Qinghe Immortal Clan.

Chapter 1038 Newly Ascended Nascent Soul, Various Forces

The woman in blue who was following Wang Yan and the others was none other than Liu Qingyin, a cultivator from the Hunyuan Sect who had met Song Qingming several times in the past.

When Song Qingming and Song Qingyu went to Taiyue Lake to collect the divine thunder of heaven and earth, they fought a great battle with the demonic cultivator Ma Wuchen, which alerted the cultivators of the nearby Hunyuan Sect.

Afterwards, Song Qingming went to search the other party's cave, but was blocked nearby by Liu Qingyin who had just arrived.

Fortunately, the other party did not notice anything unusual at the time, and Song Qingming was able to escape successfully, thus avoiding any misunderstanding between the two parties.

Later, when Song Qingming went to Lei Yuanhai with Bai Yuxian and others to participate in the trade fair, he encountered Liu Qingyin again. She did not seem to recognize him, and the matter was left unresolved.

More than a hundred years ago, when Song Qingming first met Liu Qingyin, she was already at the late Golden Core stage. He never expected that after so many years apart, she would have successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Back then, Qiu Yuanshan, the only Nascent Soul ancestor of the Hunyuan Sect, unfortunately died in the great battle to annihilate the "Red Cloud Holy Demon". Almost everyone thought that the Hunyuan Sect would decline like the Jiuyuan Sect.

Unexpectedly, only a few decades later, Liu Qingyin successfully formed a Nascent Soul, and the "Hun Yuan Sect" once again returned to the ranks of top Nascent Soul sects in the Floating Cloud Mountains.

This was quite unexpected for Song Qingming and the others.

Moreover, in recent years, no one has heard of any cultivator undergoing the Nascent Soul Tribulation in the entire "Floating Cloud Mountain Range," and no one knows where Liu Qingyin successfully formed her Nascent Soul.

Besides Liu Qingyin of the Hunyuan Sect, Wang Yan and Chu Lingyun of the Wanling Sect, as well as Fu Yungui and Han Yu of the Huoyang Sect, all arrived at this place.

There was also an old man in a green robe who looked somewhat familiar. At first, everyone thought he was Zhao Wuling, the Grand Elder of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Sect," but upon closer inspection, they realized that it was an avatar of the other party.

After exchanging greetings with the other party, Chen Yunxiao, noticing that Zhao Wuling, the number one human expert of the Floating Cloud Mountains, had not come, felt a little puzzled and took the initiative to ask Zheng Zitong, who was standing next to him:

"I had heard that Wang Yan was interested in competing for the Xuanling Pill, and I thought that Fellow Daoist Zhao would personally take action this time. I didn't expect that it would be his avatar who came."

Is Fellow Daoist Zhao's injury so severe that he is still unable to make a move?

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zitong quickly smiled and waved his hand at him.

"Hehe! Fellow Daoist Chen, you may not know this, but there are cultivation restrictions in the Tongtian Pavilion. Great cultivators above the late Nascent Soul stage cannot enter it at all."

Whether Zhao Wuling came or not is irrelevant; even if he arrived safely, he still wouldn't be able to get in.

"Oh! I see. No wonder I've never heard of any late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators entering the Tower of Babel to retrieve treasures. I thought it was because these great cultivators didn't care about the treasures inside."

Unexpectedly, this was the reason.

So, does that mean even powerful cultivators from the demon race can't enter? Our hopes of obtaining the treasure seem to have increased considerably.

As a newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator, Chen Yunxiao's cultivation level was not particularly outstanding among the crowd, and he came alone. Seeing so many Nascent Soul cultivators arriving one after another, he was naturally worried about being outnumbered and outmatched.

Only after hearing Zheng Zitong's explanation did he understand, and his confidence in retrieving the treasure increased even more.

However, compared to Chen Yunxiao, Song Qingming, Bai Yuxian, and others had already heard rumors about this matter.

