Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

However, just as his attention was drawn to the fierce onslaught of the demonic souls, the Four Elements Sword Formation was rapidly unfolding!

Liu Xingyuan was, after all, a veteran Foundation Establishment cultivator with over a hundred years of combat experience, possessing numerous methods and extremely sharp spiritual sense.

Just as the Four Elements Array Diagram was about to be completed, his heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran up from his tailbone!

"Wait a minute! There's another plan!"

His gaze was like lightning, instantly locking onto a point below where the spiritual energy was fluctuating abnormally.

A fierce glint flashed in Liu Xingyuan's eyes, and without the slightest hesitation, he made an extremely decisive decision.

His mind raced, and the crimson flying sword that was battling the demonic soul became extremely unstable, emitting a humming sound from within, unable to bear the strain!

"burst!"

With a low shout.

Boom! Boom!

A deafening roar erupted! Crimson spiritual energy, like a sun bursting forth from the black mist, instantly wiped out a large portion of the demonic souls with its terrifying power.

Even the thick cloud of souls was torn open, leaving huge holes!

The impact of this self-destructing artifact not only temporarily eliminated the threat, but more importantly, Liu Xingyuan sensed that the Four Elements Formation was about to unfold and cover him.

Liu Xingyuan was terrified and once again self-destructed the black meteor hammer. The violent black spiritual energy shockwave directly interfered with the Four Elements Array Diagram, forcibly interrupting its unfolding!

Lin Zhao frowned, somewhat caught off guard. To ensure he couldn't escape, Lin Zhao hadn't set up the Four Elements Formation beforehand. He hadn't expected the man to react so quickly.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Liu Xingyuan didn't even bother to check the result of the self-destructing artifact. Without hesitation, he patted his storage bag, and several more streaks of light flew out:

A crimson longsword and a tortoise-shell-shaped shield, along with a shuttle-shaped flying boat, he flashed into them and landed inside. The flying boat shone brightly and was about to break through the air and escape!

Only now did a genuine look of surprise flash across Lin Zhao's eyes.

Five second-tier magic artifacts? According to the family intelligence, Liu Xingyuan only used three magic artifacts in the last battle! These two extra ones...

It was clearly a carefully prepared backup plan to deal with the magical artifacts of clan leader Lin Shanhe.

The Liu family truly lives up to its reputation as a family with second-tier weapon refiners, possessing a vast array of magical artifacts.

Unfortunately, most of them were ordinary second-tier magic weapons, and today he was facing Lin Zhao.

"Quick reaction, ruthless decision-making, and thorough preparation... truly a seasoned veteran." Lin Zhao instantly understood.

The opponent's self-destructing magic weapon to break the stalemate, disrupt the formation, and escape to a distant place—a series of actions executed with fluid grace, showcasing the Foundation Establishment cultivator's rich experience and survival instincts to the fullest extent.

Liu Xingyuan pushed the flying boat with all his might, transforming it into a hazy streak of light as it sped away at an astonishing speed.

Lin Zhao's eyes turned cold. With a thought, the sword wings formed from the green lotus leaves behind him shone brightly with green light. The sword wings suddenly spread out and transformed into a streak of green light that tore through the sky.

However, the airship was clearly also a life-saving tool, and its speed was somewhat beyond his expectations, making it difficult to close the distance in a short time.

"It's slippery," Lin Zhao thought to himself, and stopped competing in speed.

His figure paused slightly in the air, and five-colored spiritual light suddenly shone, forming a vortex of spiritual energy that resonated faintly with the earth.

Five Elements Shifting Technique

The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot, and Lin Zhao's figure suddenly appeared about ten miles in front of Liu Xingyuan.

The Azure Lotus Sword was already in hand, its blade adorned with flowing lotus patterns, and a surge of powerful spiritual energy and chilling sword intent rapidly poured in and compressed.

Liu Xingyuan was pushing the flying boat to its limits when he suddenly saw a person appear out of thin air in front of him. When he saw that it was Lin Zhao, he was even more horrified—what kind of escape technique was this?!

