Oh no, I accidentally cultivated three spiritual roots and became an empress!

As a result, Zhong Lingxin's bittersweet feelings intensified.

Many times, she tried hard to recall if she had angered her master recently, otherwise how could the body-tempering medicinal bath have changed so suddenly, causing her to tremble in pain from every pore of her body, and even the strands of her hair were shaking.

Qingyang Venerable Saint doesn't care about any of that; he's only responsible for producing outstanding students through strict teaching.

Zhong Lingxin, who was being tortured to the point of being completely disoriented, spent her days either soaking in medicinal baths or practicing the Four Seasons Formation.

Occasionally, she would think of Vivaldi's Four Seasons Concerto: the lush greenery and vibrant life of spring, the scorching sun and torrential rains of summer, the bountiful harvest, the drinking and dancing of autumn, and the fireside gaze and comical poses on the ice and snow of winter.

Ugh!

She was now in the midst of winter, with no distant view by the fire, only a comical posture on the ice and snow, as she slid and fell flat on her back.

The wind and snow were still raging, and icy needles, icicles, and raindrops were hitting her body, hands, and face.

Perhaps because she was numb from the cold, she didn't feel much pain. She was only focused on watching an ice bear roaring and charging at her from a distance.

The bear's eyes gleamed with a ferocious light. Its huge mouth was wide open, revealing its hideous teeth. Its two front paws were raised high, sending out a flurry of sharp ice spikes that pierced towards Zhong Lingxin in front of it.

Zhong Lingxin quickly circulated her spiritual energy once to relieve the stiffness in her body caused by the freezing, and then a trail of flames in her hand met the ice spikes.

Ice and fire mingled, creating a huge white mist that rose up.

The ice bear's forepaws pierced through the white mist and pounced in front of Zhong Lingxin.

Zhong Lingxin raised the Soul-Slaying Sword in her hand and slashed at the Ice Bear's two front paws.

The bear's paw clashed with the sword, producing a sickeningly loud metallic clang.

The bear's body was as hard as iron.

Even though Zhong Lingxin had cultivated her body, the shock made her hands feel sore and numb, and she almost couldn't hold the Soul-Slaying Sword.

The ice bear roared, raised its paws, and pounced on Zhong Lingxin again.

Having just suffered a loss, Zhong Lingxin dared not take the Ice Bear's front paw head-on again. She spun the Soul-Slaying Sword diagonally, dissipating the force of the Ice Bear's front paw, then leaped backward, wielding the "Surprising Snow Returns" sword in a backhand strike aimed at the back of the Ice Bear's head.

Although the swordsmanship was exquisite, it didn't even manage to cut off a single bear hair.

Xuan Yuan shook his head repeatedly, worried that Xiao Er might suffer because his cultivation level was too low.

That ice bear was a whole level higher than her, and it was a body-refining demon beast.

Be careful, how could that sword of yours possibly hurt it!

Zhong Lingxin knew that this sword strike wouldn't harm the ice bear, so after unleashing the sword move, she used the force of the sword tip to drift away and circle around the ice bear, employing nimble footwork to begin a hit-and-run tactic.

Relying on its thick hide, the ice bear ignored Zhong Lingxin's attacks and continued to roar and pounce.

However, Zhong Lingxin was skilled in agility and always managed to move aside before the ice bear could pounce, so that not even a corner of her clothes was touched by the ice bear.

The ice bear roared incessantly, the sound so loud that Zhong Lingxin's ears were ringing.

Zhong Lingxin was annoyed. "So you're the only one who can yell, huh?!"

I can sing too!

She opened her mouth and sang the melody of "Silent Soul" as she attacked the Ice Bear's consciousness.

Qingyang Zunsheng smiled and nodded. Who says that music has to be played? It can be sung too.

She had already played the melody countless times, but Zhong Lingxin didn't add any lyrics, only a simple "Ah~~~~~"

The music entered the Ice Bear's consciousness, but the Ice Bear ignored it and continued to roar as it pounced on Zhong Lingxin.

Zhong Lingxin was not discouraged. She was still in the experimental stage, so it was normal for it not to work yet.

