Chapter 1230
Breakthrough to Nascent Soul, Meeting Acquaintances
Two years later, in the market town at the foot of Qingyun Mountain.
As a beam of light appeared, two figures materialized on the previously empty "teleportation platform".
Upon seeing these two people appear, the guards near the teleportation array were slightly taken aback, and then immediately stepped forward and knelt down.
"Disciple greets Martial Uncle and Ancestor!"
"!"
Faced with the respectful bows of the crowd, the woman in white standing in front waved slightly and led the man behind her quickly down the "teleportation platform".
A moment later, the two disappeared together from the teleportation hall.
Only after the two women in white left did a young man in the main hall, whose cultivation was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, cautiously ask the old man beside him:
"Senior Brother Luo, why did Grandmaster Bai suddenly come to Qingyun Mountain today? I've never seen that uncle beside her before. Could it be the uncle who recently formed his core in our sect?"
"Junior Brother Qian, your question has stumped me. Why did Grandmaster Bai come to Qingyun Mountain? How could we juniors possibly know?"
As for the uncle behind him, I have heard of him. He seems to be Uncle Su, a direct disciple of my master.
This Uncle Su is a rare genius. It's said he's only a few years older than you, and he successfully formed his core in less than seventy years of cultivation after joining the sect.
Upon hearing the old man's explanation, the young man exclaimed in surprise, "To have successfully formed a core in less than seventy years of cultivation? How could there be such a genius in the world?"
"Senior brother, you didn't just hear this from somewhere, did you?"
Seeing the look of disbelief on the face of the person beside him, the old man pretended to be profound and laughed, "Hehe! Junior Brother Qian, you're just not very knowledgeable."
What's so strange about someone successfully forming their core in less than seventy years of cultivation? Our Xiaoyao Sect has produced many geniuses like that before.
Back then, Grandmaster Bai also reached the Core Formation stage before the age of one hundred, which was no less impressive than Uncle-Master Su's.
"Master Bai's spiritual root is one in ten thousand, who can compare to him?"
"etc.,
"Senior brother, do you mean this Uncle Su is also one?"
Seeing that the person beside him seemed to have realized what was happening, the old man quickly shook his head at him.
"Junior Brother Qian, with tens of thousands of disciples in our Xiaoyao Sect, plus so many people from Qingyun Mountain, what's so surprising about a few geniuses emerging?"
Unfortunately, we are of mediocre talent, and will likely remain at the Foundation Establishment stage for our entire lives, forever barred from the Golden Core path.
"Hehe! Senior brother, you are mistaken."
Although we are not as talented as a genius like Master Bai, we have still managed to successfully establish our foundation and reach this stage. We still have a chance to try our luck on the Golden Core path.
Back then, Master Song and Master Xu were all cultivators with three spiritual roots, just like us, and they were able to form a Nascent Soul in the end.
If we both diligently cultivate ourselves, we may still have opportunities to advance further in the future if the time is right.
“Junior brother is right. Not everyone in the cultivation world is a genius. As long as we are not dead, we still have a chance.”
Perhaps, if my junior brother achieves great success in his cultivation in the future, he too can become a figure like Grandmaster Song.
Upon hearing this, the man surnamed Qian nodded slightly, but there was no smile on his face.
Although what he just said was meant to encourage others, he was also trying to comfort himself.
Compared to the two we just saw, these are peerless geniuses who were born ahead of more than 99% of cultivators in the cultivation world.
No matter how hard they cultivate, they can only look up to him; they are simply incomparable.
".
The two women in white had just arrived at the mountaintop when they saw a flash of light ahead, followed by a figure appearing in front of them.
"I hope Senior Sister Bai is well!"
"It's only been a few years, but my junior brother's spiritual sense seems to have improved a lot. Could it be that his cultivation has increased again?"
"Senior sister, please don't misunderstand. I just recently refined a Mystic Soul Fruit, and my cultivation technique has improved somewhat."
After replying to Bai Yuxian, Song Qingming's gaze fell on Su Mo behind her, only to see the other party quickly step forward and bow respectfully.
"Disciple greets Martial Uncle Song!"
"I heard you were in seclusion breaking through your cultivation level and didn't attend the last trade fair. I didn't expect you to have reached the third level of the Golden Core stage so quickly. You are truly a promising young talent."
