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

Three days after leaving the capital, the snow on both sides of the official road grew thicker and thicker.

The Divine Machine Battalion's march was slow, and Su Ming didn't urge them on. He rode on his black horse, his eyes half-closed, as if he were dozing off, but in reality, his mental energy was constantly scanning the surrounding movements.

The icon of the T-34 tank in the system store was like a thorn stuck in his heart.

With 50,000 luck points, I'm still short by more than 20,000.

"My lord, there's a town ahead. Shall we stop and rest for a while?" Wei Lang rode forward and asked in a low voice.

Su Ming opened his eyes, looked at the sky, then at the soldiers behind him who, though spirited, were clearly exhausted, and nodded.

"We'll enter the town, but we won't stay at any inns," Su Ming said calmly. "We'll find an open space to set up camp and let the brothers take turns resting."

Wei Lang was taken aback: "My lord, it's the dead of winter, it's so cold camping outside. Aren't there plenty of campsites in town..."

"Are you the centurion or am I?" Su Ming glanced at him.

Wei Lang immediately shut up and went to relay the order, looking embarrassed.

Chen Xiu rode up on his horse, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, his eyes gleaming with amusement: "Kid, did you smell blood?"

Su Ming didn't speak, but simply touched the Shura Blade at his waist.

The blade was slightly warm.

This knife has been with him for so long, it's long since become sentient. It's giving him a warning.

"Interesting." Su Ming's lips curled into a cold smile. "Someone can't wait even though we've just left the capital? It seems the Great Qian is in a more urgent situation than I imagined."

Chen Xiu spat out the grass stem, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes: "Should I clear the area?"

"No need," Su Ming shook his head. "We're already here; wouldn't it be a wasted trip if we didn't let them see the power of the Divine Machine Battalion?"

He looked up at the town shrouded in twilight in the distance, his eyes cold.

"Wei Lang, pass down the order: everyone check the muskets and load them with live ammunition. We might have an extra meal tonight."

……

The town is small and called Qingfeng Town. Because it is located at a strategic point on the official road, it is usually quite lively.

But today, the townspeople closed their doors and windows early, and the streets were deserted, with only the cold wind howling past carrying snowflakes.

Su Ming rode at the front, his gaze sweeping over the tightly closed doors and windows on both sides, his smile growing colder and colder.

"My lord, something's not right about this town," Wei Lang said in a low voice, his hand already on the musket at his waist.

"Nonsense." Su Ming ignored him and directly ordered, "All battalions on alert. Set up camp in the open space at the town entrance. Load muskets, set up Maxim guns, and aim them at the four directions of the town."

"yes!"

The three thousand Divine Machine Battalion moved swiftly, their movements so practiced it was as if they had rehearsed countless times.

More than a dozen Maxim heavy machine guns were mounted behind makeshift sandbag bunkers, their dark muzzles pointed at every corner of the town.

Su Ming jumped off his horse, walked to the center of the camp, and took out the "Eye of the Demon God" from his pocket.

This was loot dropped from the leader of the demonic cult. The system said it was an incomplete item, but after studying it for a few days, Su Ming discovered that it had a very useful function—

You can see the fluctuations in the cultivator's aura.

He pressed the Demon God's Eye to his forehead, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a strange red light flashed in his pupils.

In an instant, the entire town changed its appearance.

Those seemingly ordinary houses were now all shrouded in a thin layer of blood mist. And in the four directions of the town, there were four dense red orbs of light, like four beating hearts.

"Four fourth-grade cultivators," Su Ming said, narrowing his eyes. "And a dozen or so fifth-grade weaklings. Da Qian is really going all out."

Chen Xiu walked over, looked at the strange eye on Su Ming's forehead, and clicked his tongue in amazement: "Where did this thing come from? It looks really creepy."

"The relics of the Demonic Sect Leader," Su Ming said casually. "Elder Chen, how much luck points do you think the head of a fourth-grade cultivator is worth?"

Chen Xiu's lips twitched: "You brat, you kill someone and then you're thinking about looting the corpse?"

