Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

148: Hard against sword intentGong Yunyu’s thoughts spun rapidly like a windmill.

The two Inner Sect Disciples of the Qinglan Sect before him had an overbearing Aura, especially Xu Li standing on the Flying Sword, whose gaze was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice; he was definitely a calamity Gong Yunyu couldn’t afford to provoke.

But... but the Lin Family side was even more terrifying!

Standing behind them was a massive power capable of casually giving ”talisman treasures” to its younger Disciples.

A terrifying existence that could completely wipe out his Black Wind Stockade with a mere wave of a hand.

Offending the Qinglan Sect Disciples might just be bad luck for him, but offending that ”Lord Thunder,” and the entire Black Wind Stockade would be buried with him.

Besides, he hadn’t killed the Liu Family’s Cultivators; he had only extorted some money, which wasn’t a capital offense.

In a flash, the pros and cons were clear.

He immediately nodded his head like a pestle, squeezing out every ounce of sincerity and certainty onto his face:

”Exactly! It’s absolutely true! Every word from Fellow Daoist Lin is the truth! These Fellow Daoists from the Liu Family... uh...”

He glanced at Liu Chengcai, whose face was as pale as paper and whose eyes were so full of resentment they seemed ready to spit fire, and braced himself to continue spinning the tale:

”Maybe... maybe they were too nervous, or perhaps their hands and feet weren’t... weren’t very nimble? Yes, yes, yes! Their hands and feet weren’t very nimble!

In a moment of panic, those... those Spirit Stones, Magical Artifacts, and trinkets just fell all over the ground with a clatter!

The Fellow Daoists of the Lin Family are absolutely warm-hearted and chivalrous! They couldn’t bear to see it, so they took the initiative to help pick them up and keep them safe!

This... this is perfectly reasonable and only natural! If you ask me, we should even thank the Lin Family daoists for their enthusiastic help!

The Liu Family people were littering all over the ground.

Not only did it damage the environment and was an eyesore, but breaking the flowers and grass is also not good.”

He spoke decisively, without any hesitation.

In a sense, what he said was actually the truth.

”You... you’re full of it! You’re slandering me!”

Liu Chengcai, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly jumped up, pointing at Gong Yunyu’s nose, trembling with rage as his spit flew everywhere.

”It was clearly you god-damned bandits of the Black Wind Stockade who held knives to our throats and forced us to throw them! It was you!

It was all done by you heartless, wicked outlaws!

Senior, please see the truth! Look at them, lying through their teeth! They’ve done every evil deed imaginable and are filled with wickedness!

You should act on behalf of the heavens, flatten the Black Wind Stockade right now, and grind these dregs of humanity to dust!” He screamed hoarsely, trying to shift all the hatred onto the Black Wind Stockade.

Xu Shousheng’s brow furrowed slightly, and his gaze grew a fraction colder.

What a piece of work, actually trying to give orders?

If he didn’t need something from the Liu Family, he would have kicked this thing away!

Seeing Liu Chengcai drop all pretense, Gong Yunyu simply threw caution to the wind, the fake respect on his face vanishing instantly.

In its place was naked mockery and disdain; he sneered, his voice suddenly rising:

”If I tell you to throw it, you throw it? If I told you to go eat shit right now, would you do that too?

Stop fucking acting like an innocent little rabbit!

Your Liu Family’s dirty business of wanting to annex the Lin Family and seize their home has long been made clear.

Do you really think the two Seniors of the Qinglan Sect can’t see through it?”

He spat a thick glob of phlegm, which landed precisely on the ground less than an inch from Liu Chengcai’s foot, his intent to humiliate plain to see.

”Trying to act like a saint while being a whore, what a piece of trash!”

”Noisy.”

Two words, as cold as if they came from the Nine Nether Cold Springs, suddenly fell from the sky, clearly entering everyone’s ears and instantly freezing all the quarreling and cursing in the field.

Xu Li’s brow furrowed slightly, and a clear flash of impatience crossed his calm, deep eyes.

The hovering azure Flying Sword beneath his feet seemed to sense its master’s mood, emitting a clear, long hum that carried a bone-chilling killing intent.

It suddenly descended like a bolt of azure lightning, coming to a steady halt beside Xu Shousheng. The tip of the sword dipped slightly, and invisible Sword Qi surged out, making the skin of those nearby sting.

Xu Li’s gaze was like tangible icicles as it slowly swept across the field. Finally, it landed on Lin Jingyu.

That gaze was sharp, cold, and indifferent, as if scrutinizing a lifeless object or assessing the hardness of a stubborn rock.

A heavier, purer Sword Intent, like an invisible mountain of ten thousand swords, crashed down upon Lin Jingyu’s head.

”Resolve it quickly,” Xu Li’s thin lips parted, uttering only three words devoid of any emotional fluctuation. The meaning was all too clear; he was tired of this farce and demanded an immediate resolution.

The smile on Xu Shousheng’s face stiffened slightly as he felt the impatience radiating from Xu Li and the suddenly intensified Sword Intent lock-on, inwardly lamenting his luck.

He knew his Senior Brother’s temperament all too well; he was decisive in killing and loathed pointless verbal disputes and delays.

He opened his mouth, intending to smooth things over and retrieve the Spirit Stones and Magical Artifacts in the gentlest way possible.

However, the cold light in Xu Li’s eyes suddenly flared up.

Buzz—!

A terrifying Sword Intent, invisible and formless yet as vast as the boundless ocean, condensed in an instant.

It was no longer a pressure covering the entire field, but had transformed into an extremely condensed, almost tangible sharp will, like a massive invisible divine sword falling from the Nine Heavens, crashing down with a resolve to crush everything and pierce through all things.

There was only one target—Lin Jingyu!

The air seemed to be sucked out instantly! Lin Jingyu felt the space around him suddenly solidify, as if he were cast in ten-thousand-year-old ice.

An irresistible force squeezed him frantically from all directions; his bones groaned under the unbearable weight, and his internal organs felt as if they were about to be displaced.

Even more terrifying was that sharp intent aimed directly at his Soul, like countless cold steel needles trying to pierce and tear apart every thought within his Sea of Consciousness.

”Ugh...”

A muffled groan was squeezed from deep within his throat, and Lin Jingyu’s face instantly turned as pale as golden paper, with pea-sized beads of cold sweat seeping from his temples.

But his teeth were tightly clenched, and his tongue even tasted the metallic tang of blood—he had bitten it himself.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Mental Energy that had already been exhausted like a dried-up lake due to performing mental attacks and controlling the Lightning Talisman was forcibly extracted and condensed by him in a nearly self-harming manner.

A thin, almost transparent yet exceptionally tough invisible barrier was instantly constructed around the perimeter of his Sea of Consciousness, firmly resisting that pervasive and terrifying Sword Intent.

Chi-la! Chi-la!

The grey coarse cloth clothes on his body, as if slashed by countless invisible blades, instantly split into several long gashes.

Revealing the skin underneath cut by the Sword Qi, crimson beads of blood had just seeped out when they were instantly evaporated into a faint blood mist by the sharp Aura surging in the air.

His body swayed slightly like a flickering candle in a gale, and his feet pressed two deep footprints into the hard scorched earth, yet he still held his spine straight, an unyielding flame burning in the depths of his eyes as he glared back at Xu Li above.

Every second was like walking a tightrope over a ten-thousand-foot abyss; the slightest slip would result in the collapse of his Sea of Consciousness and his Physical Body being ground into blood mist by the invisible Sword Qi.