Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao's eyes turned cold.

This mountain monster awakened the divine power of the Undying Body before even advancing to the fourth rank. There's only one explanation: it devoured far too many humans.

He obtained a massive amount of innate spirituality from mortals who were used as nourishment, and forcibly created this supernatural power that should have belonged to the fourth rank.

Tianhao unleashed the True Yang Spirit Shield, transforming it into a massive azure sun that pressed down relentlessly. The power of this fourth-tier magic weapon pinned the mountain demon firmly to its spot.

The mandrill could only raise its newly grown arms to support the blue sun with all its might. The earth cracked beneath its feet, and its legs were pressed into the rock. All its strength and attention were locked up by the blue sun above its head.

Lin Zhao had somehow managed to maneuver his chariot around to its rear.

The Starry Sky Rift Sword was drawn again, unleashing a Sky Rift Slash—a hundred-foot spatial rift flew from the sword's edge, silently slicing across the mountain demon's neck.

The mountain monster's head flew up, and a column of bluish-black blood shot into the sky.

Lin Zhao gave it no chance to recover. The Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace flew out of his body, swelling in the wind, and all the blood-red pupils on the palace opened simultaneously.

Countless blood-red bone chains shot out from the temple's body, the blood-red runes on the chains flashing wildly, like countless blood-red venomous snakes coiling around the mountain demon's head.

Numerous tiny barbs grew from the surface of the bone chain, piercing the skull and beginning to devour its flesh and blood.

The mandrill's head shrank visibly in the bloody light, all its power being refined by the Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace.

At the same time, Tianhao slammed Qingyang down completely. The headless mountain demon's body could no longer withstand the suppression of the fourth-tier magic weapon, and the speed of its immortal body's recovery could not keep up with the speed of destruction.

The flames engulfed it, and its flesh turned to ash layer by layer in the high temperature.

In the end, only a huge headless skeleton remained in the flames, its surface still bearing dark red patterns that shimmered faintly in the embers.

Tianhao put away the skeleton, examined it, and commented, "Good material. It can be used to make a peak third-tier puppet. It's a pity it has no head."

Lin Zhao had already taken back the Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace. He stood on the Purple Dragon Pattern War Chariot, looking down at the desolate mountain destroyed by the aftershocks of the battle, lost in thought.

The cultivator legion began to collect their spoils, while the tens of millions of mortals of the Mountain Demon tribe stood at a distance, watching the blood-stained robes of the cultivators in the sky.

There was no gratitude in their eyes, only hatred.

In their eyes, the monks were invaders, heretics, and murderers who had killed their gods.

Most of the barbarians eventually fled this area and migrated deeper into the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Some cultivators chased after them, while others remained where they were.

A few days later, the two arrived at the heart of the Manxiao tribe.

A mountain nearly several thousand feet high, hollowed out inside, is the lair of the mountain monster.

The two followed the cave downwards, going thousands of feet underground, until a bright and open space suddenly opened up before them.

A naturally formed underground spiritual vein stretches before us, about a hundred feet wide, like a luminous river winding through the rock strata.

The spiritual vein has reached the top grade of the third rank. The spiritual energy is so rich that it condenses into a thin layer of spiritual mist in the air. With each breath, one can feel the spiritual energy seeping into the limbs and bones, nourishing the meridians and the sea of ​​consciousness.

But Lin Zhao frowned slightly; something was wrong with this spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy released by a normal spiritual vein should be relatively pure and clear.

But the spiritual energy here makes people unconsciously want to get closer, to merge into it, to absorb more, and after absorbing a little more, they want to absorb even more.

The feeling was like a more instinctive, deeper longing.

This level of erosion was nothing to Lin Zhao, but it was a different story for ordinary cultivators.

Those below the Core Formation stage cannot detect it at all. Even Core Formation cultivators can only vaguely sense that something is wrong. Over time, it becomes very difficult for cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage to escape this subtle influence.

Lin Zhao turned to look at Tian Hao, whose expression remained unchanged, as if he had not noticed the abnormality in the spiritual energy at all.

Lin Zhao guessed that this was Tianhao's real purpose in bringing him here.

What demon-hunting expedition, what barbarian tribes, are all just incidental.

What Tianhao really wanted him to see was the underground of the Southern Continent—the spiritual veins that the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Palace had ruled for tens of thousands of years.

Lin Zhao did not reveal this, but his soul connected with his body, and the Heavenly Heart Dharma Wheel descended into his sea of ​​consciousness, causing his observation, deduction, and control abilities to surge instantly.

He raised his hand and drew a wisp of spiritual energy, condensing it in his palm. He then used his perception, enhanced by the Heavenly Heart Dharma Wheel, to analyze the structure of this spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy swirled quietly in his palm, radiating a warm, ethereal blue light.

As the analysis deepened, his expression grew increasingly serious.

Half a day later, he exhaled and the spiritual energy in his palm dissipated.

"What a grand gesture."

His voice was deep, but every word seemed to be dug out from the depths of his being: "Such ruthless methods."

Tianhao smiled; he had been waiting for Lin Zhao to speak first.

Ordinary cultivators wouldn't be able to see anything here, but Lin Zhao is different. As someone who has comprehended the power of rules, he can perceive the secrets within spiritual energy.

Lin Zhao took a deep breath and slowly said, "This spiritual power has two more characteristics than normal spiritual power."

One type is addictive. Once you absorb the spiritual energy of the Southern Continent, your body and soul will instinctively depend on it, and you will not be able to adapt to spiritual energy from other places.

Another type is aggregation, which causes beings with low spiritual power to unconsciously feel closeness and obedience to beings with high spiritual power, regardless of whether the opponent is a cultivator or a demon beast.

Tianhao nodded: "The spiritual energy is poisonous. It's not just the spiritual veins here; the spiritual energy throughout the entire Southern Continent is problematic. These underground spiritual veins are more severely affected and easier to detect."

Mortals living in the Southern Continent are also immersed in spiritual energy. Their affinity for spiritual energy makes them instinctively drawn to those in high positions and obedient to their commands, whether they are cultivators or demon beasts.

They might even feel a deep longing from the depths of their souls to dedicate everything they have and merge with a more powerful being.

Lin Zhao paused for a moment, his voice carrying a hint of understanding: "The power of rules. The Nascent Soul cultivators of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable Palace used the power of rules, with the help of the sect's foundation, to spend tens of thousands of years forcibly altering the spiritual energy attributes of the Southern Continent."

All mortals born in the Southern Continent are imbued with this spiritual power from the moment of their birth; it is a deep-seated brand of slavery that cannot be erased.

Tianhao nodded and said, "Because of the aggregation, mortals and low-level cultivators can only obey the orders of high-level cultivators or demon beasts."

Above the demonic beasts is the Holy Race, whose ruler is the Celestial Lord of the God Transformation.

With the influence of faith, the trillions of mortals across the entire Southern Continent became a perfect hierarchical system.

Every step in this system has only one purpose—to serve the Holy Clan.