In the end, Wei Yuan could not stop himself from activating “Life is a Flash” for the northwestern city for the third time.

The underground passages were branching out in all directions, and enemies kept flooding in from every angle. For some reason, the weakling had suddenly become extraordinarily powerful, with their speed doubling, and their strength more than doubling. They also wielded many short sticks that were ablaze with sparks. Caught off guard, many Shaman fighters were killed in an instant, never even realizing exactly how they had perished.

Ten breaths of “Life is a Flash” was enough to reduce the three thousand or so Shaman fighters who had charged underground to just five hundred.

Wei Yuan silently took out a mask and put it on.

Bao Yun appeared beside him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wei Yuan sucked in a deep breath and said, “I made the wrong decision. I could not sacrifice over ten thousand lives just to improve our odds by a little. Even if that chance is insignificant, as the commander, I should not have allowed it to slip away.”

Bao Yun suddenly smiled and said, “If that chance is insignificant, then it doesn’t matter if you let it go. A true commander never quibbles over such things.”

She took a mask from her bosom and handed it to Wei Yuan, saying, “Your mask is too ugly. Use mine.”

Wei Yuan instinctively accepted the mask. It was only after he looked at it that he realized it was different from the one she had bought in bulk last time—this was her own personal mask. The mask exuded an air of calmness and mystery, with a touch of allure. Faint starlight seemed to be shimmering across its surface as well.

This mask was definitely exquisite compared to his own silver ghost mask—if he ignored the fact that it would make him look a tad effeminate.

Wei Yuan put on the mask without hesitation, acting with such decisiveness that Even Bao Yun herself was taken aback.

By now, the Shamans’ army had reached the center of the realm, advancing while shifting their ranks to form an offensive formation. The entire maneuver was executed with seamless precision, and powerful cavalry were patrolling both flanks of the army, leaving no room for exploitation whatsoever.

Since the central hall where Qingming was stationed offered no natural defenses, Wei Yuan had deployed his entire main force of ten thousand troops there. The remaining two thousand were lying in ambush on the flanks. Wei Yuan himself were leading two hundred cavalrymen and taking up positions along the ridge, waiting to see just how seriously the enemy commanding general took him.

At the moment, the Shamans' commanding general was standing on a tall platform and striking the war drum with all his might. The heavy beats felt as though they were pounding against everyone’s chest, causing their heartbeats to instinctively follow the rhythm of the drum.

Once the Shamans' formation was fully deployed, the commanding general bellowed a roar that echoed across heaven and earth. Immediately, billowing green qi surged out of every fighter’s body, coalescing into a vast, continuous veil that countered the corrosive effects of the Pure Realm of Humanity.

At the moment, the green mist above the Shamans’ main formation was so dense it seemed tangible, enveloping every fighter within its protective embrace. At the rate Qingming’s domain was eroding it, it would be hours before it was depleted completely. It showed just how strong the Shamans’ elite forces were—even within the Pure Realm of Humanity fielded by a top-tier realm stone like Qingming, they could hold their grounds for several hours without being weakened.

The commanding general on the tall platform struck the war drum once more, this time at a steady, measured pace. At the same time, tens of thousands of Shaman troops marched forward in step with the beat, each stride causing the earth to tremble. The cracking sound of their footsteps was like a collapsing mountain or a tsunami, striking straight at the heart and soul!

Although Wei Yuan’s main force of ten thousand had undergone the longest military training out of every soldier in the realm, strictly speaking, it wasn’t even as long as the basic training Great Tang afforded their new recruits. Consequently, facing down a vastly superior enemy who was advancing toward them like a tidal wave, many people were already ashen-faced with terror. Some veterans were even howling like wild beasts, trying to mask the fear in their hearts.

If their formation hadn’t been so tightly packed, some might have already fled the scene.

Tens of thousands of Shaman soldiers marched forward in perfect unison. The green qi above their heads had coalesced into a ten-zhang-high wall of qi, encroaching inch by inch together with the advancing army.

