Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao held the pottery shard in his hand and thought for a moment. He then gently touched the surface of the pottery shard with his finger, and some messy lines appeared on the shard. There was no fluctuation of spiritual energy, and it seemed to be just ordinary engravings.

But that was part of Lin Zhao's understanding of the sword path. He condensed his sword intent inside the pottery shard, making the shard equivalent to a rare treasure for ordinary people. After being infused with spiritual power, it could be transformed into sword energy, which ordinary Qi Refining cultivators could not withstand.

Lin Zhao also left a sword intent inside, which will activate when the child is in mortal danger to protect him once.

It can also help him dispel the erosion of the Southern Continent's spiritual energy on him, but it can only last for ten years.

Ten years later, the sword intent dissipated on its own.

Lin Zhao didn't leave much power in the pottery shards, but he did leave a clear sword intent in the Southern Continent, which is not a good thing for the child's future.

All that remains are the insights gained from swordsmanship, the core of which is: human will can overcome nature.

Lin Zhao placed the pottery shard into the child's palm: "Keep it safe, don't let anyone see it."

He did all this for no other reason than to leave behind a spark.

Putting something different into this child's heart might have some effect ten or twenty years from now.

But it might be of no use at all.

Ultimately, divine help is not as effective as self-help; he must walk his own path in the future.

----

After returning to Wanshu Town Fortress, Lin Zhao did not go out again.

He locked himself in the cultivation room, his mind replaying the things he had seen in the Southern Continent these past few days.

Can the Heavenly Law Divine Sect and the Cloud Sea Azure Sea Sect really destroy the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable Mansion by joining forces?

At first, he thought the answer was yes.

But if you calm down and think about it carefully, things might not be that simple.

The situation at the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Mansion did not just begin today.

Over tens of thousands of years of expeditions, the Heavenly Law Divine Sect has transformed itself into a terrifying war machine, far surpassing the Myriad Beast Spirit Venerable Palace in strength.

But the Palace of Ten Thousand Beasts Spirit Lord still stands tall.

Is it simply because they lack the ability?

Historically, there have been several instances of powerful overlords joining forces to besiege the Palace of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord, but in the end, none of them succeeded.

If the Heavenly Law Divine Sect really destroyed the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable Mansion, would they stop?

Who's next?

Nine Netherworld Demon Sect?

Or is it the Cloud Sea Cangming Sect?

After the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable Mansion, the only one in the entire Cangyuan Immortal Cultivation World that can truly threaten the Heavenly Law Divine Sect is the Cloud Sea Cangming Sect.

It's not that Lin Zhao wanted to assume malicious intent about others; it's just that human nature is inherently vulnerable to such tests.

Lin Zhao even speculated that the reason why the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable Palace could not be destroyed was not necessarily because the Heavenly Law Divine Sect was not strong enough to take it down.

Are other dominant forces tacitly pushing out the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable Mansion as a pawn to counter the Heavenly Law Divine Sect?

With the Heavenly Law Divine Sect pouring a large amount of resources into the Southern Continent, it naturally had no spare capacity to target other overlords.

The Yunhai Cangming Sect's modus operandi might not involve them in such matters, but they would most likely tacitly approve of them.

The sect's higher-ups have always had a subtle attitude toward the Southern Continent, rarely sending cultivators to directly participate in expeditions; this silence itself is a statement of their stance.

After he calmed down, he thought about the relationships between the major powers and found it terrifying to think about.

These dominant forces openly wage war against each other and check and balance each other, but behind the scenes, no one knows what kind of tacit understanding they have.

More importantly, the true strength of each hegemon lies far beyond their apparent Nascent Soul stage combat power.

There are also various methods that surpass the level of a deity.

Once those hidden resources are activated, even Nascent Soul cultivators will die.

Many Nascent Soul Celestial Lords of the Heavenly Law Divine Sect died in the Southern Continent throughout history.

If the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Palace were truly facing annihilation, would those beings who had already ascended to the Spirit Realm intervene?

The arrival of an avatar of a spirit realm patriarch is enough to change the outcome of a great expedition.

To completely destroy a regional overlord, it would require not only the power of this world, but also the approval and tacit consent of the first generation of ancestors in the spirit realm.

Lin Zhao shook his head, suppressing these thoughts for the time being.

After careful consideration, he realized that destroying a hegemon was much more difficult than he had imagined.

The only dominant force in the Cangyuan cultivation world to be destroyed was the Lingyuan Heavenly Sect.

The reason why Lingyuan Heavenly Sect was destroyed was because it brought about its own demise—it consumed a large amount of the sect's resources and abandoned its sixth-tier spiritual treasure, the Taixu Lingyuan Heavenly Boat, in the outer realm. Beset by internal and external troubles, it was finally wiped out by the Tianlu Divine Sect and other overlords.

Even a powerful overlord embroiled in internal strife and lacking in sectarian foundation required a combined attack led by the Heavenly Law Divine Sect to be destroyed.

Destroying a perfectly intact mansion of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord, backed by the Southern Continent, is no easy task.

He stopped thinking about these things. The Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Mansion was not a problem that could be solved in a year or two. The most important thing right now was to improve his own strength. Without strength, all his ideas were just empty talk.

He planned to take a trip to Zhongzhou after Tianhao finished dealing with his current affairs. He had long wanted to see Zhongzhou, which was under the jurisdiction of the Tianlu Divine Sect.

Lin Zhao stopped going out and completely faded from the sight of the fortress cultivators.

As a secret disciple, even the Heavenly Law Divine Sect has no right to issue orders to him.

The Nascent Soul level leaders of the fortress also tacitly pretended that he didn't exist.

The people from the Yunhai Cangming Sect are secret disciples; if something were to happen here, it could easily cause diplomatic problems.

Rather than doing that, it's better to ignore it.

Lin Zhao stayed in the cave, living a much more comfortable life than Tian Hao, who was busy traveling outside.

-----

A few months later, Tianhao went to another fortress to complete a mission, but almost died outside.

If the Purple Dragon Pattern War Chariot hadn't teleported him back to the fortress at the last moment, he would have perished outside, and the chariot would have been destroyed.

When Lin Zhao saw Tian Hao, nothing seemed amiss on the surface.

Tianhao remained calm and composed, dressed neatly in white robes, just as he always was.

But Lin Zhao still noticed it—his spiritual pressure was slightly unbalanced, and the aura in his right hand was noticeably weaker. Lin Zhao was familiar with this state; it was the recovery period after a severed limb regenerates.

He lost an arm, and although it has grown back using elixirs and secret techniques, the new limb cannot fully regain its original strength in a short period of time.

Tianhao is not an avatar, but his true form. The impact of limb regeneration on the true form is far more severe than on a dharma body. Lin Zhao's Azure Lotus avatar can also quickly recover by consuming its own essence when injured.

Tianhao is different; he must have put in a lot of effort to recover to this level.

Lin Zhao looked at him, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice: "Who could possibly beat you up like this?"

It's no wonder Lin Zhao is acting so strangely now. Back then, when he was ambushed and killed by the avatar of True Monarch Gray Owl, he also fled in a sorry state and it took him several years to recover.

He initially only mentioned it briefly, but later, after becoming more familiar with Tianhao and Bai Jing, he let it slip one time.

These two guys showed no sympathy whatsoever; instead, they thoroughly mocked him for several days.

Now it's Tianhao's turn to be beaten up like this. Fortune has turned, and it's finally his turn.

Could Lin Zhao hold back her laughter?

Yeah, right?

Tianhao didn't respond to that. He gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words: "True Monarch Xuehe. A mere Nascent Soul cultivator."