Translator's Notes:

Major fuck-up warning and correction: The middle stage of the Dao Foundation stage, vitality restoring, has been corrected to spirit awakening. As it turns out when they say, "nurture the seed of an Avatar with worldly origin qi until it grows into the embryonic form of an Avatar", they really mean feeding it with something (worldly origin qi here can also mean anything that falls under the category, such as IDK yin qi) until it grows a spirit and becomes sentient. I thought it was some life mumbo-jumbo 300 chapters ago, so, yeah. If you catch any instances do inform me about it. Much apologies.

The pool in Qingming had finally dried up completely.

The Shamans sustained heavy casualties and were forced to retreat and regroup for the fourth time.

Having gotten a rare moment to catch his breath, Wei Yuan immediately dispatched several squads to quickly clear the battlefield and carry back everyone who was still clinging to life behind the lines. As for the gravely wounded Shaman fighters, there was no need to pay them any attention. They would not survive long in the Pure Realm of Humanity.

Cui Yu went over to Wei Yuan. He had a long gash on his face that stretched from his right temple all the way to his left jaw, and his nose was sliced cleanly in two. He was only sealing the wound with his Dao energy. Fortunately, Jia Wood Nurtures Life was potent enough to heal even such a severe injury.

Cui Yu asked, “How many more times can you activate ‘Life is a Flash’?” He sounded quite strange because his voice was hoarse, and his nose mangled.

“Zero,” Wei Yuan replied.

Cui Yu fell silent for a moment before asking another question, “What should we do next?”

Wei Yuan wiped the bloodstains from his spear without looking up. “I’m still here.”

“You?”

“Mm-hmm. As long as I don’t die, we can’t lose,” Wei Yuan said calmly. By now, the spear in his hand gleamed as if brand new.

“What’s your backup plan?” Cui Yu asked, a glimmer of hope rising within him.

Wei Yuan shook his head. “I don’t have one. I’m just going to fight from the start to finish without rest, that’s all. They’ve only got twenty thousand troops left. All I need to do is kill them one by one. Eventually, I’ll finish them all.”

“You....” A strange, indescribable feeling suddenly welled up in Cui Yu’s heart. His shattered nose throbbed with spasms of pain so intense he felt like cursing.

Wei Yuan summoned the ninety-odd cavalrymen still standing behind him and said, “From this point onward, it’s a fight to the death. You will all switch your weapons. I still have some immortal swords here; pick one that feels right to you. The quality isn’t great, but you’ll have to make do.”

By now, the mystic artifacts they were wielding were nearly all destroyed. Their armor were riddled with holes as well. Naturally, they were delighted to hear that new weapons were available.

Wei Yuan waved his hand, and fifty blue immortal swords emanating a faint, continuous sword qi appeared before him. Though not particularly powerful, they were exceptionally durable. It was the immortal sword, Drizzle.

Over twenty riders picked up the immortal swords there and then. The reason they chose it was because it resonated with the realm of Qingming, which granted them a boost. Though the benefit was slight, even a small advantage was better than none.

Wei Yuan waved his hand again and summoned fifty Fake Suns. To his surprise, thirty people chose this immortal sword—clearly, they held Xiao Yu in high esteem.

Next, Wei yuan brought out fifty Iron Cutters. They were pretty sharp. Later, he summoned a pile of immortal swords named Worry. Later still, he produced an unusually long immortal sword that was special because it was... long. That was it.

The last immortal sword he brought out glowed a deep, mysterious hue. Wei Yuan had originally intended to name it Oblivion, but felt that its power didn’t quite match such a domineering name. Instead, he named it Quiet.

Some distance away, Zhang Sheng’s face was ashen with anger. If he had purged his treasonous disciple sooner, he would not have lived to see his ultimate techniques being reduced to such garbage!

Worse still, not a single one the idiots recognized Silence’s true worth and chose it. It infuriated Zhang Sheng all the more.

The swordsman had been keeping two of his swords in reserve this entire time. It was because he had a vague feeling that the true enemy hadn’t revealed themselves yet.

