Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon flew away from the Zhou family, and Yan Chiheng chased after it from behind, landing on its back.

He circled the dragon's head twice, then reached out and touched its body.

"How impressive!" he exclaimed. "Once my lightning-based divine power is fully developed, I will be able to maintain the existence of the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon for a long time."

Lin Zhao didn't reply, but just smiled.

Yan Chiheng flew down again and flew forward on his own—he refused to ride on Lin Zhao's thunder dragon, so he naturally wanted to compete with Lin Zhao. There was another match later, and he planned to show off his skills.

Lin Zhao didn't try to persuade him, and instead rode the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon toward his next target.

He was also testing the Thunder Dragon's spiritual energy consumption.

Without activating its domain, the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon was consuming a large amount of spiritual energy every moment just by traveling.

Flying five hundred miles from Cangyun Mountain, the Thunder Dragon lost thirty percent of its energy, and its size shrank to just over thirty feet.

But if the law domain is opened—

With a slight thought, Lin Zhao quietly unfolded the Four Elements and Five Sacred Mountains Dharma Domain.

The spiritual energy within a radius of several miles surged into his body like rivers flowing into the sea, and then flowed into the Thunder Gathering Pool through his dantian.

Lei Chi transformed spiritual energy into lightning liquid, which was then added to the body of the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon.

The dragon's body trembled slightly, and its size began to slowly return to normal.

No wonder it is said that the Dharma Domain, supernatural powers, and magic treasures are the three standard features of a Core Formation True Person.

The three complement each other and form an endless cycle. A Core Formation cultivator is a complete dimensional reduction attack on a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Lin Zhao put away the Dharma Domain and continued on his way.

Half an hour later, another valley shrouded in an array appeared ahead.

Five Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered here—they didn't have the same foundation as the Zhou family; they were just a temporary alliance formed together.

But the message had clearly already been sent; the array's light screen was blindingly bright, indicating that they had revealed all their resources.

Lin Zhao didn't waste any words, and the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon prepared to pounce.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the Divine Soul Sword Tower suddenly lit up, and the Heavenly State descended.

The supernatural runes I had practiced repeatedly over the past six months appeared one by one in my mind, as clear as if they were engraved in my soul.

He opened his eyes.

Raise your right hand, making a grasping motion with your five fingers.

Supernatural power: [Nine Luminaries Thunder Claw]

This is a divine power he created by combining the Thunder Gathering Pool and thunder-based Taoist techniques. It was still being refined and had not yet been fully formed.

But at this moment, he has the Thunder Gathering Pool in his hand, and with the blessing of the Heavenly State, it is not impossible for him to forcibly use his divine power.

The Thunder Gathering Pool deep within his dantian suddenly emptied—all the stored thunder liquid was instantly drained!

The Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon beneath his feet let out a mournful cry and collapsed with a thunderous roar, turning into a sky full of lightning.

All the lightning bolts recoiled and coalesced into a gigantic dragon claw in front of Lin Zhao—

It has five claws, is ten zhang in size, and is entirely purple-white. The patterns on its scales are clearly visible, and destructive arcs of electricity leap beneath each scale.

This is a lightning claw that is truly solidified to the extreme.

Lin Zhao suddenly swung her hand

The Nine Luminaries Thunder Claw seemed to ignore space, instantly appearing in front of the array's light screen.

Five huge claw marks appeared out of thin air on the light shield of the formation below!

The claw mark cut into the light barrier from the upper left corner and exited from the lower right corner. The light barrier didn't even last a moment before it shattered with a deafening roar! The claw mark, still carrying considerable force, slammed into the valley below.

Five deep trenches, each hundreds of feet long, were plowed into the ground. Every trench was tens of feet deep, and wherever they passed, all buildings and sacred fields were reduced to ashes!

Those cultivators died before they could even scream.

This is the power of supernatural abilities.

Lin Zhao stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the ruins.

