Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Deep within the Yunxia Mountains, ordinary demonic beasts pose little threat to Lin Zhao at this stage.

However, the real danger lies in the complex environment of the mountain range itself.

The complex terrain severely limited Lin Zhao's abilities, and the occasional appearance of monsters and strange plants frequently disturbed his rest and recovery of spiritual energy.

Lin Zhao also witnessed all sorts of strange abilities. No wonder Qi Refining cultivators always operate in teams. The complex environment makes it difficult for a single cultivator to cope, and he really suffered a lot.

Under these circumstances, using "Four-Element Sword Dragon" is not a wise move.

The aura of the Four Elements Sword Dragon was too strong to conceal, and its powerful spiritual energy fluctuations frequently attracted various demonic beasts, causing Lin Zhao's spiritual energy to be severely depleted.

His resources were also consumed very quickly. The elixirs he carried ran out after three months.

But Lin Zhao was not flustered. He had expected this. Before leaving, the clan leader gave him a jade talisman that could withstand an attack from an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, so his safety was guaranteed.

He began to carefully identify and collect the spiritual herbs in the mountains and forests using his powerful divine sense.

He consumed the medicine directly after it had been aged sufficiently and its medicinal properties were relatively mild. He circulated his cultivation technique, using the "Three Revolutions of Spiritual Energy" foundation-building secret technique to guide and refine it, purifying his spiritual energy and forcibly refining the spiritual medicine.

He was more cautious with those medicinal herbs that were potent or had side effects, finding safe places to process them simply by combining them with the blood of some demonic beasts.

He had always planned to continue tempering his body, but things hadn't progressed steadily after joining the demon-hunting team. Now, in the wilderness, undisturbed, it was the perfect opportunity.

The process was arduous because it wasn't a specialized body-tempering potion, and he frequently experienced pain due to the conflicting effects of the medicine, but he always maintained a sliver of clarity in his mind.

He began circulating the "Taihe Yangyuan Gong," an auxiliary cultivation technique. Combined with the "Yunling Sanzhuan" secret technique, it easily refined the violent medicinal power, and the feeling of unstable cultivation was quickly eliminated.

But the effect was remarkable. He could clearly feel that his skin had become tougher, his muscle fibers were tighter, his bone density had increased, and his body contained explosive power. His previously stagnant physical strength began to break through and gradually climbed to two thousand jin.

Meanwhile, in this perilous wilderness, the battle never ceased.

He encountered all sorts of powerful monsters. They each occupied their own territory and were exceptionally ferocious.

Faced with these opponents, Lin Zhao no longer readily resorted to the powerful "Four-Element Sword Dragon." He began to devote more energy to constructing and experimenting with other four-element spell forms to deal with different enemies and environments.

He used demonic beasts as whetstones to constantly verify his understanding of "Celestial Sword Path" and rune combinations, attempting to develop a more efficient and energy-saving combat method.

Every battle, whether it was successfully repelling a monster or making a small progress in constructing a new spell, enhanced his combat experience and control over his own power.

After battling the overwhelming swarm of insects, Lin Zhao clearly realized that the destructive power of the "Four Elements Sword Dragon" was still insufficient when facing the endless horde of beasts. It was more like a divine weapon for decapitation than for clearing the battlefield.

In order to more effectively deal with large-scale, low-intensity, protracted wars of attrition, he devoted himself to simulations, based on the Stegosaurus.

Finally, a new form was successfully constructed – the "Four Elements Yinglong".

Unlike the Stegosaurus, which purely pursues ultimate lethality and has a form as solid as a divine weapon, this "Four Elements Yinglong" has a more ethereal form.

It possesses a pair of broad, luminous wings composed of countless wind and water runes, with a wingspan of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters). With a gentle flap, it can draw in the surrounding spiritual energy.

The dragon's body, composed only of a small amount of sword energy, appeared somewhat transparent, revealing the energies of earth, fire, water, and wind flowing slowly within like rivers. Each of its four claws condensed spiritual light of a different attribute, harnessing the corresponding primordial energy of heaven and earth.

Its attack methods have also changed. It no longer charges and tears with its dragon body, but instead relies on the coordination of its wings and the movement of its claws to unleash a wide-ranging torrent of magic. These attacks may not be as powerful as sword energy, but their coverage is extremely broad, making them highly efficient at clearing out swarms of insects and low-level monsters.

The most ingenious part is its pair of large, luminous wings. They are not only organs for flight and spellcasting, but also constitute a temporary energy circulation system.

The released magical energy did not completely dissipate; it could be captured and recovered by the light wings.

After being transformed and harmonized by the four precious orbs, it was replenished into the dragon's body again.

This makes the "Four-Element Yinglong" far more endurance than the "Four-Element Sword Dragon" when dealing with beast tides, allowing it to maintain battlefield suppression for a longer period of time.

Of course, in this form, the burst power of the "Four Elements Yinglong" and its ability to kill powerful individuals are indeed inferior to the specialized "Four Elements Sword Dragon".

The "Four Elements Sword Dragon" itself was further modified by Lin Zhao towards the ultimate attack direction.

The four-colored spiritual light that had been flowing within the scales was completely contained, and all the spiritual energy was extremely compressed within the dragon's body, making the entire sword dragon more solid and gleaming with a cold metallic luster, like a physical divine weapon, exuding a chilling sharpness.

Its attack methods are also more extreme. Under normal circumstances, it spews out terrifying silver-white sword energy from its dragon mouth, like a metal storm, which can instantly turn a hundred-meter range in front of it into a "sword energy hell" that annihilates everything. Everything within the range is cut and crushed by endless fine sword energy.

Lin Zhao further incorporated the "Piercing Sun" killing move from the Azure Profound Sword Art. When needed, the silver-white sword dragon would open its massive maw, and the compressed sword energy and spiritual power throughout its body would converge into an extremely condensed, blazing pure white stream of light, as intense as a falling sun, which would then be unleashed in an instant!

The destructive power of this attack is comparable to the "Four Elements Return to One" in the previous Four Elements Sword form, and it has firmly reached the level of the tenth level of Qi Refining.

In addition, Lin Zhao devised a final trump card—at the critical moment, he could transform the Four Elements Pearls, which served as the core of his power, into four streams of primordial light containing destructive energy, and bombard the target in turn!

Each stream of light condenses the power of its corresponding attribute, and its power is comparable to "Four Elements Return to One".

However, after this move, all four elemental beads will leave the body, and the Four Elemental Sword Dragon form will collapse.

This is a last resort attack. If it still fails to kill the opponent, Lin Zhao will have no choice but to flee. As for whether the Four Elements Pearls can be retrieved, that will depend on fate. It's a method that cannot be used lightly.

Lin Zhao felt that these two forms complemented each other perfectly, just like the "magic cultivator" and "sword cultivator" in a team.

The "Four Elements Yinglong" excels at area control and sustained attrition, while the "Four Elements Jianlong" specializes in attacking strongholds and decapitating enemies.

Deep within the Yunxia Mountains, he engaged in bloody battles with various demonic beasts, alternating between these two forms.

Only in actual combat can one most directly discover the various defects such as the sluggish flow of spiritual energy, the instability of the rune structure, and the loss of energy circulation, and then continuously make adjustments and optimizations.