Qinghe Immortal Clan.

He carefully scanned the surroundings but found nothing unusual.

Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun, who had been somewhat tense, immediately relaxed and began to spread out to check their surroundings for any possible exit routes.

The valley is lush and green, with towering trees reaching into the clouds everywhere.

Although a few birds occasionally flew by, the valley was otherwise completely silent, much quieter than the outside world.

After walking around the area, Song Qingyu, not daring to go too far, turned around and prepared to return to the place where everyone was resting.

Just as she was retracing her steps, she suddenly saw Li Xianyun looking up in confusion, searching for something. Seeing this, Song Qingyu also looked curious and quickly walked over to him.

"Junior Brother Li, what are you doing here? Did you discover something?"

Seeing Song Qingyu approaching with a curious expression, Li Xianyun shook his head at her with a serious look.

"I don't know if I'm seeing things, but I clearly remember coming from this direction. Now I can't go back. It's like the trees have moved on their own!"

"What? The location has been moved? I didn't hear anything. Junior brother must have seen wrong!"

"Hey! Where are Seventh Brother and Senior Sister Bai?"

After replying with a smile, Song Qingyu immediately turned to look ahead, only to find that Song Qingming and the others, who had been sitting cross-legged in the same spot, had suddenly disappeared.

When she was looking around, Song Qingyu clearly remembered that she hadn't gone very far, and was only about a hundred feet away from where everyone was.

At such a close distance, even with some trees in between, it wouldn't be enough to completely obscure everyone's figures.

But now, apart from her and Li Xianyun, everyone else has long since disappeared from sight.

"Seventh Brother, Senior Sister Bai!"

".

After shouting several times, there was still no movement ahead. Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun realized that something seemed wrong and frowned.

The spiritual energy within the secluded valley is far more concentrated than that in the outside world.

After a quarter of an hour of meditation and breathing exercises, and with the help of the rapid recovery of the fragments on his body, Song Qingming had already refined a high-grade spirit stone in his hand, restoring seventy to eighty percent of his internal mana.

While everyone else was still using the spirit stones in their hands to quickly recover their condition, Song Qingming, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly felt a slight vibration around him and immediately opened his eyes.

Unexpectedly, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed.

Suddenly, many tall trees appeared in the previously empty forest, surrounding the group's location.

Surrounded by so many giant trees, they blocked out all the outside scenery, as if they were locked in a giant wooden cage.

"Qingyu, Junior Brother Li!"

Despite the drastic changes before his eyes, Song Qingming did not hear a single warning. He immediately searched his surroundings but found that the two had already vanished without a trace.

Bai Yuxian and the others who were still meditating and adjusting their breathing heard Song Qingming suddenly shout out. They all stood up and looked around, only to discover the huge change in front of them. Their expressions changed.

"This is bad. It seems that some kind of magic array has been set up here. Fellow Daoist Li and the others may be trapped by the restriction."

"Fellow Daoist Song, let's get out of this predicament first, and then go find the two of them."

Upon seeing this, everyone immediately realized that the valley was not as safe as they had previously imagined.

Beneath the peaceful and serene scene, something dangerous seemed to be hidden, silently separating Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun, who were on guard duty, directly from them.

Unbeknownst to everyone, they were trapped in this place.

However, since they were all Nascent Soul cultivators with considerable cultivation, they did not panic upon seeing this situation. They immediately cast spells and unleashed their magical treasures to attack the giant tree in front of them.

The one who made the first move was Xia Mo, who had the highest cultivation level among the many cultivators present, second only to Song Qingming.

A flurry of golden petals surged forth from his side, transforming into countless sharp blades that shot directly towards the space between the two giant trees.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A burst of golden light rang out, and the branches above the two trees were instantly severed by the blade, turning into cyan light and disappearing into mid-air.

Just as Xia Mo had destroyed these giant trees, several smaller trees suddenly appeared on the ground below, growing rapidly like bamboo shoots.

In a short while, the breach that Xia Mo had broken through was sealed back by the newly grown giant tree.

Seeing this, Song Qingming and the others immediately activated their magical artifacts to help with the attack.

In an instant, sparks flew across the battlefield, various magical artifacts danced in the air, and the sounds of fierce collisions and roars echoed continuously.