In the blink of an eye, everyone in the cavalry was equipped with an immortal sword. Their spirits were clearly lifted by their new weapons.

Wei Yuan glanced at the Shaman army still forming their ranks and gave Cui Yu a firm squeeze on the shoulder. He said, “It has been the fortune of a lifetime to study alongside you all. Anyway, I’m going to charge them now, but you don’t need to do anything yet. The first two charges are on me, and the third one is yours!”

The others wanted to object, but by this point of the battle, Wei Yuan had already established himself as the absolute authority of this battlefield. His word was law, and no one could challenge him. They could only watch helplessly as he raised his spear, spurred his horse, and rode toward the heart of the Shamans’ main formation alone.

Staring at the fearless, dauntless back of his former classmate, Cui Yu suddenly felt something rushing all the way to the top of his head, exploding. He abruptly jerked his head up and, mustering what little Dao energy he had left, roared toward the heavens, “To hell with the ‘unity of the noble clans’ and ‘sharing in victory and death’! Where is your shame? How can you simply watch and do nothing even though the battle has already reached this point, and so many are dead, and what for? Xu Wangu’s face? Pah! Today, I declare that that old dog has lived thousands of years in vain, and that he is unworthy to be human!”

Everyone in the sky blanched at the denouncement.

Suddenly, a deafening thunderclap echoed throughout heaven and earth, and a thunderbolt streaked down from the sky. It was heading straight for Cui Yu!

This was immortal thunder. An immortal could instinctively sense anyone who was slandering them, and a single flick of their finger could unleash a bolt of immortal thunder.

The crowd in the sky was still watching. Not a single soul moved to intervene.

The immortal thunder was lightning fast. In the blink of an eye, it was already right above Cui Yu’s head.

Just then, a pale, delicate hand reached out from the void and grasped the immortal thunder directly!

When Cui Yu recognized the breathtaking figure who had suddenly appeared in front of him, he cried out in shock and horror, “Baoyun! Let go!”

But Bao Yun did not let go. She simply held onto the immortal thunder with unwavering calm. The Seven Wonders Exquisite Treasure Tree sprouted above her hand, and one of its branches suddenly withered and turned to ash. A soft grunt escaped Bao Yun’s nose, and the left hand she used to catch the immortal thunder gradually became transparent. Then, her entire left arm crumbled into ethereal stardust, drifting away in the wind.

Bao Yun’s sleeve hung empty, fluttering in the breeze. She gazed toward the source of their immortal thunder and said calmly, “Xu Wangu truly is unworthy to be human.”

Another bolt of immortal thunder appeared in the sky, poised to strike, yet hesitating.

The crowd in the sky exchanged glances with each other. Some of them looked pensive.

Just then, a man with a somewhat cold expression suddenly appeared before them. He looked very young, but how could anyone present possibly be unaware of the age of Trueman Bao Shu[1]? The reason he appeared to be in his early thirties was because this was the age at which he had become an Avatar, and his appearance remained as it was at that time.

Bao Shu stood with his hands behind his back and declared, “If anyone believes that the Bao Clan was in the wrong just now, feel free to visit us and hold us accountable. The Bao Clan accepts all criticisms with an open mind, even if we’re not going to change.”

Behind enemy lines, Wei Yuan suddenly turned his head and saw Bao Yun’s empty, fluttering sleeve!

All the blood instantly drained away from his face. The next moment, he leaped off of his horse and reversed his course. His blood-red demon horse sensed his intent and followed him back, trampling and biting its way through the enemy ranks. It slaughtered dozens in the blink of an eye.

Looking at Wei Yuan, Bao Yun gave him a sweet smile before placing a finger to her lips, silencing him. Then, she vanished.

Wei Yuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he charged headlong into the Shamans’ ranks once more, his blood-red warhorse following closely behind him.

Higher up in the sky, two more towering figures appeared, completely unnoticed by the crowd below in the clouds. Behind them, a Daoist with kind eyes and a pair of eyebrows so long that they hung around his waist suddenly materialized.

Both figures sensed his presence simultaneously and turned to look.

