71: The anchor point was destroyed, and the victory was a tragedy.

At that instant, Lin Gou's Sea of Consciousness didn't transmit a sound.

Instead, it was a kind of emptiness.

A kind of absolute, cold nothingness, originating from the very Foundation of his existence.

It was as if an invisible thread, from the deepest part of his Soul, spanned the endless Void Realm, firmly tied to a warm and peaceful harbor.

That was his root.

It was his ultimate confidence, allowing him to treat life and death as a game.

And now, a cold, cruel hand, filled with malice, precisely found this thread.

Then, it pulled hard.

Snap.

The string of Karma, which maintained his ultimate safety, broke.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the coordinate representing the Sect's Holy Son Peak, shining with indestructible Golden Light, shattered inch by inch like a weathered sand sculpture, completely dimming and turning into nothingness.

His last retreat was gone.

The safest harbor had sunk.

【Ding!】

【System emergency alert!】

【Your Sect anchor point at Qingyun Sect's Holy Son Peak has been destroyed by a high-tier Karmic Law Forbidden Techniques!】

【Warning! This anchor point is permanently disabled!】

The System's alert sound was like a belated iron hammer, smashing heavily onto the empty ruins of his Soul.

In the valley, the Pseudo-Core cultivator's body visibly shriveled, his vitality withered, and his face was as pale as paper.

Clearly, the cost of using this forbidden technique was so great that even he found it difficult to bear.

But he was laughing wildly.

His laughter was maniacal, filled with the joy of revenge, echoing ceaselessly within the entire Formation barrier.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

"I don't care what kind of demonic art of resurrection you possess!"

"But your 'root' is in Qingyun Sect! Your vital point is there!"

His venomous and twisted eyes stared fixedly at Lin Gou, as if appreciating a perfect work of art that he had personally cracked.

"I destroyed your root!"

"Let's see how you'll live this time!"

"Let's see how you'll return after you die!"

The two surviving Xuan Yin Sect Disciples, who had previously been terrified to the point of collapse, swept away their fear.

They looked at their Junior Martial Uncle's world-destroying, heaven-shaking divine technique, then at Lin Gou's instantly stiff body, and a surge of ecstatic relief and the pleasure of revenge instantly overwhelmed their reason.

Their morale was higher than ever before.

In their eyes, Lin Gou was no longer the unkillable monster.

He had become a trapped beast, with its fangs pulled, claws broken, and its last lair lost.

"Kill him!"

"Avenge our fallen Senior Brothers!"

The two roared furiously, their Magic Treasure spiritual light burning anew, charging forward from two directions with hysterical madness.

However.

Lin Gou just stood there quietly.

All expressions on his face, whether the previous panic or the recent calm, completely vanished at this moment.

He slowly raised his head.

There was no longer any pretense in his eyes.

No fear.

No mockery.

Not even a hint of anger.

It was a pure, cold, absolute stillness that seemed capable of completely freezing the Soul.

The Sect anchor point.

That was his greatest confidence since his Transmigration.

It was his ultimate guarantee, allowing him to repeatedly dance on the edge of a knife, treating the entire Cultivation World as a playground.

That was his bottom line.

Now.

This line had been crossed.

Shattered into pieces.

A never-before-felt killing intent, so real that every cell in his body trembled, slowly rose from Lin Gou's body.

This time, he was truly enraged.

"Your Divine Soul is indeed very special."

The Pseudo-Core cultivator forcibly suppressed the backlash within his body, his eyes becoming incredibly greedy.

"Perfect, once I capture you, I'll use Soul-searching Secret Arts to see what secrets you're hiding!"

Before he finished speaking, a Divine Soul Power, solidified like substance, transformed into an invisible spike and fiercely stabbed towards Lin Gou's glabella!

This was a Divine Soul impact!

He was confident that this blow was enough to instantly turn any Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator into a mindless walking corpse!

