Chapter 38

"Well, since you have your own ideas, Fourth Uncle won't say much more. My spiritual roots are too poor, and I haven't been that obsessed with the path of cultivation in this life, so I can only come out to do what I can for the family. You must not learn from me; you must cultivate diligently and strive to contribute more to the family." Looking at this young nephew before him, Song Zhangqiu sighed with envy. If he were as young as him, he would definitely not have given up the path of cultivation so early.

Song Qingming nodded silently. Looking at this Fourth Uncle before him, he felt a mix of emotions in his heart. He understood in his heart that the path of cultivation was truly too dependent on talent and opportunity. If it weren't for the opportunities of the past few years, he would be just like the many low-level cultivators in the cultivation world like Song Zhangqiu—also a person with no hope for the path.

Seeing Song Qingming not speaking, Song Zhangqiu smiled and changed the subject.

"You came here this time mainly for talisman-making materials, right? Our family shop also collects some normally, but you came at an unfortunate time. The Second Elder came to the marketplace a few days ago, and most of them were handed over to him to bring back to Mount Funiu. You can go to the east side of the marketplace to take a look. The shops there are relatively large, and talisman-making materials, elixirs, and magic tools are all quite complete. It's getting late today, so you should stay here first. You can go take a look there tomorrow."

"Nephew will trouble Fourth Uncle then." Song Qingming bowed to Song Zhangqiu with a smile.

As the sun set, it soon reached dusk. It was rare for Song Qingming to come to Qinghe Marketplace, so Song Changqiu arranged for the shop to close early today and had his own wife arrange a sumptuous dinner.

Song Changqiu's wife, named Wang Changhua, was a rogue cultivator in Qinghe Marketplace. Her ancestors were also a cultivation family in Qinghe County. Over a hundred years ago, because the Wang family offended another family with stronger strength, the other side united with several rogue cultivators with high cultivation to destroy their mountain gate.

Fortunately, the other side respected the morality of the cultivation world and dared not implicate mortals. In the end, some of these mortals without the protection of cultivators drifted to other nearby cultivation families, and the rest were moved to Qinghe Marketplace by Xiaoyao Sect cultivators. Wang Changhua's ancestors were among them.

Wang Changhua was also a five-spiritual-root cultivator. Because her spiritual roots were too poor, she was not accepted by the Xiaoyao Sect and became a rogue cultivator, mixing in Qinghe Marketplace all year round, thus getting to know Song Zhangqiu.

The life of a rogue cultivator was not easy, and spirit stones were needed everywhere. Wang Changhua also had to take care of some mortal relatives in Qinghe Marketplace. In order to have a better life in the marketplace, she became a wife with Song Changqiu. The two had been living together for over a dozen years now and had already given birth to several children, which could be considered quite harmonious.

Song Changqiu had no hope for the path of cultivation, so he placed all his hopes on the next generation. He not only became a wife with Wang Changhua but also took several concubines in the marketplace and already had four or five children, so life could be considered quite enjoyable.

He now hoped that among these children of his, there would be one or two geniuses with spiritual roots, so as to inherit his mantle.

The dinner prepared by Wang Changhua was very good. She not only stir-fried several of her signature dishes but also boiled a pot of spiritual fish soup. Spiritual fish not only contained a large amount of spiritual energy and was beneficial to cultivation when consumed, but after being cooked by a spiritual chef, it was also a rare delicacy. Song Qingming ate it with great relish.

Wang Changhua had mixed in the marketplace in her early years. In order to earn spirit stones, she learned the craft of a spiritual chef. Seeing Song Qingming conquered by her craftsmanship, she was also very happy in her heart. Ever since she was with Song Zhangqiu, she had always lived in Qinghe Marketplace and was not very familiar with the clan members of the Song family on Mount Funiu. Having a rare opportunity to see a young Song family cultivator from Mount Funiu, she naturally wanted to perform well and win the favor of these young people, so that she could have a higher status in front of Song family cultivators in the future.

Song Qingming naturally didn't think of these little schemes of Wang Changhua. For him, it was rare to be able to eat such delicious spiritual food, so he naturally wanted to enjoy it properly.

