Qinghe Immortal Clan.

In addition to Song Qingming and Song Qingyu, Yang Fengyu and Fu Yungui from the "Floating Cloud Mountains" side also signed up to participate in the martial arts competition.

Of the two, Yang Fengyu was luckier, drawing an opponent at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, which he easily defeated and advanced to the next round.

Fu Yungui was rather unlucky, as he encountered an elder at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage from the Xuanmu Sect, one of the ten major sects of the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom.

Although both Fu Yungui and his opponent were at the peak of the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, the elder of the "Xuanmu Sect" was clearly much stronger than him in terms of supernatural abilities.

The two fought for nearly two hundred rounds, but Fu Yungui was still knocked off the stage by his opponent and eliminated with some regret.

The "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" had a total of four participants, and three of them actually made it through the first round. Such a record is considered one of the best in recent centuries.

After the sword-testing and martial arts competition ended, everyone gathered together to celebrate.

After the first day of battles, almost all the Nascent Soul stage cultivators with weaker cultivation levels were eliminated.

By the time the draw was held on the second day, all those who could participate were cultivators at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm or above.

Of the three remaining cultivators in the "Floating Cloud Mountains" cultivation world, Song Qingyu was the first to appear. His opponent was a bald, burly man with a rather fierce appearance, who was at the peak of the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage.

This bald, burly man was a somewhat well-known rogue cultivator in the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom," a Nascent Soul cultivator who practiced a body-refining technique with extremely strong defense. His physical body was already as powerful as that of a demon beast of the same level.

Although Song Qingyu's sword cultivation is extremely powerful in combat, it may not be very effective against physical cultivators with strong physical defenses.

Seeing that Song Qingyu's opponent was this person, Song Qingming, sitting below, couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

I wanted to say a few words of advice to Song Qingyu, telling her to admit defeat as soon as she saw the situation was not good, so as not to hurt herself.

However, Song Qingyu's main purpose in signing up for the battle was to spar with various masters. It felt a bit awkward to dampen her spirits before the battle even started.

After a moment's thought, Song Qingming remained silent and watched as Song Qingyu appeared in the arena.

Upon seeing that his opponent was actually a Nascent Soul Level 4 cultivator, and a delicate woman at that, a hint of contempt flashed in the bald, burly man's eyes.

As soon as he made his move, Song Qingyu took the lead in summoning his natal flying sword, and then used the sword shadow splitting light "Xuanming Golden Light Sword", which split into seven and rushed directly towards his opponent.

Upon seeing that Song Qingyu was actually a sword cultivator, the bald, burly man was somewhat surprised, but his expression remained indifferent. He then clenched his fists and forcefully slammed them together.

As the force of his fist struck, a golden spiritual light flashed from his body, directly blocking the seven fierce sword lights that were attacking from mid-air.

Before Song Qingyu could retrieve his natal flying sword, the bald giant threw another powerful punch forward, and a golden phantom several feet tall instantly appeared in front of his fist.

This golden fist, like a sword beam, directly repelled the "Mysterious Dark Golden Light Sword" and forced its way to Song Qingyu's front.

Just as the golden fist was about to touch him, Song Qingyu's figure suddenly flashed in mid-air and disappeared from the spot, then reappeared at the location of a golden light not far away.

"Sword Shadow Takes Form!"

Just as the bald, burly man was about to launch another attack, six figures identical to Song Qingyu suddenly appeared in mid-air, surrounding him from different directions.

The bald, burly man primarily cultivated physical techniques. Although his physical body was formidable, his spiritual sense was rather ordinary.

Faced with the seven clones that Song Qingyu's natal flying sword manifested, they couldn't distinguish between the real and the fake for a moment, so they could only attack the nearest target first.

"boom!.."

Although he easily shattered the two figures in front of him with two punches, they were both sword shadow clones of Song Qingyu, while his real body was still hiding to the side.

Meanwhile, the bald, burly man was also struck by several sword flashes from Song Qingyu while he was attacking.

As a result, relying on his indestructible physical body, he managed to withstand so many attacks from Song Qingyu without suffering any harm.

