After Song Qingming waited for five days, his ninth uncle Song Changxin finally ended his retreat. When he heard Song Qingming say that he wanted to return to the family, Song Changxin readily agreed and brought a little girl in her teens to him, asking him to take her back to Funiu Mountain.
"Qingming, when you go back this time, you can bring Xiaoyu back to Funiu Mountain." Song Changxin pointed at the little girl in front of Song Qingming and said to him.
"Take her back to the mountain."
Song Qingming has been in Lingyuan Mountain for half a year. He often takes out some cakes made from Ling rice and shares them with the children here. He also often sees this little girl and knows that she is the daughter of a miner in the village. Why did Uncle Six bring her to Funiu Mountain himself?
Song Qingming looked at the little girl with confusion, and after a moment he suddenly realized what was going on.
"Sixth Uncle, could it be that she has discovered her spiritual roots?"
Song Changxin nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, last month when I was testing the children of the right age here, I unexpectedly discovered that she had spiritual roots. This is really a happy event for our Song family. I have been in Lingyuan Mountain for so many years, and this is the first time I have detected a child with spiritual roots.
It's just that I don't have a spirit-testing disk, so I can't know her specific spiritual root attributes. I was originally planning to wait for the family to send someone over next month to deliver the black iron ore, and then pick her up there. Since you're going back, why not take her back with you? I'll be able to test her spiritual root attributes as soon as possible so she can start practicing sooner."
Song Qingming nodded and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Jiu, I understand."
"Be careful on the road. You are the hope of the family's future. I have a mid-level talisman for you to protect yourself. If you encounter monsters on the road, remember not to be stingy with these personal belongings. Use them when necessary. The safety of both of you is the first priority." Song Changxin handed Song Qingming a golden talisman and carefully reminded him.
Song Qingming took the talisman and took a look at it. It was a relatively useful defensive talisman among the mid-level talismans. Then he carefully put it into the storage bag.
With Xiaoyu along, Song Qingming could no longer travel as fast as when he came. He found a large basket in the village, carried the little girl on his back and said goodbye to her family. It took the two of them almost two hours to slowly return to Funiu Mountain.
The little girl has lived in Lingyuan Mountain for many years and has never seen the outside world. The beautiful scenery and strange-shaped mountains and rocks along the way soon made her forget the sadness of leaving home.
After seeing the majestic Funiu Mountain, Xiaoyu's two beautiful eyes blinked non-stop, and she couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Immortal, is that where you immortals live?"
Song Qingming couldn't help but smile when he heard Xiaoyu's words.
"Yes, after you learn how to practice, you will become an immortal and can live here like us."
When the little girl heard that she could become an immortal in the future, she was very excited, just like the young and ignorant Song Qingming when he first arrived in Funiu Mountain. She began to boldly ask various questions about immortals.
"Uncle, if I become an immortal, can I transform into anything I want?"
"Of course."
"Can immortals eat meat whenever they want?"
“Every meal has it”
As Song Qingming and Xiaoyu were talking, they had already arrived at the meeting hall on the top of the mountain. The one on duty here today happened to be the second elder Song Changfeng, whom Song Qingming was most familiar with.
There are four elders in the Song family. These four are also the four most powerful people in the entire family except for the patriarch. The eldest elder, Song Gubai, is in charge of guiding the family's power transmission. He has a hot temper and is usually quite strict with children like Song Qingming. He is also the person Song Qingming fears the most in the entire family.
The second elder, Song Changfeng, is the only elder of the Song family's eldest generation. Although he is the youngest among the four elders, his cultivation is the highest except for the clan leader. He is also a talented three-spiritual root cultivator who has reached the eighth level of Qi Refining. He is also very fair in his dealings with others in the clan and is deeply loved by the clan members. After becoming an elder, he has been in charge of family law enforcement and is also the elder that Song Qingming is most familiar with.
The third elder Song Gulan and the fourth elder Song Gucai are both nearly a hundred years old and have relatively gentle personalities. Although their cultivation is not high and they are only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, they have both been devoting themselves to the family for a hundred years.
According to the family rules, one is not qualified to be an elder unless he has reached the late stage of Qi Refining. However, now apart from the patriarch, there are only three cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining in the family. Uncle Nine Song Changxin is only focused on cultivation and does not want to be an elder of the family anymore. Only two elders are unable to manage the family business, so an exception is made to let these two elders who are older and have more experience in managing family businesses serve as elders.
The Third Elder was the family's only high-level spiritual plant master, responsible for the family's spiritual fields, medicinal gardens, and other businesses. The Fourth Elder was in charge of the family's general affairs and was also the steward of the family's financial resources.
"Report to the elder."
Song Qingming briefly explained Xiaoyu's situation to Song Changfeng.
After listening to this, Song Changfeng also seemed very happy. It was a rare opportunity for the family to have fresh blood.
"The spirit-testing plate is now in the hands of the clan leader. Please wait a moment, I will ask him to come out and test her spirit roots."
After Song Changfeng finished speaking, he immediately sent a sound transmission note to the clan leader. After a while, an old man with white hair and beard and a Taoist look came into the conference room. It was Song Gushan, the clan leader of the Song family.
Song Gushan looked at Xiaoyu meaningfully, then slowly said, "This is the little girl Changxin mentioned, right?"
"Reporting to the clan leader, it is her. Uncle Jiu said he is still unsure of the specific attributes of her spiritual roots. Clan leader, please retest it."
