Uncle Jiang had instructed that the objective within the Yunyang Sect was the Ten Thousand Year Red Copper, and the Flickering Light Shadowy Steps martial technique was just a bonus.

Moments later, Li Lin was deep in thought. He planned to go to the secret area and knew he could not afford any mistakes. With a month's time, he decided to cultivate diligently for a month. Within this month, his strength could be enhanced once again. After entering the secret area, he would naturally be more confident.

However, before entering the secret area, there was still a competition among all the Dragon List disciples within the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm. He could not be careless, as the top twenty powerhouses of the Dragon List would all appear.

A silent night passed, and Li Lin went to the Wanwu Tower again early the next day. On the third day, he entered the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm, and on the fourth day, he continued his visit to the Wanwu Tower.

As time slowly passed, Li Lin was always out early and returned late, of course, only visiting two places: either in the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm or the Wanwu Tower.

During this time, Li Lin did not encounter any trouble, and now being ranked within the top twenty of the Dragon List, no one would provoke him.

On the fifth day, Li Lin had Little dragon, Tian Chi Xue Shi, and Xue Lizard as his protectors, and began taking elixirs again to break through to the fourth level of the Martial Spirit.

He still had plenty of elixirs, so Li Lin was not stingy. Additionally, his master, Yu Yu, often gave him quite a few elixirs, so he had more than enough elixirs needed for the breakthrough.

Sitting cross-legged with hand signs formed, he swallowed a fourth-grade mid-level elixir. As it was refined, Li Lin's body was immediately enveloped in a pale yellow light.

As time passed slowly, nothing special happened in the Yunyang Sect as usual, and all Dragon List disciples were diligently cultivating.

As more and more people aimed to enter the Dragon List, challenging those on the list became frequent. Eventually, the Yunyang Sect, like in previous years, allowed non-Dragon List direct disciples to compete at the Earth Dragon Summit, selecting ten people to join the fifty Dragon List members in the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm competition.

Twelve days later, after consuming twelve fourth-grade mid-level elixirs, Li Lin broke through to the fourth level of the Martial Spirit. The elixirs consumed from the second to the third level of the Martial Spirit were more than ten times more than from the third to the fourth level, costing millions of gold coins.

Li Lin estimated that breaking through from the fourth to the fifth level of the Martial Spirit with elixirs would require an even more terrifying amount of elixirs.

This consumption alarmed Li Lin, as he had no demon elixirs left and it was inconvenient to use the Devouring Power within the Yunyang Sect, making the breakthrough quite difficult.

"Phew!" After slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air and feeling the fourth level of Martial Spirit cultivation within him, Li Lin smiled slightly. With just his current strength, he could probably defeat those at the seventh to eighth level of Martial Spirit. If he encountered someone at the ninth level, he wouldn't be powerless.

On the thirteenth day, Li Lin went to the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm again. This time, he directly passed the sixth level, meeting Iron Palm Mad Bull, who was dumbfounded by Li Lin's progress, as he himself could not pass the sixth level.

On the nineteenth day, Li Lin entered the fourth level of the Spirit Realm again with a smile. Inside the Spirit Realm, several streaks of light were launched, and Li Lin's figure appeared in a cave tunnel enveloped by white fog.

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With a smile on his lips, Li Lin sat down cross-legged and took out a handful of Earth Spirit Pills to swallow. He was already at the peak of the third level of Martial Spirit and did not need much spiritual power to guide him for the breakthrough.

The Earth Spirit Pill, being a third-grade high-level elixir, offered little benefit to Li Lin's current level of the third Spirit Realm. However, Li Lin had refined quite a few Earth Spirit Pills in the past few days, intending to use them to force a breakthrough.

Breaking through in this Spirit Realm, Li Lin naturally had other plans. The last breakthrough attracted beneficial energy from the Spirit Realm to his soul power, helping him reach the peak of the third Spirit Realm in one go. Li Lin aimed to repeat this process.

After swallowing a large handful of Earth Spirit Pills, Li Lin soon immersed himself in cultivation. The energy from the Earth Spirit Pills was weak for his current strength, but it acted as a guide for the abundant spiritual power in his mind, becoming active soon after.

