On the mountainside where he had been in seclusion, Song Chang'an stood in a black robe, eyes bright and sharp, his entire body wreathed in razor-edged sword qi that refused to dissipate. His aura was powerful and commanding, drawing every gaze.
Outside, standing guard for him, Song Luhuai nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad, you haven't let down the clan's efforts in nurturing you. From now on, the family's safety will rest on your generation."
A deep wave of emotion stirred in Song Luhuai's heart. Among the fourth generation, the "Xian" generation, few cultivators remained, and only the clan head and great elder had reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
The fifth generation, the "Lu" generation, had been devastated more than twenty years ago in a great battle, losing many talents and leaving a dangerous gap in the clan's succession.
The elders had long been concerned.
Fortunately, the sixth generation, the "Chang" generation, was growing far faster than expected. The young clan heir, Song Changsheng, was advancing at a pace that surpassed even the older generation, enough to shoulder the clan's great responsibilities in the future.
In the recent clan competition, the "Chang" generation had even outperformed both the "Lu" and "Qing" generations, taking the top three spots.
Now, with Song Chang'an becoming the second Foundation Establishment cultivator of the "Chang" generation after Song Changsheng, the sixth generation was beginning to take its place as the backbone of the clan.
Following them, the "Qing" generation was also full of promising talents: Qing Xing, Qing Xi, Qing Xia, Qing Shi, Qing Hong… each an outstanding figure in their own right.
What pleased Song Luhuai most was not that his son had broken through to Foundation Establishment, but that the clan would not face the same stagnation as the main branch had in the past.
"The clan's nurturing grace, Chang'an will never forget it," Song Chang'an said solemnly.
"Good. You've just broken through, so consolidate your cultivation first. Then go pay your respects to the clan head and great elder."
"Yes, Father." After reaching Foundation Establishment, Song Chang'an's temperament had grown steadier, though he had yet to fully control his newfound strength, making his sharpness a little too evident.
Not long after his breakthrough, spiritual energy began gathering at the secluded cultivation site of Song Changxue, and she was starting her own Foundation Establishment attempt.
Outside, her guardian, Song Luzhou, was visibly anxious.
Song Changxue was the only daughter of Song Lumu, his blood brother.
Twenty years ago, Song Lumu had sacrificed his life for the clan. That same year, his wife fell ill from grief and passed away, leaving behind a fourteen-year-old girl.
Song Luzhou had raised her with the utmost care, cherishing her even more than his daughter, afraid she might shatter if he held her too tightly or melt if she stayed too long in his mouth.
And she had not let him down. With her triple spiritual root aptitude, she had reached the peak of Qi Refining before the age of thirty. She was also highly skilled in music cultivation, becoming the clan's only music cultivator.
In the last clan competition, she had fought her way into the top three on her merit, earning a [Foundation Establishment Pill].
This year, she was only thirty-five. If she succeeded in Foundation Establishment, her future would be limitless.
Xue'er… if you can cross this threshold, I'll finally be able to give your late parents an answer, Song Luzhou prayed silently, hoping fate would favor this bitter-fated child.
But Song Changxue's state was not good. Her eyes were tightly shut, her brows furrowed in pain, and wisps of black qi occasionally flickered across her delicate face.
It was as if a voice in her mind kept urging her to give up haunting her like a shadow, impossible to dispel. She gritted her teeth, trying with all her will to resist its influence.
The more she resisted, the louder it grew. Her mind grew exhausted.
"Give up. You can't succeed."
"Give up… give up…"
"If you keep going, you'll die…"
The voice seemed to break through her mental defenses, whispering right in her ear.
"Give up…"
"You'll die…"
Her slender body began to tremble. Black, intangible chains spread from her body, binding her tighter and tighter.
At the peak of Cangmang, Song Xianming's expression shifted slightly as he saw the energy vortex grow unstable.
"Something's gone wrong."
Song Xianyun noticed the same changes, his face turning grim, and he knew too well what this meant.
The first to sense it was Song Luzhou. His heart sank to rock bottom, his anxiety like an ant on a hot pan. But in this situation, he was powerless; he could only keep praying.
Boom!
The swirling vortex in the air suddenly swelled, then collapsed in on itself with alarming speed.
"Xue'er!"
Song Luzhou's eyes went wide with rage and panic as he turned into a streak of light, rushing into the closed cultivation chamber.
"…Ahhh…"
Song Xianyun let out a long, pained sigh and shut his eyes in grief.
She had failed.
He knew even with a Foundation Establishment Pill, the chances of success were only fifty to sixty percent. But when the failure came, it still hurt. This had been one of the clan's brightest talents…
"It's fortunate she was able to keep her life. Come, let's go check on the child," Song Xianming said with a trace of helplessness. This was the second failed breakthrough in recent years, but at least Song Changxue was lucky enough to survive.
