Chapter 775

The Core Formation cultivator hiding in the cave was none other than Song Song Qingming, who had already entered the inner palace for several days.

Before this, after he entered the inner palace, he did not choose to search for spiritual objects everywhere like other Core Formation cultivators, nor did he directly go to find the location of Qiu Qiu Wuxin, the target of his trip, but instead came directly here to hide.

The reason he chose this high mountain was because this place was not far from the "Wind and Thunder Palace," a place of utmost importance in the inner palace, and that was also the place Song Song Qingming had to enter next.

The "Wind and Thunder Palace" was located in the northeast corner of the inner palace and was a site of an incomparably huge ancient palace ruin. Inside, there were many various spiritual objects left behind by ancient cultivators, as well as several high-tier spiritual trees that could bear fourth-grade spiritual fruits.

But this place was shrouded in a special kind of poisonous fog all year round. Ordinary cultivators, as long as they approached and were contaminated by the poisonous fog, would immediately fall into an illusion and be unable to escape, slowly turning into withered bones in the poisonous fog.

Even Nascent Soul cultivators standing at the pinnacle of the cultivation world usually found it difficult to forcibly break through the poisonous fog outside and enter the "Wind and Thunder Palace" directly.

Only every hundred years, when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the secret realm was at its densest, would the poisonous fog around the "Wind and Thunder Palace" actively dissipate, revealing the true appearance of the palace.

At that time, cultivators entering the secret realm could directly enter the palace to loot the high-tier spiritual objects inside. This was also the reason why the entire "Wind and Thunder Island" secret realm only opened once every hundred years.

Because he knew that "Falling Maple Valley" would not only send Qiu Qiu Wuxin this time, but also have many other Core Formation cultivators accompanying him, it would be very difficult for Song Song Qingming alone to succeed, even with Chen Chen Shutian as an inside agent.

To ensure the success of this operation, before Song Song Qingming headed to "Wind and Thunder Island," Chen Chen Shutian and Feng He had already agreed with him to choose to take action against Qiu Qiu Wuxin in the "Wind and Thunder Palace."

The "Wind and Thunder Palace," which opened once every hundred years, would not only attract cultivators from the six major sects to compete for it, but there would also be many other small Core Formation sects and various rogue cultivators appearing here.

At that time, in order to compete for spiritual objects, the scene would inevitably be chaotic. This time was also the best opportunity for Song Song Qingming to take action.

Before entering the secret realm, Song Song Qingming also saw with his own eyes that Chen Chen Shutian and Qiu Qiu Wuxin had entered together; the two of them must be acting together now.

As long as Chen Chen Shutian could seize the opportunity to accurately provide him with Qiu Qiu Wuxin's location, Song Song Qingming would have a great chance to take advantage of the chaos to take action and directly kill the opponent.

Knowing that there were Core Formation cultivators everywhere in the inner palace, Song Song Qingming did not want to take the initiative to compete with them for spiritual objects and invite trouble.

Therefore, he came to a place not far from the "Wind and Thunder Palace" to hide, using this rare opportunity to cultivate the "Tongtian Wanling Jue" while waiting for the time when the "Wind and Thunder Palace" would open.

At first, for several days in a row, there was no movement in the vicinity.

It was not until today that several groups of Core Formation cultivators suddenly appeared one after another, passing by the vicinity and heading directly toward the location of the "Wind and Thunder Palace."

These cultivators all approaching at once also made Song Song Qingming immediately guess that the time for the "Wind and Thunder Palace" to open must be near.

After getting up and tidying up the things in the cave, Song Song Qingming directly removed the formation at the entrance, then took out the "Phantom Boat," transformed into a streak of light, and disappeared above the high mountain.

The place where Song Song Qingming was hiding was only a few dozen miles away from the "Wind and Thunder Palace." Before long, he saw a vast expanse of white fog appear in the distance and hurriedly landed the flying boat, stopping at a place relatively far from the white fog.

At this time, there were already many cultivators stopped here around the white fog. Song Song Qingming scanned roughly and found that there were already twenty or thirty people.

These people were, without exception, powerhouses whose cultivation had already reached the Core Formation stage, and among them, there were not many early-stage Core Formation cultivators; most of them had cultivation at the mid-stage of Core Formation or above.

