The sunshine outside the Great Wall is never pleasant. In places where the ultraviolet radiation is not strong, this kind of weather is perfect for lying in the sun and taking a nap.
The competition was intense and exciting. Qin Mu watched intently, gaining a deeper understanding of the Buddhist school. Those bald Buddhist monks were no less skilled in physical cultivation than martial artists; their methods were truly vastly different from those of the Taoists. The fighters were radiant with golden light, their weapons enveloped in their unique spiritual energy, employing martial arts-like close-combat techniques with a powerful and imposing presence.
Martial artists are ferocious, attacking their enemies with unstoppable force, while Buddhists are like towering mountains, embodying stability and gravity.
The ten great families, who had fought against the Buddhist family for many years, were experienced and possessed many ingenious methods! They were not at a disadvantage at all. In the end, Baili Rou made a grand entrance and narrowly won.
After the competition ended, the imperial court, acting as witnesses, left the town and did not participate in any further activities. The two sides will likely continue to argue over resource points.
Qin Mu wasn't particularly interested in searching for meteorites. In his view, it was just a matter of luck, and he'd rather spend that time going back to Shuozhou, where he had plenty of work to do as the prefect.
The Gobi Desert outside Yumen Pass is desolate and vast, where warhorses gallop across, leaving behind endless yellow sand.
The Gobi Desert under the moonlight appeared extremely desolate. A gust of wind always carried a howling sound, sending chills down one's spine. The hills in the darkness resembled monsters crouching on the earth. Large groups of dark figures hurried across the hills.
"Be careful!" Under the moonlight, Qiao Shiwang nodded to Qin Mu and warned him.
Qin Mu didn't speak, but nodded and waved his hand, leading his men forward.
They found their way to this valley, which was Temujin's stronghold, discovered by the powerful families of the Northwest. This time, Temujin had angered the ten great families of the Northwest, because they had taken advantage of the Northwest families' experts leaving the pass to plunder and kidnap several families. No matter what the circumstances, the families would not let them go.
The reason why the aristocratic families did not target Temujin in the past was because Temujin was not someone to be trifled with. If they hadn't provoked him, they could sometimes have used him, so they let him exist.
This time is different. The Northwest families are at a crucial time of once-a-decade competition for resources, and someone has stabbed them in the back. How could they possibly let it go?
The powerful families are too busy to deal with them, but Qin Mu has no intention of letting them go. Whether it's because Temujin offended him or for his own safety, he cannot tolerate Temujin's existence.
The powerful clans, having established a deep-rooted network of connections in the Northwest for centuries, located a place where Temujin might be. Qin Mu then led his men there. Of course, Qiao Shiwang, also from the imperial court, wouldn't stand idly by, as assassinating an official of the court was the court's greatest enemy.
As a court official, assassination is the most taboo thing. Whoever chooses to assassinate will be hated by everyone. If you can assassinate someone today, you might as well assassinate yourself tomorrow. All means can be carried out in private, but you cannot assassinate officials. This is the bottom line. Whether you are from a powerful family or an official, you can kill your subordinates, but you cannot assassinate the direct descendants of your master. This is a rule that everyone must abide by.
Qiao Shiwang led 5,000 soldiers, while Qin Mu had nearly 3,000 men. Under the cover of darkness, they surrounded the valley.
The Six Doors naturally took on the vanguard task, clearing out the hidden sentries in the valley. This was a familiar task for them; after all, they were used to urban street fighting, and knowing how to sneak into someone's yard and eliminate scouts was a required course.
Perhaps because they had been living in peace for too long, there weren't many scouts in the valley. Those guys hiding behind the big rocks were curled up and sleeping.
The entrance to the valley is narrow; if you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for a single, continuous hill. Rounding a bend, the view suddenly opens up, and a campfire burns in the darkness, instantly improving visibility.
Through the scattered firelight, Qin Mu discovered that quite a few houses had been built in the valley, which was no easy feat in the Gobi Desert, and one could imagine how much effort they had put into it.
The scouts at the valley entrance reassured Qin Mu that he didn't need to worry about killing the wrong person. After all, establishing a base in such a place meant that even if it wasn't Temujin's stronghold, it was still a group of big bandits.
Qin Mu did not rush to launch an attack. Instead, he ordered his men to disperse and begin scouting the terrain of the area, while simultaneously notifying the main army behind them to come in.
