Longevity Martial Arts: Obtain Golden Affixes at the Start

"There's an ambush!"

Gongsun Qi's vanguard let out a scream, but it was too late.

The boulder crashed into the ranks, crushing several cavalrymen and their horses into a bloody pulp.

Hundreds of arrows shot out from the dense forest on both sides of the road, raining down on the troops on the mountain path.

Gongsun Qi's troops were already exhausted, and being ambushed in the dead of night threw them into chaos.

They trampled each other, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!" Gongsun Qi shouted sternly, drawing his sword and slaying a deserter who ran past him. "Form ranks! Form ranks right here!"

But his voice was quickly drowned out by the chaos.

"Gongsun Qi!"

A loud shout came from the ridge, as loud as thunder, drowning out all the noise.

Gongsun Qi suddenly looked up and saw a figure riding a horse swiftly down the ridge.

It's Mo Wentian!

Gongsun Qi's pupils contracted sharply. Wasn't Mo Wentian in Lingchuan City? How could he be here?

He didn't have time to think it through, because Mo Wentian had already attacked him.

Mo Wentian's sword was aimed straight at Gongsun Qi's face.

Gongsun Qi parried with his sword, but the huge impact knocked him off his horse. He staggered to the ground and took several steps back before regaining his balance.

Mo Wentian struck again, this time with a sword that was faster and more ruthless than before.

Gongsun Qi raised his sword to meet him.

Both were at the initial stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, and their cultivation levels were comparable. However, Mo Wentian was at his peak, while Gongsun Qi had been traveling for days. As a result, Mo Wentian quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

Mo Wentian's swordsmanship was powerful and unrestrained, each strike carrying an indomitable killing intent, forcing Gongsun Qi to retreat repeatedly.

Gongsun Qi gritted his teeth and persevered, but his heart grew colder and colder.

His men had been scattered by the ambush, some dead and some surrendering.

Meanwhile, Mo Wentian's men grew increasingly fierce in their killing, reaping the spoils of war.

"Gongsun Qi, you've lost! Lingchuan City is now in my hands!" Mo Wentian interrupted Gongsun Qi while attacking.

Gongsun Qi did not reply, because he had no energy left to speak.

Mo Wentian's sword strikes grew faster and heavier with each strike, pressing down on him until he could hardly breathe.

Gongsun Qi was greatly alarmed. What kind of sword technique was this?

Each sword strike seemed to carry the force of a thousand pounds, like a mountain collapsing, a technique that no ordinary Qi Gathering Realm martial artist could use.

Finally, on the seventeenth sword strike, Mo Wentian found an opening.

Gongsun Qi was a fraction of a second too slow in parrying, and Mo Wentian's longsword pierced through his shoulder blade. He screamed in agony as his entire right arm went limp, and the longsword clattered to the ground.

Mo Wentian dismounted and moved closer, grabbing Gongsun Qi by the throat with his left hand, lifting him up and slamming him heavily onto a boulder by the roadside.

Gongsun Qi's back slammed into a rock, and the intense pain made his vision go black for a moment.

He tried to struggle, but Mo Wentian's fingers were stuck on his Adam's apple; with just a little force, he could crush his neck.

"You dare not kill me. If you do, Prefect Geng will not let you off, nor will the Prefect."

"I wouldn't dare kill you?"

Mo Wentian sneered, the blade slicing across his throat, blood gushing out.

Gongsun Qi clutched his throat with both hands, his eyes wide with disbelief. He couldn't believe, even in death, that Mo Wentian would actually dare to kill him.

"I wouldn't dare kill you? Who do you think you are!"

The battle ended before dawn.

Of Gongsun Qi's more than 500 men, more than 200 died and more than 200 were captured. Only a few escaped in the chaos.

Zhou Liang walked over through the pools of blood and bowed, saying, "My lord, the results have been tallied. We have captured 237 people."

Mo Wentian nodded slightly: "What about our losses?"

