Chapter 73: Guns and Force

On the hillside, the man in the purple robe, surrounded by the crowd like stars around the moon, waved his hand.

Following his order, over a hundred cultists shouted and charged down the hillside, surrounding the mountain stronghold below from all directions!

These cultists were clearly more elite, and the weapons they held were of higher quality.

"Team Leader Wang?"

In front of the altar, several Registered Martial Masters looked at Wang Ping, "Let's retreat."

"Retreat?!"

Wang Ping pointed at the people who had fallen around them: "If we retreat, with this operation losing over a hundred Inspectors and dozens of Grade-A students from the Martial Lecture Hall, how are we supposed to survive 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, murder in his eyes:

"This person should be the leader of the Peace-Seeking Cult. Charge 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 did not believe the Peace-Seeking Cult had the power to stop four Registered Martial Masters.

The three teammates looked at each other and nodded:

"Fine, let's give it a go!"

"Charge!"

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

The speed of these four Registered Martial Masters was as fast as galloping horses; in the blink of an eye, they leaped over the wooden wall of the stronghold and rushed out!

The four of them charged toward the man on the hillside suspected of being the Peace-Seeking Cult leader.

The man in the purple robe watched the four martial masters charging toward him, smiled confidently, and raised his hand:

"Prepare."

As his voice fell, over twenty cultists stood out holding rifles!

The first row knelt halfway, the second row stood, their muzzles aimed at the four martial masters charging up from the hillside.

The rifles these people held were Eagle-Strike Generation II, imported from Western countries during the early Mingxin Reform; the Tiger-style rifles independently produced by the Great Lan Dynasty were imitations of the "Eagle-Strike."

The Great Lan Dynasty was founded on martial arts, and the folk customs were fierce; initially, armor was banned but blades were not, and crossbows were banned but bows were not.

That is to say, the imperial court would not care if the common people kept swords and blades, but if they privately stored armor, it would be treated as treason!

Likewise, storing bows and arrows was fine, but private storage of crossbows was not.

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.

But in a feudal empire of over five hundred years, there were too many accumulated ills; the imperial court's control over the localities continued to decline, and local powerhouses, Jianghu sects, and noble families almost all had privately stored firearms, and some could even manufacture their own guns!

Against this background, it was not strange that the Peace-Seeking Cult could obtain over twenty Eagle-Strike Generation II rifles.

"Defend!"

Wang Ping shouted immediately upon seeing this.

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

The martial master holding the shield let out a loud shout, and a pitch-black aura surged from his skin, enveloping his entire body and covering the shield in his hand.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—

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

Some bullets hit this martial master, but it was like mud sinking into the sea.

The opponent was completely unaffected, charging forward while bearing the bullets!

"Mysterious Monument Force? Good."

The man in the purple robe standing on the hillside smiled slightly, looking not the least bit worried.

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

This was precisely the Red Qilin Force that Wang Ping had cultivated using his own innate Qi.

This force transformed into a snake shape, carrying an astonishingly high temperature.

Before the red snake even got close, the people on the hillside already felt a heatwave sweeping toward them.

The cultists standing in the second row subconsciously fired at this red snake, but the bullets passed through the red snake without causing any effect, and the red snake's speed did not diminish.

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

This person was entirely shrouded in a black robe, tall in stature, wearing a mask on their face, and holding a nine-ringed broadsword.

They swung the blade to slash at the red snake; the nine-ringed broadsword in their hand radiated an astonishing chill, and where the blade passed, the air condensed into frost!

Puchi—

The blade edge, brimming with cold air, struck the red snake, and a large plume of white steam rose up, whipping up a gale on the flat ground!

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

"Force-Cultivating Martial Master?!"

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

Martial artists who reach the Qi-Transformation stage can be called Martial Masters; those who can cultivate innate Qi into a special force are Force-Cultivating Martial Masters, who belong to the experts within the Qi-Transformation stage.

Wang Ping did not expect that there would be a Force-Cultivating Martial Master in a cult; with the opponent's strength, they could have completely passed the examination to become a Registered Martial Master of the imperial court, with no need to hang around a small cult.

This felt like he had brought people to hunt rabbits, only for a wild wolf to jump out of the rabbit warren!

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

In the past, the imperial court's Registered Martial Masters might have undergone special training in archery and hidden weapons, but with the introduction of gunpowder weapons, everyone now practiced marksmanship.

Unless one was a martial artist specializing in hidden weapons, a revolver pistol was more useful than any hidden weapon.

The two Registered Martial Masters held "War Halberds," a type of double-barreled revolver pistol that could fire two bullets at once.

The two martial masters fired while charging toward the hillside.

Their original intention was to use the pistols to harass the armed cultists on the hillside and win a chance for close combat, but they never expected that these cultists were all fearless of death; facing the muzzles, they did not waver, still steadily pulling the bolts, chambering 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 Registered Martial Masters also took a few shots.

However, they were wearing protective clothing made from the hides of exotic beasts; although it could not completely resist rifle fire, it could reduce the impact of the bullets, and combined with the defense formed by the implants in their bodies, the bullets were all stuck in their muscles.

As long as they were not hit in vital spots, it was no big deal even if they took a few shots.

The two Registered Martial Masters took the opportunity to leap over the final distance and kill their way into the crowd!

This was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep; the two of them erupted with powerful force in every move, easily breaking people's bones and tendons, and killing these armed cultists one by one!

Just as the two intended to charge toward the man in the purple robe suspected of being the Peace-Seeking Cult leader to capture him, two more figures in black robes and masks leaped out, meeting these two Registered Martial Masters respectively.

Both sides were soon locked in a fierce battle.

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

Because these two suddenly appearing black-robed men were also Force-Cultivating Martial Masters!

The wild wolves jumping out of this rabbit warren were not one, but three!

The Stop-Conflict Academy had records of all martial masters and Force-Cultivating Martial Masters in the Xingcheng territory and kept a close watch on them, so Wang Ping could not understand where these three Force-Cultivating Martial Masters had popped out from.

Three Force-Cultivating Martial Masters plus a Spirit-Transformation stage mage, with so many cultists around, caused Wang Ping's resolve to begin to waver.

To deal with a local small cult with no foundation like the Peace-Seeking Cult, the Stop-Conflict Academy had sent four Registered Martial Masters plus over a hundred Inspectors from the Inspectorate, along with dozens of Grade-A students from the Martial Lecture Hall and several special lecturers with the strength of martial masters; this was already a lineup of a lion fighting a rabbit.

Normally, it should have been like Mount Tai crushing an egg!

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

Although a Spirit-Transformation stage mage could not beat a martial master in a head-on confrontation, if they hid on the side to provide support, it was quite troublesome.

"Retreat!"

Wang Ping shouted loudly.

He finally gave up the idea of capturing the Peace-Seeking Cult leader alive to turn the tide of the battle and planned to take his teammates and leave.

As for the Inspectors and Martial Lecture Hall students who had fallen into a deep sleep in the stronghold, they could only leave it to fate.

(End of chapter)