Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao thanked Senior Brother Wu Mingxuan and then used the sect token to inform Senior Brother Chu, who was guarding the area, of his whereabouts.

Without further delay, they boarded the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat and left Tianyun Market.

In less than a day, the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat had already arrived near Guiyunfang Market.

The devastation caused by the beast tides of yesteryear is long gone, and the market has been restored to its former glory.

Lie Xiong Lake is located northeast of Fangshi.

Lin Zhao arrived at Liexiong Lake, put away the flying boat, and stood in mid-air, looking down.

The crater that was once dozens of feet deep and over a mile in diameter has been filled with a clear lake.

Most noticeably, the entire lake surface and the surrounding area within a mile were shrouded in a layer of pale blue, semi-transparent spiritual light. Runes faintly flowed across the light barrier—a first-tier, high-grade, near-perfect protective formation.

This formation cannot withstand the strong attacks of Foundation Establishment cultivators, but it can resist the interference of Qi Refining cultivators. For a spirit fish farm, it is already a pretty good configuration.

Lin Zhao could sense a faint earthy smell in the lake water, which was the blood aura left behind after the death of the second-tier late-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast, the Earth-Splitting Wild Bear.

It was this blood energy, mixed with the earth's spiritual energy, that nurtured the various spirit fish separated by wooden fences.

The fish scales occasionally refracted various colors of light underwater, indicating that the fish was of very good quality.

"If it weren't for being registered under Senior Brother Mingxuan's name, the Lin family alone might not have been able to hold onto this business securely." Lin Zhao understood this perfectly. After all, this was near Guiyun Market, and the Lin family's influence was concentrated in Qingfeng Market, so they couldn't reach here.

He moved with a swift movement, as if merging into a gentle breeze. The array's light barrier rippled slightly before he passed through it without triggering any alarms.

On the lakeside, a little girl who looked about seven or eight years old, with a lively ponytail and wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt, was kicking her feet in the shallow water, teasing a few bold, inch-long silver pufferfish with a reed in her hand.

She suddenly realized something, looked up sharply, and saw Lin Zhao, who had appeared on the shore at some unknown time.

The little girl's eyes widened instantly, her face tensing with wariness: "You...who are you? How did you get in? The Lin family has never seen you before!"

As she spoke, her small hand, which was behind her back, quickly pulled out a specially made earth-yellow talisman from a small pouch at her waist and crushed it without hesitation.

With a very slight "poof" sound, the talisman transformed into a small ball of invisible spiritual energy, instantly merging into the ground beneath its feet.

At the same time, the color of the light curtain covering the lake deepened almost imperceptibly, the flow of spiritual energy in the array accelerated significantly, and a subtle aura enveloped the area where Lin Zhao was located.

Lin Zhao did not move, and even showed a gentle smile on his face.

Under his powerful divine sense, the auras of his parents and elder brother Lin Tai in the wooden houses by the lake were clearly discernible, stable and peaceful, without any signs of being restrained or weakened.

The girl in front of him was full of energy and had good physical constitution. Her aura was faintly connected to that of his elder brother, Li Tai. She was obviously his elder brother's daughter and his niece.

Her quick and decisive reaction far surpassed that of ordinary children, indicating that the Lin family takes the education of their younger generation and the safety of this property very seriously.

Lin Zhao squatted down, her tone softening further: "My surname is Lin, and I've returned from a very far place. Is your father named Lin Tai?"

The little girl blinked her big eyes and gripped the reed stalk tightly in her hand.

She didn't answer immediately, tilting her head slightly.

She decided to stall for time and wait for her father and grandfather to arrive.

"I...I don't know. You have to wait for Grandfather and Father to come." She said, taking a half-step back quietly.

Lin Zhao smiled, said nothing more, and glanced at the little girl before looking at the wooden houses.

He could already hear his elder brother's hurried footsteps and two familiar presences.

The father and mother walked in front, with the eldest brother, Lin Tai, following closely behind. When they saw the figure in blue, all three of them were stunned.

"Zhao'er...?" The mother's voice trembled with disbelief, and her eyes instantly reddened.

"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother." Lin Zhao turned around, a smile on his face, took a few steps forward, and hugged his parents. "I'm back."

The little girl, Lin You, peeked out from behind her father, her eyes darting around as she curiously observed the "uncle" who had suddenly appeared.

After they returned to the cabin and sat down, Lin Zhao asked about the situation over the years.

The parents exchanged a glance, and the mother said gently, "We've been here for eight or nine years now. It's quiet here, the lake's spiritual energy is nourishing, and life has been quite good. As for the family... we haven't been in touch much these past few years, so we're not entirely clear on the specifics."

Lin Zhao frowned slightly and looked at his elder brother, Lin Tai.

Lin Tai smiled憨厚ly, then pulled his daughter Lin You to his side and gently patted her head.

Lin You looked at his father, then at Lin Zhao, and thought: So he is the youngest son that his grandparents often talked about, the uncle that his father mentioned who went to the major sect in the south a long time ago, and the most powerful genius in the Lin family legend.

"Didn't the clan chief say anything?"

Lin Zhao's voice deepened, "Sending you away from your ancestral home to manage businesses here is tantamount to..."

He paused, not uttering the word "exile," but the atmosphere in the room suddenly froze, and even the flame of the oil lamp on the table flickered without any wind.

Seeing this, Lin Yuanshan, the father, quickly raised his hand and gestured, "Zhao'er, don't think nonsense. It was your grandfather's intention to bring us here."

The mother chimed in, "Yes, your grandfather arranged it himself. It's very nice here, really."

Seeing that there was no resentment on her parents' faces, Lin Zhao's anger slowly subsided, but her doubts deepened.

It seems that there has indeed been an unknown change within the family.

That night.

When Lin Zhao heard Xiao Linyou's even breathing from next door, he looked at his older brother Lin Tai and asked the question that had been bothering him.

Lin Tai's smile faded, and after a long silence, he said in a low voice, "You'er's mother... is from the Qin family."

"The Qin family?" Lin Zhao remembered this family.

After the clan leader reached the Foundation Establishment stage, in order to consolidate the clan's position, he formed an alliance with the Foundation Establishment Qin family and the "Broken Army Demon Hunting Team".

Marriage is one of the most common and solid ways to form alliances.

"Hmm." Lin Tai nodded, his gaze fixed on the dark lake outside the window, as if seeing the past. "Shortly after You'er was born, her mother wanted to go back to the Qin family to visit, and I accompanied her... We encountered Jie Xiu on the way."

His voice was hoarse. "She didn't make it. By then, the area around Qingfeng Market was already quite unsafe, with frequent appearances of calamity cultivators and many conflicts between different families."

"so,"

Lin Zhao understood. "Grandfather had you move here to avoid the troubles of Qingfeng Market."

"That's right." Lin Tai took a deep breath. "For the past ten years, Guiyun Market has been very peaceful. With Master Mingxuan's reputation keeping things in check, no one dares to mess with Liexiong Lake."

"The family's cultivation resources have never been cut off. My father has reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, my mother the seventh, and I... recently broke through to the sixth level." He said, trying to force a smile, but it didn't quite work.

Lin Zhao didn't ask any further questions, but simply patted his older brother on the shoulder.

For the next month, Lin Zhao stayed at Rift Bear Lake.

He took out two longevity pills that he had prepared beforehand.

The pills are about the size of longan fruits, with flowing, shimmering blue-green patterns on their surface, and a delicate fragrance that invigorates the spirit.