Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

54: Damn bone nailsWithout any warning.

Lin Jingyu’s right hand moved like lightning, tearing off the coarse cloth belt he used for disguise. His five fingers, like iron hooks, precisely and viciously clasped the icy, bone-chilling Bronze Square Box that was pressed against his skin.

The Spiritual Qi from the Evergreen Art in his body erupted like ignited dynamite, boiling furiously and rushing towards the box without restraint.

”Buzz—.”

The bronze box trembled violently, emitting a teeth-grating hum.

A terrifying Evil Qi, cold, malevolent, and seemingly from the Nine Nether Hells, burst forth like a primeval Vicious Beast breaking free from a thousand-year Seal, instantly engulfing the entire confined space of the room.

A ghostly light flickered at the box’s opening, and the Bone Nail, as pale as bone and covered in tiny cracks, was pulled by an invisible force. With a ”whoosh,” it transformed into a pale stream of light, carrying a piercing shriek, and shot directly towards Lin Jingxie’s unguarded, violently heaving chest.

The dark red spot on the nail’s tip, like congealed filthy blood, now glowed with an eerie, dazzling crimson light, as if a demon had opened its eyes.

”Who? Who dares to ambush me!”

The moment the Bone Nail left the box and the Evil Qi erupted, that deadly sense of crisis, enough to freeze the Soul, finally pierced Lin Jingxie’s spiritual senses like an ice pick.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his bloodshot pupils instantly filled with shock, rage, and a trace of unbelievable fear. The shadow of death was so clear.

Trying to pull out a Talisman from his Storage Pouch to counterattack? There was simply no time.

Protective Magical Artifacts? They had long since been shattered into dust while resisting the terrifying Yao Beast’s aftershocks.

In a flash, he could only rely on his survival instincts, desperately squeezing the already nearly depleted Dantian Spiritual Qi, even activating the raging, violent Yao Beast power within his internal organs.

”Pfft—.”

The violent Spiritual Qi backlash made his throat sweet, and a large mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spurted out, staining the bandages on his chest.

But he couldn’t care less. The remaining Spiritual Qi of his Qi Refining Fourth Layer poured out like a flood through an open gate, mixed with a trace of tyrannical Yao Beast power, frantically condensing into a thin, pale blue Spiritual Qi light shield, rippling violently like water, in front of him.

It’s done!

A ruthless glint flashed in Lin Jingyu’s eyes.

With the power of the Bone Nail, it was enough to pierce Lin Jingxie’s flimsy shield and kill him directly.

However, just as the tip of the Bone Nail, overflowing with Evil Qi, was less than three inches from the shaky Spiritual Qi light shield—

A sudden change occurred.

”Crack... crack crack crack...”

The fearsome Bone Nail actually began to violently shake and tremble in the air in an extremely bizarre and unprompted manner.

Like a madman suddenly having an epileptic fit. The pure Spiritual Qi that Lin Jingyu had infused into it, attempting to guide it to deliver a fatal blow, was instantly violently forced back by a malevolent and icy Evil Qi.

”Ugh ah—.”

Lin Jingyu was caught off guard, feeling an extreme coldness, like thousands of red-hot steel needles, piercing fiercely into the Meridians of his right arm along with his Spiritual Qi connection.

He couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan of pain, and his entire right arm was instantly covered in a dazzling white frost. The bone-chilling coldness, like countless venomous snakes, frantically drilled into his body along his Meridians, and half of his body instantly became numb and stiff.

The Evergreen Art’s Spiritual Qi, which had been flowing smoothly within his body, seemed to have suddenly fallen into a ten-thousand-year ice cave, its circulation as sluggish as an old ox pulling a broken cart, almost completely stagnant.

His eyes were bloodshot, watching helplessly as the Bone Nail, which carried all his hopes for a fatal strike, spun wildly in the air, emitting a heart-stopping ”buzzing” wail.

Finally, amidst a teeth-grating sound, like porcelain shattering—

”Snap...”

It completely burst apart.

Countless tiny, pale bone fragments turned into powder and scattered.

”Pfft...”

