Staring at the door, Song Changsheng felt a deep unease in his heart. He was terrified that the moment he pushed it open, he would be met with a reality too cruel to accept.
Song Xianyun was not only a pillar of strength for him but also an irreplaceable figure for the entire Wangyue Song Clan. If anything were to happen to him, it would be nothing short of a catastrophe for the family.
Taking a deep breath, Song Changsheng slowly pushed the door open.
Creak…
As the courtyard door swung open, Song Changsheng stepped into the main residence, where two young clan members were standing guard outside the master bedroom.
"Young Lord?"
The two were surprised to see him, then quickly became excited. Song Changsheng was now a household name.
He had once been known only within the clan and perhaps throughout Lingzhou, but now, his reputation had spread across most of the Great Qi cultivation world and was still growing.
After all, his accomplishments were truly legendary.
Young cultivators admired strength. Though Song Changsheng had been away from the clan for nearly two years, his prestige had only grown in his absence; he had become the clan's new spiritual cornerstone.
"How is the Grand Elder?"
Song Changsheng asked, still unaware of how much things had changed.
The two exchanged glances. One of them replied respectfully,
"Reporting to the Young Lord, the Grand Elder is in very poor condition. He instructed us to have you see him as soon as you returned."
Hearing this, Song Changsheng's heart sank. The news couldn't be worse.
"Open the door."
Song Changsheng stepped into the room, and a wave of biting cold washed over him, making him frown immediately.
"They even brought out the Ten-Thousand-Year Icebed… Has it gotten that bad?"
He quickly walked over to the bed, which was forged from pure ice. The piercing chill emanating from it was almost unbearable. It was a treasure brought by their founding ancestor, Song Taiyi, from the main family, a rare artifact capable of suppressing internal injuries.
Only a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Song Xianyun could lie on it directly. Any mortal that came this close would've already been frozen into a statue. Even so, Song Xianyun's face was pale as paper.
Song Changsheng sat by the bed. He could feel just how weak Song Xianyun was now. Thankfully, the fire of life still burned strong; he wasn't at death's door yet, which gave Song Changsheng a bit of relief.
The clan couldn't afford to lose the Grand Elder. He was like the right hand of the entire family.
Holding the elder's frail hand, Song Changsheng softly called out:
"Twenty-First Grandpa... Twenty-First Grandpa…"
Before long, Song Xianyun slowly awoke from his deep sleep. Opening his eyes, he looked at the now-mature face before him, and a faint smile appeared on his pale features.
"You've returned?"
Song Changsheng nodded.
"I'm back. How are you feeling?"
"My injuries aren't fatal… just a bit troublesome. But I won't be able to handle clan affairs for a while. Luckily, you've returned."
His voice was labored, each word followed by heavy breaths.
"Who did this?"
Though Song Changsheng's tone was calm, it was laced with killing intent that chilled the soul.
"It was about a month ago. Your uncle and I joined the Xiangzhou Rong Clan in an ambush against Yu Chengbo and his party. Everything was going smoothly, and we had the upper hand in terms of strength.
But just as we were closing in, Mao Wuwei detonated his spiritual energy and self-destructed. At the time, I was attacking him along with two Rong Clan cultivators.
Though we had been warned by your uncle, the distance was too short. One of the Rong cultivators was killed on the spot, the other heavily injured, and I was gravely wounded as well."
Song Xianyun's expression turned bleak. No one had expected Mao Wuwei to make such a decisive move.
In the world of cultivation, when a cultivator died, their soul and true spirit would return to the cycle of reincarnation. Even if the soul was shattered, as long as the true spirit remained intact, there was still a chance of rebirth.
Thus, an unspoken rule among cultivators was to never destroy the true spirit; violators were considered heretical and evil. Of course, very few followed this rule.
Everyone understood the idea of "cutting the grass and digging out the roots." If you left any room for revival, trouble would come back eventually. Most cultivators just avoided making it obvious.
But self-detonation was a different matter. It was a final, desperate move that consumed both the soul and true spirit in exchange for a devastating explosion. As a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, Mao Wuwei's self-destruction had enough power to seriously threaten even a Purple Mansion expert, let alone Foundation-level opponents.
It was a miracle that Song Xianyun had survived at all.
"Fortunately, Yu Chengbo and He Beishui fared even worse than I did; their injuries were even more severe. They won't be recovering for several years. So, in the end, the mission was a success."
At this point, a faint smile appeared on Song Xianyun's face. For the foreseeable future, the Lieyang Sect would no longer have the energy to meddle in Lingzhou's affairs. For the Song Clan, that was excellent news.
