Qinghe Immortal Clan.

Having said that, Song Qingyu, wielding the "Mysterious Dark Golden Light Sword," flashed forward and headed straight for the location of the white light.

Standing to the side, Li Xuanyi immediately took out a black shield from her "storage magic item" at her waist and released spiritual light to protect herself.

He then summoned his natal magic weapon, the "Tai Xu Sword," ready to go and support Song Qingyu at any time.

Although Li Xuanyi's cultivation level is only at the second level of the Nascent Soul stage, she already possesses several level-four magic treasures, making her combat strength not weak among early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

The black shield in front of her was a low-grade fourth-level defensive magic weapon obtained with Song Qingming and the others when they entered the "Tower of Babel," named "Ink Gold Mystic Scale Shield."

Although this magic weapon is only of the fourth grade, low quality, after Li Xuanyi returned to "Yunlong Mountain", with the help of Li Boying, a lot of rare black gold materials in the cultivation world were refined into the magic weapon.

Now, in terms of defensive capabilities alone, this magic weapon is almost on par with a mid-grade level four magic weapon.

At this moment, Li Xuanyi kept her eyes fixed on Song Qingyu not far away, ready to step forward to support her at any time, while also guarding against any enemies that might appear in the darkness.

Since Song Qingming returned to Chiyun Mountain, the surrounding area has remained peaceful for more than a decade.

It's still more than a decade before the "monster turmoil" in the northern frontier, so the sudden appearance of powerful demons is quite unusual.

Just as Li Xuanyi was looking ahead with a tense expression, Song Qingyu, after seeing the flying boat enveloped in white light in the distance, had a hint of puzzlement in her eyes.

"Huh! This... how could it be Seventh Brother's Bone Flying Boat? What's going on?"

The flying boat was enveloped in white light. Song Qingyu recognized it at a glance. It was the flying boat that Song Qingming had made from the materials on the "White Bone Demon Emperor" after he killed him.

However, the aura emanating from the flying boat was clearly something was wrong; it didn't seem like that of a human cultivator but rather like that of a powerful demon emperor.

Before Song Qingyu could figure out what was happening, a familiar voice entered her ears.

"Qingyu, why are you all out here?"

Standing in front of the flying boat, Song Qingming noticed that Song Qingyu and Li Xuanyi in the distance both looked wary and on high alert.

He then realized what was happening and quickly hid the demonic aura emanating from the jade pendant on his body at his waist.

Upon discovering that the previously intense demonic aura had vanished instantly, Song Qingyu put aside her doubts and put away the "Mysterious Dark Golden Light Sword".

"Seventh Brother, it really is you back! What happened just now? You really scared us!"

"Hehe, I was in a hurry to get on my way, I didn't expect you all to be here, I almost misunderstood."

When Song Qingming left, he told Song Qingyu and the other person that he would be away for a while and it would take him about two years to return.

Now, less than a year has passed since he left and returned, which means he has returned to "Red Cloud Mountain" ahead of schedule. Song Qingyu did not expect that the "Demon Emperor" who attacked would be Song Qingming.

Seeing that it was all a misunderstanding, Li Xuanyi, who was not far away, quickly put away her magic weapon and came over to greet Song Qingming.

"Junior Brother Song, are you alright? Did things go smoothly? Hmm, who is she?"

As Li Xuanyi approached the "White Bone Boat," she noticed a young woman with an unfamiliar face sitting inside and asked her a question with some confusion.

Upon hearing this, Song Qingming quickly nodded and said, "This trip went smoothly, everything has been taken care of!"

I met her on the road; her name is Chu Ling.

Seeing Li Xuanyi asking Chu Ling, Song Qingming quickly explained the other person's identity to the two of them and briefly recounted how he had saved her.

Seeing this, Chu Ling, who was sitting on the flying boat, quickly stood up and bowed to Song Qingyu and Li Xuanyi in front of her.

"Chu Ling greets the two seniors!"