In a courtyard within the Yunyang Sect, Yun Xiao Tian and the Great Protector were present, with Yun Xiao Tian appearing somewhat worried.

"Great Protector, is this news confirmed?" Yun Xiao Tian asked with a hint of seriousness in his eyes.

"It should be accurate," the Great Protector replied softly.

"I didn't expect them to act so quickly. What exactly is their purpose?" Yun Xiao Tian wondered.

"It's unknown. Recently, quite a few second-tier forces have joined them in Moyun City. They call themselves the Spirit Martial World," the Great Protector mentioned.

"Spirit Martial World, who is behind this, and what is their purpose? Is it possible that the continent is about to experience another storm of blood and violence?" Yun Xiao Tian murmured.

"Sect Master, should our Yunyang Sect take precautions?" the Great Protector hesitated before asking.

"The Three Sects and Four Gates Conference isn't far off. It's better to discuss collectively when all the sects gather. Probably the other sects have also received the news," Yun Xiao Tian said, then added, "Has there been any news from Li Lin recently?"

"Li Lin has been spending every day in the Wanwu Tower and the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm since last month," the Great Protector reported.

"This kid actually stayed in the fourth level of the Spirit Realm for a month. Even Hong Ling couldn't stay in the fourth level of the Spirit Realm for a month when she was at the second level of Martial Spirit," Yun Xiao Tian sighed.

"Given time, Li Lin might really become something," the Great Protector also sighed.

"It's a pity he's not easily swayed to our side. It's difficult to decide what to do with him," Yun Xiao Tian said with a bitter smile.

"Sect Master, the young miss has been acting unusually lately, cultivating almost day and night," the Great Protector mentioned softly.

"That girl had a fallout with me over Li Lin. It's probably because of him," Yun Xiao Tian said lightly.

"It might not be just that. I accidentally saw the young miss leaving Li Lin's place, crying. I think it might be related to this," the Great Protector hesitated before saying.

"That girl…" Yun Xiao Tian paused, sighed, and seemed to ponder.

"In my old age, I see the young miss has reached the age for romance. None of the disciples in the sect catch her eye, except maybe Li Lin," the Great Protector said softly.

"That girl is as stubborn as her mother. If she really has taken a liking to Li Lin, nothing anyone says will matter. But Li Lin and Li Wushuang..." Yun Xiao Tian sighed again.

"Sect Master, let the younger generation sort it out. I remember back then, the lady and you were the same. In a blink of an eye, the young miss has grown so much," the Great Protector remarked.

"It's a pity Hong Ling's mother passed away young. Without her mother all these years, I've spoiled her. But now, it seems I have to intervene. Let's wait and see what happens after the secret area opens," Yun Xiao Tian said, "No matter what, I can't let Hong Ling be wronged."

Inside the fourth level of the Spirit Realm, Li Lin's aura began to rise, and the invisible white light circle around him started to shine brightly.

"Boom!"

A muffled sound echoed as a massive amount of spiritual power in Li Lin's mind expanded and compressed, whirling rapidly.

At that moment, a wave of spiritual power leaked from Li Lin, forming a vortex of light in front of him, resembling a tornado, instantly drawing in the surrounding white fog from the cave tunnel.

Invisibly, a strand of energy from the white fog was absorbed into Li Lin's body. Shortly after, the energy converged, reaching a level Li Lin could directly assimilate and refine.

Seeing this, Li Lin was overjoyed and began to devour this vast energy. After a slight refinement with the Yin Yang Spirit Martial Technique, it turned into the purest spiritual power for his use.

Within the cave tunnel, Li Lin was now enveloped in dense white fog. The thick fog, with strands of energy turning into vast power, continuously poured into Li Lin's body.

"Sect Master, the Second Protector reports another incident in the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm," a Yunyang Sect disciple reported from outside the courtyard.

"Another incident? Didn't one happen just over a month ago?" Yun Xiao Tian frowned, then left the courtyard with the Great Protector, heading straight for the Martial Spirit Illusion Realm.