Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

He forcibly broke through the outer barrier, but after passing through it, he found himself facing even more barriers.

During his year of rest, Lin Zhao studied the uses of the Heavenly Treasure Jade Talisman as a pastime. This underground cave was no longer what it used to be.

He expanded the cave space to dozens of miles, and set up dozens of third-order restrictions inside, nested layer upon layer.

These restrictions, centered on the Heavenly Treasure Jade Talisman, are connected to the underground spiritual veins, forming a complete defense system.

All the restrictions evolved from the original Xuanwu Zhenyue Talisman, and were integrated into a massive array with it as the central hub.

The restrictions are interconnected; once one is breached, the next one will automatically fill the gap.

If they want to come in, there are plenty of restrictions to prevent them from doing so.

Lin Zhao sat in the core area, with the Heavenly Treasure Jade Talisman floating beside him and slowly rotating.

On the stone table in front of him sat a pot of freshly brewed spiritual tea, steam rising gently.

He took a slow sip, waiting for the guests to arrive.

Master Wujiu followed behind, growing increasingly alarmed as he watched.

While the outer defenses were concealed, they were merely ingenious. The true brilliance lay in the way these defenses integrated with the underground spiritual veins—

The restriction operates automatically with the flow of spiritual energy from the spiritual veins, allowing it to exist for a long time without external maintenance.

This is somewhat like a dojo or the various secret realms of a sect, where similar methods are often used.

He was becoming more and more familiar with this method, and a thought popped into his mind: Could it be that cultivators from the sect have come over?

----

Two weeks later, they finally approached the core area.

Master Han Ya was at the very front, constantly being overwhelmed by various restrictions along the way.

Master Wujiu followed behind, not only refusing to offer any help but also occasionally making sarcastic remarks:

"I heard you were a third-tier array master in your previous life? Now it seems you probably learned it from your master's wife in bed."

It took me half a month to break through the third-tier restriction. That's slower than me learning it from scratch.

The Cold Crow Master was so angry that he flew into a rage. If he hadn't been trapped in this array and restriction, he would have fought with the Wu Jiu Master on the spot.

The few Core Formation Ghost Cultivators who followed him wore wry smiles. They had long heard of Wu Jiu Zhenren's unrestrained and unconventional behavior, and today they had witnessed it firsthand.

As for the secret, Lin Zhao and Master Wujiu had already confirmed that they were both from the Yunhai Cangming Sect by using certain special fluctuations of the restriction and exchanging more than ten coded messages that only the sects understood.

Although they were all on guard in the Nether Bone Domain, there was a natural understanding between fellow disciples.

Ultimately, the two decided to join forces to deal with Master Hanya and the other ghost cultivators first.

When True Immortal Han Ya broke through the last barrier and stepped into the core area, he saw a spacious underground hall. In the center of the hall was a stone table, and a cultivator in blue robes was sitting at the table drinking tea.

Just as Master Hanya was about to say something, he suddenly realized something was wrong; Master Wujiu was standing behind him.

Lin Zhao stood up, one in front and one behind, blocking all escape routes.

Lin Zhao stretched out his hand, and the Heavenly Treasure Jade Talisman appeared in his palm.

All the runes on the jade talisman lit up, and the restrictions that had been broken by True Immortal Cold Crow resumed operation at the same instant.

All restrictions were reactivated, and the cave was immediately filled with a brilliant spiritual light. The entire underground cave was completely transformed into a massive trapping formation—the Xuanwu Mountain-Suppressing Formation.

As for those ordinary ghost cultivators, they were locked in place by the restrictions the moment the formation was reactivated.

Before they could even struggle, they vanished silently into the burst of light, leaving only a few ghostly crystals rolling on the ground.

Lin Zhao and Master Wujiu attacked simultaneously.

Master Hanya's expression changed drastically, and he took out a bronze lamp.

The bronze lamp swelled upon exposure to the wind, hanging above his head. Nine crows emerged from the lamplight, their bodies formed from ghostly blue flames, surrounding him and protecting him completely.

He flipped his hand again, took out a blue bead, and shone it on the array's restriction—wherever the blue light passed, the flow of spiritual energy in the restriction suddenly became sluggish, as if its operation was being interfered with by an invisible force.

A tiny gap has appeared in the Xuanwu Suppressing Mountain Formation's seal.

Master Wujiu made his move.

He raised his hand and summoned a three-story pagoda, entirely silver-white—the Zhou Tian Star Tower, a top-grade third-tier magic weapon.

The tower rotated, and three beams of light flew out from it: the Golden Sun, the Silver Moon, and the White Star.

The golden sun suppresses, the silver moon strikes, and the white star erodes the defense.

Three beams of light struck Cold Crow Immortal one after the other.

Master Hanya roared, "Wu Jiu! Don't forget, we both belong to the Ghost King and have sworn an oath not to attack each other!"

Master Wujiu sneered: "How many people have truly kept their oaths? As long as you die here, who will know that I was the one who did it?"

Lin Zhao also moved.

With a flash of his green robe, a crimson phoenix robe appeared, and the phantom of a phoenix on the robe let out a clear cry before spiraling out from within.

This Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix is ​​formed from the Phoenix's Undying Attribute of the Heavenly Dawn Financial Alloy Phoenix Bow, and its entire body is composed of countless extremely fine metallic structures.

The golden phoenix spread its wings, scattering golden light across the sky. Countless golden rays poured down on the Cold Crow Immortal like a torrential rain.

Master Han Ya hurriedly activated his Cold Crow Protection.

Three crows flew out, meeting the golden light that filled the sky head-on.

The Crimson Phoenix hovered in mid-air, flapping its wings and attacking with alternating golden blades, flowing fire, and sharp claws, launching a continuous barrage of attacks.

Suddenly, the golden phoenix spread its wings, which shimmered with an incomparably sharp golden light.

With a sudden downward swipe, Jin Yi unleashed two crescent-shaped golden blades, each over ten feet long and as solid as a physical object, tearing through the air and striking the crow fiercely.

The two crows were instantly killed, turning into fragments of ghostly blue flames that dissipated. Only one crow managed to block the aftershocks, but its form had already dimmed considerably.

A trickle of blood escaped from the corner of Han Ya Zhenren's mouth.

Immortal Wu Jiu's attack followed immediately.

Jin Yang pinned Han Ya Zhenren firmly to the spot, and the Silver Moon Slash cleaved cracks in the lamplight protecting Han Ya's body. Bai Chen's corrosive power seeped in along the cracks, disintegrating the lamplight's defense.

Master Han Ya was repeatedly defeated, and the fluctuations of his spiritual energy grew weaker and weaker.

He finally roared, "You forced me to this!"

He flipped his hand and took out a jet-black bronze mirror—the Scorpion Mirror.

He frantically poured all his ghostly power into the mirror, causing the mirror surface to glow with an eerie black light, and aimed it at the Immortal Wujiu.

A phantom image of a scorpion appeared in the mirror, its tail raised high, its venomous stinger piercing through the air.

The spiritual light surrounding Master Wujiu suddenly froze, as if he were being simultaneously locked onto by countless invisible gazes.

A violent, chaotic, and eerie power, capable of stirring up inner demons, came from afar, piercing straight into the sea of ​​consciousness—a soul attack.

Unfortunately, Master Wujiu was also a ghost cultivator, and his soul was clearly one of his strengths.

Without changing his expression, he sent out a blue bell. The bell swayed gently in the air, and a clear, melodious sound rang out.

Wherever the sound waves passed, the invisible force was forcibly dispelled, and the scorpion phantom distorted slightly in the sound of the bell before shrinking back into the mirror.