Chapter 108

Soon, the news that the Northern Frontier spirit beasts had already headed south spread throughout the entire Wei Guo. For a time, the entire northern part of Wei Guo, along with several countries adjacent to the Fuyun Mountain Range, fell into an incomparably tense atmosphere.

Qinghe County also quickly received the instructions sent by the Xiaoyao Sect. After the major Foundation Establishment families—Huang, Gao, Lu, and Qian—discussed it in Qinghe Market, they immediately issued the largest conscription order in nearly a hundred years to the Qi Refining families below, beginning to organize manpower to head north to provide support.

In the Song family's council hall at the summit of Funiu Mountain, two important figures of the Song family were arguing over the candidates for this support mission.

"Fourth Uncle, this trip down the mountain is of great importance. You should let me go instead. Let the Ninth Brother stay behind. Changxin has a steady personality, and he has already participated in quite a few of the clan's affairs these past few years. Even... even if I happen not to return, the clan can be safely handed over to him."

Facing the repeated requests from the Second Elder, Song Changfeng, to go into battle, the old clan leader, Song Gushan, had not opened his mouth to agree, and this time he still shook his head firmly at him.

"How about letting Qingming stay behind? He..."

Song Changfeng still refused to give up, but Song Gushan suddenly spoke up to interrupt him.

"Changfeng, Fourth Uncle knows your heart, but this time you must listen to me once. You stay behind and look after Funiu Mountain; consider this the last order I give you as this clan leader. After I go down the mountain, regardless of whether I can return, the position of clan leader will be succeeded by you. These children on the mountain and the tens of thousands of clan bloodlines below the mountain—this heavy burden of a thousand catties, I am handing it over to you." After Song Gushan finished speaking, he took a cyan token from his storage bag and handed it to Song Changfeng, then left the place directly.

Song Changfeng, with a puzzled face, was stunned as he looked at the token in his hand. Just as he wanted to speak, he discovered that Song Gushan had not given him another chance to talk and had already walked outside the door first.

In the square outside the council hall, more than a dozen Song family cultivators, including Song Qingming, had already packed their belongings and were standing in the square outside.

Song Gushan looked at everyone in the square with satisfaction, his gaze slowly flashing over them one by one. After a long while, he revealed a smiling face and said: "Since everyone is here, let us head down the mountain together!"

Although they had long known that the mission to go down the mountain this time was arduous, everyone's expressions were still fine, and there was no sense of fear. When gathering in the square, they even teased each other.

Only Song Changfeng and the other cultivators who had been selected to stay behind to guard the mountain gate stood to the side, their faces somewhat heavy, and their hearts unable to calm down for a long time.

The news of the Northern Frontier spirit beast turmoil had long since reached the mountain. They all knew that the danger level of the mission to go down the mountain this time was not something previous missions could compare to. But being in Wei Guo, which is adjacent to the land of spirit beasts, the Song family had no other choice; someone always had to stand up to face these things.

Watching the clansmen who were moving far away, Song Changfeng picked up the token that Song Gushan had handed to him before leaving. This cyan token was a high-grade defensive magic treasure crafted when the Song family ancestor moved to Qinghe County, and it was also the token of the clan leader passed down from generation to generation for two hundred years in the Song family.

Song Changfeng had been holding this object tightly in his hand, as if gradually feeling the responsibility that had been added to him. After a long while, he finally put it into his own storage bag.

The instruction the Song family received this time was to first head to Wufeng Mountain to rendezvous with the Huang family, and then follow the Huang family north to provide support.

Because this spirit beast turmoil came several years earlier than in the past, the several markets in Wei Guo were all a bit rushed in their preparations and fell into a passive position from the start. The Xiaoyao Sect could only urge all parties to intensify their efforts to go and provide support.

After the Song family's group of fifteen arrived at Wufeng Mountain, they had stayed for less than three days before they began to set off northward under the leadership of the Huang family cultivators.

This time, whether it was the Foundation Establishment families above or the Qi Refining families, at least half of the cultivators were dispatched. The team was much larger than when the Huang family wiped out Chifeng Ridge two years ago.

The Huang family also dispatched two Foundation Establishment cultivators: the clan leader Huang Shengxin, who was at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment—a level higher than two years ago—and Huang Shengyue, who was at the third level of Foundation Establishment and had just recovered from his injuries. The remaining one, Huang Chengliang, stayed behind in the clan.