There are still Foundation Establishment cultivators alive inside. His main purpose for this trip is to establish his authority. If the people are gone, how can he spread his fame? One or two Foundation Establishment cultivators are nothing to him now.

A moment later, two beams of light flew out hastily from the edge of the ruins—two surviving early Foundation Establishment cultivators, their faces pale and their bodies trembling.

They flew close and, without saying a word, knelt down in mid-air.

"This junior...this junior was blind..."

Lin Zhao didn't speak, she just looked at them.

One of the quick-witted ones immediately pulled out a storage bag from his pocket—the battle flag was inside.

The other one realized what was happening, flew back to the ruins, and returned carrying four storage bags.

There were five storage bags belonging to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Lin Zhao took it, scanned it with his divine sense, and nodded slightly.

Ignoring them, he turned and flew back the way he came.

Yan Chiheng flew over from a distance and stared at him for a long time.

"That last move," he swallowed, "was it supernatural power?"

Lin Zhao nodded.

Yan Chiheng remained silent for a long while before finally managing to utter, "This is outrageous!"

"You've almost got all the necessary equipment for Core Formation: Dharma Domain, Divine Power, Magic Treasure. How will Foundation Establishment cultivators compete with you in the future?"

Lin Zhao shook his head, his tone serious: "There are countless geniuses in the cultivation world, many of whom are stronger than me."

Yan Chiheng rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay him any attention.

He also temporarily abandoned his idea of ​​competing with Lin Zhao—what a load of crap, how could he possibly compete?

Lin Zhao smiled slightly as she watched him look humiliated.

I have to say, today was really awesome.

The initial test of the Thunder Gathering Pool was a success. The Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon displayed its formidable power, even forcibly unleashing its supernatural abilities and putting on a show in front of Yan Chiheng.

Hmm, I'm in a good mood.

In the distance, a third target awaited them.

Three Foundation Establishment cultivators who had escaped from the market gathered together. It was said that they were already showing signs of becoming cultivators who had undergone a major transformation. They occupied a hilltop and took in many desperate criminals.

"Next, I'll take your turn." Yan Chiheng cracked his knuckles. "I'll show you what real thunder magic is all about."

Lin Zhao had no objection and gestured for them to proceed.

Half an hour later.

Lin Zhao retrieved the third array flag, while Yan Chiheng had three Foundation Establishment cultivator storage bags at his waist.

The two rode on the light of escape and flew towards Cangyun Mountain.

As the sun sets, it turns the horizon a golden-red hue.

As Yan Chiheng flew, he muttered, "How many storage bags have you collected? More than a dozen, right?"

Lin Zhao counted: "Thirteen."

"Can I have one?"

"Didn't you take three for yourself?"

"How can that be the same? Yours has the storage bag of a late-stage cultivator!"

Lin Zhao smiled but didn't reply.

In the distance, the outline of Cangyun Mountain is already faintly visible.

The market area should become lively in about two weeks.

In half a month, the news could spread for thousands of miles around.

After all, the death of more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators was no small matter in the Zi Xuan Dynasty.

How large was the Zixuan Dynasty? It governed nineteen prefectures and three hundred counties.

Each county town has at least several hundred thousand people, while some prefecture towns can have over a million.

With the help of cultivators, the city was able to function smoothly despite so many people crowding in, and the entire dynasty had a population of nearly 100 million.

There are twenty-three markets for cultivators, with one basically located in the core area of ​​each prefecture. Cangyun Market is one of them.

How many Foundation Establishment cultivators are there? More than six hundred, averaging about forty per prefecture.

Of course, this is largely because the Zixuan Dynasty is located near the Immortal City, with abundant resources, and various methods have been used to cultivate it, which has led to the existence of so many Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Even so, the sudden loss of more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, even if most of them were independent cultivators or family cultivators rather than the dynasty's own cultivators, was enough to make many forces turn their attention to Cangyun Mountain.

After this battle, Lin Zhao truly came into the view of the highest-ranking cultivators of the Zi Xuan Dynasty.