Qinghe Immortal Clan.

Next, Song Qingming changed the subject and asked about the recent situation of "Funiu Mountain" before seeing off Song Yuanfang, who had come from afar.

It wasn't until Song Yuanfang left the "Meeting Immortals Pavilion" that Song Qingyu, still harboring doubts, turned her gaze to Song Qingming, who was standing to the side.

"Seventh Brother, what Yuanfang said earlier seems a bit strange. You didn't let them investigate, does that mean you've already guessed who this person is?"

"Yes! Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

This person is someone I know well, and he has no ill intentions towards us. I will introduce him to you when a suitable opportunity arises.

As someone who had known Song Qingyu for hundreds of years, Song Qingming knew that there were some things he couldn't completely hide from Song Qingyu, so he readily nodded and admitted it.

Just as Song Qingyu had suspected, the person who helped Song Yuanfang and the others out of their predicament was not some kind-hearted passerby.

Instead, it was a "reinforcement" personally arranged by Song Qingming, who was far away in "Red Cloud Mountain".

However, this person's identity was rather special and could not be easily known by outsiders, which is why he did not choose to tell Song Yuanfang and the others the truth.

Including Song Qingyu in front of him, although Song Qingming trusted her enough, the turmoil had just ended and things were still a bit unsettled, so he decided it was better to bring this up later.

"Since it's someone Seventh Brother knows, then I'm relieved. As long as they're not our enemies, it's fine."

After confirming that Song Qingming knew about this, Song Qingyu felt relieved and nodded with a smile.

After answering Song Qingyu's question, Song Qingming quickly took out two jade boxes of the same color from his person and placed them in front of the two women.

"Hey! Junior Brother Song, what's in here?"

Seeing that Li Xuanyi and Song Qingyu were both looking at him with curiosity, Song Qingming quickly explained, "What's inside are the life-bound demon cores of the Ancient Cloud Demon Emperor and the Golden Cloud Demon Emperor."

I've already spoken with Senior Sister Bai. You made significant contributions in this battle, so these two demon cores are well-deserved!

As for the materials they possessed, I'll keep some to draw a few high-level spirit talismans, and the rest I'll take to the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom again in a while to see if I can forge a few magic treasures for you.”

Upon hearing this, although Li Xuanyi's gaze towards the jade box was somewhat excited, she still waved her hand and said:

“We didn’t accomplish anything significant last time, and besides, Junior Brother Song has already given me a magic weapon from the Demon Emperor. I don’t think we need the demon core and materials. Junior Brother can handle them as he sees fit.”

"It was agreed long ago that the spiritual items obtained from this battle would be shared among everyone. Since Senior Sister Li contributed her efforts, she deserves these, so there's no need for her to be polite with me."

".."

In this "monster turmoil," besides obtaining numerous low-level monster materials and spiritual items, Song Qingming and his companions' greatest gain was the four Nascent Soul Demon Emperors they slew on the battlefield.

After the battle that wiped out the demon army ended, everyone was in a hurry to head south to support Li Mufeng and the others who were still resisting in "White Dragon Valley," and they did not have time to divide up the demon beast materials.

It wasn't until the turmoil ended that Song Qingming and Bai Yuxian reached an agreement to share the materials from the "Nine Yuan Demon Emperor" with each other, while the other three Demon Emperors fell into the hands of Song Qingming and his companions.

Although in the battle against the "Cloud-Clearing Demon Emperor", Song Qingming was the one who made the greatest contribution to determining the outcome.

However, without Bai Yuxian and Song Qingyu's help to restrain the opponent, Song Qingming would probably have had a hard time killing the "Cloud-Clearing Demon Emperor" so easily. The materials from the remaining two demon emperors would naturally have to be distributed to them.

Seeing Song Qingming's insistence, Li Xuanyi politely declined the demon core after a few words.

Although Li Xuanyi received many spiritual items left by her master, "Lingxu Daoren," she is not lacking in magical treasures and spiritual stones for the time being.

However, spiritual items of the fourth-level demon core can be used to refine or exchange for pills that help break through realms, which is still very useful for a Nascent Soul cultivator like her.

