Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The leader of the traitors was unwilling to accept defeat, so he used illusion magic, creating dozens of indistinguishable figures that enveloped the surrounding area. Each figure possessed genuine spiritual energy fluctuations, enough to deceive any Core Formation cultivator.

But Lin Zhao didn't even bother to defend herself.

The five prisons roared and trembled simultaneously.

All the illusory figures were instantly crushed and vanished.

With the illusion spells failing, the leader of the calamity cultivators had no choice but to rely on his magical artifacts for a full-scale attack.

The twelve silver-gray spirit puppets simultaneously surrounded the enemy, their chests glowing with silver-gray beams of light, shooting out from twelve directions at once.

At the same time, the seven-colored blades transformed into a ring-shaped blade array, spinning rapidly and carrying immense spiritual power as they slashed towards the enemy.

The dragon roared, and the Vajra Prison swept out!

The sky was filled with sword energy, which exploded with a deafening roar. The twelve spirit puppets were instantly shattered like porcelain dolls, turning into specks of spiritual light.

Unfortunately, the spirit puppet was formed from the spiritual power of a magical artifact, making it indestructible. It would then reassemble and reappear.

However, after several rounds of crushing by the Five Prisons, the spiritual light of the silver mirror behind it visibly dimmed, and the magic weapon's essence was greatly depleted.

On the other side, facing the array of seven-colored blades.

Lin Zhao neither dodged nor evaded, and the Five Emperors Seal flew out through the air!

The five-colored spiritual light flowed on the Imperial Seal, drawing in the spiritual power within the Dharma Domain, and crashed head-on into the Seven-Colored Blade Array!

With a deafening roar, the array of swords shattered instantly!

Taking advantage of the stalemate between the opponent's magical artifacts, Lin Zhao unleashed her spiritual power from her palm.

Near the leader of the bandits.

The Void Devouring Heaven Technique suddenly took shape!

A terrifying devouring force enveloped the seven-colored blade, attempting to pull this third-tier magic weapon directly into it.

The leader of the calamity cultivators' expression changed drastically. He spared no effort to expend his spiritual power and forcibly recalled the Seven-Colored Blade.

The blade's radiance had dimmed somewhat, indicating it had been damaged.

The two exchanged blows briefly, but neither was able to completely overpower the other.

Although Lin Zhao's fifty-mile domain was small, the power of the Five Prisons Revolving was too domineering, leaving the leader of the Tribulation Cultivators with no way to use his illusory and real powers.

Each time the Five Hells rotate, his power of illusion and reality is dispersed once.

His hundred-mile range, however, became a burden for him, allowing Lin Zhao to focus all his energy on attacking the Law Domain.

Lin Zhao and the leader of the Jiexiu sect briefly exchanged opponents.

Lin Zhao faced a peak Core Formation cultivator and used the Five Prisons Suppression technique. In just a quarter of an hour, the Five Prisons Suppressing Heavenly Dragon crushed the opponent's domain.

However, even the veteran Core Formation Peak cultivator of the expeditionary force was instantly at a disadvantage when facing the Tribulation Cultivator leader.

Without the restraint of the Five Prisons, the opponent's power of illusion and reality was completely unsolvable. The Seven-Colored Blade launched a sneak attack from the void, and the Twelve Spirit Puppet attacked relentlessly, completely crippling one of the veteran Core Formation cultivator's arms.

Seeing this, Lin Zhao had no choice but to immediately switch opponents and entangle the leader of the Jiexiu again.

In the end, both of them realized that the other was the strongest and that only they could bear the burden.

And so, the two sides fought a deadly stalemate for a whole month on the outskirts of the core area of ​​the Crimson Nether Mountains.

The Jiexiu Alliance suffered heavy losses in this battle, with three early-stage Core Formation cultivators falling.

On the other hand, the expeditionary force only lost one early-stage Core Formation cultivator.

It's clear that there's a significant gap between sect cultivators and those who have undergone tribulation, especially the group of Core Formation cultivators who came with Lin Zhao; each of them is incredibly powerful, and none of them are easy to deal with.

As Nianwei Zhenren and Zhao Kun were nearing the end, they even joined forces to stop a peak Core Formation cultivator.

The sword realm and the purple magic domain unfolded.

