In a dimly lit great hall, a suffocating air of death hung in the atmosphere. A dozen figures clad in blood-red robes, each marked with a skull emblem on their chest, had gathered together.
Their faces were shrouded in a crimson mist, obscuring their features, and they were in the middle of a heated argument. If one listened closely, even their voices seemed intentionally disguised.
At the front of the hall stood a towering throne of white bone. A figure lounged lazily upon it, casually toying with a blood-eyed raven perched on the back of his hand, watching the bickering below with amused detachment, as if none of it concerned him.
After a long while, the quarrel gradually died down. The group had split into two opposing factions.
From the left, a tall figure stepped forward, knelt on one knee toward the throne, and spoke in a deep voice:
"Honored Hierarch, we should not provoke the Golden Crow Sect at this moment."
Before the man on the throne could speak, a thin figure from the right side leapt out and pointed at the tall man, his sharp voice slicing through the air:
"What's this? Is Lord Mie questioning the Hierarch's wise decision?"
"Lord Jin, I simply believe this is not the time to openly break with the Golden Crow Sect," Mie replied flatly, unfazed by the accusation.
"You worry too much, Lord Mie," Jin cackled. "The operation was conducted with absolute secrecy. There's no way the Golden Crow Sect will suspect us."
"Didn't someone get away?" Mie sneered, glancing coldly at him.
Jin's face darkened, his tone sharp and menacing:
"She won't escape."
Just as Mie was about to retort, the figure on the throne finally spoke, his voice indifferent yet cutting:
"You lot squabble all day long. Since you're so clever, how about one of you takes over as Hierarch?"
At once, both Mie and Jin paled in fear and quickly knelt.
"We wouldn't dare, Hierarch. Please forgive us!"
The man on the throne cast them a cold glance and said,
"Mobilize all branch halls across the provinces. I don't care what methods they use, the Golden Crow Sect must be made to believe the Tianmai Sect is behind this."
"Also… who's currently in charge of the Lingzhou and Bianzhou branches?"
Mie and Jin exchanged glances. Mie braced himself and responded,
"Since the failed attempt to capture the Bloodbat Demon King's cub, both branches have been leaderless."
"Ah, yes, I almost forgot. Useless trash couldn't even handle a simple beast retrieval mission."
His gaze swept across the hall.
"Bloodmistress, from now on, you will take over both the Bian and Ling province branches."
From behind Jin's faction, a tall woman stepped forward, her voice icy and devoid of emotion:
"Bloodmistress obeys."
"After assuming command, you have several tasks:
Identify the one responsible for slaying the Bianzhou branch leader in the Ten Thousand Mountains.
Continue the former Lingzhou branch leader's mission to locate the long-hidden treasure hoard of the first Lingzhou leader.
Assist Lord Yongye of the Yuanzhou branch in tracking down the Golden Crow Sect's survivor. I don't want her returning alive. Understood?"
"I shall follow the Hierarch's orders," Bloodmistress replied without the slightest flicker of emotion.
"Dismissed."
With a wave of his sleeve, the hall instantly emptied, leaving only the Hierarch and the blood-eyed raven behind.
....
Three days after Song Changsheng received the intelligence, an official order from the Golden Crow Sect finally arrived at Cangmang Peak. In response, he convened a high-level clan meeting as acting young clan leader.
Since Fourth Elder Song Luhuai was stationed at Liuyun Market and Sixth Elder Song Lutong was overseeing the secular territories of the clan, they couldn't attend.
Thus, only Second Elder Song Luzhou, Third Elder Song Luoyao, and Fifth Elder Xia Yunxue joined the meeting alongside Song Changsheng.
He handed the newly received decree to Song Luzhou and said,
"The directive came personally from Tianyan Shangren, the Golden Crow Sect's guardian envoy for Yuanzhou. Please take a look."
As soon as Song Luzhou read it, his expression darkened. He slammed the table and stood up:
"What is the Golden Crow Sect trying to say? Are they suspecting the Song Clan of orchestrating the attack?"
The atmosphere in the hall turned tense.
Song Luoyao sneered,
"What an absurd accusation. If we truly had the power to ambush a Purple Mansion expert, we would've already launched an attack on the Lieyang Sect!"
Song Changsheng pinched the bridge of his nose.