As yet another sword shadow clone was destroyed by the opponent, Song Qingyu, who was still unable to break through the opponent's defense, could only choose to temporarily retreat to the side to create distance between them.

Seeing that Song Qingyu only had four clones left in front of him, the bald man's smile became even more contemptuous, and he immediately chased after her in a flash.

A moment later, the bald giant charged at Song Qingyu again, his golden iron fists flying towards him repeatedly.

The Song Qingyu in front of him seemed to be an avatar as well. Faced with this fierce attack, he was clearly no match for the opponent. After only a dozen or so moves, he was forced to the edge of the protective barrier.

Just as the bald giant was about to punch Song Qingyu out of the arena, he noticed that the other three clones of the opponent had gathered together in the distance.

When their companion was cornered and about to die, the three clones did not choose to go to his rescue. Instead, they gathered together and seemed to be using some powerful supernatural ability.

However, this somewhat obvious movement did not escape the notice of the bald, burly man, who immediately abandoned his opponent and cast a spell to rush towards the three people not far away.

Just as the bald giant changed his target, the other two "sword shadow clones" blocking Song Qingyu's side suddenly changed their expressions and rushed forward together to try to stop him.

The "Sword Shadow Clone" only possessed about 30% of the original's strength, and even with the two of them working together, they still couldn't stop the opponent head-on.

After only a few rounds, he was sent flying by a powerful punch from the bald man.

After defeating the two clones who were blocking his way, the bald, burly man arrived in front of Song Qingyu, who was casting a spell. With a smug look on his face, he clenched his fists again, and a huge fist appeared in front of him once more.

A flash of golden light appeared, and Song Qingyu was already enveloped in it, with no way to escape.

"It's over!"

Just as the golden fist charged directly at its opponent, Song Qingyu, who was locked in front of the golden light, smiled slightly, and then her figure transformed into a sword shadow and disappeared from the spot.

"Huh! This is a clone, could it be..."

Seeing this somewhat unexpected scene, the bald, burly man immediately reacted and turned to look at the area not far behind him.

The last two clones in the void transformed into sword shadows and gathered on the figure in the distance who had almost been knocked off the stage by him.

At this moment, Song Qingyu's gaze sharpened, and a black sword dragon appeared in front of her, faintly emanating a powerful aura.

Sensing the dangerous aura emanating from the sword dragon, the bald, burly man knew it was too late to stop it. He frowned and roared.

The next moment, golden light suddenly emanated from the bald, burly man, transforming him into a giant clad in thick golden armor who stood in front of him.

"Mysterious Nether Sword Dragon!"

With a wave of his hand, Song Qingyu summoned a black sword dragon that had gathered in front of him, which then charged directly at the golden-armored giant in front of the bald man.

The opponent, in turn, controlled a golden-armored giant, charging forward with an angry expression.

The two sides quickly collided in mid-air, and a deafening roar came from above the arena, which was then completely enveloped in spiritual light.

As soon as the spiritual light dissipated, Song Qingyu stood in mid-air in the distance. Her originally rosy complexion had turned slightly pale, as if the attack had greatly depleted her magical power.

Not far below, a trickle of blood had already seeped from the corner of the bald giant's mouth, and the golden-armored giant in front of him had slumped to the side, with a large hole in his chest.

At this moment, the bald, burly man's eyes no longer held the contempt he had shown before, but instead, a hint of apprehension appeared in his gaze as he looked at Song Qingyu.

I never expected that this woman, whose cultivation level was not high, would possess such powerful supernatural abilities. In the end, I paid a heavy price for underestimating her.

Fortunately, Song Qingyu was only at the fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm, and he hadn't fully prepared for the Sword Dragon technique due to his haste, releasing his divine power prematurely.

Otherwise, if the opponent had struck with that sword, the bald giant alone, with his golden armor, would certainly not have been able to withstand the blow and would never have been able to stand safely on the arena.

Looking at Song Qingyu, who was hanging in mid-air with little magic power left, the bald, burly man stared intently at her and cast a spell to release a pair of gauntlet-shaped magical artifacts.