With one attack and one defense, they managed to force the man into a rather disheveled state, forcing him to retreat dozens of miles, thus buying ample time for their own troops to withdraw smoothly.

The expeditionary force retreated in an orderly manner, and the Robber Alliance also withdrew its battle lines upon seeing this.

However, the peak Core Formation cultivator who had been forced back by the two mid-stage Core Formation cultivators was unwilling to accept defeat and led several Core Formation cultivators to catch up.

Seeing this, Lin Zhao decisively took action, unleashing the Five Emperors Seal with a backhand, directly blasting it towards the man.

Five-colored spiritual light streaked across the sky as the Imperial Seal slammed into the opponent's defensive magic weapon.

The third-grade high-quality shield magic weapon cracked on the spot, with a crack running through the shield from front to back.

The residual force from the shield slammed into the man's chest, causing him to cough up blood. His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing all the way back to his own defensive line before being caught by two Core Formation cultivators.

Instead of pursuing Lin Zhao, the leader of the Jiexiu quickly gathered the battlefield to cover the retreat of his own cultivators back to the formation of the Twelve Peaks.

Lin Zhao stood on the dragon's head and did not pursue.

The Five Prisons Domain slowly closed in, and the light of the Heavenly Dragon True Body dimmed, transforming into five-colored spiritual light that entered its body.

This concludes the first direct confrontation.

Back at the camp, the rocky forest was noisy all night.

The Qi-refining cultivators lit a campfire in the clearing between the giant rocks.

Someone brought out a spirit wine that they had treasured for many years, and everyone sat together to share the roasted monster meat.

The aroma of wine mingled with the scent of meat, and the lively chatter added a touch of human warmth to the desolate, rocky forest.

In this battle, the expeditionary force of over thirty Core Formation cultivators faced off against more than fifty enemy soldiers, and not only did they withstand the attack,

The final casualty ratio was even more impressive, reaching 1 to 3, which can be considered a small victory.

The expeditionary force had been suppressed by the Robbery Cultivator Alliance for years, and this was the first time they had defeated the enemy head-on. The morale of the lower-level cultivators was soaring.

Foundation Establishment cultivators showed off their captured storage bags to each other, while Qi Refining cultivators gathered together to count their acquired spirit stones; everyone had gained something.

Most of the Core Formation cultivators did not participate in the celebratory banquet below, and instead returned to their caves to rest.

Only a few rogue cultivators who had reached the Core Formation stage remained in the camp, raising their cups in celebration with the others.

Lin Zhao only stayed briefly, drank a cup of spiritual wine, and then returned to his cave.

He knows very well where he won today.

It was entirely thanks to the sect's cultivators that the pressure was withstood on the front lines.

The Core Formation cultivators of sects usually have elders and peers supporting them, and their methods of survival are endless, far surpassing those of Tribulation cultivators.

The reason we were able to achieve a 1-for-3 exchange this time was due to the high casualty ratio we achieved by using these trump cards, but all kinds of tactics are consumables, and each use reduces their effectiveness.

Next time we fight, the expeditionary force's advantage won't be so obvious.

However, he wasn't too worried.

The Azure Lotus clone hadn't even made a move yet.

When the time comes, the Azure Lotus clone can join the battlefield, enough to bridge the gap in combat power between Core Formation cultivators.

Ultimately, among the nearly one hundred Core Formation cultivators on both sides, very few could truly be considered elites.

Several peak Core Formation cultivators have spent hundreds of years building up their skills, yet they can't even produce a single top-grade third-tier magic weapon, making them barely stronger than late-stage Core Formation cultivators.

Lin Zhao sat down in the cave and began to investigate the background of the leader of the tribulation cultivators.

The leader of the Tribulation Cultivator was indeed powerful, at the late stage of Core Formation, with combat strength comparable to that of a peak Core Formation cultivator.

Seven-colored blades, twelve spirit puppets, illusion and reality transformation, a hundred-mile law domain—the techniques are numerous and varied, and they are coordinated perfectly—but that's all.

He wasn't one of those top-tier Core Formation cultivators who had reached the threshold of Nascent Soul.

Lin Zhao secretly compared the two sides and concluded that the other party's strength was roughly equal to the projection of the eighth level of the Cloud Tower. The Yan family patriarch was also at the same level, and he was not considered the most outstanding among the cultivators on the eighth level.