"According to the envoy, all regional powers near the incident site are under suspicion. We've been given three months to identify the culprits and locate the missing direct disciple."
"Unbelievable! The incident happened in Yuanzhou; shouldn't he be the one investigating? Why shove it onto us?" Luzhou was fuming.
"If he had any clues, he wouldn't have sent out this kind of vague directive. What's done is done. Anger won't help us. I suggest we focus on locating the missing disciple. Notify the other five families to organize a joint search. This isn't just our burden." Luoyao shifted her gaze to Song Changsheng.
"That's exactly what I had in mind," Changsheng replied.
"I'll assign the mission to both the Enforcement Hall and the Wind Whisper Hall. We'll also issue a general task notice to all subordinate forces. The clan will handle the Wanyue Mountain Range and nearby areas. The Liuyun and Wutong ranges will be delegated to the other five Foundation Establishment families."
To him, this whole search was a matter of doing what they could and leaving the rest to fate. The area was vast, and no one could say where Xia Qingxue had ended up.
"By the way," he added suddenly, "the delegation from the main branch should be arriving soon, right? Can we reach them? Things are unstable right now, and I'd rather they didn't get caught up in this mess."
Luoyao nodded,
"Yes, we can reach them. They sent a message about a month ago; they should already be in Great Qi by now."
"Please ask which route they're taking. If necessary, we'll send someone to meet them," Changsheng said, visibly uneasy.
After all, those delegates were carrying three Foundation Establishment pills. If anything happened to them, it would be a devastating blow to the clan.
"Understood. I'll contact them."
"Then this meeting is adjourned."
...
Three days later, all of Lingzhou's sects and clans had been mobilized to search for any trace of Xia Qingxue, and neighboring provinces had done the same.
Because of a single ambush, half of Great Qi's cultivation world was now caught in the storm, yet the true mastermind behind it all remained in the shadows.
There was little Song Changsheng could do about it, nor did he have the heart to pursue it further. Anyone who dared challenge the Golden Crow Sect wasn't someone the Song Clan could afford to provoke.
The only good news for him these past few days was that the massive pile of clan affairs had finally been dealt with. At last, he could shift his focus back to improving himself.
At the moment, Song Changsheng had plenty of options he could cultivate the Five Beast Body-Tempering Art, advance his knowledge of formations, or more. Each path had tremendous room for growth.
After some deliberation, he decided to study the Dao Scripture.
He had already broken through to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Realm for a while now, but hadn't had the chance to meditate on the Dao Scripture. Back when he first entered the Foundation Establishment stage, it was through this scripture that he had grasped the Five Beast Body-Tempering Art. He was eager to see what he would gain this time.
Entering the seclusion chamber, he first drank a generous amount of Monkey Wine, then sat cross-legged and began to comprehend the Dao Scripture.
As the jade slip in his mind slowly unfurled, Song Changsheng fell into deep meditation...
...
A full day and night later, he opened his eyes, visibly exhausted, with an odd expression on his face.
The reason?
This time, he had obtained a secret technique called Light of Rejuvenation.
To put it simply, after mastering it, he could heal injuries either for himself or others.
This surprised Song Changsheng. Normally, only cultivators with wood spiritual roots or those aligned with the laws of life could practice this kind of healing technique. He, on the other hand, had water and fire spiritual roots, with a yin-yang Dao foundation nowhere near compatible, at least on the surface.
"Based on what I've experienced over the years, everything I've ever gained from the Dao Scripture has always been in perfect harmony with my nature, whether it was cultivation methods or body-tempering arts. So this secret technique must have a reason behind it, too."
Rubbing his chin, a thought flashed through his mind.
In recent days, he had repeatedly tested something in private. Ever since he absorbed that mysterious fruit in the Qiantian Secret Realm, his spiritual power had developed healing properties, and even his body's recovery abilities had noticeably improved, though not to a satisfactory level.
But now, if he combined it with this secret technique, the result could be game-changing.
With that in mind, Song Changsheng quickly began practicing.
One of the advantages of Dao Scripture-derived secret techniques was their high compatibility with the user, which made them much easier to master. In just three days, he had already reached the entry level.
To test his theory, he drew a flying sword and cut a deep gash into his forearm. Blood gushed out instantly, the wound deep enough to expose bone.
He didn't even flinch. Instead, he calmly placed his other hand over the wound and activated Light of Rejuvenation.
