Qinghe Immortal Clan.

Upon hearing that Song Qingyu and her group had actually discovered a large spirit stone mine, Song Qingming and Li Xuanyi, who were standing nearby, were all taken aback.

Unexpectedly, Li Xuanyi and Song Qingyu searched for several years in the East China Sea, but to no avail.

In the end, Song Changze and his team discovered the mine by chance, which was indeed a bit of a coincidence.

According to Bai Yuxian and Song Qingyu's investigation, the "spirit stone vein" in the outer sea has a very large reserve, much larger than all the veins that the Xiaoyao Sect has discovered near Weiguo.

It is a very rare large-scale "spirit stone vein". Preliminary estimates suggest that the spirit stone reserves inside are at least tens of millions.

Such a large-scale spirit stone mine is rare even in the entire cultivation world of the "Floating Cloud Mountains".

Upon hearing this, Song Qingming could not hide his excitement and smiled as he praised Song Qingyu several times.

After explaining the details of the spirit stone vein to Song Qingming, Bai Yuxian asked another question:
"Junior Brother Song, the mine is located in the open sea, and there are many high-level demonic beasts roaming the surrounding waters."

"Our sect is currently short-handed, so it might be difficult to fully develop this mine. Perhaps we should seek cooperation with other sects, or wait and see."

The preparations required to mine a large "spirit stone vein" are equally astonishing.

Not only do we need a large number of mortals to mine the ore, but we also need a large number of cultivators to guard and protect the mine from being disturbed by demons and other foreign cultivators.

The matter of mortals is relatively easy to handle. The sect can send large flying ships in batches to transport them directly to the East Sea. It will only take a little more time to complete the task.

However, guarding a large "spirit stone mine" requires at least 10,000 cultivators to cooperate with a level 4 array for defense, and importantly, there must be Nascent Soul cultivators stationed there year-round.

This is just the most basic requirement. In case of a situation like the Heavenly Wind Beast Tide, other forces may be needed to provide assistance.

Otherwise, even with the protection of a level four array, being isolated in the open sea for a long time without reinforcements would be a very dangerous situation for the garrisoned cultivators.

The sect has just expanded its territory to the north, and a large number of cultivators are needed to guard the front lines of "Red Cloud Mountain" and "Golden Feather Mountain".

Deploying tens of thousands of people to the cultivation world in the East Sea at once is already quite difficult for the current "Xiaoyao Sect".

Moreover, the key point is that the "Xiaoyao Sect" is far away in the Fuyun Mountains. If the East Sea mine encounters any emergency, they may be unable to help in time.

As Bai Yuxian said, now they either have to find other sects to cooperate with in developing the mine, or they have to put the matter aside for the time being.

Once the sect has developed for a period of time and accumulated enough strength, then we can go to the outer sea to develop this mine.

Upon hearing Bai Yuxian's suggestion, Song Qingming pondered for a moment and nodded slightly in response, "Senior Sister Bai is right. There's no rush to mine this vein right now."

Moreover, this mine is located in the cultivation world of the East Sea. If we transfer so many cultivators from our sects there at once, it will probably arouse the vigilance of other sects in the East Sea.

Here's what I'll do. I'll first send a message to Hundred Flowers Palace to sound out Fellow Daoist Xia and see if they'd agree to cooperate in mining the vein.

If that doesn't work, we'll consider other options.

"Hmm! The Hundred Flowers Palace is relatively close by. If they can help, it would be a good idea and would save us a lot of trouble."

"We'll do as Junior Brother Song suggested. When I get back, I'll have Zong Xun and the others prepare in advance. If you have any news, send a message to Guyang Mountain immediately."

Just as Song Qingming said, the spirit stone veins are located far away in the cultivation world of the East Sea.

As a Nascent Soul sect in the Floating Cloud Mountains, it would be difficult for the Xiaoyao Sect to keep its large number of cultivators away from the other sects in the East Sea.

If the other party misunderstands and thinks that their actions are an invasion of the East Sea cultivation world, it will inevitably bring some trouble.

If the matter of the spirit stone mine were to be leaked, it would also be a very troublesome matter for the "Free and Unfettered Sect".

Although cooperating with "Baihua Palace" would result in the loss of some mineral vein profits, it would also directly avoid these potential troubles.

