Chapter 1366
Constructing a Grand Array, Invitation to Cooperation
"Qingyun Mountain" is located in the market town at the foot of the mountain.
The woman in purple sat alone in the restaurant, her gaze constantly sweeping across the distant view outside the window at a mountain peak that was mostly obscured by a massive magic array.
Just as the woman in purple was deep in thought, she suddenly heard a soft knock on the door, and then a middle-aged Golden Core cultivator with a short beard strode in.
Upon seeing the woman in purple, the newcomer quickly stepped forward and respectfully bowed.
"Elder, we just received a message from Immortal Phoenix Pavilion. Sect Leader Bai requests your presence for a meeting!"
"Didn't we always go to Qingyun Peak in the past? Why is it Xianfeng Tower this time?"
Upon hearing this, the woman in purple glanced at the other party with some doubt, her eyes revealing an undeniable air of authority.
One glance from him instantly exudes an invisible pressure.
The Golden Core cultivator standing there nodded nervously and quickly explained:
"Reporting to the Grand Elder! I have repeatedly confirmed with the people of the Free and Unfettered Sect that what Sect Leader Bai said is indeed the Immortal Phoenix Pavilion, there is no mistake."
In the past, when dealing with us, they would go directly to Qingyun Peak.
However, something seems to have happened on the mountain recently. The Xiaoyao Sect issued an order several years ago that no outside cultivators are allowed to approach the area.
As you know, the Enforcement Hall of the Xiaoyao Sect has always been strict in its actions.
For fear of being misunderstood, we dared not inquire about this matter rashly.
"Okay! I understand. You can go ahead and get busy."
Seemingly having thought of something, the woman in purple pondered for a moment and then waved her hand slightly, dismissing the person who had come.
Only after walking a short distance out of the private room did the middle-aged Golden Core cultivator finally breathe a sigh of relief and wipe the bead of sweat from his forehead.
".
Half an hour later, on the top floor of the "Fairy Phoenix Tower".
As several disciples of the "Free and Unfettered Sect" pushed open the door, a figure in purple immediately appeared at the entrance.
"Fellow Daoist Long, it's been a long time! It's been a long time!"
"Master Bai!"
"Oh, Fellow Daoist Huang, Fellow Daoist Qingyu, I didn't know you two were here too. I apologize for my rudeness."
In the room, besides Bai Yuxian, the leader of the "Xiaoyao Sect", Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan were also sitting.
Upon seeing the two, Long Ziyun showed a slight surprise and quickly stepped forward to offer a bow.
Seeing this, Huang Siyuan quickly stepped forward, cupped her hands in return, and said, "Fellow Daoist Ziyun is an honored guest at Qingyun Mountain, there is no need to be so polite with us."
"I remember the last time we met was when the sword tournament was held at Qingyun Mountain. I didn't expect that only a hundred years have passed and Sister Ziyun's cultivation has improved a lot."
"Compared to Sister Qingyu, Ziyun's cultivation level is nothing to brag about."
Over the years, I've heard that my sister went on a journey with Fellow Daoist Li. I never imagined that Sister Qingyu had already broken through to the half-step Nascent Soul realm. Ziyun truly feels ashamed.
After taking over the "Four Seas Business Alliance", Long Ziyun, as the Grand Elder of the Business Alliance, naturally had no shortage of ordinary cultivation resources.
More than a hundred years ago, when the Donghuang Sword Tournament was held, her cultivation had only recently advanced to the eighth level of the Nascent Soul stage.
Long Ziyun, who is visiting Qingyun Mountain again, has already reached the ninth level of the Nascent Soul realm, catching up with Huang Siyuan, who broke through to the late Nascent Soul stage earlier than her.
Although Song Qingyu, Huang Siyuan, and the others had only just learned of this, they were not too surprised.
On the contrary, when Long Ziyun saw Song Qingyu, who had already stepped into the half-step Nascent Soul realm, her face showed a clear hint of surprise.
It should be understood that although the late Nascent Soul stage and the half-step Divine Transformation stage are only one step apart, they are bottlenecks that many great cultivators in the cultivation world can hardly reach in their entire lives.
In the cultivation world, on average, only one out of three or four late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators can successfully complete "Qi Tempering" and break through to the half-step Divine Transformation realm.
Song Qingyu advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage in just over four hundred years, yet she was able to advance to the half-step Divine Transformation stage so quickly.
Now, like Bai Yuxian, she has a glimmer of hope to break through to the Nascent Soul realm.
