……

Wang Feng’s face looked somewhat unpleasant. These rogue cultivators without a clan were too despicable, willing to do anything for money.

Immediately, she coldly scolded, “Two thousand Top Gold is not a small amount, but it’s not worth losing your life over. Considering that you haven’t killed anyone before, I advise you to leave immediately and stop being cannon fodder for the Huangfu’s Clan.”

Unexpectedly, the Murong brothers were not scared at all upon hearing this, instead, they laughed mockingly.

The younger brother, Murong Zhi, said to his elder brother, “Brother, this is our last mission anyway. We don’t need to be as cautious as before, afraid of offending the Wang’s Clan to death. Why not just go all out…” As he spoke, he kept leering at Wang Feng with a sinister smile, “This little lady is tender and lovely, still a virgin, let’s take advantage of her today.”

“Sounds reasonable.” The elder brother, Murong Zheng, also laughed in a strange tone, “Then before we leave, let’s offend the Wang’s Clan properly.”

Wang Feng’s pretty face turned dark, anger rising in her chest. She unfastened the strong bow from her waist, drew the bow and set the arrow, and swiftly shot a series of arrows.

Three arrows were shot in a trident formation, enveloping Murong Zheng.

Her archery skills were outstanding, clearly the result of hard work. However, the Murong brothers were not ordinary people. Murong Zheng’s figure flickered, swiftly dodging like a gust of wind.

All three arrows missed!

“Little brother, let’s go together and kill all those clan soldiers.” Murong Zheng laughed weirdly, “Then we’ll take this little girl, and we brothers will have a good time.”

As soon as his words fell, the two of them rushed forward, swiftly attacking the clan soldiers.

Wang Feng’s face changed drastically, and she quickly ordered, “Fire together!”

In fact, even before she gave the order, the clan soldiers had instinctively taken out the shotguns they had been training with these days.

The speed of the Murong brothers was extremely fast, even faster than predatory beasts, leaving only a shadow. But that was enough. The clan soldiers, who had been trained for a while, aimed and fired as soon as they confirmed the direction.

“Boom boom boom!”

A series of thunderous sounds rang out, the muzzle of the shotgun spewed out flames, and countless steel balls spread out like a goddess scattering flowers, enveloping the area in front.

Under the loud gunfire, the Murong brothers were first startled, their bodies slightly stiffened, then they were hit by a shower of steel balls, causing them to fly back several meters.

Don’t joke, those steel balls may only be three to four millimeters in size, but their sheer number was overwhelming. And shotguns, although not accurate, are excellent for close combat.

Eight shotguns fired together, forming a terrifying barrage of steel balls.

Such power even startled Wang Feng. During previous training, they had only fired one at a time. She didn’t expect that the power would be so terrifying when eight people fired together.

The most powerful aspect of them was that they covered a large area, making it extremely difficult for Qi refining cultivators to dodge.

Wang Feng had even prepared to signal for a desperate fight.

But the troublesome Murong brothers just fell like that? No, they were still alive. Even though each of them had dozens of steel balls embedded in their bodies and were seriously injured, they were still not dead. They began to groan and howl, struggling to get up.

“Someone, go and tie them up.” Wang Feng gritted her teeth and said harshly, “First break their tendons, then tie them up.”

“Yes, Miss Wang Feng.”

A few clan soldiers shivered, their excitement faded a lot. They quickly dismounted, drew their knives, broke the tendons of the Murong brothers, and then tied them up tightly.

“Wang Feng, you won’t die a good death.” The Murong brothers howled in pain and anger, cursing, “You bitch, your methods are so vicious, you…”

Before they could finish cursing, their mouths were stuffed with rags, silencing them.

“Hmph!” Wang Feng was doing such a cruel thing for the first time, she just coldly said, “What a pair of shameless scoundrels, since you want to kill us, since you dare to oppose my Wang’s Clan, you should be prepared to die. Two of you, take them back to the ranch and lock them up, the rest of you reload your shotguns and continue patrolling with me. Today, those rogue cultivators, let them fall one by one.”

In fact, although shotguns are powerful, their drawbacks are also fatal. The reason they achieved such results was because the rogue cultivators lacked understanding of shotguns.

Once they become familiar with shotguns, they can develop many targeted tactics, such as using long-range attacks with strong bows, or sneak attacks, or equipping armor, etc.

However, once they know about the shotgun patrol team, they will at least not be so reckless. After all, as long as there is a family general or a corresponding level of expert in the patrol team, it will form an effective combat power.

Although rogue cultivators dare to take risks, they still cherish their lives in the end.

Let’s not digress.

There were far more than one patrol team like the one led by Wang Feng. Soon, gunfire sounded everywhere. Under the ignorance and carelessness of the rogue cultivators, the results achieved by the Wang’s Clan were pleasing.

