Yuan did not really feel all that regretful. If anything, he was feeling a bit anxious. The problem was that his initial boast was a bit too much. If Zhang Sheng learned about this, he was definitely going to teach him a lesson in respecting his betters. It was a Skyblue Hall tradition that one’s speech should be commensurate with one’s abilities. It was considered an act of gross insubordination for a disciple to brag harder than their master.

Anyway, now that he finally had someone he could use, Wei Yuan pointed at a clearing and ordered the bodyguards to make their own camp and organize their equipment. He would give them their next set of orders later.

Wei Yuan then went over to Yun Feifei and gave her a light slap in the face, saying, “Wake up. This is my domain now. You no longer have to be afraid of the Shamans’ curse.”

Yun Feifei didn’t move.

Wei Yuan slapped her again, and still she didn’t move.

Wei Yuan slapped her several times in a row until one side of her face was red, and still the woman didn’t move a muscle. He was starting to get impatient. Seriously, these people... has she grown addicted to acting or something?

It was at this moment the woman-in-red said quietly, “How am I supposed to return to my body if you don’t release the Ghost-trapping Array?”

Wei Yuan finally remembered the matter and waved his hand, wiping away the Ghost-trapping Array with a Dao spell. Looking at him with complicated eyes, the woman-in-red said, “You’re quite the extraordinary one.”

“Who are you really, Yun Feifei or her senior sister?”

The woman-in-red suddenly furrowed her brow and said angrily, “Senior sister, senior sister! I have a name, okay? My name is Gong Yufeng. Don’t you forget it!”

Suddenly, her expression changed into one of sweetness mixed with a hint of craftiness. “For now, we are one and the same. Who between the two of us takes control depends on the situation.”

Wei Yuan nodded and stepped out of the way, allowing the woman-in-red to walk up to Yun Feifei’s physical body and merge with it. A quiet exhale escaped Yun Feifei’s lips, and her eyes fluttered open. Blushing, she soundlessly pulled up her skirt, returned her shirt to its normal position, and rolled her eyes at Wei Yuan with clear embarrassment.

In fact, her blush had already receded by the time she rolled her eyes at him. However, the left side of her face was still red from Wei Yuan’s slaps. It was going to take some time before it returned to normal.

Suddenly, Third Junior Sister turned around and tried to escape. However, all she succeeded in doing was smacking her forehead against a golden cauldron. She staggered a few steps before toppling on her back, falling unconscious. If she thought that she, a mere Earth-tier Dao Foundation-stage cultivator, could somehow escape from his domain, she should think again.