The old Daoist smiled faintly and said, “I was wondering who was the one who concocted a plan of this scale—turns out, it was the esteemed Shu Li and Feng Ye. I have long heard of your fame, yet I have never had the chance to witness your transcendent shamanic arts. Since we’ve met by chance today, we naturally must have a proper exchange of techniques. Which of you will go first? I shall only use two fingers....”

The old Daoist tried to raise his middle finger and index finger, only to discover that everything past his index finger was merely a phantom. It was then he recalled that, in his haste, he had reached out with the wrong hand.

Embarrassed, he let out a couple nervous chuckles and tried to think of something to save his face. Just then, three fingers suddenly materialized out of nowhere—his middle, ring, and little fingers were now firmly attached to his hand, as if they had never been missing.

The curse that had plagued the old Daoist for a decade had finally disappeared!

Suddenly filled with a surge of gallantry, the old Daoist’s nervous chuckle turned into a long laugh. He spread his large hand—which grew to the size of a mountain in the blink of an eye—and reached out to grab the two Warlocks!

He shouted daringly, “Come on, come on! No need to wait your turn—come at me, both of you at once! Let’s see if you can escape this old Daoist’s Five-Finger Mountain today!”

Deep behind enemy lines, a man and his horse were covered in blood and completely surrounded. However, the enemies around them looked hesitant and intimidated. In fact, no one dared to step forward and meet them in battle for a time.

Wei Yuan stroked the blood-red demon horse and came away with a handful of blood. There were so many wounds on its body that he couldn’t tell where it had come from.

Wei Yuan said softly, “You’ve never been uninjured in all the time you’ve been with me. You would’ve been better off as a mundane horse. I’m sorry that I wronged you. Once we break through this encirclement, you should go on your own way—find a quiet place and live freely and happily.”

The demon horse had long since become sapient. It nuzzled Wei Yuan with its head.

Man and horse, seemingly oblivious to fatigue and pain, broke through the encirclement once more. After that, Wei Yuan gave the horse’s flank a tap, and the demon horse zoomed away with a long whinny.

After watching the demon horse disappearing into the distance, Wei Yuan turned around and charged into the Shamans’ formation for the third time.

For the first time, the iron-willed army of the Shamans wavered, and their military formation began to fall into disorder. The human charging them was clearly not of a high cultivation level, yet for some reason, he simply could not be killed. Moreover, he remained as cold as a machine, ceaselessly reaping lives.

Seeing that the moment had arrived, Cui Yu immediately led all the warriors still capable of fighting into the fray against the Shamans. The battle had raged for six full hours at this point, and this was the first full-scale counterattack by the realm of Qingming!

All of a sudden warning, the immortal thunderbolt in the sky descended. It was headed straight for Wei Yuan’s head!

This turn of events was both sudden and unexpected. As the immortal thunder moved, its might pressed down upon heaven and earth, and those with even the slightest weakness of will suddenly lost all control over their body and soul, unable to move. At the same time, Wei Yuan sensed something and looked up, his gaze fixed upon the immortal thunder!

But before he could react, a bolt of blood-red lightning suddenly streaked across the sky. It was the demon horse returning and ramming its body against the immortal thunder! Half its body instantly vanished into nothingness, yet still it let out one last defiant whinny before biting down on the thunderbolt!

The demon horse possessed a fierce spirit. Despite knowing that its struggle was utterly futile, it still sought to strike back one last time before crumbling into stardust.

As the demon horse scattered to the wind, Wei Yuan felt as though a piece of his heart had suddenly been torn away. Though small, the void was very empty—so empty it could never be filled.

In an instant, Wei Yuan’s mind flashed through everything that had happened since the establishment of Qingming. In the days since, every person and every object, every blade of grass and every tree within Qingming had been struggling desperately, fighting for just the slimmest chance of survival in this world.

It was only now Wei Yuan realized that, for many people, simply staying alive was already a struggle.

As Wei Yuan gazed at the immortal thunder in the sky, hovering as if wondering idly if it should strike again, he suddenly felt a deep resonance rippling within himself. At that moment,Qingming revealed its third Wonder, and its name was: Twilight of the Immortal Path (Incomplete).

This was a technique of slaughter.