These people stood scattered in groups of two or three around, some talking to each other, and some staring tightly at the white fog filling the sky not far away.

Noticing that another cultivator had arrived here, five or six cultivators nearby immediately cast their gazes toward Song Song Qingming's location. When they saw that Song Song Qingming had actually come alone, their expressions immediately revealed a hint of surprise.

One of the white-robed middle-aged men who was relatively tall scanned Song Song Qingming and couldn't help but ask his companion to the side: "Who is this person? He dares to come and break into the Wind and Thunder Palace alone!"

"Heh! I guess he got separated from his companions after coming in, or he was unlucky enough to run into people from the six major sects and died at their hands. Now only he is left alone."

"Not bad! This person's cultivation has already reached the eighth layer of Core Formation; his strength should not be weak. It's not impossible for him to have dodged the pursuit of the six major sects. He must have been lucky to have survived until here."

Hearing the explanation from his two companions beside him, the white-robed middle-aged man rolled his eyes and said again:

"Fellow Daoists, this person has come here alone now; I'm afraid he is already terrified in his heart. As long as we are willing to step forward and win him over, there's an eighty percent chance he will agree."

"Entering the Wind and Thunder Palace next is definitely going to be a tough battle for us. If we can have this person join, we can also gain a great boost. If you two also have this intention, I am willing to go and talk to him. What do you think?"

Hearing the suggestion from the white-robed middle-aged man, the two beside him immediately revealed a hint of hesitation. After a long while, one of them said slowly: "Brother Xue's proposal does indeed make some sense."

"However, this person's cultivation is not low, but we don't know what his background is. Rashly traveling with him is afraid to be somewhat unreliable."

"Moreover, he came here alone; it is highly likely that he has encountered people from the six major sects before. If this person has offended them, we might be implicated because of this."

"We are just a few people who want to come in and try our luck. Whether there is one more person or one less person doesn't have that much influence. I think it's better not to deal with this kind of person rashly."

After speaking, this companion also gave the white-robed middle-aged man a meaningful look, seemingly still having some doubts about the suggestion he suddenly made.

"Hmm, heh, since I said so, if you two fellow Daoists feel it's inappropriate, then let's drop this matter. Let's not worry about him and go in according to our original agreement!"

Feeling that both companions did not approve of this, the white-robed middle-aged man immediately smiled and shook his head, dispelling the original idea in his heart and withdrawing his gaze from Song Song Qingming's side.

When these few people were talking, they were all using secret techniques to transmit sound. Song Song Qingming, standing in the distance, did not know what they were discussing about him just now.

After landing, he carefully looked around. Seeing that the surrounding people were all rogue cultivator Core Formation practitioners and that he did not find people from the six major sects, Song Song Qingming slowly felt relieved and took a bamboo hat out of his storage bag and put it on his head.

These people around did not pay too much attention to Song Song Qingming, who had come alone. Basically, everyone looked at Song Song Qingming a few times, and seeing that he was not someone they were familiar with, they soon withdrew their gazes.

After standing on the spot and waiting for a while, three streaks of light suddenly flew from the horizon and landed not far in front of Song Song Qingming.

Song Song Qingming looked closely and discovered that these three people were actually people he had dealt with at the "Wind and Thunder Island" market, and his expression immediately revealed a hint of surprise.

The three who came were a young woman in white clothes, an old man with white hair and a hunched back, and finally a black-clothed woman with a charming appearance, who was also the person who had used a charm technique to compete with Song Song Qingming for the formation plate in the market back then.

Seeing these three appear, Song Song Qingming was also a bit afraid that they would recognize him and bring him some trouble next. Taking advantage of the fact that the other party had not noticed him, he took the initiative to retreat a bit further to widen the distance between them.

However, this somewhat inconspicuous move of his unexpectedly soon attracted the attention of the hunched-back old man, who looked toward his side with a hint of surprise.

"Old Qi, what's wrong?"

The young woman in white clothes standing to the side, seeing the hunched-back old man beside her suddenly look toward the position where Song Song Qingming was, asked somewhat curiously.

