Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

An invisible domain of law unfolded with a roar centered on him! The illusory images of the Five Sacred Mountains rose and fell, suppressing the surrounding area; the spiritual light of the Four Elements flowed, governing the spiritual energy! A ten-mile radius was entirely within his grasp!

The concealment array on the island was severely impacted, the light screen shook violently, and it was forced to reveal itself, fiercely confronting Lin Zhao's domain power!

The formation struggled to stay afloat thanks to the spiritual veins and the magical power injected by the pirates, but under the all-round suppression and erosion of the magic domain, it quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, its light dimmed rapidly, and its operation became sluggish.

Exclamations and angry curses echoed from the island.

Lin Zhao raised his hand, and a blue lotus appeared from his palm. It then bloomed, and seventy-two lotus leaves transformed into seventy-two streams of blue light. As if they had life, they accurately shot towards the spiritual energy nodes and weak points of the array light shield below!

"Pfft pfft pfft pfft..."

The lotus leaf did not directly confront the formation, but rather, like the most skillful array-breaking cone, it pierced the key points. As the blue light flowed, it disrupted, blocked, and even reversed the formation's spiritual power!

The second-tier high-grade protective array was immediately choked, its light screen flickering and emitting a creaking sound as it struggled under the strain.

At the same time, Lin Zhao pointed his fingers like a sword, and the Green Lotus Sword itself was unleashed with a clang!

A condensed, unparalleled azure sword aura, tens of feet long, was enhanced by the Law Domain and carried a sharp sword intent capable of tearing everything apart. It aimed at the core of the formation, which was also its most vulnerable point at the moment, and slashed down fiercely!

"Snap—!!!"

A crisp cracking sound echoed across the island! The already malfunctioning array shield shattered completely under this sword strike, turning into countless points of light that vanished into nothingness!

"Pfft!" "Ah!"

The formation was forcibly broken, and the backlash swept out.

Most of the hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators on the island coughed up blood, their faces turning ashen, and dozens of them collapsed and fainted. Those with weaker cultivation even died on the spot.

The seven Foundation Establishment pirates were also experiencing turmoil in their qi and blood, their faces were pale, and some of them had blood trickling from the corners of their mouths.

Lin Zhao showed no mercy and attacked again. He pressed down with his left hand, and the spiritual pressure of his domain suddenly became several times heavier, as if the air had solidified into glue.

With a flick of his right hand, the Azure Lotus Sword spun rapidly in mid-air, and seventy-two azure lotus leaves transformed into azure sword shadows. Under the blessing of the Dharma Domain, they regenerated and transformed, spreading out in the blink of an eye into a chilling sword lotus covering half of the island!

"rise."

As the whisper fell, the sword lotus bloomed.

It wasn't just one or two sword energies, but thousands upon thousands of azure streaks of light pouring down like a torrential rain! The sharp sounds of air being torn apart merged into a deathly shriek.

The protective aura of the Qi Refining cultivators was torn apart like paper, and their figures were annihilated in the blue waves, without even having time to scream.

Five Foundation Establishment pirates roared and unleashed their magical artifacts to desperately resist.

However, under the relentless onslaught of sword energy, which was also heavily bound by the law domain, their defenses, like a lone boat in a storm, shattered one after another after only two or three breaths.

The sword energy penetrated his body, and blood blossoms exploded amidst the blue light, only to be quickly dispersed by subsequent sword energy.

As the dust settled, the illusory image of the sword lotus slowly retracted, returning to a green lotus sword that hovered beside Lin Zhao.

Besides him, there were only two other people on the island: the pirate leader who was in the late Foundation Establishment stage, and the black-clad youth who stood quietly on the edge from beginning to end, without even his clothes fluttering.

The pirate leader was a burly, scarred man with a face full of scars. At this moment, he was filled with shock and anger, and was also intimidated by the pressure of the Law Domain.

Losing his composure, he roared and unleashed a large, ghost-headed blade, lunging at Lin Zhao like a madman!

"Stubborn to the end." Lin Zhao shook his head, and with a slight thought, the range of his domain suddenly shrank to within one mile, doubling the suppressive power!

The scarred man suddenly felt as if he were sinking into a deep sea swamp, or as if he were being crushed by a mountain. His spiritual energy almost stopped circulating, and his movements became more than ten times slower! The madness in his eyes was replaced by boundless fear.

The Azure Lotus Sword flashed and disappeared in an instant.

A huge head shot into the sky, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

The headless corpse swayed and fell to the ground.

------

Lin Zhao turned his gaze to the quiet young man in black, a smile suddenly appearing on his lips. He said, "Hey... when did you switch careers and join the pirates? Finished your work? Come help me with the inventory?"

Upon hearing this, the young man in black raised his lowered eyelids, revealing an ordinary face with clear, bright eyes.

He curled his lip in exasperation and said irritably, "The Enforcement Hall's secret mission was to have me infiltrate here, find out the details, and find an opportunity to work together from the inside to wipe them all out. But you, without a word, just flipped the table and killed them all. My mission is over."

Although it was a complaint, there was not much blame in his tone. Instead, it carried the familiarity of a long-awaited reunion and a hint of relaxation that was not easily noticed.

This young man in black was none other than Fang Yue, a close friend from the sect whom he had not seen for more than ten years!

Lin Zhao laughed and landed, not bothering to hide anything, and began picking up the pirates' storage bags and scattered magical artifacts from the ground.

Fang Yue also came over, helping out while accurately pointing out several hidden chambers on the island: "Over there, behind the rock wall, there's a secret door, that's a storeroom. Under that crooked tree in the northeast corner, they've buried some valuable goods they recently robbed but haven't sold yet."

"Oh, there's a small spiritual vein node under the leader's wooden hut; that's where he secretly stores his spirit stones."

The two worked together seamlessly, as if they had returned to their days in the sect.

Lin Zhao could sense that Fang Yue had become more lively after more than ten years.

"Looks like the food at the Enforcement Hall is pretty good?" Lin Zhao joked, tossing several bulging storage bags to Fang Yue.

Fang Yue accepted it readily: "Twenty percent is mine. As for the intelligence fee and that 'compensation for emotional distress' you mentioned, if the Enforcement Hall hadn't forbidden me from taking action, I would have dealt with these people myself long ago."

He paused, his tone tinged with confidence, "With the spatial power I currently possess, my efficiency in assassination might not be lower than yours."

Lin Zhao nodded, deeply agreeing.

Fang Yue's approach focuses on speed-based attacks, which is indeed more efficient than his in certain situations.

Several hours later, the island was thoroughly cleared, and everything of value was looted.

Lin Zhao set fire to the remaining corpses and buildings, thus cleaning up the battlefield.

Afterwards, he followed Fang Yue and flew hundreds of miles in a spirit boat to a very secluded temporary cave dwelling located in a cliff crevice of a medium-sized island.

The cave dwelling was not large, but it was simply and comfortably furnished, with a basic isolation formation.

Fang Yue skillfully took out the tea set, drew upon the spiritual water, and began to brew the spiritual tea.

As steam rose and the aroma of tea filled the air, it dispelled the salty smell of the sea breeze and the lingering scent of blood from the recent battle.

The two sat facing each other in silence, with only the faint sound of boiling tea filling the air.

More than a decade has passed, and we have all experienced hardships. At this moment, we feel a rare sense of peace and tranquility.

Inside the cave, the aroma of tea wafted through the air, yet it couldn't dispel the look of surprise and doubt in Fang Yue's eyes.

He stared at Lin Zhao for a long time, until Lin Zhao raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"