Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao scanned the area with his divine sense and found that the beast tide had completely collapsed, with the remaining monsters fleeing into the deep mountains.

Human cultivators are clearing the battlefield, treating the wounded, and collecting spoils of war.

The setting sun dyed the mountains a blood-red hue, reflecting the still-burning flames on the battlefield.

In this battle, the human camp killed over 100,000 first-tier demonic beasts and eleven Foundation Establishment demonic beasts.

Lin Zhao alone beheaded six people – three in Black Wind Valley and three on the battlefield.

The clan leader and his men beheaded two of them, while the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators worked together to leave three heads alive.

Defeating monsters is easy, but killing them is difficult; this is the norm in Foundation Establishment battles.

Lin Zhao captured six Foundation Establishment level demonic beasts, accounting for more than half of the pioneering war.

It can only be said that the power of cultivators is concentrated in one person, and the number is not absolute. The higher the cultivation level, the greater the gap. Although Lin Zhao's cultivation level is only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, his combat power is comparable to that of the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

The demonic beasts fled, and ten Foundation Establishment demonic beasts still survived, but they no longer posed a significant threat.

For the Lin family, this was an unprecedented and glorious victory.

After this battle, no one could shake the position of Lin Family Market Lord.

Lin Zhao sheathed her Qinglian sword and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

The spiritual energy within his body is less than 30%.

But his gaze swept across the battlefield below—there, the Lin family cultivators were waving flags and cheering, Ye Xiaoxiao and Lin You were standing on a stone platform, supporting each other, looking up in his direction, while their grandfather was methodically directing the cleanup.

He smiled softly.

-----

Lin Zhao entered a temporarily set-off stone hall. The hall was empty except for a jade futon placed in the center.

He sat down cross-legged and swallowed two Qi-restoring pills.

However, after Foundation Establishment, the recovery of spiritual power is far more difficult than during Qi Refining. It takes ten days for the spiritual power in the dantian to recover naturally.

Lin Zhao shook his head, took out several mid-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, and held them in his palm.

He circulated his cultivation technique, and the spirit stone dimmed at a visible speed as spiritual energy surged into his meridians, replenishing the spiritual power in his dantian.

Faint voices and suppressed sobs could be heard outside the hall.

Tens of thousands of people participated in the war, and nearly a thousand were killed or wounded. These are not just numbers; they are living, breathing people.

Lin Zhao closed his eyes, suppressing his distracting thoughts.

The war is not over yet.

-----

After three days of rest, when the pioneering cultivators gathered again to set off, the atmosphere among the Foundation Establishment cultivators was different from before.

The weight of the casualties has not yet lifted, and an even bigger problem has surfaced—interests.

The war is drawing to a close, and the seven Tier 2 resource points are all highly coveted prizes.

Three second-tier spiritual veins and four second-tier resource points.

Who occupies which area? How are they divided?

If we don't allocate resources in advance now, it will be too late by the time the war ends.

Inside the stone hall, the arguing nearly overturned it.

A dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators and representatives from dozens of other factions were arguing heatedly, their faces red and necks bulging.

Some people exchanged glances in secret, while others quietly pressed down on their magical artifacts—if it weren't for the presence of clan leader Lin Shanhe, they would probably have taken action on the spot.

Logically speaking, the Lin family was the leader in the pioneering war and contributed greatly, killing a total of eight second-tier demonic beasts.

The other Foundation Establishment cultivators only killed three heads; based on the merits of the battle, the Lin family should have obtained most of the resources.

But the accounts can't be calculated that way.

These Foundation Establishment cultivators also held off more than ten second-tier demonic beasts. All of them were counted according to their battle merits. They dared not say it openly, but secretly they tripped up the beasts and did not put in any effort. How could they fight the battles later?

Lin Zhao has already taken over the majority of the market. The seven resource points combined are not even comparable to one market. Moreover, the Lin family took the initiative to invite them here, and before the war, the Lin family also promised to give away most of the resources.

Now the Lin family has no choice but to back down and give up some of their resources.

