Chapter 277

Song Qingming's seat was set in the first row. Gao family's Gao Jinhe and Lu family's Lu Xingde were also sitting here. After the two saw Song Qingming, they each nodded slightly, which could be considered as greeting him.

Although the four major Foundation Establishment families in Qinghe County had always been fighting in secret, they would still give some face when invited to things in the open.

Lu Xingde was still the same. Although his cultivation had already reached the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, no matter who he talked to, he always had a slick appearance.

It was Gao Jinhe. Since seeing him once in the Taiyuehu Secret Realm back then, Song Qingming hadn't seen him appear for nearly ten years. Seeing him this time, he found that this old ghost's demeanor had changed quite a bit. His beard and hair had already turned white, and he gave the impression that he had suddenly aged more than ten years. It seemed that the rumors were not false; this old guy should have been seriously injured in the secret realm last time.

Seeing that Song Qingming's cultivation had already broken through to the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment, Gao Jinhe couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise in his eyes.

When Song Qingming first established his Foundation back then, Gao Jinhe had sent people to investigate him. According to the situation reported by the people below, this person was only a three-spiritual-root cultivator. Seeing his cultivation speed, it was already about to catch up with his own dual-spiritual-root Gao Yubai. This kid not only had high cultivation talent, but his own luck was also far beyond ordinary people.

That trip to the Fuyun Mountain Range by the Huang family not only lost Huang Chengliang but also injured a Xiaoyao Sect Huang family cultivator who came to help. As a result, although Song Qingming was missing at the time, he returned to Qinghe County unscathed. Later, going to such a dangerous place as the Taiyuehu Secret Realm, even he, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, almost lost his life there. Song Qingming, relying on his third-layer Foundation Establishment cultivation, could also follow the Huang family and finally walk out without any danger, which made him have to admire this kid's opportunity and fortune.

In the future, when he and Huang Shengxin's lifespans are exhausted, the ones in Qinghe County who have hope of breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment earlier are estimated to be Song Qingming and Gao Yubai. After calculating, Gao Jinhe decided that after returning to the clan this time, he must remind Gao Yubai to pay attention to easing the relationship with the Song family.

Regarding the calculations in Gao Jinhe's heart, Song Qingming naturally didn't feel it. After greeting Gao and Lu, Song Qingming's gaze had already turned to other positions.

Behind the seats of the major Foundation Establishment families, the Huang family also set up dozens of seats. Those who came were the vassal Qi Condensation families under the Huang family and some relatively famous rogue cultivator forces in Qinghe County. When the main family holds a Foundation Establishment ceremony, these vassal family forces must come to join in the fun to express their loyalty.

Inviting these people to come was naturally because the Huang family wanted to take this opportunity to show off their family's strength to the vassals below, so as to stabilize the hearts of the people below.

Last time when Huang Chengliang died, the Gao and Lu families took the opportunity to make trouble and occupied quite a bit of the Huang family's territory, which led to the Qi Condensation families under the Huang family also starting to feel insecure. One family that had been suppressed by the Huang family even directly threw the whole family under the Gao family.

After this matter happened, the Huang family didn't dare to deal with it publicly. It wasn't until after Huang Shengxin failed to form the core that the Huang family found time to deal with this matter. Under Huang Shengxin's thunderous rage, the Gao family finally had to make concessions and hand over some cultivators to appease his anger. There were also several families whose attitudes were relatively wavering earlier that were also taught a lesson by the Huang family.

The Huang family was not like the Song family, which had only become a Foundation Establishment family for twenty years. After nearly a thousand years of accumulation, the Huang family controlled 40% of the territory in Qinghe County and had more than twenty vassal Qi Condensation families under its command. By comparison, the Song family, which was also a Foundation Establishment family, only had six vassals until now.

Not long after Song Qingming took his seat, Huang Shengxin, dressed in grand attire, led a young man into the banquet venue. After everyone took a look, they soon felt that this person's spiritual power was not bad and he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Since he was attending behind Huang Shengxin, Song Qingming and the others could guess without guessing that he was the master of the Huang family's Foundation Establishment ceremony this time, Huang Sipo.

Although Huang Sipo looked ordinary, his whole body emitted a hint of steady aura, and he had a somewhat mature and steady look. Under the guidance of Huang Shengyue at the scene, Huang Sipo took the initiative to step forward and greet Song Qingming and the others one by one.

Not long after Huang Sipo appeared, a cultivator guarding outside for the Huang family suddenly ran in in a hurry and whispered to Huang Shengyue's ear:

"Ancestor, Senior Lu is here and is almost here."

"Senior Lu? It should be Lu Yuanfeng who is here. Sipo, stop here for a moment and follow me out to welcome him."

As soon as Huang Shengyue's voice fell, just as he was about to stand up to welcome him, he didn't want a hearty laugh to suddenly come from afar.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, don't bother. This time it was Lu who came late. How dare I still trouble the host to come out to welcome me!"

"Fellow Daoist Lu, hurry and take your seat. Today you can take time to come, it really makes my Huang family's Taiyuan Mountain shine."

Seeing that Lu Yuanfeng had already taken the initiative to walk into the banquet venue, Huang Shengyue hurriedly stepped forward and guided them to the seats that had already been prepared earlier.

Song Qingming saw Lu Yuanfeng come to Taiyuan Mountain in person and also thought secretly in his heart. For so many years, it was not very common for Lu Yuanfeng to leave Qinghe Market. Being able to attend the Foundation Establishment ceremony held by the Huang family in person today showed that his relationship with the Huang family was still somewhat unusual.

"Today Lu came in a hurry and didn't specially prepare any congratulatory gifts. This jade pendant has followed me for many years and has some wonderful uses. Today, I will give it to Fellow Daoist Sipo as a meeting gift. I hope you won't refuse."

Not long after Lu Yuanfeng took his seat, he soon stood up again and took the initiative to present a congratulatory gift to Huang Sipo.

As soon as he heard this, Huang Shengyue hurriedly took Huang Sipo over to thank and return the salute, and then took the circular jade pendant sent by Lu Yuanfeng.

The circular jade pendant he mentioned was a relatively special first-tier top-quality magic tool. Being able to be treasured by Lu Yuanfeng for many years showed that it was not an ordinary item. It was estimated that its value might not be lower than an ordinary second-tier low-quality talisman. Sending such a big gift as soon as he came up, Lu Yuanfeng really had a big hand.

By comparison, the gifts sent by Song Qingming and these people were much more shabby, either longevity peaches and spiritual fruits, or ordinary spiritual wine and elixirs. Although these things looked very festive, they were all low-tier spiritual items worth dozens of spirit stones. This comparison immediately made Lu Yuanfeng's move appear much more generous.

However, the Huang family didn't show much concern about this. No matter what gift you sent, Huang Shengyue accepted everything and would also give a return gift, absolutely not losing the face of the person who sent the gift. Song Qingming also appreciated this point very much.

(End of chapter)