Early the next morning, Song Qingming greeted Song Zhangqiu early and came to the east side of Qinghe Marketplace. Hearing the bursts of shouting, Song Qingming looked at the shops on both sides of the street unhurriedly and soon found a relatively large shop selling talisman-making materials.

Although Qinghe Marketplace couldn't compare to Guiyunfang, it wasn't difficult for Song Qingming to purchase the low-tier materials and elixirs he needed. Song Qingming first found several material shops and spent over a hundred spirit stones to buy enough mid-tier talisman-making materials for his use for several months. In order not to attract attention, he looked for shops opened by rogue cultivators.

It was just that purchasing elixirs was somewhat difficult. There were not many alchemists among rogue cultivators, and most were hired by major families in Qinghe County. To purchase elixirs, one could only go to shops opened by local cultivation families. After thinking about it, Song Qingming still found a family shop that was relatively distant from the Song family and spent thirty spirit stones to purchase a bottle of Qi-Nurturing Pills.

The reason Song Qingming wanted to purchase elixirs was that ever since he went to the Fuyun Mountain Range, it had been nearly half a year. For these two years, Gao Yuyao, who had been providing him with elixirs, seemed to have disappeared and had never come to Caolu Mountain again. Song Qingming didn't know the reason.

The elixirs he had left were not many. Coming to Qinghe Marketplace this time, he just happened to purchase some. In case Gao Yuyao really didn't come to Caolu Mountain, he wouldn't have to worry about the elixirs used for cultivation in the short term.

Spending over an hour, Song Qingming easily bought the things he wanted in Qinghe Marketplace. Touching the storage bag at his waist that was almost full, Song Qingming walked out of the last shop with satisfaction.

Song Qingming walked out of the shop door happily and was just about to prepare to leave when he was unexpectedly attracted by a shop opposite.

Although this shop was not large, its location was much better than that of the Song family's shop. It was already mid-morning, and the nearby shops were all opening their doors to welcome guests, but this shop was very abnormally closing its doors and hanging a "closed for business" sign.

"Liu's Spiritual Treasure Pavilion—could this be the Liu family's shop?"

Song Qingming looked at the golden characters on the shop's signboard, and his heart began to feel nervous. But on the surface, he still pretended to be calm and quickly left the place. Fortunately, the shop was closed at the time, so no Liu family cultivator should have noticed him. Along the way, Song Qingming couldn't help but feel terrified in his heart and almost walked in the wrong direction.

During his trip to the Fuyun Mountain Range several months ago, he had accidentally obtained the storage bag of the Liu family's clan leader, Liu Tianlong. Now seeing the Liu family's shop, he naturally felt somewhat guilty in his heart, fearing that he would be recognized by the Liu family's cultivators.

After returning to the Song family shop, Song Zhangqiu happened to be in the shop. Seeing Song Qingming return, Song Zhangqiu asked with concern about his situation in purchasing spiritual items. Soon, he got the answer from the smile on Song Qingming's face. The uncle and nephew found a room in the back hall and chatted again. Before long, Wang Changhua even personally brewed two cups of spiritual tea and sent them in.

"By the way, Fourth Uncle, I heard from the Second Elder last time that the clan leader of the Liu family on Mount Jingyuan died. Is this true? I saw the Liu family's shop in the marketplace closed during the day today."

After chatting for a while, Song Qingming asked about the Liu family's situation as if unintentionally. If Liu Tianlong were really dead as the Second Elder said, that would be too good for him, and he could worry a little less in his heart.

"I heard people in the marketplace say earlier that he couldn't make it after returning from the Fuyun Mountain Range. It's not very certain whether he died or not. The Liu family suffered heavy losses in the Fuyun Mountain Range last time. It is said that they lost seven or eight cultivators, so I'm afraid they won't be able to turn things around for over a dozen years. Liu Tianlong was a hero of his generation; it's truly a pity." Song Chang Changqiu stroked the beard at the corner of his mouth and sighed.

Song Zhangqiu had always had a good reputation in the marketplace and was well-informed. Many messages obtained from Mount Funiu were still inquired about by him in the marketplace. However, many of the messages he obtained were not all true. After all, there were all kinds of people in a place like the marketplace, and it was normal for there to be a few people who liked to exaggerate. The truth of many messages still needed to be judged by the person who received them.

(End of chapter)