"A demon! I was just about to capture you and test my spear..."

While Hu Ma carefully watched the surrounding situation and made calculations in his mind, he clearly felt that this Young Master Meng seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. His spear techniques became fiercer, directly thrusting towards him.

Now that he had tested Hu Ma's lack of cultivation, he was even more oppressive, wielding the ghost spear with gusts of Yin wind, specifically to suppress Hu Ma. Almost every spear strike was full of force, attacking Hu Ma's body from various tricky and bizarre angles.

Having a higher level of cultivation had such advantages. There were thousands of techniques and spells in the world, but cultivation was the core. Higher *Shousui* (Night Watcher) cultivation meant greater strength, higher *Fuling* (Spirit Possession) cultivation meant being able to summon more magic power, and higher *Zougui* (Ghost Walker) cultivation meant setting up altars larger than others.

In battles between those in the know, if one's cultivation was inferior, it was easy to be suppressed, restricted, and unable to fully utilize one's abilities. Once both sides used their full strength, the one with shallow cultivation would immediately lose momentum, even being thrown into disarray by the opponent's direct impact.

Now that this Young Master Meng had used his full strength and displayed his proficient martial arts skills, he had clearly suppressed Hu Ma on horseback, with even a hint of mockery in his eyes.

He seemed to be in no hurry to kill Hu Ma, instead wanting to use him to hone his own skills.

"Young Master has the upper hand..."

Even the close-fitting maidservant beside him was clearly a little excited, her worried thoughts lessened. Having followed him out, they absolutely did not want the young master to act personally. If he lost, they couldn't bear the responsibility.

But she also understood that this time the young master had suffered a great loss. If he wasn't allowed to vent, he would be difficult to serve afterward.

But...

...Even as she thought this, she was still more thoughtful, vaguely sensing something was wrong: if this demon only had this little ability, how dare he rush to the Meng family's face like this?

"It's time..."

At the same time, Hu Ma, relying on his fierce blade, had quickly gained some understanding of this Young Master Meng.

This Young Master Meng ultimately lacked some experience, and his foundation was easily probed.

This was probably a common problem among young masters from influential families. It wasn't that they didn't understand many principles; even if they didn't travel the *jianghu* (martial world), there were *jianghu* people to teach them. But *jianghu* experience was like this; what others taught was ultimately of little use, only what one experienced oneself was useful.

Back then, Miss Red Wine had allowed him, as a *Dengjie* (Ascending Steps) cultivator, to participate in the siege of Ji Tang of the Beggar Gang, precisely so he could see how a *Shousui* was killed. That shock was very useful...

Of course, the Meng family's foundation was extremely deep, and it wasn't practical to fully test it in a short time. Now that he had bought this bit of time, it was enough.

"A mere mortal?"

When he understood the logic within, he suddenly brandished his blade, temporarily forcing Young Master Meng back. On horseback, he suddenly shouted coldly, "Then I'll let you see if my blade, wielded by a mere mortal, is fast enough!"

As he spoke, his entire body suddenly transformed into death, his fierce aura immediately revealed. With a vicious strike, he forced Young Master Meng back a little, then slowly raised his blade, flicking it with his finger.

"Whoosh..."

The blade understood, and suddenly, rolling *sha qi* (killing intent) swept out. The bizarre patterns on the blade strangely illuminated the surroundings with a gloomy aura, directly slashing towards Young Master Meng.

And after transforming into death, Hu Ma's body became heavy and stiff, like a *hanba* (drought demon), possessing a strange strength. His movements were more agile, somewhat different from when his entire body was alive, but his strength had suddenly increased a lot.

*Shousui* who cultivated to the *Ru Fu* (Entering the Mansion) level were already like zombies in body and fierce ghosts in soul. Displaying this state, ordinary weapons and arrows were difficult to injure them. Even when facing divine weapons, suffering a few injuries, as long as they didn't lose arms or legs or have their heads chopped off, they wouldn't care.

Immediately, the blade became fierce and the person savage, carrying rolling *sha qi*, as if he had instantly become another person.

"This *sha qi*..."

At the same time that the *sha qi* on the blade was activated, Young Master Meng suddenly recognized him from the *sha qi* on Hu Ma's blade. He had seen this terrifying *sha qi* when someone in the town had killed the Eight Withered Gods of Grass.

He was instantly terrified, crying out in alarm, "It was you just now?"

He hated the two people in the town to the extreme, one who had subdued the Yin General and even received a bow from him, and the other who had used a fierce blade to kill his Eight Withered Gods of Grass. But because the other party was hidden and masked, he didn't know who it was, and he didn't know if this was the same person.

When Hu Ma had rushed in front of him just now, he couldn't connect him to that person. After all, he was certain that the person who had killed the Eight Withered Gods of Grass was definitely someone of extraordinary status in the town, in Bu Shi Niu.

How could such a person be alone, running outside the town to kill him?

But when he saw the *sha qi* on the blade, his entire being was instantly stunned, both shocked, hateful, and angry, even carrying a bit of wild joy, shouting, "Demon, you can be said to have delivered yourself to my door!"

