After being jilted by the saintess at the beginning, why is she crying?

"Brother Fengmian! You absolutely have to come! Yiyi has asked the kitchen to make you lots and lots of delicious food!"

The little princess's big eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Lin Fengmian smiled and nodded, readily agreeing:

"Okay, okay, I'll definitely go."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a pale yellow figure popped out.

"Lin Fengmian! Well done!"

Su Zhenzhen held her mother Yang Yuxian's hand, tilted her little face up, and looked very satisfied.

"Finally, you've caught up with my cultivation level! But don't get too cocky, you still need to keep working hard!"

As she spoke, her eyes darted around, and she suddenly took a few steps closer, lowering her voice with a hint of playfulness:

"Once your cultivation has stabilized... I can give you a little reward~ Hehe~"

Looking at her quirky and mischievous appearance, Lin Fengmian couldn't help but twitch his lips, not wanting to pay any attention to this little girl.

This girl really tricked him a lot back then.

Yang Yuxian, who was standing to the side, surprisingly spoke up, her voice gentle:

"Young friend Lin, if you have time, you might as well come and visit my Su family. Zhenzhen's father... is very curious about you and has always wanted to meet you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Fengmian's lips twitched again.

Why does this sound like... a trap?

But he still wore a polite smile and nodded in agreement.

Just then, Xiao Xiyue and Chu Qingyi also gathered around.

Red Lotus, Liu Shiyin... graceful figures surrounded us, and various fragrances wafted over, weaving an invisible, gentle net.

Lin Fengmian was surrounded by them. Looking at their beautiful faces and the different fragrances wafting around his nose, he felt both helpless and amused.

He, Lin, just wanted to cultivate immortality in peace and quiet, so how did he end up like this?

"Why……"

He sighed inwardly, but couldn't help but smile slightly.

This is probably... the troubles of happiness.

……

After exchanging pleasantries, Lin Fengmian finally found a moment to escape and fled back to the Hehuan Sect's base in the Great Yan Dynasty.

He went straight into his room, closed the doors and windows, set up several protective barriers, and after confirming that no one was watching, a thought struck him—

The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot.

……

Frozen Cave Heaven.

White mist swirled, and spiritual energy surged like a tide.

As soon as Lin Fengmian appeared, a pink shadow rushed over and hugged his leg tightly.

"Master! You've come!"

The little earth spirit tilted its head back, its fluffy fox ears twitching, its big, bushy tail swaying happily behind it, and its big, bright eyes looking it up and down.

After a moment, she tilted her head and asked with some confusion:

"Master...you seem a little different?"

Lin Fengmian chuckled softly and ruffled her hair:

"What's different?"

The little earth spirit leaned closer to smell it, then gently poked his arm with its tiny hand, and its eyes lit up:

"Hmm... Master smells so good! And he seems to have gotten even more handsome!"

As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something and jumped up in surprise:

"Oh no! Master, you haven't reached the Core Formation stage, have you?!"

Lin Fengmian smiled and nodded, then released his aura.

A surge of pure and powerful spiritual energy erupted from his body, its pressure thick and solid, far surpassing that of ordinary early-stage Golden Core cultivators. As the spiritual energy circulated, the Yin and Yang energies flickered in and out, seemingly containing the ultimate principles of heaven and earth.

The little earth spirit sensed that powerful aura, its mouth opened into an "O" shape, and its fluffy tail wagged excitedly in a circle.

"Wow! Master is amazing!"

Lin Fengmian smiled, rubbed her head again, and then sat down cross-legged under the willow tree.

He took out the jade tube left by his father from his bosom—the "Starfall Sword Manual".

During the initial foundation building phase, this sword manual had already awakened two divine abilities, one offensive and one defensive, both extremely practical.

The Lotus Sword Shield can instantly condense into a defensive sword shield to withstand attacks from powerful enemies; the White Light Sword Escape allows for extremely fast movement, making it excellent for both pursuit and escape.

These two supernatural abilities gave him a significant advantage in battles during the Foundation Establishment stage.

Now that the Golden Core has been successfully formed, the Sword Manual should, in theory, awaken new supernatural powers.

Lin Fengmian took a deep breath and focused his mind on the jade tube.

The moment my divine sense probed in, a vast and boundless sword intent rushed towards me!

He looked closely and, sure enough, two new divine abilities had been unlocked in the sword manual.

【Sword Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones】, 【Scattering Swords into Soldiers】.

Lin Fengmian's gaze sharpened slightly, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

He first looked at the first supernatural power—

"Sword Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones... After cultivating this divine ability, one can instantly transform oneself into three clones."

Each clone can inherit all the supernatural powers and techniques of the original body, and can be commanded by the original body with a single thought to fight together.

The three clones each possess independent consciousness, yet are connected to the original body's will, like having three heads and six arms, thus greatly increasing their combat power.

Lin Fengmian's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"What incredible power!"

The more he looked, the more impressive it seemed, but then he noticed a line of small print below:

"However, this divine ability also has its flaws: the clone has no means of defense, and once it is hit by the spell of a cultivator of the same level, it will instantly dissipate. Therefore, when using it, one must move flexibly and use offense as defense, rather than engaging in a head-on confrontation."

Lin Fengmian looked at the two supernatural powers in the jade tube, and the more he looked, the happier he became.

"Great stuff! Great stuff!"

He couldn't help but murmur his praise, his eyes gleaming.

"Just imagine, suddenly conjuring up three versions of yourself while fighting, simultaneously unleashing the Myriad Swords Technique—that's three times the sword energy! Tell me, among those of the same level, who could withstand that?"

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and the image of the overwhelming torrent of sword energy engulfing his opponent appeared in his mind.

"Moreover, this clone has many other uses besides fighting. For example, it can help manage the spiritual fields and take care of the herbs in its own cave... Tsk tsk, it's practically three people's worth of labor."

But then he saw the description of the spiritual energy consumption in the jade tube, and his smile faded slightly.

"However... this clone consumes an enormous amount of spiritual energy. With my current cultivation level of just forming my core, I don't know how long I can sustain it?"

He shook his head, temporarily suppressing the question, and continued to look at the other supernatural power.

[Slaying swords as soldiers].

This supernatural ability is relatively simple and direct—it involves unleashing one's own sword energy, transforming it into "sword soldiers" that resemble puppets. However, these sword soldiers are not physical entities, but are purely formed from sword energy and are controlled by their master's divine consciousness.

However, there are also considerable limitations.

"These sword soldiers all need to be controlled with divine sense. If you want to command a large army, you must have a sufficiently powerful divine sense."

He lowered his head in thought, then a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"However, there's not much to worry about in that regard. When I was in the Foundation Establishment stage, my spiritual sense was already comparable to that of the Core Formation stage. Now that I've truly stepped into the Core Formation stage..."