109: Red Gold Spirit, Palpitations

That wisp of Golden Core Sword Intent, under the sudden impact of this top-tier pressure originating from the Origin of life, actually showed an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible stagnation and disorder!

It was this one-in-a-billion moment of stagnation!

Lin Feng moved! He was waiting for this very opportunity!

"Overturn the Sea—Countercurrent!"

The spiritual power at the Peak of his Nascent Soul (Middle Stage) erupted in an unprecedented manner, reversing wildly! The Qingfeng Thorn emitted an extreme sound, having reached its maximum intensity, yet it bloomed with a dazzling blue light comparable to the sun!

A blue Sword Waterfall, surging upwards as if to punch a hole through the sky, fiercely met that slightly stagnant Golden Core Sword Intent!

This was not a head-on clash, but an ultimate guidance and deflection! Like skillfully guiding the direction of water flow under a thousand-foot waterfall!

Screech—Rip—!!!

A grating, ear-splitting boom, as if space itself was being torn apart, resounded!

The blue Sword Waterfall and the invisible Sword Intent furiously collided and annihilated each other! Lin Feng's tiger's mouth split open, bleeding profusely, and the Qingfeng Thorn let out a desperate moan, finally snapping with a "crack"! But his desperate strike ultimately succeeded in deflecting that terrifying Sword Intent from its original trajectory, grazing his shoulder!

Rumble!!!

The Sword Intent slashed into the earth, and a terrifying sword mark, bottomless and smooth as a mirror, instantly spread for hundreds of feet, almost splitting the entire basin in two! The scattered Sword Intent storm instantly shredded Luo Laowu and the skinny Cultivator, who were closest, into a bloody mist, not even allowing them to scream!

As for Lin Feng, although he avoided the fatal blow, his right shoulder was still grazed by the scattered Sword Intent, leaving a terrifying wound that was deep enough to expose bone and ravaged by Sword Qi; blood instantly stained his robes, and his face was as pale as paper.

But he was still standing!

He had forcibly deflected a Golden Core Sword Intent attack with his Nascent Soul (Middle Stage) cultivation, at the cost of his Natal Magical Artifact being destroyed!

Dead silence!

The entire scene was deathly silent!

Everyone was stunned by this horrifying sight! Including Nangong Yu! He looked in disbelief at the burnt-out ashes of the silk scroll in his hand, then at Lin Feng, who, though severely wounded, still stood tall, his eyes as cold as ten thousand years of ice, and a chill ran from his feet to the top of his head!

"You…who exactly are you?!" Nangong Yu's voice carried a hint of imperceptible tremor.

His answer was Lin Feng's icy gaze and an unhesitating counterattack!

He endured the intense pain and abruptly flicked his left hand!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three Talismans radiating sharp gold essence—Gold Rainbow Piercing the Sun Talismans (one of the spoils from Nangong Yu's Storage Pouch)—instantly activated, transforming into three golden rainbows that tore through the sky, forming a 'pin' shape and heading straight for Nangong Yu, whose spiritual power was almost exhausted from unleashing the Sword Intent!

At the same time, his remaining broken sword flew out of his hand, like a boomerang, carrying a piercing whistle, and slashed towards the female Cultivator playing the zither!

And he himself, like a pouncing leopard, ignored the severe pain in his shoulder, his Physical Body power erupting, and charged directly towards the old man who was injured and spitting blood due to the backlash from the Earth Seal!

Fast! Fast! Fast!

All actions were completed in a flash of lightning! Ruthless! Decisive! Precise!

Nangong Yu's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, desperately urged the Wind Thunder Fan to resist, but his spiritual power was insufficient, only managing to deflect two golden rainbows; the third one fiercely pierced his left shoulder, bringing forth a spray of blood!

The female Cultivator shrieked and plucked the zither strings, trying to interfere with the broken sword, but the sharp Sword Intent and the Demon Slayer characteristic attached to the broken sword actually made it immune to sound attacks to a certain extent; although it was deflected by the sound waves, it still cut off a few strands of her hair and left a bloody mark on her cheek, scaring her so much that her face turned pale and she retreated repeatedly.

And head-on, Lin Feng had already charged to the old man's front like a berserk Vicious Beast! The old man frantically urged the Earth Seal to smash down!

