Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

This sword lotus contains Qin Tianjun's understanding of the way of the sword and the various concepts of the Three Thousand Sword Techniques.

One sword lotus could not possibly remember everything, but even just one or two tenths would still be a considerable fortune.

Lin Zhao's future swordsmanship will advance significantly because of this.

Lin Zhao opened his eyes, and a faint phantom of a sword lotus was reflected deep in his pupils.

There's no rush. This is just some scattered knowledge of kendo; it will take a long time to fully digest it.

Let's set a small goal first—to get first place in the competition.

---

Three days later, Lin Zhao won several more matches.

After the match, Xu Chuan waited for him in the rest area, his expression somewhat subtle. "Have you heard?"

"What?"

"Qin Tianjun almost lost."

Lin Zhao stopped in her tracks.

His opponent is Xia Jin, who ranked second in the first stage. Xia Jin comes from the Xia Dynasty, one of the largest dynasties in Yunzhou, with a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge, and a population of nearly 10 billion.

Legend has it that the founder of the Xia Dynasty was a deity-level celestial being in the history of the sect, and had a very deep relationship with the sect.

Of course, this happened a long time ago.

However, Xia Jin's strength and background are indeed no less than Qin Tianjun's.

Xia Jin is a sword cultivator specializing in lightning. His sword is imbued with the power of lightning, which shatters Qin Tianjun's various sword techniques and sword energies, rendering them completely ineffective.

The Five Elements Spiritual Body is said to be invulnerable to all laws, but its defenses were completely breached by the thunder that represents the power of heaven and earth.

There is no such thing as absolute invincibility in this world. Legend has it that even the Great Vehicle Celestial Venerable perished when facing the Heavenly Tribulation, let alone Qin Tianjun, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Many of his methods were countered. Thunder obliterated all fancy moves, yet the Thunder Path Sword Cultivator's speed was incredibly fast. Xia Jin nearly defeated Qin Tianjun right from the start.

However, Qin Tianjun was indeed strong. He switched to close-quarters combat and managed to turn the tide.

Both of them have very strong backgrounds and resources, but Qin Tianjun is more inclined towards sword cultivation and has gained a lot of experience outside. He is not a hothouse flower.

Xia Jin favored Lei Xiu; as a prince, he was somewhat pampered.

He was inferior to Qin Tianjun in close combat, but he seized an opportunity and turned the tide of the battle.

"When Qin Tianjun stepped off the stage," Xu Chuan said, his tone a mix of schadenfreude and regret, "he almost fell. He had reached his limit. It's a pity I didn't see it with my own eyes."

Fang Yue suddenly spoke up: "Qin Tianjun still didn't use any magic weapons. Xia Jin used several."

Yan Chiheng clicked his tongue: "In my opinion, Qin Tianjun is stronger than when he fought you. Lin Zhao, you might not be able to beat him next time you meet him."

Lin Zhao did not answer. He lowered his eyes, and a faint phantom of a sword lotus was reflected deep in his pupils, which vanished in a flash.

"This is a competition, so Qin Tianjun didn't use any magic weapons," Lin Zhao said. "But I don't think he's a pedantic person. If he brought all his magic weapons outside, I'm afraid none of you would be his match."

Everyone nodded. Given Qin Tianjun's family background, he must possess magical treasures, and more than one at that.

The Qin Tianjun on the ring and the Qin Tianjun outside the ring are completely different people.

----

A few days later, Lin Zhao officially faced off against Xia Jin.

The name of the Thunder Path Sword Cultivator is indeed well-deserved. His speed is unparalleled, his attacks are violent, and his lightning has an extremely strong effect in breaking through magic.

Qin Tianjun's sword energy was countered, and Lin Zhao's Dharma Domain and Seven Spiritual Bodies would also be suppressed and disintegrated by the lightning.

But Lin Zhao has a trump card that Qin Tianjun doesn't have—a third-tier magic weapon, the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pool.

This magical artifact can absorb, refine, and store the power of thunder.

Xia Jin slashed with his sword, unleashing a torrent of lightning. However, the Thunder Pool glowed slightly and absorbed most of the lightning power.

Xia Jin was ultimately only at the Foundation Establishment stage; no matter how powerful his lightning magic was, it was difficult for him to overcome the rank gap of a third-tier magic weapon.