After all, when they entered the Tower of Babel last time, they witnessed firsthand that not a single great cultivator from either the human or demonic side, or even the demonic cultivators, entered the secret realm.

At first, Song Qingming also found it strange that, even though he knew that the Tongtian Pavilion contained a treasure like the "Mysterious Spirit Pill," all those who came to compete for it were early and mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and not a single great cultivator was seen.

It wasn't until later, after he broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, that he heard some news from Li Mufeng about the "Tongtian Pavilion" restricting the entry of high-level cultivators.

Otherwise, if a Nascent Soul level nine expert like Zhao Wuling were to come in person, among so many Nascent Soul cultivators present, probably few would be qualified to contend with him.

Moreover, Zhao Wuling's lifespan is running out, and Wang Yan, another Supreme Elder of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Sect," is still unable to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage.

If, after his passing, the sect fails to cultivate a new late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the title of "Wanling Sect," the number one sect in the Floating Cloud Mountains, will become somewhat unstable.

Even for the sake of the sect's foundation, Zhao Wuling had no reason to only send an avatar and not come to help Wang Yan compete for the "Mysterious Spirit Pill".

The only plausible explanation is that he was truly limited by his own cultivation level and thus powerless to do so.

After Wang Yan and others from the "Wanling Sect" had all arrived, most of the major sects in the cultivation world of the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" had also arrived, with the remaining scattered rogue cultivators arriving from various directions one after another.

Compared to three hundred years ago, this time, due to the appearance of the "Heavenly Decree," there were significantly more cultivators present.

Among them, apart from those Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators who were unaware of the situation and wanted to take advantage of the chaos, the number of Golden Core cultivators was more than double that of the last time.

Through these days of observation, Song Qingming even sensed several unfamiliar yet powerful auras occasionally flashing among the crowds of rogue cultivators.

If nothing unexpected happens, these must also be Nascent Soul cultivators from outside the sect, just like Xia Mo, hiding in the shadows and trying to infiltrate the group.

After all, there are as many as twenty or thirty "Heavenly Tokens" that have appeared in various places in the Floating Cloud Mountains. In addition to those obtained by the major sects, many of them must have ended up in the hands of cultivators outside.

However, these people were hiding among many independent cultivators, and Song Qingming found it difficult to find their whereabouts for a while, making it impossible to determine how many other potential opponents were lurking in the shadows.

After patiently waiting for more than ten days, as the sun rose again in the sky, the "heavenly phenomena" above everyone's heads finally began to change.

Suddenly, the "colorful clouds" in the sky flashed and then became several times more dazzling than before.

"Look, is the secret realm about to open?"

"Haha, after waiting for so long, we can finally go in."

".."

Seeing that something seemed about to emerge from the glowing light, all the cultivators who had been waiting for a long time were immediately drawn to it, and their faces became full of anticipation.

Song Qingming, who was originally sitting on the ground, smiled slightly and immediately stood up when he saw this somewhat familiar scene.

Bai Yuxian looked at the crowd behind her and said with a serious expression, "Everyone, don't be in a hurry. Wait for my message before we set off together."

Remember, once inside, meet at the agreed-upon location. No one is allowed to act on their own!

"Disciple accepts the order!"

Li Xuanyi and Xia Mo, who were still standing in the crowd below, saw the crowd starting to surge and immediately followed the crowd slowly toward the location of the spiritual light.

She hadn't walked far when Xia Mo sensed a presence watching her from the crowd. She immediately stopped and turned to look in the direction the presence was.

Just as Xia Mo released her divine sense to begin searching, the mysterious aura vanished instantly, disappearing without a trace.

Seeing that the other party seemed to be intentionally concealing their aura, Xia Mo, having gained nothing, also withdrew her divine sense.

"Fellow Daoist Xia, what's wrong?"

Hearing Li Xuanyi's question, Xia Mo immediately shook her head slightly and said, "It's nothing. It seemed like someone was watching us nearby, but they've left now."

"Someone is watching us. Could it be a Nascent Soul cultivator?" Upon hearing Xia Mo's words, Li Xuanyi's expression immediately turned to surprise.

