Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

222: Internal strife continuesQin Yue quietly approached Lin Jingyu and transmitted her voice, her tone filled with obvious worry:

”Jingyu, it seems Shopkeeper Feng’s warning can only suppress them for a short while. Treasures Move people’s hearts, especially rare treasures that can directly increase one’s cultivation.

I suspect the people from the Ouyang Family and the Baili Family have long since regarded the Alliance agreement as nothing, only temporarily deterred by Shopkeeper Feng’s thunderous methods.

In the next few days, we must be extremely careful; they are likely to make some small Moves.”

Lin Jingyu nodded slightly, his expression as calm as water, and transmitted back:

”Sister Yue, don’t worry, I understand. People’s hearts are unpredictable; in the face of sufficient benefits, the so-called Alliance agreement is as fragile as thin paper.

We shall just observe the changes and act according to the situation.”

His vigilance was already raised to the highest level, and he secretly began to calculate various possible contingencies and countermeasures.

In truth, how could he not be eager? The single soul fiend crystal he had been allocated was merely a drop in the bucket; he wanted more!

There was also a significant disagreement among the group.

A considerable portion of the people were unwilling to head directly to the core Secret Realm area, intending instead to increase their cultivation before fighting the demonic Cultivators.

After consulting with key figures such as Feng Xixi, Gu Yue, Shui Sheng, and Zhao Mang, it was decided to divide the team into two groups.

One group would be led by her personally and would include top-tier experts with the highest cultivation and reliability, such as Gu Yue, Shui Sheng, and Zhao Mang, acting as the vanguard to cautiously explore toward the core area of the Secret Realm.

They would try their best to ascertain the movements and troop deployments of the demonic cult, and look for opportunities to interfere, sabotage, and delay the progress of their ritual.

The other group would be composed of Cultivators at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining from various families, as well as those who had just entered the Ninth Layer but had not yet reached Perfection. They would be jointly responsible to several family Elders and guard team leaders, with the main task of clearing out Shadow Skeletons in the relatively safe outer areas and collecting soul fiend crystals to increase their cultivation.

They would then head to the core area to rendezvous after reaching Perfection in the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.

Qin Yue, a Cultivator at the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, voluntarily chose to stay behind.

The second group, under the superficial coordination of several Elders at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, such as Baili Feng and Ouyang Ming, cleared Shadow Skeletons from several areas.

Relying on the powerful perception brought by the Spirit Refining Art, Lin Jingyu was often able to be one step ahead in discovering the weaknesses of monsters, their hidden traces, or the locations where soul fiend crystals might drop.

His reminders often helped the team eliminate enemies at a lower cost.

Therefore, although his cultivation was ”not high,” his intangible contributions were significant, and according to the rules, his personal share of soul fiend crystals was quite considerable.

The pure energy surged into his body and was rapidly refined by the Taihao Sha-Transforming Technique. The yin-sha Qi was converted into pure and peaceful spiritual power that flowed into his Dantian, while the residual souls and grievances were used as whetstones by the Spirit Refining Art.

Through constant tempering, purification, and absorption, his Mental Energy became even more condensed, and the range of his Divine Sense expanded further.

His cultivation grew steadily at an unbelievable speed, breaking through to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer as naturally as water flowing into a channel. Moreover, his Foundation was incredibly solid, and the purity of his spiritual power far exceeded that of his peers, putting him not far from the Peak of the Sixth Layer.

If this terrifying speed of cultivation were known to outsiders, it would certainly cause a huge uproar, and likely even those legendary Geniuses with Heavenly Spiritual Roots would be left in the dust.

Lin Jingyu would also usually refine some Medicinal Pills for cultivation and to help Xu Li and the other recover from their injuries.

This left Xu Li astonished for a long time; he never expected that Lin Jingyu was actually an Alchemist.

However, beneath the calm surface, the undercurrents were becoming increasingly turbulent.

The continuous accumulation of soul fiend crystals was like dry firewood constantly being added to the side of a gunpowder barrel, making the issue of ”distribution” extremely sensitive.