To everyone's surprise, despite the continuous attacks of seven or eight Nascent Soul experts, the giant tree in front of them was still not completely destroyed.

No matter how many giant trees they break, new trees will quickly grow back in the missing places, and the scale will become denser and the distance will be compressed further.

Although everyone's supernatural powers and magic seemed very powerful, they didn't seem to have any good solutions for the rapidly growing and endless trees.

Even with Song Qingming activating the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword," he still couldn't outpace the opponent's recovery speed.

They could only stare helplessly, unable to break free from the cage before them and leave this place.

“The sacred tree withers and flourishes, its life cycle never ends.”

"This wood-elemental magic array seems to have been set up by taking advantage of the energy of the entire valley's earth veins. Destroying it would be tantamount to fighting against the entire magic array."

Fellow Daoists, continuing this fight is probably not feasible. We need to find the right way to leave this place.

Back when she hadn't yet switched to cultivating the "Purple Sun Divine Light Technique," Bai Yuxian was actually practicing a wood-attribute martial art.

In addition, he was a high-level array master. After some research, he figured out the origin of the array in front of him and took the initiative to remind everyone not to waste their magic power.

"In that case, dealing with this formation may not be so easy. I wonder what insights Fellow Daoist Bai may have!"

Seeing Xia Mo put away her magic weapon and ask her a question, Bai Yuxian pondered for a moment, then turned and looked directly at Song Qingming beside her.

"Junior Brother Song, do you still remember the array formation book you showed me before? It once recorded a Zhou Tian Yin Yang Five Elements Grand Array."

Previously, we encountered fire-attribute monsters on the lower level, but this level is now restricted by wood-attribute barriers.

If I'm not mistaken, this formation should be a similar Five Elements formation.

The five elements interact in a cycle of mutual generation and restraint. To counter this formation, we also need to use a metal formation to suppress its regenerative abilities.

This should be much more efficient and save everyone a lot of effort.

"The Zhou Tian Yin Yang Five Elements Grand Array does have some similarities."

"Let's give it a try first, and then we'll see!"

Upon hearing Bai Yuxian's suggestion, Song Qingming quickly recalled that the array formation manual he had brought back from the "Falling Star Sea" Immortal Mansion did indeed contain records of similar array formations.

In the Five Elements theory, metal overcomes wood. Therefore, using metal-based techniques to counter wood-attribute restrictions will undoubtedly enhance their effectiveness.

As a mid-grade fourth-level array master, Bai Yuxian happened to possess a high-level metal array called the "Vajra Heavenly Net Array".

This formation was originally created by the previous Nascent Soul ancestor of the "Free and Unfettered Sect," and initially it was only at the fourth-level low-grade realm.

After being enhanced by Bai Yuxian, its power has now been raised to the middle grade of the fourth level. When five Nascent Soul cultivators activate it at the same time, they can unleash the maximum power of this formation.

Under Bai Yuxian's arrangement, Shen Bingling, Yu Mengning, "Guangyuan Daoist" and Yang Boyuan quickly formed a magic array on the spot, each holding a formation flag.

A moment later, a circular rune appeared in mid-air.

Then a golden giant, clad in golden armor and wielding a sharp sword, descended from the sky and stood before the crowd.

"Junior Brother Song, Fellow Daoist Xia!"

Upon hearing Bai Yuxian's reminder, Song Qingming immediately cast a spell to summon the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword".

He then raised his hand and waved it, sending a powerful and sharp sword light hurtling straight toward the giant tree in the distance.

On the other side, Xia Mo, who was already prepared, had countless golden petals fly out in front of her, converging into a golden longbow.

The next moment, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and a powerful aura instantly appeared.

The golden arrow whistled out, its aura almost as strong as the sword light unleashed by Song Qingming, instantly drawing the attention of everyone around.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two powerful attacks came rushing in one after another, and the giant tree in front was instantly blown to pieces, revealing a huge gap that was more than ten feet wide.

Seeing that the giant trees below were starting to grow again, the "Heavenly Giant" controlled by Bai Yuxian and the other five suddenly rushed forward, and with a swing of its giant sword, it immediately cut down the giant trees that had not yet grown in front of it.