He changed his tactics several times and launched several strong attacks, but the result was always the same.

Lei Fa was swallowed up, and the sword energy was blocked, but Lin Zhao continued to attack, protected by his magic treasures, steadily dragging the battle into a war of attrition.

In the end, Xia Jin, looking at the unharmed Lin Zhao opposite him, could only helplessly clasp his hands in surrender and turn to walk off the stage.

----

More than ten days later, the Top 100 Tournament concluded. Lin Zhao played all ninety-nine matches without losing a single one.

They won first place in the Spirit Stone Sect's Centennial Grand Competition.

The rankings are Lin Zhao, Qin Tianjun, Xia Jin, and seven more.

The tenth place goes to Pei Yue. This old guy is quite strong; he possesses magical treasures, domains, and supernatural abilities. When combined, they create a versatile skill set that allowed him to squeeze into the top ten.

The awards ceremony was held in the center of the martial arts arena. True Lord Beichen did not attend in person; instead, a Core Formation elder presided over the ceremony.

As the top-ranked player, Lin Zhao has the right to choose the reward first.

For the third-tier spiritual item, he directly took a complete Qingyuan spiritual water.

He already had more than sixty drops of Azure Jade Spirit Water, and he was still short of thirty drops to make a complete Core Formation Spirit Item.

At the normal pace, it would take another ten years to naturally take shape. But now, by obtaining a complete set directly, ten years of effort have been saved. Furthermore, an additional spiritual object can be obtained in the future.

The differences between the spiritual items of different sects are not significant; it doesn't matter which one you choose.

For magical artifacts, he chose an extremely precious palace-type artifact—the Spirit Origin Palace.

Palace treasures have always been the most precious of all treasures, with multiple functions, one of which is equivalent to several others.

The one Lin Zhao chose combines defense, suppression, cultivation, and escape.

When fully activated, it can expand to a size of two hundred feet. If an ordinary Core Formation cultivator were trapped inside the hall, they would surely die.

The sect has brought out a total of 500 third-tier magic treasures this time, with only a few palace-type magic treasures. Lin Zhao is the top choice, so he naturally gets priority.

When Lin Zhao received it, the Lingyuan Palace had shrunk to the size of a palm, its entire body a bluish-gray, seemingly an inconspicuous, stubborn rock. But as soon as spiritual power was injected, dense runes immediately appeared on the palace's body, with spiritual light slowly flowing from the gaps between the runes, its aura restrained.

In addition, there are fifty Cloud Sea Jade Talismans.

He immediately used thirty of them to exchange for a top-grade third-tier substitute death talisman.

This talisman can withstand a full-force attack from a peak Core Formation cultivator, and upon activation, it can instantly teleport the user three hundred miles away. The jade talisman is milky white and lustrous, warm to the touch. Lin Zhao immediately kept it close to his body as a life-saving trump card.

He did not rush to exchange the remaining twenty Cloud Sea Jade Talismans, but saved them for later use.

-----

A few days later, Lin Zhao received a message from True Monarch Beichen, and together with the top ten disciples of the competition, he was teleported to a high peak deep within the sect.

A palace stands atop the peak, the Beichen Palace, a fourth-grade high-level magic treasure.

Even in broad daylight, the sky above the palace was still filled with the flickering starlight, with thousands of slender strands of silver light hanging down like a silver net, constantly drawing in the power of heaven and earth and the stars.

Beichen Zhenjun does not usually cultivate here; this mountain is only used by him to nurture fourth-order magic treasures.

Outside the hall is a small square, the ground of which is paved with a single piece of star-patterned stone, and it feels cool to the touch.

Beichen Zhenjun sat upright on a stone chair at the end of the square.

With white hair and beard, a gaunt face, and dressed in a dark blue Taoist robe, he sat as still as a stone, his aura so deep and concentrated that he seemed to merge with the mountain peak.

Yan Feng stood beside him, his fingers trembling almost imperceptibly beneath his wide sleeves. He and True Monarch Beichen had just reconfirmed the rules for entering the secret realm.

All the spoils of this trip to the secret realm, even fourth-tier treasures, belong to the disciples themselves; the sect will not interfere.

Yan Feng, too, gained the qualification to enter the secret realm. A barely perceptible fervor flickered in his eyes; his long-dormant thoughts had finally found their chance to emerge.