Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao suddenly stopped and turned around, hovering above the deep valley.

Six demonic beasts surrounded him in a fan shape. The Illusionary Moon Fox suddenly spoke in human language, its voice shrill and distorted: "Human, you have killed too many of my kind… You will die today!"

Lin Zhao did not answer; he simply raised his right hand, palm up.

Nine round beads, each the size of a longan and covered with dense purple thunder patterns, slowly rose from his sleeve.

Inside the bead, there seemed to be tiny lightning snakes sealed inside, which were now frantically moving around, trying to break free of the bead!

It is indeed the "Nine Luminaries Thunder Pearl".

"BOOM!!!"

When the first bolt of thunder roared, the sky suddenly darkened.

It wasn't that dark clouds were obscuring the sun, but rather that the purple lightning emitted by the nine thunder pearls was so dazzling that even the sunlight seemed dim!

The lightning bead spun rapidly in the air, countless purple lightning bolts surging from within it, intertwining, merging, and expanding—

"hold head high--!!!"

The dragon's roar shook the heavens!

A "Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon" over twenty feet long, composed entirely of violent lightning, condensed and took shape in the sky!

Each dragon scale was crystal clear, shimmering with destructive deep purple lightning. The dragon's eyes were wide open, its pupils containing two compressed lightning cores. As the dragon's whiskers fluttered, tiny arcs of electricity crackled.

The thunder dragon coiled up, emanating a pressure that clearly reached the late Foundation Establishment stage!

But Lin Zhao knew that this Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon, formed by the thunderous power of the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pearl, could only last for a quarter of an hour.

Fifteen minutes later, the Thunder Pearl's spiritual power was exhausted, and it needed to replenish its lightning power during a thunderstorm before it could be used again.

But fifteen minutes... is enough.

"kill."

He uttered a single word, his consciousness connecting with the thunder dragon.

The Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon roared to the sky, swung its tail, and charged into the demon beast camp with a sky full of lightning!

The first to bear the brunt was a black python. It opened its mouth and spewed out black poisonous mist, attempting to corrode the lightning—but lightning, being extremely yang and powerful, was the perfect counter to yin and evil!

The poisonous mist melted away the moment it touched the Thunder Dragon, like snow being poured on boiling water. The Thunder Dragon's giant claws reached out and gripped the snake's seven-inch mark with sharp claws formed from lightning!

"hiss--!!!"

The black python hissed mournfully, its demonic power being violently eroded by the lightning. Its more than ten-zhang-long body writhed wildly, but it could not break free of the dragon's claws. After more than ten breaths, the dragon's claws closed, and lightning burst forth—the snake's body was severed in two, charred black, and fell to the ground!

The first one, the black python, died.

One strike, and a Foundation Establishment demon beast is killed!

The remaining five beasts retreated in terror.

But the Thunder Dragon was faster. It opened its mouth and spewed out a purple lightning bolt with a diameter of more than ten feet, which shot straight at the Rock Armored Giant Bear!

The giant bear roared and slammed its paws on the ground, creating three thick rock walls in front of it. But the lightning bolts pierced through the rock walls like tofu!

The giant bear only had time to turn to the side before its left shoulder and upper body were grazed by the lightning bolt—instantly carbonized and shattered!

The second bear was severely injured.

"Join forces! It can't last!" The Illusionary Moon Fox roared, its body surrounded by countless phantoms, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake as it pounced on the Thunder Dragon.

The Shadow Blade Leopard transformed into an almost invisible gray line, circling around to the side and rear of the Thunder Dragon.

The Iron-Winged Eagle and the Black Wind Winged Tiger attacked Lin Zhao from both sides, unleashing their innate spells recklessly.

Lin Zhao's eyes were as calm as ice.

He held the Eight Desolations Ancient Seal in his left hand, and the dark red runes on the seal lit up one by one. In his right hand, he held the Azure Lotus Sword upside down, and the sword rang out incessantly.

Using the Azure Lotus Sword Wings on his back, he evaded the attacks of the Iron Winged Eagle and the Black Wind Winged Tiger.

Although the Thunder Dragon was powerful, controlling such a massive lightning avatar consumed a great deal of divine sense. Moreover, the demon beasts were not stupid; they saw that the Thunder Dragon was an energy body and began to fight evasively to delay it.

At this moment, nearly half an hour had passed since the thunder dragon condensed.

"Time is running out..."

