Chapter 169: Upgrading the Spirit Vein

A few days later, in a restaurant in Yangshanfang, looking at his Third Brother, Song Qingze, whom he hadn't seen for several years and who looked much older, Song Qingming, although somewhat prepared in his heart, didn't expect that Song Qingze's changes would be so great.

As early as a year ago, his Third Brother, Song Qingze, after so many years of accumulation, finally successfully saved enough merit points and exchanged for a Foundation Establishment Pill in the Xiaoyao Sect. It was just a pity that although his conditions for Foundation Establishment were a bit better than the average person, he ultimately failed in Foundation Establishment.

Although he had the protection of the Foundation Establishment Pill, which did not damage the meridians in his body, Song Qingming didn't expect that this failure in Foundation Establishment would have such a great blow to his Third Brother, Song Qingze.

Ordinary cultivators in their fifties were about the same as ordinary mortals in their thirties, but at this moment, Song Qingze's face already had a few extra wrinkles, and many white hairs had appeared in his tied-up long hair, completely different from how he looked when Song Qingming first came to the Xiaoyao Sect to see him.

Now that the two of them were sitting together, to outsiders, they already looked like father and son.

"Qingming, I really didn't expect that among so many of our brothers, you could be the one to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Thinking about it, I am truly a joke. I spent all my efforts to join the Xiaoyao Sect, thinking I could walk further on the Dao path, but I didn't expect that in the end, it was all just a mirror image and a flower in the water, all empty."

After Song Qingze finished speaking, he sighed again, then picked up the wine glass on the table and poured a mouthful directly into his mouth.

Seeing that his Third Brother, who usually didn't like to drink with their brothers, took the initiative to pick up the wine glass today, Song Qingming also understood the bitterness in his heart now, but he didn't know how to comfort the elder brother in front of him for a while, so he could only pick up the wine glass and drink with him.

"Receiving the spirit stones you sent through someone, to tell the truth, I was truly very moved. I was thinking that after Foundation Establishment, I would go back and thank you properly. Now that I've become like this, to tell the truth, I feel a bit ashamed to see you."

"Third Brother, one stroke cannot write two 'Song' characters. You shouldn't think too much. Before I reached Foundation Establishment, didn't you also help me? Regardless, we are all brothers, and if we have the ability, we should naturally support each other."

His Third Brother, Song Qingze, back then, in order to reach Foundation Establishment, did not hesitate to leave the family and travel thousands of miles away to join the Xiaoyao Sect. For the sake of the Dao path, he almost abandoned everything. That a person with such a firm Dao heart would fail in Foundation Establishment was indeed something Song Qingming didn't expect, which also made him sigh in his heart that the path of cultivating the Dao was truly somewhat ruthless.

"Look at me, I'm really drunk, letting you, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, listen to me babble here for a long time. I almost forgot to ask you what you came to Yangshanfang for this time?" After the two drank half a pot of wine, only then did Song Qingze suddenly remember to ask Song Qingming why he came to the Xiaoyao Sect this time.

Song Qingming sorted out the things that happened recently a little bit, and then repeated to Song Qingze the things from his crusade against Gu Liangshan and his group of demonic cultivators at Mount Longtan to his great battle with Yang Wuqi, the demon, in Pingyang County.

"A few days ago, I also heard that Senior Uncle Chen led people to behead Yang Wuqi, the demon, in Pingyang County. I just didn't know you were also there. I really didn't expect that you had just reached Foundation Establishment not long ago, and you could already fight with a demonic head with such profound cultivation like Yang Wuqi." Hearing that Song Qingming participated in the great battle that killed the demonic cultivator Yang Wuqi, Song Qingze was also very surprised.

Song Qingming shook his head and said modestly, "You think too much. In that battle, although I was present, I didn't fight Yang Wuqi. The one who beheaded Yang Wuqi was only Senior Chen alone. The rest of us were just responsible for helping him solve the other reinforcements."

