Qinghe Immortal Clan.

"Qingyun Mountain", in front of a cave at the top of the mountain.

"Xin Yuan, this notebook contains some insights I recorded when I formed my core. You can take a look at it after you go into seclusion; you should gain some knowledge from it."

There are also some high-grade spirit stones inside. Use them when you're in seclusion, and don't be stingy with these material possessions.

Remember, when attempting to break through to a higher realm, do not be impatient; you must firmly uphold your Dao heart.

"Thank you, ma'am!"

Faced with the numerous spiritual items handed over by Huang Siyuan, Song Xinyuan, who was preparing to go into seclusion to form her core, quickly bowed and thanked her before accepting them.

As Song Qingming's only son, Song Xinyuan grew up in "Qingyun Mountain" and was naturally favored by the elders around him.

Having reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, he no longer needed to worry about his Core Formation artifact, unlike Song Qingming back then.

Li Xuanyi, Huang Siyuan, and others had already paved the way for Song Xinyuan long ago.

At this moment, Huang Siyuan, as an elder, was still a little worried about the other party's lack of experience, so she patiently comforted him.

"Don't worry, Sister Siyuan. With her husband personally guiding her, I believe she will succeed with her talent."

Seeing that Huang Siyuan had been talking for a long time without finishing, Li Xuanyi finally couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward to interrupt the two of them, then instructed Song Xinyuan:
"Your father is still in seclusion and cannot come to see you off today."

We'll come back here to celebrate your victory when you come out of quarantine!

"Don't worry, Mother, I've remembered it. I won't let you and Father down!"

After bowing to the two elders in front of him, Song Xinyuan turned around with a confident expression and stepped into the secluded cultivation cave.

Seeing that the restrictions at the entrance of the cave had been activated, Li Xuanyi and Huang Siyuan carefully checked their surroundings again before feeling relieved.

He then turned to the "Ice and Fire Dragon" who was waiting to the side and said:
"Xiao Jin, I'm entrusting Xin Yuan's seclusion to you."

If anything happens, please inform us immediately and do not delay!

"You've worked hard these past few days, here are some elixirs."

"Thank you, mistresses. Rest assured, I, Xiao Jin, will take good care of this place."

Just as "Ice and Fire Dragon" agreed to the matter, Huang Siyuan took out two jade bottles from her body, instantly attracting his attention.

Amidst the gratitude of the "Ice and Fire Dragon," Huang Siyuan and Li Xuanyi turned and left.

".

Inside the dazzling golden pagoda, Song Qingming gazed at a three-foot-long "silver banner" that had just been crafted, his eyes filled with a hint of anticipation.

As the magical power within his body rapidly poured into it, the "silver banner" suddenly grew several times larger, radiating waves of powerful pressure.

Immediately afterwards, a cold light flashed above the "silver banner".

After tearing through the void, it actually cut a black rift that was at least ten feet high in the space in front of it.

The moment the black crack appeared, it stirred up gusts of wind, which then rapidly devoured the spiritual energy around it. Its powerful devouring ability was so strong that even the spiritual energy of heaven and earth could not withstand it.

In the blink of an eye, the black crack closed rapidly and then disappeared in front of Song Qingming.

Seeing this, Song Qingming finally showed some satisfaction, cast a spell to put away the "silver banner" in his hand, and fell down from mid-air.

"Brother Qu, this Qiankun Breaking Boundary Banner can not only break through the void, but the spatial rifts it creates can also devour the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It is quite a good treasure for fighting enemies."

In terms of offensive capability alone, this treasure seems to surpass the Yin-Yang Twin Rings in power, making it quite a formidable item.

Upon hearing Song Qingming's words, Qu Bai, who was standing to the side, immediately revealed a hint of smugness and explained:

"The Yin-Yang Twin Rings in your hand are merely control-type spiritual treasures; in terms of attack power alone, they are certainly inferior to the Boundary-Breaking Banner."

Moreover, the Boundary-Breaking Banner was personally crafted by me, and this treasure still has room for future upgrades and enhancements.

If I can find high-grade jade crystals in the future, I can upgrade it to a mid-grade spiritual treasure.

In terms of offensive power alone, the Qiankun Breaking Boundary Banner would be no less formidable than the superior-grade Dragon King Seal in the golden dragon's hand.

