Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao neither dodged nor avoided, and the Dharma Domain that had been condensed to its extreme suddenly changed!

The illusory images of the Five Sacred Mountains within the Dharma Domain no longer flowed, but instead transformed into chaotic vortices.

At the same time, it deprives the opponent of the ability to sense the spiritual power of heaven and earth. All external forces that enter this domain must first endure the rejection and attrition of the domain!

"boom--!!"

The crimson aura crashed into the distorted domain, its speed and sharpness visibly diminishing and becoming disordered.

The body cultivator's movements also faltered slightly. His spiritual energy had been stripped away, yet he felt his invincible power encountering an inexplicable stagnation here.

It was that momentary delay that caused Lin Zhao to cough up a mouthful of blood, his soul seemingly shattered by the powerful backlash from the forbidden technique.

However, within his sea of ​​consciousness, the Four Elements Divine Soul Sword Tower shone brightly, suppressing the spiritual power and divine soul that were almost boiling due to the activation of forbidden techniques.

He poured all the spiritual energy gathered within the Dharma Domain, along with all his own magical power, into that hand seal!

With a low shout, five-colored light suddenly shone in front of Lin Zhao, quickly condensing into an ancient, majestic, and seemingly illusory seal that seemed to bear the power of the five elements' birth and death—the Five Emperors Seal!

Although it was an illusion, the aura emanating from that imperial seal had already touched the threshold of Core Formation!

As the seal took shape, Lin Zhao's face turned pale, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that he had been under immense strain.

Without hesitation, he waved his hand and pushed out the seal!

The five-colored imperial seal flew silently toward the body cultivator's projection, and wherever it passed, the space seemed to distort slightly!

The body cultivator roared, crossed his two halberds, and unleashed all his killing intent to fiercely meet the attack!

A moment of deathly silence.

immediately--

"Swoosh... Boom!!!"

First came the faint, annihilating sound, as if everything was being wiped away by an invisible hand, followed by a violent explosion of energy that had been compressed to its limit and finally lost its restraint!

Five-colored light spread, intertwined, and vanished like a tide, melting away the blood and evil spirits wherever it passed, shattering the twin halberds inch by inch! The body cultivator's projection struggled and blurred within this magnificent yet deadly tide of annihilation...

Under the impact of the aftershocks, Lin Zhao's domain of power melted away in an instant, much like ice and snow under the sun. He himself groaned and was thrown away, his internal organs displaced, and he suffered serious internal injuries.

As the light faded, only a shallow, irregularly shaped indentation with five-colored burn marks remained.

"Challenger: Lin Zhao. Fifth floor, cleared."

-----

Lin Zhao slumped to the ground, but a joyful smile appeared on his face. After half a year of hard work, he had finally crossed this threshold.

More importantly, he finally managed to forcefully unleash this forbidden technique, which theoretically requires the peak of Foundation Establishment to even attempt, at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage! Although the cost was considerable, it meant that he had gained another trump card.

100,000 contribution points, acquired! Lin Zhao's third Tier 3 spiritual item is already beckoning to him on the exchange list.

However, Lin Zhao was not in a hurry to exchange the contribution points. He kept them in his account and could exchange them at any time within the sect.

He was unsure what attributes of a third-tier spiritual item he would obtain in the future, with the sect serving as a final supplement.

As for the sixth level of the Cloud Tower, Lin Zhao had tried several times, but the geniuses he faced all possessed at least one of the following abilities: Law Domain, Divine Power, or Magic Treasure.

There are even those who possess all three methods, making them geniuses capable of directly confronting a Core Formation True Person.

Lin Zhao was easily defeated and had to go back to recuperate. Just as he recovered and emerged from seclusion, he received a message—Xu Chuan had successfully broken through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and emerged from seclusion.

Almost simultaneously, news also came from Fang Yue that he had also successfully advanced to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

Old friends gathered together, and the time was just right.

