Chapter 491: Easy Reversal

The sect leaders and elders of the major sects never thought Lin Dong could reverse the situation with a single move, but Lin Dong had considered it.
Just as Zhang Quanyue was about to refuse to feed him, Lin Dong took out a small porcelain bottle from the mobile cabinet. This action made Zhang Quanyue swallow his words back. The angry gazes of the sect leaders and elders also turned disdainful.
It was only then that they realized Lin Dong’s claim of being hungry actually meant he lacked strength and needed to improve. Indeed, they had overlooked one thing: Lin Dong did have the potential to reverse the situation with a single move, for there were still elixirs in this world.
There were tens of thousands of types of elixirs, many of which could boost strength in a short time. Although at the seventh stage of Xin Yi, his strength was already extremely high, and most of the elixirs that could significantly enhance strength had been used up, there were still thousands left. Some ninth-tier elixirs could even enable someone at the fifth stage of Xin Yi to possess strength nearly on par with that of a peak warrior in a short time.
Of course, even for those at the sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth stage of Xin Yi, taking such elixirs would only allow them to approach peak strength.
Peak warriors represented a vast gap that all geniuses found difficult to cross. On one side of this gap were just a few dozen people, while on the other side were countless peak warriors at the ninth stage. Among them, 999 out of 1,000 would never be able to experience what it meant to be a peak warrior, no matter how many elixirs or materials they had.
To break through from the ninth stage of Xin Yi to the ranks of peak warriors required an understanding that came once in a million. This understanding was the very gap that separated all those at the ninth stage. Even if all peak warriors joined forces, they couldn’t help one of them cross this gap.
The reason the sect leaders and elders dismissed it was that no matter how powerful the elixirs that boosted strength in a short time, they couldn’t give Lin Dong peak warrior strength. At best, he would only become someone who approached peak strength, like Hao Qingfeng.
Moreover, all strength-enhancing elixirs had side effects. The greater the improvement, the more severe the side effects. Especially at a terrifying level like the seventh stage of Xin Yi, the side effects of an elixir that improved strength by just a small amount would take three to five years to recover from. To reach a level nearly equivalent to that of a peak warrior, one would suffer severe damage to their vital energy at the very least.

A powerhouse at the seventh stage of Heart Reversal was severely weakened. Even with high-grade spirit pills to restore his strength, it would take over a decade or two to recover. He was already old and had no hope of reaching the eighth stage of Heart Reversal. Moreover, these spirit pills were not expensive, and only those in desperate situations would take them. Otherwise, no one would be that foolish.

A person at the seventh stage of Heart Reversal, under thirty years old, facing a powerhouse at the ninth stage who was hard to defeat even with high-grade pills to enhance strength, and all this during a sect establishment ceremony—a situation that was neither too minor nor serious enough to warrant risking one’s life—should not take such pills, whether considering their rarity or his future cultivation.

In everyone’s eyes, Lin Dong could at most take a few pills to casually restore his spiritual energy.

What confirmed their thoughts was when Lin Dong pulled out the bottle cap, poured out the pills, and in one go, six or seven light blue pills the size of glass beads rolled into his palm. It seemed there were still many such pills left in the porcelain bottle.

If these light blue pills could truly help a powerhouse at the seventh stage of Heart Reversal improve drastically in a short time, it would be utterly absurd.

After pouring the pills back into the bottle, leaving one behind, Lin Dong tilted his head, put the remaining pill in his mouth, then covered the bottle cap and placed the bottle back on the counter.

The pill dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth, and immediately, a surge of powerful energy began to expand rapidly through his meridians. In just a breath, his meridians doubled in size, and his dantian continued to expand under the impact of the energy.

The overflowing energy caused winds to swirl around Lin Dong without any wind, forming roaring hurricanes like sharp blades.

The strange changes in Lin Dong’s body made Zhang Quanyue and Hao Qingfeng frown even more deeply, while the sect masters and elders gradually opened their mouths wider and wider, their disbelief growing ever stronger.

This was… a sign ofmadness expansion of spiritual energy.

“How… how is this possible…?”

Zhang Quanyue couldn’t help but swallow hard. As the person involved, his shock was even more intense than anyone else’s.

Such a powerful pill also came with side effects that ordinary people could hardly tolerate. To a genius among geniuses, these side effects were even more unacceptable than death itself.

Every genius has his own standards of measurement. And to measure an unparalleled genius, one uses the gap between peak powerhouses as a benchmark.

