Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Originally, this supernatural power was intended to be used with the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pearl—the thunder pearl would transform into a dragon claw, and with a single swing of the dragon claw, thunder would strike with immense force.

Unfortunately, it's the same old problem: Lin Zhao doesn't have a lightning spiritual root, so the lightning orb's endurance is too poor, only enough for one strike.

But it's different now.

If the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pool can truly be refined, and the Thunder Pearl is fused into it, and the Thunder Liquid is stored, he will be able to continuously draw upon the power of lightning.

At that time, the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon's lightning spirit can be maintained for a long time, and the Nine Luminaries Lightning Claw can even be released multiple times.

Battery life issues? No longer a concern.

Of course, this is still just a concept.

It will take another year or two before it is truly completed.

Lin Zhao originally planned to study the matter together with Yan Chiheng and share their knowledge.

But look at his smug expression now, as if to say, "Wait till I come and challenge you with another attack technique!"

Lin Zhao decided not to say anything for the time being.

He'll give Yan Chiheng a surprise when he finishes the Nine Luminaries Thunder Claw.

Well, I'm definitely surprised, but I don't know if I'll be happy.

---

During these six months, Lin Zhao also took the time to use the Thunder Gathering Pool once.

It was a stormy night.

He stood at the highest point of Cangyun Mountain, using the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pearl as a guide to draw down the lightning falling from the sky.

Rumble—!

One bolt of lightning after another struck down, only to be drawn into the spirit pool he had prepared beforehand.

Lightning entered the pool, turning into purple lightning liquid that hissed and reflected a purple hue throughout the pool.

The thunderstorm lasted for an hour before it stopped.

Lin Zhao looked and saw that the spirit pool contained one-tenth of the lightning liquid.

Not much, but just enough.

These lightning liquids cannot be used to restore the Spirit Gathering Pool itself—the Spirit Gathering Pool needs to be slowly nurtured and restored by the spiritual power of the spiritual veins—but the lightning liquids are enough for him to unleash the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon for a long time.

No more playing for just fifteen minutes like before.

-----

The auction is still a month away, and the market is making preparations.

Because it involves five Foundation Establishment Pills at once, and because Cangyun Mountain Market is a long-established market that has been maintained for over a thousand years, many people are still attracted to it.

Tens of thousands of cultivators gathered in an instant, making the market bustling again.

Old He was so busy that he barely had time to rest. Every day he was running between various shops to allocate supplies—elixirs, magical artifacts, and talismans—all of which were in short supply.

Of course, with more people, there are more disputes.

Fortunately, Yan Chiheng was there.

He stood above the market, a flash of lightning appeared, and the area below immediately fell silent.

"Behave yourselves," he said lazily. "Those who cause trouble, throw them out."

No one dared to talk back.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator with lightning element abilities has a slightly stronger attack power than a sword cultivator for a short period of time.

Who would be so foolish as to provoke him?

Following Lin Zhao's instructions, the Cangyun Mountain Auction House widely publicized the advantages and disadvantages of the Hundred Beasts Foundation Building Pill:

Before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, Qi Refining cultivators need to cultivate a technique called "True Technique of a Hundred Beasts" to gradually refine the essence blood of first-tier demon beasts and condense it into "essence blood of a hundred beasts" within their bodies.

Once the essence and blood have accumulated to a certain extent, they will naturally nourish the body. At that time, taking the Foundation Building Pill will have a 30% success rate.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, one has a normal lifespan of over two hundred years, and also gains a spell that allows one to transform into a Foundation Establishment demon beast.

However, the drawback is that it can only build a low-grade foundation, with virtually no hope of further improvement in the future.

Moreover, there is a possibility of being devoured by bestiality after a hundred years of Foundation Establishment, especially after the decline period of two hundred years of Foundation Establishment.

Although these cultivators were somewhat disappointed upon their arrival—after all, it wasn't a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill—they were still very interested.

After all, the increase in lifespan after foundation building is a real and tangible benefit.

As for being consumed by bestiality, as long as the flaws are known in advance, there are still many cultivation techniques, secret arts, and magical artifacts in the cultivation world that can suppress them.