The two of them made their way down the mountainside together, only to find Song Luzhou frantically pouring spiritual energy into Song Changxue while stuffing precious pills into her mouth one after another.
"Luzhou, calm yourself. Changxue is under attack from a heart demon. What you're doing won't help. Let's work together to drive it out!"
Seeing her condition, Song Xianming's face changed drastically. He pulled Song Luzhou aside, formed the Taiqing Seal, and quickly pressed his fingers onto the Baihui, Shenting, and Yintang acupoints on her head.
At the same time, Song Xianyun took out a golden orb that radiated intense light, shining it directly upon Song Changxue.
In less than fifteen minutes, wisps of black qi seeped from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and the dullness in her face gradually faded, returning to its natural complexion.
Overwhelmed by concern, Song Luzhou, normally the clan's foremost alchemy master, had failed to recognize the signs of a heart demon's influence and had almost missed the optimal time to save her.
Had the demon been allowed to root itself within her, it would not have been long before Song Changxue fell into demonic cultivation.
At that moment, Song Changxue slowly regained consciousness.
"Xue'er, how do you feel? Tell your uncle, do you feel any discomfort?" Song Luzhou asked, his voice unsteady.
Guilt crossed her face, and with tears glistening in her eyes, she said, "Uncle, I'm sorry. I failed the clan's expectations and wasted a Foundation Establishment Pill."
"Good child, you've already done your best. Don't dwell on it, focus on healing." Song Xianming's tone was full of pity. These young ones bore far too heavy a burden.
"Luzhou, take Changxue back to rest. Whatever she needs, just say the word."
"Thank you, Uncle." Song Luzhou's voice was hoarse. Carrying Song Changxue away, his figure was tinged with loneliness.
Changxue's failure cast a shadow over everyone's hearts. Three clan members remained in seclusion. Among them, Song Changxuan and Song Luyuan were already nearing sixty. Seeing little hope without the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill, they had chosen to gamble one last time, but their chances of success were less than twenty percent.
Song Xianming's greatest hope lay with Song Changxuan. Of the three who had received Foundation Establishment Pills, he was the youngest and most gifted, possessing the rare Gold-Water Dao Foundation.
His chances of breaking through were as high as seventy percent.
Under the watchful and anxious eyes of the clan, five days later, Song Changxuan successfully entered the Foundation Establishment stage, adding yet another Foundation Establishment cultivator to the Song clan's ranks.
As for Song Changxuan and Song Luyuan, fate was not with them. They both failed in succession and perished, returning their souls to the heavens and earth.
Reality was merciless.
The road to Foundation Establishment was like a single-plank bridge. Some hesitated at its edge; others stepped onto it with courage.
Those who reached the far side gained another hundred years of life and a bright future.
Those who stumbled fell to their deaths.
Song Luyuan and Song Changxuan were not the first to perish on this road, and they would not be the last.
All they could do now was pray that the clan could soon cultivate the three main ingredients needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills; at least then there would be more hope, and more room for retreat…
Liuyun Mountain Range, Baiyun Peak.
The upper echelons of the Wu Ling Sect had gathered, each holding the latest intelligence from their spies. Every face was grim.
Since the last great battle, the Liu clan, led by Liu Hongye, had allied with two Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators and many captured cultivation families to form the Liuyun Sect. Their base was established on the site of the former Liuyun Market, now renamed the central Liufeng Plains.
By absorbing the strength of numerous cultivation families and welcoming freelance cultivators, the Liuyun Sect had grown rapidly. They now possessed six Foundation Establishment cultivators, nearly seven hundred disciples, and controlled half of the Liuyun Mountains along with the entire Liufeng Plains.
To counter the rising power of the Liuyun Sect, the Great Elder of the Earthfire Sect, Du Huating, proposed a merger.
After many rounds of negotiation and compromise, the Earthfire Sect, together with the Qiu and Li clans of the Liuyun Mountains, formally merged, establishing the Wu Ling Sect with Baiyun Peak as its headquarters.
Their roots had always been in the Liuyun Mountains, so banding together for survival was only natural.
Their former ally, the Yu clan, however, was based in the Wutong Mountains and would not face the Liuyun Sect directly, so they refused to join the newly formed Wu Ling Sect.
But now, with the Song clan, the Liuyun Sect, and the Wu Ling Sect all growing stronger, the Yu clan sought to ally with the Wang clan to turn the Wutong Mountains into an impregnable bastion.
Unfortunately for them, the Wang clan was a staunch ally of the Song clan and ignored their overtures, taking the opportunity to nibble away at the Yu clan territory instead.
Left with no choice, the Yu clan agreed to join the Wu Ling Sect as a subordinate branch.
