Decisive Battle, Severing the Road of Life (Part Six)

Everything was going smoothly. The Ghost King, confident in his status, refused to act lightly. Prince Nolan and Sean Xuan were handling the Ghost Hall killers—not a one-sided massacre, but they weren’t at a disadvantage either.

Serena Feng was struggling to cope, but for now her life wasn’t in danger. Yet all of that...

...was shattered by the chaos erupting halfway up the mountain.

Lady Min, leading her black-clad dead-men down the mountain, ran into Storm Cloud Bu and his shadow guards at the foot of the slope. The two sides clashed at the base; Storm Cloud Bu vented all his fury—and his anxiety over betraying Prince Nolan—onto Lady Min’s men, striking to kill with no restraint.

The squad Storm Cloud Bu brought was the very one Prince Nolan had left for William Wang Jinling as reserves. William had sent them to the imperial temple to protect Lady Min, but Storm Cloud Bu diverted them for his own assault.

These men were formidable—not just in skill but in numbers, far outmatching Lady Min’s forces. Facing Storm Cloud Bu’s bloodthirsty attack, Lady Min was forced into a steady retreat, finally pulling back with her few remaining men to Destiny Cliff, hoping to use the Ghost Hall killers there to share the pressure.

Originally, the Ghost King had no intention of intervening. He trusted his own men—given enough time, they could wear down Prince Nolan, Serena, and Sean Xuan. It was just a matter of when. But the sudden arrival of Storm Cloud Bu’s squad made the Ghost King feel a real sense of crisis.

He would never allow the Nine Provinces Token or the Nine Provinces Treasure Map to fall into anyone else’s hands. So...

The moment he noticed the commotion on the mountainside, the Ghost King made his move.

Smack—The Ghost King slammed both hands onto his chair’s armrests. With a cracking sound, the entire chair split into fragments, and the Ghost King soared into the air like a wild goose, diving straight toward Prince Nolan.

The Ghost King’s target was always clear: Prince Nolan, who held the Nine Provinces Token.

"Watch out!" Sean Xuan sensed the danger. Seeing Prince Nolan tangled up by Ghost Hall killers, he quickly kicked a nearby corpse toward the Ghost King.

He thought it might slow the Ghost King’s attack, but the Ghost King didn’t even bother with such a minor obstacle—he swatted the corpse aside with a single palm strike.

Serena fired a bullet from a distance, but it did nothing to stop the Ghost King. He didn’t even glance at it—just flicked his robe and knocked the bullet to the ground.

A true martial arts master!

Serena almost wanted to drop to her knees.

Was this even fair? This Ghost King wasn’t some undead monster crawling out of a tomb—why did his martial arts have to be so terrifying? It was enough to make you want to die.

The Ghost King’s attack didn’t slow for a second. Prince Nolan and Sean Xuan both knew—if the Ghost King landed a real hit, even if Prince Nolan survived, he’d be half-dead.

With no other choice, Prince Nolan ignored the enemies behind him and drew his sword to face the charging Ghost King head-on.

Squelch—

The instant Prince Nolan turned, a strangely shaped blade stabbed into his back. To ease the pressure on Nolan’s rear, Sean Xuan fought seven men at once—and ended up bleeding from the chest.

Still, trading a wound for a life was absolutely worth it.

Thanks to Nolan’s quick reflexes, before the Ghost King’s palm strike could land, he countered first—his long soft sword flicked out like a spirit snake, switching between hard and soft, slicing through the Ghost King’s protective barrier and forcing him to switch from offense to defense, blocking Nolan’s deadly strike.

Thud—The Ghost King caught Nolan’s sword between his palms, feet off the ground, holding himself level with the blade.

Nolan was still charging forward, body leaning in, his robes whipping in the wind. The two masters were locked in a stalemate—neither could advance an inch.

A massive field of force formed between them. No one dared approach—their aura alone scattered everyone nearby, sending them flying.

Sean Xuan knew the Ghost King’s strength well. For Nolan to hold his ground this long meant his cultivation was much higher than Sean Xuan’s own.

Even so, Nolan still wasn’t the Ghost King’s match. Sean Xuan saw blood dripping from Nolan’s wrist.

If this kept up, Nolan would be finished.

Sean Xuan was anxious, but with masters fighting, he couldn’t intervene—he could only worry for Nolan in his heart.