Lin Zhao changed into a clean blue robe, a long-lost relaxed smile on his face, and headed towards their sacred ground within the sect.

-----

They were all in the sect's separate courtyard, in the same sacred land, by the same lake.

This gathering was held at Fang Yue's villa, nothing special, just a waterside pavilion.

The two sat leaning against the railing, the evening breeze sweeping across the lake, shattering the ripples on the water.

Xu Chuan was excitedly showing off his insights from breaking through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage to Fang Yue. When he got excited, he even gestured with his hands: "You have no idea, the moment that barrier loosened, my sea of ​​consciousness was like a skylight opening up—"

"Alright, alright." Fang Yue was too lazy to listen to his boasting. He caught a glimpse of a figure in a green robe approaching on the water out of the corner of his eye and suddenly spoke up, "Lin Zhao is here. You two are now at the same cultivation level, how about a sparring match?"

He paused for a moment, his tone extremely sincere.

Because he had heard Lin Zhao say that when Xu Chuan went into seclusion, Lin Zhao's Dharma Domain had not yet been established, so he probably didn't know Lin Zhao's specific combat strength.

Xu Chuan's eloquent speech came to an abrupt halt.

He slowly lowered his gesturing hand, sat up straight, and said solemnly, "We're all brothers. What kind of talk is this, fighting and killing each other?"

Lin Zhao stepped into the waterside pavilion and happened to hear this sentence, and couldn't help but laugh.

He casually picked a seat, took the teacup Fang Yue offered, and moistened his throat.

Several birds skimmed across the lake in the distance, creating ripples.

He hadn't had this kind of experience in a long time—the higher one's cultivation level, the fewer people one could have tea with like this.

After drinking half a cup of tea, Lin Zhao put down the cup and spoke.

"We've established a firm foothold in the Foundation Establishment stage." His voice wasn't loud, but it made the other two stop what they were doing. "But the path of cultivation ahead will require an extraordinary amount of resources."

To be honest, I've already started accumulating resources for Core Formation.

He looked at Fang Yue: "Those five drops of Azure Jade Spirit Water of yours, your sect must have a secret technique for nurturing and cultivating third-tier spiritual creatures. Have you considered it?"

Fang Yue remained silent, his eyes lowered as he looked at the tea foam in his cup.

After a long pause, he shook his head: "My path is different from yours. I don't have as many resources as you. What I lack most right now is the resources to improve my cultivation level."

"I need five drops of spiritual water to advance my cultivation level so I can take the next step, Core Formation... I'll think about that later."

He spoke calmly, without resentment or complaint.

Xu Chuan leaned on the railing, his chin resting on the back of his hand, and said in a deep voice, "Your master really cares about you."

Third-tier magic treasures are given away so readily, and third-tier spiritual items are bestowed so easily; an ordinary Core Formation cultivator might not be able to accumulate such resources even after decades of hard work.

Lin Zhao turned her head to look at him, but didn't answer. She only asked, "I haven't asked yet, what about the person behind you?"

Xu Chuan stood up, his expression instantly turning cold.

He gazed at the lake, his voice devoid of emotion: "I suppose you could call it a transaction."

My master belongs to the Thousand Machines Hall. Regardless of the evaluation results from the Hall of Inquiry, I will still be his disciple. I will receive the resources I deserve, but not more.

On the family side, without violating the sect's rules, we will provide him with some resources and information channels.

He paused for a moment, then said, "He can't provide the resources for Core Formation. He doesn't even have enough for himself, and there are still more than a dozen disciples waiting in line. But I don't expect anything from him. The resources provided by my elders at home are enough for now."

He turned his head and saw Lin Zhao hesitating, so he cut him off: "If I don't become his disciple, I will definitely become a Core Formation disciple of the Qiankun Palace—"

That area is indeed the core of the sect, with high benefits and low risk, but once you go in, you can forget about getting out.