Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The sword dragon swooped down, its sword energy crisscrossing, its forty-foot-long body slicing through the demon horde, blood and flesh flying everywhere, the sound of bones cracking echoing incessantly.

Yinglong flapped its wings, unleashing the power of the four elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—transforming the area below into a magical inferno.

The Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon opened its mouth and spewed out thunder, and wherever the lightning struck, all the demonic beasts were charred black and convulsed.

The Azure Dragon roamed about, and with each swing of its claws, several demons perished.

The white tiger charged into the group, smashing the demon's head with a single claw, and its roar caused the surrounding demons to bleed from their seven orifices.

The Vermilion Bird circled and spewed flames, turning everything it touched into charcoal and burning the swamps to red soil.

Xuanwu remained seated, and any demonic beasts that dared to break through collided with the tortoise shell runes, their internal organs shattered and they were sent flying back.

Lin Zhaoli stood in the center, motionless.

He closed his eyes and focused his mind, controlling the seven spirits with precision, each movement as accurate as if it were his own arm.

His internal magical power was almost depleted in an instant, but the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pool operated wildly, with its third-tier magic treasure level foundation providing a continuous source of energy.

The crimson feathers and golden robes lit up simultaneously, working in conjunction with the Dharma Domain to absorb the violent spiritual energy from the outside world, transforming it and injecting it into the Seven Spirits, barely maintaining a balance.

This was a one-sided massacre.

The Seven Spirits guard a twenty-mile-long domain; any demonic beast that steps into it will face certain death.

The bodies of second-tier demonic beasts are as fragile as paper. As soon as their demonic core leaves their bodies, it is shredded by spiritual light, and their flesh and blood are evaporated by spiritual power before they even hit the ground, filling the air with a pungent, bloody stench.

Foundation Establishment cultivators from various sects passed by in the distance. Upon seeing the seven colossal beasts churning in the sky, the spiritual light staining the air, and the mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the ground, they were all horrified and turned to flee. Some cursed them as madmen, while others silently increased their speed.

Lin Zhao ignored him.

A second-tier demon beast king charged out fiercely, its hundred-foot-long bear body covered with bone spikes several feet long on its back, the tips of which gleamed with cold light, its combat power comparable to that of a Core Formation cultivator.

Lin Zhao raised her hand and pointed.

The Stegosaurus and the Yinglong attacked from both sides, their dragon claws gripping the Beast King's shoulders, while the Yinglong unleashed flames and earth spikes from its wings. The Beast King roared in pain, its spine bulging outwards.

Lin Zhao neither dodged nor avoided.

The crimson feathered golden robes shone with a surge of spiritual light, and a golden feathered spiritual shield appeared in front of him. The bone spikes collided with the spiritual shield and were all deflected.

At the same time, the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon swooped down from the sky, its lightning-infused body tightly binding the Beast King. Lightning exploded, instantly charring its fur. The White Tiger attacked from the side, biting off its throat, while the Vermilion Bird burned the heavens, creating a fiery domain. The Black Tortoise directly confronted its counterattack.

The seven spirits joined forces to surround and kill him.

An hour later, the beast king, comparable to a Core Formation cultivator, collapsed to the ground with a thud, causing the earth to tremble violently.

Immediately afterward, the second beast king charged out, further depleting the Seven Spirits' magical power. Lin Zhao then used a magical artifact to finish off the remaining beast.

One day.

Lin Zhao killed over a hundred second-tier demonic beasts, including two beast kings that were hundreds of feet long and comparable to Core Formation level.

When the exit of the secret realm reopened, he slowly put away his seven spiritual bodies. The spiritual light dissipated, the illusory images of the Five Sacred Mountains vanished, and the Dharma Domain shrank back into his body.

He stepped out of the portal. The spiritual array in the training ground slowly closed behind him. People in the stands looked at him, their gazes varying.

Someone recognized him and whispered something. Others merely glanced at his token points and then looked away.

Lin Zhao walked to the rest area and sat down. His internal magical power had been largely restored thanks to the replenishment from the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pool, but the mental exhaustion was irreparable. Maintaining seven spiritual bodies simultaneously in combat for a whole day had consumed far more of his spiritual energy than his magical power.