The hunched-back old man heard this, immediately turned around, and replied with a smile: "Nothing, we dealt with this person in the market before, but I didn't expect him to come here alone."

"Dealt with us? Could it be the person who snatched my formation plate?"

Hearing what the hunched-back old man said, combined with the cultivation aura emitted from Song Song Qingming's body, the black-clothed woman beside the two immediately thought of Song Song Qingming's figure, and her expression also revealed a hint of surprise.

At that time in the market, Song Song Qingming did not show any intention of retreating when facing the three of them. The black-clothed woman and the three had always thought that Song Song Qingming should have some background.

It was not until now, seeing Song Song Qingming actually come to "Wind and Thunder Palace" alone, that the black-clothed woman realized that her previous speculation seemed to be incorrect. Song Song Qingming should just be an ordinary rogue cultivator and not as complicated as they had imagined.

Seeing the black-clothed woman reveal a hint of displeasure toward Song Song Qingming's position, the hunched-back old man first nodded with a calm expression, then sighed and continued:

"This person has powerful spiritual sense and his cultivation is not low. Daring to come here alone, I guess he also has some confidence. It's better for us not to provoke such a person at will."

"Hmm! Old Qi is right. This person came alone, I guess he's just here to join the fun. This time we are here to snatch treasures in the secret realm; let's not miss the opportunity because of him."

Hearing the reminder from the hunched-back old man and the young woman in white clothes to the side, the black-clothed woman then withdrew her gaze and no longer paid attention to Song Song Qingming not far away.

Song Song Qingming naturally felt the gaze the three of them had cast toward him. Suspecting that the other party had already recognized his identity, he was also full of helplessness at this moment.

The hunched-back old man among the three had very profound cultivation and was a rare expert among the Core Formation cultivators Song Song Qingming had seen. Being so close, he did not feel too surprised that this person would see through his disguise.

Fortunately, after the other party discussed a few words, they soon turned their gazes away and no longer paid attention to him, and Song Song Qingming breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that the "Wind and Thunder Palace" was about to open, everyone's goal was the various high-tier spiritual objects in the ancient ruins behind the white fog. Under normal circumstances, no one would choose to look for trouble with others at this time.

After the three people in white clothes arrived here, not long after, five or six more groups of cultivators arrived one after another. These people were all rogue cultivators like the surrounding cultivators.

It was not until half a day later that six streaks of light suddenly flew from the sky, and immediately following, Qiu Qiu Wuxin brought five "Falling Maple Valley" Core Formation elders and landed from high above.

"Get further away!" Following Qiu Qiu Wuxin's angry shout, the few Core Formation cultivators who were originally standing to the side looked at each other, and although their expressions were somewhat displeased, they still hurriedly retreated to the side, giving up the position they had originally occupied to the "Falling Maple Valley" group.

The many rogue cultivators to the side, seeing the "Falling Maple Valley" cultivators suddenly appear, also had a hint of caution on their faces and soon chose to stay away from them by coincidence.

Chen Chen Shutian, who was standing behind Qiu Qiu Wuxin, hurriedly began to search in the surrounding crowd after arriving here, but after looking around, she did not find the person she most wanted to see, and a hint of doubt could not help but appear on her face.

"Junior Sister Chen, is there any friend you know who has come here?"

Seeing that Chen Chen Shutian's gaze had been searching for something, a "Falling Maple Valley" elder with sixth-layer Core Formation cultivation standing beside her asked somewhat curiously.

Chen Chen Shutian heard this, immediately withdrew her gaze, and replied with a smile: "Senior Brother Xu misunderstood. I have only just formed my Core Formation not long ago; how could I have any friends who could come here?"

"It's just that seeing so many Core Formation experts made me somewhat curious for a moment!"

Seeing that when Chen Chen Shutian spoke, there was still a hint of worry on her face, this "Falling Maple Valley" elder thought she was somewhat afraid and hurriedly smiled to comfort her:

"Heh! Junior Sister Chen, don't look at these people whose cultivation is not low; most of them are rogue cultivators, and there are not many who are truly capable."

"And we people from the six major sects have long had an agreement beforehand; when everyone is competing for spiritual objects, no one is allowed to kill each other."