Behind Wei Yuan, Wang Yu’s eyes suddenly turned completely bloodshot. As reddened tears streamed profusely down his face, he cried out, “They have too many Dao Foundations! We can’t beat them—we just can’t!”

It seems I’m not fit to be a commander after all....

Wei Yuan pointed his spear forward and declared, “There’s only a thousand cavalry in front of us. I’ll go first. Watch closely!”

With that, Wei Yuan spurred his horse forward and charged the thousand-strong cavalry formation alone, man and beast moving as one!

Unlike the previous battles, these Shaman riders weren’t riding venom lizards. Instead, they were riding camel-sheeps; a beast that was unique to the northern regions. It had a pair of massive, coiled horns that were studded with cold, glinting iron spikes. Big and strong, they were no less imposing than the humans’ warhorses. The riders on their backs were also tall, burly, and clad in heavy armor. It was obvious at first glance that they were far superior than their lizard counterparts.

Wei Yuan’s speed was extraordinary; he reached the front of the cavalry formation in just the blink of an eye. He leaped up from his horse; a white-gold radiance flaring up from his spear. When he brought it down, the glow swelled into a waterfall of light and slammed violently down the middle of the cavalry formation. Just like that, the dozen or so riders in the frontline fell dead without a sound.

A dozen or so deaths were nothing considering the sheer size of the cavalry unit. However, the green qi binding the unit together was split in two, and its connection to the main formation was severed. The thousand-strong cavalry unit now had less than half of the green qi they had started with.

The commanding general striking the war drum missed a beat. That was how stunned he was. This was a cavalry force that had swept across the northern frontier like a storm and could stand toe-to-toe against the elite cavalry of the Liao! It was anything but a rag-tag unit! Did this man possess the power to shatter the cohesive aura of a thousand-strong cavalry unit with just two thrusts of his spear?!

He couldn’t recall even a Great Warlock who was capable of such a feat.

Wei Yuan charged straight through the gap he had carved in the cavalry ranks, spear ablaze and dragging a long, white-gold trail of flame as he hurtled toward the Shamans' main formation.

The Shamans’ main formation numbered tens of thousands of troops, and they had fused their qi into a single, overwhelming aura, resembling a towering green mountain. However, Wei Yuan alone was like a white-gold meteor. He crashed head on against the enemy, and...

A corner of the mountain crumbled!

Alas, Wei Yuan could not advance further after penetrating several dozen zhang into the formation. So, he turned his horse around and retreated. The surrounding fighters immediately closed in on him, leaving him no room to accelerate.

Wei Yuan raised his spear high and brought it crashing down onto the ground. White-gold light immediately burst out of the ground within a ten-zhang radius, melting away the green qi like snow and engulfing every Shaman fighter who made contact with it in faint, white-gold flames.

Being engulfed by this flame seemed excruciatingly painful. Even the Shaman fighters, who were highly resistant to pain and protected by curses, could not help but collapse to the ground and writhe in agony. Wei Yuan seized the opportunity to break out, once again charging through the cavalry unit that hadn’t yet had the time to reorganize, and eventually returned to the foot of the central peak.

No sooner had Wei Yuan returned than Wang Yu said, “Seventeen wounds.”

Wei Yuan paused, only now beginning to feel the pain. He swept his perception over his body and saw a dozen or so arrows embedded in his back and legs. He looked a little like a hedgehog, to be honest. He also had no idea when the Shamans had shot them. In any case, after counting the gashes on his thighs, he arrived at a total number of seventeen wounds.

This guy’s Yin Eye was indeed formidable.

Suddenly, Hsu Yi remarked, “What a nice smell!”

Only then did Wei Yuan catch a faint whiff of bay laurel in the air. Glancing at the pale white-gold flame still burning on the tip of his spear, he realized that his Dao energy seemed to have absorbed a trace of the aura of the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree’s branch. As expected of an immortal object, even a mild trace of its essence was enough to improve the potency of his Dao arts by leaps and bounds.

While the Shamans’ military formation were still somewhat disorganized, Wei Yuan immediately ordered his forces to engage the enemy. The ten-thousand-strong main army began marching forward.