Versatile Sword Cultivator
Chapter 342 – Combat instinct

[-2150!]

Lin Jichen was caught off guard and ambushed by the insidious Ghost King.

A green, glowing ghostly handprint was left on his chest.

The Ghost King wanted to press the attack, but Lin Jichen used 'Phantom Step' to retreat.

Looking at the ferocious and terrifying Ghost King in front of him, Lin Jichen pursed his lips. Did it really think he was an easy target?

[Ghost: Howling Ghost King]

[Level: BOSS Grade]

[Strength: Early Gathering Spirit Realm]

[HP: 68000/68000]

[Attack: 560]

[Defense: 530]

[Speed: 550]

[Critical: 120]

[Heartguard: 80]

[Skills: Ghostly Stab, Palm Thunder, Soul Penetration, Ghostly Palm, Thousand Malevolent Slay]

The Ghost King at the early Gathering Spirit Realm was similar to the evil demon he encountered in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Unfortunately, he hadn't yet stepped into the Golden Elixir stage; otherwise, he wouldn't even consider this weakling BOSS a threat.

The Ghost King seemed to notice the disdain in Lin Jichen's eyes and immediately attacked again, determined to tear this insignificant human to pieces.

Facing the Ghost King's assault, Lin Jichen showed no intention of retreating. The Dark Night Sword slashed out, creating an impenetrable wall of sword shadows.

In their clash, the Ghost King's offensive quickly crumbled, taking several hits.

The Ghost King, shocked by Lin Jichen's strength, dared not confront him head-on again. Its eyes flared with ghostly flames, splitting into four clones that suddenly charged at Lin Jichen from all directions!

[Ghostly Stab! Locked on! Unable to use movement skills to dodge temporarily!]

Seeing this, Lin Jichen remained calm. Such lock-on clone skills had a flaw: only one was real; the other three were fakes.

He just needed to find the real one.

Scanning the four identical figures, Lin Jichen noticed one clone deliberately lagging a beat. He smiled.

Ignoring the other three fakes, Lin Jichen slashed out a Sword Qi.

[Heavenly Light Slash! Triggering bleed and silence effects!]

The domineering Sword Qi struck the 'clone' directly, without passing through it as a miss.

Instead, the sword light hit the Ghost King's clone, eliciting a scream.

The remaining three clones vanished automatically.

The strike hit the Ghost King's head, dealing massive damage.

[Critical Hit! -7300!]

[Bleed: Lose 5% of current HP over 30 seconds.]

[Silence: Unable to use skills for 10 seconds.]

As the Ghost King screamed in pain, Lin Jichen moved like an arrow released from a bow, rapidly closing in!

Seizing the opportunity of the Ghost King's stiffness, Lin Jichen's Dark Night Sword shot out a frosty white Sword Qi midway.

The Sword Qi hit the Ghost King again, leaving a noticeable wound that quickly frosted over.

"Frost Moon Slash! Triggering slow and freeze effects!"

[-1650!]

[Slow: 30% reduced speed for 10 seconds.]

[Freeze: Frozen for 3 seconds.]

Seeing the freeze effect trigger, Lin Jichen showed a kind smile.

The Ghost King, unaware of what awaited it while frozen, was still furiously thinking about how to tear Lin Jichen to pieces once it broke free.

Lin Jichen, seeing it frozen, didn't deliver the killing blow.

Instead, he stood before it, holding his sword hilt, motionless.

The Dark Night Sword's blade was gathering Sword Qi.

Just as the freeze wore off.

A seamless combo followed!

[Dizzying Sword Qi! Triggering 3 seconds of stun!]

[-1770!]

[Stun: Stunned for 3 seconds.]

One second ago, Lin Jichen was still leisurely standing still. Now, he was like a dog released from a three-day confinement, unleashing all his passion on the Ghost King.

Sword after sword, not greedy for critical hits, the Falling Thunder Sword Technique quickly stacked up, making basic attacks as powerful as critical hits.

Relying on the Falling Thunder Sword Technique, Lin Jichen evaporated nearly ten thousand of the Ghost King's HP in just three seconds.

"Roar!"

The Ghost King, breaking free from the stun, felt humiliated and furiously attacked Lin Jichen, ignoring its injuries!

In its palms, two malevolent energy thunderbolts formed, shooting at Lin Jichen like bullets!

"Palm Thunder!"

These thunderbolts were formidable.

But Lin Jichen didn't dodge. Instead, he flashed towards the incoming thunderbolts and disappeared.

"Wind Thunder Sword!"

Passing through the thunderbolts, he appeared before the Ghost King, delivering a chilling strike with the Dark Night Sword.

The Ghost King revealed a sinister smile, suddenly grabbing Lin Jichen's sword blade with both hands, ghostly energy surging.

Lin Jichen sensed danger and immediately retracted his sword to retreat.

But the Ghost King's mana still invaded his body through the Dark Night Sword.

Lin Jichen felt suffocated, dizzy, and a mysterious green flame appeared on his chest.

The green flame burned his flesh fiercely.

[Soul Penetration!]

[-10222!]

[Curse: Unable to heal for 30 seconds.]

The Ghost King laughed triumphantly, launching a vicious palm strike at Lin Jichen to press the attack.

"Ghostly Palm!"

But Lin Jichen narrowly dodged it.

After retreating, Lin Jichen looked down. The green flame had vanished, but his HP had dropped by over ten thousand.

A Gathering Spirit Realm BOSS couldn't be underestimated.

Lin Jichen sighed inwardly. Of course, he never expected to fight a Gathering Spirit Realm BOSS without taking any damage.

Some skills and damage had to be endured; they couldn't be avoided.

This only fueled Lin Jichen's fighting spirit.

Lin Jichen's attacks became fiercer and faster.

The Ghost King's counterattacks grew weaker before Lin Jichen, struggling even to land a hit.

The more the Ghost King fought, the more alarmed it became, while Lin Jichen grew braver.

Lin Jichen loved this state, growing stronger after setbacks.

He realized he had a trait: the more injured he was, the better his state, and the stronger his fighting desire.

In his past life as a spell cultivator, it was the same. Injuries seemed to unlock his potential.

If he could normally perform at 100%, then injured, especially severely, he could perform at 110%, even 120% or more.

This talent remained even after his rebirth.

Some called this 'combat instinct,' an innate talent often found only in those with strong hearts.

It was like the Haki in "One Piece," mysterious and rare.

The Ghost King clearly lacked this talent. Its attributes were no match for Lin Jichen's, leading to its inevitable defeat.

Minutes later, Lin Jichen swung his final sword, successfully slaying the Ghost King.

Throughout the process, Lin Jichen didn't use any Ultimate Techniques or Spirit Skills.

He relied solely on ordinary sword slashes, combined with a few Martial Arts Techniques, to wear down the Ghost King.

Lin Jichen was already looking forward to breaking through to the Golden Elixir stage and facing such early Gathering Spirit Realm BOSSes again, wondering what kind of battles would unfold.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Seeing the Ghost King's Soul Burial Mound appear, Lin Jichen walked over unceremoniously and looted it clean.

Proofreader & Editor: Lotas