Chapter 46

On the hillside, the purple-robed man surrounded by the others waved his hand.

Following his order, hundreds of cultists shouted and rushed down the hillside, surrounding the stronghold below from all directions!

These cultists were clearly more elite, and the weapons they held were also more sophisticated.

"Team Leader Wang?"

In front of the altar, several official martial masters looked at Wang Ping, "Let's retreat."

"Retreat?!"

Wang Ping pointed to the people who had fallen around him: "If we retreat, this operation will lose hundreds of inspectors and dozens of A-grade students from the Martial Arts Hall. How will we mix in Xingcheng for the rest of our lives?"

"Team Leader Wang, what do you want to do?"

Someone asked.

Wang Ping looked up at the man in the purple robe on the hillside, his eyes revealing a murderous intent:

"This person should be the Sect Master of the Anshen Sect. Rush over and capture him; there is still a chance to reverse this battle!"

He was very confident in his own strength, and with three teammates, he didn't think the Anshen Sect had the strength to stop four official martial masters.

The three teammates looked at each other and nodded:

"Okay, let's give it a try!"

"Charge!"

Wang Ping took the lead and rushed out first, with the other three following closely behind.

The speed of these four official martial masters was as fast as galloping horses, and in the blink of an eye, they leaped over the wooden wall of the stronghold and rushed out!

The four rushed toward the man on the hillside suspected to be the Anshen Sect Master.

The purple-robed man looked at the four martial masters rushing toward him, smiled confidently, and raised his hand:

"Prepare."

As his voice fell, more than twenty cultists stood out with rifles!

The first row half-squatted, the second row stood, aiming their muzzles at the four martial masters rushing down the hillside.

The rifles these people held were Eagle Strike Generation II, which were imported from Western countries at the beginning of the Mingxin Reform. The Tiger-style rifle independently produced by the Great Lan Dynasty was an imitation of the 'Eagle Strike'.

The Great Lan Dynasty was founded on martial arts, and the folk customs were fierce. At first, armor was banned but knives were not, and crossbows were banned but bows were not.

That is to say, the imperial court would not care if the common people collected knives and swords, but if they privately collected armor, it would be treated as rebellion!

Similarly, they wouldn't care about collecting bows and arrows, but privately collecting crossbows was not allowed.

Later, with the start of the Mingxin Reform, the Great Lan Dynasty introduced Western gunpowder weapons on a large scale, and the imperial court raised the prohibition level on firearms to the highest level.

But in a feudal empire of more than 500 years, there were too many accumulated problems, and the imperial court's control over the localities continued to decline. Local powerful families, Jianghu sects, and aristocratic families almost all privately collected firearms, and some could even build their own guns!

Against this background, it was not surprising that the Anshen Sect could get more than twenty Eagle Strike Generation II rifles.

"Defend!"

Seeing this, Wang Ping shouted immediately.

The four martial masters quickly changed their charging formation, with a man holding a round shield at the very front, while Wang Ping and the other two hid behind him.

This martial master holding a shield shouted, and a pitch-black aura surged out from his skin, shrouding his whole person and also covering the shield in his hand.

Bang bang bang bang bang—

A burst of dense gunfire rang out; some bullets hit the opponent's shield and were deflected.

Some bullets hit this martial master, as if sinking into the sea.

The opponent was completely unaffected and continued to charge under the bullets!

"Mysterious Stele Force? Good."

The purple-robed man standing on the hillside smiled slightly, looking not worried at all.

The next second, a three-meter-long red snake flew out from behind the shield-bearing man, like an arrow off a string, flying rapidly toward the hillside!

It was exactly the Red Qilin Force that Wang Ping had practiced with his own innate Qi.

This force turned into a snake shape, carrying an astonishing high temperature.

Before the red snake even got close, the people on the hillside already felt a heat wave sweeping over.

The cultists standing in the second row subconsciously fired at this red snake, but the bullets passed through it without causing any impact, and the red snake's speed remained undiminished.

Just when the red snake was only ten meters away from the crowd, a figure rushed out.

This person was shrouded in a black robe, tall, wearing a mask, and holding a nine-ringed broadsword.