Although Li Xuanyi's cultivation level was not as high as Xia Mo's, she was still a Nascent Soul cultivator, yet she had not sensed anything unusual just now.

The fact that this person could evade her divine sense, a Nascent Soul cultivator, to detect the two of them shows that their spiritual power must be far superior to hers, at least at the mid-Nascent Soul stage like Xia Mo.

Faced with Li Xuanyi's suspicion, Xia Mo nodded calmly.

"This person's cultivation level should be similar to mine. He should also be a Nascent Soul cultivator from another cultivation world. I have already alerted him. If we really encounter him in the secret realm, we need to be careful."

"Okay! Then we should meet up with Junior Brother Song and the others as soon as possible after we go in. Even if we do run into them in the secret realm, they probably won't dare to mess with us."

After they finished speaking, the two immediately turned around and followed the crowd away from the place.

On a hillside not far from Li Xuanyi and her companion, two cultivators dressed in green robes immediately withdrew their gaze from their direction.

"Senior brother, I didn't expect this person's spiritual sense to be no worse than mine. It seems that besides the people from the Floating Cloud Mountain Range, there are quite a few experts from the outside world who have come here this time!"

"Hehe, Junior Sister, don't worry. I had already inquired before coming here. There is only one Nascent Soul cultivator in the Floating Cloud Mountains, Zhao Wuling. It seems that he did not come."

It seems my previous investigation was correct; this secret realm is indeed off-limits to late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

Without the intervention of powerful cultivators, these people should be able to stop the two of us once we go in.

Once I obtain the Profound Spirit Pill, I will be able to advance to the late Nascent Soul stage as I wish.

"Yes! Senior brother, don't worry, I will definitely help you get this item this time, no matter what."

".."

After the words were spoken, the two figures in green robes quickly disappeared from the spot.

On the other side of the mountain peak, Wang Yan of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Sect" was looking at the ever-changing colorful clouds above, while Zhao Wuling's avatar stood motionless beside him.

"Senior brother, it seems that quite a few people from all sides have come this time. It looks like this Tower of Babel is really different from the past!"

"Junior Brother Wang, rest assured. According to the sect's past records, whenever a large number of Heavenly Tokens appear in the world, the number of spiritual items inside will also increase significantly."

I've made considerable preparations this time, and I've brought the Qingling Sword with me. I will certainly do my best to help you obtain the Xuanling Pill."

"Next, I'll leave it to you, Senior Brother!" Looking at Zhao Wuling's avatar in front of him, Wang Yan raised his hand respectfully, and then quickly turned his gaze to the cloud where the demon cultivators were not far away.

At this moment, the many demon experts hiding in the cloud and mist barrier were also excited as they looked at the "Tower of Babel" secret realm that was about to open above.

Compared to three hundred years ago, the number of demon cultivators standing here has also increased considerably.

Among them are many familiar Nascent Soul Demon Emperors, such as the "Purple Cloud Demon Emperor," the "Mad Lion Demon Emperor," and the "White Dragon Demon Emperor," who reside near the Floating Cloud Mountains.

There were also many unfamiliar faces that Song Qingming and the others had never seen before, seemingly from the "Northern Frontier" demon territory, which was farther away from the Floating Cloud Mountains.

In the crowd, "Thunder Flame Demon Emperor" quickly spotted a gray-robed giant and walked towards him.

"Brother Longfeng, I heard that you once stayed in the Floating Cloud Mountains for quite some time. I wonder if you ever went inside?"

"Hehe! What you say is true, brother. I did come here once when I accompanied His Highness on a trip, but at that time I had not yet taken human form and formed my Nascent Soul, so I was not able to help much."

"His Highness just happened to bestow upon me a Heavenly Token, so I came with Fellow Daoist Flying Wing to try our luck and see if we could find anything useful."

Upon hearing the gray-robed giant's reply, the "Thunder Flame Demon Emperor" showed a hint of surprise, then continued:

"So it turns out that the Heavenly Token in your hand was a gift from His Highness the Fire Phoenix. No wonder you suddenly traveled all this way to get here."

