Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

He looked at Lin Zhao one last time. "Take you for example. You belong to the Wuyai lineage. But if you don't acknowledge True Lord Wuyai, then you belong to the Sword Dao lineage of the Enforcement Hall."

However, since you are under the protection of True Lord Qingyuan, you will essentially be considered part of the lineage of True Lord Qingyuan's Dao Inquiry Hall.

Master Qianqiu's gaze deepened. "As for True Monarch Qingyuan, his status within the sect is extraordinary, even independent of the sect's jurisdiction."

"Of course," Master Qianqiu said at the end, "these relationships are all settled privately. Nascent Soul cultivators are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Cangming Palace sect."

After listening, Lin Zhao remained silent for a moment.

The relationships among Nascent Soul cultivators in various sects are truly complex.

You are in me, and I am in you; we are intertwined and diverse.

Finally, Master Qianqiu asked, "When a sect's core is formed, everyone takes a Daoist name. Of course, there are also those who deviate from the norm and do not take one."

Does Lin Zhao have one, or does he need Master Qianqiu to give him one?

Lin Zhao paused for a moment before saying, "Zhaoyang, Master Zhaoyang."

Master Qianqiu recited the Taoist name twice more.

Zhaoyang, is it the rising sun?

The name lives up to its name.

Master Qianqiu remained silent.

The master and apprentice sat there for the entire night.

As dawn broke, the sea of ​​clouds lit up first. The first ray of sunlight shone from the edge of the sea of ​​clouds, like a golden sword, cleaving a hole in the clouds.

Master Qianqiu stood up. He glanced at Lin Zhao, his eyes filled with relief, reassurance, and a hint of indescribable emotion.

"Lin Zhao," he said, "you are my most outstanding disciple."

Then he turned and walked outside.

His fifth senior brother followed behind him. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

Lin Zhao took the initiative to step forward and patted his fifth senior brother on the shoulder. When his hand landed on his shoulder, the fifth senior brother's body stiffened slightly.

"Take good care of Master," Lin Zhao said.

Fifth Senior Brother glanced at him and nodded.

Lin Zhao stood at the edge of the platform, hands behind his back, looking in the direction where the two figures disappeared.

Golden sunlight streamed in from the edge of the sea of ​​clouds, spreading like a tide.

I walked past his figure.

Lin Zhao faced the rising sun.

Zhao means brightness.

The sun's halo fell directly behind his head, like a divine ring.

Phnom Penh outlined his handsome profile; he stood there, as if a great sun was about to rise.

Half a month later, Master Qianqiu had arranged everything and took Lin Zhao to the location of the Wuyai lineage within the sect.

The Wuya Mountain Range stretches for thousands of miles and consists of dozens of peaks.

The main peak, Wuya Peak, is the highest, reaching a height of ten thousand feet. Its summit disappears into the clouds, and it cannot be seen from below.

The mountain range resembles a coiled dragon, with the head of the dragon being Wuya Peak, the body consisting of dozens of peaks of varying heights, and the tail trailing beyond the clouds.

Beneath the ground lies a massive spiritual vein, stretching for hundreds of miles, eventually converging beneath the towering main peak at its very center, where the concentration of spiritual energy reaches the upper rank of the fourth level.

Each of the seven sects has such a massive mountain range as its base.

Lin Zhao followed beside Master Qianqiu, listening to his account of the Wuyai lineage along the way.

"The Wuyai lineage, besides the three Nascent Soul True Monarchs, also has more than fifty Core Formation True Immortals."

He paused, "Among these fifty-odd Core Formation cultivators, there aren't many at the peak or even late stage. These Core Formation cultivators aren't exactly good-for-nothings, but they're not exactly elites either."

The Yan family can gather dozens of Core Formation cultivators for an expedition in one go; the Wuyai lineage has three Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

Lin Zhao did not respond. Master Qianqiu continued to introduce that during the heyday of the Wuyai lineage, there were more than two hundred Core Formation Realm Masters, but now it has long since declined.

Therefore, the sect has been trying to kick the Wuyai lineage out of the Seven Lineages for many years.

