Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

As we traveled closer to the front lines, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

Occasionally, you'll encounter groups of wounded soldiers retreating from the direction of Guiyunfang City.

But many more are like him, monks who rush to provide support or seek opportunities for various purposes.

In the last few days, he began to conceal his aura, and even stopped using his sword wings.

As Lin Zhao crossed the last mountain ridge, the outline of a market town shrouded in a giant light curtain finally appeared on the distant horizon.

That place is Guiyun Market.

However, unlike the desolation of Qingfeng Market, Guiyun Market, when viewed from afar, looks like a giant battlefield meat grinder!

Outside the massive protective light barrier of the market, a dark, surging tide of beasts crashed against the barrier and various defensive nodes wave after wave.

Deafening roars of beasts, explosions of spells, and shouts of cultivators—

Even from a great distance, it sounded like muffled thunder.

In the sky, flying demonic beasts and cultivators piloting flying magical artifacts were engaged in fierce battles, with figures falling from time to time and being swallowed up by the beast tide.

The touch and fluctuation of spiritual light painted that sky with a bizarre and fantastical light, filled with an aura of destruction and slaughter.

Lin Zhao did not go to the main battlefield, but instead went to a large-scale rescue outpost more than ten miles away from the battlefield.

People come and go here, including cultivators who have just finished their rotation from the front lines and are taking the time to recuperate.

There were pharmacists busy distributing supplies and treating the wounded, and lower-ranking disciples in charge of logistics.

There were also supporters like Lin Zhao who gathered information and looked for opportunities to join the battle.

"Rescue is possible, but we must never enter the main battlefield of Guiyunfang City and get ourselves involved without knowing why."

Lin Zhao silently instructed himself, first observing the edge of the camp to familiarize himself with the situation.

Guiyun Market originally had twelve Foundation Establishment cultivators, but three were lost in a sudden attack by demonic beasts.

More than twenty second-tier demonic beasts appeared, pushing the market to the brink of collapse. Fortunately, Foundation Establishment cultivators from other markets arrived in time to provide support.

Currently, both sides have more than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators each, and information about Foundation Establishment cultivators fighting each other comes from time to time.

In the center of the camp stood a huge jade tablet, on which the battle situation, the distribution of monster types, and the personnel needs and battle merit exchange lists for each team were marked with spiritual light.

Lin Zhao immediately noticed the bounty for the "commander-level demonic beasts." There were thirteen of them in the beast tide, fewer than second-tier demonic beasts, and the spirit stone reward was astonishingly high.

Second-tier demonic beasts are too powerful and too far removed from the masses, so the demonic beast that serves as the leader is the cultivator's biggest goal, but so far there has been no successful record.

Several days later, during a small-scale attack on the camp by a pack of beasts, Lin Zhao made his move. He did not use these powerful forms.

Instead, he used the Four Elements Magic Sword, which moved among the monsters. With each flash of the sword's light, a monster would be killed, and the movements were clean and efficient.

This behavior has attracted the attention of many people.

The supporting cultivators belonged to various market factions, and many of them did not come with any teams.

Therefore, it became popular to form temporary teams at the base, changing teams every day. Lin Zhao's strong performance attracted the attention of many teams.

In the end, Lin Zhao chose to join a team from the Thousand Glory Sect. Firstly, he was new to the area, and secondly, he wanted to see how the sect operated. In any case, the team members changed very quickly, so Lin Zhao could leave at any time.

The captain was a young cultivator named Lin Shaohua, dressed in a magnificent brocade robe, with dragon and phoenix pendants at his waist, and with a slightly arrogant expression.

He was said by everyone to be the only son of a late-stage Foundation Establishment elder of the Thousand Radiance Sect, and a core disciple of the sect.

He himself had reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and was accompanied by several fellow disciples, forming a small group. There were also dozens of ordinary cultivators following him.

For the next month, the battle reached a stalemate.

Lin Zhao's team's main task was to clear out the beast hordes in specific areas and look for opportunities to restrain or even hunt down lone commander-level monsters.

During the battle, Lin Zhao did not reveal his trump cards. He used the Four Elements Sword Technique against his opponent, demonstrating impressive swordsmanship and combat awareness.

She won the approval of her team members, and even Lin Shaohua praised Lin Zhao highly.

However, Lin Zhao felt a sense of inexplicable disappointment towards these disciples of the sect.

Their strength was not weak; their magical artifacts were excellent, their teamwork was quite good, and the sect techniques they used were also quite well-structured.

But that's all. At first, Lin Zhao thought they were deliberately hiding their strength, but after observing several dangerous situations, he discovered that these people's abilities were really quite ordinary.

"He is, after all, a direct descendant of an elder in the late Foundation Establishment stage, yet I can't detect anything special about him, whether it's his bloodline, secret techniques, or the legendary third-tier cultivation method."

I don't know if I'm too strong, or they're too weak, or perhaps they're not true core disciples.

Lin Zhao shook his head inwardly, his idealized image of so-called sect geniuses shattered.

However, following the team wasn't entirely without its benefits. The biggest advantage was the opportunity to observe battles between Foundation Establishment cultivators up close.

The sect disciples had the opportunity to follow the sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators to the main battlefield of Guiyun Market, and were even protected by Foundation Establishment cultivators upon their return. Lin Zhao did not miss this opportunity.

After witnessing the Foundation Establishment battle up close, Lin Zhao realized that even among Foundation Establishment cultivators, the difference in strength was like heaven and earth.

Some Foundation Establishment cultivators, with their weak aura and mediocre skills, struggle even to deal with a common early-stage second-tier demonic beast, sometimes requiring assistance from others.

Its performance is probably not much better than the Foundation Establishment demon beasts that the Lin family hunted back then.

Other Foundation Establishment cultivators, on the other hand, displayed a terrifying level of power.

They can manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with a mere gesture, and their spells are incredibly powerful, often giving them the upper hand in battles against monsters of the same level, and sometimes even allowing them to suppress them.

Driven by their magical artifacts, they easily brought an area of ​​ten miles in radius into their battlefield.

The most eye-catching among them was Master Mingxuan from Tianyun Market!

This cultivator at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage is now the most dazzling presence on the entire outer battlefield of Guiyun Market, bar none.

When Lin Zhao saw from afar on the battlefield that figure with flowing cloud patterns around his body, wielding a cyan flying sword and riding a cyan storm, fiercely fighting against a massive, late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, the "Earth-Splitting Barbarian Bear," as large as a mountain, he realized that...

He felt a chill run down his spine—it was the same mysterious Foundation Establishment cultivator who had joined him for a barbecue by his campfire a few months ago deep in the Cloud Mist Mountains!

The legendary achievements of Master Mingxuan were already widely known when Lin Zhao first arrived at the camp.

Legend has it that when he arrived a few months ago, he swiftly killed several Foundation Establishment demonic beasts. His most dangerous battle was when he was surrounded by six second-tier demonic beasts in a valley.

He neither fled nor dodged; relying on his immense strength and unpredictable movements, he fought the demonic beasts for three days and three nights, effectively drawing away their main force and relieving immense pressure on Guiyun Market.

He held out until reinforcements arrived and the monsters were forced to retreat. He seized an opportunity and made a decisive move, leaving a "Crimson Flame Python" in the valley forever.