But the spike, one inch before it touched Lin Gou's glabella...

It seemed to hit an invisible, intangible, yet indestructible barrier of divine metal.

With a "bang," the invisible Divine Soul spike disintegrated on the spot, vanishing into nothingness.

【Ding! Special talent 'Unyielding Will' activated! You have completely resisted this Divine Soul impact!】

Lin Gou's body remained motionless.

He met the opponent's extremely astonished gaze, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled into an arc.

It was a bloodthirsty, cruel, and infinitely malicious sneer.

The Pseudo-Core cultivator's heart suddenly constricted at this moment.

An indescribable chill surged from his tailbone, rushing madly to the top of his head!

Why?

How is this possible!

His Divine Soul impact, which was powerful enough to trouble even a Golden Core Immortal Master when fully unleashed, had absolutely no effect on a mere Foundation Establishment Middle Stage fellow?!

This was beyond unreasonable!

This was overturning his understanding of Cultivation!

"You want to know my secret?"

Lin Gou's voice became hoarse and calm, as if stating an already destined, unchangeable outcome.

"Alright."

"Come down and join me, and I'll tell you personally."

The moment his voice fell.

He moved.

Lin Gou abandoned all forms of defense.

He didn't even look at the two Xuan Yin Sect Disciples who were furiously attacking from the sides.

He allowed their Magic Treasures, flashing with malicious spiritual light, to brutally tear open his protective spiritual light and rip through his flesh and blood.

Pfft!

The sound of bones breaking and flesh being pierced was clearly audible.

But he didn't utter any screams.

He simply charged straight at the Pseudo-Core cultivator with an indomitable, chillingly resolute posture!

His target, from beginning to end, was only one.

It was him!

The Pseudo-Core cultivator's pupils constricted violently; he was terrified to his core by Lin Gou's utterly reckless and insane Aura!

He wanted to retreat!

But just as he was about to activate a spell, he saw Lin Gou's body undergo a transformation.

Within Lin Gou's Dantian and Qi Sea, the surging spiritual power, which had swelled to the point of rivaling Foundation Establishment Great Perfection due to his Secret Realm journey, violently reversed at this moment!

To Cultivate in the normal way is to become an Immortal, to Cultivate in the reverse way is to become a demon!

All the spiritual power was madly and recklessly compressing towards the center of his Dantian, in the most primitive, brutal, and insane way! Compressing again!

Lin Gou's body was like a human-shaped balloon blown to its limit, with streaks of blood-red destructive light emanating from beneath his skin.

An Aura capable of annihilating all things furiously overflowed from his body.

"You...you lunatic!"

The Pseudo-Core cultivator let out a shriek of terror that distorted his voice; he finally understood what Lin Gou intended to do.

Self-detonation!

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator was actually going to use self-detonation to perish together with him, a Pseudo-Core cultivator!

He wanted to escape, but it was too late.

Lin Gou had already rushed in front of him.

The distance between them was less than three feet.

Lin Gou looked at his face, which was filled with shock and fear, and the sneer on his own face became even more brilliant and cruel.

"Goodbye."

Boom—!

The entire world lost its sound.

Or rather, the sound was so fast it surpassed the limits of hearing.

Within his vision, there was only an ultimate, devastating white that swallowed everything.

A terrifying spiritual power storm, triggered by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, yet powerful enough to instantly severely injure a true Golden Core Immortal Master, exploded in this small valley, sealed by the Formation.

【Ding! You have perished together with the Pseudo-Core cultivator 'Gu Yue' by self-detonating your Golden Body, and also affected two Xuan Yin Sect Foundation Establishment Late Stage Disciples!】

【Assessment complete! S-rank · All-Consuming Destruction!】

【Comment: After losing your final retreat, you declared your wrath to the enemy in the most tragic way. This was not a simple death; this was a revenge with no escape! You exchanged your own destruction for the enemy's demise!】

【Reward settlement in progress...】

【Congratulations, Host! You have received a massive infusion of Cultivation! Your Cultivation has increased to the peak of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!】

【Congratulations, Host! You have received a special reward: "Great Five Elements Annihilation Divine Light" (Incomplete)!】

【Congratulations, Host! You have received a portion of the Pseudo-Core cultivator 'Gu Yue's' Cultivation insights!】

【Temporary anchor point effective, Host will be resurrected soon...】

...After an unknown period.

