[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-qinghe-song-clan":3,"chapter-the-qinghe-song-clan-the-song-clan-of-qinghe-chapter-45":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Qinghe Song Clan",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1927300,2615,"Chapter 45: Empty Nest","the-song-clan-of-qinghe-chapter-45",45,"\u003Cp>After leaving Mujiao Town, Song Qingming traveled north.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was in no rush during this training journey, stopping to sightsee whenever he found an interesting spot. It was the time of the Spring Equinox; all things were reviving and flowers were blooming everywhere. This journey allowed him to see many beautiful sights he had never encountered before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qingming secretly made a resolution: one day, when his cultivation base was successful, he would definitely step out of Song Guo and take a good look at this world of immortal cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During his last trip to the Fuyun Mountain Range, Song Qingming’s journey had been fraught with danger, leaving him no time to appreciate the scenery. When returning to Qinghe County from Guiyun Market, he had been in such a hurry to avoid causing his clansmen constant worry that he had rushed back to Funiu Mountain early, having no heart to view the scenery along the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty days later, he crossed Pingyang County and changed his route toward the northwest. By the time he leisurely arrived at Guiyun Market, more than a month had passed. The market entrance was the same as it had been three years ago; one still had to queue to verify their identity before entering. It was just that there seemed to be a few more guards than three years ago, and the questioning was more detailed than last time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After entering the market, Song Qingming inquired and learned that a group of demonic cultivators had arrived in the Fuyun Mountain Range in recent years, harming many fellow cultivators. To prevent them from infiltrating the market, the Carefree Sect had increased their patrol efforts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Demonic cultivators were those who practiced strange and sinister techniques from other realms. After practicing these techniques, a cultivator’s temperament would often change drastically, becoming unscrupulous in pursuit of their goals. Some special techniques even possessed the eerie ability to control others, and there were even acts that defied the Dao, such as blood-sacrificing mortal cultivators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cultivators in this realm detested demonic cultivators deeply. Once their tracks were discovered in Song Guo, the Carefree Sect would often mobilize heavily to exterminate them completely. However, demonic cultivators were cunning and skilled at hiding among mortals in the wilderness, often leaving these large sects with nothing to show for their labor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qingming wandered around Guiyun Market for a while. The market was not much different from three years ago. He soon arrived at the shop where he had bought the Grand Void Sword three years prior, but to his dismay, the scene before him left him quite depressed. The general store where he had purchased the magic treasure had now been replaced by a shop selling various spirit beasts, and the owner had been replaced by a scruffy, bearded middle-aged man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qingming carefully confirmed he hadn't found the wrong place before stepping forward to ask, \"Excuse me, boss, is the Daoist friend named Li who used to be here still around?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Daoist friend Li? Which Daoist friend Li? I don't have any staff named Li here. Are you looking for elixirs? He transferred this shop to me a long time ago. If you want to find him, you can find him by moving forward a hundred paces,\" the middle-aged man said, pointing to an elixir shop diagonally across the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elixirs? Wasn't this a general store before?\" Song Qingming looked in the direction he pointed, his mind even more confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After spending some time asking clearly, Song Qingming learned that the \"Li Family General Store\" had long since been emptied. This shop had already changed hands several times since then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this news, Song Qingming’s heart trembled. He had long since deeply experienced the profound nature of the Jade Profound Scripture technique. He had intended to come here to inquire about who the expert was that had deposited that Grand Void Sword, but he hadn't expected to arrive a bit too late. Now that the place was empty, he didn't know if the original shopkeeper even knew that a technique was hidden within the sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Qingming, unwilling to give up, inquired around the surrounding streets. People were not unfamiliar with the pair of master and apprentice who had opened the shop three years ago, but they only knew the two were master and apprentice and seemed to be loose cultivators from out of town who usually just ran this small shop. After asking around the neighborhood, not a single person knew where they had gone. It seemed that for the time being, it would be very difficult for him to find the answer to this question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they were worried about him coming to settle scores, they didn't need to move the entire shop away, did they? Seeing that it was getting late, Song Qingming left in disappointment and found an inn in the market to stay in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lying on the bed, Song Qingming kept pondering this matter. He even began to suspect that this technique had been intentionally hidden in the sword by those two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he had obtained the inheritance of this technique and felt the profoundness of the Jade Profound Scripture, if it were true that the two had intentionally passed it to him, they could be considered his mentors in the Dao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next morning, Song Qingming left the inn early and returned to the market. Following the largest street in the market, Song Qingming arrived at a plaza on the east side. At this time, many cultivators had already gathered in the plaza, either in groups of three or five, or like him, alone, all staring intently at the center of the plaza.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the place in Guiyun Market where demon-hunting missions were posted. In the center of the plaza stood a high, circular wall, covered with missions for hunting demon beasts and purchasing spirit herbs, along with information on various types of demon beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Level 1 demon beasts for those in the early Qi Refining stage to Level 2 demon beasts at the peak of Foundation Establishment, any Level 1 or 2 demon beasts near Guiyun Market were included. Demon beasts above Level 3 possessed magic power and divine abilities equivalent to human Golden Core cultivators and generally did not appear near Guiyun Market; they were active deep in the Fuyun Mountain Range, and naturally, Guiyun Market dared not offer rewards for demon beasts of that level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These posted notices not only indicated where the demon beasts were active but also listed their characteristics, weaknesses, and other information, specifically noting the valuable items on these beasts. The reason for this was to facilitate cultivators who accepted the missions to make preparations before setting out, allowing them to complete the missions better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For this reason, the Carefree Sect specifically recruited a group of cultivators in Guiyun Market to specialize in venturing deep into the Fuyun Mountain Range to investigate information on these demon beasts, which was then compiled by designated personnel and finally posted in the plaza along with corresponding spirit stone rewards based on the demon beasts' level and difficulty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The market had explicit rules: any cultivator, whether a direct disciple of the Carefree Sect or a loose cultivator, could receive the reward spirit stones indicated in the mission notice upon successfully completing the mission and bringing the required token here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guiyun Market was the largest market in the northern part of the Carefree Sect’s territory, with no fewer than a thousand cultivators living within it, most of whom were loose cultivators. These loose cultivators formed demon-hunting teams of various sizes after accepting missions in the market and then ventured deep into the Fuyun Mountain Range to hunt demon beasts, which also brought an exceptionally prosperous scene to Guiyun Market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason Guiyun Market did this was to attract more cultivators to hunt demon beasts here, weakening the number of demon beasts in the Fuyun Mountain Range to prepare for future demon beast unrest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he arrived, Song Qingming had already inquired about some information regarding the market. His purpose in coming here was to find a place where he could go out to hunt demon beasts and temper himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After wandering around the plaza for a long time, Song Qingming made up his mind to start by practicing with missions that were relatively simple for him. After finding a few relatively simple mid-level demon beasts among these missions, Song Qingming was about to head toward the center of the plaza to accept these missions when a voice suddenly sounded beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This Daoist friend, please stay a moment.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 46 =====\u003C\u002Fp>",1445,"2026-06-14T03:09:34.521Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","47a96239289ea939c62a76305941edf45ab13a72a6c537e8bc15bf8f6a95cc58","the-song-clan-of-qinghe-chapter-46","the-song-clan-of-qinghe-chapter-44",846,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-qinghe-song-clan-cover.jpg"]