Shattering Nirvana Finger

Chapter Eleven: Shattering Nirvana Finger

If one's foundation was unstable, then even reaching the Innate Stage would be of little use. Advancing another step would be extraordinarily difficult.

A nine-story tower began with a pile of earth. As the most perfect ancient cultivation art in the world, Dao Heaven naturally allowed no such thing as an unstable foundation.

Now, Chen Lin had successfully opened both his Yin Meridian and Yang Meridian. As long as he had spiritual energy and the essence of the sun and moon, they could slowly transform the meridians and bones in his body. The greater his potential became, the further this transformation would progress. The Void Meridian was said to extend throughout the entire body and be difficult to open, but with the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art, the process seemed much simpler. He only needed to spend some time cultivating the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art to the thirteenth level, and opening the Void Meridian would come naturally.

After a long period of consideration, Chen Lin settled on a cultivation plan. First, he would cultivate the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art to mastery and open the Void Meridian. Once the Void Meridian was open, it would be the perfect time to advance to the Innate Stage!

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The path of cultivation was the most tedious and monotonous.

Another half month passed. During the day, Chen Lin hunted ferocious beasts to increase his Death Energy. At night, he focused on cultivating the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art.

"Gather the spirit with energy, lingering without end. Let the body rest, unmoving, and the Three Powers take their places. Unite the five energies with the body, gather them, and let them not scatter. The direct channels are the meridians; the branches are the collaterals. Let energy pass through the joints, warming the organs within. Let it flow up and down, cycle after cycle..."

The spiritual energy floating through the air slowly drew toward Chen Lin. Threads of coarse, violent energy, thin as hairs, burrowed into his body. As time passed, the invisible, violent energy gathered in greater and greater quantities with each breath, rushing eagerly into him.

His body was instantly swept by rumbling thunder and raging winds rolling over snow!

"Rrrip! Rrrip!!"

The sound was like cloth being torn. Chen Lin's skin suddenly split all over, staining him red with blood. His whole body convulsed and shook violently.

With every level of the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art, one had to shatter one's own meridians, like a phoenix rising anew from the flames!

The violent spiritual energy surged and pressed in every direction. The pain tore straight into his mind, as if he were being slowly sliced apart by a thousand cuts. Even Chen Lin, with his iron nerves, could barely endure it. But when he thought that only by becoming stronger could he unlock the system's permissions and bring back that lovely figure in his heart, a blazing inferno seemed to ignite within him, burning wildly.

"Heart Piercer... I will bring you back!"

"Thud! Thud! Thud!!!"

Suddenly, several muffled booms rang out from within his body. With each one, Chen Lin's whole body jerked violently. His meridians shattered inch by inch, his skin split open all over, and finally, his body could no longer hold out. Like a boneless snake, he collapsed heavily to the ground.

He was drenched in blood, as if he had become a blood cocoon!

The Mystic Yin Essence flowed through him, nourishing and mending every one of Chen Lin's meridians...

After a full two days and two nights, Chen Lin's body was finally repaired.

"In just half a month, I've already cultivated the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art to the third level. The sheer amount of violent spiritual energy in this world is beyond imagination. But reaching the thirteenth level and breaking through to the Innate Stage in the two months I have left... that'll be difficult!"

Chen Lin swung his sickle. It cut through the air with a sharp whistling sound, almost creating a sonic boom.

At the third level, even an ordinary strike contained 90,000 catties of force—45 tons of sheer strength! Among the Houtian ferocious beasts, only rare mutants could rival him. He was more than enough to stand above the rest!

By now, Chen Lin had long since abandoned any hope of completing the main quest. Reaching the Innate Stage in three months was unthinkable without some heaven-defying stroke of luck.

Fortunately, his cultivation art had reached minor mastery, and he was hunting ferocious beasts faster and faster. Gathering 1,000 Death Energy points to protect himself wouldn't be too difficult in the short term. But thinking of how failure would mean losing all 1,000 points of Death Energy, Chen Lin couldn't help feeling reluctant.

He had risked his life fighting to earn those Death Energy points!

By now, his Death Energy had reached a total of 614 points.

He opened the Item Exchange System.

"Formless Tribulation Finger, one of the Shaolin Temple's seventy-two supreme arts. Its fingers strike with peerless speed, ferocious and domineering, its power terrifying. (From the Sutra Depository of Shaolin Temple in the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.) Death Energy required for exchange: 200 points."

