Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

His Azure Lotus Sword was successfully upgraded to a second-tier magic weapon.

During this period, the sect distributed a benefit to Foundation Establishment disciples: a Green Lotus Seed.

These lotus seeds are imbued with spiritual energy and brimming with vitality. They are top-tier healing medicines. Even those severely injured and on the verge of death can recover quickly after consuming them, almost like having an extra life, and they have no side effects.

Looking at the Azure Lotus Seed and Azure Lotus Sword in his hand, Lin Zhao had a thought: Could it be that the sect... has a secret realm that mass-produces these kinds of Azure Lotus-related items?

When asked, Xu Chuan chuckled and revealed, "I heard that among the sect's seventy-two Earthly Fiend Secret Realms, there is a Green Lotus Secret Realm. It seems that some kind of ancient spiritual root is planted inside, and the Green Lotus is one of the products of that spiritual root."

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it has been eight years since Lin Zhao joined the sect. Standing outside the courtyard, Lin Zhao gazes at the rising and falling clouds.

Feeling somewhat dazed, he realized that he had already turned thirty, which is the age of maturity for ordinary people. If he were an ordinary person, he would have already started a family and established a career long ago.

His Foundation Establishment cultivation life has been very comfortable these past few years, and he can't help but think of his family in the Cloud and Mist Mountains.

Meanwhile, there is still one year left until the sect's second major examination.

After the second major exam, his life in the sect was about to come to an end.

When Lin Zhao was teleported to Cloud Sea Immortal City again.

It was packed with people; it felt like half of the sect's outer disciples were crammed into this place.

Over the past few years, more than two thousand disciples in the sect have successfully established their foundation, but many more remain at the Qi Refining stage.

Everyone had already exhausted their course points, so the Cloud Tower in front of them became their only hope.

Many people are just one step away from achieving the Foundation Establishment goal, while others have failed and need to exchange for Foundation Establishment resources again. The second time they need to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, they need 7,500 points, and the third time, they need 15,000 points.

Once you pass the third level and obtain 10,000 points, you'll have a chance to exchange them for Foundation Establishment Pills and Foundation Establishment Spiritual Items.

If they fail to pass the test, once the ten-year period at the Dao Asking Hall is over, they can only become nominal disciples of the sect, and may never be able to set foot in the sect again in their lifetime. Furthermore, the sect's core resources and inheritances will no longer be open to them.

Having experienced the sect's training over the past few years, they know all too well how difficult it would be to achieve Foundation Establishment or Core Formation without the sect's help.

Therefore, everyone is fighting desperately. Even those who have already reached the Foundation Establishment stage are fighting desperately—the result of clearing the fourth level will directly affect the sect's final evaluation.

Whether one becomes an ordinary inner disciple or is chosen as a core disciple by a Core Formation Realm expert, this final period is crucial.

Lin Zhao looked at the list of those who had passed on the fourth floor. In the past few years, only sixteen names had been on it.

Although the sect's courses became much less demanding after he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, his points also decreased; in the past three years, he had only earned less than two thousand points. Perhaps this was a way for the sect to maintain balance among its disciples?

Of course, if I had a choice, I would definitely choose to take one course every month as I do now. This course teaches foundational knowledge, which is incomparable to the Qi cultivation course.

He took a deep breath and applied to challenge the fourth level.

Actually, he wasn't entirely confident either.

He has challenged the fourth level hundreds of times over the past few years and can now contend with or even fight against the geniuses on the fourth level, but he is still far from being able to completely kill them.

"But some opportunities, if you don't give them a shot, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Lin Zhao knew that on the path of cultivation, key opportunities often only come once or twice.

He definitely can't win with ordinary spells, but forbidden spells might be a different story.

Two forbidden techniques

The "Return to the Void Furnace" is, without a doubt, a manifestation of the furnace within the body, used as a one-time-use magical artifact. After use, it is gone.

The furnace completely collapsed, leaving him severely injured, his fourth-tier cultivation technique half-ruined, and his associated spells unusable.

Cultivation must also cease, and it will take at least several years to condense and restore the Ruins Furnace.