It seems that Senior Sister Bai may have another Nascent Soul cultivator under her tutelage in the future.
From now on, you must cultivate diligently, for the sect's future depends on you younger generations.
"This disciple is dull-witted, but will certainly strive to cultivate diligently and live up to the trust placed in me by the sect."
As a rare cultivator with a heavenly spiritual root in the cultivation world, Su Mo, whose lifespan is only a hundred years old, has already successfully advanced to the third level of the Golden Core realm.
Such a performance far surpasses that of many Golden Core elders in the "Free and Unfettered Sect" and is no less than that of Bai Yuxian back then.
With the support of a Nascent Soul stage master, Su Mo's chances of advancing to the Nascent Soul stage in the future will definitely be significantly higher than others.
Upon seeing this prodigy of the sect before him, Song Qingming couldn't help but offer a few words of praise.
"My disciple is easily flattered, so Junior Brother Song shouldn't think too highly of him, lest he lose his composure again."
"Su Mo, your Uncle Song and I have important matters to discuss. You wait here, and remember, you are not allowed to wander off on your own."
After giving instructions to the disciples behind her, Bai Yuxian and Song Qingming arrived at the "Meeting Immortals Pavilion" on the mountaintop.
Once the two were seated, Song Qingming spoke to Bai Yuxian, saying, "I specially invited Senior Sister Bai here today because I have something to ask of you."
I'm going out tomorrow and probably won't be back for a while.
To prevent any unrest among the demons of the Northern Frontier, I request that Senior Sister remain at Qingyun Mountain to oversee the situation for a period of time.
"We're all from the same sect, junior brother, there's no need to be so polite."
"I wonder where you are going on this trip, junior brother, and whether you have encountered any trouble?"
Previously, Bai Yuxian received a letter asking her to come to "Qingyun Mountain" to help oversee things, but Song Qingming wrote the letter in a somewhat cryptic way, without specifying why he was going out or where he was going.
Bai Yuxian had known Song Qingming for many years and was an extremely perceptive person, so she immediately noticed some clues.
After advancing his cultivation to the late Nascent Soul stage, Song Qingming led human cultivators in a counterattack against the demon race, reclaiming large swathes of territory in the north.
It has become the cornerstone of the entire "Xiaoyao Sect" and even the cultivation world of the Fuyun Mountains.
Fearing that Song Qingming might encounter some mishap while venturing out, Bai Yuxian couldn't help but ask another question.
Faced with Bai Yuxian's concerned words, Song Qingming smiled slightly and quickly replied:
"Don't worry, Senior Sister Bai. I'm not going out for any other reason. I'm here to help out at the request of Fellow Daoist Long of the Four Seas Merchant Alliance."
However, this matter involves some secrets of the Four Seas Merchant Alliance, and I promised Fellow Daoist Long that I would not reveal it, which is why I haven't told you the details.
"Oh! So it was Fellow Daoist Long who asked for your help. No wonder you suddenly wanted to leave."
"Junior brother, don't worry. With me here at Qingyun Mountain, nothing will happen."
The "Four Seas Business Alliance" was well-known, and Bai Yuxian had dealt with them quite a bit, and knew that Song Qingming and Long Ziyun were close friends.
Upon learning that it was the other party who asked Song Qingming for help, Bai Yuxian felt a little relieved.
Seeing that Bai Yuxian had agreed earnestly, Song Qingming nodded gently.
The next moment, with a slight movement of his magic power, another crimson Changling magic treasure appeared and was presented to Bai Yuxian, who looked somewhat surprised.
"Junior Brother Song, what's going on?"
"Senior Sister Bai, this item is called Purple Flame Divine Fire Silk. It is a fourth-grade high-quality magic weapon that I had someone refine a few years ago."
"To prevent the demon race from causing trouble in the south after I leave, please accept this item; it will put my mind at ease."
Although the human army had previously defeated the "Sky Fox Clan" and seized "Azure Cloud Mountain" from them.
But as the years have passed, Song Qingming has come to understand that the demon race will not give up easily and may launch a counterattack against the "Floating Cloud Mountains" at any time.
Therefore, before leaving, he specially sent a message to invite Bai Yuxian to come to "Qingyun Mountain" in the north to take charge.
However, Bai Yuxian's cultivation level had only recently advanced to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and he did not possess any powerful high-level magic treasures.
