Great Captain Ma Lin

Upon learning the youth's identity, the ferocity on Jiang Zhen's face suddenly froze, replaced by terror.

He examined the youth carefully. He looked somewhat different from the portrait, having lost his former childishness, yet he still bore a striking resemblance.

Jiang Zhen's heart was instantly filled with fear. He had only just become a Middle Captain; at most, he was on Cui Xiao's level.

Yet this youth had been able to kill Xu Hao, which meant he was far stronger than him.

Seeing the killing intent in Jiang Ping An's expression, Jiang Zhen dropped to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face.

"Young master! I was forced into it! Our Great Captain, Ma Lin, forced me! I never wanted to kill ordinary people, but if I didn't act, the people above would kill me!"

"Please spare this worthless life of mine, young master! I'll withdraw from the military rolls afterward and never lay a hand on anyone again!"

"Clip-clop, clip-clop~"

As he begged for mercy, clouds of dust rose in the distance as several hundred cavalrymen approached.

Ecstasy appeared on the kneeling Jiang Zhen's face. He instantly sprang to his feet and snarled at Jiang Ping An.

"You little bastard! You're finished! Our Great Captain Ma Lin has arrived with three hundred cavalrymen! Hahaha! You idiot, you actually dared to come back. Just wait to die..."

Before he could finish, a fireball crashed into him. In an instant, his entire body was engulfed in flames.

"Ah~"

Jiang Zhen screamed in agony and rolled endlessly across the ground, trying to put out the flames.

But these were no ordinary flames. They had been released by a Cultivator and would not be easily extinguished.

Amid one shrill scream after another, Jiang Zhen was burned alive, suffering immense pain before his death.

He was not the only one. Several other soldiers were burned to death as well.

The villagers were immensely gratified by the sight.

"Young brother, hurry and run! Avenge us in the future!" an injured villager shouted anxiously.

They all knew about Jiang Ping An as well. The matter had already spread throughout Flat Water County.

Only if this youth survived could he kill more of those bastards and avenge them.

"Haha, you little bastard! You actually dared to come back!"

When Ma Lin saw Jiang Ping An, he nearly thought his eyes were deceiving him.

Instead of hiding properly over in Continuous Mountain County, this idiot had actually run back to Flat Water County.

Wasn't this courting death?

Wait, why did the girl in this brat's arms look so familiar?

She was Meng Jing, the daughter of Meng Kuo, the general of Continuous Mountain County!

Ma Lin felt as though heaven itself was favoring him, wanting him to render great service.

Jiang Ping An and Meng Jing—so long as he dealt with these two, it would be a tremendous Military Merit!

With such great Military Merit, he could ask the county governor for terms in the future and exchange them for higher-grade martial arts manuals.

With advanced martial arts manuals, he could break through to Martial Master, shed his identity as a captain, and become a general!

Ma Lin had already begun imagining himself as a general.

"Haha~"

His booming laughter shook the heavens. Ma Lin drew his Military Saber and charged toward Jiang Ping An and Meng Jing on horseback.

In his eyes, they were not two people, but two Military Merits that could be obtained with ease!

Meng Jing recognized him too, and despair filled her heart.

He was one of the two strongest Great Captains in Continuous Mountain County, extremely close to the level of a ninth-layer Qi Refinement Cultivator.

With someone like him targeting them, and several hundred soldiers following him, death was certain.

"Jiang Ping An! You've gotten this Miss killed! In your next life, you'll wash this Miss's feet for a lifetime!"

Gritting her teeth, Meng Jing prepared to climb down from the exotic beast and fight him to the death, but Jiang Ping An held her slender waist tightly.

"Hold on tight. I'll take you to kill the enemy."

Pressed against Jiang Ping An's chest, Meng Jing felt an unusual warmth. A strange warm current flowed through her heart as she stared blankly at the cold-faced youth before her.