"So you went to the Northern Frontier, Seventh Brother. No wonder you have the aura of a demon beast. This child is quite pitiful; he has no relatives left."

"I've heard people mention that the demons of the Northern Frontier raise human cultivators. I thought it was just a rumor, but I didn't expect it to be true."

"You're fortunate to have met Junior Brother Song; you've truly been blessed by heaven. Coming here feels like coming home."

Upon hearing that Chu Ling was actually a human cultivator enslaved by the demon race of the Northern Frontier, Song Qingyu and Li Xuanyi both showed surprise on their faces and quickly offered words of comfort.

Although both of them showed some indignation on their faces at the demon race's enslavement of human cultivators.

However, they also knew that they were powerless to change the fate of these people at present, and could only try their best to comfort those in front of them.

After greeting the two women, Song Qingming led them back to the mountaintop.

When Song Qingming left, he only announced that he was in seclusion and did not inform anyone except Song Qingyu and Li Xuanyi.

Tang Muyan, who was guarding the entrance of the magic array, saw his master suddenly appear and thought that Song Qingming had just come out of seclusion, so he quickly stepped forward and bowed.

"Mu Yan, Chu Ling is the descendant of an old friend of mine. Please take her down and make arrangements. She can stay at Huixian Pavilion for now."

"Disciple accepts the order!"

After handing Chu Ling over to his third disciple, Tang Muyan, Song Qingming and Song Qingyu returned to their cave together.

When they first went there, because they had the great cultivator "Qu Bai" with them, they successfully reached the Northern Frontier without much effort.

However, when they returned, only Song Qingming was left to control the flying boat, which took an extra half month.

While passing through a demon territory in the northern frontier, they unfortunately bumped into a demon emperor.
Although this demon was no match for Song Qingming, and was defeated and retreated after only a dozen or so rounds, it still alarmed the nearby demon cultivators, forcing him to take a detour.

Now that he was finally back in his cave, Song Qingming could finally put his mind at ease.

Seeing that Song Qingming had traveled for so long and his face showed signs of fatigue, Li Xuanyi quickly tidied up his cave dwelling for him.

Even Song Qingyu, unusually, took the initiative to busy herself, brewing a pot of calming and relaxing spiritual tea for Song Qingming, who had just returned.

Faced with the two women's concerned inquiries, Song Qingming did not intend to hide anything from them this time, and told them all about how he met "Qu Bai" and made a promise back then.

However, to avoid worrying the two women, he didn't say much about the battle at the "Heavenly Demon Tomb," only briefly informing them that Qu Bai was a cultivator from the Upper Realm.

The other party's primordial spirit is now damaged and sealed within a magic weapon. I need to wait until I break through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm before I can help him transform into a weapon spirit.

When they went to the East Sea to search for treasure, Song Qingyu and Li Xuanyi were also present. They were surprised to learn that Song Qingming was able to successfully form his Nascent Soul with Qu Bai's help.

"Back in Luoxia Abyss, I always felt something was strange. Why would Seventh Brother suddenly run off to that underwater volcano to search for treasure? It turns out you were coerced by the ghost cultivator in that Soul Nourishing Wood."

"I never expected this guy to be a cultivator from the Upper Realm. If it weren't for Seventh Brother, we would have almost been tricked by him."

"Although there were some coincidences at the time, if he hadn't led you there, your junior brother's Nascent Soul formation probably wouldn't have been so smooth."

This senior Qu Bai was actually a benefactor to Junior Brother Song.

Now that his primordial spirit is damaged, and Junior Brother Song has saved him, he is indebted to him. Once he recovers, he will surely repay Junior Brother.

Upon hearing this, Song Qingming put down his teacup and gently shook his head. "It's fate that we've met. I don't expect anything in return; I only ask that I have a clear conscience!"

Moreover, to help Senior Qu restore his primordial spirit and transform it into a weapon spirit, he needs to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage. It's a bit too early to talk about that now.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother Song, I believe you can definitely do it!"

".."

The three chatted idly in the cave for a while before Song Qingming took the initiative to see them off.

