Yang Qingshi’s complexion grew pale as a sheet.
He knew better than anyone how capable his master, Patriarch Xue Pao was. Even if this was just a clone, his body was equivalent to a Rank 5 beast, and one who could use spells at that.
Lord Xue had once relied only on his clone to flatten an intermediate country. Such phenomenal powers far exceeded what a mere mortal was capable of. That was Yang Qingshi’s primary reason for serving Lord Xue.
To him, Lord Xue was invincible.
And yet, someone had just sliced off the arm of his mentor’s clone. This was akin to pulling off a deity’s pants in front of his devout believer.
It was nothing but shocking and appalling!
“That’s impossible!” Yang Qingshi’s voice quivered slightly. However, the two who were engaged in battle couldn’t care less about what he had to say.
In that clash earlier, while Lin Jin had sliced off his enemy’s arm, it was Lin Jin who nearly lost his life. Had there been the slightest mistake, he would have dropped dead then and there.
Lin Jin continued his tango with death while Lord Xue was continued to be awed by Lin Jin’s capabilities.
“There is Sword Intent but no Sword Energy! That spell should only be capable of attacking one’s psyche so how could it cut physically?” Lord Xue muttered under his breath. He had always been confident, conceited even. He worked on the assumption that he possessed tremendous knowledge and extraordinary powers.
Now, a fact had arisen that he was reluctant to admit.
There were things that even he didn’t know about too.
At the very least, he had no idea how Lin Jin managed to sever his arm with the Sword Intent alone.
However, being the seasoned veteran that he was, it only took a little thinking on his part for him to figure out the catch.
“You almost tricked me there! The Sword Intent was clear but the cloud blade was cleverly concealed! Young man, this tactic of yours isn’t half bad at all. However, it’s a pity that this clone of mine is undead. Forget an arm, even if you decapitate me, my clone will not die!”
Lin Jin was surprised by how quickly his opponent was able to see through his deception
‘Incredible. To think he easily saw through a trick that I formulated after days of brainstorming! Looks like the battle today will be tough and dangerous.’
Without a word, Lin Jin went on the offensive.
He fired dozens of needles to attack Patriarch Xue Pao from different angles. The latter did nothing to dodge these attacks as he was confident that his undead body was able to sustain these hits without an issue.
However, these needles were different from all the previous attacks thrown at him.
Most of the time, Lin Jin’s needles weren’t used for killing but to gather information. As long as the target possessed a bestial aura, the analysis would work. In addition to human blood, this clone’s body had also absorbed the blood of quite a few pet beasts.
Hence, the instant his needle pierced into Lord Xue’s clone, Lin Jin gained the information he needed.
“Blood refined beast. Lower Rank 5. Chaos attribute.”
“Materialized by condensation of mana. Akin to the walking dead. Has no perception of pain. Impervious to fire and water. Limitless mana. The body will not perish from physical attacks.”
“The three evolution methods are…”
“The five methods of eradication are…”
After reading these descriptions in the museum, Lin Jin grew calmer.
In a battle, the worst situation was fighting a battle without knowledge of one’s military. Knowing the enemy and knowing oneself was the fundamental rule for victory.
Of course, this knowledge was also separated into levels.
Some depended on personal experience and common sense, while others relied on information gathering and probing. As Lin Jin had the Museum of Deadly Beasts, he was able to achieve a complete understanding of his opponent.
From the information brought to him via his needles, Lin Jin was able to learn of Lord Xue’s weakness. The fact that his enemy had more than one weakness came as reassuring for Lin Jin.
Speaking of which, besides the old dragon, this was the second Rank 5 beast Lin Jin had met. Hence, even after grasping the enemy’s weakness, Lin Jin had to maintain his diligence.
“Young man, stop trying to kick up clouds of dust,” Patriarch Xue Pao responded to the needles that just penetrated his body. He drained up more blood from his feet and just like that, his severed arm grew back.
Indeed, this was the body of an undead.
“Die!” Patriarch Xue Pao pounced forward. He swiped his claw at his enemy and immediately following that was another surprise attack. It didn’t matter if Lin Jin evaded, blocked, or fought back, his enemy’s tail would keep striking at lightning speed. If Lin Jin were to get hit by the tail even once, he would undoubtedly die. That was how potent it was.
Countless soldiers and pet beasts had lost their lives to this whipping tail before Lin Jin entered the battlefield.
Up against this Rank 5 blood refined beast, even if he was only below average, Lin Jin would surely suffer if he fought him with his own body. The opponent had the body of an undead but Lin Jin was a living, breathing human. Hence, to remain merged with his pet beast wasn’t a wise choice.
At practically the same time, Xiao Huo leaped up from Lin Jin’s arm, instantly growing in size until he attained the physique of a gigantic wolf to counter the blood refined beast.
Lin Jin quickly backed away to prevent from getting himself caught in the crossfire. As he did, he placed three enhancements on Xiao Huo.
“Thirst for Blood’, ‘Berserk’, ‘Fire Spirit Possession’.
These were all enhancement spells. For Lin Jin to be able to cast them all at once was extraordinary enough as no average friar nor beast appraiser could achieve this feat. Even if they could, their spirit energy wasn’t enough to cover the level of energy consumed by these spells.
But Lin Jin was different. Through his continuous cultivation, he had now achieved over a hundred spirit stones in volume and the number was still increasing. He was nearing two hundred now.
Hence, it was more than enough for him to continuously churn out more spells.
Roar!
Bursts of energy exploded from Xiao Huo’s body. With the Dharma body and the Fire Spirit Possession, he was now a flaming wolf, capable of shattering the house around them with just one roar.
“An upper Rank 4!” Patriarch Xue Pao’s eyes widened. “So what? A Rank 4 is still just a Rank 4.”
Confident in his, the blood refined beast attacked furiously. The instant these two enormous beasts clashed, what was left of the garden was reduced to smithereens.
One had an undead body while the other had a Dharma body. Sparks flew and blood splattered as they clashed Not a single structure in the vice minister’s mansion was left intact. Had there not been the Nebula Barrier, the collateral damage would have been far worse.
Lin Jin took out an intermediate spirit stone, invoked a spell, and absorbed the stone’s spirit energy.
In such a deadly battle, he had to use whatever trick he had in his arsenal. Casting the Nebula Barrier and performing the Sword Intent Cloud Blade had exhausted quite a bit of his spirit energy. The enhancements he cast on Xiao Huo drained a significant portion of his energy so if Lin Jin didn’t replenish his spirit energy now, his chances of attaining victory would be non-existent.
Among the opponents he had faced, Patriarch Xue Pao was the strongest. He couldn’t afford to make a single mistake. Releasing Xiao Huo was an inevitable step. The problem with this is that with the Beastmaster Scroll, Xiao Huo could enhance Lin Jin’s strength. Now that Xiao Huo was physically separated from him, if Lin Jin were to come under attack, he would be in dire trouble.
His first priority now was to set up precautions, not against Patriarch Xue Pao, but against Yang Qingshi.
The latter had been watching him from a dark corner, probably preparing another sneak attack, and that was exactly what Lin Jin feared. Lin Jin was going to perform a spell to try and break the sorcery on this blood refined beast. Otherwise, it didn’t matter if they were able to slice him to bits or burned him to ashes, this creature would still be able to re-build himself.