With this demon core, it's estimated that Li Xuanyi will be able to break through the bottleneck and advance to the third level of the Nascent Soul realm in no time.

Song Qingyu also did not refuse much and accepted the demon core from the "Ancient Cloud Demon Emperor".

To ensure fairness, Song Qingyu, who received the mid-grade level four demon core, also gave Li Xuanyi a level four spirit talisman as compensation.

Aside from the two demon cores he gave to the two women, Song Qingming also possessed a highly valuable fourth-grade demon core, which he obtained after slaying the "Cloud-Clearing Demon Emperor".

This pill is of the fourth-grade superior quality and is worth at least a million spirit stones. It is also the most valuable spiritual item they seized during this "monster turmoil".

Adding in the other materials collected from the "Cloud-Clearing Demon Emperor," all the extras added up, and Song Qingming had already earned nearly two million spirit stones just from killing this late-stage Nascent Soul Demon Emperor.

Moreover, materials from level four or higher demon beasts and demon cores are extremely rare high-level spiritual items in the cultivation world, and it is difficult to measure their true value simply with spirit stones.

Having obtained these items, Song Qingming naturally wouldn't easily exchange them for spirit stones.

Aside from the fur and essence blood, which he could keep for making talismans, he could also ask someone to help him refine high-level pills and magic weapons, or exchange them with other high-level cultivators for the spiritual items he needed.

In short, these valuable monster materials are highly sought-after items everywhere in the cultivation world, so Song Qingming has no trouble figuring out what to do with them.

Besides obtaining so many high-level demon beast materials from the "Cloud-Clearing Demon Emperor", Song Qingming also seized a blue jade tablet magic weapon from the other party's corpse.

This treasure is a special magic weapon that can help cultivators teleport instantly, greatly increasing their escape speed for a short period of time.

If Song Qingming hadn't had the "Purple Sun Token" to help him seal off the space in advance and control the teleportation magic weapon in the hands of the Cloud-Breaking Demon Emperor, he probably wouldn't have been able to catch up with the opponent's natal nascent soul for a while.

This magical artifact, when paired with Song Qingming's "Nine Palaces Meteor Escape," actually increased his escape speed by another 20-30%, which greatly pleased Song Qingming.

The remaining magical treasures seized from "Ancient Cloud Demon Emperor" and "Golden Cloud Demon Emperor" were no longer of any use to Song Qingming and had long been distributed to Song Qingyu and others who needed them.

Now that they had each received a level-four demon core, Li Xuanyi and Song Qingyu were equally delighted.

After chatting for a while in the "Meeting Immortals Pavilion", the two women got up to say goodbye to Song Qingming and returned to their caves to cultivate in seclusion.

Upon returning to his cave, Song Qingming did not rush to meditate. Instead, he went to the secret chamber where the "Sacred Star Disc" was stored and opened the white scroll inside his body once again.

Since the end of the "monster turmoil," Song Qingming, who returned to Chiyun Mountain, has spent most of his time, apart from daily cultivation, studying the method of refining weapon spirits that the woman in purple had taught him.

To free Qu Bai's primordial spirit from the "Sacred Star Plate" as soon as possible.

Although the purple-clad woman gave him the method for refining weapon spirits, it contained detailed records of every step of the process.

However, since it concerned Qu Bai's natal spirit, Song Qingming, who had no experience in this area, dared not make any mistakes.

If something goes wrong and Qu Bai's primordial spirit collapses, it will be too late to regret it then.

".."

While Song Qingming was studying the method of refining weapon spirits in his cave, the "Red Cloud Workshop" at the foot of the mountain also began to bustle with activity.

After obtaining the consent of Song Qingming and several other elders, Zhang Yurong, Song Siqing, and others began to work together to organize a celebration to mark the end of the turmoil.

In addition to rewarding the cultivators who made meritorious contributions in resisting the monster riots, "Red Cloud Mountain" also offered dozens of spiritual veins of varying quality, some of which were at least level two.

They are intended to be sold at a discount to independent cultivators who want to establish a family or sect, or who seek a stable spiritual mountain for cultivation.

Upon learning this astonishing news, the independent cultivators around "Red Cloud Mountain" who had long harbored this idea, including some cultivators who originally settled in the market, were all affected.

