Eastern Phoenix Kingdom, southeast of Yuezhou.
After entering Yuezhou, the marketplaces and towns along the way were basically all shut tight.
They occasionally encountered a few low-level cultivators, but they too were racing northward. The farther south they went, the less sign of human habitation there was.
Just as a towering mountain that pierced the clouds appeared ahead and the group prepared to circle around it, two streaks of light suddenly appeared before them.
"Nascent Soul Cultivators!"
Seeing that the newcomers' auras had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, everyone voluntarily slowed their flight. Soon, a somewhat familiar voice reached Song Qingming's ears.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Song. Welcome, everyone from the Floating Cloud Mountain Range!"
"So it is Fellow Daoist Zhu. It has been many years since we last met. Long time no see."
The man at the forefront had cultivation at the Nascent Soul Sixth Layer. He wore a green robe, had a short beard, and a faint smile on his face.
He was Zhu Qizheng, the Nascent Soul Elder of the Demon Quelling Palace who had once quelled the Demonic Calamity alongside Song Qingming and formed some friendship with him.
Beside Zhu Qizheng stood a burly man in green robes, whose cultivation had likewise reached the Nascent Soul Fourth Layer.
"More than a hundred years have passed since our last meeting. I heard that Fellow Daoist Song has undergone Vitality Tempering and advanced into the Half-step Spirit Transformation Realm. This is truly cause for celebration.
Compared to a heaven-blessed genius like Fellow Daoist Song, we have cultivated for years without advancing an inch. It is truly shameful."
When they had gone to the Qiyun Cultivation World to quell the Demonic Calamity, there had not been much difference between Zhu Qizheng's cultivation and Song Qingming's. Both had still been in