Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

In the sky, when the True Lord Taixu self-destructed, he snorted coldly and turned away without even glancing down below.

Tongming Zhenjun remained seated on the cloud platform, watching the farce unfold below, without uttering a word from beginning to end.

To him, what happened next was just a little farce. The Dharma body of the True Lord of the Void was gone, the goal was achieved, and that was enough.

As for who gets those third-tier spiritual creatures, and how many of those who have reached the Core Formation stage have died—these are all minor matters.

From the moment the punitive alliance was formed, these spoils were destined to be divided up and given away.

In contrast, Master Qianqiu and that body cultivator had foreseen the appearance of fourth-tier magic weapons on the battlefield long before the battle even began, and formed an alliance in advance, thus obtaining the most spoils of war.

Tongming Zhenjun thought to himself that although his disciple Yang Qingxuan had outstanding talent in cultivation, his ability to observe the situation and make arrangements was still lacking, and he needed to hone his skills and gain more experience.

"Clean up the battlefield," he transmitted to Yang Qingxuan in a calm voice, as if giving an ordinary order.

Then he stood up, the cloud platform dissipated, and the white-clad figure disappeared into the clouds.

Yang Qingxuan took a deep breath, suppressed all his emotions, and began to clean up the mess. If they continued to argue, no one would benefit.

True Immortal Qianqiu and the Body Cultivator decided to stop while they were ahead and did not argue further, since this was, after all, within the sphere of influence of Tongming Immortal City.

The three of them tacitly agreed not to mention what had just happened, each collected their last spoils, and turned to leave.

Thus far, of the nine Core Formation cultivators who participated in the campaign, one peak Core Formation cultivator and four late-stage Core Formation cultivators have perished.

Of the four survivors, Master Qianqiu emerged as the biggest winner.

-----

The outer perimeter, the edge of the Heavenly Fire Secret Realm.

The dozen or so Core Formation cultivators had been waiting, and the moment the news of the battle in the core area ending came out, everyone felt a sense of relief.

Morale soared.

More than ten Core Formation cultivators no longer held back, unleashing their full power and spiritual light soaring into the sky. With a single counterattack, they forcefully pushed the battle lines back.

The million demonic beasts were divided and surrounded, and fled in panic towards the depths of the secret realm like a receding tide.

Lin Zhao led the Cangyun Mountain group in pursuit, breaking through the thick fire mist and chasing them for over a hundred miles.

A third-tier demonic beast was trapped in a narrow valley.

The creature resembled a giant lizard, its body covered in dark red, basin-sized scales. It was firmly trapped by Lin Zhao's domain, struggling left and right, causing rocks to tumble down the mountainside.

Zhu Yan and Master Chongguang also set their sights on the beast and attacked from both sides.

The three exchanged glances and simultaneously unleashed their three great domains in perfect unison.

Zhu Yan launched a direct attack, his Crimson Flame Demon Blade unleashing streaks of dark red light that struck the giant lizard's head, shattering large sections of its scales.

The gray magic domain of True Immortal Chongguang spread out, completely sealing off its retreat. Spells rained down from the side, tearing its skin and flesh apart.

Lin Zhao hovered in mid-air, his crimson feather and golden robes gleaming faintly in the fire mist. His magic domain was operating at full power, forcibly drawing in the fire mist that stretched for dozens of miles around him.

The fiery mist seemed to be gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand, frantically converging towards him, and the concentration of spiritual energy within the domain surged dramatically.

Deep within Lin Zhao's pupils, the illusory image of a lotus flower quietly appeared.

The flames condensed at the core of the domain, initially just a dark red fireball the size of a fist, but in an instant they began to change shape—the center sank inward, the edges curled up, like a lotus flower slowly blooming.

Karmic Fire Sword Lotus.

The lotus leaves, layer upon layer, are all dark red, hanging in mid-air and slowly rotating, expanding with each rotation.

The fiery mist, stretching for dozens of miles, erupted violently, surging wildly into the lotus heart. Lin Zhao fully activated his Dharma Domain, channeling the massive amount of spiritual energy he had drawn in into the sword lotus.