Inside the valley, there was dead silence.

The "Four Directions Soul Lock Formation," which was capable of trapping and killing a Golden Core, had long been torn to shreds in the terrifying self-detonation earlier.

The ground of the valley had been scraped down by several feet.

At the center was a bottomless, glazed pit, still emitting wisps of black smoke.

The air was filled with the burnt smell of annihilated spiritual power and a faint scent of blood.

At the edge of the battlefield, behind the boulder where the temporary anchor was set, space subtly twisted.

Lin Gou's figure appeared silently.

He was completely unharmed, full of spirit and energy, and even his Aura was more solidified than before due to the further advancement of his Cultivation.

He gasped for breath, not out of weakness, but due to the lingering fear of surviving a catastrophe, and the immense heartache from the depths of his Soul that had not yet fully dissipated.

He looked around, confirming that all enemies had turned to dust, and he was the only living being left in the entire valley.

A tremendous sense of exhaustion welled up from his heart.

He had won.

But the victory was far from easy.

His desire for power, at this moment, reached an unprecedented peak.

The exhaustion and lingering fear in Lin Gou's eyes were quickly replaced by a cold rationality.

He began his post-battle cleanup.

He walked to the edge of the glazed pit and, from a pile of charred remains, picked up a Xuan Yin Sect Elder's identity token, only a corner of which remained after the explosion.

He also found a fragment of the Pseudo-Core cultivator's Magic Robe that hadn't been completely vaporized.

Evidence, acquired.

Then, he began to feign injuries.

He took a deep breath, mobilized the spiritual power that had just surged within his body, and precisely reversed it, fiercely rushing it into his Meridians.

Pfft.

A mouthful of fresh blood spurted out, and his face instantly turned pale.

This was not enough.

He tore apart his intact Qingyun Sect Disciple robes, rolled a few times on the ground, allowing dirt, blood, and grass clippings to cover his entire body.

Finally, he controlled his spiritual power to create several terrifying wounds on his chest and back that appeared to be bone-deep but actually did not harm any vital points.

After doing all this, he looked like a fiend who had just crawled out of a bloody pool of Hell.

His oil was spent, his lamp dim.

Severely wounded and on the verge of death.

Barely clinging to life.

He dragged his "severely injured" body, stumbling and leaving a bloody footprint with each step, painstakingly moving towards the Qingyun Sect.

Half an hour later.

The patrolling Disciples in the distance finally discovered him.

"Someone's over there!"

Two streaks of light rapidly approached, and when they clearly saw the appearance of the person on the ground, they all gasped.

"It's Senior Brother Lin!"

"Senior Brother Lin, how did you get so badly injured!"

One Disciple quickly stepped forward, pulling out a Medicinal Pill for healing.

Lin Gou used his "last" strength to push away the Medicinal Pill.

Trembling, he pulled out the blood-stained, broken Xuan Yin Sect token from his embrace and firmly pressed it into the Disciple's hand.

His lips moved, his eyes unfocused, and he weakly uttered a few words in a voice so faint it was almost inaudible.

"Xuan Yin Sect...ambush..."

"Sect anchor point...destroyed..."

After speaking, his head tilted, his eyes closed, and he completely "fainted."

The patrolling Disciple, holding the token, stared blankly at the evidence in his hand, then looked at Lin Gou, who was "unconscious" on the ground.

His face instantly turned pale.

A monstrous storm, capable of shaking the entire Tiannan County Cultivation World, was about to be unleashed.