Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

In the jade pavilion below, True Lord Qingyuan clapped his hands, the applause loud but somewhat abrupt.

Lin Zhao shook his head, regained his composure, landed back on the platform, and returned to the opposite side of True Monarch Qingyuan.

"I have lived up to the Lord's expectations," Lin Zhao said, "I was just lucky."

Qingyuan Zhenjun waved his hand.

His tone was casual, "With your skills and a fourth-tier magic weapon, you're comparable to an ordinary peak Core Formation cultivator. Among normal Core Formation cultivators, there aren't many who can do anything to you."

Lin Zhao didn't continue the conversation. "That's just ordinary peak Core Formation stage cultivators. Those true geniuses can't be measured by cultivation level. I still have a lot to learn."

Qingyuan Zhenjun said nothing more and leaned against the pillar of the stone pavilion.

"Speak," he said calmly. "Haven't you been looking for me lately? What's up?"

Lin Zhao's spirits lifted.

He had been waiting for these words for a long time; they concerned his spiritual path, and this was not the time for humility.

He raised all the questions about the subsequent cultivation of the "Five Spirits Returning to the Void True Technique," from the seventh level to the path of becoming a deity, from the hidden danger of the soul's annihilation to the construction of the Void Dharma Realm.

After listening, True Lord Qingyuan did not answer immediately.

He reached out and plucked a green leaf that seemed to have drifted down from nowhere, twirled it between his fingers, and then slowly began to speak.

"The True Technique of Returning to the Void of the Five Elements, the top level of the fourth rank, has a good intention and directly points to the Nascent Soul stage."

He tossed the leaf into the air.

"But do you know what you need to pay attention to when advancing to the Nascent Soul stage? The Nascent Soul stage is like a newborn baby, while the Nascent Soul stage is the process of growing up."

Or to put it another way—the perception of a human transforming into a non-human, a god, and the realm below the godhood are two different worlds.

At this stage, your divine consciousness can even briefly merge with the will of heaven and earth, which is equivalent to a change in your mode of existence.

"This is a process of dramatic change."

Qingyuan Zhenjun's voice lowered. "The Nascent Soul stage involves tribulations. The external tribulation is heavenly lightning, and the internal tribulation is the Dao transformation. The external tribulation is easier to overcome, while the internal tribulation is more difficult."

Throughout history, many people have silently transformed into the Dao during their advancement to the Divine Transformation stage, their primordial spirit completely dissipating and merging with heaven and earth.

Therefore, many people will take a trip to the mortal world before they become gods, experiencing the tribulations of becoming mortal, the tribulations of the mortal world, and the tribulations of severing the path. The names are different, but the meanings are similar.

Stand firm in your will and do not be swayed by heaven or earth.

Lin Zhao placed her hands on her knees, her fingers trembling slightly.

"Your technique is more troublesome than the average one."

With a flick of his finger, the leaf burst into flames, and in the flames, the leaf collapsed and shrank until it turned into a tiny speck of ash.

"It gathers the five elements, returns to the ashes, refines heaven and earth as a furnace, and transforms itself into a boundary. Its ultimate goal is to form a realm of returning to the ashes."

He blew the dust off his fingertips.

"But what is the Void? It is annihilation, it is the end, it is destruction."

Therefore, once this Void Realm is born, it will devour everything—including yourself.

When you reach the end of your cultivation, your greatest enemy will not be heavenly tribulations, but your own Dharma realm.

"Unless you choose to live by facing death." True Lord Qingyuan looked at him. "After the Void of Desolation is forcibly reversed, the Void of Desolation is reborn, the Dharma Realm is reborn, and the power of the Void of Desolation is completely mastered."

Lin Zhao paused for a moment, realizing that the path to Guixu was no ordinary one.

"Of course, you have other options."

He lightly swept his finger across the air, and three beams of light appeared—one red, one white, and one black.

Three beams of light, each containing a jade slip, floated in front of Lin Zhao.

