Chapter 1058
: Get out of my way if you try to possess my body!
Upon seeing this, the man in black robes was about to speak when a crimson light shone from his body, and then his eyes quickly turned crimson.
"After all these years, I thought you had been reduced to ashes long ago. I never expected you to still be alive!"
"Hehe! If we're talking about turning to ashes, my physical body and my primordial spirit have indeed been turned to ashes."
"However, I left behind a secret technique that allowed me to preserve half of my primordial spirit; otherwise, I fear I wouldn't have been able to see you."
After stepping forward and responding, the man in black robes looked at the dark, billowing valley ahead and continued, "You've found a good place. This place actually has such a dense aura of true demons!"
"Well, do you have a way to rescue that person and open the passage back to the Holy Realm?"
"We've tried a few times over the years, but we've all failed. Now the island's barrier has been strengthened, so it's unlikely we can rescue him anytime soon."
However, we now have another way to return to the Holy Realm. If you're willing to help, please come in with us!
"Hehe! Now that I'm already here, I'm definitely going to go in and take a look. But before that, I want to ask you for something."
Upon hearing what the man in black robes said, the woman in red robes smiled slightly and immediately asked, "Could it be that you want this body you're possessing to advance to the Nascent Soul realm?"
"Not bad! This kid is the body I prepared for myself to possess, but his cultivation is too low right now. I don't want to make a move yet. Let's wait until he advances to the Nascent Soul realm first."
"Don't worry, I have enough True Demonic Qi here for several people to form their Nascent Souls at the same time. I'll make arrangements for him once we go in!"
After receiving a nod of approval from the man in black robes, a wisp of smoke rose beside the woman in red robes, and soon both of them disappeared from the spot.
-
One year later, at Chiyun Mountain in the eastern part of the "Floating Clouds Mountains".
As a beam of white light descended, Song Qingming, standing on the "White Bone Boat," quickly appeared outside the mountain-protecting formation.
Just as Song Qingming passed through the "mountain-protecting formation" of Crimson Cloud Mountain, his divine sense detected a huge figure flying rapidly toward him. It was the "Ice-Fire Flood Dragon" with a body covered in crimson spiritual light.
"Master, you are back!"
Upon seeing Song Qingming, who had just returned from his outing, the "Ice and Fire Dragon" quickly approached him, displaying its aura with great delight.
Only then did Song Qingming gradually realize that after several years of seclusion, the "Ice and Fire Dragon" had successfully broken through to the second level of the Nascent Soul realm.
It had only been a little over seventy years since he advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, and the Ice-Fire Flood Dragon's cultivation speed was still much faster than that of ordinary demons.
Just as the "Ice and Fire Dragon" picked up Song Qingming, Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan soon followed to greet him.
"Seventh Brother, you came back all by yourself!"
"I'm not alone, I can also bring someone back for you."
Upon hearing what Song Qingyu said, Song Qingming replied irritably and led the two back to the cave dwelling not far away.
"My husband, how was the trip? Did it go smoothly?"
"Well! It went smoothly, and I even brought back quite a few good things!"
Having finally made it to the cultivation world of "Donghuang Kingdom", Song Qingming naturally didn't just bring back one "Precious Flame Pill". He also bought a lot of spiritual items from the surrounding markets.
Seeing that the "storage bag" given to her by Song Qingming was full of various spiritual herbs, Huang Siyuan quickly opened it to take a look, and then put it away with a smile.
"By the way, Qingyu, I've been gone for so long, has anything happened on the mountain?"
"Seventh Brother, it's strange, only two days after you and Senior Sister Li left, traces of unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivators appeared on the west side of the mountain, and they even killed several law enforcement teams below."
Later, when I went to investigate, I discovered that they had set up some kind of high-level magic array there, and it seemed they were looking for something.
They left before they could find anyone.
Later, I received a message from Senior Sister Xu, saying that the sect had also discovered similar magic array ruins, and it seemed to be the same group of people. I wonder what they were looking for.
"An unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivator!"
Upon hearing Song Qingyu mention that a strange Nascent Soul cultivator had appeared near "Red Cloud Mountain," Song Qingming's eyes immediately lit up with a sense of vigilance, and he suddenly recalled the white flying car that had brushed past him when he left!
"Could it be... the Qingyang Holy Sect!"
The Floating Cloud Mountain Range is a small cultivation world with only seven Nascent Soul sects, including the "Free and Unfettered Sect," and a total of fourteen Nascent Soul cultivators.
Generally, anyone familiar with the person will be able to recognize some trace of them.
Since Song Qingyu said they were unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivators, these people must have come from other cultivation worlds outside, the closest to the west being the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom".
Among the cultivators in the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom," the one who came here with the goal of finding something was probably the fellow cultivator from the "Qingyang Holy Sect," who died at the hands of Song Qingming.
