Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

"Pfft!" Lin Zhaoru felt a metallic taste in her throat as if she had been struck hard, and she staggered back several steps.

The gap is too big! The opponent has an overwhelming advantage in both spiritual power and magical artifacts!

If he hadn't clearly held back, that attack would have been enough to seriously injure him.

"Recall your magical artifact." He didn't pursue, but instead reminded them, his eyes showing no contempt, only the burning desire of someone eyeing a prey.

"Your Yinglong form is quite something. Let me see it. Just getting beaten up isn't fun."

Lin Zhao suppressed his surging anger and sense of defeat.

He knew the odds were slim, but going all out against such a genius was a valuable experience in itself!

"As you wish, Senior Brother!"

He took a deep breath, and his hand seals changed again. The slightly dimmed Four Elements Pearl rose into the air once more.

The Four-Element Dragon has descended upon the arena once more! Its broad wings of light unfurl, and a torrent of magic begins to brew.

Yan Chihuan's eyes lit up: "That's more like it!" He stopped being arrogant, raised the thunder hammer in his hand high, and his body suddenly burst out with dazzling purple and white lightning!

"Thunder Domain - Thousand Calamities!"

Centered on him, countless fine yet incredibly condensed purple and white lightning bolts surged forth, not randomly scattering, but instantly intertwining and constructing to form a three-dimensional lightning net covering every inch of the entire arena!

This net of lightning was not static, but constantly flowing and flashing; each bolt of lightning seemed to possess a spirit of its own.

It precisely lunged at every fireball, every earth spike, every water spike, and every wind blade that appeared within Yinglong's domain!

Swoosh! Boom! Snap!

Elemental spells collided and annihilated with the lightning serpents.

The arena was a chaotic scene of light and shadow, with bursts of spiritual light causing the protective shield to flicker.

Lin Zhao pushed his mind to its limit, attempting to counteract the attack through Yinglong's energy circulation system.

However, his control over the "Thunder Domain" is terrifying; the annihilation efficiency of the lightning far exceeds the speed at which Yinglong generates spells.

The power grid was slowly contracting, continuously compressing Yinglong's activity space and the power of its domain. Yinglong's recycling capacity was far from keeping up with its consumption.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Four-Element Yinglong was riddled with holes and its spiritual light had dimmed. Lin Zhao's last bit of magical power was also drained.

Yinglong let out a mournful cry and vanished into thin air. The four precious pearls dimmed completely and flew back to his side.

The domain dissipated, and the lightning subsided. The arena returned to its clear state.

"I lost." Lin Zhao admitted defeat frankly, his voice hoarse but his eyes clear, showing little sign of frustration.

He put away the thunder hammer and laughed heartily: "That was a great fight! Your four-element transformation has endless potential."

"I am at the peak of the twelfth level of Qi Refining. You have just broken through to the Divine Gate, and your spiritual power is only at the ninth level. To force me to use 'Thunder Domain' is beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators."

Seeing that although he appeared arrogant and unruly, he had a magnanimous and easygoing personality, Lin Zhao asked him why he could unleash so much lightning power.

He took a few steps closer, without any arrogance, "The power of lightning? It's because I am a lightning spirit, naturally close to the Great Dao of Lightning."

Cultivation level isn't important. You'll catch up to me quickly in the sect. Let's spar often when we have time!

Lin Zhao clasped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I will seek your advice again in the future."

After stepping off the stage, Xu Chuan rushed forward, his face full of concern.

Lin Zhao remained calm: "There are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding. It's not unjust to lose to someone like this. There are many hidden talents among the outer disciples."

The two stopped worrying about who would win and started observing other arenas, quickly becoming engrossed in two battles.

On the west side, there was a fighting arena. A woman dressed in a moon-white robe stood quietly in the center. She was Jiang Wan, a member of the family. Her skin was as white as snow, her black hair was like a waterfall, and her eyes were a clear and pure ice blue.

With a casual flick of his hand, he pointed out a crystal-clear ice ruler, and whether it was the spells, magical artifacts, or cultivators released by his opponents, they were all covered with a layer of ice crystals that did not leak out any cold air, and then frozen in mid-air.

What's most alarming is that after she unfrozen the person, there was no cold or sluggish feeling at all.

Her control over power reached an incredible level.

On the east side of the arena, it was an absolute display of overwhelming power. A handsome young man with a face like jade, sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, stood tall and straight like a pine tree, and had already defeated nine people in a row.

His fighting style was simple and domineering to the extreme—no matter what methods his opponent used, he would only strike with one sword.

The white jade sword flew from his hand, growing larger in the wind until it transformed into a colossal sword thirty zhang long, as solid as a mountain.

Carrying the power to suppress all spiritual energy, he crashed down like a pillar of heaven collapsing! After the loud noise, he was often left alone on the arena.

Qin Tianjun, also a member of the family, won all nine battles with a single sword strike, and his breath was long and steady, showing no signs of fatigue.

Xu Chuan whispered the information to him: This person killed nine early-stage Foundation Establishment cloud beasts in the first level, scoring 99 points. In the end, he even fused the nine beasts into one, transforming them into a terrifying late-stage Foundation Establishment cloud beast before drifting away.

Lin Zhao remained silent. This unfathomable strength was beyond his current ability to contend with.

On this day, Lin Zhao witnessed the various prodigies of the sect.

My own strength, among these tens of thousands of geniuses, is probably only slightly above average.

As night fell, the crowd slowly dispersed.

Back in the villa, with the door closed, the noise of the outside world was completely shut out.

Lin Zhao sat cross-legged on the futon and took out the pure white disciple token.

As one's consciousness sinks into it, a clear light screen unfolds in the sea of ​​consciousness, with information flowing in an orderly manner.

On the left is personal information: Lin Zhao, outer disciple, affiliated with the Dao Asking Hall, with 246 points.

Below is the sect's announcement: Tomorrow, all newly promoted outer disciples will assemble. The time, location, route map, and even important notes are clearly outlined.

In the center is a vast overview of the sect, introducing the 70,000-year history and structure of the Yunhai Cangming Sect.

The most eye-catching feature is the "Five Halls and Seven Pavilions"—

The five halls are governed by the Nascent Soul True Lord: Cangming Hall, Yunhai Hall, Wendao Hall, Tianji Hall, and Qiankun Hall.

The seven halls under the jurisdiction of the Golden Elixir Master are: Hall of a Hundred Machines, Hall of Law Enforcement, Hall of War, Hall of Inspection, Hall of Spirit Gathering, Hall of External Affairs, and Hall of Duties.

Lin Zhao and his disciples belong to the Dao Asking Hall, whose master is True Lord Xuan Yuan. No other information can be found.

On the right, there are forum-like sections, categorized into hundreds of sub-sections! A quick glance reveals: "Sect News", "Yunzhou Chronicles", "Exploring Secret Realms", "Introduction to Alchemy, Weaponry, and Talisman Arrays", "Strange and Unusual Objects"...

Unfortunately, Lin Zhao is displayed in gray in most sections.

Only one section called "Outer Disciples" was open to him, where many people were already posting and sharing their experiences of the day.

Lin Zhao withdrew his divine sense, his fingers stroking the token, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

This is no ordinary sect identity token; it's clearly a cultivation-themed personal terminal that integrates identity recognition, information retrieval, and communication!

For someone whose soul comes from the information explosion era, he is all too aware of the terrifying efficiency and control that this informatization means.

The Yunzhou region spans over a million miles. If this token's communication could cover the entire Yunzhou...

Then the foundation and strength of the Zhen Shi Sheng Zong, which has a history of 70,000 years, probably need to be reassessed.