Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Yan Chiheng was so angry that he wanted to take action, but Lin Zhao held him back.

"Let them make a fuss. Even death row inmates get their last meal. That will make things easier for us with the sect in the future!" Lin Zhao said.

Even Su Qianxue's side was affected.

She used to come every month to hand over materials and earn some spirit stones along the way.

As a result, one day on the street, he was stopped by several junior disciples who were in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, who insisted on getting to know him.

Su Qianxue coldly dismissed them and then turned and hid in the garrison.

"Junior Brother Lin, your fellow disciples..." She rarely showed a hint of helplessness.

Lin Zhao poured her a cup of tea: "I'm sorry to have troubled you, Senior Sister."

After Su Qianxue left,

The gentleness on Lin Zhao's face vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden chill, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He stood at the highest point of the garrison, his gaze deep as he looked at the sect disciples coming and going in the market.

Yan Chiheng stood beside him: "Isn't that enough?"

Lin Zhao nodded.

He closed his eyes.

The domain expands, and then connects with the array.

In that instant, the entire Cangyun Mountain trembled.

Above the market, the pale golden light curtain covering an area of ​​twenty miles suddenly surged violently.

Countless runes emerged from the light screen and spun rapidly.

Five illusory mountains, each a hundred feet tall, appeared out of thin air, hovering above the market and obscuring half the sky.

Five-colored light flowed, and the overwhelming power of the Dharma Domain pressed down from all directions.

Immediately afterwards, four-colored rays of light surged out from between the illusory mountain shadows, weaving together to form a huge net of light.

Four spirits, each tens of feet tall, representing the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, rose into the sky from the four corners of the market, roaring towards the heavens.

finally--

An invisible force spread out from the direction of the naval base.

That's the suppression of the law domain.

It is a power comparable to that of a Core Formation cultivator...

In the market, all the cultivators froze.

Those early Foundation Establishment disciples were all deathly pale, their legs trembling.

Several people were specifically targeted by Lin Zhao. Under the terrifying pressure of his domain, their souls were injured on the spot, and they suddenly vomited blood and collapsed to the ground.

A wound to the soul directly impacts the foundation of one's cultivation; at best, it requires decades of recuperation, and at worst, it may be impossible to fully recover in one's lifetime.

The nine late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators also looked grave, and had no choice but to use their spiritual power to resist.

The three peak experts exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing with shock—this power of the Dharma Domain was already extremely close to the Core Formation stage!

The entire market was eerily silent.

Only that voice, coming from the direction of the naval base, was calm and indifferent, yet clearly reached everyone's ears:

The entire market was eerily silent.

Only one voice drifted slowly from the direction of the naval base, calm and indifferent, yet each word clear and distinct, resonating deep within everyone's heart:

"Cangyun Mountain is the territory of a sect, not a place for you to act recklessly."

"Those who cause trouble, get out of here!"

The oppressive aura lasted for a full fifteen minutes.

Then, slowly retract.

The illusory mountain image dissipated, the four spirits returned to their places, and the light curtain returned to calm.

The market was completely silent.

The disciples of those sects looked at each other, not daring to utter another word.

They slunk away from Cangyun Mountain and headed towards the capital.

Lin Zhao stood at the window of the garrison, watching the departing spirits.

Yan Chiheng chuckled beside him, "Awesome."

Lin Zhao didn't speak. He stood in front of the garrison headquarters with a slight frown.

Something's off about this group of people...

It's not a matter of arrogance.

Arrogance is the norm for disciples of a sect.

But this group of people also exudes a kind of superficiality, a kind of ignorance that doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth.

Especially those twenty-odd junior disciples who were in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

This is not how a normal sect disciple should behave.

No matter how poor or desperate a sect disciple is, they should know their limits and know where they can cause trouble and where they cannot.

Unless... there's something wrong with the education provided by the sect's Daoist Hall.

Xu Chuan's reply should be coming soon.

Before long, Lin Zhao finally learned the reason: something had indeed gone wrong during the ten years of education this year's disciples received at the Dao Inquiry Hall.