"Break!" Lin Feng roared, his sole remaining left fist erupting with dazzling golden Qi and blood light, the Ming Wang Purgatory Skill and the power of Dragon blood erupting simultaneously! He fiercely smashed his fist onto the Earth Seal!

Clang!!!

A colossal sound, like a great bell, rang out! The old man screamed, his arm fractured, and the Earth Seal whined as it flew backward, its spiritual light completely dim! Lin Feng's fist was also torn and bloody, but he didn't stop, turning his fist into a claw, and grabbed the old man's throat!

"Crack!" With a crisp sound, the old man's eyes suddenly bulged, and he died instantly!

In the blink of an eye, offense and defense reversed! The Nangong family suffered one dead, one injured, and one scared away!

Lin Feng, like a blood-soaked Asura, abruptly turned his head, his icy gaze locking onto the terrified Nangong Yu and the female Cultivator.

"Stop…stop! I'll give you the crimson gold essence! We'll leave immediately!" Nangong Yu was utterly terrified, clutching his bleeding shoulder, his voice trembling as he begged for mercy.

The female Cultivator had also lost her previous arrogance, trembling uncontrollably.

Lin Feng, having gained the upper hand, showed no mercy; his sword momentum was like continuous waves, each stronger than the last, completely engulfing Nangong Yu! Although Nangong Yu's Wind Thunder Fan was powerful, its consumption was also enormous, and after a long time of unsuccessful attacks, his mind was already in disarray; now, being fiercely attacked by Lin Feng in close combat, he was immediately in perilous situations!

"Overturn the Sea · Roaring Waves Crashing on Shore!"

Seizing a subtle flaw in his opponent, Lin Feng became one with his sword, transforming into a surging blue Sword Wave, and with an unstoppable momentum, instantly broke through Nangong Yu's protective spiritual light and the defense of his Wind Thunder Fan!

Puff!

The sword blade pierced through his chest!

Nangong Yu's movements suddenly stiffened; he looked down at the sword tip in his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief, anger, and finally, despair and unwillingness. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but only blood gushed out, and his body softly collapsed to the ground.

Afterwards, the female Cultivator was naturally also slain by Lin Feng.

Only then did Lin Feng let out a sigh of relief, as intense pain and weakness assailed him.

He took out a Vermillion Fruit and consumed it, stopping the bleeding and recovering most of his injuries.

If someone saw Lin Feng consuming a Vermillion Fruit in such a manner, they would undoubtedly curse him for wasting a heavenly treasure.

Then, he endured, cleaning up the battlefield, especially the crimson gold essence that emitted an alluring glow, which he carefully put away.

It felt heavy in his hand, and an incomparably pure, incomparably sharp spiritual aura rushed towards him, making the "Startling Thunder" sword embryo in his Dantian slightly tremble, conveying a sense of longing.

"It truly is a good thing!" Lin Feng rejoiced in his heart, carefully placing it into a specially made jade box and sealing it with multiple Restrictions.

After this battle, he had expended a lot, but also gained a great deal. Not only did he obtain far more crimson gold essence than expected, but he also acquired the wealth of several Foundation Establishment Cultivators, especially Nangong Yu's Storage Pouch, which was likely quite abundant.

He dared not linger here. After taking a few Qi Recovery Pills, he was about to leave this place of trouble and head towards the Golden Phoenix Pond to try his luck, when his gaze inadvertently swept over the deep mine entrance.

Just then, his powerful Divine Sense, which had reached the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, keenly captured an extremely abnormal, faint and elusive fluctuation—not from the depths of the mine, but from… underground? More precisely, from the depths of the earth's meridians within this basin!

The fluctuation was extremely subtle, carrying an indescribable ancientness and dead silence, yet faintly revealing a hint of…詭異 (eerie) vitality? As if something that had slept for eons was slowly being awakened by the dense gold essence Qi and the continuous outbreaks of slaughter and death in the Secret Realm?

Lin Feng's expression suddenly changed!

This fluctuation caused the Divine Ability fruit tree in his Sea of Consciousness to transmit an extremely subtle tremor, filled with vigilance and repulsion!

"Something's not right!" He suddenly looked up, gazing towards the direction of the dead silent area marked as a "Forbidden Ground," and then looked at the ground beneath his feet.

The Secret Realm seemed to be far more complex than just searching for gold essence.