Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

But at this moment, four ancient statues still hang above the array plate.

Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise.

Each statue is several meters tall and is arranged in the four directions of east, west, south, and north, silently floating in mid-air.

Pale blue, silvery white, crimson, and jet black.

Four-colored rays of light emanated from inside the statue, like a sleeping behemoth awakening.

Lin Zhao spent two years integrating the Four Spirits Returning to Origin Formation into the Cangyun Mountain Protective Formation.

There are two sets of formations. One is a second-tier formation based on sect standards, which is relatively conventional.

One set is the Four Spirits Returning to Origin Formation left behind by a Core Formation True Person, with the power of the Four Symbols as its core.

To integrate them, it's not a simple matter of layering them; rather, it's about making the power of the Four Spirits statues a true force for the market.

Lin Zhao had only briefly forcibly added the Four Spirits statues to the formation, but after two years of adjustments, the Four Spirits Returning to Origin Formation and the Guardian Formation have been completely integrated.

The signs of time on the surfaces of the four statues have completely disappeared, leaving them looking brand new—under the long-term erosion of the array's spiritual energy, the cracks have been filled with spiritual energy, and the mottled marks have been smoothed out.

At this moment, each of the four spirit statues is a true second-tier top-grade magic weapon. When fully activated, it is equivalent to four Foundation Establishment peak cultivators attacking at the same time.

Lin Zhao stood in the center and closed her eyes.

The legal domain unfolds.

Five illusory mountain images appeared, which were the foundation of the Dharma Domain after the spiritual bodies of the Five Sacred Mountains were sublimated.

The four colors of light—earth, water, fire, and wind—flowed around the phantom, representing the power of the Four Elements Pearls.

Then, the magic domain connects with the array.

In that instant, Lin Zhao's whole body trembled.

His senses spread outward like a tide—through the stone walls of the underground level, through the foundation of the garrison, through every street of the market, through the light curtain of the mountain-protecting array, and all the way to more than twenty miles outside Cangyun Mountain.

The area of ​​the Dharma Domain was expanded by more than double due to the formation.

Originally, Lin Zhao's domain limit was ten miles in radius, and within those ten miles, he was the ruler.

But at this moment, with the combined blessing of the Four Spirits Returning to Origin Formation and the Mountain Protecting Formation, the Dharma Domain covered the entire Cangyun Mountain Market, encompassing every inch of land within a radius of more than twenty miles.

He could sense every piece of bluestone, every spiritual herb, and every cultivator's breath.

That feeling... it was like the whole mountain had become part of my body.

Lin Zhao opened her eyes and raised her right hand.

A thought crossed my mind.

Above the market, the pale golden light curtain covering a radius of twenty miles suddenly began to surge violently.

Countless cultivators looked up at the sky.

They saw that the protective shield, which usually flowed quietly, was now like a pot of boiling water, with dense runes appearing on its surface, each rune spinning rapidly.

The color of the light curtain changed from light gold to deep gold, and then from deep gold to transparent—it didn't disappear, but rather it condensed to the extreme.

Then, the phantom images of five mountains appeared out of thin air.

That was the outward manifestation of the Five Sacred Mountains' domain—each one was nearly a hundred feet in size, suspended above the market, blocking out half the sky.

The mountain is painted in five colors: blue, red, white, black, and yellow, exuding a heavy aura that suppresses everything.

Immediately afterwards, the four colors of light—earth, water, fire, and wind—emerged from between the illusory mountain shadows, weaving together into a huge net of light that linked the five mountains together.

finally--

Four enormous spiritual entities rose into the sky from the four corners of the market.

The Azure Dragon meanders and coils, stretching for tens of feet, its scales a vibrant green that reflects countless points of light under the sun.

The white tiger was pouncing, its murderous aura soaring to the sky, and a layer of white frost even formed on the ground beneath its feet;

The Vermilion Bird spread its wings and cried out, its feathers igniting with crimson flames, the heat wave forcing nearby cultivators to retreat one after another.

The Black Tortoise is coiled like a small mountain, with runes flowing on its shell, each rune resembling a star.

Four spirit figures hung at the four corners of the market, illuminating the entire sky.

The market was eerily silent.

Then came the sounds of gasps of astonishment.

Then came the sounds of gasps of astonishment.

"This, this is..."

"The Four Spirits manifest?! That's a phenomenon only a third-tier formation can produce!"

"No, look closely—those five illusory mountain shadows are a cultivator's domain! The domain and the formation have merged!"

"It's that one... it's Garrison Commander Lin."

"Isn't he a Foundation Establishment cultivator? A Foundation Establishment cultivator's domain can cover more than twenty miles? Are you kidding me?!"

"It's that one... it's Garrison Commander Lin."

"That ruthless expert who killed seventy Foundation Establishment cultivators at Dingfeng Plain a year ago?"

"Is he... demonstrating his power?"

Some daring Foundation Establishment cultivators attempted to approach the five illusory mountain shadows.

But as soon as he took to the air, an invisible pressure made it hard for him to breathe—it was the suppression of the Dharma Domain, the strangulation of the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, and the suppression of the Five Sacred Mountains Spirits.

Under the influence of the law, Cangyun Mountain Market has become a no-fly zone.

The man's expression changed drastically, and he immediately landed. The pressure vanished the moment he touched the ground.

"To have such control over one's domain..." he murmured, "with such clear boundaries and complete control, this is clearly something only a Core Formation cultivator could achieve."

The basement level of the garrison headquarters.

Lin Zhao withdrew her hand.

The five illusory mountain images slowly dissipated, and the four spiritual bodies transformed back into points of light and merged into the array, restoring peace to the sky above the market.

But the cultivators were still looking up, their eyes filled with shock and awe.

Lin Zhao paid no attention to those gazes.

He sensed the changes in that instant—after the fusion of the Dharma Domain and the array, his perception range expanded, his suppression increased, and the speed at which he mobilized spiritual energy increased several times over.

If a Foundation Establishment cultivator were to attack Cangyun Mountain at this moment, he wouldn't even need to take action personally; the Dharma Domain enhanced by the array alone would be enough to make those people unable to move an inch.

A number of Foundation Establishment cultivators below one hundred cannot shake the foundation of the market.

Even if a Core Formation cultivator came, they would have to think twice before making a move.

But Lin Zhao knew what was going on.

A Core Formation cultivator possesses powerful supernatural abilities, along with magical treasures, and has a near-inexhaustible reserve and recovery capacity of spiritual energy far exceeding that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

At this moment, the market has only "reached the standard of Core Formation" - with the support of the formation, his domain strength can indeed briefly rival the early stage of Core Formation, but in a real life-or-death struggle, he is still far inferior.

Moreover, activating the market's formation at full power requires a massive amount of spirit stones.

The manifestation in just a few breaths burned a considerable amount of spirit stones—equivalent to several days' worth of tax revenue from the market.

Even without using external aids, a Core Formation cultivator could easily fight for ten to fifteen days with the regenerative abilities of their Golden Core.

It would exhaust all the spiritual energy of the Cangyun Mountain formation, unless the market's spiritual veins were upgraded to the third tier.

For example, Tianyun Market has a complete third-order formation, cloud beasts, spiritual veins, and secret realms. Lin Zhao has no doubt that he could exhaust a Core Formation cultivator to death by relying solely on the formation of Tianyun Market.

Not to mention the other hidden methods in Tianyun Market, such as the legendary "Heretical Sword Pill".

Lin Zhao shook his head, deciding not to think about what was going on there.

The third-tier quasi-magic treasure, the Spirit Gathering Pool, in his hand was still being nurtured and restored deep within the mine.