Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The emerald python was spewing poisonous mist with all its might to fight off the remaining flames, and by the time it realized the deadly attack, it was too late.

"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

Three soft sounds, almost inaudible.

The first needle struck its vital spot, and the power of the Void frantically eroded its spiritual energy, causing the snake's body to convulse violently.

The second needle pierced the skull, and the soul felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, causing consciousness to dissipate instantly.

The third needle was the most ruthless, precisely piercing the surface of the inner core—the dark green demon core trembled violently, and countless spiderweb-like cracks appeared on its surface.

"hiss--!!!"

The venomous python let out a shrill, twisting hiss, its body writhing and thrashing wildly in the air, sending rocks flying from the cliff face.

But it was too late. Its demon core shattered, and after struggling for only a few breaths, it fell from the sky like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the beast horde at the bottom of the valley and crushing a large number of low-level demon beasts.

One strike, and he was dead.

It wasn't until the Azure Python fell that the Black Wind Winged Tiger and the Rock Armored Giant Bear reacted.

Enraged, the two beasts almost simultaneously turned their attention to Lin Zhao and pounced! The winged tiger flapped its wings, unleashing dozens of black wind blades that blocked Lin Zhao from above, below, left, and right.

The giant bear opened its massive jaws, and a beam of earth-yellow light burst forth, causing the air to rumble and explode wherever it passed.

Countless surviving first-tier demonic beasts, driven by the pressure of the Foundation Establishment demonic beasts, launched a suicidal charge towards Lin Zhao's location.

Fireballs, ice spikes, venom, wind blades, bone spurs... hundreds of chaotic attacks rained down like a storm. Although the individual attacks were not very powerful, their sheer number was enough to overwhelm any Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Lin Zhao's expression remained unchanged.

The seemingly ancient Yin-Yang Ring in his hand trembled slightly.

The faint black and white light surged instantly! An invisible Yin-Yang force field rapidly expanded from its center.

All the incoming spells that touched the Yin-Yang force field had their trajectories pulled and deflected by an invisible force, grazing past Lin Zhao and accidentally injuring many of the charging demonic beasts.

Occasionally, a few stray fish would slip through the net and crash into the light gray "Return to Nothingness Shield" surrounding Lin Zhao. Ripples would spread across the surface of the shield, which would then absorb and neutralize the spiritual energy contained in the attack, leaving the vibrations barely noticeable.

Lin Zhao's right hand had already grasped the Azure Lotus Sword.

The sword rang out like a dragon's roar, and seventy-two lotus petals fell off the sword at the same time, transformed by Lin Zhao's sword intent into seventy-two small lotus swords.

Guided by Lin Zhao's divine sense, the small sword instantly formed a sword formation, simultaneously enveloping the Black Wind Winged Tiger and the Rock Armored Earth Dragon!

The sword energy crisscrossed, like a vast net stretching across the sky.

Each small sword carried a trace of Lin Zhao's sword intent. Although not as powerful as the Azure Lotus Sword, their combined strength was terrifying.

The winged tiger's wind blades were shredded by the sword energy, and the giant bear's earth magic was cut to pieces by the sword net.

The two beasts roared repeatedly, but were temporarily entangled by the dense sword formation and unable to break free.

Meanwhile, in Lin Zhao's left sleeve, an ancient seal, dark red in color and resembling stone but not quite, was quietly absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

The ancient seal of the Eight Desolations.

This seal, even without the Five Emperors Seal Forbidden Technique, is still a top-tier second-grade magic weapon.

While controlling the sword formation to engage in combat, Lin Zhao slowly poured spiritual power into the seal.

On the surface of the ancient seal, the runes of the magical artifacts lit up one by one, emanating a heavy and unsettling pressure.

The stalemate between the sword formation and the two beasts lasted for a full quarter of an hour.

The second-tier demonic beast's ten-zhang-long body was indeed incredibly resilient. The rock-armored giant bear withstood countless sword energies, its rock armor shattered and covered in blood, yet its ferocity remained undiminished.

