Chapter 5: The Song Family's Mortal Town

At the foot of Mount Funiu lies a small town named Muqiao Town, which is the habitat for nearly ten thousand mortals of the Song family. Because Song family cultivators have been stationed in the town year-round, it has remained peaceful and uneventful for a hundred years, even attracting many mortals of other surnames from the vicinity to settle down. In the center of the town is a wide street, with an endless stream of pedestrians coming and going. Both sides of the street are filled with various shops, and the sounds of hawking are constant, presenting a scene of prosperity and harmony.

In the cultivation world, regardless of whether it is a high-and-mighty sect or a family power that dominates a region, the vast number of mortals is their foundation, and it is also the source of the continuous injection of new blood and wisdom into the major forces of the cultivation world.

Among every ten thousand mortals, two or three will appear who possess spiritual roots and can become cultivators. If they are already descendants of cultivators, the probability of having spiritual roots is higher than that of the descendants of ordinary mortals.

Ordinary mortals are too weak. In this cultivation world where demonic beasts run rampant, it is difficult to survive and multiply without the protection of cultivators. It is precisely because of this that the cultivation world attaches increasing importance to mortals; places where large numbers of mortals reside normally have, to a greater or lesser extent, the protection of cultivators.

In order to strengthen themselves, the major sects of the cultivation world choose to send disciples with low talent under their command to various places under their jurisdiction to manage mortals, so as to breed more disciples with spiritual root talent for the sect. Over time, this led to the birth of major cultivation families.

In Qinghe County, there are dozens of cultivation families like the Song family. They are all attached to the hegemon of the State of Wei, the Xiaoyao Sect. Each family has a large number of mortals. The mortals within the Song family's sphere of influence, including Muqiao Town and more than a dozen nearby villages, total more than twenty thousand, most of whom live in Muqiao Town.

Among the various Qi Refining families in Qinghe County, the Song family has a relatively small number of mortals. Several Qi Refining families with larger numbers of mortals all possess over one hundred thousand mortals. As for the hegemon of Qinghe County, the Foundation Establishment family, the Huang family, directly controls nearly five hundred thousand mortals.

These mortals who give birth to people with spiritual roots continuously replenish the major cultivation families, while those with outstanding spiritual root talent are absorbed by the Xiaoyao Sect.

Most of the mortals in Muqiao Town are of the Song family's bloodline, but there are also some who fled here from other places, and through intermarriage with the local Song family mortals, they have all slowly integrated into the Song family.

The family generally does not care about the surnames of mortals, but as long as someone with spiritual roots is discovered, they will be taken to Mount Funiu to cultivate and renamed according to the seniority of the Song family cultivators.

Song Qingming was also discovered to possess spiritual roots when he was ten years old during the family's inspection of mortals. He was subsequently taken to Mount Funiu by cultivators in the family to learn and cultivate, and he has been there ever since. Although the place of cultivation is not far from home, Song Qingming has rarely returned home to visit his relatives.

Having received the family's garrison mission this time, he does not know when he will have the opportunity to return. He left the mountain early today precisely to have time to return home and take a look.

In a residential area for mortals on the west side of Muqiao Town, there is an ordinary civilian house. Compared to the surrounding houses, it looks slightly newer. Around the house is an earthen wall, enclosing a simple small courtyard, with a small gate opening in the center of the wall.

Song Qingming stood in front of the half-open wooden door, looking at the familiar courtyard before him. On a huge stone platform in the courtyard, a woman dressed in somewhat plain clothes was sitting on it with a cyan bamboo basket. The woman was slowly and orderly separating the golden bamboo shoots from the basket and drying them on the stone platform.

Seeming to hear the sound at the door, the woman paused and turned to look at the entrance.

"You haven't been back for so long, what are you standing at the door for? Could it be that you've cultivated until you've become a fool?"

Song Qingming was stunned after hearing this, then chuckled a few times and walked into the courtyard.

"Mother, have the family members been well lately?"

"The family built a new house, and your younger brother and father have moved to the new house in the back. I still couldn't bear to part with this old stone platform. A few days ago, I dug up some new bamboo shoots in the mountains, so I brought them here to dry. When you come back next time, you can also take some to the mountain to taste. When you were all young, you loved to eat these."

Mother Song tidied up the arranged bamboo shoots and came to Song Qingming's side, saying again: "Third Son, whenever you have time, come home and take a look. Although it is said that immortals do not eat mortal food, aren't the immortals on the mountain all born to mortals under the mountain? How can there be such a big difference?"

