Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Several Nascent Soul cultivators, unwilling to give up, continued to probe in this direction. A very faint dragon roar swept across the void, shattering the probing cultivators into the air.

The entire Ziyang Immortal City fell silent for a moment.

Lin Zhao left the city gate with his family.

The Foundation Establishment disciples from the sect's Enforcement Hall have arrived, but before they can even ask any questions,

Lin Zhao moved his divine sense, and a sect mark condensed from spiritual energy landed in front of the other party.

The mark emitted a pale silver glow, and the texture was as clear as the real thing.

"Lin Zhao, the true disciple of the sect and the peak master of Tianxing Peak, can come to Tianxing Peak to find me for further matters."

The disciple from the Enforcement Hall accepted the mark, bowed respectfully, and then stepped back.

The formation of the Core Formation stage within a sect is beyond their control, and the master of a peak or the true disciple of a sect is even further outside their scope of responsibility as Foundation Establishment disciples.

The other party didn't hurt anyone, they just couldn't control their breathing, it's not a big deal. Lin Zhao's attitude was also quite polite, so the Enforcement Hall wouldn't make a big deal out of this.

----

Half a day later, the group successfully entered the sect's interior.

Using his authority as a true disciple of the sect, Lin Zhao directly granted his parents, elder brother, and grandfather the status of disciples of the sect.

Without this identity, one cannot move an inch within the sect.

Don't be fooled by Lin Zhao's ability to fly and teleport freely within the sect.

The sect has set up countless terrifying formations in the void within its tens of thousands of miles of territory—even the space itself is isolated from the outside world.

For those in the Nascent Soul or even the Deity Transformation stages, the idea of ​​teleporting in from the void is simply unthinkable.

Along the way, the group looked at the sacred sites and peaks, occasionally exchanging a few words in hushed tones.

The sect's territory is vast, spanning tens of thousands of miles, encompassing three thousand spiritual lands and hundreds of spiritual peaks, its grandeur is imposing.

Because the place is so big, you don't encounter many people.

However, those he occasionally encountered were mostly Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their auras were far superior to those of other Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Lin Zhao led them to Zhaoyang Peak.

The spiritual energy structure of Lingfeng has been completely transformed.

However, the general locations of the palace, cave dwelling, and spiritual field remained unchanged.

The dozen or so cave dwellings in the middle are still empty, all of them are second-tier top-grade, and are many times better than those of the Lin family in the Cloud and Mist Mountains.

After settling everyone in, Lin Zhao sat down and began to inquire about the Yunxia Mountains and the Lin family's affairs over the years.

It has been more than 30 years since he left the Yunxia Mountains.

When I left back then, things were already quite unsettled over there.

The scale and frequency of the beast tides are increasing, and the activity range of the monsters deep in the mountains is expanding year by year.

They even launched several large-scale beast tides led by third-tier demonic beasts comparable to those at the Core Formation stage, and problems also arose within the human race.

Of the three major Core Formation sects, the strongest, the Thousand Radiance Sect, significantly reduced its sphere of influence, leaving the Black Fiend Pavilion and the Hundred Herbs Sect at the forefront of the beast tide.

The lives of independent cultivators and small families in the market are becoming increasingly difficult.

With resources dwindling, many Foundation Establishment families have gone from open and covert struggles to mutual plunder.

The Shaoyang Market, managed by the Lin family, also faced the challenge of a beast tide.

The demonic dragon jointly cultivated by the Lin family and the Black Fiend Pavilion has grown to the late Foundation Establishment stage while resisting the beast tide, and has few rivals in the Foundation Establishment stage.

The Lin family established a firm foothold in the seventeen markets by relying on a second-tier flood dragon and a second-tier high-grade Crimson Sun Spirit Boat.

Clan Chief Lin Shanhe has broken through to the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and has been in seclusion for several years, preparing to advance to the late-Foundation Establishment stage.

However, the five branches of the Lin family have also paid a price over the years.

No Foundation Establishment cultivator has ever been born among the descendants of the Grand Elder.

If the clan leader hadn't come from this lineage, this branch would probably have declined long ago.