It felt as if his chest had been violently struck. He could no longer suppress the churning Qi and blood, his throat sweetened, and a large mouthful of hot blood spurted out, splattering onto the ground in front of him, a shocking sight.

”Damn you, you old dog of the Black Market. This is such a rip-off...”

Lin Jingyu’s mind went ”buzz” and blank, almost fainting on the spot from anger.

Just now, it was full of Evil Qi and incredibly powerful, thought to be a ”great weapon” capable of instantly killing a Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator, but it exploded before even touching the enemy’s hair?

Not only did it have no effect, but the backlash from the Bone Nail caused stinging pain in his Meridians, and half of his body was frozen stiff.

An unnamed evil fire ”whooshed” from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. He trembled with rage, his internal organs almost bursting.

The Black Market. That old black-clad geezer wrapped in a tattered cloak, pretending to be mysterious. He actually gave him a fake and shoddy piece of junk.

No wonder he was so ”generous” back then, giving away a Spirit Mouse Cub and offering a ”blood-spitting, rock-bottom price.”

In exchange for his Immortal Residence VIP token, which was only worth one hundred and forty Spirit Stones.

So that bastard already knew this Bone Nail was a treacherous piece of trash.

He had dug a pit here, waiting for him to jump in. Damn his ancestors.

”Hahaha! Heaven does not wish for my demise! This is truly heaven’s help!” Lin Jingxie was stunned for a moment, then erupted with the wild joy of surviving a catastrophe and monstrous resentment.

The opponent’s inexplicable self-destruction and severe backlash were simply opportunities sent by the heavens.

His left hand moved like a black lightning bolt, instantly reaching for the Storage Pouch at his waist.

A Talisman, glowing with a moist blue light and brimming with Spiritual Qi, was swiftly pulled out by him.

The pitiful remaining Spiritual Qi of his Qi Refining Fourth Layer, combined with a ruthless ferocity, poured into the Talisman as if his life depended on it.

Lin Jingxie didn’t even bother with the stirring Yao Beast power within his internal organs.

His right hand formed a sword-finger, and a faint blue light, Life Qi, also infused into the Talisman.

”Water Arrow Break. Die, you bastard...”

”Buzz.”

The water-blue Talisman instantly erupted with dazzling, blinding light.

Three faint blue water arrows, as thick as an adult’s arm and condensed as if forged from deep-sea ice, materialized out of thin air. Their shafts rotated at high speed, tearing through the air, emitting a terrifying shriek sharp enough to pierce eardrums.

Forming a deadly ’pin’ shape, carrying Lin Jingxie’s boundless hatred and killing intent, they shot with extreme viciousness towards Lin Jingyu, who was suffering from the backlash of the icy Evil Qi, with half his body stiff and numb, and blood still at the corner of his mouth.

The biting killing intent, like a cold wind blowing from the polar regions, instantly froze all the blood in Lin Jingyu’s body. The scent of death had never been so clear, so cold, almost pressing against the tip of his nose.

The bone-chilling Evil Qi was still raging wildly in his right half of his body, making half of his body feel like frozen wood, heavy and numb, unable to move an inch.

The three life-claiming faint blue water arrows, with their destructive shrieks, tore through the air with clearly visible ripples, and their incomparably sharp aura already pricked his skin with pain.

”Damn it! I’ll risk it all!” Lin Jingyu’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. At the brink of life and death, all fear was replaced by a cold resolve. He fiercely bit the tip of his tongue; the intense stinging sensation, like a stimulant, instantly pierced through the numbness of his body.

The Evergreen Art was pushed to an unprecedented limit, and the massive Spiritual Qi within his Dantian ignited like a gunpowder fuse, exploding with a roar.

”Green Turtle Spirit Shield! Hold it for me!” A roar, filled with desperation and almost like a beast’s, was forcibly squeezed from deep within his throat.

”Buzz.”

A flash of spiritual light in his embrace, and a small, green shield, palm-sized, ancient and heavy in design, as if cast from a single piece of bronze, appeared out of thin air.

On the shield, the ancient pattern of a mystic turtle carrying a stele suddenly lit up, emitting a deep, heavy, earthy yellow light, as if unshakeable like the earth itself.