Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

249: Nine floors are nothing to brag about.Inside the Lin Family’s deliberation hall, the atmosphere was as heavy as the sea before a storm, the air seemingly solidified, making it hard to breathe.

The lingering sunset glow streaming through the windows cast long shadows of everyone in the hall, adding to the somber mood.

”Bang!”

Lin Lingshan’s giant, fan-like palm slammed heavily onto the thick sandalwood table, emitting a dull, thunderous crash that made the teacups on the table jump violently, spilling tea everywhere.

His bronze-colored face was flushed crimson with extreme anger, his tiger eyes wide, his hair and beard bristling, like a provoked lion.

”Eagle Beak Ravine! That’s where our Lin Family hunts and gathers herbs! Did Wang Black Fiend and Hong Lie eat a bear’s heart and leopard’s guts?

How dare they so brazenly seize and plunder! Do they really think my Lin Family is made of mud? Do they think my Lin Family has no one left?”

His roar echoed through the hall, shaking dust from the beams.

If it were the Lin Family of before, they would have simply endured this loss, not daring to resist at all.

But now, under Lin Jingyu’s leadership, the Lin Family had long surpassed its Peak, reaching its strongest state.

A new Elder, Lin Yuanshan, with white hair and beard and a gaunt face, stroked his snow-white long beard, his brows tightly furrowed, and advised in a deep voice:

”Clan Chief, calm your anger, you must not be impulsive! That Wang Family Patriarch, Wang Black Fiend, his ’Black Fiend Technique’ has reached the Peak of Ninth Level Qi Refining, and he is notoriously fierce. It’s said he once briefly fought a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and survived!

Hong Family Patriarch, Hong Lie, is also a master of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. His Family’s ’Blazing Palm’ is fierce and overbearing, capable of melting metal and stone!

If their two Families join forces, their strength far exceeds what our Lin Family can currently contend with! In this old man’s opinion, perhaps... we should first send eloquent people to negotiate, explain the pros and cons, and perhaps avoid a war?”

”Negotiate? Elder Yuanshan, are you senile?”

Another new Elder, Lin Meng, with a fiery temper and a burly physique, stood up abruptly, his voice like a great bell.

”They’ve already stabbed a knife into our heart! They injured our people, forcibly occupied our land! And now we go to negotiate? That’s not showing weakness, that’s kneeling and begging for mercy!

Did the blood of our Lin Family’s sons flow in vain? Are we to just watch as our Spirit Stone veins and spiritual fields are seized, and our clansmen sacrifice themselves for nothing?” He trembled with anger, his fists clenching with cracking sounds.

”Exactly! Our Lin Family is no longer what it once was! With the Young Clan Leader here, why should we fear the Wang Family or the Hong Family!” Some younger core clansmen also spoke up in agreement, their emotions running high.

”No longer what it once was? Hmph, Jingyu’s extraordinary talent is true, but he is still young, and his cultivation...” Lin Yuanshan’s words were cut short by a calm yet clear voice that reached everyone’s ears.

”They are just two Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, what are they worth mentioning?”

The voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a strange penetrating power and a calming force, instantly quelling all the noise and agitation in the hall.

Everyone looked towards the sound, only to see Lin Jingyu standing quietly at the hall entrance, having arrived unnoticed.

He wore a simple, spotless blue cloth robe, his posture as straight as a pine. His face was handsome, his expression calm, and his gaze swept peacefully over every clansman present.

His eyes were as deep as an ancient well, without ripples, yet they seemed to penetrate hearts, making people involuntarily quiet down and feel convinced.

”Jingyu!”

When Lin Lingshan saw him, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes, a mix of reliance and worry.

”You’ve come... That Wang Black Fiend and Hong Lie are, after all, veteran Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, famous for many years, with ruthless methods... How about you make a trip to the Southeast Market Town, pull some strings, spend some Spirit Stones, and invite a few experts to assist? Prudence is best!”

Lin Jingyu walked slowly into the hall, came before Lin Lingshan, shook his head slightly, and a faint, confident smile played on his lips:

”Uncle Lingshan, you worry too much. I know what I’m doing. You just need to arrange the manpower and prepare to take over Eagle Beak Ravine.”

His tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable decisiveness, as if stating an established fact: ”The Spirit Stone veins and spiritual fields concern the Family’s future Foundation; there can be no loss. I will go personally.”

The current Lin Jingyu possessed Divine Sense far surpassing his peers, and having forged a Dao Foundation phantom, he was practically invincible in the Qi Refinement Stage. Against ordinary Ninth Layer of Qi Refining like Wang Black Fiend and Hong Lie, he indeed had the power to crush them.

Seeing Lin Jingyu so calm and confident, Lin Lingshan’s heart settled, and he nodded heavily: ”Good! In that case, Ling Kuang! Select four skilled men to accompany the Young Clan Leader!”

”Yes! Clan Chief!” Lin Lingkuang, who had long been unable to restrain himself, responded with a booming voice.

Lin Jingyu watched this scene with a smile, feeling very pleased.

After experiencing so many trials and tribulations, many people in the Lin Family had straightened their backs.

A moment later, at the entrance of Lin Family Village. A flowing cloud kite shimmered with green light, growing against the wind to three zhang in size.

Lin Jingyu was the first to leap onto the front of the kite, standing with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering.

Lin Lingkuang followed closely, along with four other agile and loyal skilled clansmen of Qi Refining Middle Stage, who also boarded.

”Rise!” Lin Jingyu softly uttered a word, and the flowing cloud kite emitted a clear hum, transforming into a streak of green light.

It shot into the sky, tearing through the twilight, heading towards Eagle Beak Ravine in the northwest at an extremely fast speed, disappearing from everyone’s sight in a blink of an eye.

Eagle Beak Ravine was named for its towering, treacherous giant cliff resembling an eagle’s beak.

The ravine was a hundred zhang deep, with sheer cliffs on both sides like they were carved by knives and axes, and jagged rocks. The water at the bottom of the ravine flowed rapidly, surging and roaring, crashing against the rocks with a thunderous sound.

Normally, it was shrouded in mist, slippery and difficult to traverse, with few signs of life apart from some cold-resistant moss and venomous insects.

However, at this moment, this deep and treacherous ravine had become a bloody battlefield.

Shouts, the harsh clang of clashing weapons, the roar of exploding Spells, and the screams of the injured, mixed with the roar of the ravine’s water, formed a heart-pounding symphony of death.

Over twenty Cultivators from the Wang Family and Hong Family, dressed in different colored attire, were frantically besieging five or six Lin Family disciples who had retreated to a recessed rock wall.

Every Lin Family disciple was wounded, their clothes tattered and stained with blood, leaning against the cold rock wall, forming a broken defensive formation, struggling to hold on.

At their feet, three or four people already lay, their fates unknown, their blood staining the broken stones and moss on the ground.

And the entrance to the newly discovered Spirit Stone vein, faintly glowing with a reddish hue, was firmly guarded by four grim-faced Wang Family Cultivators, all with greedy and triumphant smiles on their faces.

”You Lin Family wastes! Why don’t you quickly kneel and beg for mercy? When our Wang Chieftain and Hong Family Patriarch are done playing, we’ll extract your souls and refine your spirits one by one, then throw you into this ravine to feed the turtles!”

A short, skinny Wang Family minor leader, wielding a poisoned short saber, cackled as he unleashed streaks of eerie green saber light.