Song Changsheng fell silent. After all, this plan had been orchestrated largely by him. Song Xianyun's injuries could be seen as a direct consequence of his initiative.
As if sensing his thoughts, Song Xianyun chuckled softly and said,
"To sacrifice myself for the clan is my honor. Cough, cough..."
Suddenly, a violent coughing fit seized him, his chest heaving as if he were struggling for every breath.
Song Changsheng's heart clenched. He quickly sent a stream of spiritual energy into his elder's body. As the energy flowed, Song Xianyun gradually calmed, and a bit of color returned to his pale face.
"Why does your spiritual energy carry such powerful vitality? Did you burn your life force?"
Song Xianyun suddenly pushed his hand away, his expression dark as he questioned sharply.
Song Changsheng blinked in confusion.
"Burned my life force?"
"You're a water-fire attribute cultivator who later converted to yin-yang. If you haven't burned your life essence, how can your spiritual energy be so full of vitality?"
Song Xianyun looked at him skeptically. It just didn't make sense.
Song Changsheng knew his grandfather wouldn't make baseless claims. If he hadn't sacrificed his life force, but the vitality was still there, then there could only be one explanation: something had changed in his spiritual energy.
He extended his right hand and condensed a thread of energy at his fingertip. The spiritual energy appeared as the usual black-and-white of yin and yang, no different from before. But upon closer inspection, there was indeed a powerful surge of life energy within it.
"What… What is this?"
Song Changsheng was stunned. Why did his spiritual energy now contain such overwhelming vitality?
Song Xianyun also noticed the anomaly.
"You don't know what happened?"
He paused for a moment, then asked,
"Have you come into contact with any treasures related to the Law of Life recently?"
"No, I"
Song Changsheng instinctively denied it, but then his expression shifted.
Now that he thought about it… in the Qiantian Secret Realm, hadn't he come across that mysterious plant?
Seeing his expression change, Song Xianyun understood immediately and smiled.
"Whatever the reason, this change doesn't seem to be a bad thing. After you injected spiritual energy just now, I felt much better."
Hearing that, Song Changsheng finally relaxed a little.
"You're right… This could be a good thing."
"Then let me give you a bit more."
But Song Xianyun raised his hand and stopped him.
"No need. Your spiritual energy is effective, yes, but it's not a miracle cure. Overuse will make it lose its potency.
Sit down. There are things I need to entrust to you."
"I'm listening, Grandfather."
Song Changsheng respectfully sat down.
"First, the matter of clan administration. I can no longer handle official duties, and your uncle has gone into closed-door cultivation again. All clan affairs have been dumped on Lu Zhou and Lu Yao. I need you to take over for a while.
Also, the Azure Sky White Jade Pill has worked better than expected. I should be able to fully recover within a year. Once I do, I'll begin preparing for my breakthrough to the Purple Mansion stage. The clan has already started gathering the necessary materials for it. This is currently the clan's top priority.
Furthermore, the envoys from the Lu branch are already on the road and could arrive any day now. You'll be in charge of receiving them and distributing the Foundation Establishment Pills.
Lastly, keep an eye on the Earthfire Sect. They've been unusually quiet lately. When things are abnormally quiet, something's usually brewing. Chang Wudao is an ambitious man. Don't let your guard down…"
Song Xianyun laid everything out in detail. By the time Song Changsheng left the courtyard, a full hour had passed.
He hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to head straight to the Affairs Hall. Like it or not, that place would be his battlefield for the foreseeable future, and he needed to understand it thoroughly.
When he stepped into the hall, he saw jade slips stacked high on the main desk. A plump man was buried in them, scribbling away furiously.
"Uncle Fifth."
The chubby man looked up, and a beaming smile immediately spread across his face. He rushed over, grabbed Song Changsheng's hand, and said emotionally,
"You're back! That's great!"
Song Changsheng shivered inwardly, feeling slightly creeped out by Lu Zhou's uncharacteristic enthusiasm. He subtly pulled his hand away.
"Where's Aunt Lu Yao?"
At the mention of Lu Yao, Lu Zhou's face immediately twisted into a bitter expression.
"Don't even bring her up! We agreed to handle clan affairs together, but I haven't seen her in over a month! She dumped everything on me!"
Song Changsheng couldn't help but laugh internally. If anyone in the clan's elder circle was known for being lazy, it was Lu Zhou. If he could lie down, he wouldn't sit; if he could sit, he wouldn't stand.