He had been studying the "Five Emperors Seal" for several years. This forbidden technique, which was theoretically only accessible to those at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, was something he had been researching for years.

He had a basic grasp of the principle: it was to use one's own will and Dao foundation as a guide to forcibly "command" and mobilize the spiritual energy of the five elements of heaven and earth, to govern the five directions, and to make all spirits obey the edict, just like an emperor ruling the four directions.

Simply put, a Core Formation cultivator's "Golden Core Domain" controls the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The Five Emperors Seal is a domineering way to command the power of heaven and earth for your use. It makes them flow against nature and converge according to your will.

He couldn't use the complete Five Emperors Seal at all; his magical power, divine sense, and control were far inferior.

But there are countless geniuses in the sect, and miracles are never lacking.

He can't use the complete Five Emperors Seal, but he can use half of it.

This forbidden technique has five major seals: Activation Seal, Regulation, Suppression Seal, Condensation Formation, and Final Strike.

To put it simply, there are actually only two stages.

The first stage, activation, mobilization, and sealing, involves using magical seals to gather spiritual power and form a force field to imprison the opponent.

The second stage, "Condensation and Final Strike," involves fully forming the Five Emperor Seals for attack.

In recent years, he has honed his swordsmanship and made significant progress in controlling his own will.

He has already managed to barely control the heavenly state of "Ten no Lin Zhao".

Even without the subsequent techniques of the Taihe Yangyuan Gong, he was confident that he could gradually master his innate supernatural abilities.

In the state of harmony between heaven and man, he was already able to use the Five Emperor Seals in the first stage.

As long as he can restrain his opponent, he is confident that he can kill him.

Enter the cloud tower and get randomly matched.

The opponents Lin Zhao was matched with in the previous matches were either too strong or had a counter-strategy, so Lin Zhao didn't even have a chance to use forbidden techniques before being sent out.

It wasn't until half a month later.

This time, the opponent was a cultivator skilled in manipulating multiple magical artifacts, capable of controlling ten artifacts simultaneously, launching a relentless offensive, but with relatively weak defense.

Lin Zhao knew the opportunity had arrived. "Trinity, activate!"

He held back. The four precious pearls soared into the sky, transforming into the phantom images of the Four Elements Dragons, which hovered in the air. Their main task was not to attack, but to absorb spiritual energy to continuously support Lin Zhao and the Four Elements Sword Dragons below.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, the Four Elements Pearls were too fragile and couldn't keep up with the level, so Lin Zhao didn't have any extra points to upgrade his magic weapon.

But it's alright as a support and controller.

Unfortunately, the opponent was composed of clouds and mist, rendering soul attacks ineffective. The Soul-Suppressing Bell and the Illusion-Breaking Sword Eye had no effect.

The sect is certainly aware of this issue, but there are no special arrangements made.

With 70% of his magic power injected, the silver-white Four Elements Sword Dragon roared and took shape, reaching a length of twenty zhang. Its scales were distinct, resembling a silver-white divine weapon. It clashed fiercely with the opponent's countless magical artifacts, and the sound of metal clashing resounded throughout the space.

Lin Zhao himself donned Azure Lotus Sword Wings, wielding a second-tier Azure Lotus Sword. His figure moved like a ghost, with wielding sword energy imbued with sword intent crisscrossing the area.

At the same time, the Sword Eye of Illusion is constantly searching for the opponent's weaknesses, occasionally shooting out a Needle of Illusion.

The Nether Needle is specifically designed to counter protective auras and magical artifacts. Three needles can destroy three of an opponent's magical artifacts, significantly reducing the opponent's attack power.

The Four Elements Dragon released the Five Elements Convergence Rope in an attempt to disrupt the balance of the Five Elements, but unfortunately the Four Elements Pearl was not of the Five Elements attribute, so the effect was diminished.

The battle was incredibly fierce. The sword dragon dissipated after destroying four of the opponent's magical artifacts;

Yinglong was also targeted by the remaining three magical artifacts, and his body dimmed and was about to disappear.

The opponent was also in a difficult situation, his aura had weakened considerably, and he only had three magical artifacts left.