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.

Wei Yuan raised his spear toward the heavens. At that very moment, every living being within the realm of Qingming—everyone who lived here and called it home—felt as though something had been drawn from their bodies, and they were all converging at the tip of Wei Yuan’s spear.

A dim light flickered to life on the spearhead, swaying erratically.

From heaven to earth, everyone was suddenly overcome by a sensation of twilight. It was as if they had entered old age, and they were sitting and watching the sunset. It felt like everything was withering, and oblivion was coming to claim them all.

Even immortals were not eternal; there would come a day where they too must return to heaven and earth.

Seemingly struck by an epiphany, Wei Yuan pointed his spear directly at the immortal thunder!

The area around the hovering immortal thunder abruptly plunged into twilight. The entire sky grew dim, and decay was imminent. The immortal thunder itself abruptly lost its spirit and vitality, like an old man on his deathbed, finally reaching his end and tumbling into the grave.

The immortal thunder flickered one final struggle before pulling countless dim, yellowish specks of light into itself. It then transformed into a silver crystal sphere and fell into Wei Yuan’s hand.

There was no time to examine it. Wei Yuan tucked the crystal sphere away and reflected on the strike he had just executed.

The Twilight of the Immortal Path gathered the collective power of all living beings within the realm and condensed it into one spot; like sand being brought together to form a tower. It could wither and age enemies in an instant, and not even immortals were immune to its effects. They would inevitably lose a significant amount of lifespan.

This Wonder, which flouted the natural order by harnessing the power of ordinary mortals to cut down an upper immortal, was truly beyond comprehension. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it went against the very workings of heaven and earth.

At this moment, it was far too profound for Wei Yuan to fathom even a fraction’s fraction of its mysteries. He only vaguely sensed that it had something to do with time, though he did not know whether it accelerated his opponent’s passage of time or directly deleted their lifespan.

It was a shame that his very first strike upon learning this technique was directed not at a Shaman, but the immortal thunder suspended above his head instead.

He knew very well what the immortal thunder was doing; hovering above his head but never actually falling until a moment ago. In the history books, this was described as “sitting below a hanging sword[1].” It was a never-ending reminder to the subjects of a Son of Heaven that the slightest misstep could cost them their heads.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan wondered if the lofty immortal knew that his immortal thunderbolt, a supreme power, had been extinguished by specks of vitality contributed by countless insignificant mortals. He wondered what he would think about that.

As it turned out, countless ants could bring down an elephant. A sea of mortals could bring down an immortal.

Meanwhile, an uproar had erupted among the crowd gathered in the heavens after Wei Yuan had disarmed the immortal thunder with a single spear strike. Some were puzzled, some were shocked, and some were enraged.

Since ancient times, the human race had always depended on the immortal to maintain its place in the world.

Immortals dwelled high among the heavens and lived in harmony with heaven and earth and the Dao. It could be said that their every action and every emotion was an integral part of the Heavenly Dao. Even if an immortal was simply planning to vent their anger, there must be a reason: it was either a karmic debt formed long ago, or the beginning of a new karma cycle.

OCountless cultivators devoted their whole lives to diligent practice, all to reach that final step. It could be said that achieving Ultimate Unity and entering the gate of immortals was their faith—the very pillar that had sustained their arduous cultivation for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Immortals could not err, just as the Great Dao could not err.

Immortals could have disagreements, but that was a conflict of Great Dao and had nothing to do with the mundane world. In other words, those who had not entered the gate of immortals had no right to judge the merits and faults of immortals.

Take Bao Yun, for example: she had blocked the immortal thunder directly, ultimately suffering damage to her Dao Foundation and the loss of one arm. But in the eye of the masses, this was the punishment she deserved for defying the immortals.

Trueman Bao Shu was notorious for his insolence, yet even he acknowledged that the Bao Clan was at fault. Though he explicitly stated that they would not change their ways, this very statement construed an admission of error.

