Chapter 1: Song Changsheng
The Great Qi cultivation world, Ling Province.
Ling Province was one of the nineteen provinces in Qi, located in the remote southwestern frontier, bordering the vast Ten Thousand Mountains.
Despite its remoteness, Ling Province covered tens of thousands of li in area, with three great mountain ranges intersecting its lands: Wangyue, Wutong, and Liuyun.
The Song Clan was one of the six major Foundation Establishment powers in Ling Province. The entirety of the Wangyue Mountain Range was under their control, encompassing seven counties and over six hundred thousand mortal clansmen.
The clan's ancestral grounds were located on Cangmang Peak. Towering over a thousand zhang high, the peak was breathtakingly beautiful, surrounded by spiritual mountains with lush vegetation and clouds shrouding its slopes. Exotic beasts and rare flora roamed its forests, lending it a heavenly aura, it resembled an immortal’s paradise.
At this moment, midway up Cangmang Peak near a cliff’s edge, a young man in a silver-moon cloud-patterned green robe sat cross-legged in meditation. A gourd hung at his waist, his hands forming intricate seals, facing the sun.
This youth was named Song Changsheng. He stood seven chi(about 5'9") tall, with refined features like sculpted jade. His sword-like brows gave him an air of sharpness and intensity, and his thick black hair was casually tied back with a silk ribbon. He was indeed a striking figure of poise and elegance.
Now, he was deep in meditation, maintaining a focused state of inner harmony. His breathing was long and rhythmic, containing a mysterious cadence that defied explanation.
Strands of solar essence from the sky continuously flowed into the Baihui acupoint atop his head, traveled through the Hand and Foot Yang Meridians and their orifices, completed a full cycle, and finally gathered in the lower dantian, where they condensed into a cloud of gray-white mist.
Suddenly, as if sensing a profound transformation, the spiritual energy in his meridians surged toward the dantian. A seemingly indestructible barrier shattered in an instant, causing the youth to emit a muffled grunt.
Song Changsheng immediately sped up his cultivation technique. Water and fire spiritual energy swirled around him, gradually calming the raging qi.
"At last… I've broken through to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement." Song Changsheng opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, joy filling his heart.
"Congratulations, little brother. You've taken one more step toward Foundation Establishment." A cheerful voice came from behind him just as he ended his cultivation.
He didn’t need to turn around. From the voice alone, Song Changsheng knew it was his elder brother from the same lineage, Song Changming.
Back when the Song Clan's ancestor, Song Taiyi, slew a third-rank demon beast and claimed the Wangyue Mountain Range, he took many wives and expanded the family line. He established the ten-character generational sequence for cultivators: “Tai Chu Yun Xian Lu, Chang Qing You Jing Ming.”
Five hundred years had passed since then. The clan now had nearly four hundred cultivators, six of whom were in the Foundation Establishment stage. The eldest generation belonged to the “Xian” character group and were the fewest in number. The youngest, bearing the “Qing” character, were mostly still minors.
The generations of “Lu” and “Chang” formed the current backbone of the clan and were gradually assuming control over clan affairs.
Turning around, he saw a slightly aged middle-aged man standing not far away.
"I was wondering why I heard magpies chirping this morning. So, it was big brother visiting. May I ask what brings you to me today?" Song Changsheng rose, clasped his hands with a smile.
Song Changming gave a wry smile. "I truly came to ask a favor."
"Big Brother, you’re too polite. You've helped me immensely on my cultivation path. If there’s anything I can do, just say the word." Song Changsheng gestured to a stone bench nearby, inviting his brother to sit. His tone turned solemn.
Sigh. "Here’s the situation, ever since that battle ten years ago, our clan has been declining. Many of our external businesses lack manpower.
"The clan has assigned me to oversee a mining outpost. Who knows how long I’ll be gone. I’d like to ask you to refine a protective charm for Xi'er."
With a wave of his hand, a green jade pendant and a small pile of a dozen spirit stones appeared on the stone table before him.
"So that’s it. But Xi'er lives on Cangmang Peak. She's safe. Why bother with such a trivial item?" Song Changsheng looked puzzled.
Song Changming, now sixty-three, had long given up hope of Foundation Establishment. He had taken a non-clan cultivator as wife and fathered a daughter, Song Xi, a few years ago. The protective charm was for her.
That was precisely what puzzled Song Changsheng. A protective charm carried only weak spiritual energy, useful only against mortals. His little niece lived in the clan's heartland, why would she need such a thing?
Song Changming’s expression turned complex. "Xi'er is already six. It's almost time for her spiritual root test. If she has one, all is well. But if not, according to clan rules, she’ll be sent to a mortal county.
"I'm not sure I’ll survive this posting. If I don’t return, she’ll be alone. I can't rest easy. Please, brother, help me."
Song Changsheng fell silent. The clan rules were strict: mortals lived in the counties. Only because Song Changming was a cultivator could his daughter reside on Cangmang Peak.
But there was a strict line between mortals and cultivators. Without spiritual roots, children were exiled to the mortal world. Though such rules were logical, how could a father remain indifferent?