However, except for a Qi refining cultivator at the fourth level who was directly killed, the rest were only seriously injured. Although Qi refining cultivators are far inferior to Spirit Platform cultivators, their individual vitality is extremely tenacious, far beyond ordinary people.The Huangfu Clan’s long-planned operation was completely crushed by Wang Shouzhe’s shotgun, with a total of fifteen rogue cultivators captured or killed.

What most infuriated and intrigued Wang Luotong was still the Murong brothers. She was very interested in their Wind Flash technique, so she detained them for interrogation.

As a noble clan, there were certain rules to follow. Normally, clans were not allowed to bully rogue cultivators at will. If the latter committed a crime and were caught, they might have to be handed over to the authorities for punishment.

However, as a local power, the Wang Clan also had the duty and power to maintain order. If a rogue cultivator committed a crime on their territory, as long as there was evidence, even if they were killed, the authorities would turn a blind eye.

Wang Luotong had dealt with many rogue cultivators before, and with Wang Shouzhe’s scientific teaching of interrogation techniques, she was quite skilled in this area.

Soon, they couldn’t withstand the interrogation and confessed to all their crimes.

Once their crimes were confirmed, as long as they were still within the Daqian territory, they would find it difficult to move freely, as the wanted notices of Daqian would be notified to every commandery and guard city.

Then, Wang Luotong used this as a condition, asking them to hand over the Wind Flash technique. In front of several clan members, she swore in the name of Wang Shouzhe that as long as they handed over the Wind Flash and were willing to be escorted out of Longzuo Commandery by the authorities, their crimes would be pardoned.

In the end, the Murong brothers broke down in order to survive.

They revealed a secret hiding place where the Wind Flash technique and some of their accumulated wealth were hidden. It was agreed that they would be left with a thousand Top Gold.

Wang Luotong sent people to retrieve the items from the secret treasure trove. After a brief inventory, they found that in addition to the Wind Flash technique, there were also some basic and low-grade cultivation methods.

In addition, there was a savings of more than three thousand Top Gold.

After reaping these benefits, Wang Luotong, in accordance with the agreement, left them five hundred Top Gold and handed them over to the city guard camp through official channels to be sent to other commanderies.

This was the difference between a noble clan with some ambition and rogue cultivators. Since Wang Luotong had sworn to them, no matter how much she hated them, she would not break her oath.

Because once an oath is broken, there will be a second time, and a third time. And the clan members and family generals would lose trust in you.

Among the remaining rogue cultivators, Wang Luotong picked a few who were notoriously evil and killed them directly.

And on the border of Huangfu’s large ranch, wooden stakes were erected, and their corpses were tied to them.

This served as a warning to the rogue cultivators who worked for the Huangfu Clan to think carefully before acting, whether they could afford to offend the Wang Clan. The remaining rogue cultivators, after leaving evidence and confessions, were all sent to the city guard by the former horse town guard for official disposal.

Having obtained the “Wind Flash Technique”, she first flipped through it and immediately felt that this technique was very mysterious. It was no less than the family’s unique “Willow Catkin Technique”, obviously a rare “mid-grade technique”.

Don’t underestimate the word “mid-grade”. Most of the noble clans in Changning Guard City do not have mid-grade cultivation methods, or only one or two body or battle methods. As for the top-grade inheritance of the family, even the Wang Clan does not have it.

Moreover, the Wind Flash, the use of body techniques and the training of Xuanqi force techniques are completely different from the Willow Catkin Technique. If you learn an additional mid-grade body technique, it can make your tactics more flexible and changeable.

After all, not everyone is compatible with the Willow Catkin Technique, it can also give clan members another choice.

What Wang Luotong cared most about was an introduction in the Wind Flash technique. If a person with the “Wind Bloodline” cultivates this technique, the effect can be doubled and the power will be stronger.

And in the family, there happened to be Wang Zongchang who had the Wind Bloodline. If he learned this technique, it would certainly be like a tiger with wings.

Therefore, after obtaining the “Wind Flash”, Wang Luotong roughly memorized it and immediately invited Ancestor Xiehan to come over and asked him to send it back to the clan as soon as possible.

Thus, the Wang Clan added a decent mid-grade technique and accumulated more foundation.

……

The appearance of the shotgun dissolved the Huangfu Clan’s disgusting tactic of using rogue cultivators to harass them incessantly. No rogue cultivator dared to cause trouble in the former horse ranch at will.

Even if the Huangfu Clan had figured out how to counter the shotgun, it was useless. The rogue cultivators were all scared by the Wang Clan’s thunderous methods.

However, at this moment, the Huangfu Clan had no way to send clan members and family generals to directly harass the former horse town. After all, the injury of the Huangfu Clan’s ancestor was still a big problem.

Once they openly waged a full-scale war with the Wang Clan, let alone the city guard would definitely not agree, whether they could defeat the Wang Alliance was still a question.

As a result, the border between Huangfu’s large ranch and the former horse town became quiet.

This quietness lasted for a full three years!

During these three years, the Huangfu Clan focused mainly on how to treat the ancestor.