Furthermore, since the market is in the hands of the Lin family, even if these resources are distributed out, they will eventually flow back into the market for trading. In the end, most of the resources still belong to the Lin family.

Lin Shanhe listened in silence until the sound gradually subsided before slowly speaking:

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd: "As the head of the Lin family, we keep our word. Of the three spiritual veins, the Lin family will only take one; of the four second-tier resource points, the Lin family will also only take one."

There was a sudden silence in the tent.

"The remaining two spiritual veins and three resource points will be distributed according to battle merits," Lin Shanhe said in a calm voice.

Once the terms were set, the atmosphere inside the tent eased considerably.

Some frowned and pondered, some nodded, and some hesitated to speak—clearly feeling that the Lin family still had too much, but looking at Lin Shanhe and remembering that figure in blue, they swallowed their words.

"What about the 'Sunset Peak' spiritual vein?" someone asked cautiously. "That's a spiritual vein that's close to the second-tier high-grade."

"The same goes for Sunset Peak," Lin Shanhe said calmly. "No matter who ultimately takes it, the Lin family will not interfere."

Upon hearing this, many people's eyes lit up.

Only when interests are temporarily settled can the war continue.

-----

A month later, the six second-tier resource points were successively captured.

The process went more smoothly than expected—the main force of the beast tide had collapsed, and there were not many monsters left behind, and they were fighting on their own.

Riding the wave of their great victory and with the prospect of profit, the human cultivators fought bravely, managing to capture six points while suffering only a little over a hundred casualties.

Only the last and toughest bone remains: Sunset Peak.

This peak is over a thousand feet high, and its body is half red and half green. When viewed from a distance, it looks like the sunset glow, hence the name Luoxia (Sunset Glow).

There is a second-tier, mid-grade spiritual vein in the mountain, which is vaguely approaching the high-grade level. It is rich in spiritual energy and is the highest quality spiritual vein discovered since the beginning of the wilderness.

The peak is home to the most elite forces of the remnants of the beast tide—nearly 100,000 first-tier elite monsters.

More importantly, the ten Foundation Establishment demonic beasts that had fled all retreated here.

The human camp was set up thirty miles outside the peak.

Lin Zhao stood side by side with the clan chief, gazing at the distant mountain peaks shrouded in rosy light.

"We've figured it out," Lin Shanhe said in a low voice. "There are traces of an array on the summit, which should be the work of that Illusionary Moon Fox. I didn't expect that beast would have this skill. The demon beast is relying on the array and spiritual veins to defend itself. A direct attack would come at a great cost."

Lin Zhao's gaze swept over the mountain peaks, and he frowned slightly.

The formation wasn't particularly sophisticated, but because it borrowed the power of the spiritual veins, its power shouldn't be underestimated.

What's more troublesome is that he can sense that the spiritual veins in the mountains are slowly rising—at this rate, they will definitely advance to the second-tier high-grade within thirty years at most.

"We can't let it advance," Lin Shanhe suddenly said, his voice extremely low. "The spiritual vein in Shaoyang Market is only a second-grade high-quality one. If another spiritual vein of the same level appears here and falls into the hands of someone else, it will be a major threat to the Lin family."

Lin Zhao glanced at him.

"Do you have a way... to make it fall back down?" The clan leader's gaze was profound. "No need to destroy it, just keep it at the mid-grade second tier."

Lin Zhao remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

The forbidden technique "Five Emperors Seal" in "The True Secret of the Five Spirits Returning to the Void" does indeed have the power to shake the earth's veins.

This technique was originally intended for Core Formation cultivators, consuming a great deal of spiritual energy. Forcing a Foundation Establishment cultivator to use it would result in significant backlash from the magical artifact.

A look of relief flashed in Lin Shanhe's eyes. He patted him on the shoulder and said nothing more.

-----

On the eve of the attack, deep within Sunset Peak, demonic beasts were also gathering.

Ten Foundation Establishment level demonic beasts were entrenched in the cave inside the mountain, creating a oppressive atmosphere; all of them were injured.

After a long silence, the Illusionary Moon Fox slowly spoke: "This king... has already summoned reinforcements."

The beasts suddenly raised their heads.