He then strode forward and stretched out his giant hands, directly blocking the rapidly growing giant trees on all sides. Under the interference of the golden giant, he successfully changed the direction of the trees and moved them away from the gap.

"Junior Brother Song, hurry!"

After the "Golden Giant" successfully held off the unhealed gap in front of him, Bai Yuxian immediately urged Song Qingming and the other person behind her to rush forward.

The surrounding giant trees were restrained by the magical power of the "golden giants" controlled by Bai Yuxian and the others. In addition, with Song Qingming and Xia Mo helping to attack from the side, their growth rate was significantly slower than before.

By working together, the group managed to force their way through the giant trees and create a passage.

As a ray of light finally appeared ahead, Song Qingming and the others managed to break free from the encirclement of giant trees and arrive at an open space.

Only then did the surrounding giant trees stop moving and cease their attempts to stop them.

"Hehe! Finally out."

"Huh! Could this be the exit to the next floor?"

Just as everyone regained consciousness and escaped their predicament, "Daoist Guangyuan" standing to the side suddenly shouted out in a joyful tone. Song Qingming and the others turned around and saw that there was another white magic array not far in front of them.

This white magic circle was basically the same as the ones they had seen before, and it was undoubtedly the passage to the next level.

However, upon gazing at the teleportation array before them, the people present each displayed different expressions.

"It seems to be the entrance to the next level. Fellow Daoists, shall we go in and take a look?"

Seeing Yang Boyuan rush forward, looking eager to try, Bai Yuxian, who was standing to the side, immediately spoke first:

"We haven't found Qingyu and Junior Brother Li yet. Let's find them first and then leave this place."

"We've already found the teleportation array, so a little more time won't make a difference."

"Well! Since we haven't found Qingyu and the others yet, there's no need to rush. Let's look for them first."

As soon as Bai Yuxian finished speaking, Xia Mo quickly chimed in with a similar comment.

Song Qingming looked at the person in front of him and said calmly, "We agreed to advance and retreat together, so there is no question of abandoning our companions."

If any fellow Daoist wishes to leave first, I will reiterate my previous statement.

"Do as you please; life and death are left to fate."

"Hehe! Fellow Daoist Song is right. Let's go find Fellow Daoist Li and the others first!"

Seeing that Song Qingming seemed to be speaking to him, Yang Boyuan quickly smiled and nodded in response, rapidly shifting his still somewhat tempted gaze away from the location of the "teleportation array" to the side.

After two consecutive near-death experiences in the secret realm, everyone realized that the surroundings were not so safe.

Even if you go to the next floor, you don't know what dangers you might encounter.

For Yang Boyuan and his group, splitting up and acting alone at this point would not be a very wise choice.

After exchanging a glance with Bai Yuxian, Song Qingming continued, "Senior Sister Bai and Fellow Daoist Yu, please stay here. The rest of you will come with me to find Junior Brother Li and the others."

After delivering the order, Song Qingming led Xia Mo and the others back to the direction they had just rushed out from, where they were greeted by countless giant trees in the forest.

The group split up to search in all directions. Before long, Shen Bingling spotted a place where it seemed like cultivators were fighting, and she called everyone over.

He closed his eyes and released his divine sense to cover the area. He could hear a sound vibration coming from inside, but it was difficult to tell whether the cultivators inside were Song Qingyu and the other person.

However, now that he had discovered this place, Song Qingming was not about to give up easily.

Together with Xia Mo and the others, they unleashed the "Vajra Heavenly Net Formation," then controlled the golden giant to charge directly into the giant tree in front of them.

A series of booming sounds rang out, and the golden giant quickly approached the fighting position in front, jumping down directly from a top of the tall tree.

"Huh! Who are you?"

The four cultivators were still desperately dealing with the giant tree branches that were attacking them from all sides when a golden giant suddenly descended from the sky, which startled them on the spot.

Only after realizing what was happening did they discover that the giant before them was a golden dharma image controlled by a cultivator.

Song Qingming glanced at the group of people in front of him and realized that they were not Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun, whom he wanted to help, but three unfamiliar demon cultivators. He was immediately disappointed.

On the other hand, the four demon cultivators opposite him were quite excited when they saw that the golden giant was quite powerful and easily cut off several attacking branches.