"After we enter the Wind and Thunder Palace in a while, Junior Sister just needs to follow closely behind us, and there will certainly not be any great danger."

Hearing this, Chen Chen Shutian's expression immediately became much calmer, and then she bowed and said: "Thank you, Senior Brother Xu, for the reminder!"

Just as Chen Chen Shutian finished speaking, seven or eight more streaks of light appeared on the distant horizon, and immediately following, Xiao Xiao Haoran, who was holding a book in his hand, brought several "Qingyang Sect" cultivators and descended from the sky, stopping beside the "Falling Maple Valley" crowd.

"It's still you people from Falling Maple Valley who arrive early. You actually arrived here before us. Sect Master Luo is truly good at managing his subordinates; you can always walk ahead of us."

After landing, Xiao Xiao Haoran did not look directly at Qiu Qiu Wuxin, who was standing at the very front of the "Falling Maple Valley" crowd, but instead took the initiative to greet Sect Master Luo Liangshan to the side. This scene also made the "Falling Maple Valley" cultivators who came with him feel a hint of surprise.

Seeing that Qiu Qiu Wuxin's expression had already appeared somewhat ugly, Luo Liangshan hurriedly stood out and bowed to smooth things over: "Fellow Daoist Xiao misunderstood. The person leading our Falling Maple Valley this time is Junior Brother Qiu; I am just here to help."

"Oh! I have been in seclusion on the mountain reading books all day, so the news is indeed much blocked. I didn't even know that Fellow Daoist Qiu had already advanced to the ninth layer of Core Formation. I am truly ashamed."

After Xiao Xiao Haoran finished speaking, he turned around and bowed to Qiu Qiu Wuxin with a hint of apology.

Although he knew in his heart that Xiao Xiao Haoran saying this at the beginning was deliberately trying to embarrass him, Qiu Qiu Wuxin, having been able to cultivate to the Core Formation stage, was naturally not a person without any depth.

Although he was already very displeased with Xiao Xiao Haoran in his heart, Qiu Qiu Wuxin still showed a hint of magnanimity on his face, nodded slightly, and returned the bow to the other party.

"At the last trial assembly, it was all my fault for not holding back and letting Fellow Daoist Qiu accidentally lose. After I went back, I was always worried that you would be discouraged, and I wanted to spend time writing a letter to Falling Maple Valley to persuade you, but I was busy with other things for a while and forgot about it."

"Now seeing that you are not only not discouraged by this but have also made progress in your cultivation, it seems my worry was somewhat redundant. I can also completely set my heart at ease."

"Xiao Xiao Haoran, you are being too overbearing."

More than ten years ago, the "Tianhai Alliance" held a trial assembly, and at that time, Qiu Qiu Wuxin was miserably defeated by Xiao Xiao Haoran in the final decisive battle. For a time, the blow to him was also very great.

Because this matter happened within the "Tianhai Alliance," very few people outside knew about it.

Now that Xiao Xiao Haoran was bringing this matter up again in front of so many rogue cultivators, it immediately drew a burst of exclamations from the surroundings. Qiu Qiu Wuxin, who had still been maintaining his composure, could no longer hold back at this moment. With a movement of his magic power, a high-tier flying sword magic treasure appeared in front of him.

"Junior Brother Qiu, the Old Ancestor has said that we cannot fight with people from the Qingyang Sect. I ask you to take the sect's great mission as the priority and not fall for their provocation."

Seeing that Qiu Qiu Wuxin was about to take action, Luo Liangshan and the others standing beside him hurriedly stepped forward to block in front of him, fearing that they would really fight here and delay the important matter of entering the palace to compete for spiritual objects next.

As for Xiao Xiao Haoran's side, he kept looking at the "Falling Maple Valley" crowd, his face still carrying a hint of indifferent provocation.

"Heh! I didn't expect that we would see such a big scene just after arriving. It's truly a coincidence!"

Just when the "Qingyang Sect" and "Falling Maple Valley" were somewhat at daggers drawn, a voice came from mid-air, and before long, several sword lights descended from the sky from far to near.

"Han Feng, it's not so easy for you people from the Jade Sword Sect to want to watch the fun here!"