The Bao Clan also had an immortal lord who did not fear Xu Wangu, but this was a matter of fundamental order. If Bao Yun could criticize Xu Wangu today, then others could criticize the immortal ancestor of the Bao Clan tomorrow. Therefore, this was not merely a private grudge between clans or families, but a matter of the fundamental order of the entire cultivation system and mortal dynasties.

As the ancient sages said, this was the way of rites[2].

In the final years of the Great Li Dynasty, Marquis Zheng had openly shot an arrow at the Son of Heaven on the battlefield, shocking the entire world. From that point on, the way of rites collapsed, the melodies were broken, and even the Son of Heaven could be attacked, making them no different from the feudal lords.

By dispelling an immortal thunderbolt with his mortal body in one spear strike, Wei Yuan was striking at the very order of the world and the faith that had stood strong for ten thousand years.

For a long time, Wei Yuan simply stood there with his spear pointed toward the sky. Etched deep into the hearts of countless people, the majesty of that single thrust would not be forgotten for a very, very long time.

A group of Shaman fighters crept up furtively, but they immediately shrank back in fear when Wei Yuan threw them a single glare. Then, he calmly lowered his spear under the gaze of countless Shamans.

In truth, every movement caused excruciating pain throughout his entire body. Considering that the incomplete version of Twilight of the Immortal Path could annihilate immortal thunder, it simply wasn’t meant to be wielded by a Dao Foundation stage cultivator. Even with his mystic body, Wei Yuan could just barely withstand the combined power of all living beings within the domain. After all, mortal humans were only a minority within the domain; there were countless flowers, birds, fish and insects; spirit plants and spirit objects as well!

The moment Wei Yuan unleashed the spark strike, countless internal injuries had appeared throughout his body. If not for the fact that his mystic body was forged from twenty million immortal silver, if he was anyone else, he would have disintegrated on the spot!

Therefore, the reason Wei Yuan had remained frozen in that final stance for so long wasn’t out of choice, but simply because he couldn’t move.

At the moment, Wei Yuan was secretly focusing Jia Wood Nurtures Life within himself. Vitality surged through his body and rapidly mended countless big or small wounds. When he finally regained some semblance of mobility, he immediately threw himself into the battle against the Shamans once more.

To the credit of these particular Shamans, they truly lived up to their reputation as world-class elites. Despite suffering nearly seventy percent casualties, they still fought fiercely without retreating. The soldiers might have hesitated when the battle was stalling, but all thoughts of life and death flew out of the window as soon as the fight had resumed.

Jia Wood Nurtures Life kept surging in Wei Yuan’s body. He was gaining countless new injuries at every moment, but many of his wounds were also healing in that same period. As the number of his wounds fluctuated wildly, his condition kept worsening, and the number of dead Shamans at his feet kept growing.

The auras of countless departed souls gathered unnoticed upon Wei Yuan, vanishing into his jade hill. Green shoots slowly sprouted atop the hill’s peak, gradually unfurling another leaf. However, this leaf was a deep, ominous black, its appearance foreboding.

After fighting for an unknown length of time, Wei Yuan suddenly felt his legs give way and nearly collapsed to his knees. Fortunately, he managed to brace himself with his spear and prevented a full fall.

It was at this moment a Shaman wearing a long robe and holding a military banner appeared before Wei Yuan. He was looking at Wei Yuan and utterly sounds of unclear meaning. This was the latest commanding general of the Shaman forces and the seventh of the ten leaders to assume command.

Wei Yuan had been searching for him the entire time, but as his strength waned, he could no longer break through the thick ranks of the enemy as he had before. This particular Warlock was also quite cunning; always remaining under the tight protection of his soldiers. His command was precise and seasoned, and his Shamanic spells were unceasing. Rather than attacking Wei Yuan directly, he focused on containing,harassing, and restricting his movements, making his situation exceptionally dire.

It wasn’t until Wei Yuan could barely stand that he finally revealed himself and stepped before him.

