Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The reputation of the seven major sects may not bring protection in the Endless Sea. On the contrary, they may attract the attention of Nascent Soul True Monarchs. Having an extra layer of secret identity means having an extra layer of protection.

Regarding the power of Nascent Soul True Monarchs and fourth-order demonic beasts

In the past year or so, he had also experienced the terrifying pressure of a battle between a Nascent Soul True Monarch and a fourth-order demon beast from afar, with the battlefield located deep in the Black Sea, deep within the defensive line.

The battle between a Nascent Soul True Monarch and a Fourth-Order Demon King will never easily approach the alliance's defense line. Once the flames of war spread, it will be a catastrophic crisis for the nearby defense line.

The storm of battle they unleash will generate tsunamis, with waves tens of meters high, sweeping across thousands of miles of sea.

The chain reaction could lead to a monster riot, forming a giant beast tide covering thousands of miles.

It might even trigger the appearance of ghost mist—every time the ghost mist phenomenon descends, it means the death of countless cultivators and the complete annihilation of the island's forces.

This time, Lin Zhao didn't come out to hunt for prey herself.

It was a commission from a nearby medium-sized island.

A few days ago, Lin Zhao was approached by someone while hunting demons.

The man came from a medium-sized island called Biluo Island.

There is a family named Chen on the island, who are considered to have achieved the highest level of spiritual cultivation.

The head of the Chen family came in person.

He was a late-stage Core Formation cultivator and said that there was a Xuanjia Island Whale near Biluo Island, a peak third-tier whale, which had been wandering around the island for several years.

Over the years, the Chen family has hired many Core Formation cultivators to drive it away, but none of them have been able to get rid of it.

Lin Zhao happened to be in the vicinity, so they found her and came over.

The Azure Lotus Sword Immortal is a figure on the Wind and Cloud Ranking.

Lin Zhao initially wanted to refuse. He had fought against peak third-tier demonic beasts before, and they had escaped all three times.

Moreover, the Xuanjia Island Whale is among the top-tier third-tier whales in terms of defense; it has thick skin and tough flesh, making it virtually impossible to damage.

Unfortunately, the Chen family gave them far too much.

A top-grade, third-tier Green Spirit Vine.

Its value is comparable to ten third-tier spiritual items.

Over the years, his main body has cultivated to the peak of the early stage of Core Formation and may break through to the middle stage of Core Formation at any time.

Once the main body breaks through, the clone can also advance accordingly.

The Azure Lotus clone had previously obtained four pieces of Cinnabar Spirit Wood, but that wasn't enough.

If I add this Azure Spirit Vine, I'll be almost certain to break through to the mid-stage of Core Formation.

Moreover, the other party's request was not to kill the monster, but simply to drive it away.

Lin Zhao thought about it and felt that he could still do it.

Hundreds of miles away, on a small, deserted island rising from the sea, one can only see upon closer inspection that it is the whale's back protruding above the water.

The island whale has most of its body submerged in the deep sea, with only its back, which is exposed, being three hundred feet wide.

Its dark brown carapace is made up of layers of petrified hard shells, and its surface is covered with barnacles and corals, making it look no different from a deserted island from a distance.

This set of stone armor has been tempered and enhanced by spiritual energy over the years, making it far harder than black iron.

The island whale slowly inhaled and exhaled, and with each breath, a white column of water dozens of feet high gushed out from the gaps in its carapace, carrying violent demonic power, and the seawater for miles around was scorched by the heat wave and kept bubbling and boiling.

Lin Zhao hovered in mid-air, his sword domain unfolding. His divine sense had broken through to the late stage of Core Formation, and his domain could now cover seventy miles.

Within the domain, countless cyan sword energies condensed from the void, moving within the domain like cyan fish swimming through it.

Lin Zhao gripped the Azure Lotus Sword, and the patterns on the blade lit up.

"fall."

The Azure Lotus Sword was pointed diagonally at the sea surface, with the tip pressing down.

He used his sword intent to control the domain, and countless sword energies intertwined to form a huge cyan sword net, which crashed down and enveloped the sea. The sea surface suddenly trembled violently, and the aftershocks of the sword energy cleaved the water surface with dense cracks.

The sword magic net firmly trapped the Xuanjia Island whale.

Sensing the deadly danger, the Xuanjia Island whale immediately launched a counterattack.

