Finger as Sword, Shattering the Void!

Dust filled the air above the ruins. Mercenary Tao stood amidst the debris, his body radiating a bone-chilling murderous intent. The massive Ki Blast, capable of leveling the very ground where Lin Fan had just stood, had already left his hand. Like a blue comet of death, it roared, tearing through the air and hurtling with unstoppable momentum toward Lin Fan, who had just regained his footing and appeared to have no strength left to resist.

This strike contained the true killing intent and power of the world's greatest assassin, far surpassing his previous playful attacks.

Having just broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, Lin Fan's True Essence was still fluctuating violently within him. His meridians ached from the forced breakthrough and the recoil of his recent defense; his condition was far from perfect.

Facing this destructive blow, he appeared to be at the end of his rope.

Yet, at this critical juncture!

Lin Fan suddenly raised his head!

The eyes that had been slightly unfocused from pain and exhaustion were now shockingly bright!

Deep within his pupils, a cyan-gold light seemed to flash and vanish, carrying the sharpness of a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger, and... an absolute confidence in his newfound power!

Success in Foundation Establishment was not merely a leap in the quantity and quality of True Essence, but a preliminary transformation of his very life essence!

His spiritual perception, divine sense, and his ability to sense and control energy had all ascended to a brand-new realm!

Facing the massive blue sphere of energy hurtling toward him, radiating an aura of destruction, Lin Fan did not attempt to defend or dodge again (he knew he could neither dodge nor block it). Instead, he performed an action that made Mercenary Tao's pupils shrink and caused Bulma, who had just crawled out from the robot wreckage in the distance, to gasp in shock!

He pressed his fingers together like a sword!

His right index and middle fingers joined, and the Foundation Establishment True Essence surging within him—newborn yet vibrant—rushed toward those two fingers with unprecedented speed and efficiency!

At his fingertips, a cyan-gold light condensed intensely. It was not dazzling or blinding, but rather extremely restrained, emitting a sharp, peerless aura that seemed capable of slicing through all things!

The basic offensive technique of the Foundation Establishment chapter of the Great Dao Source Scripture—the prototype of [Geng Metal Sword Qi]!

Though far from perfected, when driven by the True Essence of a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator in this realm, its condensation and sharpness were already far beyond the ordinary!

It all happened in a flash!

The Ki Blast had arrived before him! The violent energy hurricane threatened to swallow him whole!

Lin Fan's eyes sharpened. Facing the massive blue energy sphere, he swung his joined sword-fingers in a seemingly effortless, simple vertical slash from top to bottom!

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no flashy, dazzling light effects.

Only a faint yet exceptionally clear sound—

"Sshhh-!"

It was as if a sharp blade had sliced through heavy brocade!

The violent Ki Blast, capable of leveling a small hill and destroying everything in its path, was actually split in two, precisely and forcefully, by Lin Fan's sword-fingers, which were condensed with highly compressed Foundation Establishment True Essence!!!

Yes! Split!

Not neutralized, not detonated, but sliced through like a hot knife through butter. By cutting into the most unstable, core point of the energy structure, he used his extreme condensation and sharpness to forcibly divide it!

The highly unstable energy inside the split Ki Blast instantly lost its balance, emitting a teeth-grinding, distorted hum as blue light flashed wildly!

The next moment!

Boom! Boom!!!

Two even more violent, yet clearly dispersed, explosions erupted on either side of Lin Fan!

Terrifying shockwaves and flames surged outward, blasting the already ruined alley walls into dust! The scorching heat wave whipped Lin Fan's gray cloth robes and sent his hair dancing wildly behind him!

Yet, he stood unscathed at the center of the explosion!

The lethal energy had been guided and diverted by that seemingly plain finger, venting out past his sides!

Only the small patch of ground beneath his feet, and a tiny area behind him, remained untouched by the explosion, forming an eerie, absolute safe zone!

Using a finger as a sword, he had slashed through the Ki Blast!

Silence!

A deathly silence!

Only the aftershocks of the explosion continued to howl, with the occasional crackle of burning flames.

The coldness and murderous intent on Mercenary Tao's face froze completely, replaced by a near-dazed, incomprehensible shock!

He even subconsciously opened his mouth, wide enough to fit an egg!

His full-power strike... his maximum-output Ki Blast... a killing move that had made countless experts tremble in fear...

Had been...

With a finger...

Sliced open?!

How could this be possible?!

This completely defied everything he knew about "Ki" and energy!

It wasn't a head-on collision of energy; it was a higher-level disintegration of the energy structure itself, something he couldn't even begin to understand?!

"Eerie" was no longer enough to describe it! This was simply... sorcery!

In the distance, Bulma, who had just crawled out of the robot wreckage, covered in dust, was also completely dumbfounded. Her mouth hung open, unable to utter a sound for a long time. She couldn't understand the clash on an energy level, but she understood the result—Lin Fan had used two fingers to slice that terrifying assassin's ultimate move... just like cutting a watermelon?!

Lin Fan slowly lowered his slightly trembling sword-fingers, the cyan-gold light lingering at his fingertips slowly fading away.

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, flecked with a faint trace of blood. That strike just now, while appearing effortless, had actually drained nearly half of his newly condensed Foundation Establishment True Essence and placed an immense strain on his divine sense.

A sharp, throbbing pain radiated from the bones and meridians of his arm.

But it was worth it!

That single finger had not only shattered a lethal trap but had also instilled an unparalleled sense of confidence within his heart!

The power of the Foundation Establishment Stage, combined with the profound techniques of the Great Dao Source Scripture, was enough to go toe-to-toe with the true powerhouses of this high-martial world!

He raised his head, his gaze calm as he looked toward Mercenary Tao in the distance, who was mired in profound shock and self-doubt, his voice ringing clearly in the other's ears:

"The world's number one assassin..."

"Your ki is impure and chaotic; you possess brute strength, yet you lack the understanding of how to wield it."

"Today, let this end here."

His words were like cold blades, piercing deep into the martial heart of Mercenary Tao—a heart built entirely upon the foundation of absolute confidence in his own strength!

Mercenary Tao snapped back to reality, his face displaying an expression other than coldness and killing intent for the first time—an extreme sense of humiliated rage and madness!

"Shut up!!!"

He let out a beast-like roar, and the ki surrounding his body erupted uncontrollably once more, even more chaotic and violent than before!

"Sorcery! This must be sorcery! I will tear you to pieces right now! Let's see what other tricks you have!"

Consumed by humiliation and rage, Mercenary Tao completely lost his composure. His figure transformed into a streak of white light, and with hysterical killing intent, he lunged directly at Lin Fan!

He was going to personally tear this insect, who had repeatedly provoked him and tarnished his art of assassination, into shreds!

Lin Fan's eyes narrowed as the remaining True Essence within his body surged rapidly.

The true close-quarters battle was only just beginning!

And this time, he was no longer an ant without the power to fight back!

Lin Fan, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, invites the world's number one assassin... to test his blade!