Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao's divine sense stirred slightly, sweeping over the talismans on her stall, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

The majority are mid-grade talismans, but a few have a restrained spiritual light, clearly indicating that they have already reached the threshold of high-grade.

This girl has quite a talent for talismanic arts, she's just hiding it.

At this moment, she calmly handed a small bag of spirit stones to the patrol steward and received the "talisman" stamped by the steward.

Once the group had gone far away, she let out a barely audible sigh and lowered her head to tidy up her stall.

Business is getting harder and harder.

Ever since the rise of the Lin family and their confrontation with the Liu family, the market has never been peaceful.

The two alliances used the pretext of fighting to amass wealth, making life increasingly difficult for lower-level cultivators.

She was alright, as she was affiliated with the "Po Jun Demon Hunting Team" and was responsible for providing talisman supplies to one of the reserve teams. With this connection, the patrolling personnel wouldn't go too far.

However, in recent years, quite a few other talisman masters and weapon-refining apprentices who have no one to rely on have been driven to desperation.

She didn't want to reveal that she could draw high-grade talismans.

Although Po Jun is also a member of the alliance, Captain Li Hao is only a reserve captain in Po Jun and has very limited say.

The less trouble, the better.

Just then, a gentle voice rang in her mind: "An old friend is here. Would you mind moving to a private room on the third floor of the Tea House for a chat?"

Ye Xiaoxiao's body stiffened abruptly, and the talisman she was arranging in her hand almost slipped from her grasp.

Transmitting a sound! And it penetrated into the sea of ​​consciousness so clearly and directly... This level of spiritual power is definitely that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Her heart trembled violently. Without the slightest hesitation, she hurriedly put away the talismans on the stall. At the same time, she secretly made a pre-arranged gesture to the familiar stall owner next to her—a gesture to inform him to immediately go and report to Captain Li Hao.

After doing all this, she forced herself to calm down and walked towards the Tea House.

In the marketplace, Foundation Establishment cultivators are like gods.

Previously, with Qingmingfangzhu in charge, everyone still followed some rules.

However, in recent years, rumors have been circulating that the sect leader is about to celebrate his two hundredth birthday, while the lifespan of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is only four cycles of sixty years, or two hundred and forty years.

Foundation Establishment cultivators will enter their period of decline in two hundred years, and they should not act rashly, otherwise they may shorten their lifespan.

This means that the change of leaders in the workshop may happen within the next few decades.

What's even more exciting is that the owner hasn't made a public appearance in a long time.

Once the rumors started, the actions of several Foundation Establishment cultivators in the market became noticeably bolder, making the lower-level Qi Refining cultivators realize how terrifying Foundation Establishment cultivators were.

"Foundation Establishment cultivators, terrifying indeed."

Pushing open the door to the private room, the first thing Ye Xiaoxiao saw was a handsome face dressed in blue by the window.

She paused for a moment, feeling that the face looked somewhat familiar. After staring at it for a while, her eyes suddenly widened as memories flooded back.

"Master... Senior Lin?" Her voice was a little dry, and she almost dared not recognize him.

The person before her bore a faint resemblance to the young man who had taught her about talismans years ago, but the vast aura that made one instinctively want to bow down was now completely different.

"Please sit down, don't be nervous." Lin Zhao smiled and pointed to the seat opposite him. "It's just that we haven't seen each other for many years, so I thought I'd ask about the current situation in the market."

Seeing that the older sister was nervous, Lin You cleverly ran over, took Ye Xiaoxiao's hand, led her to the table and sat her down, and pushed some snacks in front of her.

Ye Xiaoxiao relaxed a little and, under Lin Zhao's questioning, recounted everything she knew.

How the two alliances squeezed the living space of cultivators, how they formulated strict rules, and how many storms they stirred up over the years in order to compete for interests.

When she spoke of the nearly one thousand monks who had died or been injured directly or indirectly as a result of these conflicts, her voice took on a somber tone.

Lin Zhao listened quietly, her face expressionless, but her finger unconsciously tapped the table once.

There are only about five or six thousand permanent cultivators in Qingfeng Market. When you add the disciples of various families and cultivators who are active outside, the total number is only about ten thousand.

Thousands dead and injured...

Although the chaos caused by Liu Yifeng back then resulted in over a thousand deaths and injuries, most of them were opportunistic looters, and the number of registered cultivators in the market who were actually killed or injured was not particularly high.

But most of these thousands of people are ordinary cultivators who originally made a living in the market, and are victims of the infighting between the two major alliances.

The Lin and Liu families are courting death. By monopolizing the cultivation inheritance, they are essentially standing against tens of thousands of cultivators in the market. Cultivation is not just about power, but also about lifespan.

Throughout history, countless emperors and generals have done absurd things in their quest for immortality.

Lin Zhao lowered her eyes slightly.

But Lin You, who was sitting next to him, suddenly felt a chill and unconsciously moved closer to her uncle.

She seemed to see a thin layer of frost briefly condense on the surface of the tea in her uncle's cup, only to vanish without a trace in the next instant.

The light in the private room seemed to dim for a fleeting moment.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from downstairs at the Tea House, accompanied by the somewhat flustered attempts of the waiter to dissuade him. The person headed straight for the third floor, with a clear objective.

Lin Zhao's divine sense had already detected the newcomer, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

I thought to myself, what a coincidence, another old friend.

It was Li Hao who arrived. He was a teammate of Ye Xiaoxiao and her childhood friends in the Po Jun Demon Hunting Team.

Upon receiving Ye Xiaoxiao's urgent distress signal, Li Hao immediately led several team members to the scene.

As she walked, she quickly calculated, hoping that the other party would not make things too difficult for Xiaoxiao out of consideration for the Po Jun Demon Hunting Team...

But he himself felt uneasy.

His current cultivation level of the eighth level of Qi Refining is considered quite good among Qi Refining cultivators, but it is no match for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

If Captain Gao Yuan were still in the market, that would be great. He is now at the tenth level of Qi Refining and is highly regarded by Shen Qianshan, a newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivator. His words would carry more weight.

Unfortunately, Gao Yuan followed Shen Qianshan to the more prosperous Jinsha Market, leaving his former team behind.

"No matter what, we have to give it a try."

Li Hao gritted his teeth and led his men to the door of the private room.

He took a deep breath, respectfully clasped his hands in a salute, and spoke in a steady voice: "Li Hao of the Po Jun Demon Hunting Team pays respects to the Venerable One."

I am unaware of how my junior companion has offended me. I humbly request that the Venerable One, considering his youth and ignorance, allow me to apologize on his behalf. I earnestly hope for your forgiveness.

Inside the door, Lin Zhao chuckled to himself as he listened.

This guy definitely wouldn't have said that back then. After all these years, he's learned it all.

By presenting "Po Jun" and "apology," they left Lin Zhao with ample room to maneuver.

He deliberately lowered his voice, making it sound authoritative: "Come in."

Li Hao felt a chill run down his spine, gave his teammates a wink, and pushed open the door.

Inside the private room, Li Hao bowed his head respectfully upon entering, his gaze fixed solely on the ground in front of him.

He felt a deep, abyss-like aura enveloping the room, causing him to unconsciously slow his breathing.

Just then, a somewhat familiar voice, tinged with obvious laughter, rang out:

"What did I say back then? If you don't curry favor with me now, the future Foundation Establishment cultivator, you'll miss your chance! See, isn't that a perfect example now?"