Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao nodded in agreement. The Yunhai Cangming Sect rarely participated in the conflicts between other forces, and could be considered to have maintained neutrality.

However, neutrality does not mean having no stance; the Cangming Sect and the Nine Nether Demon Sect rarely interact.

But Bai Jing was far too generous. During this time, Lin Zhao only inquired about some demonic methods to prepare for his traveling identity as a Netherworld Daoist.

She directly passed on a fourth-tier demonic inheritance to Lin Zhao, who could only "helplessly" accept it.

Upon seeing this, Tianhao also began to openly and secretly try to win over Lin Zhao, inviting Lin Zhao to visit Zhongzhou when he had time.

The headquarters of the Heavenly Law Divine Sect is located in the Central Continent, which is the most core area of ​​the entire Cangyuan Immortal Cultivation World. It has the most immortal cities and the most cultivation inheritance systems in the entire cultivation world.

He said that since Lin Zhao was a sword cultivator, there was a Heavenly Law Sword Manual in the Central Continent that was a sword technique at the Nascent Soul level. He could use his personal connections to let Lin Zhao go in and study it for a few days.

Lin Zhao had planned to travel to the Central Continent before, and he was bound to go sooner or later. He did not refuse Tian Hao's invitation, but he did not make any promises either.

He then asked Tianhao for a map showing the distribution of water features in the Endless Demon Sea.

Although Tianhao had some doubts, he still gave it to them. This item was naturally difficult for ordinary cultivators to obtain, but it wasn't particularly precious to people of their level.

Lin Zhao traveled through the endless demon sea. Besides honing his swordsmanship, his main goal was to understand the rules of water. Over the years, he had traveled through this sea, witnessing the ebb and flow of tides, storms, and howling rain, and he transmitted all the changes in water properties back to his soul through his divine connection.

He had already accumulated a lot of insights, but he was still lacking something. With the information Tianhao gave him, he was not far from mastering the rules of water.

----

Over the next few months, Lin Zhao waited for the outcome of the battle between the Nascent Soul True Monarchs and the Hou, while simultaneously comprehending the rules of water through his physical body.

The rules of water gradually become clear through daily contemplation—water has no fixed shape, and can also be formless; water can integrate all things, and can also be integrated by all things.

He planned to create a divine power called the Spirit Abyss Gathering Technique as the key to open this door.

The principle behind this supernatural power is not complicated. It is based on the rules of water and uses boundless seawater to condense spiritual power. It can ignore the restrictions of rank and, as long as there is enough spiritual power, it can condense low-rank water-attribute spiritual objects into high-rank spiritual objects.

The Azure Jade Spirit Water that Lin Zhao obtained during his Foundation Establishment stage was composed of hundreds of drops of second-tier spirit water combined to form a complete third-tier spirit object. Back then, True Person Canglang used twelve drops of Azure Jade Spirit Water to combine into a third-tier high-grade spirit object before breaking through to the late Core Formation stage.

Lin Zhao's Spirit Abyss Gathering Technique is a further advancement on this foundation, theoretically capable of synthesizing fourth-order true water.

He currently possesses over a hundred third-tier spiritual items, but only about fifty of them possess water attribute. If all one hundred of these items were water attribute spiritual items, he could immediately synthesize a fourth-tier true water.

However, other types of spiritual objects require different methods and means. For example, the Heavenly Dawn Gold requires a combination of spiritual objects of different attributes, and the Azure Sun Jade Tree requires a cycle of withering and flourishing.

The Spirit Abyss Gathering Technique is simpler, requiring only countless seawater and some time. He created a fourth-order spiritual object using this divine power and named it Spirit Abyss True Water.

However, simply completing the supernatural power is not enough; one must actually create a fourth-order spiritual object to truly complete the supernatural power.

Lin Zhao plans to find a suitable sea area to set up a Daoist temple and use the power of heaven and earth to help condense spiritual energy. This method can save spiritual energy, but it will take time, at least several decades.

Moreover, he couldn't stay here forever. The Azure Lotus clone would eventually have to leave the Endless Demon Sea, so he needed to find a secluded place with suitable conditions.

As he was pondering which sea area would be most suitable, a commotion suddenly arose outside his cave. He got up and went out of the cave, only to see that the city's protective array had been fully activated.

Dense array patterns appeared on the jade city wall, with spiritual light flowing rapidly along the patterns. A faint sense of oppression permeated the air, and the cultivators on the street stopped in their tracks, looking up at the sky, their voices rising and falling in discussion.

Lin Zhao stood at the entrance of the cave, looking towards the center of the Immortal City. The battle for the Hou in the void should have a result by now.

But judging from the Immortal City's reaction—with all the city's protective formations activated—it's probably not going to be a good outcome.

A distant bell rang out, its sound piercing through the light barrier of the city's protective array and exploding in the ears of everyone in the entire immortal city. As the bell rang, the expressions of all the cultivators changed.

Then came the second and third sounds.

Bai Jing and Tian Hao had arrived without anyone noticing.

Bai Jing already held the white bone scythe in her hand, with demonic energy flowing around the blade. It was no longer the arrogant one before, but a calm and almost cold vigilance.

Tianhao's face was paler than usual, his brows were furrowed, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed a white jade pendant in his hand.

Although they are holy sons of the sect and hold extremely high positions, this is, after all, Dragon Abyss Immortal City, which is not truly within the sect's sphere of influence.

If a major change were to occur, it would be hard to say whether it would affect them. However, if the three of them joined forces, they would be able to fight even against a Nascent Soul True Monarch. There aren't many people in Dragon Abyss Immortal City who could take down all three of them at the same time.

The bell continued to ring, and with each additional chime, Tianhao's expression grew increasingly grim.

He certainly knew what kind of bell it was—the Dragon-Startling Bell, the treasure of Dragon Abyss Immortal City, which would only be rung when the Immortal City encountered a great calamity or when a Nascent Soul True Monarch unexpectedly perished.

The seventh tone, the eighth tone, and the ninth tone.

Tianhao's voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth: "The Dragon-Slaying Bell struck nine times, and the Nascent Soul True Monarch perished."

Lin Zhao frowned: "How could this be? Weren't the four Nascent Soul cultivators who went out this time all Dharma Bodies? Although the destruction of the Dharma Bodies would damage their vital energy, it wouldn't lead to the demise of their physical bodies."

Bai Jing rarely put away her playful tone, and her voice became more serious: "It's also possible that it perished elsewhere, and it may not necessarily be related to the Hou."

Tianhao shook his head. He glanced at the jade talisman in his hand, which was flashing with the communication light from inside Dragon Abyss Immortal City.

He said, "The seven Nascent Soul cultivators of Dragon Abyss Immortal City are mostly in seclusion within the city. The only ones who have gone out during this period are the four who went out because of Hou."

He paused for a moment, then said, "My grandfather was among them; he also sent out a Dharma body."

Before he could finish speaking, the bell rang a second time.

Bai Jing remained silent. The probability of two Nascent Soul cultivators falling simultaneously elsewhere was too low. It was almost certain that it was related to the Hou.

However, some extremely powerful beings possess special methods that allow them to attack the physical body through their avatar. This is something ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators cannot do, and even some shallow-foundation Nascent Soul cultivators cannot achieve. Generally, only Nascent Soul cultivators from dominant forces possess this ability.