If he's really kicked out, he won't be qualified to govern this boundless mountain range anymore.

The main peak of Wuya is towering thousands of feet high, its summit hidden above the clouds.

At the summit is a cave dwelling with a stone gate tens of feet high. The two ancient characters "无涯" (meaning "boundless") are carved on the lintel, with simple and archaic strokes.

Lin Zhao followed Master Qianqiu inside. The furnishings were simple—stone walls, stone tables, and ever-burning spirit lamps.

Wuya Zhenjun sat on a cloud bed, wearing a dark blue Taoist robe, with completely white hair, a thin face, and deep-set eyes.

The process of meeting the Boundless True Lord was somewhat boring.

The whole process was conducted in a very formal and methodical manner. A few questions were asked about cultivation, and a few polite replies were given. Lin Zhao handled the situation appropriately, but didn't say a single extra word.

Master Qianqiu remained silent, only adding a "yes" or "no" when necessary.

Before leaving, Wuya Zhenjun brought up the matter of fourth-tier magic treasures again, as if it were just a casual remark.

"I heard you obtained a fourth-tier treasure in the secret realm?" He paused. "If there's anything I can use, I'm willing to trade a fourth-tier treasure for it."

Lin Zhao's expression remained unchanged.

An exchange? Lin Zhaoxin is definitely up to something.

Wuya Zhenjun might be willing to trade ordinary fourth-tier treasures, but what could he offer in exchange for a high-grade fourth-tier magic treasure like the Luo Tian Palace?

On the way, True Immortal Qianqiu had already revealed all of True Lord Wuya's secrets—the most valuable treasures of the Wuya lineage were two high-grade fourth-tier magic weapons.

One for offense, one for defense, and a fourth-grade superior-quality Azure Yuan Treasure Tree that can bear Azure Yuan Spirit Fruit, increasing the cultivation of the Nascent Soul.

It's hard to say whether the three treasures combined are as valuable as the Luo Tian Palace.

The Luo Tian Palace is a complete system, and even though all twenty-one spirit-gathering pools are empty now, their potential is undeniable.

The Void Reversal, the Heavenly Realm, the Heavenly Generals, and the Golden Divine Thunder—combined together, form a rudimentary, mobile Dharma Realm.

Its value is no less than, and no less than, that of a top-grade fourth-tier magic weapon.

"Grandmaster is joking." Lin Zhao said with a serious expression, "This disciple only obtained some minor items of the third tier in the secret realm."

A fourth-tier sword-wielding magic weapon? That's not true. It's just a modified version of the Qingfeng Sword, designed to look intimidating.

Whether or not Wuyai Zhenjun believed it, Lin Zhao did.

His expression was so sincere that even Master Qianqiu, standing behind him, couldn't help but lower his head slightly.

Wuya Zhenjun stared at Lin Zhao for a long time.

The light from the cloud bed flickered, reflecting on his face and making his expression appear both bright and dim.

Wuya Zhenjun felt very uncomfortable—he must have been incredibly unlucky to have encountered such a master and disciple pair.

Qianqiu was unyielding to both soft and hard approaches, while Lin Zhao was completely impervious to both oil and salt.

The same goes for True Lord Feixue and True Lord Tianfeng; neither of them is easy to deal with.

Wuya Zhenjun stood up with a flick of his sleeve, turned around and went into the inner hall, without even giving the juniors the gifts that should have been given.

After the two left the cave, Qianqiu Zhenren finally spoke. "You've passed this hurdle; he won't pressure you anymore."

Lin Zhao nodded.

A mountain breeze blew by, and he took a deep breath.

Next, we'll go to the residence of True Lord Flying Snow.

True Lord Feixue did not reside on Lingfeng Peak, but rather in a valley in the middle of the mountain range. The valley was called Hundred Flowers Valley, and one could smell various floral fragrances at the valley entrance, layer upon layer, yet not overpowering.

Once inside, the valley was filled with flowering trees, and at the bottom of the valley was a small courtyard with white walls and blue tiles, the walls of which were covered with magical vines.