Lin Zhao's mind raced, and suddenly his sword wings unfurled, transforming into a streak of azure light that hurtled straight at the Black Wind Winged Tiger!

The winged tiger sensed danger and flapped its wings wildly to try to create distance—but a dark red square mark had already appeared above its head!

The Eight Desolations Ancient Seal swelled in the wind and transformed into a five-zhang-tall giant seal, carrying the heavy power to suppress the eight desolations, and crashed down fiercely!

The winged tiger roared fiercely, and a black gale condensed into a protective shield to withstand the attack.

"boom!!!"

The protective shield shattered instantly! The winged tiger was slammed downwards, and although it did not die on the spot, it staggered and its demonic power dissipated.

In that instant, the Thunder Dragon's tail lashed out like a whip, striking the Winged Tiger squarely on the back! Thunder surged through its body, countless sparks erupting around the Winged Tiger. Before it could even utter a scream, it plummeted downwards like a rag doll.

And at that very moment—

Three figures rushed from the direction of the defensive line! It was none other than the clan leader Lin Shanhe, Lin Zhengfeng, and Lin Yuanfeng! The three of them had somewhat disordered breathing, obviously having expended a lot of energy in the battle at Crimson Flame Pool, but their fighting spirit was high.

Clan leaders Lin Shanhe, Lin Zhengfeng, and Lin Yuanfeng arrived on the battlefield, greatly boosting the morale of the human Qi-refining faction.

The Foundation Establishment battlefield, with the addition of the three clan leaders, instantly shifted the previously stalemate.

The monsters began to retreat.

Foundation Establishment cultivators, on the other hand, relied on their numerical advantage to encircle and kill the enemy.

Meanwhile, the Qi Refining cultivators began to fight back, and the first-tier demonic beasts, led by some commander-level demonic beasts, began to retreat.

Lin You and the others reinforced their defenses and did not pursue the enemy.

------

Anxiety flashed in the eyes of the Phantom Moon Fox, unsure whether to continue the fight.

But Lin Zhao was waiting for that very moment when their thoughts would waver.

The Thunder Dragon had become nearly half-ethereal, its body transparent and the lightning dim.

But it still let out a long howl and unleashed a final bolt of lightning at the remaining Illusion Moon Fox and Shadow Blade Leopard!

The two beasts dodged in horror, but were grazed by the edge of the lightning pillar, each sustaining injuries.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Illusionary Moon Fox let out a sharp cry and turned to flee, ignoring the other Foundation Establishment demon beasts!

Lin Zhao ignored it. The Thunder Dragon finally exhausted its last bit of thunder power and dissipated into countless purple light spots.

The nine thunder pearls, their light dimming, flew back into Lin Zhao's sleeve.

Lin Zhao entangled the Shadow Blade Leopard, which was in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Years ago, he was ambushed by it and almost died in the beast tide. Although it was not the same one, Lin Zhao did not want to let it go.

He gripped the hilt of the Azure Lotus Sword with both hands, the tip pointing downwards, and slowly raised it above his head.

All the leaves of the Azure Lotus Sword Wings on its back fell off at the same time, turning into seventy-two streams of light that merged into the sword!

The Azure Lotus Sword's azure light surged, and the sword's body lengthened and widened, transforming once again into a twenty-zhang-long azure longsword!

"cut"

Lin Zhao shouted and slashed his longsword down at the Shadow Blade Leopard!

This sword strike was not fast, but it contained a powerful sword intent.

The Shadow Blade Leopard frantically blinked, turned back, and even used its innate Shadow Escape ability, but no matter how it moved, the cyan sword light remained locked on it, getting closer and closer!

It howled desperately, its claws crossed in a desperate attempt to block—

"laugh."

Without a deafening roar, the cyan sword light sliced ​​through the leopard's body as easily as cutting tofu, neatly cleaving it in two.

The third one, Shadow Blade Panther, died.

Humanity launched a full-scale counterattack, while Lin Zhao began searching for the Rock Armored Giant Bear and Black Wind Winged Tiger that he had previously severely injured. In the end, Lin Zhao only found the Rock Armored Giant Bear and successfully killed it, but the Black Wind Winged Tiger escaped and its whereabouts became unknown.

Lin Zhao's face was slightly pale. He had continuously manipulated the Four Elements Array Diagram, commanded the Thunder Dragon, and killed the Shadow Blade Leopard and the Rock Armored Giant Bear, which consumed far more energy than expected.

But he looked at the battlefield—six attacking monsters, three dead and three escaped.