Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

"Casualties are inevitable when the demon-hunting team goes out, so it is necessary to constantly replenish the team with fresh blood."

Therefore, each major monster-hunting team often selects a few "flagship" characters.

It was used to attract promising independent cultivators or members of small families to join.

Gao Yuan's tone carried a hint of understanding, "Liu Yifeng is just born with a handsome appearance. Every time the Golden Feather Demon Hunting Team returns, he always stands at the head of the team, with an outstanding demeanor and extremely eye-catching presence."

"I heard that he was originally an ordinary person from the Great Yun Dynasty, who by chance obtained a fragment of a cultivation manual."

Having just embarked on the path of cultivation, he later joined the Golden Feather Demon Hunting Team and has now reached the seventh level of Qi Refining, making him a prime example of a rogue cultivator's rise to power.

At this point, Gao Yuan gave Lin Zhao a meaningful look.

He lowered his voice a bit, "On the surface, he has no connection with the Liu family, and his reputation has indeed attracted many young cultivators to join Jin Yu."

However, my friend, someone in your family is involved with him.

Listen to me, brother: these people who are thrust into the limelight may seem to enjoy endless glory, but...

However, they are mostly "pawns" carefully packaged by powerful forces behind the scenes, and the relationships involved are extremely complex; it's best not to get too close to them.

It was already evening when the party ended, and the last rays of the sunset painted the clouds a dark gold.

When Lin Zhao returned to the shop, he saw his uncle, Lin Tianze, standing in front of the counter, checking the accounts for the past period.

In the dim light, that slender and upright figure resembled a sharp blade sheathed in its sheath.

Lin Zhao composed himself and stepped forward to report, "Uncle, Brother Gao Yuan plans to form a demon-hunting team and wants to purchase a batch of talismans from our Lin family. We hope the family can agree."

He then submitted the list of talismans that Gao Yuan needed.

At first, Lin Tianze just listened quietly, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the counter, his expression unchanged.

However, when Lin Zhao uttered the words "【Splitting Light and Shadow Talisman】", the knocking sound abruptly stopped.

A sharp, cold glint flashed in Lin Tianze's eyes. He turned his head sharply, his gaze locking onto Lin Zhao as if it were a physical object.

In that instant, the spiritual pressure of a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator uncontrollably spread out, though only for a moment.

This made Lin Zhao's heart tighten, her breath catch in her throat, and cold sweat seeped out from her back.

"It seems this second-tier talisman is much more valuable than I imagined," Lin Zhao thought to himself with a chill.

Lin Tianze did not react immediately; he remained silent for a moment, and the air seemed to freeze.

When he spoke again, his voice was low and slow, each word carrying immense weight: "Gao Yuan, this is the rogue cultivator you met when you first came to the market. He's now a member of the Po Jun Demon Hunting Team."

Before Lin Zhao could answer, he waved his hand and said in an unquestionable tone, "This matter is of great importance and cannot be decided by me alone. We need to report to the family immediately."

For the next couple of days, stay at the shop and don't go out unless absolutely necessary. Go back now.

After saying that, Lin Tianze didn't give Lin Zhao a chance to ask any more questions. He turned around abruptly, and his figure disappeared into the shadows.

Lin Zhao stood there, her heart filled with turbulent emotions.

My uncle's unusually solemn attitude was definitely not just because of a talisman business deal.

He vaguely sensed that he had inadvertently touched upon a long-hidden secret of his family. He had previously suspected that his family was withdrawing its power.

"In the end, my strength is still too weak. If I had the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I wouldn't need to guess like this."

He took a deep breath, suppressing the pounding in his heart. "It seems I should stay in the shop for the next couple of days."

In the dead of night, all was quiet.

Lin Tianze walked alone on the desolate path, surrounded only by the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the withered grass.

This absolute silence, ironically, exudes a chilling danger.

Although he was already a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining, he dared not linger in the wilderness at night, and kept his divine sense constantly extended.

With a thought, a talisman shimmering with a blue light appeared in his palm; it was the Lin family's secret [Hundred-Mile Swiftness Talisman].

Ordinary Swiftness Talismans are only of the lowest grade, capable of helping one travel at most ten miles. This talisman, though only of mid-grade, consumes far less mana due to its special crafting technique, resulting in a significantly longer lifespan than ordinary talismans.

The talisman alone can travel dozens of miles using its own spiritual power; if it is further activated by one's own magical power...

The ability to travel a hundred miles is no exaggeration; its value is in no way inferior to that of a top-grade talisman, and it is extremely rare in the outside world.

The talisman was activated, and a pale blue spiritual light enveloped Lin Tianze's feet.

His figure suddenly became as light as a swallow, and with one step he covered several feet, speeding towards the direction of his family.

Several hours later, the outline of Qingxi Mountain came into view in the distance in the night.

The maple trees planted on the mountain looked like dark clouds under the moonlight. These were specially transplanted from Qingfeng Market by the first Foundation Establishment Ancestor of the Lin family.

At the foot of the mountain, a clear stream flows like a ribbon, its murmuring sound particularly clear in the still night, nourishing the hundreds of acres of spiritual fields that sustain the family's lifeline.

The entire Qingxi Mountain was shrouded in a faint, almost transparent halo of light, which was the second-tier Qingmu Xuanguang Array, the guardian of the Lin family's ancestral land, silently operating.

The array's spiritual energy flowed continuously, emitting a subtle yet reassuringly powerful fluctuation. The halo rippled gently like water, and the mysterious runes within it flickered like stars.

Legend has it that this formation, relying on the near-second-tier spiritual vein in Qingxi Mountain, can even withstand attacks from Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But Lin Tianze knew that this was no exaggeration. Seventy years ago, not long after the second-generation Foundation Establishment ancestor of the Lin family passed away, an unidentified Foundation Establishment cultivator forcibly broke into the Lin family.

Ultimately, the Lin family left that Foundation Establishment cultivator in Qingxi Mountain forever, and that incident brought seventy years of stability to the family.

Now, undercurrents are stirring in the market, and the family's decades-long secret plot is about to come to fruition.

However, Lin Xuan, the daughter, was inexplicably drawn into the Liu family's conflict.

In addition, the news that Lin Zhao had sent today that the Po Jun Demon Hunting Team wanted to buy the [Splitting Light and Shadow Talisman], along with various unusual signs, made his unease even stronger.

He had barely approached within ten miles of the family's residence when a subtle yet chilling aura locked onto him.

Lin Tianze immediately took out his family identity token from his storage bag to show his identity.

It wasn't until they had traveled three miles that a group of figures quietly emerged from the darkness ahead.

He channeled his magic and slowly presented the token to the leader.

A moment later, a middle-aged cultivator dressed in white, with a solemn expression, appeared, followed by nine clansmen with sharp eyes, all at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

This is one of the family's three guard teams, dedicated to providing protection.

"So it's Steward Tianze," the white-robed steward said, taking the token. A faint light flashed at his fingertips as he verified its authenticity. His tone softened slightly.

"Why did you suddenly return so late at night without informing the family beforehand?"

"I have some urgent business to attend to, and I apologize for disturbing you all. I will certainly prepare a feast to make amends another day." Lin Tianze cupped his hands in apology and said nothing more.

The Lin family has more than three hundred cultivators. Although they are generally united, they are also divided into factions based on their closeness or distance.

The four Qi Refining Level 9 cultivators in the clan were naturally the pillars of stability.

Below him were seventeen deacons at the late Qi Refining stage, including him.

They are the core force that keeps the family running.