I Just Wanted to Teach Cultivation, But Goddesses Keep Coming!-Chapter 176 Don’t Make Me Frown, It Causes Premature Aging

Chapter 176: Chapter 176 Don’t Make Me Frown, It Causes Premature Aging

"Kill me," Lin Feng repeated softly, "and you’ll regain your freedom."

Then he closed his eyes.

No defensive barrier appeared around his body. No surge of protective spiritual energy.

No preparation for escape.

He simply stood there.

Relaxed.

Vulnerable.

One second passed.

The spiritual pressure intensified, crushing down upon him like a mountain range collapsing from the heavens.

The floor beneath his feet groaned.

The barrier he had secretly established vibrated faintly under the strain.

Ten seconds. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Huo Mian’s aura surged wildly, fluctuating between murderous intent and hesitation.

Her breathing grew uneven.

Her fingers trembled at her sides as she gathered power which was more than enough to reduce him to ash with a single strike.

A cultivator at her realm was like a walking nuclear arsenal, a single thought away from unleashing devastation upon the land.

If she truly released her full power without restraint, mountains could crumble, rivers could be forced from their paths, and entire districts could be reduced to ruins in moments.

That was the terrifying reality of a sixth-stage Core Formation expert.

She was not merely strong.

She was a natural disaster given human form.

Thirty seconds later and...

Huo Mian’s eyes burned brighter. The blue glow flared violently.

A strand of her hair lashed across her cheek as spiritual wind whipped around her.

She could do it.

One decisive move. One clean strike.

And everything would end.

A full minute passed.

Yet she did not move.

Her raised hand trembled midair.

Her mind was in chaos. Rage screamed at her to strike. Pride demanded vengeance.

Humiliation urged blood.

But beneath all that...

There was something else.

Huo Mian had her flaws. She was proud. Cold. Arrogant.

Easily angered when her dignity was wounded.

Like most cultivators, she carried imperfections carved by this heartless broken world.

But she was not a cold-blooded murderer.

Not someone who would slaughter an unresisting opponent in blind fury.

The murderous intent in her eyes began to flicker.

The overwhelming spiritual pressure faltered.

The blinding blue radiance around her body dimmed slowly, like a dying flame deprived of oxygen.

The storm of energy that had shaken the room gradually subsided.

The cracks in the air smoothed out. The suffocating heaviness lifted inch by inch.

Her breathing steadied.

Her trembling hand lowered.

Finally, the last traces of her spiritual pressure receded completely, vanishing into silence.

The room fell still.

Only the faint sound of her uneven breathing remained.

Several heartbeats later, Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes.

Calm.

Unharmed.

And exactly as confident as before.

The moment Lin Feng opened his eyes, a sharp gust of wind rushed toward his face.

Huo Mian had already crossed the distance between them.

Her movements were swift and decisive, her long sleeves fluttering as her palm cut through the air in a clean, open-handed arc aimed directly at his cheek.

The murderous intent from earlier had faded, but the fire of humiliation still raged within her chest.

She did not want to kill him anymore.

She only wanted this one strike.

A lesson.

An immediate payback.

A small reclaiming of dignity after being so thoroughly outplayed.

Yet even that small satisfaction was denied to her.

Her palm stopped.

Just inches away from his face.

So close that she could feel the faint warmth radiating from his skin.

So close that a single flick of her wrist should have completed the motion.

But her arm would not move.

Lin Feng did not dodge.

He did not step back.

He did not even raise a hand to block.

He simply stood there, eyes calm and steady, watching her as though she were performing a predictable routine.

"How? How are you doing this?!" Huo Mian demanded, her voice trembling not with fear, but with disbelief.

Her fingers twitched.

The muscles in her arm strained visibly, yet her hand remained suspended midair as if caught in invisible chains.

She immediately released her spiritual sense, sweeping it inward with the sharp precision of a seasoned cultivator.

Her awareness traced through every meridian, every node of spiritual circulation, searching for the anomaly.

It did not take long.

There.

Deep within her body, one of her primary meridians had been sealed.

Not shattered.

Not violently obstructed.

But sealed with terrifying finesse.

The flow of spiritual energy through that pathway was cut off just enough to disrupt coordination and movement at critical moments.

It was a seal designed not for destruction, but for control.

Her pupils shrank.

She immediately directed a concentrated surge of spiritual energy toward the obstruction, attempting to pry it open with brute force.

Her cultivation base flared again, sixth-stage Core Formation power roaring through her meridians like a raging river.

The room trembled faintly under the renewed pressure.

Nothing happened.

The seal did not even quiver.

Her jaw tightened.

She tried again, this time pouring even more power into the attempt.

Spiritual pressure flooded outward uncontrollably due to Lin Feng’s immediate proximity, enveloping them both in suffocating force.

The invisible barrier Lin Feng had set up earlier vibrated subtly but held firm.

Still...

The seal remained unshaken.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three.

By the seventh breath, her expression changed.

It was not anger this time.

It was realization.

Her gaze slowly lifted to meet his.

"You did it when your finger touched my neck," Huo Mian said quietly.

Not a question.

A conclusion.

That fleeting contact. That casual tap beneath her jaw. That was when he planted it.

She was certain.

It was the only moment he had direct access to such a vital pathway.

In truth, Lin Feng could have immobilized her with nothing more than a thought. A glance.

A whisper of intent.

But she would never know that.

And he would never tell her.

Revealing every capability and laying his cards on the table was the act of a fool.

Lin Feng’s lips curved slightly.

"You’re perceptive, Mentor Huo Mian," he said calmly. "Most people wouldn’t have figured it out so quickly."

His gaze drifted to her suspended palm.