Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The barrier trembled violently, and the runes on the surface of the golden shield flickered wildly, with some runes exploding directly.

Someone in the stands gasped in shock.

Even if a Core Formation cultivator had a defensive magic weapon, this attack would annihilate both body and soul.

Qin Tianjun, panting heavily, unleashed a sword domain formed by three thousand sword techniques and ten thousand sword energies. "Can you withstand this?" Lin Zhao asked.

------

Lin Zhao remained motionless.

Qin Tianjun had a long time to prepare, long enough for Lin Zhao to interrupt him. But he didn't.

This is a competition.

He also wanted to test his limits.

Qin Tianjun is arrogant, and Lin Zhao is competitive.

He wanted to defeat his opponent head-on and truly stand at the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The sword energy poured down.

Lin Zhao took a deep breath.

His mastery of swordsmanship is indeed inferior to Qin Tianjun's. However, his understanding of the Law Domain surpasses Qin Tianjun's.

Although the Sword Domain is powerful in its offensive capabilities, it is not much different from the Law Domain in essence—both are about controlling and utilizing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Just as the sword energy was about to reach his hundred-zhang radius, Lin Zhao moved.

The legal domain is now fully operational.

Five-colored spiritual light exploded, covering a full ten miles and enveloping the entire sword domain.

Trying to use the Law Domain to fight against the Sword Domain is, under normal circumstances, suicide—the Sword Domain's offensive power is too strong, and the Law Domain cannot withstand it.

He could only influence it for a moment—but Lin Zhao only needed a moment. In that one moment, he changed the direction of the sword energy attacks in the sword domain, and all the sword energy began to converge at the same point.

The center of Lin Zhaofa's domain.

---

In the depths of Lin Zhao's pupils, the phantom image of a lotus flower was reflected.

Sword energy condensed at the center of his domain.

At first, it was just a silvery-white ball of light about ten feet in size, but as more and more sword energy poured in, the ball of light began to change—the center became concave and the edges turned outward, like a flower in bloom.

Sword lotus.

The lotus leaves were layered upon each other, each one silvery-white, formed from pure sword energy.

The sword lotus hovered in mid-air, slowly rotating. With each rotation, it absorbed a batch of sword energy, growing larger.

The moment the sword lotus appeared, countless sword energies within the sword domain began to surge violently.

Countless sword energies surged from all directions, as if guided by an invisible hand, converging at the center of the sword lotus like rivers flowing into the sea.

Some of the sword energy struggled as it flew towards them, but it was firmly suppressed by Lin Zhao's domain of power and divine sense, and forcibly dragged over.

Lin Zhao activated his Dharma Domain at full power, compressing, purifying, and infusing all the sword energy he had drawn in. Veins bulged on his forehead—this task required extremely high control over spiritual power and consumed a great deal of spiritual sense; without a Core Formation, one couldn't even dream of it.

The sword lotus swells.

One zhang, five zhang, ten zhang, twenty zhang, thirty-six zhang—

The sword lotus, thirty-six feet in size, hung in mid-air, resembling a sword mountain. Each petal was covered with intricate sword runes, which were not engraved but formed naturally by sword energy, recording every wisp of sword energy absorbed by the sword lotus like tree rings.

The sword lotus slowly rotated, its silvery-white light illuminating the entire arena.

This is a variant attack method that Lin Zhao created based on the previous Karmic Fire Sword Lotus.

This sword lotus absorbed Qin Tianjun's decades of cultivation, three thousand sword techniques, and one hundred thousand sword energies, leaving not a single trace. It was all forcibly absorbed and gathered into the final move.

Now it was Lin Zhao's turn to ask a question in return—"This sword lotus formed by three thousand sword techniques and ten thousand sword energies. Can you withstand it?" Qin Tianjun.

-----

He pushed with all his might.

The sword lotus flew towards Qin Tianjun, and when it reached him, thousands of lotus leaves simultaneously curled outwards.

