Chapter 1287
Defending Qingyun Mountain, Returning to Huayang Realm
"Qingyun Mountain", Huixian Pavilion.
Song Qingyu, Li Xuanyi, Song Yuanhao, Zhou Ziyang, Xu Ziyan, and others were chatting in the third-floor hall.
Suddenly, several figures appeared at the top of the stairs. Everyone quickly stood up and bowed to Bai Yuxian, who was walking in front.
"Greetings, Grand Elder!"
"Fellow junior brothers and sisters, there's no need for such formalities!"
Nodding slightly to everyone, Bai Yuxian quickly walked to the head seat and sat down, then looked at Song Qingyu sitting not far in front of her.
"Qingyu, what's the situation in the North now? Has the Celestial Fox Clan made any moves this time?"
"Reporting to Senior Sister Bai, the Ten Thousand Fox Valley has recovered its strength considerably in recent years, and recently it has frequently sent Golden Core Demon Kings south to explore the surrounding territories."
The day before yesterday, Junior Sister Xu received a message from Fellow Daoist Liu of the Wanling Sect.
The Northwest Azure-Eyed Demon Emperor has recently dispatched his demon beasts to harass the borders of the states surrounding Qin, seemingly in preparation for a southward invasion of the demon army.
We estimate that this monster uprising will likely occur quite some time earlier than planned.
"Is there any news about Junior Brother Li? Have you been able to contact him now?"
"I've already sent a message to Senior Brother Li, but I still can't get in touch with him using the communication talisman."
It seems that our senior brother has not yet returned to Donghuang Immortal Continent; we do not know where he is.
Senior Sister Bai, now that Senior Brother Song is not here, Senior Brother Li can't come back for the time being either.
If the Celestial Fox Clan really attacks ahead of schedule, with our current strength, we may not be able to protect the many surrounding territories.
Should we first send a message to the Starry Sky Sect and the Cloud Soaring Sect, asking them to abandon the frontline at Spirit Mountain and prepare in advance to concentrate their forces to defend Azure Cloud Mountain?
Upon hearing Xu Ziyan's suggestion, Bai Yuxian shook her head slightly, then spoke to the others:
"Junior Brother Song has been gone for so long, the news can no longer be kept secret. The demon race must have heard about it to some extent, which is why they want to head south ahead of schedule."
Especially at times like these, it's crucial to maintain morale.
Otherwise, if our weaknesses are easily discovered by our opponents, the demon race will surely fight to the death, which would be detrimental to our victory.
After speaking, Bai Yuxian looked up at the people from the "Xiaoyao Sect" sitting opposite her and continued:
"Rest assured, everyone. Although the Heavenly Fox Clan has recovered its strength in recent years, it is far from being at its peak."
Before he left, Junior Brother Song gave me a set of high-grade level four magic arrays. This array, when used in conjunction with four mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, can also restrain the Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor.
Next, I will personally oversee Qingyun Mountain and issue an order to all cultivators in the market: from this day forward, no one is allowed to rashly head north into the demon race's territory.
Junior Sister Xu returned to the sect first and transported the spiritual items that had been prepared in the treasury over the years to the front line.
Junior Brother Zhou should go to the Tianji Sect and the Baishui Sect and ask them to prepare in advance to head north to provide assistance.
"I've brought back all the puppets the sect brought from the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom last time. I'd appreciate it if Junior Sister Li could help me select suitable disciples to refine them, so we can prepare for battle as soon as possible."
"No matter what happens, Qingyun Mountain must never be lost."
"We obey!"
".
Since Song Qingming left Qingyun Mountain decades ago, the only cultivator with the highest cultivation level in the entire "Xiaoyao Sect" is Bai Yuxian, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
After Li Mufeng passed away a few years ago, Bai Yuxian officially took over the position of the sect's Grand Elder.
Upon hearing the order, everyone quickly bowed and accepted.
After Xu Ziyan, Zhou Ziyang, Li Xuanyi and the others left, Bai Yuxian stopped Song Qingyu, who wanted to leave with them, and led her to a separate room.
