Jiang Ran learned his saber techniques from an old drunkard.

He started training with a saber at six, cultivating his craft for fourteen grueling years.

Although the old drunkard had forbidden him from entering the martial world due to his fatal condition, it wasn’t as if Jiang Ran had never been in a fight.

The local ruffians and gang thugs were his whetstones.

Now, however, with sixty years of Inner Strength coursing through him, his execution of the saber techniques was a world apart from before.

The moment he unleashed the first strike today, an indescribable feeling washed over him.

It was a feeling of elation. His heart pounded wildly, and the hum of the saber in his palm seemed to laugh with glee.

In that instant, the nine saber forms imprinted themselves upon his mind with unprecedented clarity.

With each slash and every change in form, the variations within the technique became increasingly clear to him.

Only now did he understand that his Inner Energy had been too weak in the past; he had never been able to unleash the true power of this saber art.

Now, as he swung his saber, empowered by sixty years of Inner Strength and built upon fourteen years of accumulated experience, every strike brought a new revelation.

Gradually, a strange sensation came over Jiang Ran. It was as if he had become the saber.

Or perhaps, the saber had become him.

The "Nine Sabers"—those once distinct nine forms—began to shatter and fragment during this process.

There was no longer a sequence, no "this move first, then that move."

His will became his hand, and every casual swing was a masterstroke!

In that moment, he seemed to forget the "Nine Sabers," forget Ye Jingshuang, forget the system, and even forget the Evil Arhat, Dao Zhen.

He only remembered one thing: he had an opponent.

An opponent against whom he could unleash his saber to his heart’s content!

This transformation, however, spelled misery for the Evil Arhat.

At first, when clashing with Jiang Ran, he could feel the profound depth of his opponent’s Inner Strength. Each collision of their weapons felt like being struck by a horse-drawn carriage.

The immense force vibrated through his bones and ravaged his internal organs.

Even when he clenched his jaw, blood seeped from his nose and mouth.

The pain was so excruciating he wished for death.

But gradually... he realized he wasn’t suffering like that anymore.

Because their weapons were barely colliding anymore.

To be precise, he *couldn’t* land a block.

He couldn’t parry the young man’s saber.

The saber was clearly aimed at his right shoulder, but when he moved to block it, a gash would inexplicably open up on his left shoulder instead.

He would see a strike coming from below, but by the time he moved to intercept it, it had transformed into a horizontal sweep.

The transformations of the moves were bizarre and utterly inconceivable.

At first, these changes, while deceptive, could still be barely dodged.

But he soon discovered that his opponent’s saber was getting faster and faster.

It became impossible to block, impossible to evade!

He was already gravely ill and severely injured; he had reached his limit. Seeing that he would be flayed alive if this continued, he could no longer hold back and roared in fury:

"You bastard! You’ve gone too far!"

"Ghost Seven, ignore those useless louts! Join forces with me and kill this man first!!"

Ghost Seven was the masked man.

He was currently locked in a struggle with Ye Jingshuang and her two companions.

He, too, was vexed.

’I could kill any of these three in a one-on-one fight, no problem.’

’But with the three of them teaming up, my prolonged assault is proving fruitless.’

Hearing Dao Zhen’s call, his mind raced. Finally, he gritted his teeth, and with a flicker of his body, he disengaged from the fight.

He might not be able to kill the three of them, but with his superior martial arts, disengaging was a simple matter.

Ye Jingshuang’s expression changed. With a flick of her longsword, she shouted:

"Stay where you are!!"

She executed a ’Rising Wind and Surging Clouds,’ thrusting straight for Ghost Seven’s back.

But Ghost Seven seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He sidestepped, and the sword strike met nothing but air.

Cheng Jimo was about to assist her, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the expert in treasured armor turn to flee the very instant Ghost Seven broke from their encirclement.

He immediately raised his hand, sending Flying Feather Needles streaking toward the man’s legs.

"And where do you think you’re going?!"

’We only teamed up against Ghost Seven because our lives were on the line, and because Ye Jingshuang pleaded for my help.’

’But this man in treasured armor and I are rivals, after all.’

’Now that he’s trying to flee, how could I let him?’

"So persistent."

Hearing the dangerous whistle of the attack, the man tapped his toes and leaped into the air. As he dodged, he glanced back to see that Cheng Jimo had already given chase.

Although the Thousand Feather Sect was world-renowned for its hidden weapons, its fist and foot techniques were by no means unrefined.

Cheng Jimo closed in, using both his fists and feet, occasionally launching hidden weapons that forced the man to focus all his attention on defending himself.

Ye Jingshuang glanced back and knew she couldn’t count on them.

Gritting her teeth, she rushed toward Jiang Ran.

But in the brief moment she glanced away, Ghost Seven had already circled behind Jiang Ran.

His hands shot out like ghostly claws from the netherworld, aimed straight for the vital points on Jiang Ran’s back.

’I can already tell that Jiang Ran is lost in a transcendent state, oblivious to the world around him. He probably won’t even notice my presence.’

’A full-powered sneak attack from behind should be more than enough to injure him.’

’Once he’s injured, killing Jiang Ran will be easy.’

’Cheng Jimo is busy with the man in armor. After we kill Jiang Ran, we can pick off the rest of them one by one. No news of today’s events will ever get out.’

As these thoughts raced through his mind, his hands were just about to strike the vital points on Jiang Ran’s back.

But then, Jiang Ran, who had his back to him, suddenly blurred into a series of afterimages. In a flash, he had turned to face him, their eyes locking.

His eyes were perfectly clear, without a trace of the previous trance-like confusion.

"Celestial Nine Steps?!"

Ghost Seven’s expression changed instantly.

A flash of saber light was all he saw.

SHLICK!

Blood sprayed through the air as both of Ghost Seven’s hands were severed at the wrists.

Before Ghost Seven could even scream in pain, Jiang Ran followed up with a flying kick that planted squarely in his chest.

PFFT!

Spitting a mouthful of blood, Ghost Seven’s body flew backward like a discarded rag doll. He tumbled across the ground before finally coming to a stop, prone and unable to rise.

He opened his mouth and blood poured out as if it were free, pooling on the ground. His face was a mask of terror.

"What... what in the world is that saber art?"

Before Jiang Ran could answer, Dao Zhen’s furious roar came from behind him:

"I’ll take you down with me!!!"

As he roared, he viciously hurled his Crescent Shovel.

He poured all his remaining power into the throw. The Crescent Shovel shrieked as it tore through the air, its momentum unstoppable!

Taking advantage of the moment, Dao Zhen reached into his robes, pulled out a small vial, and bit the cork open with his teeth, preparing to down the pill inside.

However, in the next instant, he heard a whistling sound approaching.

He looked up to see the Crescent Shovel he had just thrown inexplicably spinning back toward him.

Before Dao Zhen could react, the blade of the shovel sliced deep into his left shoulder.

He had been holding the vial in his left hand, about to take the medicine. As pain flared in his shoulder, his grip went slack, and the vial slipped from his grasp, falling to the ground.

The tremendous force of the Crescent Shovel sent him flying backward until he slammed with a loud THUD into a large tree on the roadside.

The tree shook violently, showering the area with leaves.

Amidst the shower of falling leaves, Dao Zhen managed to look up. He saw Jiang Ran pick up the small vial from the ground, raise it to his nose, and take a sniff.

"What’s this?"