Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Even some Qi Refining disciples joined in, piloting second-tier spirit boats and unleashing a barrage of spiritual energy attacks on the figure struggling in the dust.

Desire, excitement, madness, despair... all sorts of emotions were ignited and unleashed by this massacre during the sect's ten-year demise.

Some had bloodshot eyes, exhausting their magical power just to unleash one more attack.

Some looked at their fallen companions, a bewildered sense of shared sorrow flashing in their eyes.

Many more people are determined to dedicate all their efforts to the goal that represents "Core Formation" and "merit".

The training system of the Yunhai Cangming Sect is ultimately a cold, rigid selection process.

From this day forward, some will use this merit to exchange for sect resources, and their path to enlightenment will be bright.

Some may stop here, or even die and perish, never to be able to enter a true sect again.

When your path to immortality is cut off, the sect will also be ruthless.

At the battlefield, Qin Tianjun, Lin Zhao, Fang Yue, Yan Chiheng, and dozens of other prodigies who had passed through the fourth level of the Cloud Tower watched the chaotic battle from the sidelines.

Their performance on the fourth level of the Cloud Tower, coupled with their previous feat of tearing apart the Golden Core Domain together, is enough to prove their potential and value to the sect.

Rushing in to compete with the crowd at this moment, or even using your trump card, would be pointless.

Those who are frantically using Core Formation techniques are mostly cultivators who are just one step away from the top and desperately need this "final performance" to fight for a better future.

This is the stage where they're going all in.

Qin Tianjun watched all of this quietly, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Born into a family of Nascent Soul cultivators, he understood better than anyone else present what the Cloud Sea Cangming Sect truly meant.

It is not only the Zhen Shi Sheng Zong, but also the undisputed hegemonic force in the Cang Yuan cultivation world!

What defines a hegemon? It is far more than simply occupying a few territories or possessing a Nascent Soul Celestial Lord.

This means a terrifying influence and control over the spiritual veins of a continent!

The Yunhai Cangming Sect indirectly controls at least 50% of the spiritual energy flow and convergence capabilities within the Yunzhou spiritual vein network, which spans over a million miles.

If a sect does not want too many cultivators to emerge in a certain area, it has its own methods to make the spiritual veins of that area gradually "sleep" and wither over thousands of years.

Of the 138 domains of Yunzhou, there are three areas where the spiritual veins have been locked by an invisible force, turning them into barren lands where cultivators cannot be born.

This is a manifestation of the will of the hegemonic power.

Even if other sects have Nascent Soul True Monarchs presiding over them, their mountain gates and thousands of miles of spiritual veins may be able to barely protect themselves, but the cultivation environment for their descendants is already invisibly limited, making it even more difficult for new Nascent Souls to be born.

Once the Nascent Soul cultivator passes away, they will be unable to resist the power of the sect, and the lineage may very well be severed.

This is assuming the sect doesn't intervene on its own.

How did the desolate regions come about? To some extent, they were created by sects using certain methods to channel the spiritual energy from those peripheral, unstable, and difficult-to-control areas.

Slowly "adjusted" to the core of the 138 domains! What was left for the desolate area were scraps and leftovers.

Some extreme hegemonic forces even control the regulation of all the spiritual veins in a continent!

For example, the "Heavenly Law Divine Sect" in Zhongzhou controls nine layers of spiritual veins across the entire continent. The remaining layer is transformed into eight hundred secret realms, where various demonic beasts and monsters are cultivated as training subjects.

There is also the "Star Ruins Sect" of Star Abyss Continent, with an equally ancient lineage. However, a severe upheaval occurred 30,000 years ago, severely damaging its spiritual veins. They then used all their sect's resources to drain the spiritual energy of Star Abyss Continent, leaving only 100,000 li of sect territory. This area is filled with countless arrays and restrictions, creating a forbidden zone. Outsider cultivators cannot enter. There are no independent cultivators there.