They all came to Zhang Yurong, wanting to spend spirit stones to purchase a suitable spirit vein.

In just half a month, the "Red Cloud Mountain" treasury earned more than 300,000 spirit stones from the sale of these spiritual veins, making them quite wealthy.

During this "monster turmoil," Chiyun Mountain also gained monster materials and spiritual items worth nearly a million.

Because the "monster turmoil" has just ended, there is no shortage of these spiritual items in various parts of the Floating Cloud Mountains. It is difficult for the "Red Cloud Mountain" market to absorb them all on its own in a short period of time.

Song Qingming then partnered with the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance," selling off all the low-level spiritual items below level three at a discounted price, directly converting them into hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.

Most of the spirit stones were used by Song Qingming to compensate and reward cultivators who had made meritorious contributions in battle, while the rest were left in the market treasury.

In previous years, in order to promote the "Red Cloud Mountain" spiritual vein, Song Qingming not only emptied the treasury but also owed the market guard a lot of salary spirit stones.

Now that the treasury has suddenly gained hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, it has relieved Zhang Yurong and the others' urgent needs and quickly helped them pay off their old debts.

This immediately eased the financial strain on the local government treasury and market commerce.

In addition to these low-level spiritual items, Song Qingming and his group also obtained a considerable amount of high-level spiritual beast materials of level three or above during this "monster turmoil".

Because these spiritual materials are valuable and relatively easy to sell, Song Qingming was reluctant to hand them all over to the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance".

He only used a small portion to reward meritorious cultivators, keeping the rest for himself.

I plan to wait until I go to the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom" or other cultivation worlds in a while, and then sell them at large markets so that I can sell more spirit stones.

Under the impact of the grand celebration, the entire "Red Cloud Mountain" market quickly recovered from the monster turmoil and once again became the most bustling market in the north.

Those rogue cultivators who had originally fled to the south returned to Chiyun Mountain after the turmoil ended.

".."

A month later, a letter from "Guyang Mountain" was delivered to the top of Chiyun Mountain, which once again alarmed Song Qingming, who had just gone into seclusion.

After leaving his cave, Song Qingming took Song Qingyu back to the sect. Soon they met Bai Yuxian and Li Mufeng, who were waiting at the entrance of the "Xiaoyao Hall".

Upon seeing Song Qingming, who had already become a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, enter, Li Mufeng and Bai Yuxian immediately dismissed their attendants and personally went forward to greet him.

"Senior Brother Li, Senior Sister Bai!"

"Junior Brother Song, Junior Sister, you've worked hard. Please take a seat!"

After taking the initiative to greet them, Li Mufeng and Bai Yuxian gestured for Song Qingming and his companion to enter the hall. The group quickly arrived at the head of the main hall.

Just as Song Qingming stopped and was about to turn around and sit down as usual, Li Mufeng, who was standing next to him, suddenly reached out and stopped him.

“Junior Brother Song, now that you have advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, you are the only Grand Master in the sect. According to the rules of our Floating Cloud Mountain Range, you should now sit in the chief seat for sect council meetings.”

Since the passing of Dao Xuan, the former Nascent Soul Ancestor of the "Free and Unfettered Sect," Li Mufeng has been in charge of the sect for many years. Whenever he is present at a meeting, he always sits in the chief seat.

However, now that Song Qingming has advanced to the late stage of Nascent Soul and become a great cultivator, his status has already fallen behind that of the other Nascent Soul elders present.

Seeing that Li Mufeng was actually going to give up the chief position to him, Song Qingming instantly understood what the other party meant. After a moment's pause, he immediately waved his hand and said:

“Now that Senior Brother Li is still the sect’s Grand Elder, how can he give up the chief position to me? Wouldn’t that break the sect’s rules? Absolutely not.”

"Sigh, Junior Brother Song, don't worry. I've already discussed it with Junior Sister Bai. From now on, the position of Grand Elder of the sect will be handed over to you."

If Junior Brother and Qingyu have no objections, I can immediately have Ziyan and the others inform the sect, so that it won't be considered breaking the rules.