"Senior Uncle Chen practices sword cultivation arts. In the sect, except for those few Jin Dan ancestors, not many people are his match. Being able to behead Yang Wuqi, the demon, is naturally within expectations. I heard that after he came back this time, he seems to have opened a trace of his state of mind and has already started to go into seclusion to break through to the Jin Dan realm."

"I didn't expect Senior Chen to be already charging toward the Jin Dan realm. This sword cultivation art is truly mysterious."

On that day, Song Qingming had witnessed the great battle between Chen Xuanxin and Yang Wuqi with his own eyes and had already seen the power of Chen Xuanxin's cultivation art. To tell the truth, if it were the same Foundation Establishment cultivator, if Yang Wuqi were replaced by him, I'm afraid he wouldn't necessarily be able to take even one move from Chen Xuanxin.

"Third Brother, I came to find you this time for another matter. I want you to help me ask around in the sect if there is any second-tier formation master you are familiar with, preferably one who is willing to go out."

Seeing that Song Qingze had spoken out some of the bitterness in his heart, his mood had already improved a lot, and only then did Song Qingming speak out the main purpose of his visit this time.

"Second-tier formation master! Could it be that you want to upgrade the spirit vein on Mount Funiu?" Hearing that Song Qingming wanted to find a second-tier formation master willing to go out, Song Qingze soon guessed his ultimate goal.

Song Qingming nodded and smiled, "That is indeed the case. Now that there are more and more cultivators in the family, plus I have already reached Foundation Establishment, the spirit vein on Mount Funiu is already somewhat insufficient. I discussed it with Sixth Uncle and the others, and we decided to invite a second-tier formation master to go and see first if we can upgrade the spirit vein on Mount Funiu."

Because Song Qingming's term of guarding Qinghefang would soon be up, once he returned to Mount Funiu, the spirit vein on the mountain would definitely not be enough. In the past six months, he, Song Changfeng, and several Song family elders had discussed it several times, and finally decided to find a way to directly upgrade the spirit vein of their ancestral land, Mount Funiu.

A second-tier low-grade spirit vein can supply three ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators for cultivation. As long as the Song family upgrades the original first-tier top-grade spirit vein of Mount Funiu to second-tier low-grade, they definitely won't have to worry about the spirit vein in the short term.

However, to upgrade a first-tier spirit vein to second-tier, in addition to needing to consume nearly ten thousand spirit stones, it also requires inviting a second-tier formation master to set up a second-tier spirit-gathering formation to upgrade the spirit vein's grade.

After more than two hundred years of accumulation, the Song family's treasury had already saved more than four thousand spirit stones. Coupled with the fact that after Song Qingming reached Foundation Establishment, the Song family's business in Qinghefang was doing better and better, the income of Qinghefang in these few years had also increased a lot. The spirit items in several shops added together could also be exchanged for one thousand spirit stones.

For the remaining five thousand spirit stones, under the leadership of the Patriarch, Song Changfeng, all the cultivators in the family took the initiative to donate a sum of spirit stones. After all, upgrading the spirit vein was a major event that the entire family would benefit from. On this matter, the vast majority of Song family cultivators supported it in their hearts, and the crowd gathered together and soon gathered half of the spirit stones.

The remaining half, two thousand five hundred spirit stones, was voluntarily undertaken by Song Qingming, the family's only Foundation Establishment cultivator.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, Song Qingming's talisman-making level had long since far exceeded that of the Qi Refining stage. Although he had not yet become a second-tier talisman maker, his success rate in making first-tier spirit talismans was already more than 70%, and the quality was far better than that of ordinary first-tier talisman makers. The speed of earning spirit stones was naturally much faster than in the Qi Refining stage. After several years of hard work in talisman making, Song Qingming had already saved more than three thousand spirit stones. Taking out this spirit stone for upgrading the spirit vein was naturally not a problem.

Everyone rest early.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 170 =====