The sword lotus continued to expand.

Ten zhang, fifty zhang, one hundred zhang—

A giant lotus, hundreds of feet tall, hangs in the sky, resembling an inverted volcano, with intricate sword runes flowing on each petal.

Those runes were not carved by hand, but formed naturally by flames, like tree rings, recording every wisp of spiritual energy they absorbed.

The dark red flame deep within the lotus heart had become so bright it was almost white, like a small sun compressed to its extreme.

The crowd below had already retreated dozens of miles away.

Ye Xiaoxiao gently nudged Lin You, and asked uncertainly, "This... seems to be your magic?"

Lin You stared wide-eyed at the hundred-foot-tall red lotus of karmic fire in the sky, speechless for a long time.

When she created this sword technique, she could only condense a lotus flower that was at most seven feet in size.

She considered the power of her uncle's attack, but decided against it.

The Karmic Fire Sword Lotus was originally created by Lin You. Lin Zhao began to deduce and improve it in the Immortal City two years ago. He only intended to make some optimizations and pass it on to Lin You, but the more he deduced it, the more he felt that this technique had infinite potential—absorbing the spiritual power of heaven and earth to prepare for a strike. The principle was simple, but the upper limit was extremely high.

After two years of honing his skills, he has perfected this spell to the point where it is comparable to supernatural powers.

Lin Zhao raised her hand and gently pressed down.

The hundred-foot-long red lotus tumbled and crashed to the ground.

The giant lotus suddenly bloomed above the head of the third-tier demon beast, each petal transforming into a fiery sword aura. Hundreds and thousands of sword auras intersected, cut, and pierced below.

The hard scales were like paper before the sword energy, being torn away piece by piece to reveal the demonic body beneath. The body instantly charred, and the charred shell was torn apart by the next sword energy until the bone was visible.

The monitor lizard let out a terrified roar.

Finally, all the sword energy converged into a dazzling sword light, which pierced straight through the monster's body, from its back to its abdomen, creating a bright, clear space.

Lin Zhao was slightly out of breath.

He didn't use any magic weapons for this attack; it originated from a single inspiration from Lin You. Yet, its power was already comparable to a full-force strike from a Core Formation cultivator. His palms were slightly hot, and his fingertips still retained a tingling sensation from the burning spiritual energy.

The third-tier demonic beast possessed extremely strong vitality. Although it did not die on the spot, it had completely lost its ability to move. Zhu Yan and True Person Chongguang continued their attack. Half an hour later, the third-tier giant lizard let out a short, miserable cry, and its enormous body crashed to the ground, causing the earth to tremble.

The beast tide has completely subsided.

This catastrophe, which originated from the Heavenly Fire Dynasty, lasted for nearly two years, resulting in the deaths of more than twenty Core Formation cultivators, before finally coming to an end.

Lin Zhao led everyone back to Cangyun Mountain.

As the Azure Scale flew over Dingfeng Plain, he looked down.

The tents and wooden houses still stand, and ordinary people stand in the camp, looking up at the spirit boat flying overhead. Some wave, some kneel in worship.

Lin Zhao withdrew his gaze and steered the boat back to the market.

-----

Master Qianqiu returned to his sect ahead of schedule.

Lin Zhao has been at Cangyun Mountain for almost ten years, and he is about to leave as well.

Before leaving, there were still a lot of things to arrange, the first of which was the accounts of the market.

The accounts of the past ten years are like a tangled mess. It started with using the Hundred Beast Foundation Building Pill to attract business, then the capture of Dingfeng Plain led to a surge in market revenue.

Later, when the Zheng family patriarch attacked the mountain, Lin Zhao repelled him, and the business of the Core Formation Market actually reached its peak. However, after Chongguang Pavilion unified the Zixuan Dynasty, the business plummeted.

Finally, the rescue of the Heavenly Fire Dynasty cost a large amount of supplies, and with so much coming and going, Lin Zhao was a little unsure how to calculate it all.

Account matters are neither a big deal nor a small matter.

If Lin Zhao had a clear conscience, that would be fine, but he was genuinely feeling guilty...