Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

This person was unconventional, squatting on the ground without any airs of a Core Formation cultivator.

Lin Zhao asked him why he was so pessimistic.

According to Master Tingtao, a person recently arrived at Yang Si's side. He had heard of him before—Master Wei Yuan, a core member of the Golden Jade Sect, a Nascent Soul Grand Sect in Yunzhou.

He can fight beyond his level; although he is only in the mid-stage of Core Formation, his combat power is comparable to that of the late-stage Core Formation.

He is an unparalleled genius.

Master Tingtao said, "Now we have no hope. It seems that Qingwu Prefecture will really be under the Yang family's control."

Lin Zhao couldn't help but touch his nose.

A Nascent Soul Grandmaster, capable of fighting beyond his level, a peerless genius.

Such familiar vocabulary.

The arena competition began a few days later.

The competition was held in a special arena several miles in size. The arena was connected to a fourth-order restriction, which would restrict all attacks to the arena area and prevent them from affecting the outside world.

The magic domain cannot be used inside the arena. Core Formation cultivators already possess abundant magic power, and with the aid of the magic domain, if they encounter someone of similar strength, they can fight for ten days or half a month. There is no time to wait.

The person in charge of hosting the arena was a veteran Core Formation cultivator, Master Xiao, who remained neutral and was at the peak of Core Formation.

I forgot about the first one.

I've forgotten about the second one too.

Lin Zhao didn't pay much attention to the competition; most of his mind was on the fourth-order restriction above his head—he was observing the restriction structure of the Qingwu Tree.

This set of restrictions is similar to the Daoist temple of Zhaoyang Peak, but it is larger in scale and more mature.

The spiritual energy circulation pattern of the roots, spiritual veins, and Daoist temple of the Qingwu Tree is far more sophisticated than the method he figured out at Zhaoyang Peak.

By the time Lin Zhao came to her senses, both matches were already over.

With one win and one loss in three games, Lin Zhao is needed to play in the third game.

The opponent happened to be that one.

"Peerless Prodigy" Master Wei Yuan.

If Lin Zhao hadn't kept a little attention on the competition, he would have suspected that someone had deliberately arranged it this way.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, I'm entrusting this match to you."

I, Zhou Yichu, am a man of my word. I will fulfill my promise regarding the third-grade superior spirit wood I made.

Zhou Yichu turned to Lin Zhao and spoke, word by word.

Now we can only place our hopes on Lin Zhao.

Li Peilan stood to the side, remaining silent.

Lin Zhao nodded and darted into the arena.

Master Wei Yuan is already waiting on the arena.

He had a fair complexion and wore a golden Taoist robe.

He sized Lin Zhao up and down, his tone carrying a condescending air.

The gist of the message was to make Lin Zhao step down so as not to lose face in front of so many people.

Lin Zhao ignored him.

Master Wei Yuan lost face, let out a cold snort, and with a flick of his hand, took out a blue feather fan.

With a wave of his fan, hundreds of solid, almost tangible wind blades appeared out of thin air in front of him. The wind blades were a translucent blue color.

Hundreds of wind blades shot out simultaneously, densely sealing off the space around Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao raised a protective aura. The five-colored aura transformed into a shield, and the wind blades struck it, producing a dense clanging sound. After the wind blades shattered, they turned into cyan light spots and dissipated, but new wind blades immediately filled in.

Master Wei Yuan sneered and waved his fan again.

This time it wasn't just a simple barrage of wind blades, but rather a formation of wind blades.

Hundreds of wind blades took their positions in the air, connected by extremely fine blue light, forming a small wind blade killing array.

The killing formation trapped Lin Zhao in the center, with wind blades attacking from all directions. The trajectories of each wind blade were coordinated, sealing off all angles of evasion.

Lin Zhao didn't hide in the killing formation; he was thinking that this person was indeed quite capable.

With the power of this killing formation, if it can last for a quarter of an hour, it should be able to break through his protective aura.

Master Wei Yuan naturally had no idea what Lin Zhao was thinking.

He only saw Lin Zhao being suppressed and unable to fight back, only able to passively defend herself.