"May I ask which clan you fellow Daoists belong to? We beg your help to escape our predicament, and the Tengshe clan will surely repay you in the future!"

"No need for repayment, you all should take good care of yourselves."

Seeing that the "golden giant" seemed unwilling to rescue them and was about to leave, the several demon cultivators who had just been excited suddenly showed a hint of astonishment.

"Damn it, they are human cultivators."

Seemingly realizing that the golden giant was not a member of the demon race, a cold glint flashed across the faces of the four cultivators from the "Tengshe Clan," and they cast spells to block the golden giant.

"If you gentlemen don't want to help, how about you leave your magical treasures behind and lend them to us for a while?"

"It's a bit difficult for you to borrow our magical artifacts."

"I don't have the habit of borrowing things from others. If you really want them, you'll probably have to pay with your lives."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the "Golden Giant" swung his giant sword at the leading Nascent Soul stage demon emperor.

This demon's cultivation had reached the ninth level of the Nascent Soul realm. Faced with the attack of the golden giant sword, it was not too surprised. It opened its mouth wide and spewed out a large cloud of black poisonous mist in the direction of the "golden giant".

The other three demon cultivators directly used magic to reveal their true demon forms.

Taking advantage of the fact that the "Golden Giant" was blinded by the poisonous fog and caught off guard, they transformed into three giant pythons that tightly wrapped around the giant's limbs, making it difficult for him to wield the giant sword.

"Hehe! You human cultivators only know how to hide behind magic treasures and formations. Your supernatural abilities are really not that great. I've already swallowed several of them along the way."

It's a waste to keep this magic weapon on you; in the end, it will just benefit someone else. You might as well hand it over to us now.

I guarantee I will spare your lives.

"Hmph! You bunch of good-for-nothings are probably not qualified."

From within the black mist, a slightly seductive voice kept reaching Song Qingming and the others' ears, making them somewhat tempted.

But with a furious shout from Song Qingming, the alluring voice quickly dissipated into the surroundings.

The next moment, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted from the "Golden Giant," breaking free from the obstruction of the three demon cultivators. The giant sword in its hand shook away the black mist in front of it, and once again unleashed a powerful pressure.

"This is a counterfeit magic weapon! How is that possible!"

The leading Nascent Soul Ninth Level demon cultivator panicked upon seeing himself suddenly enveloped by an unprecedentedly powerful pressure, and hurriedly spat out his natal demon core in an attempt to resist.

The golden sword light flashed through the air, instantly knocking the demon core away and severing half of his body in the aftershock.

"what!"

Seeing his prized physical body shatter like tofu in the face of this attack, the Demon Emperor's eyes were filled with disbelief.

"boom!"

With a crisp sound, a black nascent soul flew out from above the Demon Emperor's head, attempting to escape.

But before he could escape far, he was caught up by the "Golden Giant" and fell to his death on the giant sword in his hand.

"Second Elder!"

Seeing that the leading elder of the "Tengshe Clan" in the late Nascent Soul stage had instantly perished at the hands of his opponent, the remaining three mid-Nascent Soul stage demon cultivators immediately realized that they were no match for the golden giant in front of them.

However, because they were trapped within the giant tree's barrier, even if they wanted to escape, they were powerless to get out of there.

They soon followed the fate of their elders, all perishing at the hands of Song Qingming and others.

After easily defeating the four demon cultivators, everyone present was excited and showed a satisfied smile.

Despite their fruitless quest for treasure in the secret realm, they have finally managed to acquire a considerable amount of spiritual items and monster materials.

Although it is far from meeting my expectations, it has made a good start!
After some sorting, Song Qingming and his group quickly collected all the materials from the other party's body.

Only then did everyone turn and leave, continuing their search for Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun in other areas.

(It's Lunar New Year's Eve again. Xiaomeng wishes all fellow Daoists a Happy New Year! May you achieve great success, have abundant wealth, good fortune, and good health!)
Unbeknownst to many, the Qinghe Immortal Clan has accompanied everyone through their third New Year, and Song Qingming is also nearing the time to transform into a deity and ascend to the upper realm.

I pray that in the new year I can finish writing this story. Thank you again to all my fellow cultivators for your continued support. (End of Chapter)