Long Ziyun, who was also a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, couldn't help but feel a hint of envy when she saw Song Qingyu.
Both Bai Yuxian and Song Qingyu had Song Qingming, a Nascent Soul cultivator who had reached the pinnacle of the cultivation world, standing behind them.
Even if the other party didn't say it, anyone with eyes could see that the two of them were able to break through to the half-step Nascent Soul realm so quickly and smoothly, which was inseparable from the support of him, the Nascent Soul Ancestor.
If she had the same opportunity, Long Ziyun believed that with her talent, she would not lose to Song Qingyu in front of her.
Unfortunately, her master, "Jin Chen Dao Ren," failed to achieve the Nascent Soul stage back then, and now, if she wants to take it a step further, she can only rely on herself.
".
"Fellow Daoist Long, you must be tired from your long journey. Please come and have a seat!"
After exchanging greetings, Bai Yuxian, as the sect leader, invited them to sit down and had someone pour Long Ziyun a cup of spiritual tea.
After taking a sip of the spiritual tea, Bai Yuxian raised her hand to dismiss the disciples serving her and had them close the door to the private room.
Seeing that only the four of them remained, Bai Yuxian and Long Ziyun took the initiative to speak:
"Fellow Daoist Long, I have specially invited you, Junior Sister Huang, and Qingyu here today to discuss the matter of constructing the teleportation array that we mentioned before."
I have informed Qingyu, Junior Sister Huang, and myself about this matter, and the sect has basically reached a consensus.
Building the teleportation array requires a considerable amount of high-grade Xuan Kong Stones. Currently, our Xiaoyao Sect has only collected a portion, which is still far from meeting the required amount.
Your alliance and our sect have cooperated before. If your Four Seas Merchant Alliance is willing to cooperate, I think this matter should not be a big problem.
"Fellow Daoist Long, would you be interested in cooperating with our sect to accomplish this matter?"
Since Song Qingming advanced to the Nascent Soul realm several hundred years ago, the Floating Cloud Mountain Range, under the leadership of the Free and Unfettered Sect, not only eliminated the demonic threat but also completely rid itself of the threat from the northern demon race.
Now, after hundreds of years of development, the many spiritual mountains to the east of the "Floating Cloud Mountains" have been completely controlled by the Xiaoyao Sect.
In order to avoid the sharp edge of human cultivators, the many demon emperors who occupied the northern part of Qin State in the west, led by the "Azure-Eyed Demon Emperor", also voluntarily gave up a lot of territory.
The cultivation world of the entire "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" has now been recuperating for hundreds of years.
Not only has the number of cultivators increased by 50% to 60%, but there are now 18 Nascent Soul forces alone, surpassing the cultivation world of the neighboring East Sea.
Compared to hundreds of years ago, there have been earth-shattering changes.
However, the cultivation world of the "Floating Cloud Mountains" is located in a remote place, and its number of cultivators and the prosperity of its major markets are far inferior to those of the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom," which has been developing for tens of thousands of years.
The only large market town they could boast of was "Qingyun Mountain" right beneath their feet.
Although the cultivation world in the "Floating Cloud Mountains" seems to have developed rapidly in recent years, with a significant increase in the number of cultivators.
However, due to the barrier of the "Illusory Sea Desert" to the west, it has been unable to establish more contact with the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom," and only a small number of high-level cultivators can travel between the two sides.
The development of the cultivation world in the "Floating Cloud Mountains" has gradually slowed down and has reached a bottleneck.
Despite possessing numerous sacred mountains and spiritual lands, one area remains vacant, failing to attract many cultivators from the outside world.
If cultivators from our own sect want to go out, they also need to cross the extremely dangerous "Illusory Sea Desert," which makes travel very inconvenient.
In order to break the current awkward situation, Bai Yuxian and the cultivators in the sect discussed it and came up with the idea of building a large teleportation array between the "Floating Cloud Mountain Range" and the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom.
It is used to connect the cultivation worlds of the two places, allowing more low-level cultivators to travel between them quickly.
However, the Xiaoyao Sect did not have much experience in building large teleportation arrays, so Bai Yuxian thought of partnering with the Four Seas Merchant Alliance.
They specially invited Long Ziyun, who was far away in "Lei Yuanhai," to come and discuss this matter.
The "Four Seas Merchant Alliance" has preserved blueprints for building large-scale teleportation arrays, and thus possesses considerable experience in this area.