Thinking of this, Song Qingming became more cautious.
"Qingyu, where is that magic array? Take me there!"
Hearing that Song Qingming was being so cautious and still wanted to go check the magic array, Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan were somewhat surprised.
However, the two women had followed Song Qingming for many years and knew his personality very well. Seeing his serious expression, they didn't say much and took Song Qingming to the high mountain outside the market.
Although nearly two years have passed, the vegetation that was cut down on the mountain has grown much taller, but the traces left by the other party in setting up the magic array are still basically still there.
Standing in the air, Song Qingming carefully examined the array marks below, and his forehead immediately furrowed.
“These marks are very similar to a high-level spirit-searching array he’s seen before. It seems that their people may have already been here.”
However, Song Qingming and Li Xuanyi had already left by then. They didn't seem to have found any traces near "Red Cloud Mountain" and then left directly.
Thinking of this, Song Qingming felt a little more at ease.
"I doubt they'll be back anytime soon!"
After muttering something to himself, Song Qingming turned around and led his men away from where they were, returning directly to "Red Cloud Mountain".
He stayed on the mountain for another half a year until autumn came, and then Song Qingming quietly left Chiyun Mountain again and headed north.
North of "Red Cloud Mountain" lies the territory of many demon clans in the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range".
As winter deepens, countless monsters in the mountains and forests begin to retreat into their caves to store meat for the winter, no longer venturing out to forage for food.
Song Qingming took advantage of the hibernation of the demon beasts to head north, intending to directly cross the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" demon clan's land-level territory and enter the Northern Frontier.
Because he had the route map given to him by the Fire Phoenix, Song Qingming followed the map and bypassed the territories of those Nascent Soul Demon Emperors, passing through the entire "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" through the gap in the middle.
Because there were many Golden Core Demon King territories of varying sizes mixed in, Song Qingming deliberately slowed down his movements to avoid alerting them and to conceal his aura and movements.
Compared to the human territory to the south, the spiritual energy in the "Floating Cloud Mountains," the core area occupied by the northern demon race, is significantly richer.
Along the way, Song Qingming encountered five or six spiritual veins of level four or above. The total number of these spiritual veins was already as many as the entire human territory to the east of the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range".
Thinking of these places, which were once blessed lands for human cultivators, Song Qingming felt somewhat uneasy.
If he ever has the chance, he will definitely lead all the human cultivators of the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" to take back all the territories and immortal mountains that the demon race has controlled for many years.
After traveling north for more than two months, Song Qingming finally succeeded in crossing the "Floating Cloud Mountains" and entering the boundless "Northern Frontier".
Many years ago, Song Qingming had already come here once with Xia Mo and others. This was his second time infiltrating the core territory of the demon race.
Fortunately, the vast "Northern Frontier" is boundless, and the area is many times larger than the "Floating Cloud Mountains". The monsters here also rarely go out during the winter.
Song Qingming continued northeast along a relatively safe road, and it took him more than two months to finally reach the outer territory of the "Tianfeng Clan".
When we arrived here, winter had passed and spring had arrived, and flowers were blooming everywhere.
Standing in mid-air, concealing his presence, Song Qingming glanced around before heading north to a small stone mountain about a hundred feet high.
After finding a cave abandoned by a demon beast at the mountaintop, Song Qingming set up two magic arrays nearby to hide it.
Then Song Qingming took out the "five-colored feather" he had hidden on his body.
As Song Qingming rapidly cast spells, the "five-colored feather" in his hand immediately emitted several beams of spiritual light, shimmering brightly in the cave and illuminating the surroundings with a kaleidoscope of colors.
Before long, as the spiritual light dissipated, it quickly gathered in Song Qingming's hand and transformed into a "five-colored feather," which he then stored in his "storage bag."
After sending the message, Song Qingming waited in the cave for more than half a month, but no one came to meet him. A look of anxiety appeared on his face.
He had previously followed Long Feng into the territory of the "Heavenly Phoenix Clan". At the speed of a Nascent Soul cultivator, it would take at most ten days to arrive from "Heavenly Phoenix City".
Almost twenty days have passed, but Fire Phoenix and Dragon Wind still haven't appeared. Song Qingming doesn't know what went wrong.
In the past, the two of them would have arrived long ago, but now they are nowhere to be seen, which proves something from another perspective.
Either they were both tied up with something and couldn't get away for the time being, or neither of them happened to be near the territory of the "Heavenly Phoenix Clan" and had gone out or gone somewhere else.
This made Song Qingming, who had come to deliver the pills, look rather unpleasant.
Could it be that I came at the wrong time, and the two of them just happened to be away?
Just as Song Qingming was still puzzled, a large blue bird flew in from the distant horizon. It was the Azure Phoenix that Song Qingming had seen many years ago in the Floating Cloud Mountains. Hundreds of years had passed in the blink of an eye. He remembered that when the two first met, Song Qingming was just a small Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he was immediately captivated by the powerful Azure Phoenix in a single encounter.
