Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

"I understand." Lin Zhao said no more. His figure flickered and transformed into a light blue stream of light, disappearing into the ground along the crack in the rock layer that had just been shaken out.

After passing through layers of rock hundreds of feet thick and through black boulders to enter the secret realm, a breathtaking view suddenly opened up before us.

This is a secret realm, no more than three or four miles in circumference and about a hundred feet high.

Above us was a hazy, slowly swirling grayish-white mist.

The scene on the ground made Lin Zhao's heart sink slightly.

Dozens of broken magical artifacts lay crookedly stuck in the soil. Beneath many of these artifacts, the soil swelled slightly; Lin Zhao scanned it with his divine sense and saw that these were the remains of cultivators, long since integrated with the land.

A musty smell permeated the air. The spiritual energy was thin, as if the life force of this secret realm had long since vanished.

This is not a blessed land, but a cemetery. A tomb where people were buried for reasons unknown.

In the very center of the space stood a dilapidated altar, about three zhang (approximately 10 meters) above the ground. The altar was constructed of some kind of bluish-black stone, its surface covered with ancient runes that were difficult to decipher, most of which had been worn away.

The altar was originally surrounded by twelve black stone pillars, but now only three remain standing, while the rest have collapsed, broken, or are half-buried in the soil.

Lin Zhao slowly walked into the altar.

Below the altar base, there are some indistinct reliefs.

He bent down, brushed away the accumulated dust, and carefully examined it.

The image is fragmented, but some outlines can still be discerned: a majestic immortal mountain, enormous spirit beasts flying in the sky, a group of cultivators dressed in uniform Taoist robes, and... a magnificent sect gate with a towering entrance.

The characters on the plaque above the mountain gate are blurred and illegible; only the two characters "御灵" (Yu Ling) can be barely discerned.

On a relatively complete relief, a fierce battle is depicted: heavenly fire falls to the earth, mountains collapse, cultivators fight against countless strange and grotesque monsters, and corpses litter the ground.

Lin Zhao focused intently as he continued to decipher the text beneath the relief, his expression gradually becoming serious.

"...Tian Du Yu Ling Sect...Spirit Sealing Altar...Inheritance Flame..."

He whispered a few keywords.

Is this a secret place they left behind? Or perhaps a "shelter" that failed to be activated?

The Heavenly Capital Spirit Sect was the true ruler of the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range a thousand years ago, a colossal entity that was said to have a Nascent Soul True Monarch presiding over it during its heyday.

Later, for reasons unknown, the mountain gate collapsed, the lineage was severed, and it completely disappeared into the long river of history.

"All things have a spirit... and all can be controlled..."

Lin Zhao murmured the sect motto of the Heavenly Capital Spirit Sect, his brows furrowing involuntarily.

He continued reading.

This is the Heavenly Capital Spirit Sect, in order to advance to the Nascent Soul realm.

Not content with controlling demonic beasts and spiritual plants, they set their sights on the spiritual veins of heaven and earth.

Using some forbidden secret technique, a third-grade high-quality spiritual vein was forcibly "enlightened" and transformed into a monster called the "Heavenly Capital Spirit Beast".

That wasn't all. The sect's Grand Elder, who was at the peak of the Core Formation stage, actually merged with the monster formed from the spiritual vein, and used the immense power of heaven and earth generated when the spiritual vein advanced to the fourth level to forcibly break through the Nascent Soul barrier.

"Enlighten the spiritual veins, unite the spirits to form an infant..."

Lin Zhao uttered these words in a low voice, and a chill ran down her spine.

This is not the normal path of cultivation; it is clearly a heretical path leading to demonic possession! How vast is the power of heaven and earth contained within the spiritual veins?

For a cultivator's meager soul to merge with it is like a drop of water entering the ocean; it's only a matter of time before their consciousness is assimilated and devoured.

He continued reading, his heart sinking deeper and deeper.

Sure enough, the hidden dangers materialized.

The "Nascent Soul" achieved in this way possesses the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator, but lacks the lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator who can live for thousands of years; they can only live for three hundred years.

The being known as the "Third Generation Spirit Master" was unwilling to perish and went completely mad.

He wanted to devour all the spiritual veins of the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, and even sacrifice all cultivators and countless beings of mortal dynasties to forge a "demon infant" with endless souls, and then completely merge with the Heavenly Capital Spirit Beast to become the so-called "Heavenly Capital Demon Beast".

"This is insane... This is utter insane."

Lin Zhao felt a chill creep up from the soles of his feet.

Even across a thousand years, we can still glimpse the horrors of that catastrophe through this brief information.

Nearly half of the cultivators in the sect were directly devoured and turned into nourishment. The rest were corrupted and became mindless minions who raised their butcher knives against the entire Yunxia Mountain Range.

The Yunxia Mountains were far more powerful back then than they are today.

Thirteen sects had formed a Core Formation stage, and the remaining twelve had joined forces in an alliance, yet they were utterly helpless against the "Heavenly Capital Demonic Beast," which could mobilize the power of a thousand miles of spiritual veins and was nearly immortal.

Even the Nascent Soul cultivator "Tongming Zhenjun" who was invited from the nearby "Tongming Domain" almost lost his life here.

In the end, it was the Thousand Radiance Sect that broke the deadlock.

The information recorded was somewhat vague, but the key information remained—twelve Core Formation cultivators from the Thousand Glory Sect piloted twelve Tier 3 spirit boats, traversing hundreds of thousands of miles of perilous terrain over three years, paying an unimaginable price.

In the end, only one spirit boat reached a certain "strongest sect" and obtained reinforcements.

The Nascent Soul cultivator who descended from the sect, with unparalleled power, finally killed the Heavenly Capital Demon Beast.

But that battle also completely shattered the fourth-tier spiritual vein that was the origin of the monster.

The residual power of the monsters polluted the entire mountain range, forming what is known as "Black Fiend Ore," of which Black Fiend Stone is a product.

Since then, the Yunxia Mountains have become what they are today—humans and demons are at odds, the terrain is treacherous and dangerous, and beast tides never cease.

Lin Zhao let out a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

The Thousand Radiance Sect is the strongest of the three major sects.

Their ability to maintain their top position is likely inseparable from this "solicitation of aid" a thousand years ago.

And the "strongest sect" that ultimately descended and quelled the catastrophe... Lin Zhao was almost certain that it was the Cloud Sea Azure Sea Sect.

But doubts also began to surface one after another.

Yunzhou has a long-distance teleportation array.

Even without using those teleportation arrays, it would take a few months for a Core Formation cultivator to travel from the Cloud Mist Mountain Range to the Cangming Sect's gate at full speed using their magic weapon.

And they even piloted the spirit boat, spending three years traversing hundreds of thousands of miles of perilous terrain? And only one boat survived?

Lin Zhao recalled the rumors about the Thousand Radiance Sect—they had a sect-protecting formation called the "Thousand Radiance Sword Formation".

This formation requires twelve Core Formation cultivators, twelve specially crafted Tier 3 spirit boats, and the combined power of over a thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators to activate. Once deployed, the sword formation can cover a hundred miles, making it virtually invincible within the Core Formation territory.

Twelve Core Formation cultivators, twelve spirit boats, and over a thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators…

This configuration doesn't look like an "emergency aid" mission at all; it's more like an expeditionary force armed to the teeth.

Were they on their way to seek help, or... did they anticipate that someone would stop them on the road?