Chapter 163: Dao Heart

Song Qingming was somewhat puzzled when he heard Huang Siyuan’s self-talk. In the past, every sentence Huang Siyuan said to him seemed to revolve around her own interests. Just like the delicious spirit food she often sent to Song Qingming, it was actually to have a chance to get some guidance from Song Qingming on her cultivation. Usually, except for some necessary words, she had almost never said an extra word in front of Song Qingming.

After more than four years of contact between the two, Song Qingming also understood Huang Siyuan a little. The feeling she gave Song Qingming was that of someone who appeared very calm about everything on the surface, but was extremely closed off inside.

When Huang Siyuan was young, because she was born in a large cultivation family like the Huang family, and her parents were both cultivators, her life had always been very good. Since she was a child, not only was she not lacking in the resources needed for cultivation, but she also had her parents personally guiding her practice. With her spiritual root talent, she was definitely a key object for the Huang family to cultivate in the future, and she had a few chances to successfully reach Foundation Establishment as she wished. Just based on this background, compared to cultivators like Song Qingming who came from small families and whose spiritual root aptitude was not very good, the gap was simply like heaven and earth.

Huang Siyuan’s mother was originally a cultivator of the Minghe Sect in the Zheng Kingdom. Many years ago, when the two major sects in the Zheng Kingdom fought, many cultivators fled to neighboring countries to avoid disaster, and Huang Siyuan’s mother was one of them. After her mother came to the Wei Kingdom, she was helpless and inadvertently met Huang Siyuan’s father in Qinghe Market. The two fell in love over time and got together.

After giving birth to Huang Siyuan, their family lived a stable life for more than ten years under the protection of the Huang family. But then, a major event occurred, which caused a great turning point in Huang Siyuan’s fate.

Many years ago, when Huang Siyuan’s mother went to Qinghe Market alone, she suddenly went missing for some reason. Over the years, there had been no news, and no one knew where she had gone. After this incident happened, many cultivators of the Huang family searched around Qinghe Market but found no traces. They all suspected that her mother had voluntarily abandoned the two of them, father and daughter, and betrayed the Huang family. Coupled with the fact that Huang Siyuan’s father himself did not have a high status in the Huang family and his personality was somewhat cowardly, she soon became unwelcome in the Huang family as well.

After Huang Siyuan cultivated to the fourth level of Qi Refining, knowing that she had been sidelined and could not get too many cultivation resources from the family, she chose not to stay on the mountain to cultivate and took the initiative to come down to Qinghe Market to help manage the Huang family’s business, starting a life of cultivating on her own.

Over the years, she had been managing this restaurant in the Huixian Tower in Qinghe Market for the Huang family, and she also learned a good skill of spirit cooking. A few years ago, when the demonic beast turmoil happened, there were many more cultivators in Qinghe Market, and the business of Huixian Tower also got better and better. Coupled with the fact that Huang Siyuan did a good job, the Huang family earned more, and naturally, they would give her more, which allowed her to save a lot of spirit stones over the years. If nothing unexpected happened, she would still have a chance to cultivate to the ninth level of Qi Refining faster in Huixian Tower and fight for that glimmer of opportunity for Foundation Establishment.

It was a pity that before she could be stable for long, someone in the family began to covet her position as the manager of Huixian Tower. When they learned that the family wanted to choose someone to marry into the Song family, her conditions just happened to meet the requirements of the two ancestors of the Huang family, so she was naturally chosen by many elders in the clan, taking this opportunity to kick her out of Huixian Tower, causing Huang Siyuan to lose this stable source of income for earning spirit stones again.

After several changes, on the surface, Huang Siyuan seemed to be drifting with the tide like most bottom-level cultivators, calmly accepting everything she had lost. But from the fact that she had secretly used spirit food to please him and guide her cultivation over the years, Song Qingming saw the determination hidden deep in Huang Siyuan’s heart to change her fate of being controlled by improving her own strength.

Marrying into the Song family and becoming the Dao companion of Song Qingming, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, seemed like a very glorious thing on the surface. But unlike others, Huang Siyuan was a tool for marriage between the Huang family and the Song family. Everyone in both families knew this. The Huang family wanted to use her to win over and monitor the Song family, and the Song family would naturally be wary of her and would not treat her as one of their own in the short term.

If the Song family were still the Qi Refining family it used to be, that would be fine. As a Huang family cultivator, relying on her mother’s family’s influence, the entire Song family would naturally not dare to look down on her. As long as the Huang family did not fall, she would definitely be able to live a stable life.

But now it was different; the Song family was a Foundation Establishment family. As Song Qingming’s cultivation base slowly improved, the Song family might be able to contend with the Huang family in the future and compete for cultivation resources in Qinghe County. Moreover, this marriage was forced by the Huang family when Song Qingming had just reached Foundation Establishment and the Song family was weak. Once there was a bad change in the relationship between the two families in the future, Huang Siyuan, this marriage tool, would naturally be the first to be sacrificed.

From the moment Huang Siyuan was chosen as the person for the Huang family’s marriage, she actually knew her position in the Song family. She did not take the initiative to contact the Song family members. Over the years, although the Song family cultivators in Qinghe Market like Second Sister Song Qingwan were very polite to her on the surface, they were still very wary of her in secret. Only Song Qingyu, who was spoiled by the elder brothers and elders in the family, showed a trace of sincere friendship to her.

The reason she was able to open the Xianfeng Tower later was actually because Song Qingming saw that she stayed near his cave dwelling all day long, fearing that she would know too many secrets about him over time, so he intentionally let Song Qingwan take the initiative to find something for her to do, but she probably didn't know it yet.

At this moment on the mountaintop, Song Qingming suddenly felt the incomparable yearning for the cultivation Dao hidden in Huang Siyuan’s heart from her words, which also touched Song Qingming’s heart. He wanted to speak, but after opening his mouth, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Although he had successfully reached Foundation Establishment, this was only a small step in the cultivation Dao. How far he could go on the Dao path in the future and how long he could see the beautiful scenery of the world, he himself did not know. In comparison, Huang Siyuan’s Dao heart was more firm than his.

Just as the two suddenly fell into silence, a crimson big bird suddenly flew from high in the sky and landed on the blue stone beside the two.

"It’s not early, we’d better go back early. With the Immortal Wind Jade, it’s actually very convenient if you want to come here in the future." After Song Qingming finished speaking, he directly put the Skyfire Peng into a light spirit beast bag and then handed the spirit beast bag to Huang Siyuan.

Huang Siyuan nodded when she heard Song Qingming’s words, without saying anything more, and took the Skyfire Peng from his hand.

Because the flight speed of the Immortal Wind Jade spiritual object was far inferior to a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s sword flight, Song Qingming simply used his second-grade flying sword to carry Huang Siyuan back to Qinghe Market.

Just as the two returned, they saw a disciple of Lu Yuanfeng waiting outside Song Qingming’s cave dwelling. Seeing Song Qingming return, the person hurriedly stepped forward to cup his hands and salute.

"Greetings, Senior Song. Senior Uncle Chen and the others have arrived and are in the council hall. My master asks you to go there as well."

Song Qingming nodded and said, "You go back and report first; I will be there immediately."