Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

At the critical moment, the runes engraved on the edge of the arena burst forth with a strong white light!

A gentle force instantly enveloped Lin Zhao, teleporting him off the arena just before he was touched by the sword energy.

After landing safely, Lin Zhao's back was soaked with cold sweat, and her heart was pounding.

He suddenly looked up and stared intently at the expressionless young man in black on the stage.

A sword... a seemingly casual slash,

He actually forced the protective formation to automatically determine his failure and teleport him to rescue people!

This means that without the intervention of the formation, that sword strike truly had the ability to kill him instantly!

The young man seemed to sense Lin Zhao's gaze and gave him a barely perceptible nod.

He then sheathed his sword and stood still, his demeanor neither flamboyant nor overly somber.

But that swordsmanship... it's terrifying!

Lin Zhao took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. "Find Xu Chuan and find out exactly what methods this person used!"

In the following time, Lin Zhao carefully observed the black-clad youth's next two matches.

The result was predictable—it was a single sword strike, regardless of the opponent's methods.

Ultimately, they will all be forced to trigger the formation by that strange sword energy and teleport away.

Lin Zhao's divine sense had been raised to its limit, yet he still couldn't detect the trajectory of the sword energy or its source.

It doesn't seem to be triggered by the sword itself, but rather... it's "generated" directly at the target's location.

A startling, even somewhat absurd, conjecture gradually took shape in his mind:

"Space...power?"

Although it sounds like a fantasy that a Qi Refining cultivator could master spatial power, if it weren't for that...

It's really hard to explain that attack method that completely defies common sense.

On the arena, the young man in black stood alone.

Lin Zhao knew that in this small test, he had encountered another formidable prodigy.

At the same time, Xu Chuan was also knocked off the stage; they remembered the man's face.

They left that arena and headed towards several other arenas that were clearly more lively.

Arriving at the foot of a ring that seemed to be burning, they saw flames raging on the stage, and a crimson banner fluttering in the wind. The fire crow pattern embroidered on the banner seemed to come alive, spitting out streams of fire.

The flag bearer was a young man with thick eyebrows and red hair, who controlled towering waves of fire, forcing his opponents to retreat step by step, while the protective aura flickered erratically under the scorching heat.

"The Yan family, Yan Ning," Xu Chuan whispered into Lin Zhao's ear, "In our sect, there's a saying about 'four surnames and seven families.' The 'four surnames' refer to Li, Qin, Han, and Jiang, all of which are aristocratic families with a thousand-year history and Nascent Soul True Monarchs still alive."

The "Seven Families" refer to the seven families that have reached the Core Formation stage: Yan, Wu, Zhuge, Liu, Meng, Sun, and Wei. Although none of them have reached the Nascent Soul stage,

However, the lineage of Core Formation cultivators has never been broken, remaining deeply rooted and wielding immense influence within the sect. This Yan Ning is one of the most outstanding individuals sent in this generation by the Yan family.

Lin Zhao observed intently. He saw the Flame Banner in Yan Ning's hand releasing flames.

It wasn't indiscriminate burning, but rather an attack that intertwined like a living web.

What made Lin Zhao's gaze sharpen even more was that the flame energy, after being shattered, did not completely disappear; it was absorbed back into the area where the blazing banner appeared.

"Spiritual energy recycling cycle..." Lin Zhao's heart stirred. This principle was so similar to the energy recycling constructed by his "Four Elements Yinglong" light wings!

Although it is not as exquisite as the Four Elements Yinglong, in the single fire attribute domain, its recycling efficiency has surpassed that of the Yinglong form.

The great principles of the world, though different, ultimately lead to the same goal.

The one who is most undoubtedly the strongest among the new disciples is Qin Tianjun, who fought on the first day of the arena.

His arena was surrounded by the largest number of spectators, all of whom held their breath in concentration.

Qin Tianjun was now dressed in a simple white disciple's robe, his posture upright like a solitary peak on a cliff.

His ranking may not be top-tier, but the strength he has shown at this moment has won everyone's respect.

With a flash of sword light, he was like a master butcher dissecting an ox, precisely cutting into the gaps in the opponent's attack. Often, within a few moves, the opponent would be defeated, utterly convinced of their defeat, without even a struggle.

However, when his opponent is also a renowned prodigy, Qin Tianjun will unleash that devastating sword strike.

The jade sword flew out of his hand, swelled in the wind, and finally transformed into a huge sword thirty feet long, carrying the power to suppress all spiritual energy. It crashed down like a pillar of heaven collapsing!

"Sword intent..." Xu Chuan's voice was hoarse, filled with undisguised awe, "Only sword intent can wield such immense power... Qi Refining stage..."

Lin Zhao remained silent. On the path of sword cultivation, sword qi is merely the entry point; sword intent is the true foundation that allows a sword cultivator to stand out among their peers and even fight across borders!

That is the realm where one's will, beliefs, and complete understanding of the way of the sword are fused into the sword.

Legend has it that a Foundation Establishment peak sword cultivator who comprehends sword intent can even briefly contend with a Core Formation early stage cultivator!

Qin Tianjun had already reached this level during the Qi Refining stage! Although that giant sword was more of a combination of spiritual power techniques and sword intent.

However, being able to comprehend sword intent at the Qi Refining stage is itself a display of talent.

After the first year's preliminary exams, Lin Zhao ranked over 800th, which wasn't amazing, but she still steadily gained over 300 points, bringing her total score to over 2,000.

For the next two months, there will be no classes at the Dao Asking Hall, and disciples can arrange their own cultivation. Lin Zhao decided to go into seclusion and push his cultivation to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

On this day, Xu Chuan came mysteriously and took Lin Zhao to a separate courtyard.

It was afternoon, and sunlight filtered through the sparse clouds, illuminating the second-tier jade tree with green patterns in the courtyard. The tree trunk's spiritual patterns shimmered with a warm, emerald-green luster, and the stone table and benches beneath the tree were simple and clean.

Surprisingly, two people were already seated at the table, with spiritual fruits and fragrant tea, faintly scented with spiritual energy, already prepared.

One of them was Yan Chiheng, an acquaintance. His short, dark red hair was still striking. He was holding a vermilion fruit, looking casual.

The other person was the young man in black who had defeated Lin Zhao with a single sword move on the arena!

He had changed into a simple dark gray robe and was now gazing down at the wisps of spiritual energy rising from the tea in his cup.

Lin Zhao paused slightly and looked at Xu Chuan.

Yan Chiheng and I have had occasional contact over the past year, exchanging ideas and discussing philosophy, and we have become quite familiar with each other.

But this mysterious swordsman, Xu Chuan had only said he was going to gather information, he never expected that he would actually bring him to his own villa.

Xu Chuan winked and whispered, "Senior Brother Fang Yue... is actually quite easy to talk to." It turned out that this person's name was Fang Yue.

Upon seeing Lin Zhao arrive, Yan Chiheng smiled and waved. Fang Yue also looked up and nodded slightly as a greeting.

The two seemed to have been discussing something in hushed tones.

Lin Zhao and Xu Chuan took their seats and naturally joined the discussion.

The conversation initially revolved around strategies for breaking several spells tested in the quiz, but gradually expanded to include spiritual energy control, the emphasis of different attribute cultivation methods during the Qi Refining stage, and some unconventional but practical auxiliary techniques.