Chapter 130: Chapter 126: Resisting the Enemy (2)

Those old dogs could tolerate him running and hiding, even killing a few people here and there—that was no great matter. But if word got out about the blood sacrifice of an entire county’s martial arts prospects, what awaited him would be a manhunt of unprecedented scale.

He would not make a move unless absolutely necessary. Against a small county in a remote region, Rose was an absolutely overwhelming force.

He would hide behind Rose and reap the greatest rewards, the best way to throw the authorities off his trail.

Viewed from high above, just before the blood mist erupted, a red shadow shot out like a bolt of lightning, heading straight for the temporary Y2 sniper position set up by Squad Leader Li Cunliang.

Rose moved out.

「Five minutes earlier.」

Li Cunliang was leading a total of fifteen soldiers from the outpost, all hidden at the Y2 position. They were arranged in pairs, each in their own sniper’s nest.

Li Cunliang was crouched on the ground, a giant, 2.5-meter-long firearm set up before him. It was a Xiaolong-model enhanced Level 2 Superpower Firearm. Besides his, there were seven other Thunder Peng-model Level 1 Superpower Firearms at the position, all standard issue.

In each pair of soldiers, one acted as the gunner while the other preheated the superpower bullets.

The so-called preheating process involved a Martial Artist infusing their own Qi Blood into the special ammunition, which was about twenty centimeters long and five centimeters in diameter.

This ammunition had to be used within ten minutes of preheating, otherwise the Qi Blood would dissipate and it would lose its effect.

But Li Cunliang was in the Inner Qi Realm. The bullets he used were more powerful and required an infusion of Inner Qi, a task only he could perform.

This world had once developed gunpowder weapons, but they were not very effective against Martial Artists. A Martial Artist in the third stage of Body Tempering could withstand any gunpowder firearm for a short time. Moreover, the projectile velocity of gunpowder weapons was too slow; Martial Artists could easily dodge them, so they were quickly phased out.

Later, superpower weapons were born from this foundation. All the materials were sourced from that magical place known as the Boundary Lands. They required a Martial Artist to infuse them with Qi Blood or Inner Qi to be activated, and their power was immense, with projectile speeds beyond imagination.

Su Yue kept a close watch on Di Yunliang and the others, while simultaneously providing firing guidance for Li Cunliang through the mental network. She was extremely familiar with all models of superpower weapons, matching each weapon’s range and ammunition power to a suitable cultist, ensuring a one-shot kill.

The heavy rain fell in an instant, and within a minute, the world was a sheet of white. Under normal circumstances in this weather, long-range sniping would be impossible. But with the guidance of Su Yue, a support-type Martial Artist of the Gang Qi Realm, it was like giving the outpost’s soldiers a wall-hack and an aimbot.

Li Cunliang ignored the torrential downpour, his eyes fixed on the moving red dot in his sights—the target Su Yue was guiding him to. The other soldiers were doing the same.

Suddenly, the moving red dot in their sights flared brightly, and at the same moment, Su Yue’s voice rang in their ears: "Fire!"

Across the white-out landscape, eight roaring bullets tore through the curtain of rain, speeding toward their designated targets. The soldiers began to reload immediately.

The instant she gave the fire command, Su Yue seemed to detect a faint, hidden message being transmitted. Immediately after, she saw a bolt of red lightning streaking toward the Y2 position, its dark red Gang Qi cutting through the curtain of rain like a sharp arrow.

An urgent command transmitted through the mental network: she ordered Zhang Yuanqiao and Tao Lang to intercept, marking the direction for them.

The two were still holding hands when they received the order. Although they reacted quickly, there was still an unavoidable moment of delay.

As a Gang Qi Realm Martial Artist, Zhang Yuanqiao went ahead first. But by the time he intercepted Rose, he was a step too late. He saw two massive blades of Gang Qi, one black and one red, slashing down toward the Y2 position.

Li Cunliang, who was in the middle of infusing Inner Qi into a superpower bullet, felt his eyes narrow. A sense of fatal danger washed over him.

The blades of Gang Qi had not yet arrived, but a dark and brutal killing intent filled his mind, paralyzing him. His soldiers, however, hadn’t even sensed the danger.

"An Apostle..."

Li Cunliang seemed to hear Su Yue’s alarmed cry in his ear.

In the face of the crisis, Zhang Yuanqiao condensed his Gang Qi. With a wave of his hands toward the downpour, the curtain of rain in that patch of sky suddenly stopped, the dense raindrops transforming into layers of watery barriers that enveloped the two black-and-red blades of Gang Qi, steadily grinding them down.