Several months ago, Lin Zhao fulfilled his promise and prioritized the supply of five Hundred Beast Foundation Building Pills within the market.

Old He gritted his teeth and exchanged one for his grandson, who was at the tenth level of Qi Refining.

That kid went into seclusion for half a month, and when he came out, he was already at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Although his breathing was somewhat unstable and a hint of bestial ferocity would occasionally flash in his eyes—that was a side effect of the Hundred Beasts Foundation Building Pill—Old He didn't care.

Once you've established your foundation, that's it.

Two hundred years of life, it was worth it.

When they came out to share their experiences, everyone was in an uproar.

Some people prepared spirit stones to participate in the auction, some questioned the efficacy of the Hundred Beasts Foundation Building Pill, and some thought it was a conspiracy and that they should buy the genuine Foundation Building Pill.

But what is the price of genuine Foundation Building Pills? They are available but unavailable.

With major powers monopolizing the market, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators can forget about it.

Want to build a foundation?

You either have to spend an exorbitant amount of spirit stones, or join a powerful force and risk your life, or use all sorts of evil and crooked methods, facing a near-death experience.

Now Cangyun Mountain has launched this pill, which explicitly states that it has side effects, but the price is more than half the price of the genuine Foundation Building Pill.

For a rogue cultivator, this is already an immense blessing.

Furthermore, some of the Foundation Establishment spiritual items can be replaced with the essence blood of second-tier demon beasts. Of course, having a Foundation Establishment spiritual item is even better, as it increases the probability of Foundation Establishment.

After Lin Zhao took over the market, he obtained five genuine Foundation Establishment Pills from the inventory. He sent two of them to Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao at Tianyun Market.

The remaining two were kept in hand and would not be easily given away.

However, there are still some discordant voices.

The largest one is the so-called "Cangyun Alliance"—an alliance formed by the eight Foundation Establishment cultivators who were previously affiliated with the market and were expelled, together with the nearby Foundation Establishment families.

I heard that there are already more than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The three battle flags from that market have never been returned.

Lin Zhao's patience with them had reached its limit.

Fortunately, his Thunder Gathering Pool had already achieved some initial results.

Riding the thunder dragon, sweeping across all directions—

I believe it will be a powerful, majestic, and domineering thing.

-----

Half a month before the auction, Lin Zhao and Yan Chiheng had arrived near the residence of a Foundation Establishment family.

This family occupied a hilly area, and their formation covered an area of ​​ten miles in radius. The faint spiritual light enveloped the entire mountain in a pale golden light curtain.

I heard that their ancestor once tried to break through to the Core Formation realm—of course, he failed and passed away, but the protective array he left behind was indeed a top-grade second-tier array, and its foundation was still intact.

This family alone has five Foundation Establishment cultivators in charge, with the leader being a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Including the three Foundation Establishment cultivators who ran away from the market three months ago, there are a total of eight Foundation Establishment cultivators.

These eight people are the core members of the so-called "Cangyun Alliance".

Lin Zhao stood on a low hill a few miles away, gazing calmly at the golden hills in the distance.

"Once we wipe out this den, and then go to the other two Foundation Establishment gathering places, the alliance will basically fall apart."

Yan Chiheng stood to the side with his arms crossed, "How do we fight? Should I go up and challenge them first?"

"No need," Lin Zhao shook his head. "Let them see what the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon is all about."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Thunder Gathering Pool deep within his dantian trembled violently.

—It was a palm-sized, dark purple thunder pool, with nine fist-sized thunder pearls at the bottom. They had been dormant for a long time, but now, stimulated by Lin Zhao's spiritual power, all nine pearls rang out!

Boom! Crack—!

Countless purple electric snakes burst forth from Lin Zhao's body, coiling, expanding, and surging, converging into a ball above his head in the blink of an eye.

"hold head high--!!!"

The dragon's roar shook the heavens!

A nine-luminous celestial dragon, composed entirely of raging lightning, roared out from the lightning!

It grew as it faced the wind, twenty zhang, thirty zhang—and finally hovered a hundred zhang above Lin Zhao's head, forty zhang in length!

Each dragon scale was formed from lightning compressed to its extreme, a deep purple tinged with white, with electric arcs leaping and crackling along the edges of the scales.