Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

This place isn't deep underground, after all. If a Core Formation cultivator were to make a move, the commotion would be too great, and their identity would be easily exposed. Zhu Yan could be considered a cultivator without a background, but Yan Chiheng was different.

The situation is now clear: the destruction of the Heavenly Fire Dynasty is a complex matter. If the Holy Sect is truly angered, none of the cultivators involved in this storm will escape unscathed.

The intensity of the manhunt immediately decreased significantly.

This is likely the outcome desired by the force secretly protecting them.

Since it was inconvenient for a Core Formation cultivator to personally intervene, they could only continuously send Foundation Establishment cultivators to pursue and intercept them.

Yan Chiheng naturally became the leader of the team.

Under his leadership, the group bypassed the blocked exits and headed north, finally escaping from the Heavenly Fire Secret Realm and arriving at the Dingfeng Plain, near the Zixuan Dynasty.

Throughout the journey, Su Qianxue's intelligence played a crucial role. No one knew where she obtained the top-secret information, but it always enabled them to avoid encirclement in advance and escape death time and time again.

Three months later, they finally set foot on the border of the Zixuan Dynasty. Three hundred miles ahead was Cangyun Mountain.

Then they were blocked off. Near the border of the dynasty, there stood a lone man in a gray robe with an ordinary face, like an old farmer you could see anywhere in the fields.

But that terrifying aura was crystal clear—it belonged to a Core Formation Realm cultivator.

Zhu Yan flew out of the spirit boat.

He raised his hand, breaking the seal on his cultivation, revealing his true face. His aura surged dramatically, soaring from the tenth level of Qi Refining all the way to the peak of Foundation Establishment, and then breaking through that threshold—

Core formation.

The gray-robed man remained motionless, simply staring at him as if he were an interesting toy.

"Master Tianhuo," he began, his voice calm and even, "I have long admired you."

Zhu Yan did not respond. The Crimson Flame Demon Blade flew out of his storage bag and landed in his palm. The demonic patterns on the blade lit up, and a dark red halo spread out in circles. His white hair danced wildly in the heat wave, and the wrinkles on his face were as deep as if they had been carved by a knife.

The gray-robed man slowly stretched out his hand and gently pressed down. Within a radius of twenty miles, the spiritual energy instantly solidified and was completely under his control.

This is his domain of law, which is like countless layers of white barriers, layer upon layer, cutting the entire area into countless small pieces.

Zhu Yan gritted his teeth and suddenly expanded his own domain—

"Crimson Flame Forbidden Zone!"

The blazing red sea of ​​fire surged instantly, colliding violently with the opponent's white light barrier. The Crimson Flame Demon Blade was activated at full power, transforming into a fire storm that swept outwards.

However, he was still injured, his magic domain was suppressed by the opponent, and his attacks were weakened and deflected layer by layer.

The Crimson Flame Demon Blade unleashed a hundred-foot-long flaming blade of light, breaking through three layers of barriers, but on the fourth layer it veered off course, gliding past and slashing diagonally across the ground, carving out a bottomless ravine.

Another strike, another deflection.

As soon as the third strike was delivered, the gray-robed man finally moved.

His palm clenched slightly, and a clear sword light suddenly flew out from his sleeve!

It was a long sword that was pure white, with a faint blue aura flowing around its blade; it was a rare magical sword.

With a flash of sword light, it broke through Zhu Yan's domain in an instant, and with a sharp whooshing sound, it struck Zhu Yan's heart!

Zhu Yan's pupils contracted sharply. He hastily drew his sword, creating a lotus-shaped blade more than ten feet in size in front of him in an attempt to block the fatal blow.

"clang--!!!"

The sound of metal clashing was deafening, and the air surged. The sword lotus was pierced through by this sword and shattered instantly!

The Crimson Flame Demon Blade was also violently thrown back by the enormous impact. Zhu Yan's tiger's mouth split open, and blood flowed down the hilt of the blade. He used this as an opportunity to retreat rapidly, barely avoiding the aftershocks.