Just as the bald giant made a quick movement, preparing to launch another attack.

Unexpectedly, Song Qingyu raised her hand and decisively admitted defeat. Then, under the somewhat annoyed gaze of the bald giant, she turned around and flew out of the protective barrier.

Song Qingyu's cultivation level was only at the fourth level of the Nascent Soul stage. In terms of direct combat strength, he was clearly much weaker than that bald, burly man.

Her ability to push her opponent to such a state on the stage has exceeded Song Qingming and the others' expectations.

Upon returning to the attic, Song Qingyu, despite losing the match, did not appear overly disappointed; instead, a smile appeared on her still somewhat fair face.

She entered the martial arts competition with the mindset of learning from others.

Being able to fight against an opponent like the bald, burly man was already a significant achievement for her; she wasn't too concerned about whether she could advance to the next round.

Not long after Song Qingyu left the stage, it was Song Qingming's turn to go on stage for the martial arts competition.

This time, his opponent was a white-haired old man at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, from a powerful Nascent Soul sect in the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom".

I thought that this white-haired old man had advanced to the Nascent Soul stage for many years, and his supernatural powers should be stronger than those of the previous Nascent Soul elder from the "Heavenly Puppet Sect".

Unexpectedly, upon seeing that his opponent was a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the white-haired old man bowed and admitted defeat to Song Qingming before even making a move.

Sword duels are, after all, just tests of magical abilities and there is no danger to one's life. Even if the cultivation level of a participant is lower than that of their opponent, they will still choose to spar with them.

It's not often you see someone like this white-haired old man who readily admits defeat.

Seeing that his opponent didn't want to waste his energy fighting him, Song Qingming could only walk off the stage with some disappointment after announcing the result of the match.

Yang Fengyu, who was the last to appear on the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" side, also had bad luck in this round, encountering a late-stage Nascent Soul elder from "Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain," another of the top ten sects.

"Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain" is a sect renowned for its beast taming abilities. It ranks second in the "Eastern Phoenix Sword Tournament" of the Upper Realm, and its strength surpasses even the "Heavenly Dao Sect," which Song Qingming is familiar with. The sect boasts no fewer than twenty Nascent Soul cultivators. Yang Fengyu exchanged blows with his opponent for only a few dozen rounds before quickly being defeated and forced to withdraw from the sword-testing tournament with some resignation.

After a day of competition, only Song Qingming remained of the three cultivators from the "Floating Cloud Mountains" who advanced to the second round.

The crowd, who had been celebrating yesterday, were now somewhat silent.

Moreover, nearly half of the eighty cultivators who will enter the third round are late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, so it's hard to say whether Song Qingming will be able to pass the next round.

If they are unlucky enough to draw a master at the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage or the half-step Divine Transformation stage, their achievements will probably be worse than they were two hundred years ago, and they will only be able to stop there.

However, compared to the slight worry in everyone's hearts, Song Qingming did not appear too nervous.

Having participated in the "Eastern Phoenix Sword Tournament" twice, it's clear that in the early rounds, it was almost impossible to see late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators directly facing each other. It's not hard to see that the lottery system for this sword trial, while seemingly fair, was clearly subject to human intervention.

Otherwise, if the experts from the "Ten Great Sects" could have directly encountered each other much earlier, their rankings wouldn't have remained so stable over the years.

After the second day of competition, some people successfully advanced to the next round, while others left disappointed.

Regardless of joy or sorrow, everyone's attention was quickly drawn to a bell in the central main hall, signaling the start of the long-awaited "auction".

Compared to the "Sword Trial Competition," which only a few cultivators are qualified to enter, the upcoming auction is the place that all the cultivators participating in this event are most looking forward to.

After the martial arts competition, Song Qingming, Bai Yuxian, and others arrived at the auction venue early and selected a private room with a good location.

Once everyone had entered, the first day of the "auction" officially began.

Just like the "Tianyu Sect" back then, the "Dangmo Palace" also brought out many good items to prepare for this auction.