Song Qingming's original name when he was young was Song San. After being taken to Mount Funiu to practice, it was changed to Song Qingming. However, now, except for his mother, no one calls him by that name anymore.

The family has a rule that before all cultivators reach the age of twenty, except for the few days of visiting time stipulated each year, they are not allowed to return home at will. This is to let these young people who have just arrived on the mountain slowly isolate themselves from the mortals under the mountain, get used to the boredom of cultivation on the mountain as soon as possible, and not neglect their cultivation because of greed for the warmth of family in the secular world.

After Song Qingming stepped onto the path of cultivation, he also rarely returned home. Now, most of his childhood playmates no longer recognize him, and even the attitude of his own family members towards him has changed greatly. Every time he returns home, even if they are eating at the same table, he can feel that his father, elder sister, and younger brother always maintain a trace of distance between mortal and immortal from him.

His father no longer yells at him for sleeping in, his hot-tempered second sister no longer dares to call him "stinky brat," and even his younger brother, who always followed him around playing when he was young, now has an extra layer of respect for him.

Father Song was originally an ordinary civilian in Muqiao Town. There had been no one with spiritual roots in the family for three generations. Having lived in the town for so many years, except for his eldest sister who died young, the family had always been plain and simple.

Later, when Song Qingming was detected to have spiritual roots, the clan bestowed a sum of gold and silver, and his family's life slowly improved. Now, he can be considered a wealthy household in Muqiao Town.

After the two chatted for a while, they returned to the newly built large mansion. After the family of five had lunch together, under his mother's reluctant gaze, Song Qingming left some silver for the family and then quietly left the place.

Song Qingming does not miss home as much as he used to now that he is leaving. Among the family, only his mother still treats him as her own child, not an immortal.

——

Fifty miles east of Muqiao Town, there is a hundred-zhang-high mountain. It was originally a nameless place, but a hundred years ago, the Song family cultivated a small spiritual vein here and renamed it Mount Lingyuan.

Mount Lingyuan is not too far from Mount Funiu, and it is the second spiritual vein occupied by the Song family besides the top-grade spiritual vein of Mount Funiu.

About a hundred years ago, when the Song family's senior cultivators were hunting demonic beasts here, they inadvertently discovered a black iron ore vein. After the second-generation clan leader at the time learned of this, he led the cultivators in the clan to kill the few mid-tier demonic beasts entrenched on the mountain and occupied the mountain, and migrated some of the family's mortals here to mine the black iron ore vein.

Black iron ore is also a common low-tier ore in the cultivation world, which can be used to make some low-tier magic tools. The black iron sword that Song Qingming has used for nearly ten years is precisely made from this kind of ore.

After nearly a hundred years of family management, Mount Lingyuan now has hundreds of mortals living here, and every year it can mine black iron ore worth nearly eighty spirit stones for the family, which is also one of the family's important incomes at present. Therefore, the family also attaches great importance to this place, not only setting up two formations here to guard it, but also having two cultivators from the clan stationed here year-round.

Heading to Mount Lingyuan to garrison for three years, this is the family mission that Song Qingming received in the Treasure Pavilion yesterday.

According to the Song family rules, family cultivators whose cultivation has reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining all need to complete some family missions on time. Of course, these missions also have corresponding rewards.

Garrisoning Mount Lingyuan for one year, the family will issue an extra ten merit points. Although the spiritual vein of Mount Lingyuan is slightly worse, being only a mid-grade spiritual vein, it is enough to support the cultivation of two Qi Refining stage cultivators. For Song Qingming, who is now in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, it will not have too much impact on his cultivation.

Since it does not affect his cultivation and he can also earn some spirit stones, this mission can be considered the most suitable family mission for him at present. Having accepted this mission, plus the fact that he draws some formations and formation diagrams on weekdays, he will be able to exchange for a mid-grade magic tool in a year.

In the past, Song Qingming had also been to Mount Lingyuan to help transport black iron ore. Most cultivators in the clan who had just broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining would be arranged to go there to garrison for a few years, which could be considered taking care of these cultivators who had just broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, being relatively safe without delaying their cultivation speed too much.

This mission is mainly to watch over and supervise the family mortals here in mining ore, and as long as they can hand over enough black iron ore to the family on time every year, it will be fine.

(End of chapter)