"Eleven dead, twenty-three seriously wounded, and the number of those with minor injuries is countless."

"The compensation for fallen warriors will be doubled."

"yes!"

Zhou Liang responded, then hesitated before asking, "My lord, Lingchuan City has been captured, and Gongsun Qi has been executed. What's next... what about Lingchuan Prefecture?"

"Lingchuan County...now that we've taken it, there's no reason for us to give it back."

Zhou Liang's heart skipped a beat: "Does Your Excellency mean... to annex Lingchuan County?"

"Gongsun Qixian made the move, and we were merely acting in self-defense. If the Prefect wants to punish us, I have my reasons to give."

……

Hong Lang carried Mo Qiushui back to Hengjiang County.

Huang Li had been waiting at the entrance of the county government office. When she saw Mo Qiushui covered in blood, she turned pale with fright.

"County Commandant Hong, Lord Mo, she..."

"It's nothing serious. Go boil some water and find some clean clothes."

The oriole responded and trotted off.

Hong Lang carried Mo Qiushui back into the room, carefully examined her injuries again, and reapplied medicine and bandaged her wounds.

After nearly an hour of effort, Mo Qiushui's injuries finally stabilized.

"County Commandant Hong".

The sound of orioles came from behind me.

"What's wrong?"

"News has come from the Prefect: he has led his troops to capture Lingchuan City and killed Gongsun Qi."

Hong Lang was stunned. Did Mo Wentian really not care about this daughter? Perhaps from the very beginning, he never intended to turn back and save her.

He was betting that Gongsun Qi would send out all his troops, leaving his rear vulnerable. As for whether Mo Qiushui would die in the chaos of battle... that was probably just the smallest bet in the game.

"That's ruthless," Hong Lang muttered, unsure whether he was referring to Mo Wentian or the state of the world.

……

At Qin Yan's residence in Zhaohua City.

Qin Yan sat in his study, a letter clutched in his hand, his face grim.

The letter was sent by Mo Wentian, and its contents were very simple: Gongsun Qi had invaded the border and had been beheaded at Qingshi Ridge. Lingchuan County would be temporarily under the administration of Tianmu County, pending the decision of the Prefect.

"Temporarily under the administration of Tianmu County..." Qin Yan slammed the letter on the table and sneered, "What a fine 'temporary administration'."

A staff member sitting at the lower end of the table cautiously spoke up: "My lord, is Mo Wentian... going to start his own business?"

Qin Yan didn't say anything; of course, he could tell.

With the capture of Lingchuan County, Mo Wentian now possessed two counties and no longer needed to rely on him.

Today, Mo Wentian is still able to send a letter politely, but in the future, he probably won't even need to send one.

The aide lowered his voice: "Sir, should we...?"

"What do you want?" Qin Yan glanced at him. "Go and take him down? What reason do I have to attack him? Will the Prefect just stand by and do nothing?"

The staff member awkwardly shut his mouth.

Qin Yan frowned. He had supported Mo Wentian's uprising because he valued the man's ruthlessness and decisiveness, believing he could be of use to him.

But he didn't expect the knife to be so sharp that it cut his hand.

"So be it," Qin Yan sighed. "If he wants to fly, let him fly. But he's not the only bird in the sky."

His gaze turned toward the prefectural government's residence, where Qiu Shanjin sat in a grand chair, overlooking the entire Zhaohua Prefecture.

When Mo Wentian annexed Lingchuan County, the first person who wouldn't let him go was the Prefect.

At this moment, Qiu Shan was sitting in his study with two documents in front of him.

One document was sent by Geng Xiangming, impeaching Mo Wentian for arbitrarily raising troops and annexing neighboring counties, and requesting the Prefect to punish him severely.

One document was sent by Mo Wentian, stating that Gongsun Qi had invaded the territory first, and Tianmu County was forced to defend itself afterward. Lingchuan County would be temporarily placed under the administration of Tianmu County. The document requested the Prefect to make a decision.