Chapter 358 357: Mastery

This meant the power in his arm had surpassed its limits; his every movement could match the speed of airflow.

The speed of the vibrations produced a continuous, oppressive roar.

Thinking back, Mu Lin suspected that Jin Guangshi, the man he'd fought before, was what they called a master of the Celestial Spirit Earth Realm.

And Vajra Zhenren had only been a little bit stronger...

Mu Lin had only just mastered this, but his success was deeply connected to his powerful True Qi foundation.

A deep foundation allowed for extremely high efficiency.

Mu Lin tipped over the large vat, letting the depleted, useless medicinal liquid drain onto the ground.

He rinsed off under the courtyard's water pipe, washing away the sticky residue of the medicinal liquid, and only then did he step outside.

Hearing the noise, Su Nuan and Zhu Tong immediately fell to their knees, their expressions grave.

"Uh..." Mu Lin was at a loss for a moment. "What are you two doing?"

Su Nuan crawled forward and kowtowed to Mu Lin. "Thank you for saving my life, Mr. Mu! First, you rescued me from Sun Yicheng, and then you saved my Senior Brother. For these two great kindnesses, I have to kowtow to you. My conscience wouldn't be clear otherwise!"

Mu Lin was silent for a long moment before sighing. "You've both kowtowed. Can you get up now?"

Su Nuan knew that persisting would only make Mu Lin angrier, so she scrambled to her feet. "Yes, yes, you're right!"

She got up and then helped her Senior Brother to his feet.

Mu Lin looked at Zhu Tong. "Senior Brother Zhu, how are you feeling? Anything wrong with your body?"

Zhu Tong shook his head. "Not at all! You truly are a Divine Doctor! My junior sister was right about you!"

Mu Lin waved his hand with a smile. "You're exaggerating. Compared to my master, I'm nothing."

'If Mu Lin is saying that,' Su Nuan thought, 'just how incredible must his master be?'

Zhu Tong said, "Mr. Mu, there's something I'd like to confirm with you, if you promise not to get angry."

"Just say it," Mu Lin replied. "Why would I be angry?"

But instead of speaking, Zhu Tong threw a sudden punch, striking at Mu Lin like a bolt of lightning.

Mu Lin was startled, but he could clearly sense that Zhu Tong held no hostile intent.

Mu Lin judged Zhu Tong's cultivation to be at the Mid-stage Grandmaster level, the kind of power that could crush all the small fry in the Jianghu.

The punch held nothing back, possessing the full power expected of a Mid-stage Grandmaster. Zhu Tong only dared to unleash his full strength because he had some idea of Mu Lin's capabilities.

BOOM!

The fist landed squarely on Mu Lin's chest, but his expression didn't even flicker. He remained perfectly calm.

The Vajra Shield inside him had activated on its own. Mu Lin didn't try to control it, curious to see how its defensive power would hold up in a surprise attack.

Zhu Tong's eyes widened in disbelief. Su Nuan cried out, "The Vajra Shield! That's our sect's Vajra Shield!"

Mu Lin was taken aback. "You're from the Vajra Sect? Are you disciples of that Vajra Zhenren?"

He grew wary. In the Jianghu, reason often failed, especially when it came to matters of sects and honor.

If these two were from the Vajra Sect, then no matter what their relationship had been up to this point, they would surely become enemies.

"The Vajra Sect?" Zhu Tong said. "What's that? Is that the name those thieves came up with? How dare they use the word 'Vajra' in their sect's name! What injustice!"

Mu Lin narrowed his eyes. Zhu Tong's emotions didn't seem feigned, which meant he was likely telling the truth.

It seemed he and Vajra Zhenren were actually enemies.

"Senior Brother Zhu," Mu Lin said, "why don't you explain things more clearly?"

Zhu Tong said, "The Vajra Shield is a Secret Technique from our sect. Many years ago, someone set their sights on it."

"Our sect was attacked, and many were killed. My master died at the hands of our enemies while protecting my junior sister and me..."

Zhu Tong's hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white.

Su Nuan added, "A while ago, I was in Di Yang when I unfortunately ran into Vajra Zhenren. He was hell-bent on killing me. Thankfully, an old friend of our master happened to be passing by and intervened, giving me a chance to flee. I ran for my life all the way to Songyang..."