The "Boundary-Breaking Banner" in Song Qingming's hand is a spiritual treasure that Qu Bai successfully refined after many years of research using the Boundary-Breaking Ancestral Wood that Song Qingming had given him.

This treasure can not only break through the void of the interface, but also create a special space within the broken void, devouring all spiritual objects in the vicinity.

Once a cultivator is locked in space, their physical body will be instantly swallowed by the Boundary-Breaking Banner and disappear into the world.

In terms of offensive capability alone, the "Qiankun Breaking Boundary Banner" is clearly superior to Song Qingming's Yin-Yang Twin Rings, giving him another rare high-level spiritual treasure.

"Don't worry, Brother Qu. Although I don't know where I can find high-grade jade crystals yet."

But as long as this object exists in this world, I, Song, will do everything in my power to find it in the future, and I will not let you down.

"Hmm! I had no choice but to cooperate with you back then, but I never expected that you could cultivate so quickly."

Now that you have successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul realm, as long as you don't actively provoke those old monsters, no one in this world can threaten you.

If news of high-grade jade crystals is found in the future, obtaining this item shouldn't be too difficult.

"Then I'll help you upgrade the grade of the Qiankun Breaking Boundary Banner, which will increase our chances of successfully smuggling ourselves into the upper realm."

As Qu Bai spoke, a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

Back then, Qu Bai had no choice but to cooperate with Song Qingming because his primordial spirit was severely damaged, and he became Song Qingming's artifact spirit by attaching himself to the "Sacred Star Plate".

At that time, Song Qingming's cultivation was only at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, and he was still far from the Divine Transformation stage.

Over the past few hundred years, Qu Bai has watched as his opponent gradually improved his cultivation, steadily progressing to the half-step Nascent Soul realm.

Previously, when Song Qingming and Bai Yuxian went to the "Ziyang Heavenly Palace" to help her comprehend the primordial energy of heaven and earth.

Qu Bai did not accompany him because he had to stay at Qingyun Mountain to refine the Qiankun Breaking Banner.

To Qu Bai's surprise, when Song Qingming returned decades later, his cultivation had already successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul realm.

If Song Qingming back then was merely a sliver of hope for Qu Bai to return to the Upper Realm.

Now that he has witnessed the other party stepping into the Nascent Soul realm, the situation is completely different from before.

Moreover, Song Qingming is only a little over nine hundred years old and has already successfully transformed into a deity, so he doesn't need to worry about his lifespan being insufficient for the time being.

There will be plenty of time in the future to slowly prepare for the smuggling to the upper realm.

At this moment, Qu Bai's confidence in returning to the Upper Realm was far greater than it had been before.

Seeing this, Song Qingming smiled slightly and turned his gaze to the spiritual treasure he had just obtained.

"By the way, Brother Qu, how exactly is the rank of a fifth-grade spiritual treasure determined in the Upper Realm?"
You said that the Dragon King Seal in Ao Xing's hands is a top-grade spiritual treasure, but why didn't I feel much difference back then?

And what's the difference between the Xuan Tian Demonic Treasure I saw in the forbidden area back then and a high-grade spiritual treasure?

"Hehe! In the Spirit Realm, there is no such thing as a fifth-grade spiritual treasure. They are all classified into high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade."

The Yin-Yang Twin Rings in your hand, and the Qiankun Breaking Boundary Banner you have now, are just ordinary low-grade spiritual treasures.

Such spiritual treasures are not rare in the Upper Realm; even cultivators at the Nascent Soul or higher levels may possess one or two.

Above that are mid-grade spiritual treasures.

Mid-grade spiritual treasures can only be unleashed by cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or above; Nascent Soul cultivators cannot activate them, and they are relatively rare.

As for high-grade spiritual treasures, they are quite rare, and are generally only possessed by higher-level cultivators.

Normally, high-grade spiritual treasures wouldn't appear in a low-level realm like yours.

If I'm not mistaken, that "Dragon King Seal" was probably brought down from above and left behind in this world by someone.

Although the Dragon King Seal is a top-grade spiritual treasure, it has lost much of its power over the years in the lower realm.

Furthermore, since that true dragon only had the cultivation of the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, it was impossible for it to unleash the power of a truly high-grade spiritual treasure, so you wouldn't feel much difference.

