Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Only then did the Cai family patriarch turn his cold gaze to Cai Kuo, who was still kneeling, and casually flick his sleeve.

"Bang!"

An invisible force slammed into Cai Kuo's chest, sending him flying backward and crashing heavily against the hard jade wall of the cave. He groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Useless! More trouble than good!" The patriarch's voice was devoid of any emotion. After saying this, his figure disappeared.

Cai Kuo struggled to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his lowered face showed no grievance or fear, only a bottomless resentment and coldness.

Those eyes were like those of a venomous snake lurking in the darkness.

------

Jinsha Square, though its old wounds have not healed, has new shoots breaking through the soil.

On this day, in the secluded cave in the core area of ​​the market, seven Foundation Establishment spiritual lights of different colors but sharpness suddenly erupted, like seven sharp swords piercing the sky!

The spiritual energy gathered wildly, forming seven small vortexes. A faint phantom of a dragon flashed by in the spiritual light, radiating immense pressure.

The Seven Kill Demon Hunting Team, with its seven core members, using some materials from the fallen black dragon and the key dragon's essence blood as the core, and with the help of a secret technique, successfully broke through their cultivation barriers on the same day and all stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm!

Their auras were connected, their malevolent energy intertwined. Having just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, the seven of them combined already possessed the combat power to contend with those in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Almost simultaneously, Po Jun also brought good news.

With the full support of two veteran Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Po Jun sect, Gao Yuan also recalled all members of the Po Jun demon-hunting team from the outside market, bringing the entire Po Jun demon-hunting team back to eight hundred people.

He also obtained an ancient battle formation from somewhere, which, together with the power of four Foundation Establishment cultivators and eight hundred cultivators, was comparable to the combat power of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The fourth person to achieve Foundation Establishment was his Daoist partner, Chu Xin. With the Foundation Establishment Pills that Gao Yuan had exchanged for his accumulated battle merits, she finally succeeded in achieving Foundation Establishment, although it was only a low-grade Foundation Establishment.

Looking at these new forces, Zhu Yi, who was about to step down, finally showed a hint of relief on his face.

He solemnly handed over the sect leader's token and responsibilities to the previous generation's calm and composed captain of the Seven Kills Squad, who had just broken through to the late Foundation Establishment stage.

With these seven newly recruited Foundation Establishment cultivators who share a common understanding, coupled with the ancient battle formation mastered by Gao Yuan, Jinsha Market has barely made up for the huge gap in high-end combat power left by the devastating losses.

After completing the final handover, Zhu Yi had no more regrets. Together with Bai Zhi Fairy, who had always silently supported him, they transformed into streams of light and left this land that had held so many of his years, heading to the Hundred Herbs Sect to pursue the path of Core Formation.

The Hundred Herbs Sect will also send another hall master to take over Bai Zhi's duty of guarding Jinsha.

After this battle, the Qianhuang Sect's unbridled behavior and "walking dragon" were exposed. A tacit understanding began to form between the neutral Baicao Sect and the previously low-profile Heisha Pavilion, with a subtle trend of joining forces to counterbalance the Qianhuang Sect.

The power dynamics of the Yunxia Mountains are quietly shifting.

------

Several days later, Lin Zhao left the secret realm and returned to his own villa.

Ye Xiaoxiao and Lin You had been waiting for a long time, their faces filled with worry.

Over the past few months, news of the dire situation at Jinsha had been coming in intermittently, making them uneasy.

"Uncle!" "Master!" The two women breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Lin Zhao return safely.

Lin Zhao waved his hand, looking slightly tired: "It's nothing serious, just a false alarm."

He didn't want to talk much about the Jinsha Market, so he took out several bulging storage bags and handed them over. "These are all materials from late-stage Qi Refining demon beasts. They're in decent condition. Take them to the market and sell them. You can decide on the price yourself."

This was most of his harvest from killing monsters over the past year, and he had to discard a large amount of low-level monster materials due to limited space in his storage bag.

Only a market town of Tianyun's scale could quickly absorb such a large quantity of monster resources.

After the two women were sent away, the quiet room returned to silence.

Lin Zhao began to carefully tally up the true gains of this trip.

First, there's the essence of the monster materials: nearly two hundred cores from monsters of the Qi Refining Commander level or special monsters. These aren't rare in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, but if brought to the outside world, they'd be enough to exchange for a considerable number of mid-grade spirit stones.