"Tsk tsk! Building such a large town in the Gobi Desert is no easy feat!" Qiao Shiwang exclaimed, his eyes half-closed. Behind him, soldiers continued to surround the area from both sides. The sound of armored vehicles was very clear, but fortunately, it became inaudible at a distance, as the howling wind above the valley was even stronger.
The constables in front of Qin Mu were assembling huge steel crossbow bolts. These all-steel crossbow bolts were made specifically to deal with experts.
The men Qiao Shiwang brought were all light cavalry, skilled in archery and horsemanship, and almost everyone carried a light bow. As soldiers, they naturally didn't have much of a desire for one-on-one combat. As several soldiers approached the two men and reported that the encirclement was complete, a sinister smile appeared on Qiao Shiwang's face, showing that this thirty-year-old governor was no pushover.
Taking a fine iron lance from his guard, Qiao Shiwang raised his left hand and swung it forward.
This time, there was no deliberate concealment. The warhorses galloped forward, charging towards the small town in the valley, with foot soldiers running swiftly behind the cavalry.
The fire quickly spread throughout the town, and people who were startled by the sound of warhorses rushed out of their houses and were hit by arrows coming from the opposite direction.
There are many experts in the valley, but most of them live in the middle of the valley. Qin Mu and his group had already taken this into consideration. Therefore, their main force immediately went straight to the center of the town.
The huge manor stood out so much in the town that there was no need to worry about getting lost. Upon arriving, Qin Mu didn't rush to attack but stopped outside the manor.
As soon as the men dispersed, many people from the villa rushed out. However, they were all shot dead on the spot.
The gates of the manor were wide open, and inside and outside the gate lay many people with arrows stuck in their bodies. In the darkness, the manor became quiet, except for the outside, where countless torches were being lit, and the pine resin was gently popping in the fire.
The villa remained silent, which was not surprising. Knowing they were surrounded, rushing out like headless flies would be suicidal.
The town outside the mountain villa was already bustling with activity. Screams and shouts of killing echoed through the night sky, and the flames grew larger and larger, even illuminating the rocks in the distant valley.
Qin Mu and his men had not made a mistake; this was indeed Temujin's stronghold. This time, Temujin had offended the powerful families of the Northwest and knew that they would not let the matter rest. Therefore, he withdrew from the pass and planned to wait until things calmed down before re-entering.
Knowing that the powerful families of the Northwest and the Buddhist family were fighting, they were focused on that conflict and never expected that the valley, located more than 200 miles away, would be attacked. That's why Qin Mu and his group were able to easily reach them.
Although the manor was large, it was not actually inhabited by many people, only about two hundred skilled fighters and servants. Just as Qin Mu was preparing to attack, the general finally broke out.
At the gate, several large shields appeared and were carried out by people rushing out.
Large shields blocked the arrows, and many people followed closely behind the shields as they charged out.
"Kill!" Xi Junmai shouted, brandishing his longsword and charging forward. After several months of nourishment, the originally thin guy had become much stronger. He greatly admired the first constable's bulging muscles and had also trained with him. Now he looked no worse than an average adult.
The constables of today are far superior to those of the past. The constables around Qin Mu are not the ordinary ones he encountered during the assassination attempt last time. They are capable of holding their own against Tie Muzhen's skilled fighters in a one-on-one fight, not to mention the Five Elements Formation that enhances their abilities.
A fierce battle raged at the manor gate when suddenly twenty or thirty people flew out from the manor wall, silently charging towards the surrounding crowd.
Temujin's men weren't fools. Knowing their stronghold had been breached, they naturally wanted to investigate the situation thoroughly. Observing from the rooftop of the manor, they understood that the battle was lost. To them, ordinary men were no big deal, and the loss of their stronghold was insignificant; as long as they could escape, everything else was fine.
The ones who rushed out of the manor gate were just some expendable pawns, meant to distract Qin Mu and his group. Once the battle began, that would be their chance to break out. Once they broke through the encirclement and entered the town, in their familiar terrain, it would be much easier to escape into the darkness.
However, they underestimated Qin Mu and his group's strength. The people who faced the manor gate were only a small part of the skilled fighters, not even experts. After all, although these constables had increased their strength, they were just ordinary soldiers who had grown up. There was still a big difference between them and martial arts masters, especially in one-on-one combat.