Hundreds of years ago, the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance" had already built an intercontinental teleportation array in the cultivation world of the East Sea, connecting the "Thunder Origin Sea" and the "East Phoenix Immortal Continent".
A few years ago, the "Xiaoyao Sect" built a medium-sized teleportation array connecting to the East Sea in the Duanyun Mountains to the east.
Long Ziyun once accepted Bai Yuxian's invitation and specially sent an elder from the Merchant Alliance to help with guidance.
Bai Yuxian specially invited her to Qingyun Mountain because she valued this aspect of her and wanted to use the "Four Seas Merchant Alliance" to help her quickly build this large teleportation array.
As long as Long Ziyun is willing to cooperate, and with the current enormous financial resources of the "Xiaoyao Sect", it shouldn't be long before the teleportation array is successfully built.
Upon hearing that the other party wanted her to cooperate in building a large teleportation array, Long Ziyun did not nod rashly.
After a moment of silence, he cupped his hands and explained:
"Master Bai and the two sisters are all good friends of Zi Yun, and Senior Song is someone who has been kind to me."
If there is anything we can do to help, our Four Seas Business Alliance will certainly not refuse.
However, what you may not know is that the Merchant Alliance doesn't have many high-grade Xuan Kong Stones stored within its reserves, and we probably don't have many of these left either.
"Oh! Fellow Daoist Long, where did you get the high-grade Xuan Kong Stones that you used to build the East Sea Teleportation Array back then?"
To construct a large teleportation array, in addition to blueprints and array masters, the most important material is high-grade "Mystic Void Stone".
This item is extremely rare. The entire "Eastern Phoenix Immortal Continent" Bai Yuxian searched for more than ten years and only found half of the required high-grade Xuan Kong Stone.
I thought the "Four Seas Business Alliance" would have a way to find this item, but it seems that Long Ziyun also has quite a few difficulties.
Faced with Bai Yuxian's persistent questioning, Long Ziyun finally spoke slowly:
"There is only one Xuan Kong Stone mine in the entire Lei Yuan Sea, which is controlled by a vassal sect under the Seven Profound Palace. Ordinary cultivators simply cannot purchase it."
Back when the East Sea Teleportation Array was being built, it was because my master had some connections with an elder of the Seven Mysteries Palace that we were able to purchase high-grade Xuan Kong Stones from them.
Now that the elder who was on good terms with us has passed away, it may be difficult to accomplish this.
Unless Senior Song is willing to intervene, I don't think the Seven Mysteries Palace will make things too difficult for us.
"The Xuan Kong Stone is in the hands of the Seven Mysteries Palace, so it seems we can only ask my husband to intervene!"
Upon hearing the name "Seven Mysteries Palace," Huang Siyuan immediately understood and nodded to Long Ziyun.
The Seven Mysteries Palace is a Nascent Soul sect under Lei Yuanhai, far superior to Nascent Soul forces like the Four Seas Merchant Alliance.
Unless Song Qingming, the Nascent Soul Ancestor, personally intervenes, it will be extremely difficult for Bai Yuxian, Long Ziyun, and the others present to persuade them. Bai Yuxian nodded slightly upon hearing this.
"I'll trouble you with this matter, Junior Sister Huang. Please go and discuss it with Junior Brother Song first."
If that doesn't work, we'll think of other ways to go to Zhongyuan Immortal Continent or other places. The teleportation array is crucial to the sect's development, so we must find a way to build it as soon as possible.
"Fellow Daoist Long, how many Xuan Kong Stones does your merchant alliance have? Why not bring them all over first, and we can discuss other matters later."
"Hmm! Since Sect Leader Bai is willing to resolve this matter, I will immediately send a message to the elders of the alliance and ask them to bring over all the Xuan Kong Stones stored in the treasury."
I also have some experience in surveying ley lines, so I can help you find a suitable location to build a teleportation array.
Besides the necessary blueprints and materials, building a large teleportation array also requires selecting a suitable location based on the ley lines; it's not something that can be done just by finding any place.
After Long Ziyun sent the message, she, Bai Yuxian, and Song Qingyu began searching on the map for a suitable place to build a teleportation array.
After careful selection, the group decided to temporarily place the "teleportation array" on Golden Feather Mountain in the south.
Golden Feather Mountain is a mid-grade level four spiritual vein, and it is also a spiritual mountain of considerable quality in this "Floating Cloud Mountain Range".
There is still a medium-sized market town on the mountain, where many cultivators and mortals gather.