Seeing that Song Qingming wanted to discuss cooperating with "Baihua Palace" to mine the vein, Bai Yuxian thought it over and agreed immediately.

Seeing this, Song Qingyu and Li Xuanyi nodded in agreement with the idea.

Soon everyone reached a consensus.

Since defeating Yunyang Sect and dominating the cultivation world of the East Sea a few years ago, the "Hundred Flowers Palace" has also developed its power very quickly.

In just over a decade, its sect territory has expanded several times over, covering several sea areas north of the East China Sea cultivation world.

In terms of overall strength, the "Hundred Flowers Palace" in the East Sea is now slightly stronger than the "Free and Unfettered Sect".

In previous years, because the East China Sea War had just ended and the surrounding areas were still unstable, Xia Mo did not choose to go to participate in the "East Phoenix Sword Tournament" but stayed in the East China Sea to oversee the situation.

Otherwise, given her extraordinary abilities, she would likely have made it into the top twenty of the sword competition.

All that was needed was for Song Qingming to send a message to "Baihua Palace," and Xia Mo quickly responded, agreeing that the two parties could jointly mine the offshore mineral veins.

To show her sincerity, Xia Mo also sent Shen Bingling, a Nascent Soul elder from the sect, to personally visit "Red Cloud Mountain" to discuss cooperative development with Song Qingming.

After some back and forth, Baihua Palace finally secured a 30% stake in the mine and agreed to send 5,000 cultivators to help guard the mine year-round.

Meanwhile, the "Xiaoyao Sect" holds 70% of the mining shares, but at the same time, it also needs to send a Nascent Soul cultivator to the outer sea to oversee the operation.

Although he had to give up 30% of the profits to "Hundred Flowers Palace", Song Qingming was still quite satisfied with the result of being able to bring them into mining together and avoid future troubles.

After signing the cooperation agreement, Song Qingyu and Shen Bingling went to the East China Sea together to begin preparations for the mining of the "spirit stone vein".

Next, Song Qingyu will stay in Donghai to oversee things while others take over.

To successfully mine this large "spirit stone vein," it is necessary to cultivate the spirit vein and invest a considerable amount of spirit stones in the construction of the spirit mountain in the early stages.

Fortunately, the "Hundred Flowers Palace" invested and helped share a lot of the burden. Bai Yuxian quickly gathered the spirit stones and sent them to the East Sea to give to Song Qingyu.

All initial investments are necessary, and as long as the mine can be successfully mined, the cost can be recovered in a few decades at most.

At that time, the mine will bring them a considerable return every year, becoming one of the sect's most relied-upon sources of income.

After arranging the mineral vein, Song Qingming summoned Song Yuanfang, Song Linyu, Zhang Yurong, and others to the Huixian Pavilion on the mountaintop.

He handed over all the spiritual items he had previously purchased from the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom" trade fair to the three of them.

Among them, several Core Formation spiritual items brought back were given to Song Yuanfang to be used to cultivate the next generation of the family.

The remaining level-three magic treasures, pills, and other spiritual items were all handed over to Song Linyu and Zhang Yurong and stored in the "Red Cloud Mountain" treasury for future use as rewards for meritorious cultivators.

On the Chiyun Mountain side, after decades of management by Zhang Yurong and Song Linyu, a merit exchange system has also been established in the market.

As long as a cultivator is stationed on the mountain year-round, they will automatically receive a certain amount of personal merit points each year, which can be used to exchange for various spiritual items in the treasury.

Its function is similar to that of the sect's "Good Deeds Pavilion", but it is open to a wider range of cultivators and is not limited to cultivators on the mountain.

Other sects, cultivation families, and independent cultivators from the outside world can offer materials needed for acquisition on the mountain, or valuable spiritual items of level three or above.

You can also earn merit points commensurate with their value, which can be used to exchange for spirit stones or other needed spiritual items in the treasury.

Because of this policy that benefits the cultivators below, "Red Cloud Mountain" has become the most popular place for small families or independent cultivators in the surrounding area.

Over the years, Zhang Yurong, Song Linyu, and others have also collected a lot of precious high-level materials from these low-level cultivators.

After all, with Song Qingming, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, on the side, "Chiyun Mountain" is definitely more trustworthy than other markets.

