Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

"How are things between you and Xuan-jie lately?"

Lin Zhao suddenly asked, his voice sounding exceptionally clear in the night.

Zhao Ziming suddenly raised his head, a hint of pain flashing in his hazy, drunken eyes.

He murmured, "Xuan-jie is my best friend in this life, the very best."

She was the only one who, from childhood to adulthood, never looked down on me and was always the first to stand in front of me when I was bullied.

She secretly taught me cultivation, and I don't know when it started, but my heart and eyes were only filled with her.

Does she know how you feel?

"I... I never dared to say it." Zhao Ziming smiled bitterly, tears mingling with the wine as they streamed down his face.

"I'm afraid, afraid she'll reject me, afraid I'll lose even this last bit of intimacy."

She probably never knew, right?

"What are your plans for the future?"

"I don't know, maybe I should give up."

Someone like me is simply not good enough for her. It's enough to just admire her from afar.

Lin Zhao reached out and gently patted his back, which was trembling from sobbing.

His tone was calm yet carried an undeniable power: "Starting tomorrow, if you still want to learn, you can learn to draw talismans with me."

You're drunk today, go home and get some sleep.

As he spoke, he helped Zhao Ziming, who was almost limp as a puddle of mud, to his feet and carefully carried him back to his room.

After settling Zhao Ziming in, Lin Zhao stood silently for a moment, then flashed back to the cold rooftop.

Under the moonlight, a slender, verdant figure had somehow already taken up a seat.

He was holding the jar of strong liquor he had just drunk from, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Sister Xuan."

Lin Zhao wasn't surprised; in fact, when Zhao Ziming lost control of his emotions...

He had already vaguely sensed a familiar presence lurking in the shadows below.

However, Zhao Ziming was so drunk that he didn't notice.

Lin Xuan wrinkled her delicate nose, put down the wine jar, and said with disdain:

"This wine is spicy and astringent, it's really hard to drink. I don't understand why you men prefer this kind of thing."

As she spoke, she took out several exquisite white porcelain bottles from her storage bag and handed them to Lin Zhao, saying, "Here, the fruit wine is still the most refreshing and delicious."

She paused, her gaze drifting towards Zhao Ziming's room, her voice softening slightly.

With a mix of emotions, she said, "My feelings for him have always been those of a sister who cherishes and cares for her younger brother."

She paused for a moment, as if examining her own heart, then added somewhat uncertainly,

"Maybe I do like it a little bit, but, well, not that kind of liking."

Lin Zhao sighed inwardly; this plot development was exactly like those melodramatic stories she had read in her previous life.

He composed himself and said seriously, "I met Liu Yifeng once before when Master Mochen was giving a sermon."

Judging from his words, actions, and demeanor, this man is no good; he is extremely calculating and opportunistic. Sister Xuan needs to be careful of him.

"I know."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xuan simply smiled calmly.

That smile held a clarity beyond her years.

"He is ambitious and maneuveres between the Liu family and other forces, playing both sides well. Recently, he has been looking for a new patron."

In his eyes, we are the people he is looking at.

They were merely stepping stones and pawns he could use to achieve his goals.

What, are you worried I'll end up like those heroines in storybooks?

"Were you so easily bewitched by his sweet words that you disregarded everything?"

"Then why do you still maintain such close ties with him and the Liu family he represents?"

Lin Zhao voiced the question that had been bothering her.

Lin Xuan did not answer directly.

She stood up, her dress fluttering slightly in the night breeze, and pointed to the vast market town in the distance, its lights scattered and its outline hidden in the darkness:

"Lin Zhao, what do you think of this Qingfeng Market?"

Without waiting for his reply, she continued speaking to herself, her voice carrying a hint of coldness.

"When I first came here, I felt that it was a big stage and we were all the main characters on the stage."

Later, I felt that it was a huge prison, with strict hierarchy and clear distinctions between the outer quarters, inner quarters, and core area.

The market constantly exploits lower-level cultivators with the cheapest fragments of spirit energy.

At the same time, they monopolize the channels and resources for upward mobility, while setting up numerous obstacles, forcing them to pursue their slim hopes...

One after another, they ventured into the perilous Yunxia Mountains to risk their lives, in a never-ending cycle.

"Just like you, you know how to use shattered spirit stones to buy those low-tier spirit plants that are difficult to process at low prices."

Then, through family channels, they can be converted into valuable spirit stones, allowing one to obtain a stable supply of spirit stones without personally taking risks.

She turned her head and looked intently at Lin Zhao, "And the future of us family members has actually been predetermined."

Lin Zhao, you're amazing. You've only been here a short time, but you've already seen through the rules of this world.

It took me a full ten years to slowly figure it out.

Lin Zhao felt a little ashamed. He hadn't really seen through it; he had just been "guided" by someone.

"I don't have your perseverance; I can focus on my spiritual practice for five years straight, almost like an ascetic."

None of them are as clever as you, knowing how to avoid all unnecessary social interactions and clearly recognizing that...

Without sufficient strength to back it up, so-called connections are nothing but castles in the air, illusions and mirages.

"Sister Xuan,"

Lin Zhao stared at her, his tone serious, "What exactly do you want to do?"

Lin Xuan smiled slightly, a smile that, in the moonlight, carried a hint of resolute determination:

"I want to take a gamble! I don't want to continue down that predetermined, seemingly smooth path."

Zimo is simple-minded; I'll leave him in your care from now on.

After saying that, without waiting for Lin Zhao's response, her emerald figure flashed and, like a nimble swallow, leaped off the roof.

With a few leaps and bounds, it completely disappeared into the deep night, leaving only a faint fragrance of fruit wine.

Lin Zhao stood alone on the rooftop, her mind churning with thoughts.

When Xuanjie was little, she was undoubtedly the leader of their group of children, lively, cheerful, and quite chivalrous.

He always protected his younger siblings like a guardian angel.

Everything changed after the disappearance of her exceptionally talented older brother, Lin Yan, who was only in his twenties but had already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining.

The genius, whom the entire clan believed would inherit his uncle's legacy, disappeared during a demon hunt and never returned.

Everyone knew perfectly well that in the Yunxia Mountains,

The four words "Disappearance of the Monster Hunter"

It's practically equivalent to death.

From then on, the once bright and outgoing Xuan Jie seemed to have grown up overnight and became much more silent.

After a year of arduous training, he was still unable to break through the bottleneck of the mid-stage Qi Refining realm on his own.

She resolutely took the pill and forcibly advanced to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Ultimately, it's because we lack the strength.

Lin Zhao looked up at the boundless night sky, "As long as you have enough strength, the so-called rules and established paths are all vulnerable."

If I were a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I could begin to establish rules to protect those I wish to protect.

If I were a Core Formation cultivator, then the rules would revolve around my will!