Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Go to Jinsha Square? He doesn't have that plan yet.

Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao still need time to settle down. They are already familiar with fire-based magical artifacts, but they are still far from having experience in life-or-death battles.

Lin Zhao's thoughts eventually returned from the market to his own cultivation.

Having guarded Tianyun Market for nearly seven years, his cultivation has steadily improved, and he is now not far from the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

According to the sect's rules, once his ten-year term is up, he can return to the sect and then begin his attempt to break through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

What excites him most is the supernatural power he has been conceiving for nearly twenty years. It is now more than half completed, and judging by the time, he will be able to fully perfect it after returning to the sect.

The origin of this supernatural ability dates back to long before he joined the sect—his encounter with a Core Formation Demon Soul in the secret realm planted the idea in his heart. The knowledge he acquired after joining the sect and the sword intent he comprehended formed the foundation for this supernatural ability.

The dragon claw he obtained from his family allowed him to confront a part of the true supernatural power, repeatedly dismantling and deducing it. It took him several years to finally bring the framework of the supernatural power to life.

It should be noted that supernatural abilities are the exclusive means of Core Formation cultivators. Only a very few geniuses can comprehend supernatural abilities during the Foundation Establishment stage. It is already quite remarkable that he was able to achieve this in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

Supernatural powers are also strictly divided into levels: ordinary supernatural powers mastered by Core Formation cultivators, great supernatural powers controlled by Nascent Soul True Monarchs, and supreme great supernatural powers that only Transformation Heavenly Monarchs can comprehend. The difference in realm and power is like heaven and earth.

After Lin Zhao established his foundation, he clearly sensed that the cultivation of the foundation stage was a hundred times more difficult than that of the Qi Refining stage.

Even with the foundation of a high-grade Dao Foundation, it would conservatively take him over a hundred years of hard work to reach the Core Formation stage.

During the Qi Refining stage, he was able to make rapid progress entirely thanks to the pseudo-Celestial Domain he comprehended in his early years. However, now that his realm has risen, this reliance is no longer sufficient. If he wants to find a shortcut to rapid advancement, he must find a new direction for cultivation.

This supernatural ability, which is about to be fully mastered, is the key to his success.

This is his first true supernatural power. Only by fully mastering it can he use it as a foundation to utilize his innate supernatural abilities.

Over the years, Lin Zhao had vaguely deduced that his innate divine ability was no ordinary thing, at least a great divine ability at the Nascent Soul level, or even... higher.

This is why, even after forty years of rebirth, he was still unable to truly awaken it. Only by first forging his own divine soul power could he bear and use this innate divine power.

Besides his supernatural powers, he has also been slowly refining a second-tier magic artifact over the years—the Bright Jade Lamp.

This lamp is a simplified version of the third-tier magic treasure "Glazed Jade Lamp". It is mainly used to calm the mind and promote tranquility, and is also a magic tool to assist in the cultivation of spiritual techniques.

The main ingredient for refining the Bright Jade Lamp was the piece of Crimson Sun Jade that Instructor He had given him when he left the sect.

Over the years, with the help of his family's Shaoyang Market, he gradually collected more than a dozen kinds of auxiliary spiritual materials, such as Sunstone and Pure Yang Sand.

This magical artifact has been completed and is now being nurtured in the spirit-gathering array in the detached courtyard.

The crafting of auxiliary magical artifacts is complex and requires meticulous craftsmanship. It cannot be rushed. At the current pace, it will take another two or three years of nurturing and polishing before this jade lamp can be truly completed.

He also had some ideas about the Spirit Sealing Pillars he had obtained. He asked the clan leader to find another Spirit Sealing Pillar. There must be more than one set of Spirit Sealing Pillars in this kind of secret realm. He hoped to collect five through the market, otherwise he would have to exchange them with contribution points in the sect.

Listening to the two girls chattering away beside him, from pastries to their experiences in Jinsha Market, and then to the flying artifacts that were currently popular in the market, Lin Zhao basked in the warm sun, his thoughts drifting away.

He suddenly remembered Lin You when he first started cultivating, wearing a fire feather robe, riding on a crimson fire wheel, and holding a crimson fire sword as he flew around in the sea of ​​clouds.

That appearance inexplicably reminded him of a legendary figure from his past life who rode on wheels of fire and wielded a fire-tipped spear.

Unfortunately, he was too busy at the time. If he had had some free time, he might have been able to create two more interesting and practical matching toys... magical artifacts for her, based on the ideas of the "Hun Tian Ling" and "Qian Kun Quan".

Oh well, what's done is done.

Now this girl has grown up and is a little devil who can stand on her own and beat the young cultivators of Shaoyang Market to a pulp.

He turned over, facing the sea of ​​clouds, suppressing those slightly unconventional thoughts.

He has been working tirelessly all these years, and today he finally has a rare moment of leisure, so he'll steal half a day from his busy schedule.

------

"What? You want me to go to Jinsha Market?" Lin Zhao asked in surprise. He was currently in Chu Fengge's villa in Tianyun Market.

The courtyard remained the same as before, with a stream of fresh water flowing in, meandering into a creek. On a huge blue stone by the creek, two prayer mats were casually tossed about.

Chu Fengge sat on one of the futons, emanating none of the imposing aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the peak of their cultivation.