After exchanging some instructions with Song Linyu, Zhang Yurong, and the others, Song Qingming, who had no other matters to attend to, quickly returned to his cave dwelling to begin his secluded cultivation.

Since breaking through to the late Nascent Soul stage, Song Qingming has undergone decades of arduous cultivation, aided by the dual cultivation secrets left behind by the "Twin Saints of Purple Sun" he previously practiced with Li Xuanyi.

His internal magical power is now close to the peak of the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage, and he is not far from breaking through to the eighth level of the Nascent Soul stage.

At the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom" trade fair, Song Qingming spent millions of spirit stones to purchase many spiritual items that would help his cultivation.

Now that he has returned to "Red Cloud Mountain", his next step is to devote himself to seclusion and cultivation in preparation for breaking through his realm, first raising his cultivation level to the eighth level of the Nascent Soul stage.

In this way, one will be one step closer to cultivating to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

".."

Spring goes and autumn comes, the sun sets and the moon rises; in the blink of an eye, twenty years have passed.

On this day, the weather at the summit of Chiyun Mountain was fine and sunny.

Halfway up the mountain, a cultivator in white robes strode quickly and soon arrived at the entrance formation at the summit.

Just as the man in white cast a spell and sent a telepathic message into the magic array, the white mist in front of him dispersed on its own, and a figure quickly walked out.

"Oh! Senior Brother Wei, you've emerged from seclusion! Congratulations on achieving your Golden Core!"

Upon seeing Wei Yunlong, who was covered in a thin layer of spiritual light, Song Shaoyu, who had just returned, was surprised and quickly stepped forward with a smile to bow.

"Hehe, Junior Brother Song, you're too kind. My cultivation has stabilized, and I came out of seclusion half a month ago. Is there something you need today that you've returned?"

"Oh! Today, my great-aunt Lin Yu received a letter to deliver to our ancestor. She's too busy to handle it herself, so she asked me to go up the mountain to deliver it for her."

Upon hearing Wei Yunlong's question, Song Shaoyu quickly took out a letter from his hand.

“Master hasn’t come out of seclusion yet, so I’ll pass this on to Ancestor Xuanyi for you. She happens to be at Huixian Pavilion.”

Seeing that Song Shaoyu was holding a letter that he intended to give to his master, Wei Yunlong quickly nodded slightly and accepted the letter.

Wei Yunlong took the letter and turned to walk towards the "Huixian Pavilion" on the mountaintop, where he quickly handed it to Li Xuanyi, who was enjoying tea.

Just as Wei Yunlong finished his task and was preparing to return to the magic array, he suddenly sensed something strange coming from afar.

Half a year ago, Wei Yunlong had already successfully completed his seclusion and formed his core. Now, his divine sense can easily cover several miles away.

Looking up and searching around, I saw that the white clouds above the mountaintop were surging, as if something had happened.

Upon seeing this, Wei Yunlong's expression changed slightly. He immediately transformed into a golden light and flew towards the location of the strange phenomenon.

When he arrived, he found that two familiar figures had already arrived before him. Besides Li Xuanyi, whom he had just met in the "Meeting Immortals Pavilion," there was another person beside her, none other than Song Qingming, who had been in seclusion for a long time.

Upon seeing the two people in front of him, Wei Yunlong, looking surprised, quickly stepped forward and bowed.

"Disciple greets Master and Mistress!"

Looking at Wei Yunlong not far away, Song Qingming immediately waved his hand.

"Get up first! It seems to be a celestial phenomenon triggered by Yuan Hao. You should quickly activate the grand formation I set up earlier."

"Notify the market enforcement team that no one is allowed to approach the mountaintop without my order."

"Disciple accepts the order!"

Upon hearing what Song Qingming said, Wei Yunlong nodded quickly, then turned and left, disappearing from their sight.

Only after Wei Yunlong left did Li Xuanyi gaze at the distant celestial phenomena before she couldn't help but softly ask:

"Husband, do you think he can succeed this time?"

Upon hearing this, Song Qingming, who had just emerged from seclusion, shook his head and said, "We are both experienced people, how could we not know that the path to the Nascent Soul stage is by no means easy?"