The expedition that the Yan family, a powerful clan specializing in Core Formation cultivation, had been preparing for for a long time, has begun.

However, the Yan family lacked strength and was short of cannon fodder, so they set their sights on the Foundation Establishment disciples of this generation of the sect.

The Yan family, in alliance with several powerful Core Formation families, secretly interfered in the affairs of the Dao Inquiry Hall.

Normally, in each cohort of disciples, three to five hundred people will be accepted as core disciples after reaching the Core Formation stage.

Although the sect has never recognized the status of core disciples.

However, becoming a Core Formation disciple does indeed bring many conveniences and various resources.

In the end, fewer than a hundred people from this cohort were accepted as disciples at the Core Formation stage; the rest lost the opportunity to become core disciples.

Finally, more than a thousand Foundation Establishment disciples of the sect had no choice but to join the expedition launched by the Yan family in order to obtain cultivation resources.

The sect later took charge of this matter.

Several Core Formation cultivators involved were severely punished.

It even destroyed the cultivation of an elderly Core Formation cultivator.

But what's done is done.

The patriarch of the Yan family has been stuck at the peak of the Core Formation stage for a long time, constantly searching for an opportunity to reach the Nascent Soul stage.

Rumors circulate within the sect that a Nascent Soul True Monarch is supporting the Yan family patriarch's Nascent Soul attainment.

The Yan family has gone to great lengths for this expedition, in order to obtain resources for fourth-tier Nascent Soul cultivators.

The expedition against the Raider Alliance requires a large number of cannon fodder to scout ahead, attrition, and sacrifice themselves.

The best choice is a disciple who has just established their foundation, has no master, and has no background.

The Yan family's expedition has already assembled dozens of Core Formation cultivators, three thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators, and, together with the external affiliated forces they have cultivated over the past thousand years, a force of two hundred thousand cultivators, and has already set off.

But the so-called Alliance of Robbers and Cultivators, which has been able to occupy the desolate area for so many years, is certainly not to be underestimated.

Of the cultivators who participated in this expedition, probably less than one in ten will return alive.

Lin Zhao sighed inwardly. How much better could things be in the capital? It was a trap set by the Zheng family patriarch over several decades.

Lin Zhao had no idea what they would encounter.

But that was the path they chose themselves.

-----

Lin Zhao turned around and went to the weapon-refining room.

After more than a year of preparation, the fourteen second-tier materials for the Crimson Flame Demon Blade, a top-grade second-tier magic weapon, have finally been gathered.

Five top-tier second-grade items and nine high-grade second-grade items are needed—almost emptying the market's accumulated wealth in weapon crafting over the years.

If it weren't for Su Qianxue's connections with Xuan Chen Valley, which brought in a lot of rare materials, this knife would never have been used.

Crimson Flame Demon Blade: A second-tier top-grade magic weapon, also part of the Fire-Breaking Magic Weapon series. It ranks first and is the strongest magic weapon among the twelve magic weapons.

When fully activated, it can instantly unleash hundreds or even thousands of fiery demonic blades. Even when the blades disperse, the fire remains and can reassemble for another attack.

When its power is pushed to its limit, it can even turn a ten-mile radius into a fiery wasteland, possessing some of the power of a Core Formation True Person's "Dharma Domain"!

It even has the potential to be upgraded to a third-tier magic weapon in the future!

Or perhaps this magical artifact was originally the fourth magical treasure prepared for himself by the creator of the Li Huo magical artifact series, the Crimson Fire True Man, but it was not yet completed.

Lin Zhao took a deep breath, looking at the neatly arranged materials in front of him, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Normally, a second-tier top-grade weapon refiner has a success rate of less than 30% in refining a second-tier top-grade magic weapon.

He wanted a one-time success, but the market couldn't provide a second set of materials.

Fortunately, he has the "heavenly state".

The deepest part of the garrison's headquarters is the Fire Chamber, which extends hundreds of feet underground.

The surrounding rock walls were reinforced by an array, gleaming with a dark red glow—traces left by the earth's fire.

In the center of the room was a three-zhang square earth fire pool, from which crimson-gold flames leaped, roasting the refining furnace above.