Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

A year later, Yan Chiheng also arrived at Tianxing Peak.

The aura emanating from him was no longer that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator; a powerful lightning-attribute spiritual energy naturally overflowed from his body.

Lin Zhao carefully examined his aura: "Mid-grade Golden Core."

Yan Chiheng nodded and said, "Mid-grade Golden Core."

The three sat down, and Yan Chiheng began to talk about his Core Formation.

He went very smoothly at first, and was almost able to achieve the highest grade Golden Core, but ultimately he failed.

Unlike Fang Yue, he did not insist on obtaining a high-grade golden core. Instead, he withdrew his spiritual power and successfully passed the tribulation with a mid-grade golden core.

Yan Chiheng spoke calmly, clearly having anticipated the outcome.

He explained that cultivating thunder magic is actually similar to swordsmanship; both require unwavering determination.

But from the moment he got married and had children, he found that he had many more responsibilities and could no longer be as carefree as he was in his youth, and he had lost some of his sharpness.

It's not surprising that he achieved the intermediate-grade Golden Core.

He has no regrets; looking back on his journey, he can be considered a winner in life.

From an ordinary mortal, he embarked on the path of cultivation by chance through a cultivation inheritance, fought his way through, successfully joined a sect, and then got married and had children.

His two children have grown up and, with his full support, successfully joined the sect a few years ago. They are now receiving introductory training at the Dao Asking Hall.

He himself successfully formed his elixir, gaining several hundred more years of lifespan, and had few regrets in his life.

Moreover, the sect has a profound foundation and a variety of secret techniques and methods.

His master's lineage possesses a secret technique for transforming a mid-grade Golden Core into a high-grade Golden Core, so he still has a chance.

-----

A few days later, Yan Chiheng's master, Master Gufeng, arrived at Tianxing Peak.

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, Master Gufeng and Lin Zhao were about to set off.

The destination of this trip is Liuzhou, the territory of the Hundred Arts Immortal Alliance.

When Master Gufeng was traveling in his early years, he discovered a top-grade third-tier natural thunder pool in a secret realm, which could be used once every hundred years.

He could break through his cultivation realm by using the Thunder Pool, and Yan Chiheng could use that Thunder Pool to cultivate secret techniques and advance his Golden Core to the upper grade.

The time frame is not short—it can range from several decades to over a century.

Before leaving, Yan Chiheng asked Lin Zhao for a favor.

After ten years of instruction at the Daowen Hall, his two children wished to stay at Tianxing Peak for a while and asked Lin Zhao to help them with their education.

Lin Zhao used his authority in the Dao Inquiry Hall to briefly check the situation of the two. They had both successfully established their foundations, but only at the middle-grade Dao foundation level, not the upper-grade Dao foundation level.

Although Yan Chiheng was somewhat disappointed upon learning this, he remained relatively calm. He left behind four Thunder Pearls, a life-saving measure for those at the Core Formation stage.

Please ask Lin Zhao to pass this on. As a father, Yan Chiheng has done all he could. From now on, they can only walk the road ahead on their own.

Lin Zhao agreed.

Yan Chiheng and Gufeng Zhenren transformed into two streaks of lightning and disappeared into the sky.

It's unknown how many years it will be before we see Yan Chiheng again after this departure. Hopefully, he can return before the Great Expedition.

Xu Chuan also left.

He finally made up his mind, but not to leave the Qiankun Palace; he accepted reality.

Yan Chiheng's talent was higher than his, but he was only a mid-grade Golden Core cultivator.

He had no hope of achieving the highest grade of Golden Elixir.

A mid-grade Golden Elixir is enough.

He plans to first form his Golden Core, and in the future, if the opportunity arises, he can improve his cultivation by accumulating resources or by relying on the sect's special resources to improve the quality of his Golden Core.

This opportunity is rare, and he may not be able to get it, but what if he does?

If all else fails, we can ask Lin Zhao for help to escape from the Qiankun Palace.

Lin Zhao followed his lead.