He decided to put in even more effort.

As the third wave was unleashed, a ring of golden light appeared around the edge of the wind blade. This was the power generated when the wind blade was compressed to its limit, and the cutting power of the golden wind blade was several times greater than that of an ordinary wind blade.

The golden wind blade struck the protective aura, causing the five-colored light shield to tremble violently, and fine cracks finally began to appear on its surface.

Lin Zhao finally made a move.

A surge of the five elements' power, refined to its extreme, erupted from his body, the five colors intertwining and condensing into a majestic divine halo around him.

The Five Sacred Mountains' Divine Ring.

The divine halo expanded with a roar, and wherever it passed, the killing array formed by the wind blades was forcibly torn apart as if it were made of paper.

The remaining fragments of the wind blade had no time to dissipate before they were completely annihilated in the five-colored light.

The Five Sacred Mountains' Divine Rings continued to spread, eventually colliding with True Man Wei Yuan.

A defensive magic artifact formed a wind barrier around Wei Yuan Zhenren's body; it was a semi-transparent barrier composed of cyan air currents.

However, the wind barrier was easily crushed in front of the Five Sacred Rings, and the airflow scattered.

Master Wei Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying, crashing heavily into the barrier light screen, which trembled violently several times.

From the start of the battle—Lin Zhao was trapped by wind blades, and her protective aura was about to shatter.

Then Lin Zhao took action, the Five Sacred Mountains Divine Rings crushed the killing formation, and Wei Yuan Zhenren was defeated in one fell swoop. The key turn of events happened in just a few breaths.

There was a moment of silence below the arena, followed by gasps of surprise.

Zhou Yichu's face lit up with joy, and he clenched his fists. Li Peilan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The Listening Wave Master, who was squatting in the corner, opened his mouth wide.

Xiao Zhenren, who was in charge of hosting the arena, glanced at Lin Zhao a few more times with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Yang Si's face immediately darkened.

He glanced at Lin Zhao, said nothing, and waved his hand.

Two disciples stepped forward and carried Master Wei Yuan down from the arena.

Yang Si's expression changed several times as he scanned Wei Yuan Zhenren's injuries with his divine sense.

Wei Yuan was seriously injured, with multiple internal organs damaged in various places. He would not recover without several months of recuperation.

He snorted coldly and left with his men.

That evening, Zhou Yichu hosted a banquet to celebrate Lin Zhao's birthday.

The banquet was held in a hall converted from a huge root of the Qingwu tree. As promised, Zhou Yichu handed over a third-grade superior Qingwu wood to Lin Zhao.

The piece of Qingwu wood is about three feet long. The wood is warm and smooth, and the annual rings at the broken edge are as fine as silk. Under the light, it glows with a faint bluish fluorescence.

Holding it in your hand, you can feel a gentle and lingering wood-attribute spiritual energy.

During the banquet, Lin Zhao took the opportunity to suggest that she wanted to meet Qingwu Zhenjun.

Zhou Yichu looked troubled.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help with the introduction, but rather that even he couldn't see Qingwu Zhenjun right now.

Qingwu Zhenjun has not summoned his disciples for a long time.

Lin Zhao took out a piece of ordinary white paper. There was no spiritual power on the paper, but there was a mark on it, which represented the mark of True Monarch Qingyuan.

He handed the blank paper to Zhou Yichu and said, "Please pass it on to Qingwu Zhenjun."

If True Lord Qingwu was willing to see him, Lin Zhao went to pay her respects.

If he didn't want to see her, Lin Zhao would turn around and leave without saying a word.

Zhou Yichu looked at the blank sheet of paper, somewhat unsure of what to do.

In the end, it was Li Peilan who reached out and took the blank paper.

Lin Zhao calmed down.

His previous guess was correct—Qingwu Zhenjun had been keeping an eye on him.

However, the person he was in contact with was not Zhou Yichu, but Li Peilan.

The descendants of Qingwu Zhenjun are the ones who can truly communicate directly with him.

Lin Zhao settled down and waited for Qingwu Zhenjun to receive her.