Otherwise, the one who possessed this treasure on that day was a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

"I'm afraid the Tower of Babel's restrictions alone might not be enough to stop them."

"So that's how it is. No wonder this treasure wasn't as powerful as I had imagined when I first saw it."

When Song Qingming first saw the Dragon King Seal in Ao Xing's hands at the "Purple Sun Heavenly Palace," his cultivation was still shallow, at the half-step Nascent Soul stage, and he did not realize that the spiritual treasure in the other party's hands was not much different from his own.

It was only when he saw Qu Bai's surprised expression upon seeing the treasure that he realized this magical artifact had an extraordinary origin.

Now that he had advanced to the Nascent Soul realm, he could sense the power of the spiritual treasures in his hands more clearly. After hearing Qu Bai's explanation, he finally understood the difference.

Seeing that Song Qingming was deep in thought, "Qu Bai" continued:
"The so-called Xuan Tian Demon Treasure is actually just a name used by cultivators in the Holy Realm. We also call it Xuan Tian Spirit Treasure, and its power far surpasses that of a high-grade spiritual treasure."

However, the Xuan Tian Demon Treasure you saw back then had most of its power sealed away; it was at most a half-finished product, not a true Xuan Tian Spirit Treasure.

Even treasures of the Xuan Tian Ling Bao level would be suppressed by the power of the interface in this realm, and at most they could only exert the power of a high-grade spiritual treasure.

Of course, even if it's just a semi-finished product.

The Xuan Tian Ling Bao is still much more powerful than the Dragon King Seal, which is already a damaged high-grade spiritual treasure.

Those ancient cultivators were probably unable to destroy this object, which is why they chose to seal it away and exile it into the void.

"The power of the Xuan Tian Ling Bao even surpasses that of a high-grade Ling Bao."

"I wonder if there are even higher-level treasures above the Xuan Tian Ling Bao?"

"Hehe! Of course there are, but these are not things you can access right now, little brother."

"Once you truly reach the Upper Realm, you will naturally know what you need to know. Knowing more now will not benefit you; on the contrary, it will affect your Dao heart."

"Yes! Brother Qu is absolutely right. I was a bit too impatient."

When Song Qingming inquired about higher-level treasures, Qu Bai clearly didn't want to say more and simply shook his head.

Seeing this, Song Qingming knew that the other party seemed to have some reservations, so he did not continue to ask the question.

Although driven by curiosity, Qu Bai's words were not without merit.

For Song Qingming at present, his cultivation has just reached the Nascent Soul stage, and he only has a few ordinary low-grade spiritual treasures.

He hasn't even truly possessed mid-grade or high-grade spiritual treasures yet. To think he could understand "Mysterious Heavenly Spiritual Treasures" or even higher-level treasures now is simply too far beyond his current capabilities.

When the day comes that you successfully ascend to the upper realm, you will naturally know everything you need to know.

Now that we know more, we might become overly ambitious and thus affect our spiritual path.

After nodding in agreement to "Qu Bai", Song Qingming put away the magical treasure beside him.

They then left the Golden Pagoda together with Qu Bai and returned to their cave.

"By the way, Brother Song, now that I've finished forging the Qiankun Breaking Boundary Banner, why don't you just hand over the Golden Cloud Light Sword to me as well!"

The remaining spirit wood might still have some use.

"The Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword! Brother Qu wants this sword, could it be that you want to reforge this treasure?"

Upon hearing that "Qu Bai" was asking him for the Golden Cloud Light Sword, Song Qingming did not hesitate and took it out of his storage artifact.

After taking the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword" and examining it carefully, Qu Bai nodded and continued:

"That's right. As I just said, any spiritual treasure that I personally crafted can have its power enhanced in the future."

Adding the remaining spirit wood should significantly enhance the power of this treasure.

Once I've finished forging it, I estimate the power of the Golden Cloud Light Sword will be close to that of a low-grade spiritual treasure.

"Its power is close to that of a low-grade spiritual treasure, so I guess I'll still be able to use the Golden Cloud Light Sword in the future."

After breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm, Song Qingming was able to fully control the spiritual treasures in his hands, such as the "Yin-Yang Twin Rings".

The "Golden Cloud Light Sword" that had accompanied him for many years was only a replica of a spirit treasure, and its power was quite different from that of a real spirit treasure, so it was no longer of much use to him.

