Chapter 189: Core Formation

Song Qingming picked up the letter and read it. After a while, he looked up and asked.

"How are things with the Huang family?"

Upon hearing this, Song Changfeng first waved his hand to dismiss the clansmen nearby, then replied to Song Qingming: "The situation is somewhat complicated. Let's go to my cave dwelling to discuss it."

Song Qingming nodded, and the two soon arrived at Song Changfeng's cave dwelling in the back mountains.

It took half an hour for Song Changfeng to thoroughly explain the important events that had occurred in Qinghe County over the past few months to Song Qingming, including the current state of the Huang family.

Only after listening did Song Qingming realize that in the nearly three months he had been away, the situation in Qinghe County had changed drastically.

The Huang family, once the strongest cultivation family in Qinghe County, had not only lost their Foundation Establishment ancestor, Huang Chengliang, after returning from the Fuyun Mountain Range, but their pillar of strength, Patriarch Huang Shengxin, had not appeared in public since his return. There were even rumors outside that Huang Shengxin was either severely injured and in seclusion, or had fallen just like Huang Chengliang.

Now, in the vast Huang family with so many industries, only one Foundation Establishment ancestor, Huang Shengyue, remained to hold the fort. Moreover, since the Huang family's incident, she had not left Taiyuan Mountain once.

Over the past two months, upon learning that the Huang family's strength was greatly diminished, the Gao family had joined forces with the Lu family to take advantage of the situation. By either bribing rogue cultivators or inciting subordinate vassal families, they had already seized a significant portion of the Huang family's territory.

Faced with such step-by-step pressure, the Huang family behaved very strangely, showing no reaction at all. Instead, they continuously abandoned some of their outer strongholds, concentrating their main family forces on a few important spiritual mountains, including Taiyuan Mountain.

This behavior by the Huang family caused the hearts of the subordinate vassal families to waver. Most of them had sealed their mountains to protect themselves, while two families that had secretly been cozying up to the Gao family for years saw the writing on the wall and defected directly to the Gao family's side.

The Song family, as an ally of the Huang family, had also fallen into a very disadvantageous position due to Song Qingming's sudden disappearance.

Although Song Changfeng had tried his best to keep the news of Song Qingming's disappearance under wraps at first, and the Gao and Lu families had not chosen to attack the Song family, they had sent people to monitor Funiu Mountain.

As time passed, the Gao family eventually learned of Song Qingming's disappearance. Seeing that he had not appeared for over two months, they gradually felt that he was likely not coming back, which is why they finally started targeting the Song family's shops in Qinghe Market.

After sorting through the recent events in his mind, Song Qingming held the Gao family's invitation letter and said softly: "Sixth Uncle, I did indeed see with my own eyes that Huang Chengliang was severely injured that day. Under those circumstances, I am not surprised he didn't make it back alive, but to say that Huang Shengxin is also dead—I find that unlikely."

Song Changfeng nodded and said: "To be honest, the news we received is all hearsay; there is indeed no evidence. However, ever since you all had that incident in the Fuyun Mountain Range, the Huang family's behavior has been truly strange. If Huang Shengxin were truly fine, even if the Huang family lost a Foundation Establishment ancestor like Huang Chengliang, it is unlikely the Gao and Lu families could topple the current Huang family by joining forces. There would be no need to keep retreating step by step like this."

"Forget it, we certainly won't be able to guess the truth just by speculating. In a while, I will go to the Huang family myself and ask Huang Shengyue."

After discussing it with his Sixth Uncle, Song Qingming thought for a moment and decided not to attend the Gao family's appointment yet, choosing instead to go to the Huang family to inquire about the situation first.

Half a day later, Song Qingming arrived near the Huang family's Taiyuan Mountain and found that it had completely changed since his visit a few months ago. The entire mountain was covered in activated defensive arrays, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

After parting ways in the Fuyun Mountain Range that day, Song Qingming had initially heard the Green Luan Demon King say that he had let the Huang family members go. Song Qingming had assumed they had all escaped back safely, never expecting the Huang family's situation to have changed so drastically.

To be honest, the Huang family had truly shot themselves in the foot this time. For the sake of a single third-tier spiritual herb, they not only caused the death of their own Foundation Establishment ancestor but also nearly cost Song Qingming his life. If he hadn't been lucky enough to be of some use to Fire Phoenix and the others, he would likely have perished by now.

Upon reaching Taiyuan Mountain, Song Qingming sent a sound-transmission talisman into the Huang family's active protective array.

Not long after, a streak of sword light flew out from within; it was Huang Shengyue, whom he had parted ways with in the Fuyun Mountain Range months ago.

Seeing Song Qingming, Huang Shengyue was very surprised and hurriedly opened the array to lead him into Taiyuan Mountain.

"Daoist Song, after we parted that day, I saw that you hadn't returned for a long time and assumed you had met with misfortune. Since you are fine, why did you wait until now to return?"

"After encountering that Demon King that day, I was injured and inconvenienced, so I spent two months healing in the mountains before returning. I was lucky to survive. Did you all manage to escape back that day?"

Huang Shengyue shook her head and smiled bitterly: "Uncle Chengliang was also injured by that Demon King; he passed away less than two days after returning to Qinghe County. The others were fine, just suffering from some injuries."

"My condolences, Daoist Huang. I had just arrived in Qinghe County when I heard about this. There are also rumors that Patriarch Shengxin's condition is not good and he is in seclusion healing. I don't know if this is true; I hope Daoist Huang can tell me the truth." Song Qingming asked with a serious expression.

"Daoist Song, logically speaking, the matter of my Patriarch's seclusion is of great importance, and I should not tell you casually. But the Song family has been an ally of our Huang family for years, and since you came in person, I cannot let you make a wasted trip. However, once you know this, please keep it a secret and do not tell others." Huang Shengyue said with a heavy expression.

Song Qingming nodded and said after a moment: "Daoist Huang, rest assured, I understand the gravity of this matter."

Seeing this, Huang Shengyue said somewhat mysteriously: "Ninth Brother has been in seclusion for two months, but he is not healing; he is breaking through a cultivation bottleneck. I believe Daoist Song understands what I mean by this."

Hearing this, Song Qingming also wore a look of great surprise. After a pause, he asked, "Is Daoist Shengxin in seclusion for Core Formation?"

He had not expected that Huang Shengxin was already in seclusion for Core Formation. Although everyone knew that Core Formation was not an easy task for a cultivator, any Foundation Establishment cultivator who even had the qualifications to attempt it was a standout in the cultivation world. That Huang Shengxin could reach this step so quickly truly surprised Song Qingming.

Huang Shengyue nodded with a smile and then added: "Daoist Song, rest assured, in three to five years at most, Ninth Brother will definitely come out of seclusion. Even if he hasn't succeeded in Core Formation by then, we will make the Gao and Lu families spit out everything they have swallowed."

I have some things to attend to today, so I can only write one chapter. Everyone, get some rest early.