60: Chapter 60 Battle Spirit Upgrade

The Xuantian Sect's retaliation arrived faster than expected.

Just seven days after the Origin Hall was established, the clouds above Qingyun City tore open.

This time, it wasn't a warship that arrived, but a mirror.

The xuantian mirror.

One of the three great treasures of the Xuantian Sect, a top-tier Magic Treasure, rumored to be able to illuminate the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands when fully activated; wherever its light reached, all things turned to ash.

The power of this mirror naturally varied depending on the cultivation level of the user.

Three people stood on the surface of the mirror.

An old Daoist, an old woman, and a young man.

The old Daoist had white hair and beard, with a withered face, but his eyes were frighteningly bright, like two burning stars.

He wore a washed-out Daoist robe, and a simple bronze bell hung from his waist.

He was the Xuantian Sect's Grand Elder, Supreme Elder Yun Xuzi, at the half-step Soul Emergence stage.

The old woman leaned on a nine-curved dragon staff, her back hunched, her face so wrinkled that her features were indistinguishable, save for eyes that revealed a venomous, snake-like coldness.

She was the Xuantian Sect's Punishment Elder, Granny Yin, at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

The young man looked to be only in his thirties, with a face so handsome it was almost demonic.

He wore a moon-white robe that was spotless, and he toyed with a blood-red jade pendant in his hand.

He was the current Chief Disciple of the Xuantian Sect, Chief Disciple Xue Yuzi, at the Golden Core Great Perfection stage.

Any one of these three could walk sideways through Qingyun City.

And now, they had all come together.

"Ling Hao," Supreme Elder Yun Xuzi's voice boomed like rolling thunder, echoing throughout the city, "you destroyed our sect's warship and insulted our sect's Elder. Today, I have come in person to give you two choices."

"One, cripple your own cultivation, hand over the Origin Dao Legacy, and the entire Ling Family shall become slaves, and you may live."

"Two, I will take action myself, slaughter your entire family, search your souls and seize your spirits, leaving not even a dog or chicken alive."

The moment his words fell, the surface of the xuantian mirror moved.

A beam of Chaos-colored light descended like a pillar of heaven, enveloping the entire Ling Family ancestral grounds!

Where the mirror's light reached, even the air became thick and heavy.

That was the xuantian mirror's "Time Light of Ages," which could accelerate the passage of time for all things; buildings began to weather, and grass and trees began to wither.

The defensive formation of the Ling Family ancestral grounds activated instantly.

Nine giant bronze pillars shone with bright silver light, and the Origin Tempering Spirit Formation ran frantically, countering the mirror's light.

"Crack—"

The formation patterns felt as if they were beginning to shatter.

Fine cracks appeared on the surface of the bronze pillars.

Several of the three hundred Origin Hall Disciples with weaker cultivation levels immediately vomited blood.

The gap was too large.

The xuantian mirror was a supreme treasure used to suppress the Xuantian Sect's Luck, even though the person driving it was only at the half-step Soul Emergence stage.

Although the Ling Family's formation was exquisite, in the face of absolute power, the gap was still visible; breaking the formation was only a matter of time.

"Hao'er!" Ling Zhentian's expression changed.

Although he had now reached the Golden Core Early Stage, the gap was still too vast.

Ling Hao stood on the high platform, looking up at that beam of mirror light.

"Finally, something decent has arrived," he muttered to himself.

Then, he did something that no one expected.

He turned around and walked toward the depths of the back mountain.

"Hao'er, where are you going?" Ling Xiao asked urgently.

"Seclusion," Ling Hao said without looking back, his voice calm yet resolute.

"Three days. Within three days, hold the ancestral grounds."

"What?!" Ling Zhentian was astonished, almost thinking he had misheard.

"But right now..."

"Rest assured," Ling Hao stopped, slightly turning his head to look back.

The morning light outlined the clear lines of his profile, and a sliver of reassuring sharpness flashed in his deep eyes; the corners of his lips even curled into an extremely faint yet powerful arc.

"They cannot break our current Ling Family protective formation within three days."

After the previous incident with Qing Xuzi, he had anticipated that the Xuantian Sect would send more people.

This formation was based on the energy closest to the Origin that he had previously purified, and combined with the "Origin Deduction" he had deduced, it could block an Early Stage Soul Emergence Cultivator for three days.

The formation was linked to the people of the Ling Family; as long as the formation did not break, they would not die, but the opponent's attacks on the formation would still cause them varying degrees of injury.

After speaking, his figure flashed and disappeared into the depths of the back mountain.

Only one sentence remained echoing in the air:

"When I come out, I will slaughter the Soul Emergence stage."

