Xiao Lin wasn't a fool.

Moreover, before the battle, Lu Xingqiu had helped him gather a lot of information about Gu Qingqing, so Xiao Lin was well aware of the effects of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Art and understood that the longer the fight dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for him.

In fact, if he had a powerful cultivation technique of his own, Xiao Lin wouldn't mind clashing with Gu Qingqing, who had accumulated her rage. But the key issue was that the technique he practiced was somewhat unimpressive—it was called "Beat Up Anyone Who Disagrees," and although it was personally crafted by Leng Youxue, it felt to Xiao Lin like it had no distinguishing features, just a cultivation technique with better results than others.

In short, logically speaking, if he wanted to win, he should have gone all out from the start, not giving Gu Qingqing a chance to build up her rage.

However, Xiao Lin felt that not giving Gu Qingqing a chance to showcase her full strength wasn't very magnanimous... well, not really.

Besides not being a fool, Xiao Lin wasn't a saint either.

The reason he didn't reveal all his cards at the beginning was that he considered this battle with the top disciple of a prestigious sect a rare opportunity, one where he didn't have to worry about safety. He wanted to exchange a few moves with Gu Qingqing to hone himself and validate what he had learned.

But, after a brief exchange, it would be impolite to drag it on any further.

Thus, Xiao Lin decided to make his move.

As for the fact that he hadn't mastered the Ultimate Invincible World-Dominating Thunder Sword and the Kui Ox Seal wasn't suitable for use, it was necessary to mention Xiao Lin's System.

Although this System remained hidden most of the time and rarely appeared, its existence couldn't be ignored.

And since the System existed, so did tasks, and with tasks came rewards.

From numerous trivial tasks in the past, Xiao Lin had received various rewards, and the one he was most satisfied with was actually a skill—

[Gale Sword].

This was a sword skill that allowed the user to unleash an incredibly powerful strike far beyond their current realm in an instant. When Xiao Lin had just entered the Core Formation Realm, he had tested it with Leng Youxue, and if he fully exerted this [Gale Sword] at the Lower Core Formation Realm, its power was equivalent to a full-force strike from an Upper Core Formation Realm cultivator.

This was undoubtedly a very powerful skill.

But as the saying goes, everything has two sides. While [Gale Sword] was extremely powerful, it also had a rather obvious drawback—it could only be used when the enemy was airborne and at a certain height. If the enemy wasn't far enough from the ground, [Gale Sword] couldn't be activated at all.

Yes, some might recall a certain swordsman's image.

To this, Xiao Lin could only be thankful that Luo Qingyan and Ning Yunmiao seemed to have had no interest in games before they transmigrated, so they had no suspicions about [Gale Sword], otherwise, his identity as a transmigrator might have been exposed long ago.

Back to the point, as mentioned earlier, [Gale Sword] was currently Xiao Lin's strongest skill, and to use it, the enemy needed to be airborne at a certain height. So, what Xiao Lin needed to do now was find a way to make Gu Qingqing jump, and jump high.

Fortunately, he had long prepared for this [Gale Sword] by learning many skills that could force enemy movement, such as...

"An array? When did it appear?"

Seeing a glowing formation beneath her feet, Gu Qingqing was startled and immediately used her movement technique to retreat.

...only to realize it seemed to be a Spirit Gathering Array, leaving her momentarily stunned.

[Wow! When did Senior Brother set up an array? Amazing!]

[As expected of Senior Brother, even in his movements, there's a method to the madness, silently creating an array with spiritual energy! Truly worthy of the title of the Holy Son of the Human Race!]

[A Spirit Gathering Array? Did I see that right? Although I noticed the signs from Senior Brother's movements earlier, I still can't believe it... Does this array have an offensive effect besides gathering spiritual energy?]

[Senior Brother! Awesome! Beat that Gu Qingqing!]

Unlike the four above, Gu Ziying's assessment of the situation was noticeably more objective and serious, "While setting up an array during movement is indeed impressive, I really can't see what he's planning to do with a Spirit Gathering Array. Only arrays and spells can be driven by external spiritual energy, so is he planning to use the gathered spiritual energy to power some spell? But as far as I know, only low-level spells can be powered by external spiritual energy..."

Actually, Gu Ziying's reasoning was correct. The Spirit Gathering Array Xiao Lin activated was indeed to charge a low-level spell—in fact, Xiao Lin had considered directly using some kind of Wind Array or Ascension Array to forcibly lift the enemy off the ground, but firstly, these arrays were much more complex than the Spirit Gathering Array and not easy to set up in battle, and secondly, as Gu Qingqing had just demonstrated, arrays, especially low-level ones, were relatively easy to evade.

So after much consideration, Xiao Lin chose to use the Spirit Gathering Array as support to charge another primary offensive spell.

This spell was a low-level entry-level earth-type spell, the Earth Spike Technique.

Regarding this backup plan with the Earth Spike Technique, Gu Ziying's deduction was still correct—only such low-level spells could be charged with external spiritual energy. However, due to the inherent low ceiling of the spell, no matter how much it was charged, its power couldn't match that of high-level spells.

But with the spiritual energy gathered by the Spirit Gathering Array, these low-level spells could become more enduring, larger, and capable of covering a broader area.

So...

"Fellow Daoist Gu, how will you respond if I use this move?" As Xiao Lin raised his hand to form a seal again, the spiritual energy drawn by the Spirit Gathering Array quickly gathered in his palm.

In the next moment, a massive earth spike, two to three stories high, burst from the ground, covering the entire arena in the blink of an eye.

What was this now?

With no way to avoid it, Gu Qingqing remained calm and took the best and simplest course of action, leaping into the air.

But as she ascended, before she could think further, a terrifying feeling suddenly overwhelmed her.

That feeling came from Xiao Lin, standing amidst the earth spikes.

Though he was merely standing there, at that moment, he seemed like a beast lurking in the forest, ready to reveal his sharp fangs to the lamb at any moment.

Danger! Danger!

With her mind screaming warnings, Gu Qingqing, still airborne, didn't hesitate for a second and unleashed all the "Mysterious Maiden Breath" she had accumulated since the battle began, thrusting her spear forward.

Mysterious Maiden Peak's secret spear technique, Drizzle Pear Blossom Spear!

Almost simultaneously, Xiao Lin moved.

He was enveloped in a fierce wind, like a demon god descending upon the world.

"Face the gale!"