As soon as Temujin's core burst out, a dozen or so figures rushed to meet it.
The Bu brothers, wielding their curved swords, rose to the ranks of top masters thanks to the nourishment of elixirs.
For spiritual cultivators to reach the top level, they must comprehend the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. For martial arts practitioners, after achieving a certain level of physical strength, the main goal is to comprehend their own unique aura. This is extremely difficult for young people, but the Bu brothers have fought on the battlefield for many years. If they weren't limited by their foundation and talent, they could have reached the top level long ago.
The pills Qin Mu refined compensated for this deficiency, so it was only natural for them to become top experts.
Gao Kan also benefited, and he has now become one of Qiao Shiwang's most important generals.
Qiao Shiwang, who commanded a large army, could not possibly have no two generals under his command. When the experts from the manor appeared, they also rode up to meet them.
"Swish, swish, swish!" The sound of arrows piercing the air was the first to ring out.
The people of the mountain village were naturally prepared with bows and crossbows, and they parried most of them with their weapons.
However, they were unaware that Qin Mu had also prepared massive steel crossbows. These crossbows, which were only used for attacking and defending cities, had a high rate of fire and great power. Having just landed from the manor, they had no time to dodge and several of them were hit by the crossbow bolts.
The huge crossbow bolts, carrying their prey, flew backwards, some pinning the ground, others embedding themselves in the walls, causing the walls to shake.
The crossbow bolts Qin Mu had made were powerful, and the arrowheads also had barbs and blood grooves. Once hit, they were not only impossible to pull out, but would also bleed profusely unless the entire arrow pierced through them before bandaging was possible. However, even those thumb-thick iron arrows were not pleasant to behold.
Just as the experts from the mountain villa flew out, they saw a large group of people running towards the gate. This group was very strange; they were unarmed and surrounded them, then began to strike them with their palms.
These people were then shocked to discover that these people were all spiritual cultivators, and each palm strike they unleashed was a burst of spiritual energy.
To them, these people were far inferior to them, but the fact that dozens of people unleashed palm strikes of spiritual energy at them still affected their combat.
Although these spiritual energy attacks could not break through their protective spiritual energy, the force of the attacks was still present, causing them to lose their balance and take a step or two back before the power dissipated.
"Kill!" Qiao Shiwang's eyes narrowed, and he shouted as he charged forward, brandishing his lance.
A flash of white light appeared, and Qin Mu began to imbue everyone with his righteous energy. Weapons imbued with righteous energy were more likely to break through the protective spiritual energy.
When two different energies collide, the weaker one naturally cannot break through the stronger one. However, when righteous energy is attached to a weapon, the situation is different. Righteous energy first collides with the protective spiritual energy, causing temporary instability at the point of impact. Under normal circumstances, the spiritual energy would quickly be replenished and stabilized by spiritual energy from other areas. However, the weapon, imbued with the weapon owner's bloodthirsty energy, takes advantage of this instability to completely break through the protective spiritual energy, achieving a synergistic effect greater than the sum of its parts.
With a flick of his wrist and a snap of his fingers, streaks of cold light, barely visible to the naked eye, vanished. Every time Qin Mu saw Han Chen in battle, his eyelids would twitch involuntarily, easily reminding him of the invincible Dongfang Bubai!
Han Chen's two most powerful methods are poison and needles. They are silent and fast, especially his unique needles, which are very effective at breaking through protective spiritual energy.
With a "whoosh!", Temujin's expert fighter was shot in the throat by an arrow without knowing why.
Huang Sanjian's arrows are remarkable not only because of his unique bow and arrow technique, but also because they embody a significant portion of his vital energy, killing intent, and spiritual power. A martial artist's spiritual power and physical body are perfectly integrated, and when concentrated on an arrow, its destructive power is unimaginable. Facing it head-on, one feels locked on, unable to dodge; the only option is to take the hit. Qin Mu has yet to see anyone escape from a sneak attack.
Three arrows were still three arrows. Even though Huang Sanjian's strength had greatly increased, after shooting three arrows, he was covered in sweat, his face turned pale, and he sat down on the ground with a thud. He was then helped to the side by his guards.
Although it was only three arrows, they took down Temujin's three most powerful men. This made the people who rushed out of the manor panic, fearing that they might be attacked suddenly in the dark.
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