Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Inside the training room of the garrison headquarters, Lin Zhao sat cross-legged.

There were more than a dozen jade bottles in front of him, containing second-grade high-quality pills refined by Yan Lie.

There were dozens of rare second-tier cultivation resources piled up next to it.

Some were rare resources stored in the market, while others were obtained through trade in the market.

Throughout the year, the caravan continuously transported resources back, which were then exchanged for what he needed through the markets.

What he needs to do now is to transform these resources into strength.

He took the pill, and the Five Elements Return to Nothingness True Technique slowly circulated, with spiritual energy flowing in circles through his meridians.

Lin Zhao closed her eyes, her consciousness sinking into her body.

Spiritual energy surged like a river, increasing his strength. At the current rate, Lin Zhao is expected to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment within five years.

one day.

Ten days.

Three months.

……

The morning light shone through the restrictions on the third floor of the town's stone hall, casting pale golden patterns on the bluestone floor—the manifestation of the spiritual energy of a second-tier top-grade spiritual vein, like countless tiny golden threads wandering across the ground.

Lin Zhao opened her eyes.

The spiritual energy in the secluded cultivation room paused slightly, then began to slowly rotate around him.

He had been circulating the Five Elements Returning to the Void True Technique within his body for a full ten days, and he had already cultivated this fourth-level technique to the peak of the second level.

When magical power surges through the meridians, it carries a faint aura of devouring everything, like a bottomless vortex.

Converted to cultivation level: Peak of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

Nine years.

He broke through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment at the age of forty-four, and now at fifty-three, he has reached the peak of the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment in just nine years.

This speed would place it among the top tier even within a sect.

Lin Zhao sat quietly, letting the cultivation technique operate on its own, the Divine Soul Sword Tower in his sea of ​​consciousness radiating golden light.

In his divine state, he could even "see" every strand of magical power flowing within his body—like countless luminous streams that eventually converged into the unfathomable Ruins Furnace in his dantian.

too fast.

Lin Zhao herself was somewhat moved.

He joined the sect at the age of twenty-three, established a superior Dao foundation at the age of twenty-eight, left the sect at the age of thirty-three and returned to the Yunxia Mountain Range, returned to the sect after completing a ten-year mission at the age of forty-three, and broke through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment at the age of forty-four—taking seventeen years.

Then comes the creation of the Sword Tower, innate divine powers, the Law Domain, the Sea-Suppressing Cliff, the Tongming Immortal City, the defense of Cangyun Mountain, and the Battle of Dingfeng Plain.

He was fifty-three years old at the time, at the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

It's just one step away from that door.

"I'm almost at the late stage of Foundation Establishment..."

Lin Zhao whispered, her voice barely audible in the empty secluded chamber.

But he stopped.

The later stages of Foundation Establishment are not so easy.

The door was right in front of me, but I couldn't push it open—not because I lacked the strength, but because I needed to slow down.

After nine years of arduous cultivation, especially in the last three years when he consumed a large amount of second-grade high-quality pills and resources, his magical power has more than doubled.

Even with the Five Elements Return to Nothingness True Technique's ability to devour everything, and even with the Dharma Domain's ability to absorb external spiritual energy, Lin Zhao is ultimately made of flesh and blood and has his own limits.

Like a bow, once it's fully drawn, you need to loosen it, otherwise it will break.

Lin Zhao could feel a slight swelling and pain in his meridians—not from injury, but from the abundance of magical power, like a river channel suddenly widening and the water flow not having had time to fully adapt.

In his divine state, he could even see that some subtle aspects of his magical power were not yet fully refined and needed time to mature.

Having too many resources and cultivating too quickly can also be a problem.

He stood up and removed the restrictions from the seclusion room.

The moment the morning light truly shone in, Lin Zhao squinted.

The third floor of the stone hall is located at the highest point of the garrison. Through the windows, one can see the entire Cangyun Mountain market—the array formation gleams with a pale golden halo in the sunlight.