Facing a half-step Nascent Soul expert like the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" might be somewhat dangerous.
Of all the magical treasures Song Qingming possessed, only the "Purple Flame Divine Fire Silk" was currently suitable for the opponent, which is why he took it out voluntarily.
With the help of this top-grade fourth-level magic weapon, even if Bai Yuxian is no match for the opponent, she should be able to hold her own against him for a while with the "Mountain Protection Array" as her backing.
"Don't worry, Junior Brother Song. Qingyun Mountain now has a Grade 4 superior array. With me, Qingyu, Junior Sister Li, and the others, we'll definitely be fine."
You should keep this treasure with you; it might come in handy if you encounter any danger while out there.
"Senior sister, don't worry, I have plenty of this magic weapon."
".
A level four superior-grade magic weapon would cost at least a million spirit stones in the outside world, and there are only a handful in the entire "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" cultivation world.
Faced with Song Qingming's offer of a treasure, Bai Yuxian was too embarrassed to accept it directly and repeatedly waved her hand in refusal.
But hearing that Song Qingming still seemed worried about the safety of Qingyun Mountain, she didn't insist any further and carefully accepted the magic weapon from his hand.
“Since you say so, junior brother, then I will borrow this magic weapon for a while. When you return safely, I will return it to its rightful owner.”
"Don't worry, junior brother. With me here, even if the Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor comes, he won't gain any advantage."
"I'll leave Qingyun Mountain to Senior Sister Bai."
".
With the help of the great cultivator Bai Yuxian, and with many Nascent Soul experts such as Song Qingyu, Li Xuanyi, Huang Siyuan, and Zhou Ziyang on the mountain, the situation was quite challenging.
Even if the entire "Heavenly Fox Clan" marched south, they would not be able to easily break through the mountain-protecting formation.
After exchanging words with Bai Yuxian, Song Qingming quietly left Qingyun Mountain the next day, using magic to board a flying boat and head east.
One month later, on an unnamed deserted island in the outer sea of the "East Sea Immortal Cultivation World".
A medium-sized treasure ship, several tens of meters long, rested quietly on the shore.
As a streak of light rapidly approached the island from the distant horizon, a figure immediately emerged from the treasure ship and stopped in mid-air.
Looking at Song Qingming who had traveled a long way on the flying boat, Long Ziyun felt a hint of joy on her face and immediately stepped forward to greet him with a cupped-hand salute. "I am deeply grateful to Fellow Daoist Song for his help in traveling so far to keep our appointment."
"Since I have already promised you, Fellow Daoist, I will certainly not break my promise. Fellow Daoist Long, please do not be so polite."
I don't know where we're going next, but it's somewhere in this area.
Upon hearing Song Qingming's question, Long Ziyun immediately shook her head and explained, "The place I told you about is deep in the outer sea, several months away from here."
One fellow Daoist has not yet arrived, so we will have to wait a few more days.
"Please come with me to rest for a while, Fellow Daoist Song. We'll set off together once that fellow Daoist arrives."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, fellow Daoist!"
After returning the greeting with clasped hands, the two quickly returned to the treasure ship below, led by Long Ziyun.
After the two sat down, several low-level cultivators immediately served them some delicious spiritual tea and fruits.
After everyone had left, Long Ziyun took out a jade box from her person and handed it to Song Qingming.
"This is the Xuanling Pill that I promised you, Fellow Daoist Song. Please accept it first."
"The matter has not yet been settled, and Fellow Daoist Long has already handed over the items to me. Isn't that a bit too fast?"
After scanning the jade box in his hand with his divine sense, Song Qingming did not open it immediately. Instead, he asked the other party a question with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Long Ziyun smiled and replied, "I have known Fellow Daoist Song for many years, and I trust him on this point."
Moreover, Fellow Daoist Song's agreement to come and help this time is a show of respect for me, and Ziyun is well aware of this.
There's no need for us to go through all that trouble.
"It's rare for a fairy to trust you so much, so I, Song, will not stand on ceremony with you."
Faced with Long Ziyun's sincere answer, Song Qingming smiled slightly and put away the jade box in his hand.
"Fellow Daoist Long, before we set off, I have another question I'd like to ask clearly: what kind of high-level formation has your alliance's elder, who is attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, prepared?"