Its counterattack was simple and brutal.

A hundred-foot-long whale tail swept across the water, splitting the sea surface with a deafening roar. Dark yellow light covered the tail, and as it fell, it looked as if a mountain had collapsed.

Lin Zhao neither dodged nor evaded, but instead activated the Azure Lotus Sword to integrate all the sword energy within the domain, condensing it into a hundred-foot-long azure giant sword to directly confront the attack.

The hundred-foot-long giant sword and the whale's tail clashed head-on, creating a massive shockwave. A ring of white air burst outwards, and the seawater was leveled off where the shockwave passed.

But in the end, the extremely refined giant sword was superior. The longsword forcefully sliced ​​through two-thirds of the whale's tail, leaving a ten-zhang-long, ferocious gash on the tail.

The whale of Xuanjia Island let out a deep, muffled roar, the sound waves stirring up countless seawater and creating towering waves.

It sank to the bottom, leaving a bloody trail on the sea surface, turning the seawater dark red.

Lin Zhao did not use the Divine Soul Sword Tower. This magic weapon was related to the strength of his divine soul and had little effect on peak Core Formation demon beasts.

He activated the Azure Lotus Sword once more, and countless sword energies within the domain rapidly converged towards the center.

At first, it was just a cyan ball of light about ten feet in size. The sword energy collided and merged inside, and it continued to expand.

Finally, a hundred-foot-long sword lotus took shape in the sky.

The lotus leaf was formed from countless sword energies, appearing almost solid with sharp edges.

The sword lotus spun and plummeted, crashing heavily onto the island whale's carapace, causing the outer layer of barnacle coral-built shell to crack and crumble inch by inch.

In excruciating pain, the massive body of the island whale churned violently, its entire body, hundreds of feet long, fully exposed above the sea surface.

It overturned, creating towering waves hundreds of feet high, which swallowed up several nearby small reefs.

In the following days, the two sides entered a standoff.

Lin Zhao's sword domain is on the sea.

Countless cyan sword energies were densely arranged in the air, forming a myriad of shapes and obscuring the sky.

Beneath the surface of the sea lies the Xuanjia Island whale.

It stopped trying to fight back and instead kept spewing out streams of mysterious water thunder from below.

Each one is several meters in size, a Xuan Shui Lei (mysterious water thunder), with dark lightning flowing across its surface.

Countless mysterious water thunderbolts exploded simultaneously, transforming into a black thundercloud.

Dark black lightning bolts struck down from the clouds, one after another, hitting the sea surface and creating water columns dozens of meters high.

Sword energy and lightning intertwined, unleashing a blinding white light at their intersection.

Lin Zhao simply stopped rushing.

He took out the Lingyuan Hall, enlarged it, and sat cross-legged on the steps in front of the hall.

He also took out the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pool and placed it beside him.

The magical artifact activated, absorbing the overflowing lightning power and transforming it into spiritual energy to maintain the sword domain.

Unfortunately, the Nine Luminaries Thunder Pool is of too low a grade, only a third-grade low-level one, so it can't convert much.

This was the first third-tier magic weapon he obtained, and it had been with him for many years.

Lin Zhao pondered that he would upgrade it when he had the chance in the future.

The two sides were locked in a standoff for a full ten days.

Although Lin Zhao's sword energy could not seriously injure the Xuanjia Island whale, it continuously brought excruciating pain.

The Xuanjia Island whale eventually changed course and moved away from this area.

Lin Zhao watched it fly away without stopping it.

His cultivation level was ultimately too low. Once he broke through to the mid-stage of Core Formation and learned a few more powerful sword techniques, even a peak Core Formation cultivator wouldn't be unable to kill someone.

He turned and flew toward the island where the mission had been issued.

On Biluo Island.

Island Master Chen stood outside to greet him, his face full of smiles, but the smile seemed somewhat unnatural.

Island Master Chen led him into the main hall at the core of the island, accompanied by three Core Formation cultivators, one of whom was in the late Core Formation stage and the other three were in the mid-Core Formation stage.

Lin Zhao muttered to himself,

It seems that even among Core Formation cultivators, not all are the same.

There were those like President Changqing, whom I had met before, who were self-aware and knew when to advance and retreat.

There are also those like Wei Yun and Song Zhenren, who are blinded by greed.