His Highness the Fire Phoenix didn't come in person, but instead bestowed the Heavenly Token upon my younger brother. Could it be that the rumors I heard some time ago were true, and His Highness has already advanced to...?

"Hehe! Brother, you also know the rules of our Feather Clan. It's better not to ask such profound questions."

When "Thunder Flame Demon Emperor" finished speaking, the gray-robed giant standing in front of him immediately interrupted him and then gave him a meaningful look.

Seeing this, "Thunder Flame Demon Emperor" immediately smiled and nodded, then cupped his hands apologetically.

"I misspoke just now, I hope you won't take offense, brother. I will definitely find an opportunity to visit you next time I return to the Northern Frontier."

".."

Just as the various forces below were looking up at the "colorful glow" above their heads with great anticipation, a giant black tower, hundreds of feet wide, gradually emerged from the glow before everyone's eyes.

"Could this be the Tower of Babel? It's enormous!"

"It was indeed created by ancient immortals. No wonder it contains things that can help people live longer."

"Haha, to have the chance to see such a magical object in this lifetime is truly an eye-opener."

".."

As the towering "Tower of Babel" gradually came into view, the many cultivators standing below, who were seeing it for the first time, widened their eyes in astonishment at its enormous size.

Not only the many unsuspecting low-level cultivators below, but even Li Xuanyi, Xia Mo, and others who had already broken through to the Nascent Soul realm were also surprised.

I couldn't help but marvel at who could have created such a vast secret realm.

Despite their surprise, many cultivators reacted quickly after the "Tower of Babel" fell, and were the first to see the vortex entrance at the bottom of the tower.

As a sword light shot up first, more than a dozen cultivators quickly appeared in mid-air, wanting to be the first to enter the tower.

Seeing this familiar scene, Song Qingming shook his head and then led everyone away from the bottom of the tower.

Not long after Song Qingming set off, several bolts of lightning struck down from the sky, instantly turning several unsuspecting and reckless cultivators into ashes.

Only then did those impulsive cultivators realize the danger ahead and hurriedly spread out using their escape light. This caused a panic among the many low-level cultivators below as well.

However, Song Qingming, who was high in the sky, had long since stopped caring about what was happening below. Almost everyone's eyes were fixed on the "Tower of Babel" above.

As the protective barriers around the Tower of Babel disappeared, the next moment, countless cultivators flew directly towards the entrance in a flash of light.

At the same time, the many demon experts hiding in the white mist also rushed out of the formation and then transformed into streaks of light, heading straight into the sky.

Compared to Song Qingming's more cautious approach last time, this time when he entered the "Tower of Babel," he didn't lag behind the others. He stood close to the first few Nascent Soul cultivators and passed directly through the entrance vortex.

As a familiar wave of dizziness washed over him, Song Qingming quickly passed through the entrance barrier and landed in a relatively dim space, his body plummeting down a mountain peak below.

While still in mid-air, Song Qingming was about to steady himself and see where he was when a rather piercing scream suddenly came from afar.

Immediately afterward, wherever Song Qingming's gaze fell, a flock of strange, jet-black birds flew over and quickly headed straight for his location, soon surrounding him completely.

Just as Song Qingming was about to be surrounded by the black birds, several sword lights suddenly flew out from his body, and the black birds were instantly cut into countless pieces by the sword lights.

Facing these strange birds whose cultivation levels were only at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, Song Qingming killed most of them without any effort.

The remaining small group of strange birds, facing the powerful Song Qingming, did not back down and continued to attack his side.

No matter how fearless they were, they still couldn't make up for the difference in strength, and soon they all died under Song Qingming's sword light.

"It seems that not only have more people come, but the monsters inside also seem to be much fiercer than before!"

After dealing with the numerous black birds in front of him, a solemn expression appeared on Song Qingming's face.