If he hadn't happened to cultivate the "Jade Profound Scripture," which was useful for the Fire Phoenix's treasure-hunting, he would probably have already turned into a skeleton under the flames, lost somewhere in the "Floating Cloud Mountains."
Fortunately, several hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye, and Song Qingming, who once had a low cultivation level, has now grown into a powerful cultivator in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
As a member of the demon race, Qingluan's cultivation progress over the past few hundred years has been slow, only reaching the late stage of the Golden Core realm from the early stage.
There is still a long way to go before reaching the Nascent Soul realm.
"Fellow Daoist Qingluan, it's you here. Where is Brother Longfeng?" Seeing Qingluan flying towards him from afar and getting close, Song Qingming quickly stepped forward and asked.
Upon hearing his question, Qingluan first nodded and bowed before replying in a respectful tone:
"Senior Song, Long Feng has gone out on business and will not be back for several months. His Highness is currently in seclusion and it is inconvenient for him to travel, so he asked me to come here to see you."
"May I ask what business you have with His Highness?"
"Yes! His Highness asked me to help find something last time, and I have found it now. I have come here specifically to deliver it."
After saying that, Song Qingming gently reached into his storage bag at his waist and took out the "Precious Flame Pill" he had obtained earlier, placing it in front of Qingluan.
"Oh! So you've already found the elixir His Highness needs. That's wonderful!"
Seeing that Song Qingming had successfully brought the "Precious Flame Pill", Qingluan's face immediately showed a look of joy, and she nodded with some surprise.
"This pill was found by Senior Song. Why don't you come with me to see His Highness?"
"When the time comes, you can personally deliver this item to His Highness; perhaps you'll even receive some reward in return."
"Yes! Then thank you for showing me the way, fellow Daoist." Upon hearing Qingluan's invitation, Song Qingming nodded and agreed without much thought.
Having gone through so much trouble to venture to the "Northern Frontier," Song Qingming naturally had other purposes besides delivering the "Precious Flame Pill" to Fire Phoenix.
He wanted to take this opportunity to exchange some "Crimson Fire Spirit Liquid" with Fire Phoenix to help the two corpse puppets on his body improve their cultivation, as well as other spiritual items that would be useful to him.
Of course, if the Fire Phoenix offered any good rewards, Song Qingming would not refuse.
After nodding in agreement, Song Qingming turned around and tidied up the array flags outside the cave before he and Qingluan each transformed into streaks of light and headed north.
The first time Song Qingming ventured deep into this place was when he and Xia Mo were lying in wait nearby to steal "Heavenly Fire Spirit Liquid".
After much difficulty, the group finally found the cave where the "Heavenly Fire Elixir" was located, only to be caught on the spot by the woman in black who had some connection with the "Fire Phoenix" and trapped inside the cave.
Finally, with everyone's combined efforts, they managed to escape. It was only with Long Feng's help that Song Qingming was able to get out of danger and see Huo Feng.
Even now, thinking back on those dangerous experiences, he still feels a lingering fear.
If I hadn't been lucky, I might have fallen into the hands of the "Heavenly Phoenix Clan," and the consequences would have been unimaginable.
After entering the territory of the "Heavenly Phoenix Clan", there were far fewer demonic beasts around here than in other places. The two walked along the road for several days and only saw a few scattered winged demonic beasts flying over from a distance.
To better conceal his aura, Song Qingming not only slowed down his escape speed, but also used the "transformation technique" that Long Feng had given him to transform into an ordinary demon beast with a cultivation level of only Foundation Establishment, and hung directly at Qingluan's feet.
After nearly half a month of arduous travel, Song Qingming and Qingluan soon approached the vicinity of "Tianfeng City".
After arriving here, the number of winged beasts gradually increased. Whether in the sky or on the mountain territories on the ground, the figures of beasts could be seen everywhere.
However, most of these demonic beasts are low-level demonic beasts with low intelligence. Only occasionally will a high-level demonic beast above the Golden Core stage fly by, attracting the attention of many low-level demonic beasts nearby.
Because they were following Qingluan, a powerful demon king in the late Golden Core stage, the patrolling demons around them only knelt down respectfully and dared not approach to investigate. The two of them arrived at the vicinity of "Tianfeng City" without any trouble.
Upon arriving here, Qingluan did not take Song Qingming into the city, but instead bypassed the city and flew directly to a high mountain to the right of "Tianfeng City".
From a distance, the mountain appeared to be covered in a golden hue, which was quite dazzling.
Only when he got closer could Song Qingming see clearly that the mountain was covered with many tall trees, all covered with golden leaves, turning the entire mountain into a golden color, like a huge golden mountain.