Originally, Song Qingming was still considering whether to hand over the "Golden Palace Cloud Light Sword" in his hand to his Daoist partner Li Xuanyi or Huang Siyuan for refinement.

Upon hearing that "Qu Bai" still had a way to further enhance the power of this replica magical artifact, a hint of joy immediately appeared on his face.

Once the "Golden Cloud Light Sword" is upgraded, its power will be close to that of an ordinary low-grade spiritual treasure.

In terms of attack power alone, it will certainly not be inferior to the "Yin Yang Double Rings" or the "Qiankun Breaking Banner".

At that time, I will have an extra handy offensive magic weapon.

After handing the "Golden Cloud Light Sword" to Qu Bai, Song Qingming immediately expressed his gratitude and promised to find any materials Qu Bai needed.

Qu Bai didn't seem to care about Song Qingming's promise.

For him, it was simply a matter of doing his best to help Song Qingming improve his strength so that the two of them could have the opportunity to sneak into the upper realm as soon as possible.

Now that they share a common goal, they are essentially one entity, bound together on the same boat.

In helping Song Qingming, "Qu Bai" is also helping himself.

After greeting Song Qingming, "Qu Bai" quickly left on his own and returned to his stone chamber where he was in seclusion refining magical artifacts.

Song Qingming turned around and returned to the main hall of the cave, where he saw a "transmission talisman" floating in mid-air for a long time not far away.

After taking the "transmission talisman" and glancing at it, Song Qingming realized that he seemed to have forgotten something, and couldn't help but slap his forehead.

Putting away the talisman in his hand, Song Qingming immediately opened the restriction in front of him and walked out of the cave.

Upon arriving at "Huixian Pavilion", they found Li Xuanyi and Huang Siyuan already waiting there.

The two women looked at Song Qingming with some surprise in their eyes.

"I've been so busy helping Brother Qu refine magic weapons these days that I completely forgot about Xin Yuan's core formation. He should be in seclusion by now!"

Previously, Song Qingming had been in seclusion in the "Purple Sun Heavenly Palace" to break through his cultivation realm. He had not seen his son Song Xinyuan for decades and had missed a lot of his son's growth.

I had originally agreed with Li Xuanyi that I would personally send my son into seclusion to form his core.

Unexpectedly, he had been so busy helping "Qu Bai" refine the Qiankun Breaking Banner that he had missed this opportunity.

Upon seeing Li Xuanyi, Song Qingming's expression turned somewhat ashamed.

"Yes! My husband hasn't replied to any messages, and we don't dare to delay his journey."

Xinyuan started his seclusion half a month ago, and Siyuan and I have already prepared everything for him.

"Don't worry, my husband, we can go together to fetch him when he comes out of the pass."

Hearing Song Qingming's slightly apologetic voice, Li Xuanyi quickly nodded in response.

He couldn't help but feel a little regretful that he hadn't been able to wait for Song Qingming to emerge from seclusion.

Hearing this, Huang Siyuan nodded in reassurance, "Xinyuantian's resources are no less than ours, so there shouldn't be any problems with the Core Formation."

When he emerges from seclusion, my husband will throw him a grand celebration, and we'll have a good time too.

"Great! We'll throw him a celebration then, and make it a real commotion."

"Then it's settled. My husband, please remember this and don't disappoint him again."

Upon hearing that Song Qingming readily agreed to hold a Core Formation celebration for his son, Li Xuanyi's face immediately lit up with joy, and she personally served him a cup of spiritual tea.

After taking the spiritual tea from the hand and carefully sipping it, Song Qingming finally asked:
"Siyuan, have you received any news from Qingyu and Junior Brother Li? How is the situation in Qin?"

During the year that Song Qingming was in seclusion, Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun had already led the Xiaoyao Sect's army of cultivators eastward to support the Qin Kingdom's "Wanling Sect".

In addition to major sects such as the "Xiaoyao Sect", Song Qingming also sent a special order to the Iron Wall Demon Emperor of "Taiyue Lake", instructing them to lead the aquatic creatures of Taiyue Lake to cooperate with the Xiaoyao Sect's actions.

Since making peace with the aquatic tribes of Taiyue Lake years ago, they have been hampered by the immense power of the Xiaoyao Sect.

The aquatic tribes of Taiyue Lake have always abided by the alliance and did not choose to cause trouble behind the scenes for the Xiaoyao Sect when the monsters were causing chaos.