Seeing that Bai Yuxian had left him alone, he knew that the other party must have something to tell him.
After raising her hand and setting up a soundproof barrier, Song Qingyu quickly asked:
"Senior Sister Bai, is there anything else you wish to instruct me on?"
"Qingyu, leave the matters on the mountain to Junior Sister Li and Yuan Hao. You should focus on your seclusion and prepare to break through to a higher realm!"
"What? You want me to go into seclusion now? Senior Sister Bai, I'm afraid..."
Upon hearing what Bai Yuxian said, Song Qingyu looked somewhat troubled.
Since condensing her Nascent Soul at the Heavenly Sword Pavilion three hundred years ago, Song Qingyu's path to enlightenment has been remarkably smooth.
In less than three hundred years, he cultivated smoothly to the peak of the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage without encountering any setbacks.
Decades ago, after perfecting his magical power, Song Qingyu began to go into seclusion to try to break through the bottleneck of the late Nascent Soul stage.
However, when facing the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, Song Qingyu encountered the same problem as Bai Yuxian.
He attempted two consecutive closed-door breakthroughs, consuming a "Mysterious Spirit Pill" and a fourth-grade high-quality demon core, but failed to pass this hurdle both times.
Now, all the spiritual items that aided his breakthrough have been completely used up.
Song Qingyu didn't have much confidence in going into seclusion to break through her bottleneck, and a bitter look immediately appeared on her face when faced with Bai Yuxian's suggestion.
Bai Yuxian did not offer any explanation, but instead raised her hand, took out a jade box, and handed it to the other party.
"This is... a Mystic Spirit Pill. Where did Senior Sister Bai get this pill?"
"Half a year ago, I heard that Dan Yuan Valley was refining a batch of Xuanling Pills, so I went to Donghuang Kingdom in person. I obtained this pill by mortgaging half of my sect's shares in Nanzhou and exchanging them with Dan Yuan Valley."
"Half of the shares in Nanzhou were exchanged for only one Xuanling Pill."
"Isn't what Dan Yuan Valley is doing a bit excessive?"
After the "Xiaoyao Sect" became one of the top ten sects and obtained the Southern State of Donghuang Kingdom as its territory.
The entire Southern Continent generates tens of thousands of spirit stones in revenue for the "Free and Unfettered Sect" every year, making it the sect's most important industry.
Upon hearing that Bai Yuxian had mortgaged half of her shares in Nanzhou to "Danyuan Valley" in order to obtain this Xuanling Pill, it was discovered that...
Song Qingyu's face immediately showed a hint of shock, and she felt that the other party's actions were somewhat opportunistic.
Seeing Song Qingyu's surprise, Bai Yuxian quickly said, "Qingyu, don't worry. This deal was proposed by me to Danyuan Valley. It wasn't forced upon the sect by them."
I made an agreement with Danyuan Valley that if we can find a Xuanling Pill within ten years, we can regain our shares in Nanzhou.
With the monster uprising looming and Junior Brother Song absent, we can only rely on ourselves for now.
"Qingyu, I'm entrusting this pill to you."
Seeing that Bai Yuxian was about to entrust the "Mysterious Spirit Pill" to her, Song Qingyu hesitated and did not immediately accept the pill.
"Senior Sister Bai, I have already exchanged a Grade 4 High-grade Demon Core from the sect's merits, and I don't have enough merits left to exchange for a Profound Spirit Pill."
It's against the sect's rules for my senior sister to give me the elixir so directly.
Besides, now that the sect has Senior Sister Li, in addition to me, she can also break through to a higher realm.
Upon hearing Song Qingyu mention Li Xuanyi, Bai Yuxian said with a serious expression:
"The situation is critical now, and the demon army may march south ahead of schedule at any time. In times of emergency, we will not follow these rules."
I am the Grand Elder of the sect. You should listen to my arrangements for this matter and stop being so hesitant.
I will explain this to Junior Sister Li later, and the sect will find a way to compensate her in the future. You can continue your seclusion without worry.