Although Feng Xixi had stated beforehand that distribution would be based on contribution, discordant voices began to emerge within the second group responsible for clearing out monsters, especially when there were obvious differences in the quality of the harvested soul fiend crystals, causing conflicts to become prominent.

On this day, the team encountered a large group of Shadow Skeletons in an area filled with giant withered bones, known as the ”Giant Skeleton Forest.”

Among them was an elite bone beast with an aura at the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining—a ”Shadow Skeleton Leopard” with bones that appeared an eerie silver-gray, possessing a slender build but moving with the swiftness of a ghost.

This bone beast was extremely troublesome; not only was its speed incredibly fast, but its sharp claws also carried corrosive spiritual power. It appeared and disappeared like a phantom in the withered bone forest, causing great trouble for the team.

After a bitter battle and at the cost of three people suffering minor injuries and one person suffering serious injuries, several people finally joined forces to corner it, and finally, it was Baili Feng’s nephew.

That short-tempered Baili Tu, relying on a Move called ”Army-Breaking Slash” which had immense lethality but also a large opening, risked a sudden charge and shattered its vital head with one strike, killing it.

After this elite Shadow Skeleton Leopard dissipated, it dropped a soul fiend crystal whose quality was clearly superior to all previous ones; not only was it larger in size.

The milky white radiance flowing inside was also more intense and solid, and the energy fluctuations it emitted made everyone around feel refreshed.

Just as the Ouyang Family Cultivator responsible for collecting the spoils was about to put the crystal into a special Storage Pouch, Elder Baili Feng suddenly stepped forward, his palm as large as a cattail fan pressing down on the Cultivator’s wrist.

The force was so great that the Cultivator groaned in pain. Baili Feng’s voice was like a booming bell, his tone carrying an unquestionable strength:

”Wait! Although Shopkeeper Feng has said to distribute based on contribution, it must be fair! In the battle just now, everyone witnessed it. If not for the ’Arrowhead Formation’ formed by my Baili Family Disciples attacking head-on and bearing the brunt of this beast’s attacks, would the casualties be limited to just this? My Baili Family sons bled and were injured, and the final fatal blow to kill this beast was also completed by my nephew Baili Tu, who risked his life to use a Move like the ’Army-Breaking Slash,’ which kills a thousand enemies while suffering eight hundred self-inflicted wounds. He suffered a backlash, and his internal energy is still unstable! In my opinion, this high-grade soul fiend crystal should be prioritized for the Baili Family to acknowledge their merit and reward their hard work! Otherwise, wouldn’t it chill the hearts of those who fight bravely?”

Before he had finished speaking, Elder Ouyang Ming immediately sneered, flashed in front of the Ouyang Family Cultivator, and used a feminine spiritual power to shake off Baili Feng’s hand, retorting:

”Baili Feng! Do you still want any face? To be so sophistical in front of so many Fellow Daoists! If it weren’t for my Ouyang Family Disciples timely setting up the ’Spirit-Binding Earth Net Formation’ to trap those annoying small monsters and isolate the interference, could you have besieged this Shadow Skeleton Leopard with peace of mind? You would have been worn out and killed in this Withered Bone Forest long ago! Based on contribution? My Ouyang Family’s Formation controlled the field and stabilized the situation; is our merit any less than your Baili Family’s? This crystal—my Ouyang Family put in significant effort, so we should have a share too! How can I allow you to swallow it all alone?”

Nearby, the deputy captain of the market guard team, a middle-aged man with a gloomy face named Han Li, also chimed in with a sarcastic tone:

”Hehe, both Elders speak with reason, and it’s all for the sake of the team. However, come to think of it, there are some with insufficient cultivation who just run errands and shoot cold arrows while following the team. They didn’t contribute much, and might even have relied on others’ protection to survive. If they are to share the resources equally, I’m afraid it’s unreasonable, and it would truly chill the hearts of those brothers who are really fighting with their lives and bleeding and getting injured.”

When he said this, his gaze swept over Lin Jingyu as if unintentionally, intending to sow discord and muddy the waters.