Seeing that the person who came was a Jade Sword Sect cultivator, Qiu Qiu Wuxin, who had originally been angry, immediately suppressed the anger in his heart and shifted his gaze to a man in white clothes who was the leader of the "Jade Sword Sect."

Han Feng saw Qiu Qiu Wuxin suddenly shift his target and stare tightly at him, and hurriedly smiled to explain:

"Fellow Daoists, rest assured, our Jade Sword Sect has always not liked to manage other people's business. No matter what happens here today, we will absolutely not intentionally spread it out. You can just do as you please."

"Hmph! You truly know how to pick the time to come. All the fun has been spoiled by you."

Xiao Xiao Haoran, seeing that Qiu Qiu Wuxin had regained his reason, immediately lost interest, took out a book, and turned around to read it by himself, no longer paying attention to the other cultivators around.

Seeing that the scene, which had been on the verge of breaking out, had suddenly become quiet again, the rogue cultivators around who were watching the fun were also very disappointed and sighed slightly.

For these rogue cultivators, if they went in to compete for spiritual objects in a while, they would certainly be hard-pressed to defeat the six major sect cultivators.

If they could fight directly outside, that would be equivalent to giving the many rogue cultivators an excellent opportunity. It's just a pity that although both sides were at daggers drawn at any time, they had no intention of really fighting.

Seeing this, the crowd, who were somewhat disappointed, also hurriedly withdrew their gazes and shifted their attention back to the white fog not far away.

After the "Jade Sword Sect" cultivators arrived, people from the remaining three Nascent Soul sects also arrived here one after another, and other rogue cultivators arrived from time to time in between.

Soon, nearly a hundred Core Formation cultivators gathered outside the white fog.

"Look, this white fog is starting to recede!"

Just when the cultivators from the last Nascent Soul sect, "Golden Glow Palace," arrived, a cultivator who was trying hard to observe the white fog in front suddenly shouted, attracting the attention of the many Core Formation cultivators at the scene.

Looking closely, they discovered that the incomparably dense white fog was indeed receding slowly as that person had said, but the speed was extremely slow, and it took a long time to retreat less than a zhang.

After about a stick of incense had passed, the speed at which the white fog receded finally began to accelerate, and the originally incomparably dense fog also became much clearer.

Not long after, following the rapid dissipation of the white fog, a huge, incomparably tall, and somewhat dilapidated giant palace slowly appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Is this the Wind and Thunder Palace?"

Seeing this tall palace appear, some cultivators who were here for the first time hurriedly asked the person beside them.

However, before that person could get a reply, a streak of light had already appeared beside him and flew toward the direction of the palace. The speed was so fast that it surprised everyone below.

The owner of this streak of light was a seventh-layer Core Formation cultivator. Because he had cultivated a relatively profound escape technique, his full-speed travel on weekdays was something even ninth-layer Core Formation cultivators might not be able to catch up with.

Therefore, he was very confident in his escape speed and wanted to use this special divine ability of his to snatch the opportunity to enter the palace and search for treasures before everyone else.

However, although his action was fast, before he had flown very far, a white light suddenly appeared in front and blocked him.

Before this person could figure out what had happened, immediately following, a huge fist suddenly appeared in front of him, blasting him hundreds of zhang away with one punch.

The owner of this fist was none other than Xiao Xiao Haoran, the number one Core Formation expert in the "Tianhai cultivation world," who had already put away the book in his hand at some unknown time.

This strike also directly shocked everyone below. They didn't expect Xiao Xiao Haoran to not only have powerful strength but also such a formidable divine ability, actually being able to shift positions across space.

"Let's go!"

After blasting the person away, Xiao Xiao Haoran did not continue to manage him. After scanning the crowd below who were still showing surprise, he led the "Qingyang Sect" cultivators who had followed him and took the lead in flying toward the palace as streaks of light.

"Go."

After the "Qingyang Sect" set off, cultivators from the other Nascent Soul sects also followed behind them one after another and flew rapidly toward the direction of the palace.

It was not until the cultivators from the six major sects had all left that the surrounding rogue cultivators, who had been intimidated by Xiao Xiao Haoran, began to transform into streaks of light one after another, rushing toward the "Wind and Thunder Palace" in the distance in groups of three or five. (End of chapter)