"And that's when I found you?" Mu Lin asked.

Su Nuan nodded silently.

Mu Lin nodded slowly, his confusion beginning to clear. "I understand."

Su Nuan was seething. "Those thieves are despicable! They attacked our sect and killed our master, and now they have the gall to call themselves the Vajra Sect? Do they think we don't even exist?"

Zhu Tong sighed. "Junior sister, say no more. It's our own fault for being weak. As the saying goes, weakness is the original sin. We can only blame ourselves for being too weak to support our sect. It's only natural that we'd be bullied."

"But I'm mostly recovered now. I can earn money again! Once I've earned enough, Mr. Mu, can I hire you to avenge our sect?"

"Actually," Mu Lin said, "that might not be necessary."

Hearing this, Zhu Tong's expression fell. "Brother Mu, I understand. Vajra Zhenren is very powerful. It's only natural that you wouldn't want to take such a risk..."

Mu Lin tilted his head. "Who said that's what I meant? I'm saying Vajra Zhenren is already dead."

"What?!" Su Nuan exclaimed. "How could that old bastard be dead? That's impossible! Did it happen just in the last few days?"

"I killed his junior brother and crippled his disciple," Mu Lin explained, "so he came to Anhua looking for revenge. I killed him there. The higher-ups in Anhua are all aware of it, but it seems the news hasn't reached you yet, so the misunderstanding is natural."

The room fell completely silent. After a moment, the siblings dropped to their knees again, about to kowtow to Mu Lin.

Mu Lin raised a hand, and a sharp gust of wind lifted them both back to their feet.

It was as if they had been bounced up by springs.

"You're being too formal. It was nothing, really. There's no need for all this."

Mu Lin took the Vajra Shield manual from his pocket. "Since this manual is yours, I should return it."

"There's no need," Zhu Tong said. "This manual was not fated to be ours. My sister and I were never able to master it, and we've long given up hope. Since you were able to cultivate it successfully, Mr. Mu, you should be the one to keep it. Please, just make sure you find a suitable successor so that our sect's Secret Technique can be passed on and flourish."

Mu Lin didn't refuse. 'After all,' he thought, 'they're so destitute, they probably couldn't afford to recruit new disciples anyway. Taking on even one might bankrupt them. It's better if I take it. This way, they can focus on building a better life for themselves. It's a happier outcome for everyone.'

"Alright, I'll accept it then. Thank you."

"Now that our great enemy has been dealt with, our master's spirit can rest in peace. We have no more lingering regrets! We have nothing to offer you, so please think of this manual as a small token of our appreciation. Mr. Mu, please don't give it a second thought."

Mu Lin smiled. "Alright, let's consider the matter closed. We don't need to bring it up again."

Su Nuan realized she was so overjoyed that she was rambling and might be starting to annoy Mu Lin.

She quickly changed her tune and decided to say no more.

But she couldn't help but add, "Mr. Mu, Vajra Zhenren was so powerful. The fact that you could kill him is just incredible."

"You're even stronger than he was!"

"You can't put it that way," Mu Lin said. "Everyone has their specialty. Vajra Zhenren spent his entire life's energy on researching defense, so naturally, his defenses were top-tier. With his body of bronze skin and iron bones, it took me considerable effort to deal with him. Breaking through his guard was pure luck."

Recalling his fight with Vajra Zhenren, he remembered the man's method of attack was simply to use his own body as a weapon, charging around recklessly.

It was unbelievably crude.

Zhu Tong nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Mr. Mu is absolutely right. Our master once mentioned in passing that while the Vajra Shield is incredible, it can't solve every problem. There's no such thing as a shield with maxed-out defense in this world."

Mu Lin smiled. "Indeed. I had to use all my strength to find a gap in Vajra Zhenren's defense before my True Qi was depleted. If I had been even a hair's breadth off, the outcome would have been completely different."

They chatted for a while longer about interesting happenings in the Jianghu before Mu Lin said, "Brother Zhu, can I leave these things here for a bit? I have some other business to attend to. How about I come back to pick them up later?"

"Of course," said Zhu Tong. "Don't worry, go right ahead!"