Chapter 256: Original Heart

Regarding Huang Siyuan, Song Qingming's heart had actually always been very complicated.

At first, he indeed only treated Huang Siyuan as a pawn of the Huang family, keeping some distance from her, and then finding her some things she liked to do, so as not to offend the Huang family, nor to offend her.

And as for Huang Siyuan, her marrying into the Song clan was indeed something she couldn't decide for herself. At first, when she was by Song Qingming's side, her main thoughts were also on earning spirit stones and her own cultivation.

But now the situation seemed to have changed a bit, changing far beyond Song Qingming's original expectations, making Song Qingyu's words just now touch him greatly all of a sudden. He was caught off guard and didn't know what to do.

"Should I follow my original intention from before, or my current original heart?"

So many years had passed, and Huang Siyuan had also changed from a somewhat immature and ordinary spiritual chef into the boss of the Immortal Phoenix Tower. The two of them had also experienced many things, and Song Qingming seemed to have become somewhat accustomed to her existence.

Now, whenever he passed by Qinghe Square or wanted to go on a long journey, Song Qingming would involuntarily run to the Immortal Phoenix Tower to have a full meal. He himself couldn't quite distinguish whether it was because he missed Huang Siyuan a bit or because he missed the delicious food she made too much.

Sometimes, Song Qingming would even think that if Huang Siyuan didn't want to be with him anymore at some point and took the initiative to propose to separate from him, even if it meant risking offending the Huang family in his heart, he would agree to it.

After all, he was not the same as when he had just established his Foundation; he also had a little capital to negotiate with the Huang family. Furthermore, the Song clan and the Huang family had long been completely tied to the same front for so many years, and the cooperation between the two families wouldn't collapse immediately because of one Huang Siyuan.

That time when Song Qingming returned from the Floating Cloud Mountain Range after a narrow escape from death, he learned that she hadn't returned to the Huang family even after being abandoned by the Song clan, but had instead risked danger to stay in Qinghe Square waiting for him to return. Song Qingming's heart, which had been very indifferent after cultivating for decades, couldn't help but still be moved by her.

Ever since his mother passed away, Song Qingming had long felt the loneliness he had to face on the path of cultivation. Whether it was childhood friends or beloved relatives and friends, he would always eventually lose them. He himself didn't know who could accompany him to the end.

Nowadays, besides this loneliness, Huang Siyuan's persistence made Song Qingming feel a trace of different satisfaction. In this cultivation world full of crises and only talking about interests, being able to have a confidante quietly staying at home waiting for his return was also quite good for his feelings.

It wasn't that he didn't feel Huang Siyuan's intentions toward him, it was just that he himself was constantly wandering in danger all the time, and many times he really didn't dare to think too much about emotional matters, fearing that he would gain too much and also easily lose too much.

Song Qingyu, who had been waiting without an answer, looked at Song Qingming, who was still in a daze, sighed, shook her head, and returned to her cave dwelling, leaving him alone facing the cold moonlight.

Ever since Song Qingming put forward the policy reform to incentivize cultivation skills, it soon caused a stir within the Song clan. Nowadays, almost all cultivators from top to bottom began to pay attention to this area, no longer putting their own cultivation in the first place.

Before, besides several top-grade talisman makers, the only ones in the Song clan who could truly raise their cultivation skills to the top-grade level were the second elder sister Song Qingwan and the sixth younger brother Song Qinghe. Even Song Qingyu, who had become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, didn't have a cultivation skill that reached this level.

Cultivators raising their cultivation skills could use this to consume low-tier materials to earn more spirit stones. With spirit stones, they could buy cultivation elixirs, and then feed them back into their own cultivation base. This could form a virtuous cycle for the cultivators themselves.

Secondly, the clan's spiritual fields had expanded, and there were more materials for talisman making, alchemy, or artifact refining. If they could consume them themselves, they wouldn't have to spend great effort to pull these low-tier materials to the square to sell them to others at a low price. As long as the quality of these spiritual items you produced was qualified, there would be no lack of buyers when sold in the square. If their own shops helped to toss them back and forth like this, they could also earn a portion of spirit stones. The clan could also earn a little here, improving the clan's internal income.

As the initiator of this opinion, Song Qingming naturally had to lead by example. A few years ago, his talisman-making level had already reached the second grade. It was just because second-grade talisman-making materials were really hard to find, and the Song clan's shop in Qinghe Square could only send Song Qingming a portion of second-grade talisman-making materials every few months. Song Qingming also hadn't disclosed his identity as a second-grade talisman maker to the outside world, and the second-grade spiritual talismans he produced had always been kept on his own person and hadn't been taken to the square to be sold.

This time, in order to support the business of the clan's spiritual talisman shop, Song Qingming directly took out five second-grade spiritual talismans and dozens of first-grade top-quality spiritual talismans and put them in their own shop. Doing this was almost equivalent to telling others that the Song clan likely had a second-grade talisman maker, which would definitely cause a sensation in the entire Qinghe County.

Alchemy had the second elder sister Song Qingwan, and talisman making had Song Qingming personally taking action. These two things still had some fame in Qinghe Square and were goods that didn't lose to other families. Only the artifact refining area was still a bit difficult for the Song clan at present.

There were quite a few people in the entire Song clan who knew artifact refining techniques, totaling more than a dozen, but the artifact refining level was generally not high. The only one who could refine top-grade magic tools was the clan leader Song Changfeng.

Song Changfeng already shouldered the heavy responsibility of the clan leader, and the injuries he suffered when he established his Foundation back then hadn't fully recovered yet, so he almost had no time to spend on artifact refining. The levels of other artifact refiners were too low, and the magic tools refined were mostly very average in level. When placed in the shop in Qinghe Square, naturally, very few people would come to buy them.

Ever since the reform of the system, everyone had their own goals one after another, and most of the cultivation skills of the entire Song clan had improved quite a bit. Even around Song Changfeng, there were several artifact refiners who often came to practice with him.

As a Foundation Establishment elder of the clan, Song Qingyu naturally had to take the lead. Ever since this decree was issued, her talisman-making technique also began to improve rapidly. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, learning first-grade cultivation skills would be relatively fast. Under the guidance of Song Qingming, a second-grade talisman maker, she soon successfully raised her talisman-making technique to the first-grade top-quality.

What made Song Qingming most happy was that the eighth younger brother Song Qingchen and the fourteenth younger sister Song Qingsi had respectively broken through their formation and artifact refining techniques to the top-grade. Both of them originally had some talent for cultivation skills. This time, under the clan's incentive, both of them lived up to expectations and successfully broke through their cultivation skills.

To reward them for setting an example for the other clansmen, Song Qingming even specially paid out of his own pocket to reward each of them with a mid-grade spirit stone, helping the two of them break through their own cultivation to the late stage of Qi Refining.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 257 =====