As soon as he returned to his cave, he went to a secret chamber ahead and took out the "Sacred Heart Plate" from his body.

This replica of a magical artifact now contains Qu Bai's shattered primordial spirit. Song Qingming, who holds this item, is extremely careful, fearing that he might trigger the seal on it.

Although the woman in purple said that the seal could last for about a hundred years, Song Qingming would have no way to remedy the situation if anything unexpected happened, and it would be too late to regret it then.

After placing the "Sacred Star Disc" in the secret room, Song Qingming took out the bracelet he had previously made from Soul-Nourishing Wood and set up several Soul-Nourishing and Spirit-Gathering arrays outside before stepping out with peace of mind.

After dealing with the spirit insects and puppets on his body, Song Qingming returned to his secluded stone chamber and sat down cross-legged.

Song Qingming originally thought that his trip to northern Xinjiang was just to help out and fulfill his promise to "Qu Bai" from back then.

Unexpectedly, on their journey, the two first encountered a Nascent Soul expert like the "Six-Tailed Celestial Fox," and then suddenly a cultivator from the Upper Realm, a woman in purple, appeared.

After several fierce battles, even Qu Bai's primordial spirit almost perished at the hands of his opponent.

Recalling what happened in the "Celestial Demon Graveyard," Song Qingming, sitting in the main hall of the cave, still felt lingering fear. He could truly say that he had been in great danger this time.

He thought that he had cultivated to the Nascent Soul realm, and that in the cultivation world he was already a powerful figure who could control his destiny.

However, this trip to the "Northern Frontier" made Song Qingming realize that in the face of a true Nascent Soul expert, the power of these Nascent Soul cultivators was simply too weak to contend with.

Even though he now possesses magical power comparable to a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and has multiple powerful magic treasures and imitation spiritual treasures on his person.

But faced with the demonized "Six-Tailed Celestial Fox" and the woman in purple, who possessed combat power at the Nascent Soul level.

Song Qingming still had little power to resist and could only use his master Lingxu Daoren's "natal sword talisman" to try one last gamble.

If it weren't for the last bit of friendship the other party had with "Qu Bai," he would have inevitably ended up like "Golden Crane Demon Emperor," with no trace of his body.

While secretly relieved to have returned safely, Song Qingming constantly reminded himself that he must accelerate his efforts to improve his strength. Otherwise, if he were to return to a place like the "Heavenly Demon Graveyard" in the future, where the situation was unknown, he might not be so lucky to escape unscathed.

Besides witnessing the power of Nascent Soul cultivators, Song Qingming also heard some very important news.

That was the secret method taught to him by the woman in purple, regarding how cultivators could secretly cross spatial nodes when ascending to the upper realm.

Although Song Qingming's cultivation level is only at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, he does not have the ability to use magic to break through the interface space. He needs to cultivate to the Deity Transformation stage to use this method.

However, this secret method also gave Song Qingming, who was still quite confused about ascending to the upper realm, a lot of hope.

It should be noted that, according to the woman in purple, the spiritual energy in this world is now far less abundant than in ancient times, making it very difficult for cultivators to reach the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm and ascend normally.

If I were to actually cultivate to the Nascent Soul realm in the future, I might have to use this method to try and sneak into the upper realm.

Even if the chances of success are slim, it's better than spending a lifetime cultivating only to end up trapped in this world, waiting for death as your lifespan runs out.

After calming his mind, Song Qingming closed his eyes and released his divine sense into his sea of ​​consciousness, where a white scroll was slowly lying.

As soon as Song Qingming's divine sense covered the white scroll, countless pieces of information appeared directly before his eyes.

The secret method left to her by the woman in purple not only contained the incantation on how to refine the "Sacred Star Disc," but also some techniques for finding spatial nodes.

Once I can cultivate to the late Nascent Soul stage, I can break the seal and retrieve Qu Bai's primordial spirit from the "Sacred Star Disc," at which point I can successfully refine this treasure.