"Change to another cultivation method. With your current foundation, changing to another method will at most delay you by a few years."

"I can also help you choose a few fifth-tier Nascent Soul cultivation techniques. These techniques are all of a higher tier than the Five Elements Return to Nothingness True Technique."

He shrugged.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I can change it for you for free."

Three beams of light flickered uncertainly in front of Lin Zhao, as if waiting for him to reach out.

Lin Zhao stared at the three jade slips for a few breaths before looking away.

Lin Zhao is no longer a child. Since he dared to come to Qingyuan Zhenjun, he has already figured out some of his future path.

He had almost completely mastered the subsequent techniques of the Five Spirits Returning to the Void True Technique with the help of the Heavenly Heart Dharma Wheel. He also had a general understanding of the issues of transformation into the Dao and the return to the void and annihilation.

Lin Zhao looked at True Monarch Qingyuan and said calmly, "True Monarch, I have only one question: Is the Returning to Emptiness and Harmonizing with the Dao, which is above the Nascent Soul stage, related to the growth of the Dharma Realm?"

That's what he really wanted to ask.

The Yunhai Cangming Sect has a profound foundation, and Lin Zhao had long suspected that the sect possessed a lineage beyond the Nascent Soul stage.

Even if those ancestors who ascended to the Spirit Realm did not leave behind specific cultivation techniques, they must have possessed the most basic knowledge system.

Such secrets are inaccessible to ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators; only one person within the sect can inquire about them.

Qingyuan Zhenjun looked at him, and the three jade fragments dissolved into specks of light, then leaned back against the pillar.

Your face is full of regret that "this kid didn't fall into the pit."

But he still replied, "Since you asked, I'll tell you."

"Although the Dharma Realm born from the transformation of the gods is solidified by the power of rules, it is ultimately an illusory energy world that cannot contain real living beings."

Going further up, it means expanding and elevating the Dharma realm.

But once you reach this point, you will be suppressed by the will of the world.

There's no other reason—the spiritual energy required for the advancement of the Nascent Soul realm is too enormous, which would place a huge burden on the world itself.

The higher the cultivation level of a Nascent Soul Celestial Lord, the heavier the suppression from heaven and earth, and the more severe the depletion of spiritual energy. In the end, they may even find it impossible to move an inch.

Therefore, to advance from the Nascent Soul stage to the Void Return stage, one can only go beyond the void, reverse the void, absorb endless spiritual energy, and transform the Dharma Realm into a real small world—which can also be called a grotto-heaven world.

"But the void is not so easy to stay in. The spiritual energy in the void is chaotic, making it extremely difficult to refine."

The life of a Void Returning cultivator is not necessarily more comfortable than that of a Nascent Soul Heavenly Lord.

Moreover, once you advance to the Void Returning stage, the world will no longer suppress you—it will directly reject you, and you will be kicked out of the world.

No normal world would accept a cultivator who possesses a hidden world within them; you would be excluded from all worlds, forced to wander the void, unable to enter any world.

"unless,"

He paused, "When one world is completely destroyed."

Lin Zhao kept this last sentence in mind and did not ask any further questions for the time being.

"Therefore, the general world does not accept cultivators who have returned to the Void Realm."

Qingyuan Zhenjun continued, "But powerful worlds like the Spirit Realm and the Demon Realm can do it. They will even actively attract and absorb Nascent Soul cultivators, which is why Nascent Soul cultivators all want to ascend to the Spirit Realm."

Ascension requires the power of guidance. Only by being within a certain world can one use that world as an anchor point to allow the guiding power of the spirit world to descend.

Cultivators who have returned to the Void have been rejected by the world and have no anchor point to use, so they cannot ascend and can only wander in the endless void until they die.

Lin Zhao frowned slightly.

"Can't we just go directly to the Spirit Realm? The Void Returner is much stronger than the Nascent Soul Transformation cultivator, and they also have a grotto-heaven world within them. They probably won't die so easily, right?"