When Li Mufeng directly offered to give up his position as the sect's Grand Elder, not only Song Qingming but also Song Qingyu, who was standing to the side, showed a hint of surprise in their eyes.

Despite the elder's sincere and humble offer, Song Qingming still shook his head and said, "Although I have advanced in my cultivation, I am still a disciple of the sect."

Regardless of who becomes the sect's Grand Elder in the future, now that Senior Brother Li is here, how could Qingming dare to overstep his bounds for the position of Chief?

Please, senior brother, do not refuse!

Seeing that Song Qingming refused to take a seat and also looked very serious, Bai Yuxian, who was standing to the side, quickly stepped forward and tried to persuade him:

“Senior Brother Li, Junior Brother Song’s words make sense. Today, as the Grand Elder, you should not refuse the position of Chief.”

"Yes! Senior Brother Li, please take a seat."

"Hehe. It's rare that both of you junior sisters and junior brothers are so kind. So today I'll swallow my pride and sit here again."

Under Bai Yuxian and the other person's persuasion, Li Mufeng did not insist too much and turned around to sit in the chief seat at the front.

Only after Song Qingming and the other two had taken their seats did Bai Yuxian, who was in charge of sect affairs, speak first:

"I invited Junior Brother Song and Junior Sister here today mainly because there are two things I need to discuss."

First, there's the Wanling Sect. Zhao Wuling's funeral will be held in two months. I wonder if Junior Brother Song would like to go to Qin with me?
Besides that, there is another important matter that is also very important to the sect.

Now that Junior Brother Song has advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, according to the rules of the Floating Cloud Mountain Range, the sect should hold a celebration to officially announce this matter. I wonder if Junior Brother has any other ideas?

"Fellow Daoist Zhao has guarded the Floating Cloud Mountain Range for a thousand years. When I first formed my Nascent Soul, I received his care. It is only right that I attend his funeral now."

Now that the demon beast turmoil has ended, there's no need to deliberately hide my advancement to the late Nascent Soul stage. It's perfectly fine to officially announce this to the public.

As for holding a celebration, it's just a waste of the sect's resources to gain some prestige; I don't think it's necessary at all!

"Junior Brother Song, you are mistaken. The sect holds celebrations not only to gain some prestige, but also to demonstrate our strength to external enemies, so that those petty villains will not dare to invade at will."

Moreover, now that Zhao Wuling has passed away, our Floating Cloud Mountain Range only has our junior brother as the only great cultivator left.

This celebration is not only a matter of great importance to our sect, but also to the entire cultivation world of the Floating Cloud Mountain Range. Junior Brother, you must not refuse.

"Junior Sister Bai is right."

Since Zhao Wuling failed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage twice decades ago, this former number one expert in the cultivation world of the "Floating Cloud Mountains" has completely disappeared from public view.

Although the major sects of the Floating Cloud Mountain Range have been speculating for years that Zhao Wuling may have already passed away.

However, in order to deter the northern demon race and avoid causing too much impact on the sect, the "Wanling Sect" has been trying its best to keep the matter secret and has not leaked the news of Zhao Wuling's death.

It wasn't until the "monster turmoil" ended that the Wanling Sect finally sent a message to all the major sects, officially announcing the passing of their Grand Elder and holding a funeral for Zhao Wuling.

Back when Song Qingming had just formed his Nascent Soul, the major sects of the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" were working together to fight against the northern demon race. Zhao Wuling personally visited Guyang Mountain to present a valuable congratulatory gift, which was considered a great honor for the Xiaoyao Sect.

Although they weren't exactly best friends, they were old acquaintances who had fought side by side, and Song Qingming still wanted to attend Zhao Wuling's funeral.

As for holding a grand celebration for himself, Song Qingming had long since stopped caring about fame and fortune after cultivating for so many years, and originally wanted to refuse directly.

But as soon as he finished speaking his mind, Bai Yuxian and Li Mufeng immediately tried to dissuade him, and even Song Qingyu, who rarely expressed his opinions, couldn't help but chime in.

With Zhao Wuling's passing, Song Qingming broke through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

With the changing of the guard, the "Free and Unfettered Sect," which boasts the only late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, has clearly replaced the "Myriad Spirits Sect" as the number one sect in the Floating Cloud Mountains.

