254: Fifth Incarnation: Heavenly Physician (46)

The enemy commander is dead!

In the southwestern corner, the core and brightest "node" of the Barbarians' once fiercely incomparable "Black Arrow" suddenly extinguished.

The entire local "network" shook violently. The remaining barbarian soldiers fell into obvious chaos, their offensive plummeted, and they even experienced moments of blank confusion.

"The barbarian general is dead! Charge!"

A Niu was covered in blood. Seeing this, he was ecstatic. He let out a hoarse roar, seized the opportunity, and led his subordinates in a fierce assault.

The collapse of the core node triggered an astounding chain reaction.

The barbarian elites in the southwestern corner began to crumble and retreat.

This trend of defeat spread like a plague, rapidly sweeping through the entire surrounded barbarian vanguard.

The barbarian squads, which had been fighting independently and resisting tenaciously, realized that their strongest arrowhead had broken. Their morale wavered, and their will to resist quickly disintegrated.

In Xu Yuan's "network sense," the overall "black network" of the barbarians seemed to have its skeleton removed, quickly becoming dim, loose, and fragmented.

On the Yellow Turban Army's side, although the "bright network" was also covered in scars, the core connections remained unbroken. Stimulated by the hope of victory, it radiated a tenacious vitality and devouring power once more.

"Advance on all fronts! Kill!"

Xu Yuan issued the final command for a general offensive at the opportune moment.

The morale of the Yellow Turban Army soared. Their battle cries shook the heavens and earth as they launched the final assault on the remaining barbarians in the center from all directions.

The battle quickly shifted from a stalemate to a pursuit and mop-up operation.

By the time the last sporadic pocket of resistance was snuffed out, the setting sun had completely sunk behind the western mountains.

A thick scent of blood permeated the valley. Points of firelight flickered to life, illuminating the corpses and battered soldiers scattered across the ground.

Victory.

A Niu leaned on his spear, gasping for breath. The wounds on his body stung like fire, but his heart was a void after the intense agitation, soon overwhelmed by immense exhaustion and lingering fear.

He looked around; as far as his eyes could see, there were the mangled remains of his Yellow Turban brothers and the numb or weeping faces of the few survivors.

He had won. He held the line and annihilated the barbarian vanguard.

But the price... was too heavy.

Of the more than ten thousand elites he had brought, those still able to stand now were likely fewer than five thousand.

Many familiar faces had fallen forever in this unfamiliar valley.

A heavy weight pressed down on A Niu's heart, heavier than the armor on his body. It was responsibility, guilt, and an indescribable burden brought by witnessing countless lives vanish because of his decisions.

He looked up and saw Xu Yuan not far away, dismounting to check on the wounded.

The Grand Teacher of Great Peace's face also bore traces of fatigue, his eyes as calm as a deep pool. He was leaning over, whispering something to a seriously injured young soldier while personally pressing a cloth strip to stop the bleeding.

A Niu suddenly remembered that the Grand Teacher of Great Peace was merely a youth, several years younger than himself.

He could have... not been here, not experienced this bloodshed.

But he came, commanding everyone, and like everyone else, he stood amidst this mountain of corpses and sea of blood.

"Grand Teacher of Great Peace..."

A Niu dragged his heavy steps over, his voice raspy.

Xu Yuan looked up at him, his gaze lingering for a moment on the gruesome wounds on A Niu's body, and nodded: "How are your injuries? Have the medics tend to them properly."

"Just flesh wounds, it's fine." A Niu shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "The brothers... too many died. I..."

"That is the nature of war."

Xu Yuan's voice was very calm. "Especially for an army like ours, fighting such a fierce enemy. Every bit of victory must be exchanged for blood."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield. "But their blood will not be shed in vain. For every day we hold the barbarians here, more people of the Heluo Region can evacuate, and our defense lines can be strengthened further. They died for those behind them. Remember them, and then lead the remaining men to live better lives, guarding what they bought with their lives."

