Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

At the very core of the array plate, there is a strange statue about a foot tall, entirely black, and shaped like a three-legged toad.

Beneath the statue, there was a dragon egg, about the size of a human head, with its surface covered in dark blue natural cloud patterns...

The dragon egg flickered with a faint light, as if it were breathing.

With each flash, it drew streams of crimson energy from the toad statue.

Beside the array plate sat a middle-aged cultivator dressed in a black robe, with a sharp but somewhat sinister face.

He pressed his hands firmly against the edge of the array plate, frantically pouring his spiritual power into it. His face was as pale as paper, veins bulged on his forehead, and his lips moved rapidly as he chanted difficult, strange, and distorted incantations.

Lin Zhaoyin, hidden in the shadows at the cave entrance, suddenly contracted her pupils.

He recognized this person! Although he wasn't wearing a mask, his figure and the fluctuations of his spiritual energy were recognizable.

This is clearly the same guy who forcibly broke into the Lin family during the Lin family's foundation-building and mountain-sealing period, and later appeared in Guiyun Market with Wan Heng Market's deputy market master, Master Xuan Yu, Wan Heling, shamelessly demanding the so-called Golden-Winged Thunder Roc!

People from Wanheng Market! What a small world!

At that moment, the black-clad cultivator's body trembled violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood, which landed precisely on the toad statue at the core of the array plate. The blood was instantly absorbed by the statue, and its eyes glowed bright red!

At the same time, the dark green runes on the three stone pillars in the center of the deep pool outside the cave also lit up brightly!

An invisible suction force was generated, and began to frantically draw out the spiritual power and blood energy of the tens of thousands of demonic beasts surrounding the stone pillar, including the three second-tier demonic beasts!

The power of the demonic beast was stripped away, converging into streams of blood-red torrents that surged into the stone pillar. Through some invisible connection, it was injected into the toad via an array plate, ultimately transforming into blood-red energy that continuously poured into the dragon egg!

The cloud-like patterns on the eggshell shone brighter and brighter, and a deep, powerful sound, like a heartbeat, came from inside. The entire egg seemed to have swelled up slightly.

"Using all beasts as firewood and blood souls as nourishment to ripen dragon eggs... What a brilliant method!" A chill ran through Lin Zhao's heart.

The matter of cultivating a third-tier flood dragon is definitely not something that this early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator can control.

Behind this must be the Venerable Xuan Yu, Wan Heling, and even the entire Wanheng Market!

They used some unknown means.

Another dragon egg has been cultivated.

Fortunately, Lin Zhao possessed the Dragon Claw; otherwise, he might not have been able to detect this place.

We can't wait any longer, we must take him down and figure out a plan!

Lin Zhao's eyes sharpened, and a purple light silently shot out from his sleeve, transforming into a purple bronze bell that hung in mid-air above the cave—a second-tier magic artifact, the Soul-Suppressing Bell!

Only one dull sound, as if resounding directly into the depths of one's soul—thud!

An invisible sound wave poured into the consciousness of the black-clad cultivator who was activating the formation!

"Ugh—Ah!!!"

The black-clad cultivator was struck as if by lightning; his eyes went blank for a moment, his incantation stopped abruptly, and the extraction of the stone pillar outside also came to a halt.

It's now!

Lin Zhao raised his hand and pointed, and the Azure Lotus Sword shot out, aiming at the opponent's dantian! If this sword hit, it would be enough to destroy most of his cultivation.

Although the black-clad cultivator suffered a spiritual injury, his protective magic artifact automatically activated at the critical moment of life and death!

A jet-black, glossy animal bone shot out from the back of his neck, moving so fast it was just a blur, heading straight for Lin Zhao! Clearly, it was a life-saving item.

Lin Zhao's expression remained unchanged. In the void in front of him, the Azure Lotus Sword Sheath appeared and transformed into seventy-two Azure Lotuses. The Azure Lotus Leaves instantly extended and combined, blooming into an incomparably solid Azure Sword Lotus in front of him!