Deep in the back mountain, a hundred zhang underground.

There was a natural limestone cave here, with countless stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and a bottomless dark spring on the ground.

The spring water was milky white, emitting a rich aura of the Origin.

Inside, Ling Hao had added "Origin Spirit Liquid" exchanged from the System; a single drop was worth ten Origin Points, and the amount in this pool had cost him a full 5000 points.

Ling Hao sat cross-legged in the center of the spring.

The spring water reached his chest, and the milky white spirit liquid seeped into his body through his pores, nourishing every inch of flesh, every bone, and every strand of Meridians.

He closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into his body.

In his Dantian, that cluster of crimson-gold Origin of War was burning fiercely.

After successive battles, especially after forcibly raising his Golden Core and summoning the remnant will of the Ancient War Spirit, this fire of Origin had not weakened, but had instead become more condensed and blazing.

"Still not enough," Ling Hao thought.

The System light screen appeared.

[Host: Ling Hao]

[Realm: War God Physique Second Layer]

[Available Origin Points: 6400]

[Breakthrough Level: War God Art (Second Layer) "War Blood Burning Art", consumes 2000 Origin Points]

"Exchange."

[Exchange successful. Obtained "War Blood Burning Art".]

In an instant, a massive amount of information flooded his mind.

It was an ancient Legacy of war cultivation, recording how to Cultivate through war, refine the body with blood, and prove the Dao through slaughter.

Ordinary Cultivators need to sit quietly, breathe, and comprehend heaven and earth.

But war Cultivators are different; war Cultivators must break through in life-and-death struggles and prove the Dao in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"Just what I wanted," Ling Hao opened his eyes, crimson-gold flames dancing within them.

He sat in the Origin Spirit Liquid, and the spring water had become clear, all the energy having been absorbed.

He slowly stood up.

He raised his hand and slashed at the Void Realm.

A spatial rift opened before him; this was the entrance to the "Time Acceleration Secret Realm" exchanged from the System for 3000 Origin Points, where ten days inside equaled one day outside.

"Three days, that means thirty days."

Ling Hao stepped inside.

"Thirty days, that is enough."

Inside the Secret Realm was a desolate Gobi desert.

There were no sun or moon in the sky, only an eternal, dim yellow light.

The ground was cracked black rock, and the air was filled with the smell of sulfur and blood.

This was not a Holy Land for Cultivation.

It was... a battlefield illusion.

The Trial Grounds automatically generated by the System according to the "War Blood Burning Art".

As soon as Ling Hao landed, the surrounding rocks began to squirm and deform.

Statues rose from the ground one by one.

They were three zhang tall, pitch black, holding stone axes and stone spears, with crimson-gold flames burning in their eye sockets—those were projections of Battle Intent.

The first statue moved.

The stone axe swung down with the power to split mountains and crack rocks, and its speed was no less than that of a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Body Cultivator!

Ling Hao did not dodge.

He raised his hand and threw a punch.

Fist and axe collided.

"Boom—!"

The stone axe exploded.

The statue retreated three steps, spiderweb-like cracks appearing on its chest.

"Too weak," Ling Hao shook his head.

The next moment, ten statues pounced simultaneously.

Axe shadows, spear shadows, and fist shadows intertwined into a web of death.

Ling Hao moved.

This time, he did not use the Disintegration Dao Pattern, nor did he use Battle Will: Ebullition.

It was just the most basic punches and kicks.

But every punch and every kick carried the will of the Origin of War—that was the tenacity of a hundred battles without breaking, the resoluteness of a thousand deaths without regret, and the sharpness to cut through everything!

One punch shattered the head of a statue.

One kick collapsed the chests of two statues.

One elbow crashed through the torsos of three statues.

The moment the statues shattered, they turned into crimson-gold light spots and merged into Ling Hao's body.

That was the essence of pure Battle Intent, which could nourish the Battle Spirit Body and accelerate his Breakthrough.

On the first day, Ling Hao killed a hundred statues.

On the third day, the strength of the statues increased to be comparable to the Foundation Establishment Peak.

On the fifth day, the number of statues increased to a thousand, and they began to form formations to coordinate.

On the seventh day, Ling Hao was injured; a stone spear pierced his left shoulder, and blood stained his green shirt.

But he did not stop.

The War Blood Burning Art began to operate.

The blood at the wound did not flow away, but instead turned into crimson-gold flames, burning fiercely!

Wherever the flames passed, the wound healed rapidly, and the flesh after healing became even tougher!

"So that's it," Ling Hao realized, "Cultivate through war, refine the body with blood; the more severe the injury, the greater the improvement after recovery."

Madness burned in his eyes.

"Then... come!"