There is also a teleportation array connecting the northern "Qingyun Mountain" and the southern Wei Kingdom, which is the perfect place to use as a large teleportation array.
Aside from the "Floating Cloud Mountains" side, the other end of the teleportation array was located in the Southern State of the "Eastern Phoenix Kingdom" as determined by Bai Yuxian.
Nanzhou has been affiliated with the "Xiaoyao Sect" for many years. Although it is not as prosperous as the top-ranked continents, it has many spiritual veins of level four or above.
Once the teleportation array connecting the two places is built, the "Xiaoyao Sect" will also be able to strengthen its control over the vassal sects on the other side.
".
Outside the cave on the mountaintop, the strange phenomena in the heavens and earth above had long since dissipated.
However, the barrier array at the entrance prevented them from seeing what was inside.
As Huang Siyuan cast the spell on the "transmission talisman" in her hand and was about to turn and leave, a familiar voice suddenly came from within the restriction array.
"But Siyuan needs to see me?"
".
Just as Huang Siyuan looked up, she saw the restrictive array in front of her slowly dissipate, and the stone door of the cave, which had been tightly closed, opened on its own.
Seeing this, Huang Siyuan smiled slightly and quickly walked forward.
As soon as she arrived at the main hall of the cave, a figure was already waiting in front of her; it was Song Qingming, who had been in seclusion for a long time.
"My husband, you've finally emerged from seclusion."
"Over the years, Xuan Yi and I have sent you so many communication talismans, but we haven't received a reply. We were worried that you might have encountered some trouble."
"I broke through my cultivation level several years ago, but I was so engrossed in my cultivation that it took me a while to recover."
I saw the messages you sent me. Has Xuan Yi already gone to Jade Mystic Island?
Twenty years ago, Song Qingming obtained three bottles of "Dragon Jade Spirit Water" from Ao Xing. After a long period of seclusion, he has successfully refined all the spirit water he obtained.
Five years ago, Song Qingming's cultivation had already triggered a celestial phenomenon, allowing him to successfully break through to a higher realm.
He didn't leave seclusion early because the spiritual water in his body hadn't been completely refined yet. He only left the secluded stone chamber after refining all the spiritual water.
Song Qingming, who is now standing in front of Huang Siyuan, has reached the third level of the Nascent Soul realm.
She could also clearly sense that the aura emanating from the other person had changed significantly compared to before their seclusion.
"Since you haven't replied to my messages, Xuan Yi was worried that something might have happened on Yu Xuan Island, so she took Yuan Hao and Xiao Yue and the others to Donghuang Kingdom first."
Don't worry, we have already notified the Demon-Slaying Palace and the Heavenly Imperial Sect about this matter, and they have sent people to investigate.
"By the time Xuan Yi gets there, she'll probably know the result. It's likely some foolish demonic cultivator causing trouble nearby again."
After the sealing array of "Jade Profound Island" was reinforced, Chen Qingxuan and Song Qingming left the island, entrusting the task of guarding the array to the Nascent Soul cultivators below.
Without the presence of Nascent Soul cultivators, traces of low-level demonic cultivators have appeared around Jade Profound Island in recent years.
Two years ago, a treasure ship of the "Five Thunder Sect" fully loaded with supplies was suddenly attacked in the waters near "Jade Profound Island".
None of the hundreds of monks on board survived; they were all killed at sea.
The garrisoned cultivators, thinking that some powerful demon had appeared nearby, used a high-level jade talisman left on the island to send the message to "Qingyun Mountain".
Fearing that something might happen on the "island," Li Xuanyi personally led Song Yuanhao and other elders of the sect to Donghuang Kingdom to investigate the matter.
He intended to tell Song Qingming about this before leaving, but Song Qingming was busy in seclusion at the time and did not receive the message in time.
This is not the first time in the last hundred years or so that "Qingyun Mountain" has received a message from "Yuxuan Island".
However, after investigation, it was found that they were mostly Golden Core and Nascent Soul level demons operating within the Donghuang Kingdom.
These demonic cultivators were of limited strength and posed no threat whatsoever to the sealing formation on the island.
Upon hearing Huang Siyuan say that Li Xuanyi had already led people to "Yuxuan Island", Song Qingming nodded slightly, not paying too much attention to it.
"By the way! Did you come all this way to see me because of something urgent?"
"When we went out together last time, didn't Senior Sister Bai say that she wanted to build a large teleportation array to connect to the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom?"