Although Bai Yuxian had previously appeared very confident in front of his fellow disciples when facing the southward advance of the demon race.
But she also knew in her heart that with the loss of Song Qingming, a half-step Nascent Soul realm expert, the "Free and Unfettered Sect" now only had herself as a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
Although Bai Yuxian's cultivation had reached the eighth level of the Nascent Soul realm, her combat skills were not particularly outstanding.
It can only fight against ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators of the same level in the late stage, and it is difficult to defeat a half-step Divine Transformation realm expert like the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor".
In terms of combat strength among high-level cultivators, the cultivation world of the "Floating Cloud Mountains" was slightly at a disadvantage when it came to directly confronting the Northern Frontier Demon Clan led by the Heavenly Fox Clan.
In order to deal with this turmoil safely, Bai Yuxian chose to take a desperate gamble, handing over half of her shares in Nanzhou to Danyuan Valley in exchange for a "Mysterious Spirit Pill".
The goal is to cultivate another late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator for the sect.
In this way, the "Free and Unfettered Sect's" chances of defending Qingyun Mountain will be greatly enhanced.
Within the sect, apart from Li Xianyun who is away and has not yet returned, only Song Qingyu and Li Xuanyi have reached the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage.
You can take the "Mysterious Spirit Pill" and go into seclusion to break through the bottleneck of the late Nascent Soul stage.
Compared to Song Qingyu, who had already attempted to break through her cultivation level twice, Li Xuanyi's own magical power was not yet fully refined, and her cultivation foundation was much weaker.
If the "Mysterious Spirit Pill" were given to her at this time, the success rate would obviously be lower than that of Song Qingyu.
It was with this in mind that Bai Yuxian chose to give the "Mysterious Spirit Pill" to Song Qingyu, supporting her to go into seclusion and break through to a higher realm.
Seeing that Bai Yuxian had already said so much, Song Qingyu immediately let go of the last bit of burden in her heart and accepted the elixir from the other party with a firm gaze.
"Senior Sister Bai, Qingyu will do her best and not let everyone down!"
"Yes! This is the Qingyu I know."
".
After personally watching Song Qingyu enter the secluded cave, Bai Yuxian felt relieved and slowly turned around to go to another cave.
Before she could step forward, a figure quickly appeared at the entrance of the cave, none other than the "Ice and Fire Dragon" who had stayed here to cultivate.
"Huh! It's Fellow Daoist Bai. Could it be that Master has returned?"
Bai Yuxian rarely came to Qingyun Mountain before. When she saw the other party suddenly arrive, the "Ice and Fire Dragon" standing at the door thought that its master had returned and hurriedly asked with a smile.
After looking around, he couldn't find Song Qingming, and the "Icefire Dragon" immediately showed a hint of disappointment.
Meanwhile, Bai Yuxian's gaze towards the "Ice-Fire Dragon" suddenly flashed with a cold light.
That sharp, razor-sharp gaze sent a chill down the spine of the "Ice-Fire Dragon".
Only then did it remember something, and it quickly began to explain:
"Mistress, is the master not here?"
"Hmph! You're blind as a bat."
"With Junior Brother Song gone, you wretched beast have been left undisciplined all these years, and you've grown quite audacious, now even daring to stop me, your mistress."
"Please calm down, Madam. Little Jin was blind. He won't do it again!"
Faced with the powerful pressure emanating from Bai Yuxian, the Ice-Fire Flood Dragon, whose cultivation was far inferior to Bai Yuxian's, hurriedly and respectfully replied, carefully lowering his head and stepping aside.
After glaring at the other party, Bai Yuxian finally stepped into the cave.
Led by the "Ice and Fire Dragon," they arrived at the entrance of a sealed stone chamber inside.
As soon as Bai Yuxian opened the outer barrier, a person with a similar figure to Song Qingming immediately walked out from inside. It was the avatar he had left here.
Previously, when Song Qingming went out, to prevent any accidents, he arranged for his avatar to cultivate in seclusion in a stone chamber. Now, after decades of seclusion, the avatar has emerged with an even greater cultivation level, reaching the fifth level of the Nascent Soul realm.