Song Changsheng had never experienced such hardship, so he’d thought the protective charm useless. But for Song Changming, it was a way to protect his daughter after he was gone.
"I understand. I’ll do my best." Song Changsheng swept the jade pendant into his sleeve but pushed the spirit stones back.
"That won’t do. Even between brothers, accounts must be clear. This is your rightful payment," Song Changming said, startled, trying to return them.
Song Changsheng stopped him with a raised hand. "Big Brother, I’m at least Xi'er’s elder. This charm is my gift to her. You'll need those spirit stones more when you’re away."
Cultivation required abundant spiritual energy to cultivate, but the current world's laws were incomplete and the ambient energy chaotic. Most cultivators had to cultivate on spiritual veins.
The higher the rank of the vein, the denser the energy and the faster the progress.
Cangmang Peak held the only third-rank spiritual vein in Ling Province, making cultivation there highly efficient. But outside, many places had only first-rank veins or none at all.
In such places, cultivators depended on spirit stones. Without them, their cultivation would stagnate. These stones were precious, and for lower-tier cultivators, even a dozen could mean the world.
Song Changming was deeply moved. "Thank you, brother."
"Big brother is too polite, would you like to accompany little brother for a drink?" Song Changsheng smiled, then took the gourd from his waist.
"Hahaha, Sixth Aunt’s homemade spirit wine! I've been longing for it. Of course I won’t miss the chance." Song Changming’s eyes lit up.
Song Changsheng smiled slightly. The spirit wine brewed by his mother was precious, and he wouldn’t have brought it out if it wasn't to see his brother off.
He fetched two small cups. The brothers drank together on the cliff until noon, reluctantly parting ways.
Though reeking of wine when he returned to his courtyard, Song Changsheng's mind was exceptionally clear. He shut the door behind him and sat cross-legged in concentration.
His consciousness quickly entered a deep calm. In the sea of his mind, a pristine white jade slip floated silently.
Under the pull of his spiritual sense, the jade slip slowly unfurled, revealing lines upon lines of ancient scripture.
Song Changsheng formed a hand seal and began to comprehend the scriptures, using the spiritual energy refined from the wine in his body.
This jade slip was a Daoist scripture called the Mystic Creation Scripture, incredibly profound.
In his previous life, he was an orphan taken in by a Daoist temple on Blue Star, living with an old Daoist priest for twenty years. On his deathbed, the old man entrusted him with a blank jade slip.
When he first opened it, it disrupted the laws of heaven and earth. Nine bolts of divine lightning descended from the heavens, striking him into a charred corpse.
Thankfully, the jade slip protected his soul, which fled through the void and reincarnated in the Ziyu Realm, into the Song Clan.
At first, with a muddled soul, he was no different from an ordinary child. But ten years ago, when he was six, he witnessed his father Song Luyan die in battle.
Perhaps the trauma triggered something, his memories of his past life awakened. That was when he discovered the jade slip had always existed within his consciousness.
He began trying to comprehend its contents and found it filled with Daoist classics that touched upon the very essence of the Dao. Each word contained boundless mystery.
When he first began channeling spiritual energy, he comprehended a technique called the Yin-Yang Mystical Essence Sutra, which allowed him to absorb solar and lunar energies to form a primordial essence within his dantian.
This primordial essence was key, it balanced the conflicting forces of his water and fire spiritual roots.
His dual roots were both a strength and a burden. While they let him absorb qi faster, water and fire opposed each other. Much of his energy was spent keeping them in harmony.
This severely slowed his progress. But once he began cultivating the Yin-Yang Mystical Essence Sutra, the problem resolved itself.
Not only did it balance his elements, it encouraged their fusion, greatly accelerating his cultivation. That was how he reached late-stage Qi Refinement by the age of sixteen.
However, comprehending the Daoist scripture required spiritual energy, so before each session, he had to consume a large amount of spirit wine.
As time passed, and just as his spiritual energy was about to run dry, the jade slip suddenly burst with brilliance. The ancient characters for “Water” and “Fire” came to life, shot out from his mind-sea, and embedded themselves into his palms.
Song Changsheng opened his eyes. A gleam flashed across his gaze.
"Water-Fire Commanding Technique?" he murmured.
Looking at his palms, the left bore the character for “Water,” the right “Fire.” As he lightly circulated his qi, the water and fire energies in the surrounding air began to surge. With a single thought, he could wield them at will.
"What a marvelous secret art, capable of commanding water and fire. This adds another weapon to my arsenal."
"There really is a pattern to this. I often meditate on the Daoist scripture, but most of the time it yields nothing, just slight improvements in insight and spiritual power.
"Only during breakthroughs do I actually gain new techniques.
"I learned the Yin-Yang Mystical Essence Sutra when I first drew qi into my body… the Breath Concealment Art when I reached mid-stage Qi Refinement… and now, after reaching late stage, I’ve gained this Water-Fire Commanding Technique.
"I wonder what wonderful technique I’ll awaken when I break into Foundation Establishment?" A flicker of anticipation stirred in Song Changsheng’s heart.
After briefly adjusting his breath, he took out the green jade pendant from his qiankun pouch and began refining the protective charm…
(Chapter End)