For Song Qingming now, the most urgent task is to find a way to break through his cultivation level as soon as possible and raise his cultivation to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

After withdrawing his divine sense, Song Qingming took out his storage bag from his waist and retrieved the golden demon core that the woman in purple had given him earlier.

Sensing the powerful aura emanating from the golden demon core, Song Qingming's gaze lingered there, a hint of excitement in his heart.

The woman in purple had previously stated that this was the natal demon core of the "Golden Crane Demon Emperor".

The Golden Crane Demon Emperor's cultivation had already reached the late Nascent Soul stage before his death, and the demon core in Song Qingming's hand was also of the fourth-grade upper quality.

Since reaching the Nascent Soul realm, Song Qingming has killed quite a few Nascent Soul demon emperors over the years.

However, these demon emperors were mostly at the early or middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm during their lifetimes, and the best quality demon cores were only at the middle grade of the fourth level.

This was the first time Song Qingming had ever seen a fourth-grade superior demon core in all these years.

Even when he attended the trade fair in the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom" back then, he had never seen a spiritual object of this level.

It should be known that a demon emperor in the late Nascent Soul stage possesses strength equivalent to a great human cultivator, making him an existence that ordinary people cannot kill.

Back then, Song Qingming was able to defeat the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" because he relied on his supernatural powers to restrain his opponent, and his opponent had just advanced to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm and was not yet stable.

Even so, he could only temporarily repel the opponent and had no confidence in killing such a late-stage Nascent Soul Demon Emperor, let alone removing the demon core from the opponent's body.

A fourth-grade superior demon core is more valuable than a magic weapon of the same level, and its value is at least over a million spirit stones.

Moreover, spiritual items of this caliber are often priceless and unavailable for purchase. Finding a demon core of the same quality outside is also not an easy task.

Besides being used to refine many high-level elixirs, mid-Nascent Soul cultivators can also use it to directly refine a level-four high-grade demon core, which can also help them break through their own realm.

Its effect is not much worse than the "Mysterious Spirit Pill" in Song Qingming's hands.

Although the fourth-grade high-quality demon core in Song Qingming's hand would be more valuable if used for alchemy.

However, he urgently needed to break through his own realm, so he naturally wouldn't exchange this demon core for spiritual items.

After observing for a while, Song Qingming put the demon core back into the jade box in front of him.

If he wasn't very confident about breaking through to the late Nascent Soul stage before, now that he has this fourth-grade high-quality demon core, his confidence in breaking through has increased considerably.

After putting away the demon core, Song Qingming returned it to his "storage bag," and soon a golden flying sword with radiant spiritual light appeared in his hand.

Besides the fourth-grade high-quality demon core in his hand, Song Qingming's biggest gain from this trip to the Northern Frontier was the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword" that "Qu Bai" gave him at the last moment.

Several months ago, the battle took place at the "Celestial Demon Graveyard".

Song Qingming witnessed firsthand how "Qu Bai" activated this replica magic treasure, severely injuring the "Six-Tailed Fox" before its demonization. Its power far surpassed that of any other high-grade fourth-level magic treasure that Song Qingming had ever seen.

If the other party hadn't suddenly fallen into demonic possession and manipulated the demonic energy of the hall to enhance his own strength, this demon would probably have died at their hands long ago.

Although the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword" is a replica of a magical treasure, its attack power is outstanding and is not much inferior to those real magical treasures.

If those half-step Nascent Soul cultivators with outstanding cultivation were to fully activate this treasure, it could also pose a threat to Nascent Soul cultivators.

Song Qingming's cultivation level is currently only at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, and he is not yet able to fully unleash the power of the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword".

However, as long as he can refine this treasure, his combat ability will definitely be greatly enhanced again. In the future, he will probably be able to compete with even a Nascent Soul Ninth Level cultivator like Yuan Luohua.

Besides the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword," the storage bag Qu Bai left him also contained some spiritual items such as talismans, as well as the remaining high-level refining materials from his previous work on imitation spiritual treasures.

