Chapter 15: Qingyu Returns

Gao Yuyao.

Watching a wisp of pink smoke drift away with the wind, Song Qingming couldn't help but murmur the name he had just heard.

After finally obtaining a bottle of spirit elixir capable of increasing his cultivation, Song Qingming had hurried back to Lingyuan Mountain and rushed home, eager to test the elixir's effects.

Qi-Nurturing Pills are mid-grade spirit elixirs. The spiritual energy contained within is roughly equivalent to what a normal mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator would refine in a month. After refining one, Song Qingming clearly felt the spiritual energy within his dantian rise by a small margin, which secretly pleased him.

The effect of the Qi-Nurturing Pill did not disappoint; the bottle in his hand could save him nearly a year of bitter cultivation. It was a pity, however, that one could take at most one such pill per month.

Elixirs are refined from plant essences, spirit water, and spirit materials. Ordinary pills all carry a trace of pill toxin, so they cannot be consumed without restraint. For low-grade elixirs like the Qi-Nurturing Pill, it takes about a month for the body to fully expel the toxins.

If one consumes pills for a long time without restraint, the toxins will accumulate in the body, bringing great risks to a cultivator's future practice.

This bottle of Qi-Nurturing Pills was enough for him to cultivate for a year. Any surplus could be taken to the Gold Treasury Pavilion to earn a few spirit stones.

With the long-term supply of cultivation pills provided by Gao Yuyao, Song Qingming finally had a way to increase his cultivation speed. Whether it was his previous work refining arrays or his later study of talisman-making, his goal in earning spirit stones had always been for the sake of his own Dao of cultivation.

Without reaching Foundation Establishment, a Qi Refining cultivator has limited lifespan; after a hundred years, they will eventually turn into a pile of yellow earth.

Qi Refining cultivators only live for about 120 years. After reaching Foundation Establishment, one's lifespan increases by two sixty-year cycles, and with the help of some second-tier life-extending spirit herbs, one can generally live to about 250 years.

For a cultivator to reach Foundation Establishment, it is best to reach the ninth layer of Qi Refining before the age of sixty. After sixty, a Qi Refining cultivator's vitality and blood will gradually decline, making Foundation Establishment increasingly difficult.

Although Foundation Establishment was still far off, if he continued at his normal pace, it was a question whether Song Qingming could even reach the late stage of Qi Refining by sixty. He had to accelerate his cultivation speed.

After a night of cultivation, the next morning, just as Song Qingming was about to head to the mine to patrol, he suddenly felt a ripple in the mountain-protecting array as he reached the edge of Crescent Moon Lake. A white sound-transmission talisman slowly passed through the array and entered Lingyuan Mountain.

The four martial artists guarding the array disc at the village entrance saw the talisman fly in from outside the array and were about to report to Song Qingming, but they saw him already walking over from a distance. Song Qingming took the talisman, looked at it carefully, and a smile appeared on his face. He hurriedly ordered the martial artists guarding the array to open it.

Outside the array stood a dozen figures. The two in the lead had already reached Song Qingming.

The leader was a delicate and pretty woman dressed in white, looking to be around thirty years old, followed by a little girl of about ten.

The delicate woman was a member of the Song family's 'Chang' generation, Song Changling, a sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator and one of the only two high-grade talisman masters in the Song family.

Song Changling's cultivation talent was average—she was only a four-element spiritual root cultivator—but she had a great talent for talisman-making. Song Qingming had previously sought her out specifically to ask for guidance when he was learning the art.

"The little girl has made good progress in her cultivation recently, but she was a bit homesick. The Great Elder allowed her to return home for a day, and entrusted me to bring her here, while also collecting the black iron ore from the past half-year." As Song Changling finished speaking, she pointed to the little girl behind her.

The little girl beside Song Changling was none other than Song Qingyu, whom Song Qingming had sent to Mount Funiu a few months ago. At this moment, she had already guided Qi into her body and become a first-layer Qi Refining cultivator.

