Chapter 427: Song Xinde's Persistence

The next day, at the summit of Mount Funiu, in Song Qingming's cave dwelling.

Having received the sound transmission early in the morning, Song Xinde arrived here looking nervous. Standing in the cave dwelling of the family's Foundation Establishment ancestor, he felt very uneasy and did not know what Song Qingming wanted with him.

Yesterday, Song Xinde happened to want to mortgage the defective second-tier flying sword he had previously refined to a clan member, wanting to borrow some spirit stones from him to buy high-grade artifact refining materials in the market. He didn't want this scene to be bumped into by this Clan Leader who had just returned to the clan.

At that time, Song Qingming didn't say much, just asked why he wanted to borrow spirit stones everywhere, and then took away the second-tier flying sword he was about to mortgage. Until now, Song Xinde didn't know what Song Qingming wanted him to do here.

At a wooden table not far in front of him, Song Qingming was currently concentrating on drawing a spirit talisman on the table, ignoring Song Xinde who was at a loss.

It wasn't until a moment later, as Song Qingming gently lifted the talisman brush in his hand, that a silver spirit talisman overflowing with spiritual light flew into his hand. Song Qingming nodded with satisfaction and turned around with a smile.

"Although my Dao of talisman making and artifact refining are somewhat different, the essence required for all immortal cultivation skills to improve is about the same. Only after laying a good foundation through practice can one easily go further."

"Although you have previously been able to barely refine a defective second-tier magic tool, your foundation and heat are still somewhat insufficient. You don't need to be too anxious. If you want to break through to become a second-tier artifact refiner in one step, you still need to spend more time and study patiently."

After Song Qingming finished speaking, a blue flying sword appeared in his hand with a flash of spiritual light; it was the defective second-tier flying sword he had taken from Song Xinde yesterday.

After returning the flying sword in his hand to Song Xinde, Song Qingming continued, "I have carefully examined the flying sword you refined. Although there are many flaws and it cannot be considered a second-tier magic tool, the fact that you were able to refine it shows that your artifact refining level is indeed not far from breaking through to the second tier."

Hearing Song Qingming's affirmation, Song Xinde suddenly knelt on the ground, his voice choked with emotion, "Nephew is dull. After studying for so many years and consuming many high-grade artifact refining materials of the family, I still failed to successfully refine a second-tier magic tool, disappointing the Clan Leader and all the elders."

Song Qingming stepped forward and helped Song Xinde up, saying softly, "You don't need to blame yourself for this. Over the years, the family has upgraded the spirit vein, and the family has stopped supporting you after tightening its belt. It has also wronged you somewhat."

"A few days ago, I discussed it with your eldest uncle. The family's situation has improved somewhat. From now on, we will continue to support you in breaking through to become a second-tier artifact refiner. If you have any needs in the future, you can go directly to your eldest uncle, and he will find a way to help you arrange it."

"Ah! Thank you, Clan Leader, for your cultivation! Nephew will definitely study the Dao of artifact refining diligently in the future and strive not to live up to the expectations of the Clan Leader and the family as soon as possible."

"Mm! As long as you have this confidence, that's fine. These few spirit talismans will be the congratulatory gift from me, an elder, in advance." Song Qingming nodded with satisfaction and rewarded the few spirit talismans he had just drawn to Song Xinde.

"Thank you, Clan Leader, for the reward!"

After walking out of Song Qingming's cave dwelling, Song Xinde, who was now excited, stood at the summit of Mount Funiu, looking at the sunlight falling from the clouds, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Since coming to Mount Funiu at the age of ten, although Song Xinde had been practicing for more than thirty years, he had only been an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator in the Song family.

But their generation of cultivators happened to catch up with good times. The Song family not only leaped to become a Foundation Establishment family, but the entire family had also been developing and growing for decades. Even for a person with ordinary spiritual root talent like him, the cultivation resources he could obtain in Qinghe County were not comparable to those of cultivators from Qi Refining families and loose cultivators.

However, although Song Xinde was born in a Foundation Establishment family like the Song family, his cultivation talent was ultimately limited. Having practiced hard for half his life, he still couldn't compare with the outstanding Clan Leader of the same generation. It would be good enough to reach the late stage of Qi Refining in this life; Foundation Establishment was already hopeless.

Song Xinde, who had been mediocre in all aspects in the clan for his whole life, was uniquely talented in the Dao of artifact refining. Especially since Song Qingming issued the directive to support family immortal cultivation skills decades ago, Song Xinde became even more obsessed with this immortal cultivation skill he liked the most.

With his already outstanding artifact refining talent and the family's intentional support, he quickly improved this immortal cultivation skill to the first-tier high-grade, becoming the cultivator with the highest artifact refining level in the family.

However, becoming a first-tier high-grade artifact refiner was not Song Xinde's final goal. What he wanted was to be able to improve his artifact refining level to the second tier, become the first second-tier artifact refiner of the Song family, and leave his name in the family classics.

Over the years, in order to achieve this goal hidden in his heart, Song Xinde had spent almost all his energy on it. Even when the family suspended his support more than a decade ago, Song Xinde never thought of giving up this goal.

Over the past decade, in order to purchase those high-grade artifact refining materials, Song Xinde not only spent all the spirit stones he had accumulated but also owed many spirit stones to his brothers and elders. His life was very down-and-out, and he often felt the cold looks of some clan members behind his back.

After failing to refine second-tier magic tools many times in a row, those brothers and friends who had a good relationship with Song Xinde began to persuade him to give up such endless investment. After all, the cost of wanting to refine a second-tier magic tool was really not low, and failing once would result in a loss of at least a hundred spirit stones.

As long as Song Xinde himself was willing to just focus on refining first-tier magic tools, his life would definitely not be as embarrassing as it was now.

Although everyone was persuading him to give up, Song Xinde still relied on a persistence in his heart to persist until now, waiting for the family to re-attach importance to him.

Recalling all the blows he had experienced over the years—the disappointment of elders, the jokes of brothers, the coldness of clan members—each scene seemed to be just yesterday. Fortunately, he finally survived and did not give up lightly.

After the darkness, he finally saw a glimmer of light. Standing at the summit of the mountain, Song Xinde felt very fortunate that he had persisted over the years; otherwise, he would not have had this opportunity today to receive this affirmation and support from the family ancestor.

After receiving the family's support, Song Xinde returned to his cave dwelling and did not rush to collect materials to refine second-tier magic tools. Instead, he planned to spend a year or two continuing to help other cultivators in the clan refine and repair first-tier magic tools to consolidate his basic skills in artifact refining.