Chapter 337 336: Deadly Combat

Ghost Saber raised his saber, gave it a slow look, then continued in a grave tone:

"But now, they are a part of me. As long as they can help me achieve my great ambitions, they will live on with me, sharing the same breath and destiny as the heavens and earth."

"But you interrupted everything! You destroyed my Blood Crystal! I will kill you and use your vital essence and blood to reforge the Blood Crystal and compensate for my loss!"

"Since you're in the Innate Divine Realm, your Qi and Blood is equivalent to that of hundreds of men. I can kill you and use your Qi and Blood to make up for my losses!"

With that, Ghost Saber drew his saber from its sheath with a sharp SHING, a sound that carried a hint of mental interference.

If Mu Lin's will had been weak, he could have been affected by the sound, leading to dire consequences.

But Mu Lin was also highly accomplished in the mental arts, so this was not an issue for him.

Ghost Saber slashed out, unleashing a saber glint reeking of blood. The glint was as wide as three oxen standing abreast, and it charged toward Mu Lin like a rampaging war chariot, ready to crush him.

Mu Lin swept Tao Xinxin into his arms and said, "We need to move, now!"

He retreated swiftly for a moment, set Tao Xinxin down, and charged forward again.

In that short exchange, he had put thirty meters between himself and Tao Xinxin.

Then, Mu Lin raised a hand, and the Heaven-Falling Palm erupted from his palm. An intense flame materialized in the air, raising the surrounding temperature so much that one could even smell something scorching.

The fiery edge of the Heaven-Falling Palm collided with the momentum of Ghost Saber's attack. The saber's momentum, which carried a dense, sinister aura, was immediately set ablaze, yet it continued hurtling forward undeterred. Mu Lin stared in a daze.

'That works too?'

This was far beyond his expectations.

'To think that my Heaven-Falling Palm would actually backfire and help him.'

Ghost Saber sized Mu Lin up and said, "Ah, Mu Lin, I really do know of you. You're strong. Very strong. The fact that you could finish off Vajra Zhenren proves you have an incredible talent for offense."

"However, the path I walk is completely different from Vajra Zhenren's. That old bastard has no offensive capabilities whatsoever. Once his defense is broken, he's just a fish on the chopping block."

"A person like that is worthless. He might be able to bully common folk, but he can't affect an experienced Martial Artist in the slightest."

"We Martial Artists who emphasize high attack power have always looked down on those who focus on defense."

As he spoke, Ghost Saber swung his great saber, its movements carrying a foul, bloody stench that was beyond horrifying. Countless trees fell victim to his attacks.

Mu Lin pressed his lips together, forced to retreat continuously.

It wasn't long before he was back level with Tao Xinxin. He had no choice but to shield her as they both fell back.

"Hmph, you're nothing but a can of True Qi! You're nothing without it!"

Having gained the upper hand, Ghost Saber pressed his pursuit relentlessly, giving Mu Lin no chance to catch his breath.

He closed the distance, gathered his power, and brought his saber down viciously toward Mu Lin's head.

The saber qi was incredibly volatile. He couldn't let it touch him even once. The slightest contact would result in broken bones and torn ligaments.

Worse, the saber qi was refined with Blood Crystals, making it sinister and venomous. A single touch would cause the skin to fester, and a severe wound could even make one's limbs rot away.

But Mu Lin managed to dodge it, though he looked particularly battered and disheveled.

Watching from the side, Tao Xinxin was terrified.

Mu Lin hadn't let her stand directly behind him, and that decision had saved both their lives.

Otherwise, Mu Lin would have been forced to block in front of Tao Xinxin, and the battle likely would not have gone as smoothly as it just had.

Mu Lin took a breath, his expression becoming a little more composed.

'Once I figured out his pattern, this Ghost Saber isn't actually that hard to deal with.'

'His saber qi is difficult to handle, but his Sword Skill is subpar. He has no precise judgment.'

'It seems he's spent his entire life just tempering that stupid saber of his.'

Mu Lin smiled slightly and said to Ghost Saber, "Ghost Saber, is it?"

'Didn't I already introduce myself?' Ghost Saber thought.

'Why is he asking again? How annoying. If he pisses me off, it won't end well for him.'

Ghost Saber figured that since he was planning to kill Mu Lin anyway, any other so-called threats were no longer threats at all.

"Are you trying to annoy me? Hurry up and die!"

Mu Lin said, "Do you know what the Vertical Cloud Ladder is?"

