Family Cultivation: Evergreen of the Song Family

The enormous golden lettering floated in the air, gleaming brightly.

All the members of the Song clan raised their heads in unison, a sense of surprise rising in their hearts.

Song Changsheng's decree was written using the collective fortune of the family. Any cultivator connected to the Song family's fortune, such as family retainers and subordinate forces, would sense it within a certain range.

This is a unique application of the [Law of Destiny], which he discovered recently while browsing through the ancient texts left behind by the Chen family of Dongtian. This is the first time he has used it, and it is relatively rudimentary. Currently, the only region that can be directly affected is Lingzhou; anything further away is very vague.

It seems rather useless at the moment, since with his current cultivation level, his voice can almost travel throughout Lingzhou when he uses sonic supernatural powers.

In comparison, using this method also consumes a trace of luck, making it seem like it has no cost-effectiveness whatsoever.

However, if this method is cultivated to a high level, it can almost ignore distance, which means something else entirely.

Besides these, imperial edicts have other ingenious uses, but these are yet to be discovered.

A quarter of an hour after the decree appeared, the characters slowly shrank, eventually condensing into a small scroll, which gently landed in Song Changsheng's hand.

The texture felt somewhat like silk. He gently tugged at it and found it to be very tough, somewhat like animal hide. It also contained a strange power, giving him a feeling of being connected to the bloodline when he held it in his hand.

"A product of the laws of Heaven?" Song Changsheng carefully put away the decree, then stood up, took a step, and came to the front of the family ancestral hall.

With a wave of my sleeve, I opened the door, and the aroma of incense wafted towards me. What came into view were memorial tablets arranged in a tiered fashion.

In addition to the ancestors of the Song family of Wangyue in recent years, they also invited the ancestral tablets of the main lineage ancestors of each generation. At a glance, they were densely packed together, numbering in the thousands.

However, at the very top of all the memorial tablets was a sword that looked quite ordinary.

If a cultivator skilled in aura observation were present, they would be able to clearly see that a lifelike five-clawed purple dragon was coiled around the sword.

This is the reforged Great Qi King Sword, Chengyuan!
When the Song family's collective fortune was first formed, although a dragon of fortune was also created, it was far inferior to this one.

This indicates that the Song family's fortunes have been steadily rising over the years, as evidenced by the feedback from the Song family's development in recent years.

This contrasts sharply with the [Brocade Banner].

Back in the Twin Islands, Song Changsheng observed that both Song Yuchun and Song Yuqing were experiencing a loss of their luck, which puzzled him greatly. So, before returning to Cangmang Peak, he secretly went to the [Jinxiu Banner].

The discovery that the two people were there was not accidental, nor was it related to him; rather, it was because the collective fortune of the [Brocade Banner] had encountered a problem.

He later asked Song Yuqing, and learned from him that the Embroidered Banner did indeed condense the collective fortune, and the treasure it carried was a rare Golden Lotus of Fortune, which had been nurtured for a thousand years.

Previously, the extraction of external fortune to replenish oneself was also accomplished with the help of this [Golden Lotus of Fortune].

This piqued Song Changsheng's curiosity. How could the [Splendid Banner], which had gathered collective fortune, continue to decline? It was truly perplexing.

Moreover, there's now a situation where the family's fortune is collectively leaking out, like a big ball with a hole that just can't be stopped.

At present, the impact is not significant, but over time, the consequences will be very serious.

With his cultivation level, he could only temporarily stabilize Song Yuqing's own fortune.

The problem must lie with the [Golden Lotus of Fortune], otherwise such a large-scale collective leakage would not have occurred.

This was naturally a good thing for the Song family, but Song Changsheng was somewhat uneasy because he couldn't figure out the reason.

This also reminded him of the collective fortune of the Song family.

The weapon he used to gather and suppress fortune was the Human King Sword, a supreme treasure of human fortune, which was naturally incomparable to the mere Golden Lotus of Fortune.

But he couldn't help but wonder, if one day the King of Men's Sword malfunctioned, would it implicate the entire Song Clan and lead to a situation similar to that of the Embroidered Banner?

To be honest, he can no longer distinguish whether the decline of the [Splendid Banner] led to the leakage of its fortune power, or whether the leakage of its fortune power led to the decline of the [Splendid Banner].

"Does destiny govern people, or do people govern destiny? Can you give me an answer?" Song Changsheng asked softly, looking at the Human King Sword above.