With this move, the Wu Ling Sect's strength on paper swelled to eleven Foundation Establishment cultivators and nearly a thousand disciples, instantly making them the most powerful force in Lingzhou.
Compared side by side, the Song Clan, with only eight Foundation Establishment cultivators and fewer than seven hundred clan cultivators, no longer held much of an advantage.
Even now, with their number increased to ten Foundation Establishment cultivators, they still could not surpass the Wu Ling Sect, and could only barely hold onto the lead by factoring in the Wang Clan's strength.
Unfortunately, both the Liuyun Sect and the Wu Ling Sect were like riverside sand clumped together by force, holding for now, but destined to crumble under real pressure.
Within the Liuyun Sect, the Liu clan members and the three rogue Foundation Establishment cultivators had formed separate factions, fighting for control of the sect's leadership. The disciples under them came from all manner of backgrounds; without a hundred years of unification, there was no way they could truly pull together.
The Wu Ling Sect wasn't much better. The Yu clan held nearly one-third of the sect's overall strength, but their submission was purely nominal.
The Li clan, having suffered devastating losses in the past, had later poured all their remaining resources into grooming Li Hengzong into a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Yet their mortal kin had been entirely captured by the Liuyun Sect, and most of their cultivators had perished in battle.
As a result, they had been thoroughly marginalized within the Wu Ling Sect. Li Siyang had long harbored resentment, quietly making common cause with the equally slighted Qiu clan.
The Qiu, Li, and Yu clans were all bloodline-based family factions, deeply insular and fiercely exclusive, unable to "piss in the same pot," as the saying went.
This division was even more obvious when dealing with disciples from the Earthfire Sect, with the three families united in excluding them, leading to constant infighting and giving Du Huating, the Great Elder, a perpetual headache.
Even so, he gritted his teeth and maintained a fragile balance between all sides, convinced that this was only temporary.
As long as Chang Wudao succeeded in breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage, all of these problems would resolve themselves.
Because of this stalemate, the two sects' overall strength had declined instead of growing. Until their internal issues were resolved, neither side dared to take bold action, resulting in an unusually peaceful period for Lingzhou.
Inside the Wu Ling Sect's council hall, Yu Chengshan, now one of the sect's four Standing Elders, slammed the table and declared with righteous indignation:
"Hmph! I said from the start that we should pool resources to buy a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills to strengthen the sect. You didn't listen. Now the Song Clan has already surpassed us.
"In the coming years, we won't see much progress. But the Song Clan is different; their strength has been skyrocketing, and they have that monstrous talent Song Changsheng. If this trend continues, in less than thirty years, we'll be under their heel again!
"So, I propose we revive my earlier plan: gather two hundred thousand spirit stones, send people to the Gusu Kingdom, and buy Foundation Establishment Pills. Who's in favor, who's against?"
He swept his gaze around the room.
Qiu Tianyang, another Standing Elder, let out a derisive laugh. "The Silvermoon Demon Wolves are moving south. No one knows when the big battle will come. And you want to buy Foundation Establishment Pills instead of stockpiling supplies?"
The First Elder, Du Huating, shook his head and said tactfully, "Now is indeed not the right time. Let's discuss this later."
Li Siyang was even blunter; he didn't say a word, offering no opinion at all.
Of the four Standing Elders, two voted against, one abstained, and Yu Chengshan's proposal died on the spot.
This outcome was easy to understand. After the merger, the resources of the Earthfire Sect, Qiu clan, and Li clan had been consolidated into the sect's treasury, except for each family's deepest heritage; everything else was shared.
Any project would be funded from the treasury.
The Yu clan, however, had only nominally submitted; they still controlled their coffers. If Foundation Establishment Pills were to be purchased, the sect treasury would bear the bulk of the cost, while the Yu clan's branch sect would contribute only a token amount; yet in resource allocation afterward, they would receive a share second only to the Earthfire Sect.
In other words, Yu Chengshan was pushing a plan that would profit his clan disproportionately.
Neither Du Huating nor Qiu Tianyang was willing to make wedding clothes for another man's bride, so they naturally opposed it.
This sort of situation had already happened more than once. Each side had its interests, and though they possessed great collective strength, they could not use it effectively.
Du Huating could only place his hopes on Chang Wudao. Once he advanced to the Purple Mansion stage, the Yu clan would have no choice but to submit, and the Li and Qiu clans would stop stirring up trouble.
As for the Song Clan and the clownish Liuyun Sect, they would be even less of a concern.
Watching the council devolve into yet another shouting match over how to defend against the Silvermoon Demon Wolves, Du Huating felt utterly exhausted. Inwardly, he sighed:
Senior Brother… Senior Brother… when will you come out of seclusion?
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