We've run into some problems and might need your help to resolve them.
"I almost forgot about building the teleportation array connecting to the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom. How is the sect's preparation going? Is there anything I can help with?"
".
Decades ago, when Song Qingming traveled with Bai Yuxian and Huang Siyuan, he had already heard them mention the idea of building a large "teleportation array".
Song Qingming wholeheartedly agreed and entrusted the matter entirely to Bai Yuxian.
Now that he has heard that the other party has encountered some trouble, he, as the patriarch of the sect, should naturally step forward to resolve the matter without hesitation.
After learning from Huang Siyuan that they lacked high-grade "Mysterious Void Stones", Song Qingming immediately went to "Lei Yuanhai" in person.
Upon seeing that Song Qingming, the Nascent Soul Ancestor, had taken the initiative to come to their door, Yu Zhenzi, the Supreme Elder of the Seven Mysteries Palace, immediately came out of his secluded cave to personally greet him.
The two had worked together to help "Grandma Golden Moon" set up a formation to stabilize the spatial nodes in the open sea, so they had a period of friendship.
Now that they meet again, "Yu Zhenzi" is very enthusiastic and invites Song Qingming into the house.
To entertain his long-lost friend, "Yu Zhenzi" even brought out his treasured premium spirit wine and invited Song Qingming to drink with him.
Although Yu Zhenzi reached the Nascent Soul stage nearly a thousand years earlier than Song Qingming, their current cultivation levels are not much different, both remaining at the third level of the Nascent Soul stage.
The two enjoyed wine and conversation, and also took the opportunity to ask each other for advice on their respective paths of cultivation.
Seeing that Song Qingming's cultivation had caught up with his own so quickly, "Yu Zhenzi" was also a little curious and subtly probed him during their conversation.
However, Song Qingming did not want to reveal his cultivation secrets to him, and deliberately attributed all the credit to his master, "Ling Xuzi".
They didn't get any useful information from the "Yu Zhenzi" in front of them.
".
After exchanging words, the two learned that Song Qingming had come to trade for a high-grade "Mysterious Void Stone".
Knowing that the other party wanted to build a large teleportation array, Yu Zhenzi did not make things difficult for Song Qingming and agreed to the matter on the spot.
Moreover, "Yu Zhenzi" not only readily agreed to the deal, but also sold the item to him directly at the market standard price.
He had no intention whatsoever of taking advantage of Song Qingming.
This meant that Song Qingming, who had expected to have to haggle with the other party, didn't have to use any of his prepared arguments.
He obtained the high-level "Mystic Void Stone" he wanted on this trip with almost no effort.
Just as Song Qingming was about to get up and take his leave after the deal was completed, "Yu Zhenzi" in front of him suddenly smiled and reached out to stop him.
"Fellow Daoist Song, please don't be in a hurry. I have something important on my mind that I would like to discuss with you in person. Please sit for a while longer."
"Oh! May I ask if there is anything else urgent, fellow Daoist? Please speak freely!"
Faced with "Yu Zhenzi" taking the initiative to ask him to stay, Song Qingming, who had just made a deal with the other party, naturally couldn't refuse directly, so he sat back down in his chair.
He thought to himself, "No wonder the other party agreed to that deal so readily."
It turns out this guy had been hiding something all along, waiting for me here.
After calming the other person down to sit, "Yu Zhenzi" glanced around and then placed a soundproof barrier in front of them.
Seeing how cautious the other party was, Song Qingming was also a little curious about what important matter the other party wanted him to help with.
"To be honest, Fellow Daoist Song, the reason I've kept you here is because there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
If this succeeds, both of us should benefit greatly, and our chances of advancing to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm will increase significantly.
"Oh! What good news is it? Fellow Daoist, why don't you tell me?"
"If such a good opportunity truly exists, how could I, Song, possibly miss it?"
Upon hearing what "Yu Zhenzi" said, Song Qingming's expression became more serious, and he looked at the other person with anticipation in his eyes.
Seeing this, "Yu Zhenzi" stroked his mustache and continued:
"Fellow Daoist Song, please listen to me. Several hundred years ago, when I was searching for spiritual objects in the outer sea, I happened to find a manuscript left by an ancient cultivator."
After years of research, I found a record of a secret realm left behind by ancient cultivators.
The reason I specifically asked Fellow Daoist Song to stay is to invite you to cooperate.
When the time is right, come with me to explore this secret realm. (End of Chapter)