Silence...

Ren Wangjian did not respond to his question, and it was unclear whether he did not want to answer or did not know how to answer.

Seeing this, Song Changsheng did not pursue the matter further. He simply placed the decree formed from the power of destiny below the Human King Sword, then bowed deeply to the ancestral tablets before setting off for Wutong County.

The entrance to the Wutong Little World has never changed; it is his ideal place for seclusion.

This seclusion, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will be the longest he has ever been in so far, even longer than the one when he broke through to the Golden Core stage.

Because he has a lot of goals this time.

The primary goal at present is naturally to break through to the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

In addition, one needs to refine the [Extreme Yang Heavenly Crystal] and the [Moonlight Tear] to advance one's own Great Perfection level [Yin Yang Law] to the level of "Dao".

Understanding the laws and cultivating supernatural powers and spells are also essential.

In addition, he also had to keep the "Primordial Star Record" given to him by Lingji Zhenjun, as it might be related to his future and that of the entire Song family.

If there is still time, one should delve into the art of formations and weapon crafting, and sort out the chaotic laws and power in the Wutong Small World, in order to prepare for completing the laws of the Cangmang Small World.

To accomplish this series of goals, several decades is an understatement.

Upon entering the devastated Wutong Small World, Song Changsheng was immediately struck by the towering Star Fruit Tree. Clearly, the environment of this world was ideal for its growth, and it had grown considerably since then. Unfortunately, its long fruiting cycle was a major drawback.

He walked to the dense canopy of the Star Fruit Tree and sat cross-legged. The Spirit Gathering Array set up around him began to operate on its own.

He reached out and took out a [Taiqing Jade Marrow Pill], along with a whole bottle of [Law Essence], and swallowed it.

Almost the instant it entered my mouth, a tremendous force burst forth within my oral cavity, then flowed through my meridians to every corner of my body, leaving me feeling warm all over.

Song Changsheng quickly circulated his inner energy cultivation technique to refine this power. A large amount of spiritual energy was drawn into his body through the vortex on his golden core, and the Yin and Yang energies also appeared around him on their own... Just as he was breaking through in seclusion, Song Qingxing, who had been "drifting" on the path of trials for a long time, also ushered in his first battle of trials!
On a somewhat desolate floating island in the void, Song Qingxing stood with his sword in hand, calmly looking at the middle-aged cultivator in front of him.

The other party was not the first cultivator he encountered on the path of trials. He had also happened to run into two others before, but those two were onlookers in front of Li Yuxia's cave that day and were very clear about his strength, so they both avoided him at a distance as soon as they saw him.

Since the strange dice had not yet appeared, and Song Qingxing did not want to kill indiscriminately, he spared their lives.

The person in front of him clearly did not know his strength. Seeing that he had abundant resources, he had the idea of ​​killing him and robbing him. Song Qingxing never let go of such people who delivered themselves to his door.

"After wandering for so long, I've finally encountered a living person. I've been observing you for a long time. You seem to be very familiar with this path of trials. Tell me what you know, and I'll spare your life."

The newcomer was dressed in a black robe and held a large spear in his hand. As the spear tip scraped across the ground, it emitted a cold, eerie light.

The way he looked at Song Qingxing was like a hunter looking at prey trapped in a trap.

"No comment!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of cold light disappeared, and the dazzling sword light illuminated the entire floating island.

The newcomer was no ordinary person either. He twirled his spear in his palm, and as the saying goes, a flash of cold light arrived first, followed by the spear thrusting out like a dragon, directly deflecting the sword light in the air.

To his surprise, the sword light dispersed but did not collapse, and instead transformed into countless sword energies as fine as feathers.

"Wow..."

The middle-aged cultivator unleashed a powerful spear strike, but it was utterly ineffective against the overwhelming sword energy. Before he could even attempt to remedy the situation, his body was pierced by the sword energy, and the radiance shone through his body, casting a coin-sized patch of light on the ground.

When his body fell into the blood-soaked mud, he hadn't even unleashed his full power. It wasn't that he underestimated his opponent; he was a seasoned veteran, someone who had spent years licking blood from the edge of a blade. It was just that his opponent was too strong, and the sword too sharp, leaving him no room to maneuver.

Song Qingxing walked up to the corpse, used his sword to lift the storage bag at his waist, opened it and found that there were very few usable resources inside. No wonder he had the idea of ​​killing him to steal the treasure.

