Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao's spiritual energy was being rapidly depleted.

With a slight thought, a drop of crystal-clear "Soul Cleansing Liquid," emanating a cool aura, flew up from a jade bottle outside and disappeared into the space between the eyebrows.

The droplets dissolved in the sea of ​​consciousness, transforming into pure and gentle soul power to replenish it and alleviate the depletion.

Immediately afterwards, the phantom of the "Stabilizing Fruit" appeared in the sea of ​​consciousness, emitting a calming sandalwood fragrance that stabilized the tower structure under construction; meanwhile, the "Pure Yang Soul Fire" leaped and tempered the newly generated divine consciousness runes, making them more solid and pure...

Five spirit items replenish the main body's energy, while the other two work in conjunction with the Jade Lamp. One enhances the "Soul Suppression" effect to ensure the stability of the tower's foundation; the other improves the "Discernment" ability, allowing Lin Zhao to more clearly perceive the subtle flaws in the rune combinations during construction.

Even so, the process was full of setbacks and hardships.

The sixth layer has a much more complex structure than the five layers below, and it also has higher requirements for overall balance.

On this day, within the sea of ​​consciousness, the last intricate and profound sword-shaped rune steadily descended, perfectly merging with the overall structure.

"Buzz—!!!"

The entire six-story golden sword tower suddenly emitted a deep and magnificent resonance! The newly completed sixth floor was completely connected to the five floors below.

The sixth floor of the Divine Soul Sword Tower!

Lin Zhao took a deep breath and continued, determined to complete this divine power in one fell swoop.

Secluded in seclusion, one loses track of time.

Inside the cave, only the constant glow of the bright jade lamp and the gradually dimming and fading aura of the spiritual objects remained.

A year has passed quietly.

During this period, Lin Zhao twice caused instability in the tower structure due to deviations in his deductions or poor rune connections, which even affected the lower levels.

He had to grit his teeth and carefully dismantle and reassemble the parts he had already constructed. Only those who had personally experienced the dizziness and stinging pain caused by the backlash of his divine consciousness could understand it.

To this end, he went so far as to exchange for two more precious second-tier divine soul items through Xu Chuan, in order to replenish the enormous consumption and repair the damage.

Secluded in seclusion, one loses track of time.

Inside the cave, only the constant glow of the bright jade lamp and the gradually dimming and fading aura of the spiritual objects remained.

------

A year has passed quietly.

On this day, within the sea of ​​consciousness, the last intricate and profound sword-shaped rune steadily descended, perfectly merging with the overall structure.

"Buzz—!!!"

The entire nine-story golden sword tower shone brightly, and the nine-story divine soul sword tower was completely connected, with the power circulation being perfect and self-consistent. A divine soul fluctuation that was far stronger, more condensed, and more stable than before rippled out from the tower and swept across the entire sea of ​​consciousness!

The Ninth Floor of the Divine Soul Sword Tower is Completed

Lin Zhao looked at the golden tower that had taken countless efforts and a huge amount of resources to build, and felt an indescribable sense of emotion welling up in his heart.

A rough count reveals that the number of divine runes that make up this tower exceeds 17,000! Recalling the past, the "Four Elements Sword Dragon" spell that I first created was composed of only a few hundred runes.

True "supernatural powers" are based on a rune system measured in "ten thousand" units! My own Divine Soul Sword Tower is clearly more sophisticated than ordinary supernatural powers.

As his mind relaxed, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion washed over him like a tidal wave.

He even struggled to withdraw from his sea of ​​consciousness. The moment his consciousness returned to his body, he felt a splitting headache and his spirit was completely exhausted.

He didn't care about anything else; his body swayed, and he fell directly onto the cold stone ground, falling into the deepest sleep.

This sleep lasted for a full seven days.

If it weren't for the protective array within the cave, such a completely unguarded slumber would be extremely dangerous for cultivators.

Seven days later, Lin Zhao slowly woke up.

The headache had disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and fullness. Upon introspection, the landscape of my consciousness had undergone a dramatic change!

The nine-story golden sword tower stood majestically, its body radiating a warm yet resilient golden light. It not only illuminated the surrounding area, but its brilliance also seemed to be slowly and steadily dispelling the "mist" further into the sea of ​​consciousness.

Even more remarkably, the sword tower itself seemed to have become an efficient furnace and source of spiritual energy, spontaneously and continuously nourishing and strengthening his consciousness without any deliberate cultivation.

"At this rate..." Lin Zhao pondered carefully, estimating in his mind, "Within three years, my spiritual strength should be able to break through the current bottleneck and steadily step into the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage."

If one persists, in thirty years... the total amount of divine sense may reach ten times that of now, touching the threshold of the Core Formation stage! The door to Core Formation seems to have been pried open by the existence of this Divine Soul Sword Tower.

Suppressing his excitement, he took several deep breaths, his eyes becoming sharp and resolute.

It's time to verify the initial concept and confront that hidden, primordial power.

His thoughts sank into the sword tower, drawing upon the awe-inspiring sword intent that had gathered within.

This will is not directed outward to attack, but rather inward to suppress, like a stabilizing needle piercing the heavens and the earth, firmly holding the foundation of one's own sea of ​​consciousness.

Immediately, using his sword intent as a guide, he transformed his divine sense into an invisible bridge, cautiously probing the deepest and darkest part of his sea of ​​consciousness, attempting to communicate with and awaken the innate divine power that had existed since his rebirth but which he had never been able to truly touch and had even brought about the crisis of "transformation"—[Heavenly Forest Illumination].

It was as if some ancient switch had been triggered.

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, the illusory figure of "Lin Zhao of the Heavens," which had always been silent like a background or a shadow, slowly... opened its eyes.

Those eyes no longer held any emotion belonging to "Lin Zhao," only a vast, lofty, and indifferent expanse, like the Heavenly Dao itself overlooking the human world.

The next instant, before Lin Zhao had any more time to react, the phantom suddenly transformed into an invisible stream of light, completely merging with Lin Zhao's primordial consciousness that was currently dominating his sea of ​​consciousness!

"boom--!!!"

It was not a real sound, but a violent tremor on a spiritual level.

Lin Zhao's aura suddenly changed drastically! The vibrancy, emotions, and warmth that originally belonged to a human quickly faded away, replaced by an absolute rationality that was chilling, and a lofty indifference like the Dao of Heaven.

He opened his eyes, and in his pupils seemed to be a galaxy of illusion and the emergence of rules. His gaze toward the outside world was as if he were observing insignificant dust.

He raised his eyes and looked at the golden sword tower he had just built in his sea of ​​consciousness.

At this moment, from the "Heavenly Dao Perspective," the sword tower presents an incredibly clear structure and operational trajectory, while also appearing... somewhat "crude."

"Approaching".

Apathy descends upon the Sword Tower.

"Zheng—!!!"

As if blessed by a supreme being, the sword tower suddenly erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling golden light from its top! The brilliance of that light was like a golden sun exploding in the sea of ​​consciousness!

The dazzling divine light swept across all directions, and wherever it passed, all the "shadows" and "mist" in one's sea of ​​consciousness, formed by daily distractions, emotions, and even latent inner demons, vanished in an instant, like ice and snow meeting boiling water!

The entire sea of ​​consciousness became "clean" and "bright" like never before, as if it had undergone a purification and reshaping that was like the creation of the world!