Only by cultivating spiritual materials and elixirs without any assistance before the age of 25 can one reach the realm of a powerful warrior. At 26, one can reach the second stage of the Heart Reversal Phase; at 28, the third stage; at 31, the fourth stage; at 35, the fifth stage; at 40, the sixth stage… Only those who reach the ninth stage of the Heart Reversal Phase by the age of 70 have a chance to enter the ranks of peak warriors. If assistance in the form of spiritual materials and elixirs is used, these times will have to be extended further. In Zhang Quanyue’s view, a person under 30 who has reached the seventh stage of the Heart Reversal Phase—provided it isn’t entirely achieved through the use of elixirs and materials—can already be considered a peerless genius according to this standard for measuring geniuses. In other words, such a person is almost destined to become a peak warrior. As the head of a major sect, Zhang Quanyue’s insight is far from limited; the Lingjue Sect also possesses advanced elixirs that can enhance strength. Yet even if such elixirs could help him reach the rank of a peak warrior in a short time, he would never use them unless faced with a crisis that threatens the sect’s existence. The cost of using them is that his strength would stagnate for ten to twenty years, and without the nourishment of advanced elixirs and materials, his strength might even decline. Even if Zhang Quanyue had no hope of becoming a peak warrior, he still couldn’t bear such a cost. He believed that for someone like Lin Dong at his age, such a cost would be even harder to accept than death. Yet the abnormality of the situation exceeded even Zhang Quanyue’s understanding as the head of a major sect. In fact, unknown to all sect leaders and elders, Lin Dong wasn’t afraid of any internal injuries, as he had the dish “Stir-Fried Wind Spirit Grass,” which could heal even the internal injuries of peak warriors. Stir-Fried Wind Spirit Grass was no longer classified as an elixir. The only thing Lin Dong was somewhat reluctant to part with was the elixir he had taken. The elixir was called Wind and Moon Elixir, one of the ninth-tier elixirs obtained from the Wuyou Cave. After taking it, a warrior in the Heart Reversal Phase could advance by three to five minor stages in just one day. With such potent effects, the side effects were naturally terrifying—ranging from severe depletion of vital energy to serious internal injuries. But with Stir-Fried Wind Spirit Grass, Lin Dong could ignore these side effects. There were only thirteen of these elixirs in total, and losing even one made him very sad.

Yun Lan was a high-level spirit array master and alchemist. Although she could also create advanced spirit pills that could forcefully boost strength, their effects could not compare to the formidable power of the Wind and Moon Pill. If it weren’t for the certainty that the Yu Tian Sect’s deterrence could protect the shops in Tian Feng Street from external threats, allowing them to continuously obtain various advanced spirit materials, spirit beasts, and spirit minerals, Lin Dong would never have spared even one pill.

“Elder, go ahead.”

The rapidly surging spiritual energy and the feeling of entering some strange realm made Lin Dong eager to try. After giving a reminder, he leaped into the air. The shield in his hand struck straight at Zhang Quanyue’s chest.

Zhang Quanyue was already in a daze. Though he reacted quickly, at his level, even a brief lapse in focus was enough to cost him the advantage.

Trying to block with his ice axe, a loud crash echoed as two black lines rapidly extended from both sides of the shield.

Last time, Lin Dong only had the strength of the seventh stage of Heart Reversal. No matter how miraculous the Wish Bench was, he couldn’t unleash its full power. This time, not only did the Wish Bench grow stronger as his strength increased, but its speed also increased several times over.

With two swift swishes, the two black lines restrained Zhang Quanyue almost as soon as he lifted his feet. The reason Lin Dong didn’t take the Wind and Moon Pill right away when facing Zhang Quanyue was twofold: first, to see how much weaker he was compared to those at the ninth stage of Heart Reversal—defeating without fighting wasn’t in his nature. Second, to identify that gap so that after taking the Wind and Moon Pill, he could strike precisely and achieve a quick turnaround for the greatest impact.

With the advantage in hand, without hesitation, Lin Dong pressed forward with his shield, slamming it hard against Zhang Quanyue’s chest, which was now blocked.

Zhang Quanyue was shocked. His spiritual energy surged throughout his body as he tried to withstand the impact with an energy barrier.

Boom…

Zhang Quanyue was sent flying backward. His ice axe slashed through the air, trying to cut the black threads binding his legs, but only a dull sound came out—the threads remained tightly wrapped around his feet, now covered with layers of thin ice.

Panicked, Zhang Quanyue was about to swing his ice axe in a desperate struggle when the black threads strangely retracted on their own. Meanwhile, the shield in Lin Dong’s hand quickly reverted to its mallet shape.

The difference in strength was clear. Zhang Quanyue realized that if Lin Dong continued to attack, he would lose more and more ground unless he fled.

“Elder, shall we continue?” Lin Dong asked.

Zhang Quanyue said nothing, his face dark, before flashing back to the group.

Lin Dong didn’t ask any further questions, nor did he bring up the Snow Condensation Fruit again. Zhang Quanyue, as the head of a major sect, simply throwing a Snow Condensation Fruit at someone was already equivalent to mocking them with words. All Lin Dong wanted was deterrence; he didn’t want to incur unnecessary enmity with those twenty-one sects.
It was all far too sudden. For a long time, the heads and elders of the various sects couldn’t accept this fact. Their gazes toward Lin Dong were filled with an inexplicable blankness, as if they were looking at some strange being they couldn’t understand.
Zhang Quanyue had lost—and lost so easily. Whether it was due to his distraction or some other reason, losing was losing.