He breathed a sigh of relief. ’Thank goodness it’s raining heavily today,’ he thought. ’My Azure Profound True Gang is strengthened by it. Otherwise, I would have lost face in front of Lang...’

Just as he was feeling relieved, he saw the black blade of Gang Qi scatter like sand, seeping into the watery barrier and eroding it completely. The remaining red blade of Gang Qi, however, continued down toward the Y2 position with the force of a raging fire.

At the critical moment, Tao Lang moved like a swift, leaping into the air in a few flashes. His Cloud Dragon Staff glowed with a green light as he smashed it down toward the red blade of Gang Qi.

"BOOM..."

Even after being intercepted by Zhang Yuanqiao, the red blade of Gang Qi was still immensely powerful. It blasted Tao Lang into the Y2 position, and Li Cunliang, along with the fourteen other soldiers, fell in the aftershock of the attack, their conditions unknown.

Zhang Yuanqiao turned his head to see Tao Lang being blasted away, his heart filled with grief.

"Lang..."

Su Yue’s eyes snapped open, filled with Evil Qi. Her furious voice echoed in the mental network: "Zhang Yuanqiao, what are you doing?!"

It was no wonder she was so angry. Leaving aside their disgusting behavior, that useless fraud Zhang Yuanqiao couldn’t even block a casual strike from the red-robed Apostle. The sniper position that Li Cunliang had worked so hard to set up had been shattered after only its first volley. If it had been used properly, they could have eliminated at least half of the thugs, which would have significantly eased the pressure on Han Qiubai.

But now, the results were meager—only one fourth-realm and seven third-realm practitioners killed. At this rate, it would have been better to have Li Cunliang and his men just charge in with knives.

As Su Yue’s furious roar reached him, Zhang Yuanqiao snapped back to reality. This was no time to be worrying about Lang; a ferocious cult Apostle stood before him.

He looked at the petite woman opposite him, dressed in red and wearing an Evil Ghost Mask. Two scimitars, one black and one red, were tucked into her belt. Her eyes were ice-cold and filled with killing intent; she looked at him as if he were already dead.

In an instant, cold sweat broke out on Zhang Yuanqiao’s forehead. All thoughts of showing off in front of Tao Lang vanished. His reason finally migrated from his crotch back to his brain, and only then did he recall the intel on Apostles.

They were top-tier Gang Qi Martial Artists, artificially created by the Illuminati’s upper echelons using a Secret Technique. An Apostle was more like a specially-trained sect Protector from the olden days—they had no obvious weaknesses, only one defining trait: they were terrifyingly strong in single combat.

’Me... a worthless, single-attribute Gang Qi hack who’s just been coasting with no hope of promotion... how could I possibly be her opponent?’

’Should I run? But can I even get away?’

In that one instant, a thousand thoughts raced through Zhang Yuanqiao’s mind.

Su Yue had no time to be angry. She quickly gave Han Qiubai some instructions over the mental network, and then her golden Gang Qi erupted into flames as she dashed toward the Y2 position. Zhang Yuanqiao couldn’t be relied upon; she had to take the front line herself.

Before she left, she reinforced the concealment around Yan Sea, but it would only last for half an hour. A gentle voice seemed to drift on the wind: "You big dummy, this time it’s my turn to protect you..."

Yan Sea’s eyes remained closed, showing no reaction, but the Qi Blood around his body suddenly surged.

...

"Mr. Tang, don’t stop me! I’m going to go kill that old dog right now! Then I’m dragging those two bastards back to Yuqing to teach them a lesson before I expel them! Fuck, they’re so disgusting! And so fucking useless! Especially that Zhang Yuanqiao, he’s a disgrace to Yuqing!"

Mr. Tang, however, calmly placed a chess piece. In the midst of the downpour, the ten-foot space around the two of them was completely untouched by wind or rain, as if a transparent shield was warding it all off.

"Calm down and play. You need to look at the world with a more open mind, without so much prejudice."

Kong Sheng stroked the hilt of his sword, panting heavily, his face flushed red.

"Mr. Tang, how can you expect me not to be prejudiced against such morally corrupt behavior?

And they’re students of our Yuqing Academy!

How the fuck can they be students of Yuqing?

They should be sent to the battlefield and not be allowed to come back unless they’re dead! Fuck!"

Getting a bit annoyed by the rant, Mr. Tang said, "Calm down. It’s not that big of a deal. While their behavior is vulgar, at least they have commendable courage. Take that fellow Tao Lang, for example. If he hadn’t stepped up to block that attack, wouldn’t all those soldiers have been wiped out? ...Come, make your move."

"Hmph!"

Kong Sheng sat down opposite him, his hand still on his sword. In just a few moves, he broke the long-stalled game by capturing a large group.

"You..."