Since cultivating the Dragon-Elephant Nirvana Art, Chen Lin's strength had increased enormously, but he still felt he couldn't bring its full power to bear. His strength was scattered throughout his body, difficult to gather. So he had no choice but to consider exchanging for a martial art that could condense his strength into techniques and increase his damage. Among the martial arts manuals, he chose finger techniques.

Among finger techniques, advanced arts like the Six Meridian Divine Sword and One Yang Finger were far too expensive for Chen Lin. He had no choice but to settle for the slightly less powerful Formless Tribulation Finger.

"Exchange."

Chen Lin spent his Death Energy points. A flash of light later, a blue, thread-bound martial arts manual appeared before him.

He casually flipped through it, then opened the system again.

"Enhance and revise the cultivation art."

"Death Energy required to enhance and revise the Formless Tribulation Finger: 130 points. Begin revision now? Yes/No."

"Yes."

"Revising cultivation art... Revision complete."

Chen Lin opened the martial arts manual again. The attributes of the Formless Tribulation Finger had changed completely.

"Shattering Nirvana Finger: Revised from the Formless Tribulation Finger. The myriad forms of all beings, the formlessness of all things; the mind has no mind, the form no form, and objects no object. All things under heaven can become weapons! System evaluation: A move that turns the rotten into the miraculous."

After studying the technique in detail, even Chen Lin, usually steady by nature, felt as if he'd been struck dizzy by an enormous stroke of happiness.

The 130-point revision had indeed been worth every point... no, it had far exceeded the best result he could have imagined.

As expected of something produced by the Main God: it was bound to be top quality!

Unable to contain his excitement, Chen Lin wanted to test the power of the finger technique. He left his lair and began searching for a ferocious beast.

Half an hour later, an enormous ferocious beast resembling a wild wolf flashed beneath a towering ancient tree. Its terrifying, icy fangs extended from its jaws, and neatly overlapping, diamond-shaped scales covered its body. Its thick limbs clung close to the ground, its claws scraping the earth as it moved with steady force.

Chen Lin stood not far away and nodded with satisfaction. It was in the late Houtian Stage, about the same level as him. It would make a good test for the power of the Shattering Nirvana Finger.

The beast drooled dark yellow saliva, its nostrils twitching as it sniffed. It stared at Chen Lin, its cruel, bloodthirsty eyes glinting with deadly menace. But it had clearly sensed that Chen Lin's aura was no weaker than its own, and didn't dare attack carelessly.

"If you won't make the first move, then I'll send you on your way!"

Suddenly, red light blazed in Chen Lin's previously still eyes. He moved in a flash, swift as wind and lightning, and lunged at the giant wolf!

"Awwooo!!"

Enraged by Chen Lin, the giant wolf bared its teeth and claws, planted its forelegs on the ground, raised its head, and roared. The soft spines along its back stood on end as it lunged at Chen Lin, unwilling to back down!

Chen Lin's right arm, shaped like a sickle and marked with strange red patterns, stretched out at his side. His spiritual energy circulated through his body as he jabbed fiercely toward the giant wolf.

"Epiphyllum Shadow, Shattering Nirvana Finger!"

"Boom!"

It was like an epiphyllum blooming for an instant, like a dream or a bubble—without the slightest trace of smoke or flame.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Before him, the giant wolf's body hung frozen in midair. A moment later, it exploded with a deafening crash, flesh and blood spraying everywhere!

Chen Lin bathed in the rain of blood. The blood on his body was strangely absorbed by his Blood Absorption innate ability. His eyes lit up, and a trace of shock stirred in his heart. The finger technique's power far surpassed what he'd imagined!

The Shattering Nirvana Finger used his own immense strength as its foundation, directing it through his meridians in a strange sequence and gathering it before condensing the power of his entire body at his fingertip. It unleashed that force in an instant upon a single point—point became line, and line became plane!

Forty-five tons of strength, when scattered, was merely a lot of force. But if those 45 tons were condensed into a tiny point as sharp as a needle, and used to pierce through a surface, then even a weaker Innate ferocious beast would have its internal organs shattered on the spot!

Moreover, once he used the technique, all things under heaven could become weapons. In theory, as long as he threw a stone with all his strength, that stone would carry 45 tons of force! Of course, that assumed the stone could withstand his strength.

Chen Lin sighed to himself. It truly was a move that turned the rotten into the miraculous.