Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

321: Dream BubbleThe sword light was like lightning, and the incredibly condensed purple Thunder Sword Gang tore through the cold air, slashing fiercely towards the giant ice crystal claw!

At the same time, Lin Jingyu executed the Thunder Shadow Steps beneath his feet to the extreme, his figure resembling a ghost, leaving trails of afterimages in the small area.

He narrowly avoided the continuous, subsequent ice attacks from the Lord Prophet, which either stabbed, smashed, or slapped.

The entire warm great hall instantly transformed into a battlefield where thunder and extreme cold wildly collided. Roaring explosions were incessant, and violent energy shockwaves continuously lifted and shattered the thick layer of ice on the ground!

The Lord Prophet’s power attribute was of extreme Yin and extreme cold, which happened to be countered by Lin Jingyu’s thunder power.

However, the Lord Prophet’s application of the Ice Law had reached a state of perfection, being incredibly subtle and sophisticated. Furthermore, his Realm cultivation was far higher than Lin Jingyu’s, and his combat experience was immensely rich.

For a time, he fought Lin Jingyu, who was fully unleashing his power, to a standstill; the battle was fierce and unresolved.

Clan Chief Lieshan and the others had long since retreated in horror to the edge of the great hall, raising their protective spiritual light, watching the battle—which far exceeded the level they could imagine—with shock.

After a protracted battle with no clear winner, Lin Jingyu’s mind raced.

He keenly noticed that although the Lord Prophet’s attacks were fierce, overbearing, and lethal with every move, they seemed to subtly lack that trace of absolute resolve, that desperate, life-and-death killing intent. Instead, it felt more like he was... continuously probing Lin Jingyu’s limits and methods?

Moreover, he felt that the Lord Prophet’s powerful strength seemed vaguely connected to the land beneath his feet, and even to the entire Frost Tribe, vast and mighty.

But upon careful perception, it gave a strange feeling of being rootless duckweed, somewhat unstable and illusory?

A bold idea flashed through Lin Jingyu’s mind like lightning striking flint.

While dealing with a fierce ice spear, he deliberately paused his movement slightly. His protective thunder light flickered, indicating a lack of reserve power. He took the brunt of the ice spear’s power, grunted, staggered back several steps, and his aura became momentarily chaotic and unstable.

”A chance!”

Sharp light suddenly burst forth from the Lord Prophet’s eyes, which had previously been as calm as an ancient well, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

The Bone Staff in his hand shot straight out without any fancy flourishes, like a venomous Dragon emerging from its lair.

The Blue Crystal on the staff’s tip shone brightly. A dark blue cold light, condensed to the extreme, only as thick as a finger, yet emitting terrifying fluctuations capable of freezing the Void Realm, seemed to break through spatial constraints and instantly shot toward Lin Jingyu’s Dantian and Qi Sea!

This strike had utilized his Origin power, vowing to severely wound and capture him in one go.

At this critical moment, where life and death would be decided instantly.

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Jingyu’s eyes, and his long-suppressed aura erupted like a volcano.

”Now is the time! Thunder draws Heavenly Might, empower my body!”

He no longer relied solely on the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian, but fully activated the dark golden Thunder Origin Mark deep within his Dantian.

The Mark trembled violently, emitting a profound fluctuation that faintly communicated with the sparse yet omnipresent Thunder Attribute Energy within the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi of this place!

Although it was far less grand than the overwhelming thunder and lightning that could change the color of the sky outside, within the relatively enclosed space of the Ice Hall, it instantly triggered a localized Spiritual Qi frenzy.

”Buzz!”

The startling thunder sword in his hand let out a cheerful and passionate sword cry. The natural Thunder Patterns on the dark purple sword body lit up one by one, flowing with dazzling electric light. The sword body trembled violently, as if resonating briefly with the Laws of Heaven and Earth in the unseen world.

When he swung his sword, it was no longer a simple sword technique, but contained a trace of the weak Heavenly Might he had drawn forth.

”Break for me!”

The brilliant sword light fiercely collided with the deadly dark blue cold light!

The expected earth-shattering explosion did not occur. When the beam of light, condensed with the Prophet’s powerful ice power, touched the Thunder Sword Gang imbued with a trace of Heavenly Might...

...it let out a ”sizzle” of lamentation and quickly melted and disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye, like spring snow encountering the scorching sun.

The sword momentum did not stop, and it fiercely slashed onto the main body of the Lord Prophet’s seemingly extraordinary Bone Staff.

”Crack!”

A crisp, heart-shaking sound of cracking rang out. A clear fissure was actually cut onto the surface of the Blue Crystal at the tip of the Bone Staff, which had been continuously emitting a faint glow, and the dark blue light instantly dimmed by more than half.

”Ugh!”

The Lord Prophet let out an extremely mournful shriek, as if struck by lightning.

He was sent flying backward as if struck hard by an invisible giant force, heavily impacting the hard Ice Wall behind him with a dull thud.

His aura instantly wilted like a deflated balloon. Even more terrifying, his body actually began to become somewhat... transparent and illusory.

”Pfft!” What he spat out was no longer blood, but a large mouthful of light blue mist that contained pure Soul Power yet appeared scattered and unstable.

Lin Jingyu stood with his sword, breathing slightly, staring intently at the Prophet whose aura was decaying and body was illusory. His eyes held not the joy of victory, but deeper solemnity and doubt.

He had won.

But this victory had come too strangely, too... easily.

The Lord Prophet’s aura was clearly incredibly powerful, not even weaker than an external Golden Core Cultivator.

How could he have been severely injured to such an extent by a single strike from Lin Jingyu?

Just as he focused his mind and remained vigilant.

Something horrifying occurred.

The moment the Lord Prophet was severely wounded and fell, the entire bustling tribe, ”Descendants of Frost,” seemed to have a pause button pressed.

Everything—the warriors around Clan Chief Lieshan, the running children, the rising smoke from cooking fires, and even the snowflakes drifting in the air... froze in an instant.

Immediately after, like reflections in water and flowers in a mirror, the scene before his eyes began to twist, blur, and shatter.

The magnificent Ice Hall, the neat houses, the enthusiastic tribesmen... everything turned into specks of flowing light and rapidly vanished.

In just a few breaths, the environment around Lin Jingyu completely changed.

Where was the prosperous tribe? At this moment, he was standing in a massive ruin covered in battle scars and dark brown ice stains.

Broken walls and shattered tiles, fragmented bones, frozen black-brown bloodstains, ruined weapons... were scattered everywhere. The cold wind howled through the ruins, bringing the scent of death.

This place was fundamentally an Ancient Battlefield that had been abandoned for an unknown amount of time! Everything he had just witnessed was actually—a Mirage-like illusion!

And the ”Lord Prophet” defeated by Lin Jingyu was now slumped beneath a broken, Giant Stone Pillar not far away.

His body had become almost completely transparent, leaving only a faint outline, as if he could dissipate at any moment.

The Bone Staff in his hand had also lost its luster, and the Blue Crystal on the tip was covered in cracks.

The Lord Prophet raised his head and looked at Lin Jingyu. The previous strangeness and aggression were gone from his eyes, replaced only by endless sorrow, exhaustion, and... a trace of relief.

”As expected... worthy of being an outsider, the fated Thunder Legacy Inheritor. Perhaps you can shatter this obsession and illusory dream that has persisted for tens of thousands of years...”

The Lord Prophet’s voice was weak, like a whisper, and transmitted directly into Lin Jingyu’s mind.