"Huh! Why hasn't the original owner returned?"
The avatar was connected to the original nascent soul, and this avatar did not sense Song Qingming's presence nearby, which surprised it.
Upon seeing this, Bai Yuxian immediately used magic to take out an array plate from her person and placed it in front of the other party.
“Junior Brother Song is away on business and is not currently at Qingyun Mountain. With the demon race on the verge of chaos, I need you to come out and help guard Ling Mountain.”
From this day forward, I will reside here.
The array plate in Bai Yuxian's hand contains a special restriction that can limit this external avatar.
It was also given to her by Song Qingming himself before he left.
Upon seeing this object, the avatar immediately understood and bowed respectfully.
"Understood. Just tell me what you need!"
".
Seeing the unusual activity of the "Heavenly Fox Clan" in the north, they began to gather a large army of demonic beasts.
Under Bai Yuxian's personal command, the entire northern front, including "Qingyun Mountain," quickly entered a state of combat readiness ahead of schedule.
Major Nascent Soul sects such as the "Free and Unfettered Sect", "Starry Sky Sect", and "Cloud Soaring Sect" have begun to continuously send cultivators and supplies to the front lines.
What they didn't expect was that although the demon race made a lot of noise, they didn't send their main army south for a long time.
Just when the southern human cultivator army thought the other side was only bluffing and dared not easily move south.
Three years later, the demon army from the "Northern Frontier" finally began to move south on a large scale, and soon crossed the border to the vicinity of "Qingyun Mountain".
In addition to the main force of the Heavenly Fox Clan led by the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor", the neighboring "Ancient Crane Clan" also sent a large army to accompany them.
Leading the group was none other than the late-stage Nascent Soul elder of the "Ancient Crane" clan, the Thunder Crane Demon Emperor.
The two armies together numbered over 100,000 demon beasts, including as many as twenty Nascent Soul Demon Emperors, and marched straight towards "Qingyun Mountain".
On the other hand, the "Xiaoyao Sect" also concentrated nearly 100,000 main troops on "Qingyun Mountain".
Bai Yuxian, Song Qingyu, Li Xuanyi, Huang Siyuan, Zhou Ziyang, Song Yuanhao, Feng Yuan, Binghuo Jiao, "Song Qingming" avatar, and Su Mo, who has just formed his Nascent Soul.
A total of ten Nascent Soul cultivators were concentrated on the front-line battlefield.
Decades ago, after the passing of the Grand Elder Li Mufeng, four members of the "Xiaoyao Sect"—Su Mo, Yao Muling, Bai Jingyun, and Zhang Yurong—went into seclusion and attempted to break through to the Nascent Soul realm.
Both Bai Jingyun and Zhang Yurong were attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul realm for the first time, and unsurprisingly, they both failed one after the other.
Yao Muling was undergoing her second closed-door cultivation to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, and her foundation was significantly better than the previous two.
Having already successfully triggered extraordinary celestial phenomena, he unexpectedly succeeded in overcoming this challenge.
Su Mo, who was the last to go into seclusion, possessed the talent of a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Although it was his first time breaking through a realm, he unexpectedly condensed a Nascent Soul in one fell swoop.
From then on, Su Mo became the second elder of the "Xiaoyao Sect" to successfully condense a Nascent Soul in one attempt, following Song Qingming.
Su Mo and Yao Muling successfully formed their Nascent Souls, adding two more Nascent Soul elders to the "Free and Unfettered Sect".
This finally changed the embarrassing history of the sect, which had been unable to successfully form a Nascent Soul for over a hundred years, and greatly improved the sect's fortune.
In addition to the "Xiaoyao Sect", the "Xingchen Sect", "Tianji Sect", "Baishui Sect" and "Yuxiao Sect" also sent large armies north to provide support.
Six Nascent Soul cultivators—Ye Linyuan, Zheng Zitong, Wei Dongcheng, Chen Yunxiao, Cui Liang, and Qin Fengyang—also rushed to the front lines.