Ghost Saber replied, "That's a lost secret manual from the Daoist sects. It allows a Martial Artist to jump extremely high. But since it's lost, there's nothing more to say about it."

Mu Lin smiled slightly. "What if it wasn't lost?"

The comment made Ghost Saber pause for a second. 'This kid sure knows how to brag.'

Seizing the moment Ghost Saber was stunned, Mu Lin's feet erupted with power. He used the force-generating technique of the Vertical Cloud Ladder horizontally, shooting toward Ghost Saber like a cannonball.

Ghost Saber was panicked. He never expected that even at a time like this, Mu Lin would still dare to attack.

Mu Lin slammed viciously into Ghost Saber. Caught completely off guard, Ghost Saber failed to even deploy his saber glint in time before Mu Lin crashed into him full-on.

His body flew limply through the air and fell heavily to the ground.

His ribs shattered into a clump, like a crushed cracker. Heaven knows what had just happened.

Blood splattered everywhere, looking black as it coated the wrinkled, fallen leaves.

It was tragic. Absolutely tragic.

Mu Lin continued to accelerate like a cannon, catching up to the limp form of Ghost Saber in an instant.

He threw another punch, and a powerful arc of electricity shot through every bone in Ghost Saber's body.

Ghost Saber convulsed violently, like a fish flopping on a cutting board.

Ghost Saber lay paralyzed under a tree like a dead pig, his right hand still gripping his saber tightly, but he could no longer wield it.

The feeling was agonizing. His life force was RUSHING away, like water from a bathtub.

"How did you do it... so fast..."

"It's nothing special. If you learned the Vertical Cloud Ladder, you could be as fast as me too."

"Isn't the Vertical Cloud Ladder a secret Daoist manual...?" Ghost Saber stared at Mu Lin in disbelief, as if looking at a monster.

Mu Lin said, "That's right. The Vertical Cloud Ladder is a secret Daoist manual, and a very powerful one at that. So you can rest in peace now. No need to worry about anything else."

"Then what was that final, electrified punch? It was so strong," Ghost Saber asked, forcing himself to hang on by a thread.

Mu Lin chuckled. "That was nothing, either. I just layered my Profound Thunder True Qi onto my fist and gave you a little tap. Wouldn't life be exhausting if you had to name every simple move like that?"

Ghost Saber's eyes were vacant. He was almost completely paralyzed.

Mu Lin sensed his life force fading and said, "Hey, hey, hey! Don't be in such a hurry to die!"

He flicked several needles into Ghost Saber's body to keep him alive.

"First, tell me how you refine the Blood Crystal! You're just going to give up before this saber of yours is even complete?"

Ghost Saber gave a cold laugh. "A few years ago, I met a woman. She was meticulously groomed by a major power, and her talent was exceptional. You could say she was the type to be a superstar."

"So I thought, I could use her power to coalesce a Blood Crystal to nourish my precious saber..."

"I started a relationship with her, all while secretly modifying her constitution, even pouring vast resources into it."

"Finally, I succeeded. I killed her at the opportune moment, placed a Blood-sucking Gu on her body, and left her in a Land of Extreme Yin to nurture the Blood Crystal."

Mu Lin nodded. "Alright, I understand how you did it. Next question: how did you find me? I checked myself; I don't have any tracking marks on me, so I shouldn't have been traceable."

"Hehehe, why would I need to track you? I just had to ask Wang Zuguang. His position in Anhua allows him to quickly find out where you are."

'Him again... of all people.'

'I must be truly fated to cross paths with this Wang Zuguang,' Mu Lin thought. 'We're always running into each other, always clashing.'

'Why is it like this?' Mu Lin couldn't figure it out. 'I haven't provoked him or done anything to him. Why is he targeting me like this?'

'Oh, right.' Mu Lin suddenly remembered. 'He's a member of the Ning Family.'

'That explains it. Isn't it perfectly normal for someone from the Ning Family to hold a grudge against me?'

'There was the matter with Sun Tiandang, and before that, the incident with the Ice Crystal Ore. We became enemies over those things. Of course Wang Zuguang would act on the Ning Family's behalf.'

Mu Lin dismissed the thought and said, "You're also a saber user. How do you compare to Dong Wu?"

Ghost Saber said coldly, "Who hasn't heard the name of the Sword God? I even fought a match against him once!"

"And the result?"

"A draw, naturally. Otherwise, how could I be here talking to you?"