Chapter 68
The vibe in the room was a little odd.
The Gilded Core pulled from Marietta, who was known for her Water Affinity, turned out to be Fire–aligned.
The sheer contradiction left most folks unable to wrap their heads around it, but the more seasoned cultivators quickly caught on. One of them muttered, “Elemental Conversion.”
“Elemental Conversion?” someone echoed, sounding surprised.
“Yeah, it’s a special technique that lets you change the elemental attribute of your core, another person explained.
“Seriously? So one can switch between different elements? But what about one’s Affinity? If one’s Affinity doesn’t match. won’t that cause problems?” someone else asked.
“There will be some impact, Normally, it’s best to use a Gilded Core with the same element, but if one can’t find one, a higher–grade Gilded Core can still work,” someone replied.
Homer whispered, “If one uses Elemental Conversion, one’s Gilded Core will drop a grade
“Yeah, a superior–grade will fall to mid–grade, and a mid–grade will end up as inferior–grade. That’s why most folks wouldn‘ dare try it,” someone else chimed in.
“So if one wants to keep one’s Gilded Core at the highest quality, one’d have to use…” someone murmured, trailing off.
“Obviously, one’d need a…” another person started, voice full of awe.
A Celestial Affinity,‘ everyone realized at the same time, the thought sending a ripple of shock through the crowd.
The room went dead silent for a moment before someone finally broke the quiet, whispering, “Where did she even get a Gilded Core that belongs to a cultivator with a Celestial Affinity?
“And even if she had one, who’d ever give up a Celestial Affinity to help her reach top–grade?”
Everyone thought, ‘Seriously, who’d ever hand over a Sovereign–Class Gilded Core for someone else’s top–grade breakthrough?
‘Isn’t that just throwing away something precious?
Celestial Affinitys are insanely rare.
Even among a hundred thousand gifted cultivators, it’d be lucky to find a single one with a Celestial Affinity.
“Fire–aligned, and Celestial Affinity… Wait, isn’t that the little junior from Azure Spire?” someone whispered.
“Isn’t Marietta Barber, the junior girl from Azure Spire?” another person asked.
“No. There’s another one, Linda Barber. Lots of people mixed them up, but I heard she got sick and died last year. No one’s heard a peep about her since,” someone else replied.
“Did she really die from an illness?” someone muttered, sounding skeptical.
The thought flashed through everyone’s minds.
‘Seriously, cultivators don’t just get sick and die, they all thought, doubt lingering in the air.
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Chapter 68
This time, when everyone glanced over at Matthew and his companion, their eyes were fillet with suspicion and unspokers meaning.
It looked like the High Sanctum of Archmagi wasn’t so innocent after all.
But no matter what, Linda had extracted Marietta’s Gilded Core right in front of all the cultivators. That was downright jaw- dropping.
No righteous cultivator would ever dare to pull off something so outrageous.
While everyone was busy throwing accusatory looks at Linda, Toney seized his chance. He activated a magic artifact and broke out from under Linda’s oppressive aura.
He shouted, “Rock Prison Cage!”
Countless rocks burst from the ground, surging straight toward Linda. Jagged spikes erupted between her and Marietta, stabbing right for Linda’s wrist.
If Linda didn’t dodge, she’d be skewered for sure.
But if she dodged, she’d have to let go of Marietta.
Toney was banking on this move. He wanted to force Linda to let Marietta go.
Linda shot him a cold glance and said flatly, “I told you, I’ll let her go.”
She raised her hand and deflected the spikes back. The backlash hit Toney hard, making him spit out a mouthful of blood.
But Linda also let go, tossing Marietta toward the charging Toney. Toney caught the bleeding Marietta, his eyes wide with panic and fear.
“Marietta, don’t be scared. I will heal you,” Toney called out, his voice trembling.
Marietta was still coughing up blood, her voice weak. “T… Toney…”
Linda said coolly, “No need to act like you’re saying your last words. A wound like that won’t kill you.”
Toney screamed, his voice cracking with rage, “I’m going to kill you. I’ll kill you.”
Linda sneered under her breath, “What, you’ve never killed anyone before?”