He didn't have time to think, because Lin Zhao had already swung the Azure Lotus Sword, which was imbued with sword intent.

A crescent-shaped azure sword aura shot out from the sword! The sword aura was so condensed that it was almost tangible, with silver light flowing along its edges, capable of cutting through anything.

Wherever it passed, the air emitted a shrill whistle as if cloth were being torn apart, and even left a brief vacuum trail behind it!

The power of this attack is already at the peak of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment!

Liu Xingyuan was terrified. At the critical moment of life and death, he roared and the tortoise-shell-shaped shield swelled in the wind, blocking his way.

"laugh--!"

The moment the crescent-shaped cyan sword energy made contact with the shield, a sickeningly sharp cutting sound rang out! That second-tier defensive magic artifact...

It was sliced ​​in two by the sword energy as easily as a hot knife through butter! The spiritual light vanished instantly, and fragments flew everywhere!

The sword energy weakened slightly, then slammed into Liu Xingyuan's protective aura.

"Pfft!" Liu Xingyuan was struck as if by a heavy hammer, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He and the flying boat were smashed down from the sky and crashed into the forest below, carving a deep ravine.

Before the dust had settled, Liu Xingyuan had already rushed out in a disheveled state, his face deathly pale.

He looked up at the blue figure in the air, and fear finally appeared in his eyes. He cried out in a hoarse voice, "Senior, spare my life! I, Liu, am willing to offer everything..."

Lin Zhao completely ignored it.

To be merciful to the enemy is to be cruel to oneself.

With a gentle flap of his sword wings, seventy-two lotus petals detached from his back and floated in the air.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Zhao's mind stirred slightly, and an invisible sword intent spread out, enveloping every lotus leaf.

"Buzz—!"

Each leaf emitted a sword-like cry, and the spiritual light flowing across its surface rapidly transformed and changed.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into seventy-two "Azure Lotus Small Swords," each about three feet long and translucent like jade!

Seventy-two small swords, their sword energy intertwined, spread out an invisible sword intent, subtly enveloping and sealing off the space within a mile radius below.

Each small sword exudes a pressure comparable to a Qi Refining Stage 10 cultivator, while ten swords are comparable to a Foundation Establishment Stage 1 cultivator! Seventy-two swords are equivalent to seven Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators attacking from the same direction.

This is not a sword technique, but a sword skill that Lin Zhao naturally came to understand after comprehending the sword intent—the differentiation of sword light.

Legend has it that the realms of swordsmanship include techniques such as sword energy turning into silk, sword energy thundering, sword light splitting, and even a sword domain in a single thought, all of which require sword intent as a foundation.

The reason he didn't exchange for those powerful sword techniques in the sect was definitely not because he didn't have enough contribution points.

Lin Zhao's understanding of sword intent is still limited, and he has only just begun to grasp these realms, but it is more than enough to deal with Liu Xingyuan.

"go."

Lin Zhao pointed with her fingers.

Seventy-two small green lotus swords emitted a synchronized, piercing whistle as they shot towards Liu Xingyuan from all directions! The sword light was like a net, impossible to dodge!

Liu Xingyuan's eyes were bloodshot, and he could only frantically swing a crimson longsword in his hand, while taking out his last magical artifact, a small silver shield.

He seemed to be caught in the eye of a storm of swords, struggling to defend himself. His small silver shield could not withstand all the attacks, his protective aura kept exploding, new wounds kept appearing on his body, and his magical power was pouring out like a burst dam.

He didn't have time to discern the true nature and weaknesses of these small swords.

Even more unexpectedly, the core of these sharp sword lights was still those lotus leaves, which were most afraid of colliding head-on with a real second-tier magic weapon.

He was overwhelmed by Lin Zhao's endless methods and had long since lost his composure.

His eyes were filled with a mixture of ruthlessness and despair. Finally, he bit his tongue hard, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the crimson longsword.

The longsword vibrated and hummed violently, unleashing a blinding crimson blade light.

"Blood Flames Burn the Sky! Open the gates!"