"Of course," Su Ming said matter-of-factly. "If I don't loot the corpses, how am I supposed to buy tanks?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a chilling voice came from deep within the town.

"Su Ming, you're even more arrogant than the intelligence reports suggested."

In the darkness of night, four figures slowly emerged.

They walked on air, and with each step they took, visible ripples spread through the air.

A fourth-rank cultivator, flying through the air.

The leader was a middle-aged man wearing a black Taoist robe. He was pale and had sunken eyes, and he didn't look like a good person at all.

"Mo Yuan, the leader of the Black Fiend Hall under the Grand Preceptor of the Great Qian Dynasty." The middle-aged man looked down at Su Ming with disdain in his tone, "I have come here on the orders of the Grand Preceptor to take your head."

Su Ming looked up at him, his face showing no fear, but instead he smiled.

"You?"

A flash of anger crossed Mo Yuan's eyes: "You're courting death!"

He raised his hand and waved it, and three fourth-rank cultivators behind him attacked simultaneously.

Three sharp sword energies tore through the night sky, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, heading straight for Su Ming.

The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion's expressions changed drastically, and they instinctively wanted to raise their guns to fire, but Su Ming stopped them by raising his hand.

"Don't panic," Su Ming said slowly. "Let them finish their act."

The sword energy arrived in the blink of an eye, and it looked like it was about to tear Su Ming to pieces.

Just then, Su Ming made a move.

He neither drew his sword nor dodged, but instead pulled out a dark, cylindrical object from his pocket and pointed it at the four people in the sky.

"Try this."

Su Ming pulled the trigger.

boom!

A blinding flash of light shot out from the cylinder; it was a portable rocket.

Mo Yuan's pupils contracted sharply. He could feel the terrifying energy contained in that "flying sword" and instinctively wanted to dodge.

But it was too late.

The rocket exploded in mid-air, and the terrifying shockwave instantly tore the three sword energies to shreds. The aftershocks even blasted the three fourth-grade cultivators away.

One of them reacted a fraction of a second too slowly and was hit by shrapnel, exploding into a cloud of blood mist in mid-air.

The remaining two landed in a sorry state, their Taoist robes tattered, blood trickling from their mouths, and their eyes filled with terror.

"What...what kind of sorcery is this?!"

Su Ming blew on the still-smoking rocket launcher and grinned.

"That's called science."

He turned to look at Wei Lang, who was still dumbfounded, and said calmly, "What are you all standing there for? Open fire."

Wei Lang snapped back to reality and roared, "Maxim, shoot them all!"

Da da da da—

More than a dozen heavy machine guns opened fire simultaneously, and a dense barrage of bullets poured out like a torrential rain.

Before the fifth-rank cultivators hiding in the town could react, they were riddled with bullets.

A fourth-grade cultivator's protective true energy can block swords and blades, but it cannot stop a metal storm that strikes six hundred times per minute.

Mo Yuan watched helplessly as the people he brought fell one by one, and he went completely mad.

"Su Ming! You deserve to die!"

He burned his life essence, unleashing a terrifying black aura that transformed into a streak of black light that hurtled straight at Su Ming.

Su Ming stood still, only raising his hand.

In his hand was the Great Archer Bow, which he had drawn from the system.

The bow is fully drawn.

The arrow was wreathed in a faint golden light—it was an armor-piercing arrow that he had enhanced with his luck points.

"Old Chen is right, villains die from talking too much." Su Ming loosened his grip and said softly, "That's why I generally don't waste words."

Whoosh!

The golden arrow shot out of the sky, so fast that even Mo Yuan didn't have time to react.

puff.

The arrow pierced his protective aura, pierced his heart, and flew backwards with his body, embedding itself in the town's city wall.

Mo Yuan looked down at the bowl-sized bloody hole in his chest, his eyes filled with resentment.

"The Imperial Advisor... will... avenge me..."

Before he could finish speaking, his head lolled to the side, and he breathed his last.

[Ding! 4 Rank 4 cultivators and 16 Rank 5 cultivators have been killed!]

[Gained Luck Points: 18000!]

Current balance: 41500 points!