With the addition of the "Xiaoyao Sect" army on Qingyun Mountain, the overall number of human cultivators was not much less than that of the enemy.
However, in terms of Nascent Soul combat power, they had a few fewer people than their opponents.
After leading the demon army to the foot of Qingyun Mountain, the Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor took the lead in coming to the front of the battlefield and specifically challenged Song Qingming, who had not appeared for a long time.
But he had barely shown himself when a sharp sword intent flew from "Qingyun Mountain" and locked onto his location.
It was actually the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor," whose cultivation had reached the half-step Nascent Soul realm, who involuntarily sensed a dangerous aura and hurriedly cast a spell to release a magical treasure in front of him.
"Who is it? Could it be Song Qingming!"
"Mysterious Nether Sword Dragon!"
Just as the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" was filled with doubt, the black sword dragon instantly arrived on the battlefield, leaving him no way to dodge and forcibly activating his magic weapon to block it.
With a single blow, the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" instantly retreated dozens of feet away, and the magic weapon in front of him shattered in two.
"Song Qingyu, when did you break through to the late Nascent Soul stage?!"
With just one sword strike, the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" lost a magical artifact.
Looking at Song Qingyu in front of him, and feeling the powerful aura of the late Nascent Soul stage emanating from her, the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" was filled with disbelief.
Unexpectedly, Song Qingyu, whom I had struggled to deal with even with a casual strike back then.
In just a few hundred years, it has grown to the point where it can threaten him, a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Heh! With your skills, you can't even beat me, yet you want to challenge Brother Seven? Tianwei, do you really think you're qualified now!"
"Hmph! What arrogance! I'd like to have a go at you."
Being suppressed by Song Qingming was bad enough, but now even Song Qingyu no longer takes him seriously. This really angered the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor".
It cast a spell to reveal its true form, with its five tails transforming into sharp spears aimed at Song Qingyu's location. In a flash, it instantly appeared in front of the opponent.
Song Qingyu cultivates the way of swordsmanship, and his supernatural abilities far surpass those of other cultivators of the same level. He also possesses several powerful level-four high-grade magic treasures.
Now that his cultivation has broken through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, his strength is no less than that of a Nascent Soul level nine expert.
Even Bai Yuxian, who broke through to the late Nascent Soul stage two hundred years earlier than her, is now inferior to Song Qingyu in terms of magical abilities.
Although Song Qingyu's cultivation level was significantly lower than that of the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" in this battle, he was still able to fight him to a standstill and not be at a disadvantage.
While the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" was entangled with Song Qingyu, the other two Nascent Soul late-stage Demon Emperors who accompanied him were about to step forward to help when they were stopped by Bai Yuxian and Li Xuanyi.
The remaining Nascent Soul cultivators on both sides quickly engaged in combat.
Although Bai Yuxian and his group were not as strong as their opponents in terms of Nascent Soul combat power, they were able to make up for this disadvantage by relying on the "Qingyun Mountain" fourth-grade high-quality mountain protection formation.
The two sides were locked in a stalemate, fighting to a draw, with neither side gaining a clear advantage.
Unable to take Qingyun Mountain head-on, the Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor was not in a hurry. Instead, he began to mobilize troops to besiege other surrounding spiritual mountains, hoping to lure Bai Yuxian and the others out of the city to fight him.
However, the human cultivators were not easily fooled and decisively abandoned many low-level spiritual veins in the surrounding area, leaving only a few level-four spiritual veins to resist the demon army.
Soon, the two sides were locked in a stalemate at the "Qingyun Mountain" front for several months.
Seeing that Song Qingming had not shown up for a long time, the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" finally realized that the other party was not on Qingyun Mountain and began to concentrate his forces to besiege Qingyun Mountain.
This time, the demon race went all out, bringing in tens of thousands of troops from the rear, along with six Nascent Soul demon emperors led by the "Thousand Cloud Demon Emperor".
This large army is the last trump card of the Celestial Fox Clan.