Each lotus leaf transformed into a sword aura. The sword aura was not scattered, but rather directed inward—concentrating all destructive power at the heart of the lotus, and then unleashing it in one direction.

Hundreds and thousands of sword energies shot out from the sword lotus, intersecting and cutting, like a silver flower exploding.

Qin Tianjun's pupils contracted.

He unleashed his sword intent, forcefully controlling the incoming sword energy with it.

The incoming sword energy was intercepted, tamed, and redirected by his sword intent in mid-air—all converging towards the sky and transforming into a phantom of a celestial sword.

The sword energy flowed like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, converging on the nascent celestial sword.

Qin Tianjun was also cultivating a fourth-order technique. The white jade sword in front of him shone brighter and brighter, and began to expand, transforming into a huge sword-shaped phantom.

Then the sword lotus exploded completely.

All the sword energy converged into a dazzling sword light, which blasted towards Qin Tianjun.

At the same time, the phantom of the Heavenly Sword had expanded to over a hundred feet.

Sword Lotus faces Heavenly Sword.

boom----!!!

Countless sword energies raged and tore through the center of the arena, slicing through the air, the ground, and the barriers. The arena floor was overturned, and rubble flew into the air, only to be crushed into powder by the shockwave.

The spiritual energy barrier trembled violently, cracks spreading like a spider web. The Foundation Establishment disciples in the stands were pushed backward by the shockwave, and some fell off their seats.

Smoke and dust filled the entire arena.

---

The smoke and dust cleared.

Lin Zhao stood still. The fiery curtain of his crimson feather and golden robe surrounded him, blocking the aftershocks of the explosion.

Qin Tianjun is still standing in the air.

But his body was covered in countless tiny wounds—his face, neck, hands, and the skin exposed by the tears in his robes were all covered in blood. It looked as if he had been cut by countless tiny, sharp blades.

Normally, this is impossible. His Five Elements Divine Rings have extremely strong defensive capabilities, so he shouldn't have been injured like this by the aftershocks.

Lin Zhao understood at a glance—Qin Tianjun used all his spiritual power and divine sense to control the sword energy and gather the Heavenly Sword, abandoning most of his own defense.

Above his head, the Heavenly Sword, still ten feet long with its golden blade, hovered in mid-air, slowly rotating and emitting a chilling sharpness.

Qin Tianjun accepted Lin Zhao's sword lotus.

Despite his serious injuries, he did manage to pull through.

Lin Zhao's heart sank.

Qin Tianjun truly deserves to be the strongest of their generation.

He was able to withstand the attack even under these circumstances.

Qin Tianjun was also in poor condition; he was almost completely exhausted.

His spiritual energy was depleted, his divine sense was exhausted, and blood was seeping from more than a dozen wounds on his body.

But he still forced out a final blow.

The ten-zhang-long Heavenly Sword hanging above his head emitted a sword cry, transforming into a blazing golden meteor that crashed down fiercely towards Lin Zhao.

This attack was comparable to a full-force strike from a Core Formation cultivator.

For ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, this would be a catastrophic disaster.

Unfortunately, for the two of them, this attack was far from enough.

Even if Lin Zhao's Crimson Feather Golden Robe was not a third-tier defensive magic treasure, he could have easily withstood the attack with the 50% of his mana restored by the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pool.

Lin Zhao flipped her hand.

A pitch-black ghost hand, the size of a palm, flew out from the palm.

Mysterious Yin Ghost Hand.

The ghostly hand swelled in the wind, instantly transforming into a gigantic palm hundreds of feet long, blotting out the sky and the sun. Thick, mysterious Yin energy swirled around its knuckles, and dark mist flowed between its fingers like a living thing.

A strange rune slowly spun in his palm, emanating a chilling aura.

The giant hand spread out, and the Heavenly Sword descended overhead.

The Dark Yin Prison.