These black birds were not only numerous, but also seemed much more ferocious than the monsters he had encountered when he first entered the Tower of Babel.

If it were a Golden Core cultivator with a lower cultivation level, encountering them right after entering would actually be quite dangerous.

This is only the lowest level of the secret realm, and it has already undergone these changes. I'm afraid things won't be much better up there.

After muttering something to himself while standing still, Song Qingming took out the prepared map to confirm his location, then immediately turned around and flew towards a safer place.

After crossing a lake and several mountains, a valley soon came into Song Qingming's view.

Upon arriving at this location, Song Qingming looked around and, seeing that there were no other cultivators nearby, immediately took out a prepared golden talisman from his hand.

As Song Qingming applied his magic power to the talisman in his hand, the golden talisman quickly flew into the sky and then landed in a nearby forest.

After confirming the location, Song Qingming quickly arrived nearby with a flash of light beneath his feet and met Bai Yuxian, who was already waiting there.

"Junior Brother Song, come in quickly!"

Seeing that Song Qingming had arrived, Bai Yuxian immediately invited him to walk into a magic array that had been set up in front of them. At this time, in addition to the two of them, Yun Nishang and Fang Baixuan, who had arrived from nearby, were also inside.

As before, each cultivator landed at a different location after entering the "Tower of Babel".

To avoid any unexpected incidents on the way, Song Qingming and his group decided to reunite on the first floor before coordinating their actions.

This was something they had discussed and arranged beforehand, long before they even entered the secret realm.

Fortunately, although the first level of the secret realm is not small, all the cultivators who enter are at least at the Golden Core stage. As long as they are not delayed by any danger, they can arrive here in a few hours at most, no matter where they are.

Not long after Song Qingming arrived, Song Qingyu, Huang Siyuan, Chen Xuanxin, and other cultivators from the "Xiaoyao Sect" who had entered the secret realm also rushed to the meeting point.

It was originally expected that everyone would gather in two hours at most, but although everyone arrived, Xu Ziyan and Zhao Youxuan were nowhere to be seen.

It wasn't until half a day later that the two of them finally arrived at the meeting point, albeit late.

Xu Ziyan was unlucky; on her way to join them, she encountered several powerful demon kings who blocked her path. After a fierce battle, she managed to escape their pursuit by using a high-level talisman in her hand.

When Zhao Youxuan entered, he encountered a group of very troublesome demons, and he also had to exert a lot of effort to get rid of the danger.

Despite some setbacks, the two were both of considerable cultivation level and arrived at the rendezvous point safely, preventing any casualties among the sect's cultivators upon arrival.

Once everyone had arrived, Song Qingming and Bai Yuxian gathered all the late-stage Golden Core cultivators and set off together, preparing to quickly head to the top of the Tower of Babel.

The remaining mid-stage Golden Core cultivators who entered the secret realm were led by Zhang Tieyang to wait for a period of time before exploring the lower levels of the Tower of Babel.

Sensing significant changes in the secret realm compared to before, Song Qingming and Bai Yuxian carefully gave everyone some instructions before leaving.

Instruct them to stay on the lower three levels to search for spiritual objects and not to attempt to venture to the upper levels.

After all, these people are the pillars of the younger generation of the sect. Their main purpose in coming here is to gain experience, not to go on adventures.

After the two sides separated, Song Qingming and Bai Yuxian immediately led their people to the nearest entrance to the second level. Along the way, they saw many cultivators who had just entered the secret realm and were wandering around exploring.

I thought they had acted quickly enough, but I didn't expect that someone else had arrived here first and had already broken through the entrance barrier to go to the second floor of the "Tower of Babel".

After passing through the entrance, Song Qingming and his group quickly arrived at the second floor without encountering too many obstacles along the way.

Upon reaching the second level, there were no more cultivators to be seen nearby. Song Qingming and the others did not linger and headed directly to the entrance to the next level.

Based on past experience, the lower levels of the "Tower of Babel" mostly contain low-level spiritual items, while the items on the fourth level and above are their main targets.

(End of this chapter)