"May I ask, fairy, if you could first enlighten me?"
Two years ago, Long Ziyun attended the "Qingyun Mountain" conference and personally visited Song Qingming, offering to use a "Mysterious Spirit Pill" to invite him to help her.
The reason they were willing to pay such a high price was because one of the Nascent Soul elders in the "Four Seas Business Alliance" was about to break through to the Divine Transformation realm.
This Nascent Soul elder of the "Four Seas Business Alliance" has been stuck at the half-step Nascent Soul realm for many years, only one step away from the Nascent Soul realm.
The reason Long Ziyun invited Song Qingming to help was that this elder wanted to use an ancient magic array to assist her in breaking through her cultivation level.
To activate this formation, at least six late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators are required.
Even within the "Four Seas Business Alliance," it was difficult to find so many late-stage Nascent Soul experts all at once, which is why Long Ziyun chose to invite Song Qingming to come and help.
Since this matter concerns the elder's attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, an extremely important matter within the sect, the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance" is naturally being very cautious.
To prevent anyone from blocking the way due to the leak of information, Long Ziyun had specifically asked Song Qingming not to tell anyone about this matter.
Having cultivated to the ninth level of the Nascent Soul realm, Song Qingming's next challenge is to break through to the supreme Divine Transformation realm.
Upon hearing that the elder of the "Four Seas Business Alliance" was breaking through to a higher realm, Song Qingming also wanted to witness it firsthand.
Moreover, Long Ziyun was willing to offer him a top-grade fourth-level "Mysterious Spirit Pill" for this transaction, which was also quite expensive.
After some consideration, Song Qingming quickly agreed and arrived at the location as agreed.
Seeing that Song Qingming was inquiring about the magic array, Long Ziyun hesitated for a moment before slowly replying:
"Fellow Daoist Song, to be honest, the formation used by Elder Qin to break through his cultivation level was a special ancient restriction that our alliance had just built not long ago."
Zi Yun wasn't really clear about this either.
All we know is that we are going to a dark and gloomy place in the outer sea.
Elder Qin set up the formation again because he wanted to use the profound Yin spiritual energy within to break through his cultivation level; it's likely that this formation is related to that.
"Mysterious Yin spiritual energy... Could it be that this elder of your alliance cultivates a Yin attribute technique?"
"Fellow Daoist Song is indeed worthy of being a Nascent Soul Ninth Level cultivator; he saw through the clues at a glance."
"What you say is true, fellow Daoist. Elder Qin cultivates the Heavenly Yin Qi Divine Art, and we have been preparing for this for a long time to help him break through to a higher realm."
"I see, thank you for clearing up my confusion, fellow Daoist!"
Although it is still uncertain which specific magic array I will help activate next.
After Long Ziyun's explanation, Song Qingming had a general idea in mind, which also cleared up many of his doubts.
In the world of cultivation, the reason why it is so difficult for cultivators to break through to the Nascent Soul realm is...
Aside from their innate talent, the biggest reason is that the spiritual energy in this world is no longer as abundant as it was in ancient times.
Furthermore, all kinds of rare and high-level spiritual items that could help break through realms had already been exhausted by ancient cultivators and had disappeared from this world.
The only things left that can be relied upon to break through to the Nascent Soul realm are "top-grade spirit stones," "Purple Cloud Jade," and "Yin-Yang Creation Pills," which are spiritual items with mediocre effects.
In addition, depending on the attributes of their cultivation techniques, cultivators can also seek out spiritual energy from heaven and earth that matches their own techniques to help them break through to higher realms.
The "mysterious yin spiritual energy" that Long Ziyun mentioned is one of them.
Although Song Qingming had not seen it with his own eyes, he had seen similar records in many ancient books and had some understanding of it.
Elder Qin of the "Four Seas Business Alliance" was able to find a suitable place of spiritual energy deep in the outer sea for seclusion.
The fact that they went to such great lengths to invite him and many other late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to help suggests they were quite confident in their ability to break through to the next realm.
I just don't know if they will succeed.
"Fellow Daoist Song, this is a high-grade spiritual tea that I specially brought from Lei Yuanhai. Please do me the honor of tasting it."
Seeing that Song Qingming hadn't spoken for a long time, Long Ziyun picked up the spiritual tea again, took a sip, and the two started chatting again.