A three-element spiritual root cultivator is truly extraordinary. Back then, it took Song Qingming half a year to successfully enter the Dao, but this little girl had reached this realm in just three or four months. Her cultivation speed was not just a little bit faster.

Seeing the impatient look in Song Qingyu's eyes behind her, Song Changling nodded slightly at her. The little girl giggled when she saw this, greeted Song Qingming, and then ran toward her home in a flurry.

"Fifth Aunt, why did you come alone this time?"

Song Qingming was somewhat surprised to see the two of them. Transporting black iron ore worth forty spirit stones was enough to incite the greed of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. In the past, when the Song family came to transport ore, they would send at least three cultivators at or above the mid-stage of Qi Refining, so that even if they encountered ordinary late-stage Qi Refining rogue cultivators, they could hold out until family reinforcements arrived.

This time, only Song Changling had come, and she still had to look after Song Qingyu, who had just stepped onto the path of cultivation. If they encountered the same group of bandits as last time, it would surely be a perilous situation.

Seeing Song Qingming's worry, Song Changling explained with a smile: "After the Gao family took the lead in causing trouble last time, Qinghe County has been much more peaceful recently. The Second Elder also came this time and is waiting for us at the foot of the mountain. How could the family dare to let me come alone for such an important task as escorting black iron ore?"

Song Qingming led Song Changling and the others to the warehouse where the ore was stored and collected the black iron ore mined over the past half-year.

The dozen or so family martial artists brought from Mount Funiu had traveled to and from Lingyuan Mountain many times to transport ore and were very familiar with the place. Song Qingming called over dozens of miners to help. It took the group half a day to move the supplies off the carriages and load the black iron ore collected during this period onto them.

Lingyuan Mountain is located in a valley with uneven, hilly terrain, unlike the flat surroundings of Mujiao Town, where large amounts of farmland can be cultivated. The family's commoners here have always been self-insufficient in grain and need to be subsidized by Mujiao Town every year.

Every time the family comes to collect ore, they transport some daily necessities that the commoners in the mountains cannot easily obtain, satisfying their needs. Whenever this happens, every household in Lingyuan Mountain happily takes bags and bamboo baskets of all sizes to the village threshing floor, waiting to receive these supplies. It is a very lively scene.

Song Qingyu had been cultivating on Mount Funiu for a few months, where there were few children her age, and she faced only dull study and cultivation all day. Returning to Lingyuan Mountain finally liberated her childlike nature.

After seeing her parents, it wasn't long before Song Qingyu ran out to find her former playmates in the village. She talked about what she had seen in the mountains while showing off the abilities she had gained after cultivating, leaving the children of her age in the village wide-eyed with shock.

A Qi Refining cultivator's strength alone is several times that of an ordinary commoner. The little girl led this group of children running around the village, demonstrating the few small spells she had just learned.

One moment flames, the next rain in her hands—it scared the surrounding villagers into hurriedly grabbing their children and dragging them home, fearing that this still-ignorant little immortal might accidentally hurt their children.

When the little girl finally looked around and saw she was the only one left, she felt a bit bored and could only return home somewhat dejectedly.

Since Song Qingming arrived at Lingyuan Mountain, the operation of the black iron vein had been quite smooth, and this year's output was even half a percent higher than last year's. Song Changling looked at the account book of black iron ore handed over by a martial artist and nodded at Song Qingming with satisfaction.

Lingyuan Mountain produces hundreds of pieces of ore every year. The Song family generally does not take these black iron ores directly to the market for sale, but first transports them to Mount Funiu, where they are forged into various magic tools by family refiners before being sold in the family shop in Qinghe Market. This allows the value of the original black iron ore to double.

Just past noon, after everyone had eaten, they prepared for the return journey. The little girl also left her parents with great reluctance.

Song Changling led the group slowly down Lingyuan Mountain.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 16 =====