When Qingluan brought Song Qingming to the foot of the towering golden mountain, two figures immediately approached from not far away. Both were Golden Core stage Feather Clan demon kings.
"I want to take him with me to see His Highness!"
Upon hearing Qingluan's words, the two demon kings, who were not yet able to speak, carefully scanned Song Qingming with their divine senses and immediately responded with a few bird calls that Song Qingming could not understand.
Immediately afterwards, the two Golden Core Demon Kings took the initiative to open the barrier in front of them, letting Qingluan and Song Qingming inside.
"That's strange. Why would His Highness Fire Phoenix suddenly encounter a Foundation Establishment stage demon beast? There's nothing unusual about this guy."
"Hehe, why are you bothering with this if you have nothing better to do? Maybe you're just going to find some random monster to use as material."
After all, our demon race has plenty of these low-level, unintelligent demonic beasts; we produce quite a few every year…
After replying, the other demon king looked at the Qingluan and Song Qingming who had disappeared not far away, and then secretly cast a spell to send a "telepathic message" to the side.
After passing through the restrictions below and entering Jinshan, Song Qingming and Qingluan walked on a mountain path paved with golden leaves. On both sides were huge golden spirit trees that completely obscured most of the sky above them.
The two walked more than ten miles up the mountain, and along the way they saw some demon guards, as well as several other Golden Core demon kings who came down from the mountaintop.
Soon, Qingluan led Song Qingming to the outside of a cave located halfway up the mountain.
Shortly after the two entered the cave, a blue figure suddenly flew from behind and blocked their way.
"Qingluan, where did you go the other day? I've been looking for you but haven't been able to find you."
The creature that came was a demon beast that looked similar to the Azure Phoenix, but its cultivation level was much higher than that of the Azure Phoenix, having reached the late-stage perfect Golden Core realm.
The magical power emanating from him was very substantial, and he was probably a top-tier Golden Core cultivator, like Huang Siyuan, who had at least attempted to break through to the Nascent Soul realm once.
Upon seeing the great demon king pursuing them, Qingluan's eyes flashed with surprise, and she spoke somewhat coldly:
"Qingyan, that's a strange question. What does it have to do with you where I go? Do you expect me to report everything to you when I'm doing things for His Highness?"
"Hehe! How dare I interfere in His Highness Fire Phoenix's affairs? You know that's not what I meant. Qingluan, I have something I want to talk to you about. How about we go somewhere else later?"
"I have nothing to say to you. I will follow Your Highness for the rest of my life, so don't waste any more time on me."
Faced with Qingyan's invitation, Qingluan refused without hesitation, intending to lead Song Qingming around him and continue forward.
"Qingluan, why are you doing this? I know that His Highness the Fire Phoenix has treated you well, but you have been cultivating for so many years, you should think more about your path."
You are not Long Feng. With your talent and cultivation, it is simply impossible for you to get Princess Huo Feng to help you form your Nascent Soul.
Why not follow Prince Zifeng with me? If you agree to be my cultivation partner, Prince Zifeng will definitely accept you.
"When I successfully achieve Nascent Soul stage in the future, I will definitely do everything in my power to help you with that."
Seeing that Qingluan, who had already bypassed him after saying so much, still remained expressionless and looked like she didn't want to pay any attention to him.
Somewhat angry, Qingyan suddenly unleashed a powerful burst of spiritual energy and flashed forward to block the two people who had just bypassed him.
"Qingyan, I've told you hundreds of times over the years that I would never betray His Highness, why don't you understand?"
"Would you rather give up the path to Nascent Soul than betray Princess Fire Phoenix?"
"Hmph! Don't look down on me. Who knows who will be able to form a Nascent Soul in the future!"
After saying that, the arrogant Qingluan strode forward and bypassed the other party.
Just as Song Qingming was about to follow, he was surprised to see a pair of angry eyes fixed on him, and then a huge wing flapped towards him.
"Hmph! Who do you think you are, daring to walk in front of me? Get out of my way!"
"Qingyan, are you crazy? He was ordered by Princess Huofeng to be brought here. You can't touch him!"
At this moment, Qingluan, who was walking in front, also noticed the commotion and quickly turned around to stop the other party.
But the Azure Flame Demon King, already burning with rage, did not stop upon hearing this. In an instant, his wings, accompanied by a huge gust of wind, brought him to Song Qingming, who had transformed into a Foundation Establishment demon.
With a loud "boom," a huge figure was sent flying backward and landed on the ground some distance away.
The Azure Flame Demon King stared ahead in disbelief, only to see that Song Qingming, who had originally been a Foundation Establishment demon, had returned to his original human form.
"Human cultivator, how is this possible? How did you get here?"
"Senior Song, please wait a moment!"
Before Qingluan could finish speaking, a sword light shot out, heading straight for the "Azure Flame Demon King" lying on the ground. (End of Chapter)