Ding!

The poisoned bone spike struck the center of the slowly rotating sword lotus, producing a crisp metallic clang. It was then shredded and ground down by countless fine, sharp sword energies, turning into a cloud of black powder that fell in a flurry.

Lin Zhao's left hand, with its five fingers, made a grasping motion towards the staggering, retreating cultivator who was trying to escape—

"Five Qi Gathering at the Origin Lock"

Five-colored spiritual light burst forth from his fingertips, transforming into five agile, distinctly colored chains of spiritual energy. Like serpents, they instantly traversed a distance of more than ten feet, precisely wrapping around the black-clad cultivator's limbs and neck!

The chains snapped shut the moment they touched him, tightening abruptly! The power of the five elements erupted, completely locking down the flow of his spiritual energy, preventing him from even self-destructing or sending out distress signals.

The black-clad monk groaned and slumped down like a snake whose bones had been removed, his eyes filled with horror and despair.

Lin Zhao walked up to him and looked down at him.

"Illusion-Dispelling Sword Eye"

Lin Zhao's eyes flashed with silver light again, the light piercing straight to the other's brow. The black-clad cultivator's body trembled violently, his soul suffered a severe injury, his head lolled to the side, and he completely lost consciousness, his breath faint.

Lin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, but did not immediately check the spoils of war.

He first looked at the black toad statue that was still emitting an eerie red light, and the dragon egg under the statue that was still "breathing" in and out of light.

He dared not be careless; this evil creature looked terrifying.

He took out three jet-black stone pillars covered with sealing runes from his storage bag. These were the "Spirit Sealing Pillars," second-tier high-grade magic artifacts obtained from the secret realm.

Lin Zhao carefully placed the spirit-sealing pillar between the array plate and the statue, and infused it with several spells.

The runes on the stone pillar lit up one by one, forming a hemispherical sealing light shield.

The entire array plate, the black toad statue, and the dragon egg, along with the eerie aura they emitted, were completely sealed away.

As the light shield took shape, the discomfort inside the cave dissipated by more than half.

Lin Zhao finally relaxed, turning his gaze to the unconscious black-clad cultivator on the ground, his eyes icy cold.

The cave returned to deathly silence. Lin Zhao didn't rush to touch the sealed evil array and the dragon egg. Instead, he picked up the black-clad cultivator's storage bag first.

After erasing the divine sense imprint, the contents poured out in a rush. Most of them were standard cultivation pills, spirit stones, and demon beast materials, along with some miscellaneous talismans and magical artifacts.

His gaze fell on several jade slips of different colors.

He picked one up and immersed his consciousness into it.

A deluge of information flooded in instantly.

Lin Zhao frowned, quickly filtering and piecing together the key fragments.

As expected, the masterminds behind the beast tide were Wanheng Market and Qianhuang Sect! Using the remains of that third-tier dragon from a hundred years ago as their core, they employed some unknown secret technique...

It actually "gave birth" to a new second-generation dragon, which now has the cultivation level of the late Foundation Establishment stage.

The beast tide that swept through Jinsha Market this time was prepared for it, with the aim of helping it break through to the peak of the second tier in one fell swoop!

Once successful, the dragon will follow the ancient legend of the "dragon-walking ceremony," carrying a devastating flood and a horde of beasts, and rush straight down the Jinsha River!

Not only Jinshafang Market, but also to break through the steel defense line downstream composed of millions of ordinary soldiers!

The words in the jade slip were cold and fanatical; they regarded billions of living beings as worthless, only to achieve the goal of creating a third-tier dragon.

For some, exchanging a Golden Sands Market and millions of mortals for a third-tier Core Formation combat power might be a worthwhile deal.

Millions of ordinary people, and another batch in twenty years. It's just the fourth reconstruction of Jinshafang in a thousand years, nothing special.