Chapter 1: Song Changsheng (Please add to favorites)

Lingzhou, in the Great Qi cultivation world.

Lingzhou is one of the nineteen provinces of the Qi Kingdom. It is located in a remote area, bordering the Ten Thousand Mountains at the southwestern frontier.

Even so, Lingzhou possesses a vast territory spanning tens of thousands of miles, crisscrossed by three mountain ranges: "Wangyue," "Wutong," and "Liuyun."

The Song family is one of the six major Foundation Establishment forces in Lingzhou. The entire Wangyue Mountain Range is their sphere of influence, encompassing seven counties and over six hundred thousand mortal clansmen.

The family’s ancestral grounds are located on Cangmang Peak. This peak stands over a thousand zhang tall, boasting beautiful scenery and surrounded by spiritual mountains. With lush vegetation, swirling mists, and exotic beasts roaming the mountains, it exudes an ethereal aura, much like a fairyland.

At this moment.

On a cliffside halfway up Cangmang Peak, a youth dressed in a cyan robe with silver moon cloud patterns, a gourd hanging from his waist, sat cross-legged facing the sun with his hands forming a seal.

The youth is named Song Changsheng. He stands seven feet tall with a face as handsome as jade and sword-like brows that give him a sharp, piercing look. His thick black hair is casually tied back with a silk ribbon, making him look truly dashing and talented.

He was currently closing his eyes and focusing his mind, holding his breath in a rhythmic, mysterious pattern with unusually long intervals between each inhalation and exhalation.

Wisps of solar essence continuously flowed from the air into his Baihui acupoint with his breathing. After circulating through the three Yang meridians of the hands and feet and their respective acupoints, the energy converged into his lower dantian, forming a mass of grayish-white mist.

At a certain moment, as if he had touched upon something profound, the spiritual energy rapidly circulating through his meridians surged violently into his dantian. A sturdy barrier suddenly shattered, causing the youth to let out a muffled groan.

Song Changsheng immediately accelerated the circulation of his cultivation technique. Water and fire spiritual energies swirled around him, gradually calming the turbulent spiritual aura.

"Finally, I've broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining." Song Changsheng opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and felt filled with joy.

"Congratulations, little brother, you are one step closer to the Foundation Establishment realm." Just as Song Changsheng finished his cultivation, a voice full of joy came from behind him.

Song Changsheng didn't even need to turn around; just by the sound of the voice, he knew it was his elder cousin from the same branch, Song Changming.

When the Song family ancestor, Song Taiyi, slew a third-tier great demon and occupied the Wangyue Mountain Range, he took many wives and concubines to expand the family line. He established the ten-character generation hierarchy: "Tai, Chu, Yun, Xian, Lu, Chang, Qing, You, Jing, Ming."

Nearly five hundred years have passed since then. The family now has nearly four hundred cultivators and six Foundation Establishment cultivators. The eldest are currently of the "Xian" generation, which is the smallest in number, while the youngest are of the "Qing" generation, most of whom are still minors.

The middle two generations, "Lu" and "Chang," are the backbone of the family, gradually gaining a voice in family affairs.

Looking back, he indeed saw a slightly aged middle-aged man standing in the distance.

"I was wondering why I heard magpies chirping this morning; it turns out my elder brother has come to visit. I wonder what brings you here, brother?" Song Changsheng stood up, smiling and cupping his hands in greeting.

Song Changming gave a bitter smile. "I have indeed come to ask a favor of you, brother."

"Brother, you are too polite. You have helped me a great deal on my cultivation path. As long as it is within my power, just say the word." Song Changsheng invited him to sit on a nearby stone stool and spoke solemnly.

"Sigh, it’s like this. Ever since the battle ten years ago, the family has been going downhill. Many of our external family businesses are lacking manpower.

The family has assigned me to guard a mineral vein. I don't know how many years this will take, so I intend to ask you to craft an amulet for Xi'er."

Song Changming waved his hand, and a cyan jade pendant and a small pile of spirit stones—roughly a dozen—appeared on the stone table.

"So that's it. However, Xi'er lives on Cangmang Peak, so her safety should be guaranteed. Why do you need such a useless trinket?" Song Changsheng asked, puzzled.

Song Changming is sixty-three this year. Seeing no hope for Foundation Establishment, he married a cultivator from another clan and had children. His daughter, Song Xi, was born a few years ago. This amulet was meant for her.

This was exactly why Song Changsheng was confused. Although an amulet possesses a faint trace of spiritual energy, it can only deal with mortals. His little niece lives in the family’s main stronghold; what use would she have for such a trivial item?

Song Changming said with a complex expression, "Xi'er is already six years old and will soon have her spiritual roots measured. If she has them, that’s fine, but if she doesn't, according to family rules, she will be sent to a mortal county town.

I don't know if I'll be able to return from this assignment. When that time comes, she will be all alone, and I truly cannot rest easy. I beg you, brother, to help me."

Song Changsheng fell silent upon hearing this. The family rules are strict; family mortals live in county towns. It is only because Song Changming is a cultivator that his descendants can live on Cangmang Peak.

But there is a distinction between immortals and mortals. Those without spiritual roots are sent to mortal cities. Humans are not made of wood or stone; how could one not have feelings? How could a father not worry about his own flesh and blood? That is why Song Changming came to ask for this amulet.

Song Changsheng had never experienced this, so he viewed the amulet as useless, but for Song Changming, it was a safeguard he could leave for his daughter.

"Chang understands. I will do my utmost." Song Changsheng waved his sleeve to put away the jade pendant, but pushed the pile of spirit stones back.