There were also more than ten second-tier demon cores, each with a different radiance. He planned to save these for when he went to the Immortal City, as the sect did not lack them.

The highlight was Wan Heling's storage bag.

A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and also the deputy head of Wanheng Market, his wealth is indeed substantial.

With two second-tier high-grade magic artifacts, the Three Absolute Demon Drum, the Myriad Soul Banner, and the strange statue he had previously obtained, Lin Zhao could now completely impersonate a demonic cultivator.

There are also a large amount of spirit stone resources, including more than ten bottles of Foundation Establishment pills unique to Wanheng Market. These pills are made primarily from the essence blood of second-tier demon beasts, and while they are potent, they also harbor hidden dangers.

Pills made from the essence and blood of demonic beasts often carry a certain amount of malevolent energy.

When ordinary cultivators consume it, their cultivation level will increase dramatically in the short term, but in the long term, impurities will accumulate deep within their bodies, hindering their path to enlightenment.

But for Lin Zhao...

The fourth-tier cultivation technique he practiced was named "Return to the Void," and its greatest strength lay in devouring, refining, and unifying.

What moved Lin Zhao the most were two carefully sealed and preserved Foundation Establishment Pills, as well as several precious spiritual items that could be used to assist in Foundation Establishment!

"I'm actually getting off easy," Lin Zhao muttered to herself.

He doesn't intend to pass these things on to the family anymore.

As their parents grow older, Foundation Establishment Pills and spiritual objects might be their opportunity.

Despite the accumulation of countless resources over the years, my parents' cultivation level is stuck at the ninth level of Qi Refining, still a long way from the tenth level.

However, the hurdle of reaching the tenth level of Qi Refining is not easy to overcome... another opportunity needs to be sought.

---

After dealing with the spoils, Lin Zhao turned his attention to the dark blue dragon egg and the jade slip containing detailed information about Shaoyang Market that he had taken from the black-clad cultivator.

After pondering for a long time, he sent an emergency message directly to the Lin family.

Several days later, clan chief Lin Shanhe arrived at Tianyun Market, travel-worn.

Inside the secret chamber, Lin Zhao skipped the pleasantries and went straight to explaining the origins of the dragon egg, the schemes of Wanheng Market, the result that Chu Fengge's attempt to purify it with the power of the secret realm's formation failed to eradicate its demonic nature, and the egg's future potential and hidden dangers.

"After hatching, with careful nurturing, one can obtain a late-stage Foundation Establishment dragon with a powerful physique and astonishing combat strength, enough to rival an ordinary peak Foundation Establishment cultivator."

Lin Zhao spoke calmly, as if he were describing a magical artifact unrelated to himself: "The dragon has a long lifespan. If it is completed, it can protect the family for nearly three hundred years."

Lin Shanhe's breathing quickened slightly, his gaze burning as he looked at the dragon egg.

"However," Lin Zhao changed the subject, "cultivating it requires massive resources and a long period of time."

More importantly, this is a demonic dragon, its intelligence is chaotic and it only possesses violent instincts. It needs to be suppressed by a powerful formation for many years. Once it gets out of control, the backlash will be astonishing.

Furthermore, the origin of the dragon egg is sensitive. If the news leaks, it will inevitably attract the pursuit of Wanheng Market and even Qianhuang Sect. Can the family afford to bear the consequences?

Lin Shanhe's feverish mind calmed down, his brows furrowed, and after a long while he asked, "Zhao'er, aren't you going to keep it for yourself? With your abilities, wouldn't it be like adding wings to a tiger if you were to control this dragon in the future?"

Lin Zhao shook his head: "By the time it grows up, my cultivation may have reached the peak of Foundation Establishment. At that time, a demonic dragon will be of limited help to me."

I have the Four Elements Array Diagram by my side. If I can upgrade its grade to the second-tier upper grade, the power of the two array spirits will not be inferior to that of the dragon, and they will be as easy to use as my own limbs, without any need for distraction.

This demonic dragon is both an opportunity and a heavy burden for the family, but for me, it's nothing but a burden.

Lin Shanhe fell into a long silence, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the table. Opportunities, risks, resources, powerful enemies... all sorts of weighing factors clashed fiercely in his mind.