He checked the points leaderboard.

The rankings on the sect token are updated in real time.

First place: Lin Zhao, 517 points.

Lin Zhao glanced at it but didn't pay much attention. This was only temporary first place; getting into the top three thousand was enough.

He closed his eyes.

Next, we'll wait for the arena match.

The seven-day preliminary selection process has ended.

More than 20,000 people participated, and 3,000 advanced.

First place: Qin Tianjun, 549 points.

Second place: Xia Jin, 523 points.

Third place: Lin Zhao, 517 points.

The first three are all sword cultivators, which justifies the fact that sword cultivators rank first in terms of killing power among cultivators.

As the news spread, many people inquired about "who Lin Zhao is," and Qian Qiufeng's name was mentioned by so many people for the first time during the competition.

The four of them sat together again in the lakeside pavilion.

Phase 1

Xu Chuan barely made it through – he was ranked 2937th and almost got eliminated.

Yan Chiheng ranked 930th, which is average. Fang Yue ranked 345th, a good performance.

The rules of the tournament are simple and straightforward. Each person is randomly selected to play an opponent, and the outcome is decided in a single round. The winner advances, and the loser is eliminated.

Three thousand people will compete for five hundred spots. The arena is only ten miles in radius, and a spiritual energy barrier erected by an array separates the arena from the outside world.

On his way into the top 500, Lin Zhao played seven matches. The total time for all seven matches was less than an hour.

The three spiritual bodies—Sword Dragon, Yinglong, and Nine Luminaries Heavenly Dragon—took turns attacking, while the four spirits were never summoned. Once the magic domain was opened and the spiritual bodies surrounded and attacked, the opponent could basically do nothing.

Lin Zhao fought one match after another, and his opponents couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

When Lin Zhao entered the top 500, he immediately took out a third-tier magic weapon, the Golden Phoenix Bow.

With his domain of power suppressing and his spirit body entangled, he unleashed one golden rainbow arrow after another. Foundation Establishment disciples were nothing more than targets in his presence. Lin Zhao didn't know what his opponents were feeling, but he certainly enjoyed the fight. Sometimes, happiness is just that simple.

Yan Chiheng struggled to make it into the top 500. Lin Zhao had watched several of his matches; each one was quite difficult. He had no magic domain, no magic treasures, only a completed divine ability, the Qiankun Thunder Pool.

To advance to the top ranks in the century-long competition where the strongest contenders abound, one must possess an indomitable spirit.

He barely made it into the top 500.

Fang Yue surprised Lin Zhao, not only because his strength had greatly improved, but also because his spatial power was stronger than he had expected.

Without a Dharma Domain or magic treasures, even a Foundation Establishment Peak disciple couldn't withstand Fang Yue's attacks. Even some disciples with strong skills couldn't catch him.

His spatial power makes him virtually invincible in battles against opponents of the same level.

Fang Yue successfully entered the top 100.

Xu Chuan, who was ranked over a thousandth, was good at long battles, but hunting monsters and fighting in the arena were not suitable for him.

Next came the third stage, the battle for the top 100, one match per day for ninety-nine consecutive days. Lin Zhao and Fang Yue were both engulfed in a frenzied battle.

---

Two people were sitting on the highest platform of the Qinggang Hall, where the view was best.

Standing next to him was a Foundation Establishment disciple, who was none other than Yan Feng, the "Little White Prince" from Lin Zhao's class.

His story is quite legendary: he was born into a small sect in another continent, possessed a rare spiritual body, but was betrayed by the sect to a Nascent Soul old monster, who planted a mark of possession on him.

Fortunately, his master secretly protected him, and with the help of a rare treasure he obtained by chance, he managed to get help from the Hundred Arts Immortal Alliance. He escaped to Yunzhou through dangerous regions with his life hanging by a thread and successfully joined the Yunhai Cangming Sect.

With the help of the sect, they barely managed to stop the Nascent Soul True Monarch.

What happened next was even more mysterious—it is said that he first became the disciple of a Core Formation elder, and then somehow caught the eye of a Nascent Soul ancestor who snatched him away and took him as a disciple.