The gray-robed man's eyes were indifferent. With a slight flick of his wrist, three more sword lights appeared. Enhanced by his magic domain, the trajectories of these sword lights were unpredictable, each carrying an elusive power.

This caught Zhu Yan completely off guard, making it impossible for him to predict the direction of the attack. He could only rely on his years of experience in bloody battles and his Crimson Flame Demon Blade to take the hit head-on.

Countless blades and sword lights collided in mid-air, sparks flew, and shockwaves exploded outwards, shattering the surrounding wasteland for dozens of miles and turning it into a spiritual energy storm.

In just a few breaths, the two had exchanged more than ten blows. Several deep sword wounds, revealing the bone, had quietly appeared on Zhu Yan's body, and blood seeped out, staining his robes red. His breathing became increasingly disordered.

However, they were powerless against the gray-robed cultivator who had reached the Core Formation stage. The gray-robed cultivator had no defensive magic treasures, because his magic domain was the best defensive magic treasure.

If Zhu Yan were at his peak, he might not have been unable to break the deadlock by force with his powerful offensive capabilities. However, he was no longer at his peak. He was seriously injured when he escaped from underground. After three months of fierce battles, his injuries never healed, and his spiritual power was depleted several times.

His knife moved slower and slower, and his breath grew weaker and weaker.

In the distance, Yan Chiheng erected the protective shield of the spirit boat, tightly protecting Lin You and the others behind him. The protective shield of the second-tier spirit boat was like thin paper in front of the aftershocks of the Core Formation stage, creaking and groaning, and could collapse at any moment.

Yan Chiheng gritted his teeth and frantically poured in his spiritual power, causing the protective shield to flicker unpredictably, like a candle in the wind.

He still had a trump card given to him by his master to save his life, but he was not Lin Zhao after all. Even without relying on the trump card, Lin Zhao could briefly contend with a Core Formation cultivator.

Once he uses it, it's truly gone. Only when a Core Formation cultivator has a trump card in hand can they be feared; once it's played, it's no longer a trump card.

Lin You stood by the spirit boat, his fists clenched. Ye Xiaoxiao's face was pale, and she didn't say a word. Luo Yu stood in front of the two of them, his battle sword trembling slightly, but he didn't take a single step back.

There was nothing they could do. The battle for Core Formation was far beyond their reach; they couldn't even get close. The spirit boat was constantly pushed away by the aftershocks of the Dharma Domain.

The Crimson Flame Demon Blade shattered into several pieces, scattering across the scorched earth. With a surge of Zhu Yan's spiritual power, the demonic runes reignited, and the shattered blade reformed.

The gray-robed cultivator, still not seizing the opportunity to attack, stood with his hands behind his back in the distance, waiting quietly.

The domain remained, with countless white barriers trapping Zhu Yan in the center, like a transparent cage.

The gray-robed Core Formation cultivator was ultimately wary of Zhu Yan's desperate attempt to kill someone—after all, Zhu Yan had a track record of killing Core Formation cultivators, and he himself was a rogue Core Formation cultivator, so he was most pleased to see so-called prodigies showing a look of despair in front of him.

Lin You gazed at the flickering light in the distance, her lips pressed into a straight line.

She remembered what her uncle had said: when Core Formation cultivators fought, dozens of miles could be reduced to dust in an instant, and Foundation Establishment cultivators caught in the crossfire wouldn't even have time to escape.

She believes it now.

-----

Cangyun Mountain, the garrison headquarters.

The door to the quiet room was pushed open from the inside, and Lin Zhao, who had been in seclusion for several months, slowly walked out.

He stood at the doorway, eyes closed, concentrating on his senses. The Divine Soul Sword Tower stood firmly, motionless.

His divine sense spread silently, like mercury spilling onto the ground, for five miles, ten miles, fifteen miles.

Within a 15-mile radius, everything was under his control; the direction of the wind, the trembling of the leaves, the crawling of insects in the soil... nothing escaped his perception.

After traveling twenty miles, he began to feel some pressure. Without the Golden Core as a core support, he could not sustain it for long. It should be about time when his cultivation breaks through to the peak of Foundation Establishment.

He left the meditation room.