Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The disciple of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Mansion instantly transformed into a giant wolf.

Over ten feet tall, its wolf fur stood on end like steel needles, and its claws dug deep furrows in the ground. It charged into the ranks of black-armored soldiers, swatting two soldiers away with a single claw, tearing their thick armor like paper.

The wolf bit the third one, flung him out and smashed a whole bunch of them, then charged outwards along the main street, smashing all the shop signs, stalls and doors in its path.

The black-armored soldiers couldn't stop him. He fought his way to the city gate, killing over a hundred people in the process.

Soldiers at the city gate set up their crossbows, and bolts rained down upon the giant wolf. The arrows pierced the wolf's flesh, not deeply, but there were so many that the giant wolf was riddled with arrow shafts, resembling a giant hedgehog.

Lin Zhao had no intention of helping.

The sect's assessment of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable's Mansion was that it was "inhumane."

Sects generally give objective evaluations of sects from other continents, so to receive such an evaluation shows that the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable Mansion is extremely unpopular.

The giant wolf rushed out of the city gate, about to speed away.

A person was standing on the city wall in the distance.

As a commander, he held a large bow, twice the length of an ordinary bow, and drew an arrow from his quiver. The shaft of the arrow was covered with densely packed runes.

Draw the bow. The bowstring is pulled to its limit, and the arrow tip is aimed at the giant wolf's back.

Let go.

The moment the arrow was released, all the runes on the arrowhead lit up.

The arrow left a dark silver trail in the air, moving so fast that it was almost imperceptible to the naked eye. The giant wolf had barely charged out of the city gate by fifty feet when the arrow arrived.

The arrow went in from the back and came out from the front of the chest.

The giant wolf was propelled forward several steps by the force of the arrow and nearly fell.

It didn't stop, dragging the arrow along as it continued running, though its speed had noticeably slowed. Blood gushed from the wound, stretching into the distant woods.

The commander did not give chase. He put away his bow, turned around, and descended the city wall.

Lin Zhao stood in the crowd and watched the whole thing.

That arrow was as powerful as a strike from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In the secret realm, with everyone's spiritual power sealed, such an attack could still harm these outside disciples.

There are too many of them; theoretically, it's possible to kill all of them.

He turned and left the city, blending into the crowd of onlookers without attracting anyone's attention.

After leaving Blackrock City, Lin Zhao quickened his pace and headed north.

To the north lies an ancient city, Xuanze City.

The northern road was difficult to travel, and there were few people along the way. Lin Zhao walked while thinking about things.

I wonder how Qin Tianjun, Xia Jin, and Pei Yue are doing.

During this period, Lin Zhao had already tried it out—he could use his divine sense and his sword intent.

Sword intent doesn't rely much on spiritual power; it's an extension of the mind and will. The Dharma Realm can seal spiritual power, but it can't seal sword intent.

Qin Tianjun's experience in swordsmanship is far greater than Lin Zhao's, and his sword intent will only be stronger.

Xia Jin hails from the Xia Dynasty. Legend has it that the founder of the Xia Dynasty was a Celestial Lord who had achieved the Transformation Godhood in the sect's history. As a descendant of a Celestial Lord who has achieved the Transformation Godhood, he might not be without means to resist the restrictions imposed by the Dharma Realm.

He might be carrying something special, or he might have practiced some special cultivation technique.

Pei Yue, that old rascal… Lin Zhao thought about it and decided that she didn’t need to worry about him.

Pei Yue was a true mortal, a tutor to three emperors, who rose step by step from humble beginnings.

This kind of person has seen it all.

Those who enter the Luo Tian Secret Realm are all prodigies from dominant forces, and none of them are easy to deal with. They each have their own methods.

Lin Zhao slung the bundle over his shoulder and continued walking.

There are two systems in the secret realm: one is the system for cultivators who control Yuan energy, and the other is the system for martial artists.

Those black-armored soldiers follow the path of martial artists. With the help of the special environment of the secret realm, many people in the secret realm can comprehend the will, and those who can comprehend the will are called martial masters in the secret realm.

Sword intent is the purest of all intents, and also the most difficult to achieve; it is extremely rare.

With the help of powerful talismans, martial artists can also control elemental energy. Above them are the so-called martial arts grandmasters, who can only be found in the nine ancient cities and are said to be able to easily destroy a city.

The commander who shot the giant wolf with an arrow was a martial arts master.

Their destructive power is comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it's only at the level of being capable of killing them. In the outside world, Foundation Establishment cultivators have a hundred ways to crush them. But in the secret realm, they can only obediently accept it.

Lin Zhao reviewed the rune knowledge he had previously memorized in the library.

Based on these principles of using and controlling elemental power, Lin Zhao created a variant of the Four Elements Sword Dragon—the Rune Element Sword Dragon.

The original Stegosaurus was silver-white, with concentrated spiritual energy and flowing sword energy in its scales and armor.

The current Fu Yuan Sword Dragon is interwoven with black and silver. The patterns on the dragon's body are no longer sword patterns, but runes. The source pattern is on the dragon's head, the vein pattern extends along the dragon's spine to the limbs, and the weapon pattern is at the end of the dragon's claws, making the whole dragon look more ferocious.

He lacked a deep understanding of these runes and was still unable to control spiritual power, relying solely on his Core Formation divine sense to manipulate elemental energy. The energy fluctuations of the Rune Yuan Sword Dragon were only equivalent to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

But perhaps because he comprehended the runes, his spiritual sense range expanded to a hundred feet. Coupled with Lin Zhao's combat skills, his combat power was comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and ordinary martial artists were no match for him.

Lin Zhao now finally has some ability to protect herself.

At the same time, the others in the secret realm also began to take action.

Lin Zhao headed north. He passed through several small towns along the way and heard a lot of news.

A martial arts master named "Heavenly Sword" has appeared in the martial arts circle. He specializes in challenging famous masters from all walks of life and has never been defeated.

Lin Zhao's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this.

Qin Tianjun. That's a pretty direct name.

An ancient clan calling itself "Xia" has suddenly emerged, acting very ostentatiously. They are recruiting followers from all walks of life, claiming they will forcefully take over an ancient city, and several cultivation families have already pledged allegiance to them.

Xia Jin. Lin Zhao knew who it was as soon as he heard it. Xia Jin dared to be so high-profile, so he must have some means that would allow him to fully unleash his power.

When a debate was held in another ancient city, an old man in his fifties stood up and fought for a day and a night, defeating hundreds of debaters. In the end, he took in seventy-two disciples and was hired by the ancient ruler as a teacher to teach the younger generation. It was clear that he was Pei Yue.

Lin Zhao shook her head. Neither of them were easy to deal with.

However, he found it a bit strange—aren't these people afraid that their identities will be discovered and they will be attacked by the local forces in the secret realm for being so high-profile?

The answer came quickly. They weren't afraid at all.

The people of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Palace began to act. Their spiritual power was sealed, but the power of their demonic bodies remained. They used the demonic blood within their bodies to create a large number of demon humans.

The physiques of these demons far surpass those of ordinary people; they possess immense strength and are fearless in the face of death. They don't care about losses. If someone dies, they die; just create another batch.

The Holy Son of All Spirits personally led the establishment of the Myriad Spirits Sect. Their plan was to completely demonize all the mortals in the entire secret realm, creating a demon kingdom. They were willing to sacrifice everything, even if all these mortals died within a year.