The people in the hall all turned to look at Song Changsheng, their eyes filled with surprise. Song Changsheng, puzzled by their reaction, found a seat and sat down, waiting for Song Xianyun to arrive.
Not long after sitting, he began to overhear whispers about himself:
"Who's that young man?"
"I think I've seen him before might be the Fifth Elder's son?"
"You mean that Purple Mansion seedling, Song Changsheng? Don't tell me he's the one joining us this time?"
"Can't be, right? He's got talent, sure but there's no way he condensed his Dao Foundation so quickly."
"Why speculate? We'll know once Uncle Twenty-One arrives."
"True, true."
The murmurs stopped there. Song Changsheng had heard it all, but it only left him more confused. Were they all gathered here for some kind of mission?
He frowned in thought. "All four of them are peak Qi Refinement cultivators, probably in their thirties or forties. Judging by what they said, it seems they've all successfully formed their Dao Foundations same as me."
"In our clan, anyone who forms a Dao Foundation before the age of sixty is a key development target. But what kind of mission would require all five of us to act together?"
He really couldn't make sense of it. What kind of Qi Refinement task would need five Dao Foundation-level cultivators? That would be overkill.
And if it was a Foundation Establishment-level mission, that would be even more ridiculous. Sure, five of them could probably take on a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but why bother? The clan already had Foundation Establishment-level elders. Why send them to get slaughtered?
To put it bluntly, if all five of them were wiped out, the loss to the clan would be no less than losing a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Unable to find an answer, Song Changsheng simply waited quietly for the Grand Elder to arrive.
About fifteen minutes later, Song Xianyun entered the hall with steady steps.
Everyone immediately rose and bowed respectfully.
With a gentle smile, Song Xianyun raised his hand and said, "No need for formalities. Please, be seated."
Once everyone sat down again, Song Xianyun stroked his beard and said warmly, "You are all the pride of the clan, so I'll get straight to the point. The clan has an important mission for you."
The group exchanged looks. A thin, middle-aged man stood up, his voice full of excitement, "Uncle Twenty-One, is the Wutong Secret Realm about to open?"
Song Changsheng's heart stirred, and in that instant, all his confusion vanished. If it truly was the Wutong Secret Realm, then everything made sense. Judging by the timeline, it was about due to open again.
At that thought, Song Changsheng's heart began to burn with anticipation.
"That's correct," Song Xianyun nodded, confirming their guess.
Everyone's faces lit up with joy. Were it not for the need to maintain decorum, they might have leaped up in excitement.
Song Changsheng was also visibly stirred. He remembered hearing his mother mention the Wutong Secret Realm when he was a child.
It was said to have been discovered four hundred years ago by their ancestor, Song Taiyi, purely by accident. It was a separate spatial dimension filled with abundant life and vast patches of spiritual herbs.
After being developed, it became a small secret realm for clan disciples to train in and cultivate spirit herbs. For centuries, it had supplied the clan with an unending stream of low-grade spiritual herbs.
A large part of the clan's early prosperity could be attributed to this small secret realm. However, as the clan declined, the realm began to draw the covetous gaze of their nemesis, the Lieyang Sect.
To protect the realm, the clan was forced to ally with five other families in Lingzhou to resist the Lieyang Sect, with the price being a six-way split of the secret realm.
With all six families jointly exploring it, the development of the realm accelerated. During this process, they discovered a mysterious cave.
Inside, they found a thousand-year-old stalactite that produced a rare substance: Stalactite Spirit Liquid. This liquid was no ordinary treasure it could increase one's chances of breaking through to Foundation Establishment by 20%.
Such a great fortune naturally led to brutal conflict between the six factions, leaving them all badly wounded. In the end, they had no choice but to negotiate peace.
The outcome of that meeting was an agreement to only open the secret realm once every ten years. No one was to enter it outside that window, or they would face collective retaliation.
There were two reasons for this arrangement. First, it gave the spirit herbs time to regrow, allowing for a sustainable cycle of harvest and regrowth.
Second, the Stalactite Spirit Liquid required ten years to accumulate enough to be useful for a peak Qi Refinement cultivator. If the realm were opened annually, the liquid would be harvested before it could fully mature, which would benefit no one.
Thus, the realm was set to open once every decade. Each family would send its most promising Qi Refinement disciples to fairly compete for resources. Whoever obtained them, kept them.
Because the Stalactite Spirit Liquid couldn't be stored it had to be consumed immediately each family would tacitly send only those who had already condensed their Dao Foundation.
And that explained why the five of them were gathered here. They were currently the clan's best candidates for breaking through to Foundation Establishment and were thus chosen for this rare opportunity.