"That's right, you're the one going." Chu Fengge didn't even look up, her gaze still fixed on the pages of her book, her tone as casual as if she were discussing what to have for breakfast tomorrow.

"The beast tide is quite fierce in Jinsha Market. The market lord, Zhu Yi, has sent no less than ten letters seeking help this year. Zhou Xun, a fellow disciple, also sent a message a few days ago saying that the pressure there is indeed great."

Lin Zhao composed himself and put down his teacup: "There are quite a few capable fighters in Tianyun Market, aren't there? Senior Brother Chu, it's inconvenient for you to make a move while you're overseeing the market, but the Zhong family head, Zhong Zhenyue, is in the late Foundation Establishment stage, and there's also Senior Brother Mingxuan..."

"Chung Chen-yue?"

Chu Fengge finally looked up from the book and glanced at him with a half-smile. "That old fox, his mind is no longer on fighting and killing. He's not satisfied with just guarding the Zhong family's little territory. Do you expect him to risk his life for Jinsha Market?"

Junior Brother Mingxuan is quite capable, but he's currently in seclusion preparing to break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage and doesn't have time.

"Only Zhou Xun is left, but he's currently in Jinsha, and he's the one who sent the message—even he said he needs support. What do you think of the situation?"

Lin Zhao remained silent.

He had heard the name Zhou Xun many times.

This senior brother arrived even earlier than Chu Fengge. It is said that he has completed three mandatory missions of the sect, but he chose to stay here for a long time, and has been here for fifty years.

Having spent years hunting demons to hone his skills, his combat strength ranks among the top three among Foundation Establishment cultivators in the market. Even he finds it difficult, so Jinsha's situation is probably not optimistic.

"Then...why me?" Lin Zhao still asked. "I'm only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. There must be a few senior brothers in the market who are at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, right?"

Chu Fengge closed the book, picked up the wine gourd and took a sip before slowly saying, "Above the Cloud Sea, there are a few sects at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, but to say that their combat strength can be reliably compared to the late-Foundation Establishment stage..."

He paused, then looked at Lin Zhao, "Besides you and Mingxuan, I really can't find a third one."

Most of the true geniuses of the sects are concentrated in the major immortal cities or resource-rich third-tier strongholds; few are willing to come to this kind of second-tier stronghold.

Lin Zhao clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking to himself that he should just take those words with a grain of salt.

If Tianyun Market were just an ordinary second-tier settlement, would it have a third-tier spiritual vein?

How can such outstanding figures as Chu Fengge and Wu Mingxuan be stationed here year after year?

Not to mention the thousand-year-old secrets about Tianling Mountain that he had glimpsed in the secret realm.

This place is very complicated. There may only be a few usable singers in Chu Feng, but their combat strength is definitely not what it seems.

Who knows what other tricks the sect has left here? He wouldn't be surprised if Chu Fengge killed a Core Formation cultivator one day. Otherwise, how could Tianyun Market be ranked alongside the three major Core Formation sects?

But he didn't expose it; he just waited for what would happen next.

As expected, Chu Fengge held up one finger: "Five thousand contribution points, mission period of one year, assist Jinsha Market in stabilizing the defense line, any gains during this period are yours to keep, and the market will also provide additional spirit stone subsidies."

Lin Zhao didn't even blink: "Deal."

This is exactly what he's been waiting for. Cultivating supernatural powers ultimately requires the sect's spiritual resources, which are hard to find outside the sect. The more contribution points the sect has, the better.

As the guardian of Tianyun Market, Chu Fengge has some special privileges, allowing him to issue high-level missions that are only available to inner disciples, with rewards going directly to sect contribution points.

For those ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators who rely on the market, the missions will at most reward them with some spirit stones and materials.

Contribution points... can be exchanged for many good things that can't be bought with spirit stones in the sect.

He knew that this task was not only due to a genuine lack of suitable personnel, but also because Chu Fengge was taking care of him—providing him with both training and ample resources.

"That was pretty straightforward." Chu Fengge waved his hand. "Go ahead. There are still three years left before your ten-year term expires. You've already paid off all your debts. Go out and complete the mission this time, and you can do whatever you want with the rest of the time."

Lin Zhao stood up and bowed respectfully.

He understood what Chu Fengge meant.

When I accepted the garrison mission, there was a sub-mission that required me to hunt down five Foundation Establishment level monster cores.

Including the two I owed the market for Foundation Establishment Pills years ago, I now have a total of seven.

During the pioneering war, he single-handedly killed six Foundation Establishment demon beasts and obtained five demon cores—one of which was hit too hard by the Law-Breaking Nether Needle, and its demon core shattered directly.

The two that the clan leader and his group had obtained were also given to him.

Seven demon cores were just enough to settle both the debt and the mission.

Now that I'm debt-free, it's the perfect time to go out and explore, and accumulate resources.

Lin Zhao always felt that there were still some things he didn't know about in this place.

Back at Yunhai Villa, Lin Zhao tidied up briefly.

I didn't tell Ye Xiaoxiao and Lin You, because I was afraid that if those two girls found out, they would insist on coming along.

The Jinsha area is not a place they can get involved in right now.

Several hours later, he piloted the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat and quietly left Tianyun Market.

The flying boat transformed into a pale white cloud trail and disappeared into the vast mountains to the west.