After waiting on the ship for two more days, we finally saw a streak of light flying over from the distant sky.
Sitting in the cabin, Song Qingming looked up and felt that something seemed familiar, which made him look a little surprised.
As soon as Long Ziyun, who had come out to greet him, led the person into the cabin, Song Qingming immediately showed some surprise and stood up.
"Fellow Daoist Song, it's been a long time!"
"Fellow Daoist Xia, it's you?"
Seeing Xia Mo who had just entered, Song Qingming, whose face still showed a hint of surprise, clearly did not expect that the person Long Ziyun was waiting for would be her.
Xia Mo, who was standing opposite him, did not seem too surprised when she saw him. She just turned her head and glanced at Long Ziyun beside her.
"You just told me there was another person on the boat, and I guessed it might be Fellow Daoist Song. Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"Uh! Fellow Daoists, please don't be offended. This matter is of great importance. The elders of the alliance have repeatedly instructed that no mistakes should be made, which is why Zi Yun did not inform you in advance."
Although Xia Mo was in the nearby East China Sea cultivation world, Song Qingming had indeed considered that Long Ziyun might invite her.
But the fact that the other party hadn't brought it up himself was quite surprising to him.
It must be said that Long Ziyun was extremely cautious in dealing with this matter.
After greeting Xia Mo, Song Qingming shook his head helplessly and sat down.
Xia Mo, facing Long Ziyun's apology, also didn't say much and went directly into the cabin.
Once the two had arrived, Long Ziyun ordered the treasure ship to set sail, leaving the deserted island and heading straight for the depths of the open sea.
Since their parting years ago, Song Qingming and Xia Mo have occasionally exchanged letters, but they haven't seen each other for a long time.
Both of them are now renowned cultivators, but due to their sect's constraints, they rarely have the opportunity to go out.
When they met again, they realized that nearly a hundred years had passed, and both of them couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
After so many years, Xia Mo, like Song Qingming, has successfully broken through to the ninth level of the Nascent Soul realm, and her aura is even more stable than Song Qingming's.
Fortunately, Song Qingming had long been aware of her true genius.
When he sensed Xia Mo's aura, he showed no surprise whatsoever.
Since the two rarely met and they needed to stay at sea for a while longer, Song Qingming took the initiative to talk with Xia Mo.
It must be said that Xia Mo's understanding of cultivation is indeed far beyond that of ordinary people.
Even though Song Qingming's cultivation speed had caught up with the other party's, after their discussion, he was still the one who frequently took the initiative to ask for guidance.
On Xia Mo's side, it was quite unusual that she asked Song Qingming a lot about methods to enhance a cultivator's spiritual sense.
Previously, Song Qingming had just upgraded the "Heavenly Myriad Spirits Technique" in his body to the fourth level of the Nascent Soul stage, and in terms of spiritual sense, he was now stronger than Xia Mo.
After receiving some guidance, Xia Mo also benefited a lot and began to look at him with new respect.
But apart from Song Qingming and Xia Mo, the one who gained the most from the discussion was Long Ziyun, who sat quietly to the side listening to their discourse.
Long Ziyun's cultivation had been stuck at the peak of the fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm for many years, so this opportunity to discuss the Dao with two great cultivators at the ninth level of the Nascent Soul realm was a rare one.
In addition, Song Qingming and Xia Mo answered all his questions without holding back.
After spending several months on the ship, Long Ziyun gained many insights into cultivation and felt that she had touched a bottleneck in her body.
If it weren't for the inconvenience of being on the treasure ship, and the fact that I had urgent business to attend to...
Long Ziyun wanted to find a place to go into seclusion immediately to try and see if she could break through to a higher realm.
After sailing for about two months in the open sea, the treasure ship finally arrived at a relatively calm area.
Soon a strange, eerie wind blew in, and Song Qingming, who was on the treasure ship, suddenly felt a chill in the air.
"With such a strong, eerie wind, it seems we're not far from that 'Land of Evil Spirits'."
Upon arrival, the treasure ship immediately raised a protective shield to block out the external cold winds.
Subsequently, the cultivators from the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance" on board added spirit stones to the core power array of the treasure ship, immediately accelerating its forward speed.
"Hurry up and get through here. If we get entangled with those powerful ghosts later, it'll be troublesome." (End of Chapter)