Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

240: Breaking through the surface with a point”Kill! Indulge in slaughter! Your fear, your despair, your flesh and blood, and your Souls are the best sacrifices.

Join this great Ritual! This is the ultimate value of your existence!”

Standing for Fierce Blood Sun spread his arms, laughing wildly like a madman, his voice filled with sickening pleasure.

With every death, the blood light of the Altar intensified. At the center of the platform’s summit, a complex Blood-Red Vortex began to slowly take shape, emitting an ever-increasing suction force.

”Buzz...”

A low, ancient hum, seemingly from the depths of the Nine Nethers, suddenly emanated from within the Altar.

The entire massive Altar trembled violently. The Blood-Red Runes on its surface instantly brightened to their maximum, erupting with monstrous blood light.

The crucial moment of the Ritual had arrived!

Standing for Fierce Blood Suns laughter at the top of the Altar abruptly ceased, replaced by an expression of extreme seriousness and fanaticism.

He no longer paid attention to the battle below, suddenly turning to face the slowly rotating Blood-Red Vortex that had fully formed in the center of the Altar.

He spread his arms, no longer concealing his actions, and began frantically devouring the pure and vast Blood-Red Energy surging out of the vortex.

That was the power condensed from the flesh, blood, and Souls of countless Living Beings, along with a portion of the Secret Realm Origin!

His aura began to climb wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye. The space around his body started to slightly twist, and a pressure that made the Soul tremble began to spread.

At the same time, Lin Jingyu, who had been lurking at a specific location near the Altar Base, had a sharp light erupt in his eyes.

Now is the time!

His hands moved rapidly like butterflies flitting among flowers, his ten fingers dancing to form Ancient Seal Incantations that were complex beyond measure and completely different from the mainstream Formations of the current Cultivation World.

These seals were precisely the Temporary Control Method he had reverse-engineered from the descriptions of the Altar’s controls found in the intelligence, combined with the Ancient Dao of Formation knowledge recorded in the Taihao Elixir Canon.

As the last seal was struck, a faint but extremely condensed Spiritual Light, containing special fluctuations, shot out from his fingertip, accurately sinking into the black rock at the Altar Base that looked no different from the surrounding boulders.

”Buzz...”

On the surface of the rock, the light of the Blood-Red Runes suddenly paused, followed by an extremely subtle disturbance.

The Dark-Red Light Barrier covering the Altar, directly in front of Lin Jingyu, showed an extremely brief, faint, and Blurry Portal just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Although this portal only existed for less than a breath before rapidly closing due to the Altar’s powerful self-repair ability, this instantaneous gap was enough for the prepared Lin Jingyu.

”Now!”

Lin Jingyu let out a long cry that shook the surrounding fields.

He pushed his Movement Technique to the limit, erupting the Spiritual Power of the Peak of Ninth Level Qi Refining without reservation, transforming into a resolute streak of light.

Following that fleeting path, against the monstrous Baleful Blood Qi and terrifying suction force, he charged straight toward the Altar’s summit like a salmon swimming upstream.

”Hmm?”

Standing for Fierce Blood Sun, who was fully absorbing the Blood-Red Energy and whose aura was steadily rising, suddenly opened his eyes!

He sensed the abnormality of the Altar’s defense being briefly triggered, and he saw the tiny figure that dared to swim against the current and charge directly at him.

For the first time, genuine surprise and a hint of unbelievable shock flashed in his eyes. Someone had actually entered the Altar.

Immediately, this surprise and shock were replaced by monstrous fury.

A mere ant dared to disturb his supreme moment of achieving a Perfect Dao Foundation! This was unforgivable blasphemy!

This was like plucking his Reverse Scale.

”No matter who you are, or what method you used, die!”

In his rage, Standing for Fierce Blood Sun even temporarily stopped absorbing the Blood-Red Energy and raised his hand to point.

He did not use any Magic Treasure, but merely condensed a portion of the pure Baleful Blood Qi he had just absorbed, mixed with his own vast Demonic Essence, onto his fingertip.

The next moment, a blood-red Demonic Finger, condensed to the extreme, seemingly compressed from the blood of countless Vengeful Souls, and radiating monstrous malice and destructive aura, appeared out of thin air.

This Demonic Finger was enormous, like a Colossal Pillar supporting the sky, carrying a terrifying pressure capable of crushing and defiling everything as it ground down upon Lin Jingyu, who was charging upward.

