Chapter 256: Original Intention

Regarding Huang Siyuan, Song Qingming's heart was actually always very complicated.

At first, he really just treated Huang Siyuan as a pawn of the Huang family, keeping some distance from her and finding her things she liked to do, so as not to offend the Huang family or her.

As for Huang Siyuan, her marrying into the Song family was indeed something she couldn't decide for herself. At first, when she was by Song Qingming's side, her main focus was also on earning spirit stones and her own cultivation.

But now the situation seems to have changed, changing far beyond Song Qingming's original expectations, making Song Qingyu's words just now touch him deeply, and he was caught off guard and didn't know what to do.

"Should I follow my original intention, or my current heart?"

So many years have passed, and Huang Siyuan has changed from a somewhat immature and ordinary spiritual chef to the boss of the Immortal Phoenix Tower. The two of them have also experienced many things, and Song Qingming seems to have become accustomed to her existence.

Now, whenever he passes by Qinghe Market or wants to go on a long journey, Song Qingming will involuntarily run to the Immortal Phoenix Tower for a full meal. He himself can't quite tell whether it's because he misses Huang Siyuan or because he misses the delicious food she makes too much.

Sometimes, Song Qingming even thinks that if Huang Siyuan ever didn't want to be with him anymore and took the initiative to propose separating from him, even if it meant risking offending the Huang family in his heart, he would agree to it.

After all, he is not the same as when he just established his foundation; he now has a little capital to negotiate with the Huang family. Furthermore, the Song family and the Huang family have long been completely tied to the same front, and the cooperation between the two families will not collapse immediately because of one Huang Siyuan.

That time when Song Qingming returned from the Floating Cloud Mountain Range after a narrow escape, learning that she had not returned to the Huang family despite being abandoned by the Song family, but instead risked staying in Qinghe Market to wait for his return, Song Qingming's heart, which had been very calm after cultivating for decades, couldn't help but be moved by her.

Ever since his mother passed away, Song Qingming had long felt the loneliness he had to face on the path of cultivation. Whether it was childhood friends or beloved relatives and friends, he would eventually lose them all. He himself didn't know who could accompany him to the end.

Nowadays, besides this loneliness, Huang Siyuan's persistence made Song Qingming feel a different kind of satisfaction. In this cultivation world full of crises and only talking about interests, having a confidante quietly waiting at home for his return felt quite good to him.

It's not that he didn't feel Huang Siyuan's feelings for him, it's just that he himself was always hovering in danger, and many times he really didn't dare to think too much about emotional matters, fearing that if he gained too much, he would easily lose too much.

Song Qingyu, who had been waiting for an answer, looked at Song Qingming, who was still in a daze, sighed, shook her head, and returned to her cave dwelling, leaving him alone facing the cold moonlight.

Ever since Song Qingming proposed the policy reform to incentivize cultivation skills, it soon caused a stir within the Song family. Now, almost all cultivators from top to bottom have begun to pay attention to this area and no longer put their own cultivation first.

Before, besides a few high-grade talisman makers, the only ones in the Song family who could truly raise their cultivation skills to a high-grade level were second sister Song Qingwan and sixth brother Song Qinghe. Even Song Qingyu, who had become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, did not have any cultivation skill at this level.

When cultivators improve their cultivation skills, they can use them to consume low-grade materials to earn more spirit stones. With spirit stones, they can buy cultivation elixirs and then feed them back into their own cultivation, thus forming a virtuous cycle for the cultivators themselves.

Secondly, the family's spiritual fields have expanded, and there are more materials for talisman making, alchemy, or artifact refining. If they can consume them themselves, they don't have to spend great effort to transport these low-grade materials to the market to sell them to others at a low price. As long as the spiritual objects you produce are of qualified quality, there will be no shortage of buyers in the market. If the family's own shops help to toss them back and forth, they can also earn a portion of spirit stones, and the family can also earn a little here to increase the family's internal income.

As the initiator of this opinion, Song Qingming naturally had to lead by example. A few years ago, his talisman-making level had already reached the second grade. However, because second-grade talisman-making materials were really hard to find, the Song family shop in Qinghe Market could only send Song Qingming a portion of second-grade talisman-making materials every few months. Song Qingming did not disclose his identity as a second-grade talisman maker to the outside world, and the second-grade spiritual talismans he produced were always kept on his own person and were not taken to the market for sale.

This time, to support the business of the family's spiritual talisman shop, Song Qingming directly took out five second-grade spiritual talismans and dozens of first-grade high-grade spiritual talismans and placed them in his own shop. Doing this was almost equivalent to telling others that the Song family likely had a second-grade talisman maker, which would certainly cause a sensation in the entire Qinghe County.

Alchemy has second sister Song Qingwan, and talisman making has Song Qingming personally taking action. These two types of goods still have some reputation in Qinghe Market and do not lose to other families' goods. Only artifact refining is still a bit difficult for the Song family at present.

There are quite a few people in the entire Song family who know artifact refining, as many as a dozen, but the level of artifact refining is generally not high. The only one who can refine high-grade magic tools is the clan leader Song Changfeng.

Song Changfeng already bears the heavy responsibility of the clan leader, and coupled with the injuries he suffered when he established his foundation, which have not fully recovered to this day, he has almost no time to spend on artifact refining. Other artifact refiners have too low a level, and the magic tools they refine are generally of very average quality. Placed in the shop in Qinghe Market, naturally, few people will come to buy them.

Ever since the reform of the system, everyone has had their own goals, and most of the cultivation skills of the entire Song family have improved a lot. Even around Song Changfeng, there are several artifact refiners who often come to practice with him.

As a family Foundation Establishment elder, Song Qingyu naturally has to take the lead. Ever since this decree was issued, her talisman-making technique has also begun to improve rapidly. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, learning first-grade cultivation skills is relatively fast. Under the guidance of Song Qingming, a second-grade talisman maker, she quickly successfully raised her talisman-making technique to the first-grade high-grade.

What made Song Qingming most happy was that eighth brother Song Qingchen and fourteenth sister Song Qingsi broke through their array formation and artifact refining techniques to high-grade respectively. Both of them originally had some talent for cultivation skills. This time, under the family's incentive, both of them lived up to expectations and successfully broke through their cultivation skills.

To reward them for setting an example for other clan members, Song Qingming even specially paid out of his own pocket to reward each of them with a middle-grade spirit stone, helping both of them break through their cultivation to the late stage of Qi Refining.