Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The True Inheritance Spirit Peak is a domain designated by the sect's Dao Inquiry Hall. Without the permission of True Monarch Qingyuan, even Nascent Soul cultivators of the sect cannot enter at will.

Lin Zhao became the master of a peak with only Foundation Establishment cultivation, entirely thanks to Qingyuan Zhenjun's exception.

As for Qingyuan Zhenjun—Lin Zhao later learned—he was also a smooth talker.

He was quite happy about the identity of "secret disciple" for a long time, but after returning, he discovered that this identity was not included in the sect's plans.

Just like the "core disciple who has reached the Core Formation stage," it's all just talk.

There are only three types of disciples in a sect: Outer sect disciples (who are not formally enrolled), Inner sect Foundation Establishment disciples (equivalent to formal disciples), and True Inheritance Core Formation disciples (who only hold this position for a hundred years).

Above that are the sect's Core Formation Stewards, Nascent Soul Sect Elders, and Deity Transformation Supreme Elders.

Qingyuan Zhenjun even argued that the secret disciples corresponded to the "holy sons" of the hegemonic forces.

The Holy Son serves two purposes: first, to present a facade for external communication and exchange.

Secondly, when a sect faces annihilation, they take the sect's heritage with them and leave behind a lineage for the sect.

That's how it is in the Luo Tian Sect. Yan Feng's lineage is a bloodline passed down from a secret disciple.

However, the Yunhai Cangming Sect has been established for 70,000 years and rarely participates in the affairs of other continents. Moreover, it has a profound foundation and has never encountered the danger of being destroyed.

Lin Zhao was speechless after hearing this, feeling that the establishment of the secret discipleship was rather arbitrary.

Qingyuan Zhenjun nodded and said, "This identity is really up to him. If he says he has it, then he has it; if he says he doesn't, then he doesn't."

However, Lin Zhao was still genuinely grateful to him.

Putting aside everything else, his sect token can directly transmit messages to True Monarch Qingyuan himself.

Whether the other party replies or takes action depends entirely on their mood.

At that time, he was somewhat unable to withstand the pressure from the Nascent Soul True Monarch, so he could only ask True Monarch Qingyuan for help. True Monarch Qingyuan readily granted him the status of a true disciple.

It was after this incident that Lin Zhao realized something—once they reached the Nascent Soul level, the sect's rules might not be able to restrain them, since they were the ones who participated in making the rules.

This can be considered his first lesson in becoming a secret disciple.

After moving into Tianxing Peak, those telepathic communication methods basically disappeared. It wasn't worth offending True Monarch Qingyuan for a fourth-tier magic weapon.

Qingyuan Zhenjun's influence is indeed very useful within the sect.

A year ago, Master Qianqiu successfully emerged from seclusion, having broken through to the peak of the Core Formation stage.

After he learned about these things, he sent him a message with only one sentence: Do not come back before you reach the Core Formation stage.

It's obvious that Master Qianqiu was also under pressure from the Nascent Soul cultivator; Master Qianqiu was protecting Lin Zhao.

Today, Tianxing Peak is famous for its two unique spiritual products: Silver Leaf Grass and Cloud Pattern Fungus.

Two major treasures that guard the peak, a half-moon war artifact, and a third-tier green lotus.

These items are worth at least tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones in the outside world, and that's not all.

Once he truly establishes a superior-grade Golden Core, the sect will allocate another one of the 356 spiritual peaks for Core Formation to him. This is the sect's true tradition: one person can occupy two peaks.

In terms of resources and foundation, it is equivalent to two Core Formation sects.

A hundred miles of spiritual peaks, accompanied by a sea of ​​clouds, where spiritual beings gather, peaceful and serene—this is his place of cultivation for the next hundred years.

Lin Zhao withdrew his gaze and turned to walk back into the depths of the cave.

He is preparing to form his core.

Lin Zhao returned to his cave and took out five third-tier spiritual items.

The Green Wood Heart is as green as jade, exuding a faint fragrance of grass and trees; the Earth Origin Jade Marrow is earthy and deep, with winding patterns like the veins of the earth; the Blazing Sun Crystal is fiery red, as if sealing a blazing sun; the Golden Dawn Crystal is golden and restrained, with textures like miniature mountains; the Green Jade Spirit Water is clear and warm, containing a profound vitality.