Bai Yuxian and Li Mufeng insisted on holding this celebration, naturally in order to take this opportunity to formally announce the matter to the outside world and gain the submission of other sects in the surrounding area.

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Song Qingming didn't insist too much and nodded in agreement.

However, when Li Mufeng brought up the matter of giving up his position as the Grand Elder again, Song Qingming did not agree to accept the title of Grand Elder of the sect.

Although Song Qingming has now become the sect's only Grand Master and has taken over the position of Grand Elder from Li Mufeng to manage the sect, it seems like a natural thing to outsiders.

But after so many years of cultivation, his resolve had become unwavering, and he had little interest in managing the sect.

Moreover, the spiritual veins of "Red Cloud Mountain" are now comparable to those of Ancient Yang Mountain, and Song Qingming has no plans to return to the sect for cultivation in the future, so there is no need for him to covet the title of Grand Elder.

Under Song Qingming's repeated insistence, Li Mufeng had no choice but to give up for the time being.

".."

Half a month later, at the Ling Mountain of the "Tianji Sect" in Shangyang Kingdom.

Having just ended the monster turmoil, the "Tianji Sect" also lost many disciples in the battle, and white flags are still hanging all over the mountain.

Inside the main hall of the sect atop the mountain, a long-faced old man in a white robe was scanning a gift list that had just been delivered from below.

Not long after, a middle-aged man, also dressed in a white robe, suddenly rushed into the main hall.

"Zifeng, what's the matter that's so urgent?"

"Sect Leader, an invitation has just arrived from the Free and Unfettered Sect."

"An invitation from the Free and Unfettered Sect? Could it be that another fellow Daoist has reached the Core Formation stage? I just happened to have prepared a gift list, so this invitation is very timely."

The long-faced old man, with a hint of doubt on his face, took the invitation from the other party and glanced at it. The next moment, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked at the person in front of him with shock.

"Is this...is this real?"

"Sect Leader, I just received this news myself and I don't know if it's true or not. Let's hurry and report to the Supreme Elder!"

Hearing his companion's reminder, the long-faced old man suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly rushed out of the main hall.
-

In the Wu Kingdom, in the bamboo forest behind the "Star Gate".

Zheng Zitong, the Supreme Elder of the Star Gate, sat opposite a man in a green robe on either side of a stone platform, with an antique-style wooden chessboard in the middle.

The man in the green robe, holding a white chess piece, pondered for an unknown amount of time before finally putting the piece away, rising up, and bowing in surrender.

"Elder, your chess skills are superb. I, Zongping, am dull-witted, have learned a great deal from you!"

"In terms of chess skills, Junior Brother Liu is no worse than me. It's just that Junior Brother has only recently advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, and his temperament is not as stable as mine. That's why he lost by half a move."

That's all for today. Now that the monster turmoil is over, it's time to hold a celebration for you. Junior brother, you can start making preparations when you get back."

"Thank you, Great Elder!"

After Liu Zongping nodded in agreement, he had just stood up when he noticed an aura rapidly approaching from afar. It was a late-stage Golden Core elder from the "Starry Sky Sect".

"Reporting to the Grand Elder, an invitation has just arrived from the Free and Unfettered Sect!"

"Oh! I was just wondering when to inform them, but I didn't expect Li Mufeng to be so quick to send the invitation first."

Over the years, the Free and Unfettered Sect has invited us to banquets every now and then, making quite a splash. It's time for them to come to the Starry Sky Sect.

Just as Zheng Zitong opened the invitation in his hand, his previously excited expression suddenly stopped, replaced by a tone of disbelief and shock.

"This...this is impossible!"
-

In the main hall atop the mountain of the "Wanlingzong" in the Qin State.

Looking at the invitation in his hand, Wang Yan, who had already taken over as the Grand Elder of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Sect," was equally surprised.

A moment later, Wang Yan turned his gaze to Chu Lingyun, who was standing to the side.

"Junior Sister Chu, has this matter been verified? Could there be a mistake?"

(PS: I was equally shocked watching the game today!) (End of Chapter)