She carefully maneuvered and moved around, observing the bear's reactions while chanting continuously.

After a while, she noticed that the ice bear had slowed down a little bit.

Zhong Lingxin wasn't sure for a moment whether the Ice Bear was exhausted from continuous combat or whether her mental attack had worked.

She chanted incessantly, and the Soul-Slaying Sword in her hand intensified its attacks. The Soul-Slaying Technique unfolded, and streams of spiritual energy penetrated directly into the Ice Bear's sea of ​​consciousness.

The polar bear's pounce slowed down, and its eyes began to glaze over.

Several times, the ice bear had to roar loudly to rouse itself.

It knew that it was the female cultivator on the other side who was behind the mischief.

But it couldn't fight it off; its limbs grew heavier and heavier, and it became increasingly reluctant to move, wanting only to lie down and take a nap.

Outside the formation, Venerable Qingyang stopped drinking tea and stood beside Xuan Yuan, watching Zhong Lingxin fight the Ice Bear inside the formation.

The Ice Bear is a demonic beast created by the Four Seasons Array based on Zhong Lingxin's body tempering cultivation level, and it can suppress Zhong Lingxin by a large margin.

But Zhong Lingxin broke through it using her divine sense technique.

Inside the formation, the ice bear finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep sleep.

With a flash, the Four Seasons Formation threw Zhong Lingxin out of it.

This time, instead of being thrown flat on her back, she gracefully and elegantly made her way away.

After exiting the formation, Zhong Lingxin struck a beautiful pose in front of the Four Seasons Formation.

It's not easy; this is the first time I haven't gotten a bruised and swollen face.

Qingyang Zunsheng gestured for Zhong Lingxin to come over for tea, first praising her and then pointing out areas where she needed improvement.

Zhong Lingxin obediently accepted the instruction.

Next, Zhong Lingxin suggested that she wanted to raise the grade of the alchemy.

Xuan Yuan greatly agreed. Putting everything else aside, once Qingyang Venerable Saint ascends to immortality, Zhong Lingxin will also have a skill to rely on.

Qingyang Venerable Saint took out several jade slips, which contained pill formulas and other materials that he had collected in his spare time.

He wasn't an alchemist himself, so he didn't organize the jade slips about alchemy and just dumped them all on Zhong Lingxin.

He thought for a moment, then gave Zhong Lingxin his notes on refining array plates and inscribing arrays: "Careful, these are my many years of experience in making arrays. Take a look when you have time. I don't expect you to become an array master, but when you are out there training, you should be able to understand some of the arrays you see. Don't just blindly rush into them."

Once a formation traps you, if you don't understand it, you can only try to break it by force, which is time-consuming and laborious, and sometimes you might not even be able to break it.

As far as my master knows, several powerful figures on our Immortal Spirit Continent have been trapped and killed within formations.

Zhong Lingxin carefully picked up her master's array-making tips, thinking that these were treasures that even spirit stones couldn't buy.

Time flies, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhong Lingxin has reached the mid-stage of the twelfth level of Qi Refining.

She felt a little regretful. If only she could reach the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, she could advance to Foundation Establishment as soon as she entered the small secret realm.

Xuan Yuan was always concerned about Zhong Lingxin's state of mind and comforted her, saying, "Little one, you've already done very well. You reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining at the age of eighteen. Many people don't even reach that level until they're over twenty. You can advance to the next level after you come back. With your master and me watching over you, we can feel more at ease."

Qingyang Venerable Saint looked at Zhong Lingxin seriously: "Be careful, the Tianyuan Secret Realm only allows 10,000 people to enter each time."

The five major sects each have 500 members, and the Loose Cultivator Alliance also has 500 members, making up 3,000 people in total.

Each of the twenty second-level sects has one hundred people, which still accounts for two thousand people.

That's halfway done.

The remaining portion will be distributed among sects and families below level three, as well as various associations.

Once inside, prioritize your own safety. Whether it's a demonic beast or a cultivator, if they pose a threat to you, there's only one word: kill!