The market was very bustling.

Cultivators came and went on the streets, queues formed in front of shops, and spirit beast carriages slowly drove along the main road.

Those minor cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, carrying magical artifacts, hurried along.

Groups of two or three independent cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining entered the teahouse, exchanging the latest news.

At the entrance to the market in the distance, a caravan was unloading goods. Dozens of spirit beast carts were lined up in a long queue, and the carts were loaded with all kinds of resources.

A year ago, there weren't this many people here.

A year ago, Dingfeng Plain was a bandit stronghold at the border of the three major dynasties, occupied by hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and eight or nine out of ten passing caravans were robbed.

Now, the Cangyun Mountain Market has opened up trade routes to Dingfeng Plain, connecting the trade of the three kingdoms of Zixuan, Nanli, and Tianshui.

All passing caravans must resupply, rest, and trade here—you don't need to ask anyone, the monks will come on their own.

Lin Zhao looked at the bustling scene, his face expressionless.

But he knew that the matter at Dingfeng Plain would not end so easily.

More than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators who had escaped joined forces with newly dispatched personnel from the three major dynasties to rebuild a force of over ten thousand people in the south.

He's still doing the same old thing, but he's become much more restrained: he only takes the goods, not the people.

If they encounter someone with connections, they'll let them go after paying a small protection fee.

But they never harassed the caravans from Cangyun Mountain.

This is something we understand very well.

Lin Zhao killed nearly seventy Foundation Establishment cultivators in one battle. The remaining forty-odd were controlled by Yan Chiheng using the Forbidden God Disc. On the surface, they were still Tribulation Cultivators, but in reality, they became the guards of Cangyun Mountain.

Lin Zhao's combat strength belongs to the "first tier below Core Formation"—there are no more than two such figures in the entire three dynasties.

The cultivators aren't stupid.

Who would be so foolish as to provoke Lin Zhao? What if he were to emerge from Cangyun Mountain again and attack? Who could stop him?

Therefore, the two sides had a tacit understanding: the caravans from Cangyun Mountain took the northern route, while they took the southern route; when the people from Cangyun Mountain patrolled to the dividing line, they retreated thirty miles.

Occasionally, caravans would stray onto the wrong route, but they would pretend not to notice.

Well water does not interfere with river water.

But how long can this calm last?

Lin Zhao looked towards Dingfeng Plain. A year ago, he and Yan Chiheng charged in, unleashing their full magical domains. The two array spirits, along with the lightning spirit, swept through the area.

Finally, he used the forbidden technique Five Emperors Seal to forcefully clash with the Blood Bead that broke the formation, killing nearly forty Foundation Establishment cultivators in one strike.

That battle was exhilarating.

But some people will never forget that battle.

Lin Zhao withdrew his gaze, turned around, and walked down from the stone hall.

There are still many things to deal with outside: the accounts at Old He's market, and the situation with Yan Chiheng's raiding party.

The case of a Foundation Establishment cultivator being born from the Hundred Beasts Foundation Establishment Pill, and the pills refined by Yan Lie...

He was only at the peak of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment at the age of fifty-three.

Lin Zhao still has a long way to go before reaching the Core Formation stage.

-----

Lin Zhao did not rush to go out.

He passed through the stone hall of the garrison and descended the winding stone steps to the first basement level.

This is the central hub of the Cangyun Mountain formation.

The space was very spacious, more than ten zhang square, and the walls were covered with densely packed runes that glowed with a faint light under the nourishment of the spiritual veins.

A huge array plate hangs above the dome—more than ten feet in diameter, made entirely of second-tier spirit jade, with pale golden light patterns flowing across its surface.

This is the original main hub of the protective array of Cangyun Mountain, controlling the array light screen within a radius of more than 20 miles. There are also twelve array flags distributed in various places in the market as auxiliary nodes.