Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

"Now!"

With a thought, Lin Zhao forcefully exploded the remaining Yinglong and Jianlong! Amidst the deafening roar, chaotic and violent spiritual energy erupted.

It instantly engulfed the surrounding area, distorted the light, and caused spiritual energy to run rampant, forming a brief, small "chaotic land".

The opponent's movements inevitably became sluggish.

Lin Zhao had been waiting for this moment!

His gaze suddenly became empty and distant, and he uttered a low shout: "Unity of Heaven and Man!"

Deep within his consciousness, the phantom of "Lin Zhao of the Heavens" overlapped with his own.

That almost divine rationality and sense of control filled my entire body, and my "self-awareness" began to disappear rapidly.

However, Lin Zhao relied on her sword intent to lock onto her will, and was temporarily unaffected.

Lin Zhao's left hand forms a mudra, with his thumb and middle finger touching, the other fingers naturally extended, and he presses lightly against his chest—this is the opening of the "Five Emperors Seal".

As he raised his hands, his ten fingers began to form the second hand seal with a speed beyond the limit and with profound Daoist charm.

His internal magical power and divine sense surged forth like a burst dam. The surrounding chaotic, rampaging five-colored spiritual energy, as if receiving a supreme command, abruptly paused, then, like rivers flowing into the sea, defying the laws of nature, frantically converged towards Lin Zhao.

Ultimately, it forms a huge, rotating, multicolored vortex.

Then came the third seal.

The instant the vortex formed, an invisible "force field" suddenly spread out! The opponent's connection to the surrounding spiritual energy was forcibly severed.

The three magical artifacts suddenly lost their luster and became difficult to operate.

It was as if he had been knocked down from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Qi Refining stage, where he could only rely on his own magical power!

It's now!

Lin Zhao's mind raced like lightning. The green lotus leaf behind him transformed into sword wings that suddenly shone brightly. Then, it disintegrated and turned into countless sword energies, which flowed like rivers into the sea and all disappeared into the green lotus sword!

The sword trembled violently, and at the same time, his sword intent was fully amplified on the sword.

This is not over yet!

Within his dantian, a blue energy appeared on the blue lotus foundation—the innate spell, the power of the blue lotus!

This wisp of energy surged rapidly up the arm and coiled around the sword.

With the dual blessing of sword intent and the power of the Azure Lotus, the Azure Lotus Sword's aura surged once again!

Sizzle—!

A terrifying crescent-shaped azure sword energy shot out from the sword!

Each of these strikes nearly reached the threshold of the late Foundation Establishment stage.

The cyan sword energy detached from the body with the force to sever everything, tearing through the air and rushing forward!

The opponent wanted to act, but was restrained by the force field of the Five Emperors Seal and could only watch helplessly as the sword energy cut towards them.

The sword energy instantly swept past the remaining three magical artifacts.

At the same time, they arrived in front of their opponent with almost no losses.

Time seemed to stretch out at that moment.

A straight, fine thread emerged from between his eyebrows.

The next moment, the opponent's entire body was neatly split in two along this thin line.

"Fourth floor, passed. 50,000 points."

A cold, impersonal notification sound rang out.

Lin Zhao's legs went weak, and he almost knelt on the ground. The state of oneness with heaven and man receded like a tide, and an intense feeling of weakness overwhelmed him.

He grinned, looking at the rapidly increasing points on his token and the name that appeared on the screen—the seventeenth: Lin Zhao.

It was done. He dragged his almost broken body and was teleported out of the tower.

The news that Lin Zhao had successfully passed the fourth level was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples.

Originally, almost everyone's attention was focused on the third floor, but the sudden appearance of Lin Zhao's name as the seventeenth on the fourth floor surprised countless people.

"Lin Zhao? Who's that?"

"Never been in the top 100 before, how come suddenly..."

"The fourth level! That's an insurmountable barrier for Foundation Establishment cultivators!?"

A buzz of discussion filled the air, with astonished and envious glances mingling across the room.

The name Lin Zhao was instantly known to most of the disciples.

Having just been teleported out, the exhausted Lin Zhao had no interest in the outside world's noise.

He forced himself to leave Yunhai Immortal City and return to his villa.

He let out a long breath the moment he closed the door to the quiet room.

He sat down cross-legged, swallowing pills to regulate his breathing while reviewing the decisive battle he had just fought.

"It was a stroke of luck... but it wasn't entirely due to chance."

He had already simulated and rehearsed that battle countless times.

The seemingly desperate act of forcing the Four-Element Sword Dragon and Yinglong to self-destruct was not a random act. It was a deliberate pre-arrangement of a chaotic energy field.

Although the opponent conjured by the cloud tower possessed extremely high combat intelligence and could counter his movements and techniques, it was still vulnerable to the chaotic spiritual energy released afterward.

But there was little reaction. This gave him an opportunity.

When he finally forced himself into the state of "unity of heaven and man" and activated the Five Emperors Seal, the "energy field" that had been set up in advance had just completed the preliminary preparations for the forbidden technique.

Once the opponent was bound by the force field formed by the third vortex of the Dharma Seal, it was too late to dispel the chaotic spiritual energy around them.

"I managed to find a loophole," Lin Zhao chuckled self-deprecatingly, "taking advantage of the fact that this opponent lacked true wisdom. Against a real cultivator, there would be no such opportunity."

He had barely finished meditating for an hour when a series of impolite knocks came from outside the meditation room, accompanied by Xu Chuan's signature shouts: "Lin Zhao! Open the door! I know you're back! Hurry up!"

Left with no other option, Lin Zhao had to remove the restriction.

As soon as the door opened, Xu Chuan rushed in, followed by Yan Chiheng, who looked ready to fight, and Fang Yue, who looked calm but had bright eyes.

"Wow, Lin Zhao! You've been quiet all along, but now you've made a name for yourself! Fourth floor! Seventeenth place! You're going to be famous now!" Xu Chuan patted his shoulder excitedly, even happier than if he had cleared the level himself.

Yan Chiheng was much more direct, arms crossed, lightning flashing in his eyes: "Let's fight."

Fang Yue didn't say anything, but silently took a step forward, his meaning couldn't be clearer.

Lin Zhao quickly raised his hands to beg for mercy: "No, no, no! Brothers, I was just lucky, really! I was matched with an opponent whose technique is countered by mine, and I only managed to win by using a semi-forbidden technique. I'm almost falling apart now."

"Your ability to find a countermeasure and seize the opportunity to use it is your skill," Fang Yue finally spoke, his voice calm yet resolute. "Even if an ordinary cultivator were to stumble upon a weakness by sheer luck, they wouldn't be able to exploit it. Your ability to use the power of forbidden techniques... that's your strength."

As for how Lin Zhao was able to use forbidden techniques in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, the three of them tacitly refrained from asking further.

Within a sect, who doesn't have some secrets and trump cards?

There is this kind of tacit understanding between friends.

After making a fuss for most of the day, Lin Zhao couldn't resist and had no choice but to use his newly acquired "huge sum" of points to treat everyone to some of the sect's unique spiritual wines and delicacies.

Xu Chuan chuckled as he nodded furiously, "I've finally got my chance today! Robbing a big spender like this, no qualms whatsoever!"

Lin Zhao smiled as she looked at their excited expressions.

After the banquet, Yan Chiheng and Fang Yue's fighting spirit was even stronger. They were clearly spurred on by Lin Zhao and were preparing to go back and continue to fight to the death on the fourth level.

Xu Chuan was also eager to try his luck, planning to take advantage of some of Lin Zhao's "loophole exploitation" tips.

After seeing her friends off, Lin Zhao was finally able to have some peace and quiet.