This was Yuan Hao's first attempt at forming a Nascent Soul, and to have reached this point and triggered extraordinary phenomena in the heavens and earth was already quite impressive.

As for whether he will succeed this time, I can't tell; it's too early to say.

After returning from the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom", Song Yuanhao made careful preparations and finally took the initiative to enter the secluded cave ten years ago to try to condense his nascent soul.

After ten years of seclusion, he has finally triggered extraordinary phenomena in the heavens and earth, reaching the most crucial step in condensing his nascent soul.

Even so, Song Yuanhao is still some distance away from breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm.

It should be known that most Nascent Soul cultivators in the cultivation world need to go through two or three attempts to successfully form their Nascent Soul, and very few can succeed in forming their Nascent Soul on the first try.

Even a cultivator with a rare Heavenly Spiritual Root like Bai Yuxian couldn't achieve that back then.

Song Yuanhao himself is quite talented, and he has also entered the "Heart Refining Tower" for trials. To be able to successfully reach this stage on his first attempt at Nascent Soul formation is already quite an achievement.

But these facts alone are far from enough to prove that he can easily pass the hurdle of condensing a nascent soul.

Whether he succeeds or not depends on his performance in the future.

Hearing Song Qingming's answer, Li Xuanyi, who didn't seem very confident, couldn't help but sigh softly as she looked at the person in front of her.

"Yes! That makes sense. When I first formed my nascent soul, although I had my master and you to support me, I still went through countless hardships before I finally attained enlightenment."

I don't know how my husband achieved Nascent Soul so easily back then; we're quite envious.

"You don't know what I went through back then, how can you know that my Nascent Soul stage was easy for me!"

Back when Song Qingming was forming his Nascent Soul in the East Sea, although he was forced into a desperate situation and chose to fight to the death, the preparations he made were no less than those of others.

Even so, it was still a journey of near-death experiences that led to the attainment of the Great Dao.

Upon hearing what Li Xuanyi said, Song Qingming couldn't help but shake his head and retort.

As the two chatted, a magic array rose at the entrance to the mountaintop, concealing the strange phenomena above.

Seeing this, Song Qingming turned around and led Li Xuanyi away. The two soon arrived at the "Huixian Pavilion".

Shortly after they sat down, Li Xuanyi took out a newly acquired letter from her person and presented it to Song Qingming, saying:

"This was just delivered by Lin Yu. She said it was sent to you by Fellow Daoist Long of the Four Seas Business Alliance. I haven't had time to open it yet!"

"Oh! I've been busy with seclusion to consolidate my cultivation lately, and I almost forgot about it."

Upon hearing that the letter was from Long Ziyun, Song Qingming nodded slightly and quickly opened the letter in his hand.

Not long after, a hint of joy suddenly appeared on his previously calm face.

Li Xuanyi, who was carrying a cup of spiritual tea, saw Song Qingming's joy and quickly asked:
"I haven't seen you this happy since you broke through your cultivation the other day. Is there something good happening today?"

"A few years ago, I asked Fellow Daoist Long about a treasure, but there was no news for a long time. I never expected that we would have a breakthrough today."

"This can be considered a happy event!" After saying that, Song Qingming handed over the letter in his hand.

Li Xuanyi took a look and then remembered that when she participated in the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom" trade fair, Song Qingming asked Long Ziyun to inquire about high-level ice-attribute magic weapons.

The message came from the other party, saying that they had found a magic weapon of similar quality to what he needed within the merchant alliance, and asked Song Qingming if he wanted to rent it.

A high-grade level four magic weapon can easily cost millions, and most cultivators would never take it out to trade with others.

Long Ziyun searched for a long time before finding one. The seller did not want to sell it, so they could only rent it to Song Qingming for six months.

Although the rental fee of 150,000 spirit stones was not low, Song Qingming was still very happy to see the news brought by Long Ziyun and immediately agreed.

The reason Song Qingming wanted to find a high-level ice-attribute magic weapon was actually for the cave located below the Qinghe River.

Decades ago, when his cultivation had just broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage, Song Qingming went to the "Qinghe Cave" in an attempt to pass through the stone chamber in the third rune.

Unfortunately, when Song Qingming entered the rune passage, he encountered a very powerful icy restriction.

