Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The fireball, enveloped and eroded by the water-attribute sword energy, shrank rapidly at a visible speed, and finally vanished completely with a "poof".

Seeing that its attack had failed, the Crimson Flame Tiger became even more ferocious, and its demonic power began to gather wildly within it.

The next moment, a more condensed, almost incandescent white beam of fire tore through the air and surged toward Lin Zhao! The power of this attack far exceeded that of the previous fireball.

However, Lin Zhao's mind stirred. The Four Elements Magic Sword, entirely composed of concentrated energy, floated in mid-air.

He pointed his fingers like a sword and swung them forward, causing the four elemental swords suspended in the air to rapidly shimmer with light.

Finally, the power was concentrated at the tip of the sword, transforming into a dazzling stream of four colors.

It crashed into that blazing white pillar of fire! It actually managed to tear a passage through the very center of that pillar of fire!

The Four Elements Sword was so fast that it pierced through the entire pillar of flames in the blink of an eye and appeared before the Crimson Flame Tiger!

Fear flashed in the Crimson Flame Tiger's eyes. It stopped spewing energy and tried to dodge the magic sword, but it was too late.

Its proud and resilient demonic body was as fragile as paper before the magic sword that had gathered the power of four elements, and was easily pierced through!

The magic sword pierced into his body, and the terrifying sword energy contained within it instantly erupted and tore apart!

"Roar...woo..." The Crimson Flame Tiger let out a painful howl, its massive body torn apart by the sword energy and thrown backward, crashing heavily to the ground. It convulsed violently.

Blood gushed from countless wounds, quickly soaking the ground beneath him. The fierce light in his eyes dimmed rapidly, and he finally fell silent.

Lin Zhao's breathing was quite steady.

Sold out instantly!

He didn't even use any magical artifacts, let alone forms like the sword dragon or sword wings.

With just the Four Elements Magic Sword formed by the convergence of spiritual energy, he easily defeated this demon beast, which was equivalent to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"Indeed, things are different now." He muttered to himself, putting away the valuable materials from the Crimson Flame Tiger, his heart not feeling too much.

The life-and-death experiences and battles against beast tides over the past few years have tempered his will to be as firm as a rock.

For the next three days, following the map, Lin Zhao rushed to several other locations where second-tier spiritual herbs might grow.

However, luck did not seem to be on his side.

In the end, he gained nothing.

As time went on, more and more cultivators recovered from the dizziness of teleportation and began to take action.

In the outer area of ​​the secret realm, other cultivators began to appear more frequently, and the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

While crossing a swamp, he encountered three monks dressed in identical attire, who, judging from their appearance, should be from "Tiger Roar Market".

The leader was a muscular, burly man whose cultivation had reached the tenth level of Qi Refining.

He sized up Lin Zhao and said, "Fellow Daoist, are you alone? This swamp is not easy to cross. How about we cooperate? Once we find the spiritual herbs, we can divide the spoils according to our contribution."

Lin Zhao, with his powerful divine sense that had broken through the divine barrier, saw a barely perceptible hint of greed in the other party's eyes.

He remained expressionless, cupped his hands, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, fellow Daoist. I am used to traveling alone. Farewell."

Having said that, without waiting for a response, he quickly retreated and disappeared into the swamp, leaving the three Tiger Roar Market cultivators standing there.

"Big brother, should we..." A thin cultivator next to him made a chasing gesture.

The burly man snorted coldly: "Forget it, a mere Qi Refining Level 9 kid probably doesn't have much to offer. Let's not waste time on important matters."

In this secret realm, second-tier spiritual herbs are the most precious!

After leaving the Tiger Roar Market, Lin Zhao became even more cautious.

After several days of searching, the harvest was meager, with only a few decent first-grade high-quality spiritual herbs found.

But for him, whose goal was a second-tier spiritual herb, this was practically equivalent to making no progress at all.

Just as he was preparing to adjust his strategy and head to the central area, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

In a secluded pile of rocks, he found a torn piece of clothing and the remains of several battle flags that had been violently destroyed and lost all their luster!

A faint, lingering smell of blood still lingered in the air.

Lin Zhao felt a chill run down his spine and immediately concealed his aura, quietly approaching.

A careful examination of the scene revealed signs of a fierce struggle, but the area was not large. It appeared that one party was instantly killed in close combat, without even being able to mount a proper resistance.

The arrangement of the array flags was quite ingenious, far surpassing that of ordinary rogue cultivators, but the array was forcibly torn apart from the outside by an extremely domineering force.

He carefully sensed with his divine sense. Soon, he sensed it under a pile of freshly turned rubble.

He used his magic to clear away the rubble, revealing a black-faced corpse with wide-open eyes.

A small black jade pendant, about half the size of a palm, was hanging from the corpse's waist. The pendant was carved with an exquisite pavilion design.

"Black Fiend Pavilion?" Lin Zhao's pupils contracted slightly. People from the three major sects.

I never expected their people to die here so quickly. Speaking of which, the Lin family also has a secret branch in the Black Fiend Pavilion.

The corpse had a wound on its chest that exuded a cold, deathly aura. Lin Zhao did not want to delve into the cause of death of these sect disciples.

He reburied the body, erased all traces of the struggle, and left the place of trouble without lingering any longer.

Lin Zhao concealed his aura and traversed the dense ancient forest, heading towards the central area of ​​the secret realm.

The closer you get to the center, the denser the spiritual energy in the air becomes.

Just as he was traversing a treacherous forest called the "Misty Forest".

Ancient trees tower here, and a pale gray mist hangs in the air year-round, resulting in extremely low visibility and even slightly interfering with one's spiritual senses.

Suddenly, a strange change occurred! Two sharp killing intents erupted without warning!

A poisoned, emerald-green dagger, carrying a foul stench, pierced straight into his back, while a blazing fire serpent spell blocked his escape route on the flank.

The attacker timed it perfectly, precisely when the attacker's old strength had been exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated.

But Lin Zhao's divine sense was far superior to theirs; she had already detected them.

Without even turning around, the moment his mind stirred, the Qingfeng sword in his hand emitted a sword cry!

The spiritual power gathered by the four elemental beads flowed into the sword, and the Azure Edge Sword transformed into a stunning streak of four colors intertwined, flying out of the hand!

It drew a strange arc in the air with a speed exceeding that of ordinary cultivators' magical artifacts.

He precisely dodged the necks of two cultivators who had just revealed themselves and whose faces were still filled with astonishment!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Two lines of blood had already appeared on their necks.

The next moment, the heads rolled off, and the two headless corpses fell straight down.

"Impressive tactics! No wonder you earned the title of 'Azure Dragon King'." A cold voice came from behind the giant tree in front.

Liu Yuan, the son of the Liu family patriarch, who was also in Qingfeng Market, slowly walked out, his face filled with undisguised killing intent. "Unfortunately, today, this is your burial ground!"