The Yunhai Cangming Sect is not incapable of doing so; it's just that its patriarchs have entrusted them with upholding the meaning of "Cangming"—broad, inclusive, and unfathomable—and are willing to leave a sliver of opportunity and freedom for the cultivators of Yunzhou.

"Cangming Immortal City..." he murmured to himself.

Outsiders only know that Cloud Sea Immortal City is the core of the sect, but they don't know that the "Cangming" that corresponds to Cloud Sea is the true foundation of the sect.

Even so, for a direct descendant of a Nascent Soul family like him, what he saw was merely the tip of the iceberg of the sect.

"Snap—!"

A clear, crisp sound pulled Qin Tianjun back to reality.

After enduring six attacks from the Core Formation stage, the incredibly tough third-tier Crimson Feather Robe of True Immortal Crimson Fire finally lost all its spiritual light, turning into countless burning crimson fragments that fluttered down and turned to ashes before even hitting the ground.

With his last protective barrier gone, Crimson Flame Master's figure was exposed to a barrage of attacks.

Qin Tianjun took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his mind, and his clear voice resounded throughout the heart of the battlefield: "Fellow disciples, let's join forces and send this Crimson Fire True Man... on his final journey."

Countless beams of light of various colors converged into a deadly torrent, cutting through the gaps in the chaotic attacks and precisely engulfing the staggering figure.

Master Chi Huo let out a short, sharp cry filled with extreme resentment, which then abruptly stopped.

His last two magical treasures: his natal magic treasure, the Glazed Jade Lamp, lost their radiance as his soul and spirit perished, and countless cracks appeared on the lamp body before it finally turned into fragments.

The Seven-Feathered Fire Fan, a magical artifact used in attack, fell to the ground, its spiritual light dimmed. The seven-colored feathers on its surface lost their luster, yet remained intact.

It will be taken back to the sect as evidence of this "killing a Core Formation cultivator beyond one's level" and added to the evaluation of the participating cultivators.

The ten-year period for the sect has ended, and the future path of cultivation has been determined at this moment.

As the smoke and spiritual light gradually dissipated, the scarred Crimson Fire Valley was revealed.

The once relatively orderly valley is now scarred and horribly devastated. Large swathes of rock, melted by intense heat and then cooled, have formed a glassy surface with a dark red sheen.

Huge, charred craters are visible everywhere.

Most deadly is the ubiquitous, chaotic, and violent residual energy.

Different elemental forces intertwined, forming a perilous place that was extremely unfriendly to cultivators.

Those who practice Qi cultivation must constantly maintain a protective aura to barely resist the pervasive erosion and oppression.

As for ordinary people... they would die in such an environment in no time.

"Mortals..." Lin Zhao's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the Four Elements Formation and the group of terrified faces.

He darted away, heading towards the location he remembered.

He quickly stopped.

The dilapidated stone houses that used to lean against the mountain wall, along with the array he had set up, have long since disappeared without a trace.

Instead, there was a small ruin. Within the ruin, there was no trace of life.

Lin Zhao stood quietly for a while.

A faint glimmer of hope shone in the woman's eyes as she handed over the map.

The promise, "Once this matter is settled, someone will arrange for you to return home," still seems to echo in my ears.

now.

He silently raised his hand and began to circulate his spiritual energy.

The ground trembled slightly, slowly smoothing out the ruins and forming an inconspicuous little mound.

There was no monument erected, nor were there any names recorded.

In this valley that has buried nearly 100,000 mortals, it is truly insignificant.

The world of cultivation is inherently cruel.

Faced with the powerful divine abilities of a Core Formation cultivator and the attacks of two thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators, his seventeenth ranking in the Cloud Tower seemed utterly pale and powerless.

A chill ran through me.

Perhaps one day, he himself will be like these ordinary people.

They fell silently and without a trace in some unknown wilderness, their bodies never even recovered.

The path of cultivation is inherently a struggle against fate, fraught with peril at every turn.