Lin Zhao stood at the entrance of the cave, watching Xu Chuan's figure disappear into the sea of ​​clouds.

He sighed.

The friends I made in the sect eventually went down different paths.

Fang Yue resumed his studies, Yan Chiheng went on a long journey, Xu Chuan resigned himself to his fate, and he himself was about to go into seclusion again.

When we were young, we thought the four of us would walk side by side forever. Now, looking back, we've gone down four different paths and are now further and further apart.

-----

Lin Zhao returned to his cave and continued to deduce the structure of the Nascent Soul Dharma Realm.

The Five Sacred Mountains clones remained outside to continue preparations for that matter.

Pei Yue was soon summoned to Tianxing Peak.

The two sat at the stone table in front of the cave entrance.

"You want to change your hunting target?"

Ten years ago, he, Yan Feng, Lin Zhao, Qin Tianjun, and Xia Jin devised a plan to hunt down the Fufeng True Monarch from another continent, using five fourth-tier magic treasures as the core.

Originally, the timeframe was set for a hundred years later, but now only ten years have passed before the operation is to begin, and much of the preparation has not even begun.

Qin Tianjun and Xia Jin haven't even gotten their hands on the fourth-tier magic weapon yet.

Yan Feng, in particular, was the original initiator of this plan. His main purpose in participating in this matter was to personally settle the grudges with True Lord Fufeng.

"Yan Feng will not agree."

Lin Zhao said calmly, "Yan Feng disagrees. Tell him to come to me personally."

Pei Yue remained silent for a while. Lin Zhao was qualified, and he was the only one who could suppress Yan Feng.

Lin Zhao made another promise: if Yan Feng fails to achieve his goal a hundred years from now, he will personally take action to finish off that Nascent Soul True Monarch for him.

Having said all that, what else could Pei Yue say?

He could only wonder to himself—what exactly gave Lin Zhao such confidence?

A hundred years later, he personally dealt with a Nascent Soul True Monarch, speaking of it as casually as picking up something from next door.

Lin Zhao continued to explain.

True Lord Fufeng is in an outer continent, not within the sect's territory.

If he's determined to escape, these guys might not be able to catch him.

This plan has been dragging on for a century, so its success rate is not particularly high to begin with.

It's different in the Tongming Domain. It's within the sect's territory, so safety is guaranteed, intelligence is easier to gather, and it's easier to remedy any unexpected events.

This operation can be considered a rehearsal for the previous plan.

Pei Yue nodded and asked, "Why the King of Loulan?"

The Tongming Domain has three Nascent Soul True Monarchs: the King of Loulan from the ancient Loulan Kingdom, the Tongming True Monarch from the Tongming Immortal City, and the Taixu True Monarch from the Sect Alliance.

Lin Zhao said, "In terms of strength, the King of Loulan, as a newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator, is the weakest. The True Monarch Tongming has ruled the Tongming Domain for many years and has a profound foundation. The True Monarch Taixu is proficient in spatial arts and is not easy to deal with."

Lin Zhao continued, "The cultivators of Loulan have always only cared about their own people in the ancient Loulan Kingdom. In their eyes, mortals and cultivators from the outside world are never the same kind of people. If Loulan wins this war, the mortals of Tongming Domain will probably not have a good life."

Taixu Zhenjun, on the other hand, is a typical cultivator, only caring about cultivators. Mortals are merely beings who provide spiritual roots and have no value beyond that.

"The True Lord of Enlightenment ruled the Enlightenment Immortal City for the longest time, and naturally accumulated many problems, but it was still manageable for mortals."

After Lin Zhao finished speaking, he smiled self-deprecatingly: "Do you think I'm hypocritical? I'm clearly a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong, and I always try to find a bunch of ridiculous reasons for myself."

Pei Yue shook his head.

He said seriously, "Judging by actions, not intentions, no one is perfect in their heart."

"If we can seize this opportunity to resolve the turmoil in the Tongming Domain in one fell swoop, it could save the lives of hundreds of millions of mortals. That's better than anything else."