Chapter 270: Departure

Since losing an arm in the demonic beast turmoil, Fourth Brother Song Qingrui had stayed at the foot of the mountain to help manage the family's mortals, having long since lost the motivation to cultivate. Fortunately, he was lucky; after marrying, he had a son who tested for spiritual roots. In recent years, in order to save up a little more cultivation resources for his child, he had started to busy himself again, which could be considered a turn for the better.

"Big Brother is right. Currently, the family still has a large shortage of cultivators, and many spiritual veins and mines lack sufficient cultivators to guard them. Second Sister is also often urging me for people. Fourth Brother, you being able to produce a new cultivator for the family is indeed a great contribution to the family." Song Qingming also followed up with a slow smile.

The three of them drank a full jar of spirit wine before Song Qingze's grave before dispersing and leaving the cemetery with a hint of drunkenness.

Two years later, in Qinghe Market.

Song Qingming and Song Qingyu were walking down the main street of the market with a dozen or so Song family cultivators.

"Qingyu, leave the patrol of the market to Thirteenth Uncle and the others. Try to consult with Fellow Daoist Lu as much as possible on everything, and try to restrain the clansmen so as not to make the relationship with his side too stiff."

"Seventh Brother, don't worry. I spent two years in the guard team back then; I already understand all of this." Hearing Song Qingming's repeated exhortations, Song Qingyu nodded skillfully once more.

It had been twenty years since Song Qingming's Foundation Establishment, and it was once again the Song family's turn to guard Qinghe Market. In order to properly train Song Qingyu, Song Qingming had arranged for her to lead the team down the mountain to Qinghe Market this time.

Song Qingyu had broken through to the second level of Foundation Establishment a year ago and possessed two second-level magic artifacts. Song Qingming had also given her several second-level talismans for protection. Her current strength was far superior to what Song Qingming's had been when he guarded the market. Moreover, Qinghe Market had the seasoned Lu Yuanfeng sitting in charge, so in Song Qingming's view, there shouldn't be any major problems.

In recent years, under Huang Shengyue's governance, the atmosphere in Qinghe Market had gradually improved. However, there were still occasional reports of loose cultivators being robbed and going missing around the market. For this reason, Lu Yuanfeng had strengthened the defense forces of Qinghe Market and hired many loose cultivators into the guard team.

Song Qingyu's handover with the Huang family went quite smoothly, and she moved into the high-level cave dwelling in Qinghe Market that very day. Her active appearance in Qinghe Market this time caused a stir throughout Qinghe County.

The Gao family and the Lu family were fine; like the Huang family, they had long since detected news of Song Qingyu's Foundation Establishment, so they were not surprised by Song Qingming bringing her to Qinghe Market this time. However, the Qi Refining cultivation families attached to each house were truly shocked to see that the Song family had another person succeed in Foundation Establishment.

In just over twenty years, the Song family had transformed from a tiny Qi Refining family like them into a presence with two Foundation Establishment cultivators, now on par with the Huang and Gao families. The events that had occurred in between were truly hard to imagine.

For a time, all sorts of rumors began to circulate throughout Qinghe County. Some said Song Qingming had explored a Golden Core cultivator's cave dwelling, others said he had gained the appreciation of a loose Golden Core cultivator, and even more outrageous rumors claimed the Song family had secretly dug up a spirit stone mine behind the Carefree Sect's back decades ago.

Regarding these rumors, Song Qingming strictly forbade all Song family cultivators from paying them any mind. If such things were not nipped in the bud, they often became more distorted the more they were described. But no matter how they spread, the other major Foundation Establishment families knew the truth about the Song family's rise.

After all, in the past few hundred years in Qinghe County, apart from the Gao and Huang families, other cultivation families had risen and fallen. When Qian Guangyao established his Foundation, the Qian family was briefly the most prominent, but only twenty years later, as the Chifeng Ridge spiritual vein was breached by demonic beasts and Qian Guangyao left Qinghe County to join the Carefree Sect, the entire Qian family immediately reverted to the small Qi Refining cultivation family it had been before.

The Song family's rise was the same; it had only been twenty years, and the family's overall foundation was insufficient. Once the Foundation Establishment cultivators who held up the scene suffered any mishaps, the entire family would immediately be knocked back to its original form.

After arranging things for Song Qingyu, Song Qingming wandered around the main street and soon walked to the Immortal Phoenix Pavilion.

Before he even reached the entrance, Song Qingming suddenly noticed a black-clad cultivator wearing a bamboo hat to conceal their face coming out of the Immortal Phoenix Pavilion. Song Qingming took a look from afar but could not discern the person's cultivation, thinking it likely they were also a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In a small market like Qinghe Market, it was rare for strange Foundation Establishment cultivators to visit. Now that a masked Foundation Establishment cultivator had suddenly appeared coming out of the Immortal Phoenix Pavilion, and it wasn't anyone Song Qingming was familiar with, he couldn't help but feel a bit strange.

However, strange as it was, there were indeed many cultivators in the cultivation world who were single-mindedly devoted to the Dao and did not like dealing with people. For their own safety, these people preferred to conceal their faces when visiting crowded markets.

Seeing Song Qingming arrive at the Immortal Phoenix Pavilion, Li Quan, who was entertaining guests in the main hall, hurriedly went to notify Huang Siyuan, who was busy in the back kitchen.

After a table of delicacies was served, Huang Siyuan, quite rarely, did not go back to work but sat down instead, watching Song Qingming with a serious expression as he tasted her handiwork.

"Second Sister told me last time that she plans to let Old Nine come over to replace you, but she still needs to wait until she comes out of seclusion, which should take another half a month." Seeing Huang Siyuan staring at him, Song Qingming gradually felt uncomfortable and spoke to divert her gaze.

After hearing this, Huang Siyuan had no reaction on her face, nodded slightly, and said, "With Hongyu in the back kitchen, she should be able to handle it. Xinhu is also starting to get the hang of things recently. I think it might be better to transfer him over to cooperate with Hongyu, so you don't have to worry about anyone else."

"Li Quan knows the accounts of the restaurant for these years; if there is anything you don't understand, just ask him. I have already told him where to purchase goods on weekdays. From now on, letting him handle this part is also fine."

He had only said one sentence, and he hadn't expected Huang Siyuan to reply with such a long list. Song Qingming smiled and nodded, turning his attention back to the food, while Huang Siyuan fixed her gaze on his face again.

For some reason, Song Qingming felt that today's food tasted even better than usual. He stayed here a little longer than usual, and it wasn't until the sun dipped west that he left the Immortal Phoenix Pavilion, feeling satisfied.

Three days after returning to Mount Funiu, Song Qingming was still thinking about how to tidy up his cave dwelling when Song Qingyu, who had only been guarding Qinghe Market for a few days, suddenly returned to Mount Funiu and brought him a very shocking piece of news.

A day ago, Huang Siyuan had suddenly left a note in the Immortal Phoenix Pavilion and left Qinghe Market alone, not knowing where she had gone.