The spiritual items that can be brought to the stage are mostly of the middle grade of level three or above. Level four spiritual items, which are rarely seen in the markets outside, frequently appear on the auction stage.

It was the first time that Zhang Yurong and the others had accompanied Song Qingming and his group to participate in a large-scale "trade conference." They all looked excited as they gazed at the spiritual items being brought out on the stage below.

As the "auction" progressed to the halfway point, a woman in purple robes on the lower stage waved her hand and took out more than twenty bottles of spiritual water, placing them in front of everyone.

"Fellow Daoists, this bottle contains the rare Cold Jade Spirit Water, which is not only used to refine high-level elixirs, but also has about half an effect on helping Golden Core cultivators form their Nascent Souls."

"I presume many of the cultivators attending today's assembly are here to form their Nascent Souls; I hope you will not miss this opportunity."

"It really is Cold Jade Spirit Water, it's finally here!"

Upon hearing the purple-clad woman utter the words "Cold Jade Spirit Water," Bai Yuxian, who was sitting in the pavilion nearby, couldn't help but shout out and hurriedly asked her disciple Wu Yueqin to help with the bidding.

Meanwhile, Song Qingming also instructed Zhang Yurong and Song Siqing to prepare to raise their placards and participate.

Although the "Cold Jade Spirit Water" has only average effects and is the lowest grade of spiritual item for Nascent Soul cultivators, its appearance on the "auction stage" still quickly caused a sensation among the many cultivators below.

After all, compared to the "Nurture Pill" which is worth at least 300,000 spirit stones, those Golden Core cultivators without a background would find it difficult to save up enough spirit stones to purchase the pill in their entire lives without the support of a sect or family.

In comparison, the price of "Frosty Jade Spirit Water" is only a little over 100,000 spirit stones, which is more than half the price.

A normal Golden Core cultivator would have a chance to buy one after accumulating resources for over a hundred years to help them form their Nascent Soul.

Many of the Nascent Soul cultivators in the cultivation world who started as rogue cultivators also successfully formed their Nascent Souls with the help of "Cold Jade Spirit Water," which is one of the few opportunities they have to witness the Great Dao.

Sure enough, as soon as the woman in purple on the stage announced the start of the auction, the price of the first bottle of "Cold Jade Spirit Water" instantly jumped from 60,000 spirit stones to 100,000.

It was eventually bought by a Golden Core cultivator below for a high price of 150,000 spirit stones, which was much higher than its original value.

Knowing that there was far more than one bottle of spiritual water, Bai Yuxian and Song Qingming did not choose to compete with others forcibly at first. It was not until the sixth bottle of spiritual water that Bai Yuxian offered 135,000 spirit stones to win one bottle.

Next, Song Qingming also acquired two bottles of "Cold Jade Spirit Water," priced at around 130,000 spirit stones, which was not much different from the market price.

At the last moment, Bai Yuxian made another move and bought a bottle, and neither of them left disappointed.

After the auction of "Cold Jade Spirit Water" ended, the other spiritual items that appeared on the "auction stage" did not arouse much interest in Song Qingming.

On the other hand, Song Qingyu saw a beautiful flying vehicle that looked very similar to Bai Yuxian's and joined the bidding, eventually spending more than 200,000 spirit stones to win it.

This was the first time Song Qingming had seen her spend so many spirit stones in all the years since she had formed her Nascent Soul.

Seeing that Song Qingyu had not chosen the more useful pills, talismans, or magic treasures, but instead opted for a level-four flying vehicle that was merely for show, he was somewhat surprised.

However, since it was something she liked, and Song Qingyu didn't lack spirit stones, Song Qingming didn't say anything more.

Similar to the last conference, although a number of level-four spiritual items appeared on the first day, they were mostly low-quality, low-grade level-four spiritual items.

As the auction drew to a close, the woman in purple on stage brought out a mid-grade level four magic weapon as the grand finale.

Although this magical artifact was eventually auctioned off for a sky-high price of 400,000 spirit stones, it did not arouse the interest of Song Qingming and others.