Toney’s eyes were wild with fury. He really couldn’t figure out why Linda would hate them so much. He gathered mana in his palm, and the ground trembled slightly beneath him.
But Linda just let out a low, mocking laugh, her eyes cold as she said, “Courting death, are you?”
“Then you can die first!” Toney bellowed, his voice echoing with fury.
Rocks burst from the earth, then exploded with a thunderous boom. The shockwave slammed into Linda’s barrier. It shook the ground beneath the First Unity Coven crowd.
Toney seized the chance, dropped Marietta to the ground, and lunged at Linda. “Matthew, give me a hand,” he yelled.
If he could bust through Linda’s array, Toney was sure he could take her out.
Matthew’s body trembled, torn between anger and hesitation. “But…”
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Cameron
aw with desperation, “Don’t you want to get revenge for Marietta? She’s been crippled
+ brevippled by an mutsider, thought Toney.
After starting. Toney never let up. He unleashed the array’s force, unleashing Earthshatter and calling down Rockfall over at awer, redmitless in his assault
Bang! Bang! Bang
In front of the stone gate, rocks crashed down in waves, leaving the ground a total wreck.
It was reduced to ruins.
Amir! the wreckage, Toney never took his eyes off Linda. He tore up the ground, broke down her array, forcing his way closer with every step, even as her array’s pressure kept bearing down on him.
Toney never let up.
“He’s got a magic artifact on him,” Craig realized instantly.
Rafael asked anxiously. “What do we do now?”
Craig couldn’t get involved. He was stuck on the outside, like everyone else.
But one thing was clear to him. Linda’s cultivation had definitely been jacked up by some special method, and they were running out of time.
“We need to come up with a plan,” Craig muttered.
Linda dodged through the ruins with cool composure, her gaze sharp as she hunted for any weakness in Toney’s moves.
Toney had a reputation as the undisputed boss when it came to fighting on solid ground.
Facing him on the ground was asking for trouble.
But if she abandoned her array, she’d be falling right into Toney’s trap.
So Linda held her ground.
But that was exactly what Toney was counting on. He wanted her to stay put.
As the tremors spread, a cage formed in midair above Linda, making everyone gasp in shock.
Toney’s eyes were cold as ice as he said, “Die. Go to the underworld and atone for your sins.”
Linda glanced at Toney indifferently. “Attacking from above and below, huh? Not bad. You picked up the move well. But did you forget who taught you that trick in the first place?”
Toney was left speechless.
Linda muttered to herself, her voice thick with sarcasm, “And breaking it? That’s easy, Toney.”
Her slow, taunting words made Toney’s eyes go wide with shock.
Linda shifted her stance. Just as the cage was forming overhead, she disappeared in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the cage materialized right above Toney’s head.
Chapter 68
Toney looked up, dread creeping in. He knew that if the cage with its locking aura was now over lani, things had taken a
That could only mean…
Toney whipped around
Linda was standing right behind him.
Linda’s lively voice sounded right by his car, “Toney, your idea of attacking from above and below is clever, but you’re too
slow.
If someone appeared behind you instantly and trapped you together in the cage, what would you do then?”
Toney remembered his answer back then, which was “No one could ever be that fast.”
Linda smiled, her eyes shining with quiet confidence. “But I can.”
Toney turned around, staring into Linda’s eyes. In that moment, he finally understood why he’d always felt uneasy about
her.
“Lin… Linda,” Toney whispered, his voice barely above a breath.
The cage crashed down, but Linda was already gone before it even touched the ground.
She was just a step away from the cage.
One was inside, and the other outside.
Trapped inside the cage, Toney stared at Linda, who stood outside with icy calm. She said coolly, “Rockfall”
It was his trademark move, but when Linda spoke the words, it was as if it were second nature to her.
Up above, a jagged black rift tore open the sky, and a torrent of boulders came crashing down.
They smashed into the cage.
The ground trembled violently.
Linda turned away with cool composure, not even bothering to look back at the cage or Toney.
She walked straight over to Laura Farrell and her crew.
As the glowing stone gate lit up with dazzling light, everyone knew what it meant.
“It’s
ords ha
AD
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