After several attempts, not only did they fail to pass the level, but they were also severely frozen by the eternal cold air inside, and almost got injured as a result.

Although Song Qingming has accumulated many powerful magic treasures and has two imitation spiritual treasures, he currently does not have any effective magic treasures to deal with the icy energy.

Therefore, they had no choice but to search outside the area and ask Long Ziyun for help inquiring.

Finally, some good news has arrived.

Although the other party refused to trade the magic weapon directly, Song Qingming's purpose was to use it to pass the level, and six months would be enough for him to use it.

After twenty years of secluded cultivation, Song Qingming had already raised his internal magical power to the perfect level.

Subsequently, with the help of the "Mysterious Dragon Pill" in his hand, he successfully broke through his realm and raised his cultivation level to the eighth level of the Nascent Soul stage within a year.

Now that his magical power has increased significantly, and with the addition of a high-grade level four ice-attribute magic weapon, Song Qingming's confidence in breaking through the restriction has also increased considerably.

Li Xuanyi, who was standing to the side, saw that Song Qingming was going to spend tens of thousands of spirit stones just to rent a magic weapon, and wanted to say a few words of advice.

Seeing that Song Qingming seemed to take this matter very seriously, she ultimately said nothing more.

While tens of thousands of spirit stones is not a small amount, it is not much for Song Qingming now.

Having made up his mind, Song Qingming personally wrote a letter to Long Ziyun, asking her to bring the magic weapon to "Red Cloud Mountain" as soon as possible.

After writing the letter, Song Qingming quickly summoned his disciple Wei Yunlong and instructed him to immediately forward the letter to the "Four Seas Business Alliance" at the foot of the mountain.

As a large chamber of commerce spanning several states, the "Four Seas Business Alliance" has various methods for its branches to communicate with each other.

Long Ziyun would receive the message in no more than half a day.

After finishing this matter, Song Qingming accompanied Li Xuanyi for a while to enjoy tea and chatted about the events that had happened on the mountain during his years of seclusion.

It wasn't until nightfall that the two returned together to her cave.

After twenty years of seclusion, Li Xuanyi and Song Qingming had been separated for a long time.

Upon meeting this time, it's inevitable that I'll offer some pointers on the other's cultivation.

Compared to Song Qingming, Li Xuanyi has missed him even more over the years, but she has never dared to go to him for fear of disturbing his seclusion to break through his cultivation.

And so, the two of them stayed in Li Xuanyi's cave for more than half a month, during which time they hardly went out.

Only when he remembered that he still needed to prepare for the challenge of going to "Qinghe Cave" did Song Qingming return to his cave with satisfaction.

This challenge is extremely important to him, and he cannot afford not to make more preparations for himself.

".."

And so, Song Qingming was busy for several more months.

It wasn't until Long Ziyun's letter arrived at the mountain that Song Qingming, having received the news, left his cave and came down the mountain again.

"Fellow Daoist Song, Fellow Daoist Li, it's been a long time! Greetings!"

"It has been decades since we last met. I never expected that Fellow Daoist Long would also have successfully broken through his cultivation realm. I, Song, congratulate you!"

More than twenty years have passed since I parted ways with Long Ziyun at the "Eastern Phoenix Sword Gathering".

Upon meeting again, Song Qingming was surprised to find that the other party's cultivation had also broken through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. He quickly stepped forward and offered his congratulations.

Upon hearing this, Long Ziyun smiled and nodded repeatedly, not daring to be too polite.

Although she had successfully broken through to a higher cultivation level, Long Ziyun's cultivation speed was still far behind that of Song Qingming.

In front of Song Qingming, a great cultivator, he naturally dared not flaunt his cultivation level too much.

After the three exchanged pleasantries, Long Ziyun took out a white jade bottle magic item from her person and presented it to Song Qingming.

Gazing at the white jade bottle before him, which faintly exuded an icy aura, Song Qingming quickly and earnestly inquired:

"Fellow Daoist Long, could this be the ice-attribute magic weapon you mentioned?"

(PS: Fellow Daoists, the book title has been changed back. I was worried that the name would be taken by someone else, but I didn't expect to change it back so smoothly. I was worried for nothing.)

The title of the book "Qinghe Immortal Clan" should remain unchanged from now on, so everyone can rest assured! (End of Chapter)