Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The Azure Lotus clone and the Five Sacred Mountains Dharma Body transformed into two streams of light and instantly merged into one, restoring their almost depleted spiritual power.

The patriarch of the Yan family looked at the golden elixir in Lin Zhao's hand.

He still wanted to struggle, to fight with his last breath.

He charged at Lin Zhao again, but having lost his golden core, his strength was reduced to less than one-tenth, and his speed was much slower than before.

Lin Zhao shook her head.

The Xuan Yin Ghost Hand was still holding the Golden Core in its main body, while another supernatural power had already been activated.

The mysterious Yin energy reformed in front of him, transforming into a giant black hand that descended from the sky. Its five fingers suddenly closed, trapping the Yan family patriarch in its palm.

The Dark Yin Prison.

Inside the cage, extremely dense Xuan Yin demonic energy surged and erupted, transforming into thousands of pitch-black chains that tightly bound the body of the Yan family patriarch.

At the same time, endless demonic energy transformed into countless demonic blades, stabbing wildly from all directions.

His body felt as if it had been cut into a thousand pieces.

Each strike caused him to let out a terrible scream, and the Yan family patriarch completely lost the ability to resist.

Such a severe injury would have killed an ordinary person long ago.

But a Core Formation cultivator's vitality far surpasses that of ordinary people; he cannot die.

Lin Zhao did not intend to let him die.

The Xuan Yin Cage shrank to about ten feet in size and hung behind Lin Zhao.

In the distance, the Core Formation cultivators of the expeditionary force had arrived.

They were alerted by the towering pillar of fire while pursuing the fleeing bandits.

Master Nianwei, Master Zhao Kun, Master Chulan, Master Zhong Tiangu, and several Core Formation Masters from the Yan family.

They stood at the edge of the fire pit, looking at Lin Zhao and the dark cage behind him with complicated expressions.

Everyone looked at Lin Zhao, who was holding the Yan family patriarch's golden core in one hand and controlling the Xuan Yin Prison to imprison the Yan family patriarch's body with the other.

No one speaks.

"The Yan family, Yan Ce."

Lin Zhao's voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard it clearly: "He violated sect regulations by using a fourth-tier spiritual item without permission. He has been caught red-handed."

He raised his hand and put the golden core into a specially made spirit-sealing jade box. The Xuan Yin Prison, along with the Yan family patriarch inside, was gently pushed by him and floated towards Zhao Kun.

"Senior Brother Zhao, this is now the responsibility of the Enforcement Hall."

Zhao Kun caught the Xuan Yin Prison and nodded to Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao did not kill the Yan family patriarch because she was soft-hearted.

After all, he was a Core Formation True Person of the sect, and Lin Zhao did not have the authority to kill him directly.

Lin Zhao now dares to forcibly kill the Yan family patriarch on charges of misappropriating a fourth-tier spiritual item.

In the future, even a Nascent Soul True Monarch of a sect could use this charge to forcibly kill Lin Zhao and seize his treasures.

No matter how talented Lin Zhao was or how powerful her background was, everything is meaningless once she dies.

To put it bluntly, sects have always been relatively lenient towards their own cultivators, turning a blind eye to many things.

The real problem with the Yan family patriarch was not the misappropriation of spiritual objects.

The expeditionary force's raid on the repair shop was one reason.

The second reason is that the Yan family has been acting perversely and irresponsibly for years.

The third reason is that sects do not allow family monopolies to exist for too long.

The Yan family's matter needs to go through the proper procedures of the Enforcement Hall to reach a final conclusion.

Moreover, once the Yan family falls, the first to rush to their aid will not be outsiders, but their former allies from powerful families.

The struggle for power among aristocratic families is even more ruthless than that between sects.

Throughout the history of sects, many aristocratic families have been broken up, yet some have still survived.

However, many families that survived were completely wiped out, and the aristocratic families played a crucial role in this.

Moreover, the Yan family has offended True Lord Qingyuan—no one would offend True Lord Qingyuan for the sake of a fallen Yan family.

The patriarch of the Yan family regained some of his senses while in prison.

He squeezed half his face out from between the chains, his hair disheveled and his face covered in blood, and roared at Lin Zhao through the cage: "Why! Why can't you give me a chance?"

His voice was hoarse, but every word carried a deep sense of resentment.

"Why is it that those high and mighty Nascent Soul elders can monopolize all sorts of fourth-tier treasures?"

"Countless members of my Yan family have strived for nine hundred years, yet the sect won't even grant me a single opportunity to reach the Nascent Soul stage?"

There was a moment of silence around the fire pit.

The Core Formation cultivators around him remained silent; these words resonated with many of them.

Many of those who have reached the Core Formation stage here will face the same problem in the future: fourth-tier treasures are limited.

The sect does have fourth-tier spiritual items, but most of them are supplied to the high-ranking Nascent Soul elders.

When it's their turn, will the sect give them a chance to form their Nascent Soul?

Lin Zhao's voice broke the silence.

"When the Yan family interfered with the training of disciples of the Dao Inquiry Hall, they forced them to follow you on expeditions, resulting in countless deaths and injuries. Did you ever give them a chance?"

The Yan family patriarch did not answer.

Lin Zhao looked around at the Core Formation cultivators around him.

Finally, the focus fell on the few Core Formation cultivators from the Yan family, and none of them dared to raise their heads.

Lin Zhao didn't dwell on the issue; it was an unsolvable problem to begin with.

"If I had to give a reason, there would be no other one."

Lin Zhao turned her gaze back to the Xuan Yin Prison. "I don't want to. I just don't want to give you that chance."

His voice wasn't loud, but everyone near the fire pit could hear it clearly.

Is this reason clear enough? Is it understandable enough?

Upon hearing these words, the Yan family patriarch began to struggle violently within the cage.

The chains rattled as he struggled, and the demonic blade inflicted more wounds on his body, but he seemed oblivious to the pain.

A string of curses erupted from his mouth, some cursing Lin Zhao, some cursing the Yan family, and some cursing the sect.

The curses grew increasingly indistinct, eventually turning into unintelligible screams.

The Yan family's nearly nine-hundred-year legacy came to an end at this moment because of Lin Zhao's words, "I am unwilling."

No one around him agreed, or even responded.

The expressions on the faces of the dozens of Core Formation cultivators varied.

Lin Zhao turned away, no longer looking at him.

The expeditionary force's mission consists of two things.

First, we need to deal with the more than 100,000 Tribulation Cultivator Alliance cultivators who have escaped. These people are scattered throughout the Crimson Nether Mountains and need to be hunted down and counted.

Secondly, we need to eliminate hidden dangers within the expeditionary force. Although the Yan family patriarch has fallen, there are still members of the Yan family who have reached the Core Formation or Foundation Establishment stages within the expeditionary force. They need to be identified, incorporated into the army, or imprisoned.

Once these two matters are settled, he can return to his sect.

For the next few months, hunting squads roamed the Crimson Shadow Mountains.

The expeditionary force was divided into hundreds of groups, each with several Foundation Establishment cultivators leading dozens of Qi Refining cultivators, clearing away the spiritual veins along the Crimson Nether Mountains.

When the Tribulation Cultivator Alliance collapsed, hundreds of thousands of people scattered and fled. Those who had reached the Core Formation stage or were at the Foundation Establishment stage might still be able to traverse the desolate region.

However, Qi Refining cultivators and ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot do without spiritual veins. The area with the densest concentration of spiritual veins within a radius of tens of thousands of miles is the Crimson Nether Mountains.

The desert outside has no spiritual veins and the environment is harsh, so they can't go very far before they have to turn back.

The hunt lasted for several months before it was barely cleared.