The Black Wind Winged Tiger was even more agile, using its speed to weave through the sword net. Although it sustained countless small wounds, they healed immediately, and it was never seriously injured.

Finally, the rock-armored giant bear seized a break in the sword formation's operation, suddenly stood upright, and slammed its paws hard into the ground!

"Earth Vein Spikes!"

The ground churned like waves, and dozens of thick rock spikes burst forth from the earth, piercing straight into the core of the sword formation! More than ten small green lotus swords were knocked away by the rock spikes, creating a gap in the sword formation.

The rock-armored giant bear roared and burst out of the gap, carrying with it a cloud of rubble and dust, like a moving mountain, pressing down on Lin Zhao!

Lin Zhao had been waiting for this moment.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and his left hand, which had been hidden in his sleeve, suddenly shot out, palm up, holding the Eight Desolations Ancient Seal that had been fully charged.

"town!"

With a single word uttered, the ancient seal flew out of his hand, swelling in the air amidst the wind!

In the blink of an eye, a huge square seal, over five zhang in length, dark red in color, with runes on its surface that seemed to move like living creatures, crashed down on the charging rock-armored giant bear like a mountain hurled down by a god, carrying a terrifying force that could crush everything!

For the first time, fear appeared in the bear's eyes. It tried to hide, but the momentum was too strong, and there was no time to retreat.

"boom--!!!!!!"

The deafening roar echoed through the valley, causing rocks to tumble down from the cliffs on both sides.

The ancient seal slammed solidly onto the giant bear's head, and the thick rock armor, which was strong enough to withstand the slashing of flying swords, shattered like paper.

His skull collapsed, his brains splattered, and his enormous body, more than ten feet long, was smashed into the ground three feet deep by the force of this seal. All his bones and muscles were shattered, and he died on the spot without even being able to let out a scream.

The Eight Desolations Ancient Seal achieved its goal with a single strike, its spiritual light dimmed, and it flew back into Lin Zhao's hand.

Lin Zhao's face also turned slightly pale—this attack had consumed 20% of his spiritual power.

Now, only the last Black Wind Winged Tiger, comparable to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, remains.

Black Wind Winged Tiger witnessed the giant bear's tragic death, its eyes gleaming with even greater ferocity, yet also tinged with a hint of apprehension.

Instead of launching a rash attack, it flapped its wings to create distance and circled around the sword formation. Black gales condensed into a thick protective shield around it, clearly determined to delay and waste time.

Lin Zhao put away the Eight Desolate Ancient Seal—this magical artifact, though powerful, also consumed a tremendous amount of energy and should not be used again.

With a thought, the seventy-two small green lotus swords ceased maintaining their sword net and instead converged towards the center.

The twelve small swords merged into one, and in the blink of an eye, six "Azure Lotus Longswords," each ten feet long and gleaming with a cold blue light, took shape in mid-air.

In addition, there's the Azure Lotus Sword in Lin Zhao's hand, which serves as the core of her weapon—

Seven swords hovered in the air, their tips all pointing at the Black Wind Winged Tiger.

This is more effective against such large monsters.

The Black Wind Winged Tiger roared, its wings flapping wildly as it sped back and forth through the valley.

But the seven longswords followed him like shadows, sometimes flanking him and sometimes attacking him together, under the guidance of Lin Zhao's powerful divine sense, forcing the winged tiger into a sorry state.

The chase and struggle lasted for nearly half an hour.

The winged tiger had more than a dozen deep, bone-revealing sword wounds, its black wings were tattered, and its speed had noticeably slowed down.

Lin Zhao's expression remained calm—the Azure Lotus Sword primarily relies on sword intent and divine sense, consuming far less spiritual energy than the Eight Desolate Ancient Seal. For the past two quarters of an hour, he appeared to be launching a strong attack, but in reality, he had been secretly mobilizing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, slowly channeling it into the core of the sword formation.

Finally, just as the Winged Tiger was once again cornered at the bottom of the valley by three longswords, and was attempting to force its way out—

The sword light in Lin Zhao's eyes surged.

"combine"

The seven longswords trembled simultaneously, transforming into seven streams of azure light that converged towards the center!