The five elements come together, mutually generating and complementing each other.

He arranged the spiritual objects neatly according to the five elements and directions, and then took out the pills he had exchanged for with his sect's contribution.

Three types of cultivation pills: Third-Order Gathering Gold Pill, Hundred Meridians Condensing Essence Pill, and Spirit-Stabilizing Pill; Two types of tribulation-crossing secret medicines: Thunder Essence Protecting Meridian Pill can resist heavenly lightning and protect the physical body, while Heaven-Returning Pill can prolong life in desperate situations and stabilize vitality.

The pills were neatly arranged and categorized. Lin Zhao sat quietly in the center of the cultivation room, closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, not in a hurry to circulate his cultivation.

The Heavenly Star Peak formation was slowly activated, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continuously gathered. The spiritual energy gathering patterns on the stone wall shifted between light and shadow, and thick spiritual mist filled the cultivation room, gradually transforming the entire space into a milky white mist.

Core Formation and Foundation Establishment are different. Foundation Establishment primarily uses Foundation Establishment Pills, supplemented by Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects. Core Formation primarily uses third-tier spiritual objects, supplemented by elixirs.

It takes an ordinary person a hundred days to painstakingly build a foundation, but for the geniuses of a sect, building a foundation is not difficult. What is difficult is to enhance the origin of life and give birth to a spiritual body while building a foundation.

If a Heavenly Spiritual Root cannot build a superior spiritual body and obtain other talents, then forming a Nascent Soul will be several times more difficult than forming a Core in the future.

Because the characteristic of a nascent soul is change.

Heavenly Spiritual Roots are of a single attribute, making Core Formation very easy for them. However, if they do not understand or control other attributes after Core Formation, it will only be more difficult for them to face Nascent Soul Formation in the future.

Qin Tianjun, despite having a metal-type celestial spiritual root, still managed to cultivate a five-element spiritual body, all to pave the way for this.

Of course, nothing is absolute. Some people can achieve Nascent Soul formation with a single attribute, but it is much more difficult than achieving Core Formation.

For these prodigies, the Foundation Establishment process is fast at first but slows down later.

The Core Formation is different; it has a huge threshold—the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Heavenly Dao will send down a bolt of lightning; three people will form their cores, but normally only one person can survive it.

This is a life-or-death test; the higher the grade of the Golden Core achieved, the greater the power of the heavenly lightning.

Over the years, cultivators have developed a process for forming the core, starting slowly and then accelerating.

First, use a small amount of essence, energy, and spirit to create a nascent elixir. Then, continuously refine and improve its grade until it reaches a state of perfect harmony and flawlessness.

In this process, one can sublimate one's life essence in advance with the help of the illusory elixir, giving birth to a spiritual body and enhancing one's spiritual consciousness and magical power.

For cultivators who already possess a spiritual body, some steps can be reduced, making the formation of the core easier.

The key to the whole process is to lock in one's own aura and prevent the heavenly tribulation from locking in too early.

Once everything is ready, pour all your essence, energy, spirit, spiritual objects, and external spiritual power into the nascent core in one go, compress and solidify it, and transform it into a true golden core.

The moment the Golden Elixir naturally condenses and takes shape, the Heavenly Thunder of Elixir Formation will descend.

This process is extremely demanding on a cultivator's control over spiritual energy, especially for Lin Zhao, who is trying to form a high-grade golden core, which is many times more difficult than ordinary core formation.

But for Lin Zhao, who had already awakened the Heavenly Heart Dharma Wheel and comprehended the rules, this step was not difficult.

The essence of forming a golden core is the condensation of liquefied magical power into a physical form, which is ultimately energy transformed into matter—it's just that this golden core is formed from essence, energy, and spirit, making it a bit more complicated.

He closed his eyes, adjusting his mind and body to perfection. The spiritual peak formation activated, and the spiritual energy in the cave began to rise slowly. The spiritual mist seeped in, growing thicker and thicker until finally the spiritual energy in the stone chamber turned milky white.

Three days later, Lin Zhao opened his eyes. He had reached his peak condition and the Core Formation process had officially begun.