"He's a Great Captain. You can't possibly beat him! Hurry and run! With this exotic beast, we might still be able to escape!"

Jiang Ping An did not run. He infused spiritual energy into the rune blade, and several basic runes flickered across it.

"Little White, sprint with everything you've got!"

Upon receiving the command, the exotic beast lowered its legs slightly before shooting forward at high speed.

A streak of blazing white flashed past. Before Ma Lin could understand what had happened, Jiang Ping An had already arrived before him.

"What kind of horse is that? So fast!"

Ma Lin's heart trembled. The thought had barely arisen when a flash of runic light suddenly burst forth before him.

A blade slashed down before him, activating the Life-Preserving Talisman on his body.

The rune shattered, and tremendous force sent Ma Lin flying.

Shock, fear, and disbelief churned within him.

"Impossible! How can you possess such terrifying strength!"

Ma Lin landed on the ground and steadied himself, staring at Jiang Ping An with utter shock and fear in his heart.

If not for his protective talisman, that strike would have killed him without question!

A month ago, this was still the guy he had crippled with a single kick. How had he become so powerful after only one month?

Jiang Ping An narrowed his eyes slightly. Another rune.

If not for that rune, he would have already killed the opponent with one slash.

Riding Little White, he charged at Ma Lin once more.

Ma Lin retreated frantically while pulling out another rune. He poured spiritual energy into it and shouted at it.

"General! Jiang Ping An and Meng Kuo's daughter, Meng Jing, have mistakenly entered our Flat Water County! They're in Black Ravine Township! Send reinforcements at once!"

"Not good! It's a Sound Transmission Talisman!" Meng Jing cried anxiously.

A Sound Transmission Talisman was a special, expensive talisman. After spiritual energy was infused into it, one could speak a message. The rune would then burn, instantly transmitting the message to another rune.

Such runes were costly and generally only used in emergencies.

Ma Lin believed this was precisely such an emergency.

If it were not absolutely necessary, he would not have wanted to use the Sound Transmission Talisman.

But something felt terribly wrong. Jiang Ping An's strength was bizarrely great, and that strange white horse was bizarrely fast.

Jiang Ping An had already charged before Ma Lin and swung his blade again.

"No matter how strong you are, you can't possibly kill me!" Ma Lin immediately swung his saber to meet the blow with all his strength.

At that very moment, a glimmer flashed through Jiang Ping An's right eye.

Ma Lin's movements suddenly paused, though it could only freeze him for an instant.

Using the ability of his right eye consumed Mental Power and spiritual energy. The stronger the opponent he controlled, the greater the spiritual energy expenditure.

His opponent was not weak. If he forcefully controlled him, the consumption would be enormous.

But that brief pause reduced much of the opponent's strength. That was enough.

Three phantoms appeared from both their blades at the same time.

Ma Lin's pupils shrank violently.

The third layer of Phantom Blade!

His opponent had actually mastered the third layer of Phantom Blade!

Ma Lin had studied martial arts for decades and only mastered the third layer in recent years, while this youth was merely fourteen and had only obtained the Phantom Blade Art two months ago!

This youth was a martial arts genius!

"Clang~"

Their blades collided, sending sparks flying.

Ma Lin felt a terrifying force surge through his right arm.

The saber in his hand was knocked away. His arm trembled violently, and blood flowed from the web between his thumb and forefinger.

"The second layer of Vibration Blade Art."

Meng Jing, held in Jiang Ping An's arms, opened her little mouth wide, looking as though she had been stunned senseless.

She had only given Jiang Ping An the Vibration Blade Art a month ago, yet he had already learned the second layer!

The blade in Jiang Ping An's hand flashed, and a huge head flew into the air, blood scattering in all directions.

The expression on that head was full of disbelief.

He could not believe that the youth he had once been able to toy with at will just a month ago now possessed the strength to kill him in an instant.

The several hundred soldiers charging from behind suddenly stopped, every face filled with terror.

The Great Captain... was dead!