Chapter 189: Core Formation

Song Qingming picked up the letter and read it. After a while, he looked up and asked.

"How is the situation on the Huang family's side?"

Upon hearing this, Song Changfeng first waved his hand to dismiss the clansmen nearby, then replied to Song Qingming: "The matter is somewhat complicated. Let's go to my cave dwelling to talk about it!"

Song Qingming nodded, and the two soon arrived at Song Changfeng's cave dwelling in the back mountain.

It took half an hour for Song Changfeng to thoroughly explain to Song Qingming some of the important events that had occurred in Qinghe County over the past few months, including the current state of the Huang family.

Only after listening to this did Song Qingming realize that in the nearly three months he had been away, the situation in Qinghe County had changed drastically.

The Huang family, once the strongest cultivation family in Qinghe County, had not only lost their Foundation Establishment ancestor Huang Chengliang after returning from the Fuyun Mountain Range last time, but even the Huang family's pillar, Patriarch Huang Shengxin, had not appeared in public since his return. There were even rumors outside that Huang Shengxin had either been too severely injured and was in seclusion to heal, or had fallen just like Huang Chengliang.

Now, in the vast Huang family with so many assets, only one Foundation Establishment ancestor, Huang Shengyue, remained to hold the fort. Moreover, ever since the Huang family's incident, she had not left Taiyuan Mountain.

Over the past two months, upon learning that the Huang family's strength had been greatly damaged, the Gao family had joined forces with the Lu family to take advantage of the situation. By either bribing some rogue cultivators or inciting the vassal family forces below, they had already seized quite a bit of the Huang family's territory.

Faced with such a step-by-step encroachment, the Huang family had behaved very strangely, showing no reaction at all. Instead, they continuously and proactively abandoned some external strongholds, concentrating the family's main strength on a few important spirit mountains like Taiyuan Mountain.

This behavior of the Huang family also caused the hearts of the vassal families below to waver. Most of the vassal families had already sealed their mountains to seek self-preservation. There were also two families that had secretly had ambiguous relations with the Gao family over the years; seeing that the situation was bad, they directly defected and threw their entire families under the Gao family's banner.

The Song family, as an ally of the Huang family, had also fallen into a very unfavorable situation due to Song Qingming's sudden disappearance.

Although Song Changfeng had initially tried his best to seal the news of Song Qingming's disappearance, the Gao and Lu families did not choose to take action against the Song family, only sending people to monitor Funiu Mountain.

As time passed, the Gao family soon learned the news of Song Qingming's disappearance. Seeing that Song Qingming had not appeared for more than two months, they gradually felt that Song Qingming should not be able to return. Only then did they start to set their sights on the Song family's shop in Qinghe Market.

After sorting through the recent events in his mind, Song Qingming held the Gao family's invitation letter in his hand and said softly: "Sixth Uncle, I did indeed see with my own eyes that Huang Chengliang was severely injured that day. Under those circumstances, I am not surprised that he could not return alive, but to say that Huang Shengxin is also dead, I think it is unlikely."

Song Changfeng nodded and said: "To be honest, the news we received was also heard from others; there is indeed no basis for it. However, ever since you all had an accident in the Fuyun Mountain Range, the Huang family's behavior has been truly too strange. If Huang Shengxin is really fine, even if the Huang family lost this Foundation Establishment ancestor Huang Chengliang, it is unlikely that the Gao and Lu families could topple the current Huang family by joining forces. There is no need to retreat step by step like this."

"Forget it, relying on guessing, we will definitely find it hard to guess correctly all at once. In a while, I will go to the Huang family myself to ask Huang Shengyue!"

After discussing with his Sixth Uncle, Song Qingming thought for a while and decided not to attend the Gao family's appointment first, but to go to the Huang family to inquire about the situation first.

Half a day later, Song Qingming arrived near the Huang family's Taiyuan Mountain and found that it had completely changed from when he came a few months ago. The entire Taiyuan Mountain had opened its formation restrictions everywhere, falling into a tense atmosphere.

After parting ways in the Fuyun Mountain Range that day, when Song Qingming first heard the Qingluan Demon King who captured him say that he had let go of a few people from the Huang family, Song Qingming thought at the time that they had all successfully run back. He did not expect that the Huang family's situation would change so much now.

To be honest, the Huang family had truly lifted a rock only to drop it on their own feet this time. Just for a third-tier spirit herb, they not only caused their own Foundation Establishment ancestor to die, but also almost dragged Song Qingming in as well. If it weren't for his good luck and the fact that he happened to be of some use to Huo Feng and the others, he would probably have already died and vanished by now.

After arriving at Taiyuan Mountain, Song Qingming sent a sound transmission talisman toward the Huang family's activated mountain-protecting formation.

Not long after, a sword light flew out from inside; it was Huang Shengyue, whom he had parted ways with in the Fuyun Mountain Range a few months ago.

Seeing Song Qingming, Huang Shengyue was also very surprised and hurriedly opened the formation to lead him into Taiyuan Mountain.

"Fellow Daoist Song, after we parted that day, I saw that you had not returned for a long time, and I thought you were in great danger. Since you are fine, why did you wait until now to return?"

"After encountering that Demon King that day, I was injured and inconvenient, so I spent two months healing in the mountains before returning. I am also lucky to have saved my life. Did you all escape back that day?"

Huang Shengyue shook her head and smiled bitterly: "Uncle Chengliang was also injured by that Demon King. He passed away less than two days after returning to Qinghe County. The others are fine, just suffering some injuries."

"My condolences, Fellow Daoist Huang. I had already heard about this as soon as I arrived in Qinghe County. There are also people saying that Patriarch Shengxin's situation is not very good and he is in seclusion to heal. I don't know if this is true. I hope Fellow Daoist Huang can tell me frankly." Song Qingming asked with a serious expression.

"Fellow Daoist Song, logically speaking, my family patriarch's seclusion is a matter of great importance, and I cannot tell you casually. But after all, the Song family has always been an ally of our Huang family over the years. Since you came in person, it would not be right for me to let you make a wasted trip. However, after you know about this, please help us keep it a secret and do not tell others." Huang Shengyue said with a heavy expression.

Song Qingming nodded and said after a moment: "Fellow Daoist Huang, rest assured, I know the severity of this matter."

Seeing this, Huang Shengyue said somewhat mysteriously: "Ninth Brother has already been in seclusion for two months. It's just that his seclusion this time is not to heal his injuries, but to break through a cultivation bottleneck. Can Fellow Daoist Song understand what I mean by saying this?"

Hearing this, Song Qingming also had a very surprised expression on his face. After pausing, he said, "Could it be that Fellow Daoist Shengxin is already in seclusion for Core Formation?"

He did not expect that Huang Shengxin was already in seclusion for Core Formation. Although everyone knew that Core Formation was not an easy thing for a cultivator, just having the qualifications to attempt it made one an outstanding figure in the cultivation world. That Huang Shengxin could reach this step so quickly truly made Song Qingming somewhat surprised.

Huang Shengyue nodded with a smile, and then said: "Fellow Daoist Song, rest assured, in three to five years at most, Ninth Brother will definitely come out of seclusion. By then, even if he has not successfully formed his core, we will still make the Gao and Lu families spit out what they have swallowed."

I have something to do today, so I can only write one chapter. Everyone, rest early.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 190 =====