Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The third heavenly tribulation descended.

This tribulation was even larger than the previous two combined, and its color changed from crimson gold to purplish gold. The lightning pillars even contained tiny spatial cracks.

The heavenly tribulation struck the high cliff, shattering it instantly. The entire island and its high cliffs vanished in the lightning, the rocks instantly vaporized.

The rampant purple-gold lightning spread out like a tide, sweeping across hundreds of miles and engulfing all the monsters in its path.

Tens of millions of demonic beasts were wiped out by a single bolt of heavenly lightning.

After the lightning dissipated, the sea returned to calm.

The long-absent sunlight shone down from the sky, leaving only a sea surface covered with the corpses of monsters.

Master Kou remained silent.

The attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul stage failed.

Half a day later, the group no longer lingered there.

Hundreds of Core Formation cultivators joined forces to fight their way into the remaining beast horde.

The demonic beasts were first consumed by the heavenly tribulation, then most of them were killed by heavenly lightning, and the rest were all wounded. Faced with the combined attack of hundreds of Core Formation cultivators, they had almost no ability to resist.

Five days later, the remaining tens of millions of demonic beasts were completely wiped out.

Almost all of the hundreds of third-tier demonic beasts were left in this sea area, including twenty corpses of peak third-tier demonic beasts.

This was the biggest victory the Black Sea camp had won in recent years, but that wasn't why the group came.

Lin Zhao also faced off against a peak third-tier demonic beast.

The demonic beast had already suffered some injuries in the aftermath of the heavenly tribulation, but its vitality at the peak of the third tier remained tenacious.

Lin Zhao fought it for a whole day, and finally killed it by piercing its head with the Divine Fiend Sword Qi.

The group arrived at the original location of Camp 3.

There was nothing on the sea surface except for the churning seawater filling the deep crater blasted out by the heavenly calamity.

They searched the area for a long time but only found a fragment of the giant axe.

The aura on the axe had dimmed to the point of being almost invisible.

Someone found a black stone, placed it on top, and carved a few simple words on it.

Then they embedded the fragment into the black stone.

This can be considered as erecting a monument.

After a brief prayer, everyone dispersed.

On the way back to Camp Seven, Lin Zhao remained silent for a long time.

This is the path of cultivation. Every advancement is a life-or-death ordeal.

Foundation Building is one, Core Formation is another, and Nascent Soul Formation is yet another.

People kept falling on the road.

Master Kou is not the first, nor will he be the last.

The ranking on the leaderboard only indicates the possibility of advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, not that it is guaranteed.

Master Kou withstood three heavenly tribulations in succession, his natal magic treasure shattered, and his protective spiritual light was exhausted. In the end, he still failed to cross that threshold.

He was already very strong; he was only one heavenly lightning bolt away from reaching the Nascent Soul stage.

There are also many Core Formation cultivators who never even have the chance to face the Nascent Soul Tribulation.

The sea breeze blew by, making Lin Zhao's robes flutter loudly.

In the distance, towards the Black Sea, new thunderstorm clouds are brewing.

The roars of monsters could be faintly heard from deep within the clouds; a new beast tide was approaching.

After some time, Camp 3 will be rebuilt.

There will be new cultivators who, faced with endless demonic beasts, will ultimately make the same choice as Master Kou.

The path to immortality has always been like this.

People keep falling, but people keep moving forward.

A few months later, Lin Zhao was considering leaving the Black Sea camp.

He calculated that he had been staying at the Black Sea camp for quite some time.

I've lost count of how many monsters I've killed; my storage bag is almost overflowing with monster materials.

Previously, in order to upgrade the Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace to the third-tier top-grade level, he had almost exhausted all his savings of demon beast materials. Over the past few years, he has managed to accumulate the materials again.

He had completed almost all the missions at the Black Sea camp, with some successes and some failures. Staying there any longer would not be very meaningful for his training.

However, before leaving, he went to Camp 10 again.

Camp 10 didn't have a fixed address, and Lin Zhao searched for several days before finally finding them among a group of low-lying reefs.

There weren't many cultivators in the camp; they were all ascetics who came here solely to temper themselves in the extreme environment of the Black Sea.

Lin Zhao spent some time with them and learned a lot.

That day, he and the monks of Camp Ten fought against a thunderstorm.

This is not a battle against demonic beasts, but a direct confrontation with the power of heaven and earth.

Thunderstorms swept in from the depths of the Black Sea, the dark clouds hung low, lightning flashed wildly within the clouds, and the wind tore the sea surface into streaks of spray.

In this environment, no one can confront it head-on; the only option is to adapt to the situation—to deflect the force of the storm and strike during the gaps in lightning.

Lin Zhao is also honing herself.

He stood on a black rock jutting out of the sea, his consciousness fully awakened.

Whenever it sensed a bolt of lightning about to form, the Azure Lotus Sword would fly out and gently guide it in the direction of the lightning path.

It wasn't a direct collision, but rather an attack that was diverted from the lightning strike.

The lightning was deflected and struck the nearby seawater.

A cloud of white steam exploded on the sea surface, and the sword hummed incessantly, but he forcibly diverted the lightning.

At first, he couldn't do it. The lightning took too long to form. From the moment he sensed it to the moment he drew his sword, the lightning would often strike down before the sword even moved.

In the first few days, only two or three out of ten lightning bolts could be deflected.

However, Lin Zhao's divine sense was already sharp, and with his constant use of the Heavenly Heart Dharma Wheel for deduction, his predictions became increasingly accurate.

Later, almost before the lightning had fully formed, the Azure Lotus Sword moved first, and the lightning struck down, cleaving along the direction of the sword.

Ten days later, he was able to intercept almost every lightning strike.

He used his sword to deflect all the lightning within a radius of dozens of miles.

It was somewhat like knowing the cicada's movements before it even moved, and later it even reached the level of prophecy.

This is not only the practice of swordsmanship, but also the tempering of divine sense. Every prediction is to push the sensory ability of divine sense to its limit.

The cultivators of Camp Ten had seen many methods of tempering themselves, but when they saw Lin Zhao's cultivation method, they still looked at him with more surprise.

Some people tried it, but few could actually do it.

Lightning forms too quickly; if one's divine sense cannot keep up, it simply cannot. This is a hard barrier.

Some say that only legendary cultivators like the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal, who possess divine soul talent, can play like this.

Some people say that Master Mu should also be able to do it.

Master Mu tried a few times and indeed mastered it quickly, but what was his cultivation level, and what was Lin Zhao's cultivation level?

Over the past few years, people have gotten a general idea of ​​Lin Zhao's background.

Although the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal had methods to conceal his cultivation level, the strength of his divine sense when he made his move was undeniable; he was at the late Core Formation stage.

His cultivation level should be in the late stage of Core Formation, not yet at its peak, but his combat strength is not bad among those at the peak of Core Formation. Coupled with his dual cultivation of swordsmanship and divine soul, there are very few people at the Core Formation level who can defeat him.

Moreover, legend has it that he was born into one of the seven great overlords; who knows what secret techniques or trump cards he might be hiding?

No one dared to lay a hand on him during the Core Formation stage.

The storm at sea intensified, whipping up waves hundreds of feet high, causing the entire reef to tremble as the waves crashed down.

Many Core Formation cultivators took to the air, avoiding the direct impact of the waves.

Lin Zhao didn't move; he wanted to continue challenging himself.