A Niu nodded heavily. He only half-understood, but the Grand Teacher of Great Peace's words always managed to settle his chaotic heart.

Xu Yuan said no more and continued to inspect the wounded, issuing a series of orders: collect the bodies, tally the casualties, treat the wounded, guard the prisoners, reinforce the night defenses, and send out scouts to closely monitor the movements of the main barbarian force... His actions were steady and orderly, as if the tragic battle just now had not affected him much.

He had personally participated in this slaughter involving the fates of tens of thousands of Mortals. With a Mortal body, relying on strategy and the hearts of the people, he had shifted the flow of "momentum" and altered the local structure of the "Karmic Network."

He saw the critical role of order in collective strength, the vulnerability and importance of core nodes, and even more, the double-edged nature of violence as the fastest and most cruel tool for changing network structures—it could destroy old, malignant structures, but the process itself caused immense trauma to the network.

"To stop killing with killing, to suppress violence with violence... is ultimately an inferior strategy, a last resort."

Xu Yuan thought to himself.

"A true 'Healing of the World' should be preventing trouble before it happens, constructing a 'benign network' strong enough to resist foreign aggression and internally just and peaceful enough so that violence finds no place to breed."

"But before that... in this transition period where the old network is rotten and the new network is yet to be formed, this blood-stained 'scalpel' must probably be held tight."

Before the blood in Black Stone Valley had even dried, the news of victory spread like wildfire.

"The yellow turbans have crushed the barbarian vanguard! Three thousand decapitated!"

As the news spread, the Heluo Region was shaken, and the whole world looked on in awe.

The ravaged refugees, the farmers driven to desperation by tyrannical governance, and even some low-level military officials who were completely disillusioned with the Imperial Court seemed to see a flicker of light in the endless darkness.

Countless people, bringing their families along, surged toward the fluttering banners of the "yellow turbans" and "Great Peace."

The scale of the Yellow Turban Army expanded rapidly in the frenzy of victory. Within a month, they claimed to have two hundred thousand followers and controlled over ten prefectures and counties; their momentum was temporarily peerless.

However, it wasn't just the scale that expanded, but also the tumors known as "ambition" and "fear."

The hearts of men are like the tide; their momentum is difficult to control.

The new recruits were a mixed bag, carrying with them all the desires bred in a chaotic world: survival, revenge, plunder, and even the pursuit of sudden, immense wealth.

Despite Xu Yuan's repeated orders of the "Three Prohibitions Iron Law," and the efforts of Mr. Wen, Aunt Zhang, and others to preach and educate, the bloated body was already difficult for the weak nerves to fully control.

Incidents of plundering wealthy households, bullying the weak, and internal power struggles occurred from time to time. The pure "mutual aid for survival" color of the Way of Great Peace's Early Stage was being rapidly polluted in the mire of power and the inertia of violence.

A tall tree attracts the wind; they were now enemies with the whole world.

The rapid expansion and "eerie" combat effectiveness of the Yellow Turban Army completely shattered the delicate balance within the Small World.

The barbarians were enraged, vowing to trample He-Luo to avenge their shame; the Imperial Court viewed them as a Mortal threat that had to be eliminated as quickly as possible; and even more dangerous were those "participants" who also came from the "outside."

In Wang Yi's tent, aides from Duke Jinghai in the south, a warlord from the north known as a "Heaven-sent Genius," and even two fellow disciples who had respectively infiltrated the Imperial Cabinet and the barbarian high command, set aside their respective path differences for the first time and reached a consensus.

"Su Yuan's path is far too treacherous. Gathering the people's hearts like a demon, he has become the greatest variable in this game."

"If the momentum of his 'yellow turbans' is allowed to grow, I fear no single faction will be able to restrain it."

"Whether one wishes to rule the world, carve out a territory, or use the Imperial Court or barbarians to practice their Dao, this boy is the primary obstacle."

"Join forces to drive him out of the game first. At the very least, clip his wings and divide his Foundation."

"Agreed."

"..."

An invisible and lethal net began to quietly tighten.