Originally, the five spots had already been assigned but Song Changsheng's sudden rise changed that. In keeping with the clan's merit-based traditions, he replaced one of the original candidates.
That was why the other four had been so surprised to see Song Changsheng no one had expected this dark horse to be so young.
Once the initial excitement died down, Song Xianyun slowly said, "The secret realm will open in one month. Go make your preparations, and gather back here at that time."
"Remember, there's a restriction at the entrance. Nothing above first-tier may be brought in. Violators will be severely punished."
"We obey!"
The group quickly departed. Song Changsheng was also about to leave and begin preparing when Song Xianyun called him back.
"Granduncle Twenty-One, is there something else?" Song Changsheng asked in confusion.
Song Xianyun pulled him to sit down and said with a smile, "None of us expected you to condense your Dao Foundation so quickly. What kind of foundation did you form?"
"I condensed a Water-Fire Dual Dao Foundation," Song Changsheng replied.
He chose to keep the truth hidden. After all, a Grand Dao Foundation was incredibly rare. If word got out, he would surely become everyone's target.
Besides, he couldn't easily explain how he formed it. It was safer to lie.
"Good, good, good!" Song Xianyun said excitedly, repeating the word three times. After all, even forming a dual-element Dao Foundation required exceptional talent.
Among the other four earlier, all had non-elemental Dao Foundations, which was why Song Xianyun was so thrilled.
Watching his reaction, Song Changsheng chuckled inwardly. If I told the truth, this old man might lose control on the spot.
Once he'd calmed down, Song Xianyun looked at him solemnly and said, "Changsheng, let me give you a bit of insider information.
We purchased three Foundation Establishment Pills from the main branch of the clan, but due to certain reasons, they won't arrive for a few more years.
The clan is giving you two choices: one is to enter the secret realm and fight for the Foundation Establishment opportunity; the other is to wait a few years for the pills to arrive you'll get one.
The secret realm does carry some risk. I suggest you wait. You're young there's no rush."
Song Changsheng understood what he meant. Combat wasn't forbidden in the secret realm. Though the six clans typically held back, over the years, four had died and two had been crippled.
Song Xianyun feared that others might target him. Better to bide his time and take the pill later it would be safer.
But understanding was one thing; choosing was another.
There was no telling when the pills would arrive, and he didn't want to waste years of his youth waiting. A few risks on the path of cultivation were nothing.
He cupped his fists and replied seriously, "Granduncle, I understand your concern, but I would still like to give it a try. Beyond fighting for opportunity, I also want to see how I stack up against the top disciples from the other clans."
Song Xianyun frowned slightly, then sighed. "The choice is yours. Just make sure you're prepared."
"Yes, sir!"
....
Back in his courtyard, Song Changsheng took out a jet-black lotus seed pod it was the one he had harvested earlier. He had already removed all the seeds.
Though the Black Jade Nether Lotus's main value lay in its seeds, the lotus pod itself was also an excellent material for crafting a "Lotus Platform."
The Lotus Platform, also known as the Lotus Throne, was originally said to be the seat of the Buddha. Later, it was copied and refined into a magical artifact.
The best material for crafting one was a full lotus; the second best was the lotus pod.
Song Changsheng hadn't decided what to do with the pod until just now when he suddenly remembered a special refining technique for a Lotus Platform from He Yunxuan's artifact-crafting inheritance.
A Lotus Platform refined using this method could not only accelerate cultivation and protect the user, but also act as a spiritual reservoir.
It would essentially function as a second dantian. When cultivating on the platform, Song Changsheng could store his spiritual power within it, and draw on it later as needed.
This was a perfect match for his needs. Whether activating the Lu Wu Bell or using his internal formations, it all consumed massive amounts of spiritual energy. He couldn't afford to go all out, or he'd be exhausted in moments.
But with the Lotus Platform, it would be different. It still wouldn't be enough to power the Lu Wu Bell, but using formations would no longer be so draining an enormous help when entering the secret realm.
"One month should be enough," Song Changsheng murmured. Then he took out a large pile of materials.
The most important secondary material for this artifact was the Voidstone, a space-attributed material often used in crafting storage items like Spatial Pouches, or for certain rare artifacts.
For example, his Water-Fire Gourd was made using a large quantity of Voidstone, giving it two separate internal spaces one for storing liquor and the other for a combat array.
Low-grade Voidstone was fairly common; most magical tools used a little. But higher-grade Voidstone was another matter usually monopolized by powerful sects and rarely seen on the market.
Song Changsheng's Lotus Platform would be a first-tier supreme-grade artifact, and he would be using first-tier Voidstone. If he could successfully carve out an internal space within the lotus pod, he'd already be more than halfway to success.
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