The entire "Valley of Ten Thousand Foxes" and many surrounding demon clan forces have mobilized their entire forces.
There is also the "Azure-Eyed Demon Emperor" located in the northwest. While the main force of the army is holding back the "Ten Thousand Spirits Sect" and other sects in the west, it has also dispatched 20,000 troops to the east to reinforce "Azure Cloud Mountain".
The overwhelming force of the demon army has suddenly increased the pressure on the human cultivators on the front lines of Qingyun Mountain.
Left with no other choice, Bai Yuxian and the others disregarded the defense of their rear territory and conscripted Yao Muling, Liu Heyuan, and others to the front lines.
Major sects such as the "Free and Unfettered Sect" and the "Starry Sky Sect" have also begun to utilize their extensive resources.
High-level formations, talismans, and puppets were used. Bai Yuxian even used a high-grade fourth-level formation left by Song Qingming to help everyone stop the "Thousand Cloud Demon Emperor" whose supernatural powers had reached the half-step Nascent Soul realm.
In addition, Song Qingyu also transferred Liu Yuxin, Song Changze and others from Donghai to support the battlefield.
Even so, the human race of "Qingyun Mountain" still fell behind.
In just six months, tens of thousands of cultivators were killed or wounded on the battlefield. Even Nascent Soul experts like Yao Muling, Feng Yuan, and Zheng Zitong were seriously injured and forced to withdraw from the battlefield.
Seeing that the front line at "Qingyun Mountain" was about to be overwhelmed.
Bai Yuxian and the others could only seek help from all sides while struggling to hold on with their backs against the protective mountain formation.
Just when the human race was at a disadvantage on the battlefield, the demon army, which had besieged them for half a year, unexpectedly began to retreat north.
Overnight, the demon army retreated hundreds of miles to the north.
This left many human cultivators on Qingyun Mountain somewhat bewildered, wondering why the demon army would willingly relinquish the advantage they had just gained.
Just when Bai Yuxian and the others thought this was another trick by the demon army,
News also came from other battlefields in the west that the main force of the demon race had retreated north and returned to the heart of the "Northern Frontier".
Only at this moment did Bai Yuxian and the others finally confirm that the demon army had indeed retreated to the north.
However, there were still many low-level demonic beasts entrenched in various spiritual mountains nearby, which were quickly wiped out by the army dispatched by human cultivators.
In this great battle, the human cultivators suffered heavy casualties, and many of their territories and sacred mountains were breached by the demon race.
However, they successfully defended the "Qingyun Mountain" line, and the losses were not as great as expected. In just half a year, they successfully repelled the demon army.
Just when Bai Yuxian and the others thought that the turmoil was over.
In the heart of the northern frontier demon tribes, another unbelievable disaster struck.
The demon army that had just retreated to the "Northern Frontier" looked at the overwhelming black clouds in the northeast, and the "Heavenly Tail Demon Emperor" and others all had solemn expressions.
It was this sudden disaster that tied down the main force of the demon army.
This forced them to abandon their impending victory and retreat to the north, where they began to dedicate themselves to protecting the territories of the various tribes in the rear.
".
"Beyond the Nine Heavens," in the void beyond the boundary.
A colossal tower, thousands of feet tall, is rapidly approaching the outer membrane, passing through numerous extraterrestrial meteorites.
Located at the base of the black tower, Xia Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the white light disappear into the distance in the void ahead.
"Fellow Daoist Song, this woman belongs to the True Dragon Clan. She is not someone to be trifled with. We will need to be more careful in the future."
"It was just a fair trade, and I've already given her the item. Unless I can break through to the Nascent Soul realm, I won't be foolish enough to provoke such a powerful person again."
Having said that, Song Qingming took out a piece of purple crystal that he had just obtained.
"Fellow Daoist Xia, I would like to exchange this for some spiritual items with you?"
(Adding a few hundred words counts as an extra chapter, right?)
(As usual, I'm asking for a monthly pass. If you have one, please give me one. I would be extremely grateful! If not, that's okay too. I won't force you!) (End of Chapter)