In his shout, although killing intent surged in his heart, seeing the extreme momentum of Hu Ma's blade, he ultimately lacked the ruthlessness of a common brawler, unable to use a move to exchange injury for injury. He could only hastily raise the spear in his hand to block.

"Clang!"

Unexpectedly, the blade was too fierce, actually chopping the ghost spear into two pieces with one strike. Then, the momentum of the blade didn't stop, and rolling cold light directly chopped down towards Young Master Meng's face.

"This demon is so fierce..."

Young Master Meng was shocked in his heart. He only heard the fierce blade howling loudly in his ears, like eerie laughter, while the ghost spear was wailing incessantly. In a fit of anger, he casually threw the broken spear in his hand to the ground, then waved his sleeve, and a strange wind swept around him, blocking his front.

This wave of force also used his own cultivation. The air that was waved out seemed to carry a force that suffocated people.

At the same time, the close-fitting maidservant who was watching the battle on the side had already prepared, quietly lighting four incense sticks. The smoke rising from the incense sticks directly shrouded this area in a misty fog, with shadowy figures flickering.

The two intertwined, and Hu Ma, who was charging up on horseback, seemed to fall into a ghostly trap. For a moment, he only felt eerie, cold ghost hands everywhere.

But how could a *Shousui* who had gained the upper hand easily spare anyone? He shouted deeply, and his divine soul condensed, suddenly condensing a *faxiang* (divine form). The ghost hands reaching towards him were immediately bounced away by the *faxiang* on his body.

His whole person seemed to have become countless times taller, with a blue face and fangs, like a fierce ghost, fiercely raising his blade and killing forward.

You have a body of proficient martial arts, I have this common brawler's spirit that I fought for! You have the cultivation of a young master from an influential family, I have the *faxiang* of a great rebel! You have a maidservant assisting you, I also have this fierce blade that kills people!

In the deep shout, he had instantly broken through the ghost fog, his momentum rising steadily, chasing step by step.

Just now, when the two were competing in martial arts, Young Master Meng had not been defeated, and could even be called "proficient" in front of Hu Ma. It was Hu Ma who relied on the bravery of a *Shousui* to turn the tables.

But now, Young Master Meng had already lost his momentum the moment he retreated.

In addition, he no longer had a weapon in his hand, and he couldn't think of what to use in a short time. Moreover, he didn't seem to have any experience with this kind of situation where one side actively lost their weapon and the other side actually forced their way up. He panicked in his heart, only knowing to retreat in large strides.

And Hu Ma, who had gained the upper hand, wielded an increasingly fierce blade, with rolling blade momentum directly engulfing Young Master Meng.

"Get out of the way!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, the maidservant beside him seized the opportunity to stab Hu Ma on horseback with a bone sword, but she was kicked away by Ma Ye, who had just become excited, with two back hooves. Hu Ma took advantage of this forward momentum to chop down towards his face again.

Young Master Meng's reaction could not be called slow. As he retreated, he grabbed a bone shield from the side at random and blocked it in front of him.

He even didn't forget to pinch a *fayin* (magic seal) with his other hand, seemingly secretly trying to use some spell. But the ability of a *Shousui* lay in close combat, becoming more and more fierce, more and more intense, and出手 (making a move) faster and faster.

Many people in the know didn't lack hidden stunts that could be used to turn the tables and save their lives, but in close combat, they didn't have time to use them.

No matter how secret your movements are, the *Shousui* will chop down with a blade.

"Chi la!"

Hu Ma charged forward with the momentum, the horse's head directly hitting the shield covered with strange bone thorns, bumping the horse's head full of blood, dizzy. But Hu Ma took advantage of the momentum to chop down, like a thunderbolt, with wild energy overflowing on the blade, cutting solidly.

He actually directly split the bone shield and landed on Young Master Meng's face.

With a "chi" sound, blood splattered.

"You dare, you dare, you're so bold..."

Young Master Meng's angry shout sounded. Even Hu Ma was slightly surprised in the hazy mist.

This strike had used its full strength, and there was no reason for this guy to escape, and it did hit.

He felt that this guy also wanted to dodge, but his body was lifted up, not only did he not dodge this blade, but it changed from cutting towards his face to cutting towards his neck, chopping off his head.

But why was he still talking like this?

In surprise, he saw Young Master Meng's eyes full of anger. The surrounding ghost fog dissipated, but he was holding his own head in one hand, his headless body standing.

The head held in his hand also revealed full of resentment, staring at Hu Ma森森然 (mori mori ran, coldly and eerily): "I competed with you in martial arts, but you took advantage of me by borrowing this fierce blade. Since that's the case, then I'll also let you see the Meng family's methods."

As he spoke, he actually lifted the head he was holding in his hand, then puffed up his cheeks, using all his strength, and blew hard.

"Hua..."

He took off his head, and a stream of blood spurted out from his neck. Now that this blood was still flying in the air, not yet landing, and with his blow, it turned into a large scoop of water with a "hua" sound, slowly and widely enveloping most of the area.

(End of this chapter)