After all, these people are now quite well-equipped with magical treasures and other spiritual items.

At the last "Red Cloud Mountain" trade fair not long ago, Song Qingming even took out a level four magic weapon from his person and auctioned it off in public, earning a lot of spirit stones in return.

After returning to her residence following the "auction", Song Qingyu retrieved the Level 4 flying car she had bought that day and immediately presented it to Li Xuanyi with a happy expression.

Seeing Song Qingyu shove the flying car directly into their hands, both Li Xuanyi and Song Qingming, who was sitting next to her, looked puzzled.

"Qingyu, what are you doing?"

"Senior Sister Li, although I was unable to attend your celebration of becoming Daoist partners with Seventh Brother, I still want to make up for it with a gift. This is a token of my good wishes."

So, are you satisfied with this gift?

"This... Qingyu, you spent so many spirit stones, how could I dare to accept such a valuable gift? Besides, my husband and I have already told you that you don't need to prepare any congratulatory gifts."

Although she knew that Song Qingyu wanted to give her a congratulatory gift, Li Xuanyi was still embarrassed to accept it because it was a level four flying car worth more than 200,000 spirit stones, and wanted to return it to her.

Seeing this, Song Qingyu's expression turned serious.

"Senior Sister Li, please don't bother with the others. As their younger sister, how could I possibly accept this gift? I don't need these spirit stones right now, so please just accept it."

"Senior sister, as you know, I have my own natal flying sword when I go out, so I don't need this."

"This won't do, Qingyu."

"Hehe! I wondered why you would bid on this item for no reason. It turns out you were going to give it to Xuan Yi. I guessed wrong."

"Alright, it's rare for Qingyu to be so kind. We're all family, so there's no need to be so polite with her."

Seeing that Li Xuanyi and Song Qingyu were still declining each other's offers, Song Qingming immediately smiled and accepted on her behalf. Only then did Li Xuanyi put away the flying car, feeling a little embarrassed.

In return, Li Xuanyi also gave Song Qingyu a high-grade level three magic robe that she had crafted a few years ago.

Although this robe was far less valuable than a level four flying car, its exquisite design made it a prized possession, and Song Qingyu happily accepted it.

".."

The following morning, the "Sword Testing and Martial Arts Competition" entered its third round.

Soon, the first duel took place on the "arena".

The first to take the stage was a thin-faced old man at the eighth level of the Nascent Soul stage, who was paired with a white-clad woman at the peak of the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage.

Among the cultivators who entered the third round, apart from Song Qingming and the others who were late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, the rest were basically the best among mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

Without exception, these people were all extremely experienced in combat, and many of them had actually fought against late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

The woman in white before them was a Nascent Soul elder from the Taiyi Immortal Sect, one of the Ten Great Sects, who had been in the Nascent Soul stage for over five hundred years.

After the woman in white entered the arena, she immediately waved her hand and took out two round treasure mirrors, unleashing a very powerful special golden light divine power.

Although her cultivation level was inferior to her opponent's, the woman in white managed to hold her own against the thin-faced old man in the late Nascent Soul stage, thanks to her two special magical treasures.

The two fought for nearly three hundred rounds, but the woman in white was ultimately defeated because her magical power was far inferior to her opponent's.

In Song Qingming's eyes, the white-clad woman from the "Taiyi Immortal Sect" was no less powerful than He Wuyou, who wielded a fourth-grade high-level magic weapon back then, and was roughly equivalent to a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

If she were to face the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor," who had only recently broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage and whose supernatural powers were relatively ordinary, this woman would have a three or four percent chance of defeating him.

However, even though their strength was close, she was still not a true late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, so it was not surprising that the woman in white lost to her opponent.

Apart from the first match being quite intense, the following matches were much faster, with victories decided quickly, and the winners were mostly late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

After the seventh round of arena matches, Song Qingming finally heard his name called from above.

However, when he heard his opponent's name, a hint of surprise flashed in his otherwise calm eyes.

"Qingyang Holy Sect, what a small world!" (End of Chapter)