Chapter 65: Breakthrough in the Heat of Battle

Xiao Lin lightly exhaled two streams of righteous energy from his palms.

He did not need a wide-area explosion; instead, condensing the energy to a single point was far more effective at tearing the dantian to shreds.

However, to Xiao Lin's surprise, the two evil cultivators did not lose their mobility, and his righteous energy felt like a mud-ox entering the sea, being worn away in the blink of an eye.

"Well timed."

The two of them grinned, having already brewed their offensive—which was originally meant for Gong Yunxuan—and unleashed it upon Xiao Lin without holding anything back.

Xiao Lin's pupils constricted slightly as the righteous energy transformed into spiritual power and erupted fiercely!

The bodies of the two evil cultivators instantly turned into black mist, and two holes were blasted through their dantians by the terrifying spiritual power.

Yet spiritual power could not harm their evil-energy bodies in the least; their movements were only slightly delayed as they still smashed down overwhelmingly toward Xiao Lin.

However, Xiao Lin had already used this force to flash backward and evade.

Taking advantage of the distance he had pulled, he managed to urge his righteous energy once more, transforming his fingers into swords to slash and annihilate both strands of evil arts completely.

This back-and-forth transpired in the blink of an eye.

To a mortal, it happened before they even had time to blink, yet the first round of engagement had already concluded.

"Xiao Lin, you can do nothing to us now!"

They laughed heartily, and the almost instinctual fear they held toward Xiao Lin was reduced by more than half at that moment.

Seeing this, Gong Yunxuan's expression changed somewhat.

"Even you, Brother Xiao Lin, can do nothing against them?"

Having exchanged dozens of blows with them, he naturally knew how troublesome they were.

Ordinary spiritual power was completely useless against them; only the Asura righteous energy provided by Xiao Lin could achieve effective damage.

Yet after all, this was not his own power, and it had been exhausted after just over a dozen exchanges.

His Five-Element Emperor Scripture did have some effect, but it required all five elements to be unleashed simultaneously.

The Five-Element Emperor Scripture possessed myriad transformations.

Though it seemingly contained only the power of the five elements, under their mutual generation, wind, rock, mist... could all be evolved with great flexibility and versatility.

This was the true method of use.

To continuously strike with the five elements at the same time naturally simplified the complex, carrying a hint of breaking ten thousand spells with a single force, but the consumption of spiritual power was unimaginable.

Xiao Lin stood in place, lowering his head in deep thought.

After a moment, he raised his eyes to look at the two evil cultivators ahead and said calmly, "My righteous energy could not possibly be useless against you; it must have still worn away your origin. It's just that the Fallen Sword Immortal used some method to ensure that the depletion of your origin does not affect your strength."

"In other words, before you are completely killed, you will not be injured, nor will your combat power decrease."

These words caused the smiles of the two evil cultivators to freeze on their faces.

Just after a single exchange, he had figured out their very essence?!

Gong Yunxuan also turned his head in shock to look at Xiao Lin.

This combat intelligence...

"Did he turn on cheats?"

"If he didn't turn them off, is he hacking?"

"Evil Cultivator: The color of the underwear I'm wearing today is..."

"So what if you did?" One of the evil cultivators gazed at Xiao Lin with dim eyes and said coldly, "Do you still think we are our former selves? We are now at the late Foundation Establishment stage, while you are merely in the early Foundation Establishment stage. Even with your righteous energy, the advantage lies with us!"

Xiao Lin remained silent.

The facts were indeed as such.

The early Foundation Establishment stage was already struggling to keep up with the average strength of this "dungeon."

Even with the righteous energy, dealing with these evil cultivators was becoming increasingly strenuous.

In response to this, Xiao Lin completely relaxed his body and smiled indifferently.

"What you say is true."

"Since that is the case, I shall simply level the advantage you are so smug about."

With that, his calm aura suddenly began to churn.

Every cultivator was all too familiar with it; this was unmistakably the precursor to a breakthrough!

The four present found it hard to believe; his cultivation realm was clearly still a long distance away from the mid Foundation Establishment stage, so how could he possibly...

Xiao Lin looked at the system panel before him.

[Cultivation Realm: Mid Foundation Establishment stage]

[Effect: A fraction of popularity equals a hundred days of cultivation; why rely on the accumulation of time? Everything falls into place immediately.]

[Price: 150,000 popularity points]

To be honest, breaking through in the middle of a battle was not in his plan.

Because items that directly enhanced immediate combat power were usually the most expensive.

They were far inferior to saving up six or seventy thousand popularity points to purchase pills, physiques, and other items that could improve meridians and innate traits.

Rather, the Fallen Sword Immortal's sudden enhancement of these subordinates' methods was beyond his expectations.

If he did not boost his strength, his plan to divide and conquer would fall through.

Casualties would most likely occur by then.

This was not what Xiao Lin wished to see.

His doing whatever it took meant everyone else could be utilized.

Aside from that, they might get injured, but they would definitely not be crippled or killed.

Xiao Lin had strong self-awareness and remembered from beginning to end that his righteousness was merely a persona played for popularity points, not a genuine inclination toward the righteous path.

Han Chen, Gong Yunxuan... or even Monk Suan who stepped forward for the common people, were all more righteous than him, at least consistent both inside and out.

Yet Xiao Lin felt he could not be considered consistent inside and out, nor could he be deemed sanctimonious.

At the very least, he could not watch innocent people die with folded arms.

This was due not only to the education of his past life but also to the influence of Shen Wuhai in this life.

He truly could not save Shen Wuhai.

Just as he had told Shen Wuhai, it was too early.

So early that even though he knew everything and possessed a system, he could change nothing.

Yet apart from that, the futures of others certainly could be changed, and must be changed.

For no other reason.

The feeling of watching familiar faces and others pass away while being utterly powerless to stop it felt terrible.

To put it in modern terms, even in a video game, if an NPC with whom he had many interactions died, he would feel a bit sad, let alone real people in reality.

To put it in Xianxia terms, it was merely striving for...

A clear and unobstructed state of mind.

Xiao Lin chose to purchase without the slightest hesitation.

Though it seemed he had myriad thoughts, in reality, only a split second had passed.

The two evil cultivators had already rushed close, their evil aura surging wildly as they wore ferocious expressions: "You really think we are fools who would give someone the chance to make a breakthrough mid-battle!"

"They won't let you have it, whether you like it or not," Gong Yunxuan said deeply. "Fellow Daoist!"

Yao Lian understood.

The two of them struck simultaneously to stop the evil cultivators, buying time for Xiao Lin.

However, the objective of the two evil cultivators could not have been clearer: it was Xiao Lin.

Within the same realm, unless one could crush their opponent to secure victory, if the other party was determined to flee, there was simply nothing one could do.

It was the same at this moment; when they only wanted to attack Xiao Lin, no one could protect him!

Seeing that Xiao Lin was within arm's reach, they spouted arrogant words: "Interrupting a breakthrough means regression instead of progress. Fall back... to Qi Refining!"

"Dream on!" Yao Lian cried out sharply, employing her celestial divination arts to execute a transposition with Xiao Lin.

This was her opportunity to attain the Dao; how could it be ruined?

Yet to her dismay, she discovered that what she needed to consider was not how to face the offensive of the two evil cultivators, but rather that her transposition had actually failed!

As the evil-energy slashed like a blade toward Xiao Lin's brow,

A set of armor—never before seen by Gong Yunxuan and Yao Lian, yet intimately familiar to the two evil cultivators—instantly covered his entire body.

Righteous energy taking physical form: Asura Armor!