The might of this single strike already far exceeded the scope of the ordinary Peak of Ninth Level Qi Refining; the energy level it contained had truly touched the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

This was a blow struck in anger, containing a portion of Foundation Establishment Might! He intended to completely crush and annihilate this ant who didn’t know his place, along with his Divine Soul!

The Blood-Red Demonic Finger blotted out the sky and the sun. Before it even struck, the terrifying pressure had already solidified the air around Lin Jingyu, causing his Protective Spiritual Light to fluctuate violently, seeming as if it would collapse at any moment.

Facing this nearly fatal, Ultimate Killing Blow, Lin Jingyu’s pupils suddenly contracted to the size of a needle tip, and his entire nervous system was stretched to the limit.

However, deep within his eyes, burned an unyielding flame and extreme calmness.

The Spirit Refining Art operated at an unprecedented Peak at this moment!

The world seemed to instantly slow down in his perception. The energy flow trajectory of that Destructive Demonic Finger became clearly visible under the scrutiny of his powerful Divine Sense.

He keenly noticed that because Standing for Fierce Blood Sun had struck in haste, and because the power of this finger largely depended on the Baleful Blood Qi of the Altar that had just been absorbed but not fully refined.

The internal energy circulation had a subtle, almost imperceptible discord and stagnation at a certain node due to the minute conflict between energies of different Origins.

Lin Jingyu’s thoughts raced like lightning, casting all distracting thoughts aside.

He chose not to retreat or defend, because under the pressure lock of the Foundation Establishment threshold, both retreat and defense led only to death.

He chose to advance! To Meet Offense with Offense!

The Spiritual Power of the Peak of Ninth Level Qi Refining surged out of his body like a volcanic eruption, without reservation.

But this time, instead of dispersing the Spiritual Power, he compressed it to the extreme, concentrating all of it onto the tip of his right index finger.

At the same time, the powerful control brought by the Spirit Refining Art allowed him to manipulate this power to a Microscopic Level.

The Spiritual Power at his fingertip did not meet the Demonic Finger head-on; instead, it transformed into a Finger Wind condensed to the extreme, almost formless and intangible, yet containing a ”Law-Breaking” Concept.

The target was directed precisely at the single ”point”—the weakest and most unstable spot in the Blood-Red Demonic Finger’s energy flow!

Breaking the Surface with a Point! Using Four Ounces to Move a Thousand Catties!

This was not just a competition of Spiritual Power, but the ultimate test of insight, courage, and understanding of the essence of power.

”Pfft—!”

A soft yet unusually clear strange sound, like a red-hot branding iron piercing snow, or a tough balloon being popped by a needle tip.

Under everyone’s disbelieving gaze, the Blood-Red Demonic Finger, which seemed invincible and capable of crushing any Qi Refining Cultivator, violently trembled the moment its tip made contact with Lin Jingyu’s tiny Finger Wind.

The violent energy within, already containing subtle conflicts, seemed to find a fatal vent, instantly losing balance.

The frantic conflict scattered and annihilated itself! The Demonic Finger, originally solid like a colossal pillar, suddenly dimmed, rapidly shrank in volume, and lost seventy to eighty percent of its power.

Although the residual energy of the Finger Wind still fiercely struck Lin Jingyu, shaking him until his Internal Organs felt displaced, his throat sweetened, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the hard surface of the Altar.

But in the end, Lin Jingyu... was not crushed on the spot!

He blocked it! He forcefully withstood a terrifying blow containing Foundation Establishment Might.

”What?”

At the top of the Altar, the sinister grin on Standing for Fierce Blood Suns face completely froze, replaced by unprecedented shock, absurdity, and a hint of... dread that he hadn’t even noticed himself.

His guaranteed killing strike was actually neutralized of most of its power by a kid in the Qi Refining Stage, using such an inconceivable method?

How is this possible?

Who exactly is this kid?!

Standing for Fierce Blood Suns gaze fell seriously for the first time upon the Youth who was struggling to climb up from the Altar’s surface, looking utterly disheveled but whose eyes were still as sharp as knives.

As for Lin Jingyu, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he met Standing for Fierce Blood Suns shocked gaze without fear; instead, the corner of his mouth curved into a cold, provocative smile.

The real battle has just begun! His goal was never merely to block this strike, but the Altar Core, which was operating frantically and gathering a massive amount of energy!

It was the Secret Realm Origin... capable of forging a Perfect Dao Foundation!