He slashed at the red snake, and the nine-ringed broadsword in his hand emitted astonishing cold air. Where the blade passed, the air froze into frost!

Pfft—

The cold blade hit the red snake, a large amount of white steam rose, and a gust of wind rolled up on the flat ground!

The masked man was shaken back several steps, but he also dispersed Wang Ping's Red Qilin Force.

"Force-practicing martial master?!"

Wang Ping, standing behind his companion, showed a look of surprise.

Martial artists can be called martial masters after reaching the Qi-Transformation Realm. Those who can practice innate Qi into special forces are force-practicing martial masters, who belong to the experts in the Qi-Transformation Realm.

Wang Ping didn't expect that there would be a force-practicing martial master in a cult. With the opponent's strength, he could have passed the assessment to become an official martial master of the imperial court; there was no need to mix with a small cult at all.

This felt like he had brought people to hunt rabbits, but a wild wolf jumped out of the rabbit nest!

When his Red Qilin Force was dispersed, his other two companions rushed out from behind the shield-bearing man, holding revolvers and firing at the armed cultists on the hillside.

In the past, the imperial court's official martial masters might have undergone special training in bows, arrows, and hidden weapons, but with the introduction of gunpowder weapons, everyone now practices marksmanship.

Unless it is a martial artist who specializes in hidden weapons, a revolver is more useful than any hidden weapon.

The two official martial masters held 'War Halberds', which were double-barreled revolvers that could fire two bullets at once.

After the carriage doors opened, some Martial Arts Hall students rushed out of the carriage one after another, and then began to bend over and vomit.

Their original intention was to use handguns to interfere with the armed cultists on the hillside and win a chance for themselves to get close, but they didn't expect that these cultists were all fearless of death, facing the muzzles without wavering, still steadily pulling the bolts, loading the bullets, and then raising their guns to fire.

Bang bang bang bang—

A burst of gunfire rang out, several cultists were hit and fell to the ground, and the two official martial masters were also hit by several bullets.

However, they were wearing protective clothing made of exotic beast skin. Although it could not completely resist the rifle bullets, it could reduce the impact of the bullets, and combined with the defense formed by the implants in their bodies, the bullets were stuck in their muscles.

In the case of not being hit in vital parts, it was no big deal even if they were hit by a few bullets.

The two official martial masters took the opportunity to leap over the last distance and kill their way into the crowd!

This was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. The two exploded with powerful strength in every gesture, easily breaking people's bones and tendons, and killing these armed cultists one by one!

Just when the two intended to rush toward the purple-robed man suspected to be the Anshen Sect Master and capture him, two more figures in black robes and masks leaped out, meeting these two official martial masters respectively.

The two sides soon fought into a ball.

Wang Ping, not far away, saw this scene and finally panicked a little.

Because these two black-robed men who suddenly appeared were also force-practicing martial masters!

The wild wolf that jumped out of this rabbit nest was not one, but three!

The Zhige Academy had records of all martial masters and force-practicing martial masters in the Xingcheng area and kept close attention to them, so Wang Ping couldn't understand where these three force-practicing martial masters came from.

Three force-practicing martial masters plus a mage of the Spirit-Transformation Realm, and so many cultists around, made Wang Ping's determination begin to waver.

To deal with a small local cult like the Anshen Sect with no foundation, the Zhige Academy sent four official martial masters, hundreds of inspectors from the Inspectorate, dozens of A-grade students from the Martial Arts Hall, and several special lecturers with the strength of martial masters. This was already a lineup of a lion fighting a rabbit.

Normally, it would be like Mount Tai crushing an egg!

But no one expected that a mere small cult could have such strength.

Although a mage of the Spirit-Transformation Realm could not beat a martial artist in a head-on confrontation, it was quite tricky if they hid on the side and provided support.

"Retreat!"

Wang Ping shouted loudly.

He finally gave up the idea of capturing the Anshen Sect Master alive and reversing the situation, intending to leave with his teammates.

As for the inspectors and Martial Arts Hall students who had fallen asleep in the stronghold, they could only leave it to fate.

(End of chapter)