Chapter 257: Vassal

Just as the Song clan's system reform was in full swing, two strange Qi Condensation cultivators suddenly came to visit Mount Funiu on this day.

These two were at the late stage of Qi Condensation, both surnamed Xu, and were cousins who hadn't left the five-generation kinship. They came from under Mount Guyang of the Xiaoyao Sect, and the purpose of this trip was specifically to find the Song clan to discuss a matter.

Originally, for two Qi Condensation cultivators like this, it would have been enough for the clan leader Song Changfeng to come out to receive them. But these two also brought a letter written to Song Qingming at the same time.

Looking at the three words "Xu Cheng Ziyan" written on the envelope, Song Changfeng immediately knew the identity of the letter writer. Back when he went to Yangshan Square to deliver spirit stones to Song Qingming, he had once heard Song Qingming mention Xu Cheng Ziyan. Later, after Song Qingming successfully established his Foundation and returned, he also knew that Xu Cheng Ziyan had helped Song Qingming a lot when he established his Foundation.

Since the other party had already taken out Xu Cheng Ziyan's letter, Song Changfeng naturally had to show the Song clan's sincerity and hurriedly sent someone to invite Song Qingming over.

"According to what Fellow Daoist Xu mentioned in the letter, the two of you want to find a place to settle down in my Qinghe County on this trip?" After Song Qingming finished reading Xu Cheng Ziyan's letter, he immediately knew the intention of these two.

According to what Xu Cheng Ziyan said in the letter, the ancestors of these two were fellow disciples of her master Liu Xingfeng, which was to say, descendants of Xu Cheng Ziyan's own martial uncle. Their encounter was almost the same as the Song clan back then. It was also after their family ancestor suddenly died that they lost their backing and were constantly squeezed out at Mount Guyang. This was why they chose to do the same as the Song clan's ancestors back then, intending to leave Mount Guyang and find another place to live.

Liu Xingfeng's martial uncle was originally a veteran Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Xiaoyao Sect for many years. Back when Liu Xingfeng hadn't established her Foundation and was young, this Martial Uncle Xu had taken quite good care of her. Unlike most bitter cultivators, he was relatively greedy for worldly enjoyment. After establishing his Foundation, he soon married many wives and concubines by his side, and had left behind many descendants over the past hundred years.

In the demonic beast turmoil more than twenty years ago, Liu Xingfeng's martial uncle had poor luck and died in the great battle supporting Guiyun Square. After he died, although the descendants of the Xu family received a good pension from the sect, it was a pity that among these people, there was no one with outstanding talent who had hope of establishing a Foundation. Their days were getting worse day by day, which was why they had the idea of leaving Mount Guyang.

Half a year ago, they begged Liu Xingfeng, wanting to find a connection there to help look after them. Liu Xingfeng agreed to repay the kindness her martial uncle had shown her back then. It just so happened that Xu Cheng Ziyan was also in Liu Xingfeng's cave dwelling at the time, so she directly did a favor and helped her master Liu Xingfeng handle this matter. On the spot, she wrote a letter and gave it to Xu Changrong and the others, letting them come to Qinghe County to find Song Qingming.

"Senior Song, please look at the face of Senior Xu and give us some convenience. As long as you don't mind, my Xu family is willing to be a vassal under the Song clan and listen to your orders." The old man speaking was the clan leader of this generation of the Xu family, named Xu Changrong.

"Sigh, Fellow Daoist Xu and I are close friends. Since it is a matter entrusted by her, Song will naturally not refuse. Don't worry, tomorrow I will arrange for someone to accompany the two of you to walk around the surrounding area to see if there are any spiritual mountains suitable for you to settle down. If you need any help, you don't need to be polite; just come and mention it to me."

The matter requested by Xu Changrong and the others was not a difficult thing for Song Qingming. There were still many ownerless spiritual mountains in the territory around the Song clan; as long as they liked them, it would be fine.

On the contrary, being able to have one more vassal family under one's command was actually an advantageous thing for the Song clan in the long run. Song Qingming now even wished that there could be a few more cultivation families under the Song clan.

The Song clan now had no more than fifty cultivators. Once they encountered some wars that required a large number of cultivators to be summoned, they would indeed be somewhat stretched. Last time they went to Eagle Nest Ridge to suppress bandits, Song Qingming also almost pulled all the late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators who could be mobilized below, and only then barely managed to gather ten people. In this aspect, their foundation was indeed too shallow compared to several other Foundation Establishment families.

The area in the northeast of Qinghe County currently controlled by the Song clan, adjacent to Mount Yunwu, was considered a relatively remote corner of Qinghe County. Added together, there were only five cultivation families under their command.

Compared to the most powerful Huang family in Qinghe County, which had more than twenty vassal immortal families under their command and could easily gather a team of dozens of late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators, the Song clan was really far behind.

"Thank you, Senior, for your care. This spiritual talisman was passed down by our family ancestor. Since we have already entered the Song clan's door today, this talisman shall be a gift of thanks to you, Senior." Xu Changrong said while smiling and raising his hand to offer a second-grade low-quality spiritual talisman to Song Qingming.

Regarding this, Song Qingming didn't refuse, directly reached out to take it, and looked at it. He discovered that this was a rare defensive spiritual talisman, which should be worth about 300 spirit stones on the market and was still somewhat useful to him, so he directly put it into his storage bag.

It is a very normal thing for a family like the Xu family, who have just arrived to seek refuge under the Song family, to give Song Qingming a heavier gift as a token of respect; after all, since they are arriving here, they will have to rely on the Song family's care in the future, and building a good relationship in advance is a matter of being prepared for a rainy day.

Although Song Qingming would sell a little of Xu Cheng Ziyan's face now and wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for them, things in the future would be hard to say. Once they left Mount Guyang, it meant they had completely broken their relationship with the Xiaoyao Sect. It was naturally unlikely that Liu Xingfeng would keep speaking for them. Like the Song clan's predecessors back then, they would still have to rely on themselves in the future.

After obtaining Song Qingming's promise, Xu Changrong and the other one were accompanied by the eldest brother Song Qingsi the next morning to walk around the surrounding area. They were also determined to leave Mount Guyang and were equally very cautious about the location chosen for their family's future.

After walking around several times, Xu Changrong and the others finally selected a spiritual mountain several hundred miles away from Mount Funiu as the place for the Xu family to live in the future.

Although the spiritual vein level of this spiritual mountain was not as good as the Mount Funiu of the Song clan back then, it won in having very good terrain. Not only was there vast flat land around it for cultivation, but there was also a river needed for mortal survival passing through here, which could settle tens of thousands of mortals to live here. This point was not much worse than the current Mount Funiu.

Although the Xu family's population was not large now, with only eight cultivators and less than a thousand mortals, as long as they took root in Qinghe County in the future and had more vast living space, the family's population would naturally become larger and larger. By then, they would be able to have the appearance of a cultivation family.

With the Song clan as an example here, the Xu family might also produce a talent like Song Qingming in the future, leading everyone on the road to reviving the family's glory.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 258 =====