In this chaotic world of vying for power, I can become stronger by marrying a wife.

Bang bang bang!

Fifty muskets simultaneously spewed out flames.

At this distance, the area covered by iron shot is lethal.

Before the twelve men in black guarding the altar could react, they were riddled with bullets, and screams and the smell of gunpowder filled the air.

"Su Ming! It's you again!" The high priest recognized the newcomer, his eyes turning bloodshot, almost as if they were about to bleed.

He had planned everything meticulously, but he never expected Su Ming to dare to lead such a small group out of the city to launch a sneak attack.

"It's your luck that you didn't die on the city wall, but it's your fate to die here."

Su Ming flashed, and the Asura Blade brought forth a blade aura several feet long, heading straight for the High Priest's head.

Although the High Priest was weak, he was still at the peak of the sixth rank.

With a wave of his hands, the remaining blood energy around the altar quickly condensed and transformed into a dark red shield.

block!

Sparks flew everywhere.

Su Ming was forced back two steps, his blood and qi surging.

"Sixth Rank Peak, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse," Su Ming muttered to himself, before pulling out two Thunderclap Bombs from his waist.

"My lord, beware of his evil magic!" Murong Yan led her men to charge forward, slaughtering all the remaining members of the Demonic Cult.

The high priest grinned maliciously, forming hand seals: "Since you're courting death, then stay here! The sea of ​​blood is boundless, devouring all things!"

Suddenly, the soil at the base of the altar began to churn, and countless blood-red hands reached out from the ground, grabbing at the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion.

"What the hell is this?!" Wei Lang cried out in alarm, slashing off several bloody hands with his knife, but even more bloody hands sprouted out.

Su Ming's eyes narrowed slightly.

It's a formation!

"Murong Yan, lead your men to retreat! Wei Lang, throw all the Heaven-Shaking Thunderbolts into the center of the altar!"

As Su Ming gave the order, he exchanged a bottle of extremely potent liquor from his system space, took a swig, and then sprayed it violently at the Shura Blade in the air.

"Asura Slash, Karmic Fire!"

This was a new skill he had learned: using the embers of gunpowder residue to ignite strong liquor, combined with the sword energy to create a large-scale fire attack.

boom!

The flames instantly ignited the blood energy.

The high priest screamed in agony; his evil magic was most afraid of this kind of extremely strong and yang flame.

At the same time, a dozen thunderbolts landed precisely in the cracks of the altar.

"burst!"

The sky collapsed and the earth cracked.

The rocky forest seemed to have experienced a small earthquake, with a huge mushroom cloud rising into the sky and rocks flying everywhere.

When the smoke cleared, the high priest was found lying on the ruins with only half his body remaining, his eyes glazed over and black blood gushing from his mouth.

Su Ming, carrying the knife, walked over step by step.

"No, don't kill me!" The high priest looked at Su Ming in terror. "I'm the Crown Prince's man. If you kill me, the Crown Prince will never let you off!"

Su Ming stopped, squatted down, and pulled a yellowed letter from the high priest's arms.

It bears the seal of the Crown Prince's Palace.

Su Ming glanced at it briefly, his pupils shrinking slightly.

The letter did not describe how to attack Jing'an City, but rather how to take advantage of the Northern Barbarian invasion to sacrifice the lives of 100,000 people in Jing'an City in order to refine an elixir of immortality for the Crown Prince.

"An elixir of immortality?" Su Ming laughed angrily. "To achieve immortality, he's willing to sacrifice 100,000 people? This prince of his is certainly audacious."

The high priest, panting heavily, said, "Now that you know, you should understand that no one in this world can save you."

"I don't need anyone to save me." Su Ming swung his knife and severed the high priest's throat.

[Ding! Kill the High Priest of the Demonic Cult, complete the hidden quest: Remnants of the Demonic Cult!]

[Received 1 Mysterious Treasure Chest, Luck Value +1000!]

[Host's cultivation has broken through; current realm: early stage of Rank 6!]

A powerful force exploded within Su Ming's body, instantly filling his meridians, which had been depleted due to the fierce battle.

He stood up, looking at the corpses scattered on the ground and the rescued people, but felt no joy.

The crown prince's plot was even more outrageous than he had imagined.

"My lord, this letter?" Murong Yan walked over, her face pale. She had also seen the contents of the letter.

Su Ming carefully put the letter away and looked towards the direction of the capital.

"This letter is our get-out-of-jail-free card, but also the Crown Prince's death warrant." He turned to Wei Lang and ordered, "Hang the High Priest's head on the city gate and tell the northern barbarians outside the city that this is their fate."

"Also, make some preparations."

"We need to take the initiative."

Wei Lang was taken aback: "My lord, we only have five hundred men, while there are fifty thousand barbarian troops outside the city!"

Su Ming sneered and retrieved the simplified landmine blueprint from the system.

"Is 50,000 people a lot? If the pit is dug deep enough, they are just 50,000 pigs waiting to be slaughtered."

Just then, the system alarm sounded again.

[WARNING! Extremely dangerous target detected approaching!]

[Distance: Five li.]

[Identity: Prince of the Northern Barbarians, Tuoba Hong. Cultivation Level: Mid-Fifth Rank.]

Su Ming suddenly looked up and saw a dark figure rushing towards him across the gravel at an astonishing speed, creating a gust of wind wherever it passed.

Su Ming's pupils contracted slightly, and the Asura Blade was held horizontally in front of him.

The newcomer stopped a hundred paces away. In the moonlight, he was a burly young man wearing the animal skin armor unique to the Northern Barbarians, with a curved sword hanging at his waist, and his eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

"Tuoba Hong," Su Ming uttered the name.

The system's prompt was correct; the person before him was indeed the third prince of the Northern Barbarians, the most ferocious wolf cub on the grasslands.

"So you're Su Ming?" Tuoba Hong sized up Su Ming, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his lips. "You killed my brother, destroyed my supplies, and beheaded my priest. You've got some nerve."

He speaks fluent Mandarin, but with a rugged accent characteristic of the grasslands.

"Your brother is too weak, your provisions are too easy to burn, and your priest deserves to die," Su Ming said calmly. "That's all?"

A flash of anger crossed Tuoba Hong's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Interesting, no wonder they were able to defend Jing'an City." He cracked his neck, his knuckles making a series of popping sounds. "However, the game should end now."

As soon as he finished speaking, he shot out like an arrow.

The speed of a mid-stage fifth-rank cultivator is so fast that it is almost imperceptible to the naked eye!

"Scatter!" Su Ming shouted.

The well-trained soldiers of the Shenji Battalion scattered instantly.

Su Ming swung his sword backhand, the blade whistling through the air.

clang!

With a casual wave of his hand, Tuoba Hong's curved blade precisely blocked the Shura Blade's aura, sparks flying everywhere.

"Early stage of the sixth rank?" Tuoba Hong was somewhat surprised. "I underestimated you, but that's all it takes."

He lunged forward, his curved blade slashing at Su Ming like a storm.

Su Ming gritted his teeth and took the hits head-on, each collision causing his blood to surge.

The gap between the fifth and sixth ranks was greater than he had imagined.

"My lord!" Murong Yan wanted to step forward to help.

"Don't come any closer!" Su Ming roared. "Go save the people, now!"

Murong Yan gritted her teeth and led her men to charge towards the people who were tied up around the altar.

"You still have the mind to care about others? Take care of yourself first!" Tuoba Hong glanced at him and sneered.

Having said that, he slashed down with his sword, and the sword energy transformed into a roaring giant wolf that opened its blood-red maw and pounced on Su Ming.