This tactic was not wrong, because as long as the ancestor was cured, the Huangfu Clan could completely break free from the predicament.

Unfortunately.

Huangfu Huaye’s injuries were extremely complex, and even a Purple Mansion cultivator who was good at medical skills found it difficult to treat. And the person who was most targeted at his injuries, Changchun Shangren, was always in seclusion.

Even though the Huangfu Clan sought help in many ways, they never got to see Changchun Shangren.

Huaye, disheartened and disillusioned, returned to Changning Guard.

The Huangfu Clan of today was drastically different from the vibrant and ambitious clan of a few years ago. Over the years, they had sought medical help everywhere and purchased a large amount of elixirs to control Huaye’s injuries and illness.

This had put the Huangfu Clan under increasing financial pressure.

To make matters worse, a new force had emerged from the ranch of the former Ma Town. In just three years, they had grown significantly, competing with the Huangfu Clan’s large ranch purely through business means.

The meat and wool produced by the three major ranches in the former Ma Town were not only of slightly better quality, but their prices were also continuously dropping, gradually taking over the market originally dominated by the Huangfu Clan.

This forced the Huangfu Clan to also lower their prices to compete for the market. At first, the Huangfu Clan was able to resist, as the ranch in the former Ma Town was relatively small, and the Wang’s Clan was not particularly skilled in animal husbandry.

But now, three years had passed, and the Wang’s Clan had actually reduced the price of their livestock products to 60% of the original price! This was a direct and brutal blow to the Huangfu Clan.

If the Huangfu Clan followed suit and lowered their prices, they would enter a phase of selling at a loss, losing more with each sale. But if they didn’t, the market would be taken over by the Wang’s Clan, and the Huangfu Clan’s livestock products would be left unsold.

This brutal and direct price war tactic was driving the Huangfu Clan mad. In order to retain their remaining half of the market, they had no choice but to lower their prices again.

But before they could catch their breath, the Wang’s Clan announced that they would further increase their investment in animal husbandry, and encouraged the small families in Changning Guard to grow forage, which the Wang’s Clan would buy at a high price.

The price was so attractive that even the Tianren Lei Clan was tempted, and they converted some of their low-yield fields to grow alfalfa provided by the Wang’s Clan.

……

“Damn Wang Shouzhe! And those small clans that change their loyalties with the wind should also die! Damn Tianren Lei Clan!” In the study, Huangfu Jin Huan smashed his teacup with a bang.

Compared to a few years ago, Huangfu Jin Huan had aged significantly, with much more white hair.

“Master, please calm down.” The old steward hurriedly comforted, “As the saying goes, let him be mad if he wants to be mad, the breeze will still blow over the mountain. The most important thing now is to find a way to treat the Ancestor.”

“Treat the injury, treat the injury.” Huangfu Jin Huan raged, “Where can we go to treat the injury? Even when we wrote to the main branch, they just hypocritically gave us a few tens of thousands of Top Gold and sent us away, as if we were beggars.”

“Master, after all, we have been separated from the main branch for more than 500 years.” The old steward said helplessly, “The relatives and friends who had relationships with us back then are all long dead. Even the Ancestor of the main branch is not the same person as before. When we were prosperous, they had no problem supporting and helping us. But when we are in trouble, asking them to make a great effort to help, I’m afraid… the affection is not enough.”

“It’s always easier to add flowers to brocade than to send charcoal in the snow.”

The old steward sighed deeply, was this retribution? Back then, it was because of the Huangfu Clan’s actions that the Wang’s Clan fell all the way to the bottom, living a very hard life.

Now, it was the rise and revenge of the Wang’s Clan that made the Huangfu Clan taste this bitterness.

In recent years, in order to treat the Ancestor’s injuries and to fight against the Wang’s Clan’s commercial war, the Huangfu Clan had to sell many of their fixed assets and dismiss many of their servants.

As a result, the once bustling main house of the Huangfu Clan was now cold and deserted. The main gate was almost covered in dust!

Just as Huangfu Jin Huan was full of frustration and contemplating whether to fight the Wang’s Clan to the death, a servant rushed over to report: “Master, I have something to report.”

“Bastard!” Huangfu Jin Huan’s face turned cold, his anger flaring and murderous intent rising, “What kind of manners are these, rushing in like this?”

The servant scrambled over, trembling as he took out an item: “Someone at the door wants to see you. He said that after you see this token, you will personally go to greet him.”

Damn!

Before Huangfu Jin Huan could finish cursing, the old steward said: “Master, please calm down first, there’s no harm in taking a look.”

Huangfu Jin Huan suppressed his murderous intent and took the item for a closer look. Suddenly, he stood up, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

Could it be… he’s here?

Why would he come at this time? Could it be…

For a moment, Huangfu Jin Huan’s face was full of indecision, as if he was hesitating. But thinking of the current situation of the Huangfu Clan, he immediately snorted coldly: “In that case, don’t blame me, Huangfu Jin Huan, for being ruthless.”

……