He casually put away his magical artifact, confirmed the direction, and then headed towards the next area.

After this period of exploration, he has figured out his location. He only needs to continue in this direction to find the floating island where Bai Zhengchun fell.

Just as Song Qingxing turned around, an invisible "qi" emerged from the middle-aged cultivator's head, rising into the air and eventually merging into the colorful sky...

"Clan leader, Song Zheyuan has also been investigated. His crime is abuse of power and protection of his juniors. He has been stripped of his position by the Tianyuan Ancestor and is currently awaiting trial in the Law Enforcement Hall."

Inside the General Affairs Hall of Tianlong Peak, an elder of the [Jinxiuqi] clan respectfully addressed Song Jiyuan.

Song Jiyuan, who was browsing through ancient texts, was taken aback upon hearing this, then flew into a rage. The jade slip in his hand instantly turned to dust, and he roared with a ferocious expression, "What exactly does he want to do!"

Song Zheyuan was one of the few powerful elders in the family under his command, and also a Golden Core seed in the family. His most relied-upon subordinate was sent to the Law Enforcement Hall without his knowledge.

This is what angered him the most, and also what left him feeling extremely helpless.

Song Daoling's injuries were too severe. After helping him suppress Song Zhexuan for a period of time, he had to go into seclusion to heal his injuries in order to prevent them from worsening.

After that, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Although Song Zhexuan was only the executive deputy clan leader, Song Tianyuan was still standing behind him.

On the first day of Song Daoling's seclusion, he directly investigated and punished Song Zheming, the law enforcement elder who had been promoted by Song Jiyuan. Moreover, the evidence against him was conclusive, so that even if Song Jiyuan wanted to exonerate him, he would not be able to ask for help.

The other party had only served as an enforcement elder for a little over a decade, yet there were hundreds of wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice. Some of these were done at Song Jiyuan's behest, such as the time when Song Zexuan was placed under house arrest.

However, even Song Jiyuan was unaware of most of it.

He promoted Song Zheming to the position of law enforcement elder because he valued Song's loyalty. He never expected that in addition to loyalty, Song also had the audacity of a bear and the courage of a leopard. The evidence against him was enough to sentence him to death.

In his view, Song Zheming deserved to die, but the key point was that, as a result of this incident, the family's law enforcement power fell into the hands of Song Zhexuan's faction.

After the other side seized law enforcement power, they immediately began a large-scale purge. During this period, three elders from Song Jiyuan's faction were investigated and punished, not to mention the stewards and deacons below them.

The main culprits, along with those implicated, have resulted in the punishment of at least several hundred people.

With Song Zheming, who was just taken down, the number of people may exceed four figures.

This is also the main reason why Song Jiyuan lost his composure. He has fewer and fewer cards to play, and if the investigation continues like this, he will eventually become a commander without any troops.

After calming his rage, Song Jiyuan asked, "Has Song Shouhe not yet made a statement?"

The main reason why Song Zhexuan's purge was able to proceed so smoothly was that he had the support of the elders of the various branches of the family.

It wasn't just a few elders, but also a large amount of human resources, that filled the last gap in his capabilities.

"Not yet, he's determined to stick with Song Zhexuan to the bitter end."

"That bastard! If I had known this would happen, I should have reported him from the beginning!"

At this moment, Song Jiyuan was filled with extreme regret. He had sensed something when Song Shouhe first came into contact with Song Changsheng.

Although he didn't have substantial evidence of collusion between the two, he could have uncovered some clues if he had reported it. However, at the time, he was so focused on bringing down Song Wuji that he was happy to see this situation and chose to turn a blind eye, giving Song Changsheng face.

Back then, how could he have imagined things would turn out this way?
They got what they deserved.

If he had reported this to Song Wuji back then, he could have eliminated Song Shouhe directly.

Now the other party has become smarter and is acting more covertly. With Song Tianyuan backing them up, even if he knows that the other party is involved with Song Changsheng, he can't do anything if he can't produce evidence.

All I can say is that I regret my past actions.

"Clan leader, what should we do next? This situation is putting us in a very passive position," the elder said worriedly.

Song Jiyuan's expression shifted rapidly. He paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. After a long while, he stopped, seemingly having made up his mind, and said in a deep voice:
"While Song Zhexuan and the others are currently focused on Song Zheyuan, find an opportunity to secretly go to the back mountain and bring Song Wuji here!"

...(End of chapter)