A surge of green light rippled outward. Almost immediately, the bleeding stopped, and a faint itching sensation followed.
Removing his hand and rinsing away the blood with clean water, he saw that the wound had already begun to heal.
"That's impressive. Just a few seconds in, and the injury has already improved significantly. Full recovery should take no more than a dozen breaths."
A pleased smile formed on Song Changsheng's face. In actual combat, this kind of recovery speed would be terrifyingly effective.
"I wonder how well it works on others...?"
With that, he headed straight to Song Xianyun's residence and explained his intentions. The old man didn't ask many questions; he simply told him to go ahead.
Since Song Xianyun had suffered internal injuries, Song Changsheng placed his hand directly on the old man's chest.
A soft green light flowed into his body, and Song Xianyun immediately felt a warm, revitalizing energy spread through his limbs, easing the pain in his body.
Within fifteen minutes, the internal damage had already shown visible improvement.
The elder was dumbfounded.
"What kind of miraculous technique is this? It works instantly!"
Another quarter of an hour passed before Song Xianyun raised his hand and said,
"That's enough."
Song Changsheng looked puzzled. He had only used half of his spiritual power and hadn't even come close to his limit.
"The healing effect has dropped quite a bit. I suspect we've reached the maximum benefit. Any more would just be a waste of your energy. I already feel much better. Thank you, child."
The color had returned to Song Xianyun's face, and his voice now carried strength and vigor, a stark contrast from before.
Song Changsheng withdrew his hand thoughtfully.
"So there's a limit to the healing effects... but this is already more than enough. For someone like Granduncle, whose injuries were severe, to recover this much is almost a miracle."
This technique was practically a divine skill.
"If I had comprehended this earlier, we wouldn't have suffered so much during that ambush by the Lieyang Sect… Still, it's not too late."
"There's no need to stand on ceremony between family," he said with a smile. "This is what I should do. Please rest well, Granduncle. I'll return to handle clan affairs."
After leaving the courtyard, Song Changsheng didn't return to the Administrative Hall. Instead, he headed straight to the Scripture Pavilion.
He knew very well that the remarkable effectiveness of that secret technique was entirely due to the fruit he had consumed.
He had never heard of such a miraculous spiritual plant before, so he intended to search through the ancient records to see if he could find any related information.
Using his access privileges, he borrowed every jade slip that might contain relevant records.
Over the next period, he juggled between dealing with the pile of clan affairs that had accumulated during his seclusion and combing through ancient texts. Before he knew it, more than half a month had passed.
And eventually, he did find something in an ancient jade slip; he came across a possible lead.
"Law Fruit born in areas rich with the power of natural laws is extremely rare. Its form varies, and each fruit contains a unique type of law power..."
The description struck a chord. The Qiantian Secret Realm was indeed saturated with the power of life laws, which matched the conditions for the birth of a Law Fruit of Life.
"And after I absorbed that fruit, my spiritual energy gained life-like properties… If that was the power of the Law of Life, then it does make sense."
Song Changsheng felt a headache coming on.
"If I could find this information, then there's no way the Golden Crow Sect can't."
The problem? That seed was still in Xia Qingxue's hands. If she made it back and handed it over to the Golden Crow Sect, everything could be exposed.
"Sigh… what a pain," Song Changsheng muttered.
Such was the sorrow of a low-ranking cultivator stumbling upon a stroke of great fortune, yet living every day in fear and unease because of it.
Just then, a man in a black robe appeared, pushing Song Luoyao in her wheelchair into the Administrative Hall.
Song Changsheng immediately stood to greet her.
"Ninth Aunt, what brings you here?"
Song Luoyao glanced at the mountain of jade slips stacked on the desk and replied,
"We just received word that Yulong and the others have arrived in Lingzhou, but they've run into some trouble along the way."
"What happened?" Song Changsheng's face turned grim.
Song Yulong was the one responsible for escorting the Foundation Establishment Pills, and the clan had been closely tracking their movements. The fact that trouble had arisen within Lingzhou itself was deeply concerning.
"They're being pursued by an unidentified group. Among them is a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Yulong and his team are no match and are retreating while fighting."
"Unidentified?" A flash of killing intent flickered in Song Changsheng's eyes.
"Where are they now? I'll go myself."
"Dingfeng Gorge," Song Luoyao replied.
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