Chapter 301: Family Juniors

Among the remaining few, Fifth Aunt Song Changling and Sixth Uncle Song Changfeng were both already over a hundred years old. Although they had been tirelessly laboring for the family these past few years, time spares no one, and their spirits and appearances were no longer what they once were.

Ninth Uncle Song Changxin, Thirteenth Uncle Song Changxiong, and Fifteenth Aunt Song Changyue were slightly younger and could still run about outside, but they no longer participated much in the family's core affairs. The power to manage the family had basically fallen to the cultivators of the 'Qing' generation.

In recent years, Sixth Uncle Song Changfeng's energy had gradually declined, and many affairs here at Mount Funiu were handled with the assistance of his eldest brother, Song Qingshi. Second Sister Song Qingwan, meanwhile, had been managing the family's assets in Qinghe Market for nearly thirty years.

These two were the most prestigious among the 'Qing' generation cultivators, aside from the two Foundation Establishment cultivators Song Qingming and Song Qingyu. They had gradually taken over the power from the 'Chang' generation and were managing the daily operations of the family's core assets.

As for the other 'Qing' generation cultivators, aside from Third Brother Song Qingze, who had fallen, and Fifth Brother Song Qingyang, who had died in battle at Qinghe Market two years ago, they had all become the backbone of the Song family.

What brought Song Qingming some comfort was that the 'Xin' generation cultivators among the family juniors had also been slowly growing up over these years. The eldest, Song Xinhu, was already over forty years old this year, reaching the age to start a family and career. Most of them had already gone down the mountain to busy themselves at various Song family properties.

This generation of cultivators was quite lucky, catching up with the time when the Song family was flourishing. Unlike when Song Qingming went down the mountain back then, when he didn't even have a mid-grade magic tool on him to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation for a single Qi-Gathering Pill, and still owed Eldest Brother and the others a sum of spirit stones.

However, although there were many 'Xin' generation cultivators, their spiritual root talent was only average. Among the more than twenty people, only two were three-element spiritual root cultivators.

One was Song Xinyu, whom Song Qingming had sent to the Xiaoyao Sect over a decade ago. The other was ranked nineteenth in the 'Xin' generation, named Song Xinhe. Although he was also a three-element spiritual root cultivator, his cultivation talent was inferior to Song Xinyu's; at twenty-three, he had only just cultivated to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation.

Among the 'Xin' generation cultivators, aside from Song Xinyu who was far away at the Xiaoyao Sect, the highest cultivation was only at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation; no one had yet broken through to the late stage of Qi Condensation. Among this generation of cultivators, Song Qingming had not yet seen anyone with the aptitude for Foundation Establishment.

However, this generation of cultivators had much better talent in cultivation skills than the previous generation. Almost all the adult cultivators had one or two skills under their belts, and after going down the mountain, they could all be considered to have no worries about food and clothing.

As for the few 'Yuan' generation cultivators at present, no one with outstanding spiritual root talent had appeared yet. They were all still young, and Song Qingming could not yet see the depth of their Dao hearts.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of holding the Grace and Honor Ceremony, Song Qingming also carefully observed all the current cultivators of the Song family to see if there were any seedlings capable of Foundation Establishment. However, the current result left him somewhat disappointed. Among these people, there was no one who could give him the feeling that they were worth a gamble and pouring resources into cultivating, like Song Qingyu had back then.

Although Song Qingming was somewhat disappointed with this result, he could still accept it calmly in his heart. After all, the Song family had successfully produced two Foundation Establishment cultivators in succession over these past few decades, which was already a situation unseen in Qinghe County for a hundred years; it could be said that they had hit the jackpot.

Whether it is an individual or the entire family's fortune, it is impossible for it to always be this good. The 'Qing' generation being able to produce two Foundation Establishment cultivators could be considered as having exhausted the Song family's fortune for these past few decades. Thinking about it this way, it is understandable that the 'Xin' generation hasn't produced any talents over these years. Otherwise, if the Song family had people successfully reaching Foundation Establishment one after another, let alone the local Huang family and Gao family in Qinghe County, even the Xiaoyao Sect would likely sense the situation and send people over to investigate.

The Grace and Honor Ceremony was held for a total of three days. During this time, the entire Song family from the mountain to the foot of the mountain was in a harmonious atmosphere. This was the first time the Song family had held a banquet with such a big commotion since becoming a Foundation Establishment family. This news naturally quickly reached the ears of the other few Foundation Establishment families who had already been paying attention to the Song family.

At Mount Lianhua, Gao Jinhe listened to the report from below regarding the news of the Song family's Grace and Honor Ceremony, and said to Gao Yubai, who had been sitting silently on the side:

"The Song family has indeed developed very quickly over these years. It took less than thirty years to transform from a tiny Qi Condensation family into a Foundation Establishment family. It really has made me misjudge them. I don't know if it's because Song Qingming's ability is too outstanding, or if the Song family really has reached its destiny, resulting in such an overwhelming momentum."

"Ninth Great-Uncle is right. The Song family being able to have today is indeed due to excellent luck. Song Qingming's spiritual root talent is not outstanding. I once fought him once; this person's cultivation techniques and magic tools are all very average. If it weren't for Huang Shengyue intervening and helping on the side back then, he shouldn't have been my opponent. However, we should pay more attention to Song Qingyu. This woman's talent should be even above Song Qingming's, and in the future, there is also some hope of breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment."

Seeing Gao Jinhe staring at him, Gao Yubai smiled and spoke the words of comfort that the other party most wanted to hear at this moment. He himself was a two-element spiritual root cultivator, and in the entire Qinghe County, aside from Huang Shengxin, no one's talent could suppress him.

Gao Jinhe nodded after hearing this. If one were to talk about the Song family's good fortune, in fact, the Gao family has truly had overwhelming fortune these years. In this generation of the Gao family, two earth spiritual root cultivators, Gao Yuyao and Gao Yubai, have appeared in succession. This kind of fortune has never appeared in their family since they established the clan five hundred years ago.

If it weren't for the limited family resources, Gao Jinhe would absolutely not have chosen to send Gao Yuyao to the Xiaoyao Sect. In a small place like Qinghe County, the Gao family is destined to be unable to cultivate two earth spiritual root cultivators at the same time. Only by concentrating resources on one person can Gao Yubai be cultivated to the late stage of Foundation Establishment sooner. If the cultivation goes smoothly, he might even have a glimmer of hope for Core Formation like Huang Shengxin.

It is also because of this reason that Gao Jinhe painfully chose to send Gao Yuyao to the Xiaoyao Sect. Even for a Foundation Establishment family with a relatively solid foundation like the Gao family, it is very difficult to cultivate two Foundation Establishment cultivators in one generation at the same time.

Leaving one in the family and sending one to the Xiaoyao Sect, doing so ensures that neither person's Dao path will be delayed. This is their optimal choice. When most cultivation families in the State of Wei encounter such a difficult dilemma, many choose to handle it this way.

Gao Jinhe's choice, as far as the present is concerned, was indeed not wrong. Gao Yuyao's Dao path at the Xiaoyao Sect can also be said to be smooth sailing. With the support of her teachers, she successfully reached Foundation Establishment very early, and her current cultivation is even one layer higher than Gao Yubai's. Within the Xiaoyao Sect, she has also become a key target for Core Formation among the sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 302 =====