Though Wei Yuan could not understand his words, he grasped the general meaning and sneered, “I may be at the end of my strength, but I’m still not someone the likes of you petty demons may abuse!”

The Warlock looked at the spear pointing at him and let out a hissing sneer. Wei Yuan couldn’t even hold his weapon steady at this point—what else could he possibly do?

Suddenly, a faint fluctuation of Dao energy rippled through the spear. Then came a thunderous boom and a swirling gust of dust and debris. The next thing they knew, the spearhead had plunged completely into the Warlock’s chest!

Wei Yuan extended his fingers once more, and another boom occurred. This time, the spearhead exploded into eight neat fragments, instantly shredding everything inside the Warlock’s chest!

The Warlock was shocked to say the least. He could not understand how he had been wounded at all. Looking down at the gaping hole in his chest, he tried to stuff the blood and fragments of entrails back into his body. However they just kept spilling out in greater and greater quantities. Finally, the warlock fell to his knees, and his head lolled to one side. He would never move again.

Wei Yuan let out a long laugh, but his voice grew hoarse midway through, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His spear was used, but the battle was far from over. Wei Yuan searched through his Dao Foundation, intending to find another weapon. His gaze immediately settled on the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree branch, and he reached out to pull it. To his surprise, the branch suddenly zipped around to the other side of the jade hill, refusing to be pulled out.

Before he could make sense of this, a sudden chill gripped his heart. He jerked his head upward, and he saw that the sky had, at some unknown moment, turned crimson! It was such an intense red that droplets of fresh blood were already falling from the sky!

Another blood curse!?

The blood curse was entirely different from any Wei Yuan had encountered before. It contained boundless killing intent, and every drop that fell caused his heart to shiver instinctively.

Just a few drops of this blood curse would be enough to severely wound Qingming and turn half the realm into a lifeless wasteland!

Amidst his shock and anger, Wei Yuan felt a tinge of confusion. If the Shamans possessed such a trump card, then why hadn’t they used it sooner? They didn’t even need to deploy this much power, just half—no, a third of its power would have been more than enough to scatter Qingming’s ashes across the western regions. To wait until now to use it was like using a pole-axe to slaughter a chicken[3]!

The blood rain fell in torrents, turning into a raging storm in an instant!

But not a single drop hit the ground; instead, they all drifted toward a certain cloud in the air!

Seven or eight Avatars appeared from the cloud instantly, each possessing their own unique power. Yet the blood rain was so potent that the Avatars were virtually powerless to resist. For every raindrop they caught, a hole would appear in their mystic body!

In that instant, Wei Yuan suddenly realized something: This was the Shamans’ true trump card, and neither he nor Yue Jinshan of the north were never their targets! No, it was the Truemen watching the battle from the sky!

The blood rain came as swiftly as it vanished, devastating and unstoppable. It swept away the cloud in the blink of an eye and allowed only a half-charred giant tree to escape. The tree vanished into the horizon in an instant.

In the time it took to take a sip of tea, seven Truemen had perished just like that!

To the north amidst the rearguard of the Shaman army, A Warlock rose to his feet. He wore a long robe that covered a figure of extraordinary height and slenderness, easily over two zhang tall. As he stretched, his aura soared skyward!

He let out a long laugh and declared, “Our lord has succeeded! If Western Jin’s army of tens of thousands won’t come to us, then we’ll go to them. Let’s see just how capable Yue Jinshan really is—the man who’s given even the barbarians of Northern Liao many headaches!”

The rearguard of the Shamans stopped hiding their true strength. They abruptly turned around and marched toward the Western Jin’s main force, all one hundred thousand of them.

A Warlock asked, “What about the realm? Should we just ignore them?”

“There are only small fries, so yes, we will set them aside and deal with Yue Jinshan first. The human race is cunning—we mustn’t let them slip away by accident!”

1. Possibly a reference to the Sword of Damocles, but appropriated into Chinese. ☜

2. 礼。 ☜

3. Using a sledgehammer on a nut may be overkill, but it also looks stupid cool, so. ☜