Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Yan Lie's preparations over the years have been very thorough. He remembers every single detail, including the time, place, witnesses, and physical evidence.

Luo Yu's expression grew increasingly grim as he looked at the files.

He had just escaped the clutches of the treacherous cultivators a year ago, and had witnessed firsthand the miserable plight of the mortals they had been robbed of. The women who were kidnapped, the parents who were killed, the children who were abandoned…

"Are these... all true?" he asked.

Yan Lie said, "The Shen family has existed for nearly a thousand years. How could such things be few? Every single one is documented. You can verify it yourself."

Luo Yu clenched his fist.

He was, after all, just a boy who had escaped from the clutches of the calamity cultivators and harbored deep hatred for those who bullied the weak.

"Okay," he said. "I promise you, but I need to verify it. If it's all true, I'll definitely help you in the future."

Yan Lie smiled, a smile tinged with satisfaction.

"No rush," he said. "Your most pressing concern right now is resolving the fundamental question of life's origins."

He sat down again, his expression becoming serious.

"I've thought about it carefully," Yan Lie said, his voice slightly hoarse. "Your spirit body... is almost destroyed, and your life essence is severely depleted. It's virtually impossible to restore it using ordinary methods."

Luo Yu didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Yan Lie continued, "But it's not entirely without a solution."

He took out two jade slips from his pocket and placed them on the table.

The two jade slips are different colors—one is deep black, and the other is pale white.

"These are two martial arts techniques created by Commander Lin."

When Lin Zhao's name was mentioned, Yan Lie's tone unconsciously carried a hint of respect.

"The first technique is the Hundred Beasts True Technique. It uses the essence blood of demonic beasts in conjunction with special cultivation methods to refine the power within the essence blood and strengthen oneself. This technique has already spread throughout the market. He An was able to use the Hundred Beasts Foundation Building Pill to establish his foundation, and that's also thanks to it."

Luo Yu nodded.

"The second technique is the Heavenly Heart Technique. It is a cultivation method that is only circulated within the market. It nourishes the mind and spirit, enhances comprehension, and consolidates the foundation."

Combined with the Hundred Beasts True Technique, one can control the influence of demonic beast essence blood on one's Dao foundation. Upon reaching mastery, it can even slightly enhance one's comprehension.

Yan Lie's expression then turned serious.

"But in fact, the garrison commander also created a third technique, which is the key—the Spirit Body of a Hundred Beasts."

"The principle behind this technique is both complex and simple. It involves extracting all the essence blood of the demonic beasts you refined during your Foundation Establishment stage and condensing it into a spiritual body that can leave your body."

Yan Lie raised his hand, and a faint red light appeared in his palm. The red light slowly condensed, transforming into a blurry beast-shaped phantom that hovered in his palm.

"Something like this: once this spiritual body leaves your body, it is no longer a part of you."

Rather, it is an independent innate spell—you can think of it as… a martial spirit, or a magical spirit.

He withdrew his spiritual power, and the illusory image vanished.

Luo Yu's eyes lit up.

"But this is only the first step," Yan Lie continued. "If you want to improve further, you can take back your spiritual body and let it reintegrate into yourself."

When you merge with it, the essence of the demonic beasts accumulated within your spiritual body will nourish your Dao foundation, repairing your roots—even if you only have a low-grade Dao foundation, you can still advance a little bit.

He held up one finger.

"Then, you refine new demonic beast blood essence to re-form your spiritual body. This cycle repeats itself, each time a new beginning, each time replenishing your Dao foundation and life essence."

"If you can persevere, your low-grade Dao Foundation may transform into a mid-grade Dao Foundation. With a mid-grade Dao Foundation, you have a chance to cultivate to the peak of Foundation Establishment, or even touch the threshold of Core Formation."

Luo Yu's breathing became slightly rapid.

Yan Lie looked at him and slowly uttered the last sentence: "If you can truly cultivate all three techniques to perfection,

Reshaping it hundreds of times... there's even a sliver of a chance to transform it into a superior Dao Foundation, while simultaneously elevating your spiritual body into a true 'Hundred Beast Spirit Body'.

"A superior Dao Foundation, plus a spiritual body," Yan Lie said, enunciating each word clearly. "Only then will you have a great chance of becoming a Core Formation True Person in the future."

The room fell silent.

Luo Yu lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.

Yan Lie waited a while and then continued, "Your spirit cannot be restored by ordinary means."

But these three cultivation techniques... offer the opportunity to grant you a new spiritual body, a beast-spirit body, with potential no less than your original one, and perhaps even stronger.

He paused, his tone becoming complicated.

"But there are also problems."

"I don't have the third secret technique, the Hundred Beast Spirit Body." Yan Lie put down the jade slip. "Guardian Lin doesn't intend to pass it on."

"At that time, you'll need to ask him for it yourself. I can only make a recommendation; whether it works out or not depends on your own luck."

He looked into Luo Yu's eyes.

"Without this cultivation technique, you will only be an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator in the future, and you may not even live to be sixty years old. You need to think it through."

Luo Yu raised his head.

Those eyes were very bright, almost blindingly so.

"I've made up my mind." His voice wasn't loud, but it was steady. "I'm determined to cultivate these three techniques."

Yan Lie was taken aback: "Aren't you going to reconsider?"

"No need to think about it," Luo Yu said. "I trust the sect leader. The cultivation technique he created is definitely extraordinary."

Yan Lie opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Looking at the light in Luo Yu's eyes, he suddenly felt a little helpless.

He talked for ages about the principles of the technique, the difficulty of cultivation, and the future risks, but it was less useful than simply mentioning the name "Lin Zhao".

In the boy's eyes, Lin Zhao, who saved millions of mortals from Dingfeng Plain, was a god-like figure. Why would a god need to doubt the techniques he created?

Yan Lie gave a wry smile.

But he wasn't jealous.

Because Lin Zhao truly deserves this trust.

He recalled what Lin Zhao had done—a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator who killed nearly seventy Foundation Establishment cultivators in a single battle; his combat power was already close to the threshold of Core Formation.

In the entire Tongming Domain, only Nascent Soul-level forces could possibly have such a prodigy as Lin Zhao.

Anyway, he had never seen it in the Immortal City.

Yan Lie was willing to come to Cangyun Mountain not only to avoid disaster, but also for another reason—he wanted to get close to such a prodigy.

Only a true genius like him could possibly avenge him.

But Lin Zhao is too strong.

He has already grown up; adding Yan Lie's strength won't make a difference, nor will subtracting it.

Although he couldn't discern the cultivation technique Lin Zhao was practicing, he could roughly tell that ordinary second-tier pills were not as effective on Lin Zhao as they were on ordinary cultivators.

Lin Zhao doesn't even need pills; he can continue cultivating by absorbing various second-tier cultivation resources. Pills can only slightly increase Lin Zhao's cultivation speed.

Yan Lie's limited resources were simply not enough for Lin Zhao to face a Core Formation family.

So he could only wait and look for other people.

it's good now.

Lin Zhao is unreliable, but Luo Yu is.

If this kid can really obtain Lin Zhao's cultivation techniques and practice those three techniques, he will be equivalent to being half a disciple of Lin Zhao.

If something really happens to Luo Yu in the future, can Lin Zhao just stand by and do nothing?

Yan Lie took a deep breath and suppressed these ulterior motives.

It's too early to think about those things now.

Let's set a small goal first—to train Luo Yu to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator within ten years.