Song Gufeng took out a magical instrument that looked like a circular array plate. It was the Song family's treasure, the "Spirit-Testing Plate." After slowly injecting a stream of spiritual energy into it, the circular array plate emitted a dazzling purple light and slowly flew in front of Xiaoyu.
"Quickly put your left hand on the spirit-testing plate," Song Changfeng on the side quickly reminded Xiaoyu who was still in a daze.
The little girl was slightly stunned after hearing this, and nervously stretched out her left hand towards the spirit-testing plate. Three rays of light of different colors slowly flew out of the plate and began to swirl in the air.
"This person actually has three spiritual roots. God bless our Song family. Another good seedling with three spiritual roots has emerged." Song Changfeng shouted excitedly.
The clan leader Song Gushan's face was also filled with joy. "She has three spiritual roots: gold, wood, and water. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a fire spiritual root, so it's not easy for her to practice the Red Flame Technique with me. Water-based techniques are more suitable for female practitioners, so let her practice the family's Mysterious Water Technique first."
Song Qingming, who had been watching from the side, felt a little embarrassed. How come anyone he brought back had the good qualifications of three spiritual roots, but he himself only had a fake spiritual root?
He didn't know whether he was lucky or unlucky.
"What's your name?" Song Changfeng lowered his head and asked the little girl.
Song Yu
After hearing this, the clan leader on the side immediately made the decision and said, "Then from now on, you will be called Song Qingyu. Remember, you will be the tenth cultivator of the Qing generation of the Song family."
The Song family currently has only three generation names: Gu, Chang, and Qing, with a new generation name set approximately every thirty years.
There are only four people of the Gu generation left. The youngest one, the fourth elder Song Gucai, is already over 90 years old this year. In another 20 years, he will almost die.
The Chang generation is the backbone of the current family. There are ten people in total, and one of them joined the Xiaoyao Sect in his early years. The one with the highest cultivation level is the second elder Song Changfeng, who is almost the default candidate for the next patriarch of the Song family.
The Qing generation that Song Qingming belongs to is considered the new generation of cultivators in the Song family. Including Song Qingyu, there are exactly ten people in total. Most of them are only around twenty years old.
Perhaps because her new name was similar to her original name, the little girl just nodded slightly when she heard her new name and did not object.
Upon seeing this, the clan leader put away the spirit-testing plate, took out a crimson family tree, wrote the three big characters "Song Qingyu" on it, and then asked her to leave a drop of blood on her name.
This genealogy records the names of all the cultivators in the Song family over the past two hundred years. They are arranged in detail according to generation and age. The names with faint light represent the living cultivators of the Song family, while those names that are dark and dim indicate that the cultivator has passed away or died.
After leaving the meeting room, Song Qingming immediately went to the family's treasury. He took out the monster materials he had obtained a few days ago and placed them in front of the fourth elder, Song Gucai, explaining his purpose in exchanging them for a mid-level magic weapon.
Song Gucai carefully looked over the materials on the table and asked in surprise, "Is this the tusk of the mid-level monster Iron Mouth Pig?"
"A few days ago, I encountered this monster that crashed into the formation. I took a closer look and found that it was covered in wounds. It looked like it had fled to Lingyuan Mountain after losing a fight with other monsters. I was lucky enough to kill it."
"Qingming, you're quite lucky this time, actually being able to hunt down a mid-level demon beast on your own. If you add five spirit stones to these materials, you can exchange them for a mid-grade magical weapon. As for this pig skin, I'll help you refine a robe for the Great Elder. What kind of robe you can refine depends on your luck."
Song Qingming knew that the Fourth Elder had always been fair in his work, and that was why the family trusted him to be in charge of the Gold Storage Building where the clan members could exchange their merits. Without saying much, he nodded in agreement and took out five spirit stones and handed them to Song Gucai.
After Song Gucai put away the materials and spirit stones, he took Song Qingming to the second floor of the Gold Storage Pavilion and took out several mid-grade magic weapons that existed in the clan and placed them in front of Song Qingming.
After a brief introduction, Song Qingming thought for a while and chose one of the crimson flying swords.
"This flying sword is called the Lieyang Sword. It can also release a spiritual fire to attack the enemy. Its operation is relatively simple compared to other magic weapons. You have recently broken through the middle stage of Qi Refining, so this magic weapon is more suitable for you to use." Song Gucai added a sentence when he saw him choose this sword.
The reason for choosing this sword is mainly because Song Qingming is more proficient in using the spiritual power of earth and fire attributes. There is only one defensive magic weapon with earth attribute, which is not what he wants at the moment. The most suitable one for him is only this fire attribute flying sword.
Returning to his long-absent cave on Funiu Mountain, Song Qingming took out the newly acquired Lieyang Sword, infused it with his own spiritual energy, and began to refine it. He didn't leave the cave until the next morning, by which time he had completely mastered the flying sword.
Song Qingming summoned the Fiery Sun Sword outside the cave, and used his spiritual power to control the flying sword to chop towards a huge rock not far away. After a loud bang, the rock, which was originally the size of a table, was split into two halves. Seeing such a result, Song Qingming recalled the flying sword with satisfaction. The Fiery Sun Sword, which was emitting spiritual light, shrank to the size of an inch and disappeared into the storage bag on Song Qingming's waist.
"Now that I have a mid-grade magic weapon, I can fight that mid-level monster even without relying on the formation."