In recent years, the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" has devoted himself to seclusion and cultivation in his water palace, rarely showing his presence outside.

This calamity and unrest caused by demons is not just a matter for the human cultivators alone.

Song Qingyu and others had notified the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" long ago to send troops north to provide assistance.

However, the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" was rather cunning when it came to this matter.

Seeing that Song Qingming had not shown up for so many years, and that the demonic calamity was temporarily blocked by the human army near the "Qingyun Mountain" in the north.

For the time being, it has not yet affected its territory in "Taiyue Lake".

Although the aquatic creatures of Taiyue Lake nominally obeyed Song Qingyu's orders, they secretly did not put in any effort.

Only a small number of low-level demonic beasts were sent north to participate in the battle; the main force was not mobilized.

The "Iron Wall Demon Emperor," whose cultivation had already broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage, even claimed that he had gone into seclusion and disappeared without a trace.

After Song Qingming returned, the northern part of the "Floating Cloud Mountains" was quickly pacified by the human army.

Upon learning the news, the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" realized something was amiss and hurriedly dispatched his trusted subordinates to "Qingyun Mountain" to investigate the situation.

However, the news they brought back shocked the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" who was in seclusion in his cave.

Only now did he realize that Song Qingming, who had returned after disappearing for many years, had broken through to the Nascent Soul realm.

Faced with the order personally given by this Nascent Soul Ancestor, to cooperate with Song Qingyu and others to march westward to aid the "Ten Thousand Spirits Sect".

This time, the "Iron Wall Demon King" didn't dare to have any more ideas and acted very actively.

Not only did he dispatch tens of thousands of elite aquatic troops under his command, but he also personally went out of the pass to the battlefield.

With the cooperation of the aquatic army of Taiyue Lake, Song Qingyu, Li Xianyun, and others quickly engaged the demon army besieging the Wanling Sect.

After several major battles, although they suffered considerable casualties and lost many cultivators.

However, Song Qingyu and his group still managed to defeat the demon army and help the "Wanling Sect" escape their predicament.

Now, a year later, most of the lost territories in the western Qin state and other areas have been recovered.

The main force of the demon army had been wiped out by Song Qingyu and his group, while the rest fled back to the "Illusory Sea Desert".

Upon learning that Song Qingyu and his group had successfully repelled the demon army from the west and would soon be setting off back to Qingyun Mountain, Song Qingming did not show much surprise.

After all, the army led by Song Qingyu and Li Xianyun was the main force carefully selected by the "Xiaoyao Sect".

With the help of the aquatic army from Taiyue Lake, defeating the demon army from the west was something he had expected.

After Huang Siyuan finished explaining the situation in the west, Song Qingming asked about the movements of the demon army in the north.

Upon learning that many new demons had been migrating south from the north of Qingyun Mountain in the past year, he frowned slightly.

"Now that the demon army has been driven out of the Floating Cloud Mountains, it's time to take action and resolve this matter once and for all!"

"Husband, do you mean you want to?"

"Tomorrow I plan to go to the north to investigate the situation and see if I can find the source of the demonic disaster."

If we can't cleanse that place, this demonic calamity could last for who knows how long, and we'll never have peace.

The calamity in the "Floating Cloud Mountains" originated in the territory of the "Heavenly Fox Clan" in the northern frontier.

A year ago, Song Qingming had already received a message from the "Heavenly Fox Clan," inviting them to go north together to solve the source of the demonic disaster.

At that time, Qingyun Mountain had just repelled the demon army, and Xiaoyao Sect did not yet have time to spare.

Now, the Qin Kingdom and other places in the west have successfully recovered their territories and eliminated the threat of the monster army.

Song Qingming had just planned to go north to find the source of the demonic disaster and resolve the matter completely.

Upon learning that Song Qingming was going to the north to find the source of the demonic disaster, Li Xuanyi and Huang Siyuan wanted to go with him, but Song Qingming stopped them.

Although both women had reached the late Nascent Soul stage, their strength was still somewhat insufficient in this demonic calamity.

Moreover, "Qingyun Mountain" also needs to be guarded.

If they all leave, there might be trouble if an emergency occurs and no one is there to handle it.

After giving instructions to Huang Siyuan and the other woman, Song Qingming headed north alone. (End of Chapter)