"No, even brothers must settle accounts clearly. This is the payment you deserve." Song Changming was startled and hurriedly tried to push them back, but Song Changsheng stopped him with a hand.

"Brother, I am Xi'er's elder after all. Consider this amulet a gift from me to her. After you go down the mountain, you will need spirit stones everywhere. You should take them back."

Cultivators require vast amounts of spiritual energy to cultivate, but the current world's laws are incomplete and the spiritual energy is chaotic, making it difficult for cultivators to absorb. Thus, they must cultivate on spiritual veins.

The higher the grade of the spiritual vein, the denser the spiritual energy, and the faster the cultivation.

Cangmang Peak possesses the only third-tier spiritual vein in Lingzhou, making cultivation twice as effective with half the effort. But it is different outside, where there is often only a first-tier vein or none at all.

In such cases, one must rely on spirit stones to cultivate, or their progress will stagnate. Spirit stones are precious; for low-level cultivators, a dozen is not a small sum.

Song Changming was moved. "Then many thanks, brother."

"Brother, you are too polite. Would you like to have a few drinks with me?" Song Changsheng smiled and took the gourd from his waist.

"Hahaha, the fine wine brewed by Sixth Aunt herself—I’ve been thinking about it. Of course, I can't miss it." Song Changming's eyes lit up.

Song Changsheng smiled slightly. He wouldn't have been willing to bring out the spiritual wine brewed by his mother if it weren't to see Song Changming off.

He took out two small wine cups, and the two drank together on the cliff until the hour of Si (9-11 AM) before bidding a reluctant farewell.

Returning to his courtyard with the smell of alcohol on him, Song Changsheng’s mind was exceptionally clear. He closed his door tightly and sat down, focusing his mind.

His consciousness quickly sank into a state of extreme calm. In his sea of consciousness, a pure white jade slip floated silently.

Guided by his spiritual power, the jade slip slowly unfolded, revealing dense rows of scriptures.

Song Changsheng formed a hand seal. As the alcohol in his body continuously transformed into pure spiritual energy, he began to contemplate the scriptures on the jade slip.

This jade slip is a Daoist scripture titled "The Wonderful Canon of Creation," which is incredibly profound.

In his previous life, he was an orphan adopted by a Daoist temple on Blue Star, living with an old Daoist for twenty years. Before the old Daoist died, he gave him a wordless jade slip.

The first time he opened the jade slip, it disturbed the mysteries of heaven and earth, causing nine bolts of mysterious thunder to descend from the sky, burning him to a crisp.

Fortunately, the jade slip protected his soul, allowing it to traverse the void and escape to the Ziyu Realm, where he was reincarnated into the Song family.

At first, because his soul was chaotic, he was no different from an ordinary child. It wasn't until that great battle ten years ago, when he was six and witnessed the death of his biological father, Song Luyan, that he awakened the memories of his past life. It was then that he discovered the jade slip had been in his mind all along.

He began to try to comprehend the jade slip and found that it contained Daoist classics that reached the origin of the Great Dao, with every word and phrase containing supreme techniques.

When he first drew energy into his body, he comprehended a cultivation technique called the "Yin-Yang Profound Brilliance Scripture." This method could absorb the essence of the sun and moon to form Hunyuan energy in his dantian.

Hunyuan energy is incredibly mysterious and can neutralize the water and fire spiritual energies within him.

Song Changsheng's water and fire spiritual roots were both his advantage and his disadvantage. Dual spiritual roots allowed him to absorb spiritual energy faster than others, but water and fire are incompatible, and he had to spend a great deal of energy maintaining stability between them.

This greatly dragged down his cultivation speed, but since he began practicing the "Yin-Yang Profound Brilliance Scripture," this problem was solved.

It not only neutralized the water and fire spiritual energies but also promoted their fusion, greatly increasing his cultivation speed, which allowed him to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining at sixteen.

However, although the Daoist scripture is exquisite, comprehending it requires spiritual energy, which is why he needs to drink large amounts of spiritual wine before each session.

Time passed second by second. Just as his spiritual energy was about to be exhausted, the Daoist scripture suddenly shone brightly. The characters for "Water" and "Fire," written in ancient script, suddenly "came to life," rushed out of his sea of consciousness, and merged into the palms of his hands.

Song Changsheng opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance passing through them. He murmured, "Water and Fire Control Technique?"

He looked at his palms. A "Water" character appeared on the left, and a "Fire" character on the right. As he slightly channeled his spiritual energy, the water and fire spiritual energies between heaven and earth began to surge. He felt that with just a single thought, these forces could be used by him.

"What a profound secret technique. It can actually control water and fire. I have gained another means of combat," Song Changsheng said with pleasant surprise.

"There is indeed a pattern to this. I often contemplate the Daoist scripture, but most of the time it is in vain, only increasing my insight and spiritual power slightly.

Instead, it is when I break through a realm that I am able to comprehend a cultivation technique or secret art.

When I first drew energy into my body, I comprehended the 'Yin-Yang Profound Brilliance Scripture.' When I broke through to the middle stage of Qi Refining, I comprehended the [Breath Concealment Technique]. Today, breaking through to the late stage, I have also comprehended this magical [Water and Fire Control Technique].

I wonder what kind of supreme technique I will comprehend when I break through to the Foundation Establishment stage." Song Changsheng couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

After a brief adjustment, Song Changsheng took the cyan jade pendant out of his storage bag and began to craft the amulet...

The story is underway, the outline is ready, updates are stable, I ask for everyone's support, I am deeply grateful!

(End of chapter)