In addition, there was a Nascent Soul stage puppet in the storage bag, which Song Qingming had never seen before.

It's unclear whether this was a spare body Qu Bai crafted for himself, or something he used to enhance his combat abilities.

Those spiritual items and materials were of little use to Song Qingming; they could only be exchanged for spirit stones in the future. However, he could use this Nascent Soul puppet, which could be integrated into his "Myriad Spirit Puppet Array".

After casting a spell to remove the restriction left by Qu Bai in the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword", Song Qingming placed his right hand on his forehead and quickly forced out a drop of essence blood from his body.

As soon as his essence blood dripped onto the golden flying sword in his hand, Song Qingming unleashed his magical power, quickly covering the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword".

Compared to breaking through his cultivation level, improving his own strength was also something Song Qingming urgently wanted to do.

Although he possessed the incantation left by Qu Bai for refining this treasure, Song Qingming still spent several months before successfully imprinting his own mark on the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword".

Looking at the flying sword in front of him, which could now move at will and instantly transform into a golden giant sword several meters long, Song Qingming finally showed a satisfied expression.

Previously, Song Qingming's combat strength was already comparable to that of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Now, with the acquisition of the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword," he is even more formidable.

With this replica of a magical treasure protecting him, Song Qingming wouldn't have to worry about being unable to defeat even if he encountered a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

After successfully refining the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword," Song Qingming began a period of seclusion to hone his magical power, preparing to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage at any time.

While Song Qingming was in seclusion cultivating, on a high mountain hundreds of miles away from "Red Cloud Mountain", a middle-aged man dressed in white was also watching this side.

Before long, a streak of light flew over and landed beside the man in white.

The visitor stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and then stood up to speak:

"Reporting to Uncle-Master, I have already made arrangements over there. As long as there is any movement at Crimson Cloud Mountain, we will receive the news very soon."

Upon hearing this, the man in white slowly turned around and nodded to the newcomer.

"Hmm! The Song siblings are always cautious in their actions, you didn't leave any traces, did you?"

"Don't worry, Uncle-Master. I haven't revealed my identity. Even if they discover something, they won't be able to think of us for a while."

Upon hearing the reply, the man in white finally showed a hint of satisfaction.

"Alright, I'll leave this to you. Take good care of it, and I'll report it as a meritorious deed when we get back."

After the man in white finished speaking, he lightly waved his right hand and took out a magnificent flying car. Then he transformed into a streak of purple light and disappeared from the spot.

Watching the disappearing light in the distance, another figure quickly changed direction and left, leaving behind only a few withered trees swaying in the wind.

".."

Spring goes and autumn comes, and another ten years have flown by.

On this day, in the cave at the top of "Red Cloud Mountain", Song Qingming sat cross-legged, surrounded by a ball of green spiritual light, and a faint golden light appeared above his head.

Feeling that he had adjusted his condition to be almost back to normal, Song Qingming slowly opened his eyes.

With a gentle wave of his hand, two cyan jade boxes appeared before him, containing his treasured "Mystic Spirit Pill" and the "Level 4 High-Grade Demon Core" he had obtained in the Northern Frontier.

After a full ten years of seclusion, Song Qingming has finally honed his internal magical power to a state that satisfies him.

Ten years of honing his skills were all for this one day. Now, he was preparing to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage.

Looking at the two items before him that were crucial to his breakthrough, Song Qingming's gaze hardened, and he used magic to take the golden demon core into his hand first.

As soon as the demon core entered his mouth, an extremely powerful aura surged into Song Qingming's dantian.

The next moment, the natal nascent soul hidden in the dantian seemed to smell something delicious and began to frantically devour the spiritual energy surging in from all around.

After taking this step, Song Qingming immediately held his breath and began to use his hands to refine the golden demon core within his body.

At the same time, the tattered map that he had always sewn into his chest slowly began to glow with a spiritual light.

(Ah! This match was so bad, they lost again. What happened?) (End of Chapter)