Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao's spirits lifted. He hadn't expected that the Four Elements Sword Tower would have such an unimaginable ability to restrain attacks on the soul level!

He immediately focused all his attention on the sword tower.

The runes on the tower shone brightly, steadily blocking the old demon's attacks time and time again, and even reflecting some of the force back!

Although the old demon's remnant soul had suffered severe damage, even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and its essence was still superior to Lin Zhao's. It continued to search for the sword tower's weaknesses.

Lin Zhao, relying on his unwavering will and the powerful defense of the Four Elements Sword Tower, firmly held his ground.

Under his leadership, the Sword Tower became increasingly solid and its light became even more dazzling.

At the same time, he realized that his previous use of this sword tower form probably did not truly reveal its core capabilities!

Its true power lies in its ability to suppress the soul and negative energy.

As one weakens, the other gains! The old demon's remnant soul was already weak, and without the support of a physical body, every attack consumed his spiritual power.

Lin Zhao, relying on his own sea of ​​consciousness and the protection of the Four Elements Sword Tower, faced difficulties but demonstrated remarkable resilience.

I don't know how much time has passed; it could be a moment, or it could be eternity.

The old demon's remnant soul grew dimmer and dimmer. "No... Ancestor, I am not reconciled... to be defeated by... a mere Qi Refining junior..."

Finally, after an attack was blocked and shattered by the sword tower, the remnant soul could no longer maintain its form, flickering a few times.

It was completely annihilated in Lin Zhao's sea of ​​consciousness, leaving only a fragmented and chaotic piece of information. The remaining soul power was captured and suppressed by the power of the sword tower and slowly absorbed.

"Huff... huff..."

Lin Zhao's consciousness returned to her body, and she suddenly opened her eyes, her face as pale as paper.

The exhaustion from the battle at the spiritual level is far more severe than that from the physical body.

He staggered, almost losing his balance.

With his unwavering will and the miraculous effects of the Four Elements Sword Tower, he won a battle of souls against a Core Formation True Person.

Lin Zhao looked around. With the fall of the demon's remnant soul, the horizontal black jade arch bridge returned to silence.

Only the few traces of battle left on the bridge tell the story of what had just happened.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood, which lingered on the bridge and did not dissipate.

Xu Chuan collapsed nearby, unconscious. The golden light emanating from his body had dissipated, and his face was pale.

Despite his weakened state, Lin Zhao stepped forward to check on Xu Chuan. Only after sensing that Xu Chuan's internal energy was stable did he feel relieved.

He then began cleaning up the battlefield, collecting the storage bags of the female cultivator surnamed Chen, the controlled sect cultivators, and the scattered magical artifacts of Xu Chuan.

Unfortunately, aside from the strange hourglass, there weren't many other gains; the most valuable item was the black hourglass.

This magical artifact was icy to the touch, made of neither metal nor wood, and the twisted runes on it were emitting a faint spiritual light.

But Lin Zhao had experienced its terror before, so he dared not be negligent and immediately sealed it in a spirit-sealing jade box, and also affixed several restrictive talismans.

Having done all this, he dared not linger there any longer.

They were afraid that the battle they had just fought would attract other cultivators.

He gritted his teeth, carried the unconscious Xu Chuan on his back, and staggered back the way he came towards the Silent Soul Stone Forest.

Fortunately, there were no further incidents on the way back.

Lin Zhao successfully returned to the Silent Soul Stone Forest

The desolate black stone forest pressed down with its terrifying force field once more, causing Lin Zhao, whose soul was already injured, to feel dizzy.

He quickly cast another spell, condensing a white sphere of light that enveloped himself and Xu Chuan on his back, isolating them from the force field.

Without daring to stop, he relied on his memory to navigate among the black stone pillars until he reached the heart of the stone forest.

Finally, unable to hold on any longer, he collapsed to the ground.

He placed Xu Chuan beside him. The white orb of light continued to emit its glow steadily, protecting the two of them.

With the mysterious power of the Stone Forest protecting him, even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't get in, which reassured him somewhat.

"Huff...huff..." Lin Zhao leaned against a cold stone pillar, breathing heavily. He felt as if all the strength in his body had been drained away.

He looked at the unconscious Xu Chuan, his heart filled with complex emotions.

This guy is indeed extraordinary; he actually possesses techniques left behind by a Core Formation cultivator!

No wonder he knew so many secrets. "Fortunately, I sensed beforehand that his identity might not be simple, so I didn't easily become enemies," Lin Zhao thought to himself with relief.

Just as he relaxed and began to circulate the "Taihe Yangyuan Gong" to slowly restore his injured soul,

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the fragments of his remnant soul's memories, suppressed and refined by the Four Elements Sword Tower, began to transmit information intermittently.

It turns out that the owner of this remnant soul was not a cultivator from the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, but a demonic cultivator at the Core Formation stage from outside the mountain range.

His sect, the Xuan Yin Sect, was defeated in a battle, and he was seriously injured. He fled in a sorry state to the relatively secluded Yunxia Mountains for refuge.

His physical body was severely damaged in that battle, and he needed to find a suitable body to possess in order to restore his cultivation.

Unfortunately, in the Cloud and Mist Mountains, almost all the cultivators with good aptitude are in the three major sects.

How could a heavily injured Core Formation cultivator like him dare to try and snatch teeth from the jaws of the three major sects?

Therefore, he turned his attention to the cultivators who had opened the secret realm.

The Qi Refining Disciples who can represent each market town to enter the secret realm are all elites, and among them, there may be suitable candidates.

He had already secretly been keeping an eye on some disciples of the three major sects outside the secret realm.

The corpse of the Black Jade Pavilion member that Lin Zhao encountered earlier was his doing.

After entering the secret realm, he attacked no fewer than ten sect disciples, but unfortunately, he couldn't find any with good aptitude.

Until he met Xu Chuan and sensed the rare "Water Abyss Spirit Body"! It was as if the body was tailor-made for him! He was overjoyed, thinking that his luck had finally turned around.

But he never expected that behind this seemingly ordinary cultivator stood a Core Formation True Person with even more powerful methods!

He failed to see the hidden methods behind it, resulting in his divine soul being severely damaged by the protective divine seal, which indirectly led to the annihilation of his split soul.

"Soul split!" Lin Zhao caught this phrase that shook him to his core.

It turns out that what he killed was not his true body, but only a fragment of his soul!

How could a true Core Formation cultivator be so easily killed?

As Lin Zhao recovered his consciousness, he browsed through the remaining memories. Unfortunately, this was only a fragment of his soul, and it had been severely injured by Xu Chuan's Core Formation technique, leaving very little information.

The chubby boy retained quite a few memories; he was a descendant of a Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Jin from Tiger Roar Market.

This old demon, using some unknown means, had long ago secretly taken over the identity of this Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Jin, and was lurking in Tiger Roar Market, recovering from his injuries.

As Lin Zhao was slowly sorting through and digesting these fragments of memory in the Silent Soul Stone Forest...