To leave him alone to handle this mountain of paperwork was pushing it.
"I'm sure Aunt Lu Yao had her reasons. I just saw Grandfather. He asked me to help you out."
Lu Zhou's eyes lit up with a mischievous glint. Grinning, he shoved Song Changsheng into the main seat and said,
"Been waiting for you to say that. This hall is all yours now."
With that, he bolted out of the hall like a gust of wind, leaving Song Changsheng alone, completely dumbfounded.
"From the sound of it, Uncle Fifth just dumped everything on me…"
Looking at the towering stack of jade slips, Song Changsheng couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Under the clear blue sky, a massive flying vessel sped across countless miles. Standing near the edge was a young man with sharp, resolute features, silently gazing downward, lost in thought.
After a while, a beautiful woman approached him, accompanied by a boy around fifteen or sixteen. She spoke,
"The vessel has entered the Great Qi Cultivation Realm. We'll be landing on the territory of the Golden Crow Sect."
"The Golden Crow Sect, huh? I heard they're nearly as powerful as our clan," the boy said with a note of curiosity.
"Which clan are you talking about?" the man asked with a smile. "If you mean the one we're from now, then yes, it's slightly stronger than the Golden Crow Sect. But if you mean the one we're heading to… well, compared to that behemoth, it's far behind."
"Of course, I meant the one we're from now! I've never even been to the other one," the boy replied matter-of-factly.
"The place we're going to now is nowhere near the level of the Golden Crow Sect," the woman said, gently ruffling the boy's hair.
The boy's face instantly fell. "Then why are we going there?" he asked with disappointment.
The woman gave a gentle, radiant smile that seemed to outshine everything around her. Gazing into the distant horizon, she spoke half to herself, half to the boy,
"Because that's where our roots are. That's our true home."
...
At dawn, Song Changsheng stretched his sore arms and collapsed into his chair without a shred of dignity.
"When will I ever finish this? Uncle Fifth is so unreliable, he hasn't even reviewed the documents from five days ago."
Since returning, Song Changsheng had been working in the Affairs Hall for an entire night. Despite his efforts, the desk was still piled high with jade slips. He felt that dealing with administrative work was far more exhausting than actual combat.
Just then, a figure in a black robe appeared at the entrance. Song Changsheng looked up and saw it was a scout from Wind Whisper Hall.
The man respectfully presented a scroll of jade slips.
"Young Clan Leader, urgent intelligence from the Hall Master."
Wind Whisper Hall was an intelligence agency personally founded by Song Luoyao after stepping down from frontline duties. To gather information more efficiently, she had recruited many cultivators from non-clan backgrounds. However, since it was established too recently and lacked network infrastructure, valuable intel had been scarce.
But hearing that this was "urgent," Song Changsheng's interest was immediately piqued. He took the slip, and his face darkened.
Written on it:
"Golden Crow Sect's birthday envoy attacked. Elder Dai Zichen has fallen. A key figure is missing."
"The sky is falling…" Song Changsheng let out a grim sigh. He could smell the scent of a conspiracy.
He had met Dai Zichen a few times, and his strength was not weak. Yet now, he was dead.
And he wasn't just any Purple Mansion cultivator; he was the Golden Crow Sect's official emissary to the Grand City Lord's birthday celebration. This wasn't just provocation; this was a direct declaration of war against the Golden Crow Sect.
The report also mentioned a "key figure" missing. It didn't take a genius to guess it had to be Xia Qingxue. Her status was even higher than Dai Zichen's. If anything happened to her, Song Changsheng couldn't begin to imagine the Golden Crow Sect's fury.
The Golden Crow Sect would never let this go lightly. A war was almost inevitable, and Song Changsheng could only hope it wouldn't spill over onto the Song Clan.
After all, the Song Clan was, at least nominally, a subordinate of the Golden Crow Sect. If the sect decided to conscript them for war, they would have no choice but to obey…
...
At the border between Yuanzhou and Qingzhou, Xia Qingxue was fleeing at top speed, pursued by a large group of black-robed assailants.
She was badly injured. If not for the special nature of her flying vessel, she would have been caught long ago.
Her eyes burned with seething killing intent. If she weren't injured, she wouldn't even give these attackers a second thought.
The pursuers were getting closer, and Xia Qingxue's gaze grew ever colder.
Just then, one of the attackers let out a twisted grin, pulled out a pitch-black talisman, and activated it.
In an instant, a beam of dark light shot forth, piercing straight through the flying vessel. Xia Qingxue was engulfed in the blast...
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