The Second Elder's lineage consists of sword cultivators, and Lin Zhengfeng, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, also died in battle.

The Blood Fiend Dragon Secret Technique that Lin Zhao deduced for the Second Elder's lineage back then, although it had the potential to increase the probability of Foundation Establishment and elevate the quality of the Dao Foundation, was far too dangerous. Lin Zhengfeng died while using the secret technique.

But this is how sword cultivators sustain themselves through battle. The second lineage, relying on that secret technique, actually gave birth to two new Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The lineage of the Third Elder, which is the branch of my grandfather, has trained several people to prepare for Foundation Establishment, but none of them have succeeded in all these years.

My uncle, Lin Tianze, failed to establish his foundation ten years ago. Even though he had a Foundation Establishment Pill to save his life, he still died on the spot.

When Grandfather finished speaking, his voice paused for a moment, and his expression darkened.

For cultivators, each leap across major realms is an insurmountable chasm.

Lin Zhao's parents were able to reach the Foundation Establishment stage because Lin Zhao had used nearly ten times the resources of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator over the years to forcefully achieve it.

The father added some details, saying that Lin Xuan and Zhao Ziming had low talent and their cultivation was stuck at the ninth level of Qi Refining, so they had long since stopped focusing on cultivation.

My grandfather also lost an arm in a beast tide six years ago, which greatly reduced his cultivation and combat power.

Regenerating a severed arm requires precious materials, which the Lin family simply cannot afford.

My parents brought my grandfather here this time, firstly to celebrate Lin Zhao's successful formation of the Golden Core, and secondly to see if Lin Zhao had any ideas.

Lin Zhao nodded.

For someone who can even achieve the Dharma body, the regeneration of a severed arm is a piece of cake.

My grandfather only has the cultivation level of the early Foundation Establishment stage, so he only needs ordinary second-tier materials.

For anyone else, regenerating a severed arm would require at least Tier 2 top-tier or even Tier 3 materials, which the Lin family naturally could not afford.

Grandfather's expression relaxed for a moment.

The father let out a deep breath.

Lin Zhao continued listening to what happened next.

The fourth lineage, the Foundation Establishment cultivator Lin Yuanfeng, came from the Black Fiend Pavilion and was in charge of the black dragon. In a battle, the black dragon went out of control and was completely devoured, leaving no trace of its body.

Fortunately, that lineage had already produced a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the Lin family needed to maintain contact with the Black Fiend Pavilion, so the family's status was not affected.

The fifth lineage, which is Lin Zhao's lineage, holds the most special position.

This branch is located far away in Tianyun Market, far from Shaoyang Market where the Lin family is located.

Although three Foundation Establishment cultivators have emerged in recent years, they are all low-grade Foundation Establishment cultivators with weak combat power and little involvement in Lin family affairs, which has caused considerable resentment among the younger generation of the Lin family.

However, the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the family saw it very clearly—this lineage was originally set up to win over Lin Zhao, and at the same time, it was also the Lin family's future escape route.

No one expected that Lin Zhao would successfully form his core in just a few decades.

My parents and grandfather came here on behalf of the Lin family to celebrate Lin Zhao's birthday.

There was also some good news: after experiencing countless beast tides, three new Foundation Establishment cultivators were born in a branch of the Lin family.

The family already has eight Foundation Establishment cultivators. If Lin Zhao's lineage is included, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators has exceeded ten.

The Lin family has been in existence for over three hundred years. Although it has faced numerous crises, it can also be said to be in an unprecedented period of prosperity.

After Grandfather finished speaking, the courtyard was quiet for a while.

The mother got up to cook, telling everyone to eat first. Lin Zhao hadn't eaten her mother's cooking in a long time.

After finishing the meal, Lin Zhao told her grandfather to rest first, and that the arm problem would be dealt with in a few days.

Everyone dispersed that evening.

Lin Zhao sat alone. Apart from the people he knew before, he didn't really have much feeling for the other members of the Lin family anymore.

The life and death of several Foundation Establishment cultivators no longer caused Lin Zhao much emotional turmoil.

Time is the most powerful force in the world; it changes everything.