After everyone had traveled north for a day, the Gao family leader, Gao Jinhe, brought over a hundred more cultivators and rendezvoused with them.

According to the instructions sent by the Xiaoyao Sect, there were two locations that the Qinghe County cultivators needed to support this time. One was the Jinshan Market located in the northern part of Pingyang County. This market was located in the north of Pingyang County, and like Guiyun Market, it was also a connection point between Wei Guo and the Fuyun Mountain Range. It was the position that bore the brunt of the spirit beasts' southward advance. Responsible for supporting this place were the Huang family and the Gao family, two of the four major Foundation Establishment families.

The other location was the Liangshan spirit stone mine, located on the east side of Qinghe County at the border with the Yunwu Mountain Range.

This mine was discovered by chance by a Qi Refining family cultivator a hundred years ago. It was just a pity that a small Qi Refining family did not have the ability to mine this priceless spirit stone vein and could only report this matter to the Xiaoyao Sect. For this, they even received a reward of a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Decades later, their family finally produced a genius with excellent cultivation talent, who went to the Xiaoyao Sect to receive this Foundation Establishment Pill. In the end, the Foundation Establishment was successful, elevating this small Qi Refining family into a Foundation Establishment family. This is the story of the Lu family, another Foundation Establishment family in Qinghe County.

The spirit stone mine had been mined for nearly a hundred years. Recently, perhaps influenced by the Northern Frontier spirit beast turmoil, many spirit beasts in the Yunwu Mountains had also become restless and began to walk out of the Yunwu Mountains to attack the surrounding commanderies and counties.

The Liangshan spirit stone mine is very close to Qinghe County, and this place is particularly important to Qinghe County. Once this place falls, a large number of Yunwu Mountain spirit beasts will directly enter the territory of Qinghe County.

By that time, facing the direct attacks of these ferocious spirit beasts, the fate of these immortal cultivation families in Qinghe County would be hard to say. Once the mountain gate is breached by spirit beasts, it is a disaster of clan extermination; both cultivators and mortals will become blood food in the mouths of spirit beasts.

Even if some cultivators are lucky enough to escape, having lost the protection of their family, they will only be reduced to even lower-status rogue cultivators in the future.

Responsible for supporting the Liangshan spirit stone mine were the weaker Lu family and Qian family cultivators. Although the number of spirit beasts in the Yunwu Mountains is not small, their strength is much weaker compared to the spirit beasts coming from the Fuyun Mountain Range, so the pressure here is also smaller than that at Jinshan Market.

In order to let the Qinghe County cultivators feel at ease about their homes, the Xiaoyao Sect cultivators stationed in Qinghe Market also increased in number, and an additional Foundation Establishment cultivator was added.

These Xiaoyao Sect cultivators had already begun to close the market, recruit rogue cultivators, and prepare to deal with sudden situations in Qinghe County at any time. Once any cultivator takes advantage of the fire to rob the major immortal cultivation families in the county whose defensive forces have been greatly weakened, these Xiaoyao Sect cultivators in Qinghe Market will decisively take action to stop them.

The Qinghe County cultivators heading north to resist the spirit beasts is also to protect the living space of the human race for the entire Wei Guo. During this period, once it is discovered that someone is engaging in such backstabbing acts of taking advantage of the fire to rob, the Xiaoyao Sect cannot ignore it. Even if they cannot spare the manpower for the time being, they will definitely settle the score after the fact.

Not only that, in addition to the two Xiaoyao Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators in Qinghe Market, the Huang family also left one Foundation Establishment cultivator to guard the home. Added together, there were still three Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed in Qinghe County, and the defensive force was not weak. Even if they encountered a high-level expert like Huang Shengxin at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment, they could rely on the geographical advantage to hold out for a few days.

Once the Xiaoyao Sect sends cultivators to arrive for support, it would be difficult to escape. Under normal circumstances, no rogue cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage would dare to take this risk, unless they encounter a high-level expert above the Core Formation stage. And such figures, in the entire Wei Guo, besides the Xiaoyao Sect, there are only those few people. It is impossible for such big figures to look down upon a small place like Qinghe County.