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"This is coercion, intending to force me to marry you off to his son."
Song Lingxue's brows frowned slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, she spoke, "If it really comes down to it, I will marry into the royal household. Either way, I have to get married."
As for whom she married, Song Lingxue had never particularly cared. Since she was young, her father, Song Tonghai, had invested so much effort into nurturing her, and she was well aware of this.
Now, she was also willing to make sacrifices for her family, even if it meant giving up her so-called happiness.
Sometimes, in the face of a clan's rise and fall, individual happiness might not be that significant.
"Do you think the royal household is such a fine place?"
Song Tonghai scoffed coldly, "If the Immortal Sect really intended to act against the Song Family, would Zhao Yunheng dare to even fart? If it's not the Immortal Sect making a move, why should I be afraid?"
"It's my incompetence, bringing shame to father's teachings."
Song Lingxue's gaze dimmed, "If only I were also qualified to enter the Immortal Sect, father wouldn't have so many troubles now."
Seeing the sorrow on Song Lingxue's face, Song Tonghai's heart softened, and he let out a long sigh:
"If I trade my daughter for safety, then I've truly lived in vain, and after I die and descend to the Yellow Springs, how could I face your mother? The Song Family has never had descendants that kneel and beg for life."
At this point, a flicker of murderous intent shone in Song Tonghai's eyes: "If any monsters or demons trespass, we father and daughter will slay each one who comes."
...
...
Twenty or so li outside of Luofeng City, by a lake, over a hundred iron cavalries took a short break to rest and regroup.
"I am incompetent, making father lose face."
Zhao Jichang bowed his head, bitterness on his face.
"What's the use of face? Can it be eaten as food?" Zhao Yunheng said, not overly concerned, "Why should a grown man worry about momentary stature?"
"This bloodline of the Song Family might truly be different from ordinary people. In less than three hundred years, it has produced two Great Grandmasters, several Grandmasters, and one Immortal Seedling. Now, another Great Grandmaster is about to rise."
Zhao Yunheng's eyes narrowed slightly, "Be at ease, my son, this girl will be yours sooner or later."
Such a bloodline, if it were integrated into the Zhao Family, would surely greatly increase the chances of giving birth to offspring with Immortal Bone in the future.
This is a century-long plan.
...
...
Chu Zheng had been busy in the Mansion's Treasury until the sun set behind the mountains. By the time he made his way to the martial arts training ground, the dueling platform had already been dismantled.
From what he heard from some of the onlooking attendants, he finally learned the result of the duel, and couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
He had yet to witness a Martial Arts Expert of this era with his own eyes and was naturally curious about their capabilities. Now, he could only return home in low spirits.
As the moon soared to its zenith,
Chu Zheng used the refreshed number of repairs as usual on the Great Circulatory Qi Guideline.
[Name: Chu Zheng]
[Cultivation: Zeroth Order]
[Cultivation Techniques: Integrated Fist (Zeroth Order), Chasing Wind Sword Technique (Zeroth Order), Great Circulatory Qi Guideline (Sixth Order/Incomplete)]
[Repair Master: Zeroth Order (76/1000)]
[Remaining Repairs for Today: 0]
[Currently Repairable: Great Circulatory Qi Guideline- Beginner Chapter (38/100)]
Seeing the completion of the repair getting closer, Chu Zheng couldn't help looking forward to it even more.
It wasn't until today that he had finally finished reading "Initial Understanding of Immortal Path."
The path of cultivation is indeed miraculous. Plucking stars and embracing the moon is not an empty phrase, and changing the weather is just a matter of thought.
To attain such wondrous power, for now, Chu Zheng could only place his hopes on Qi Refining Technique.
...
...
On the outskirts of Great Zhou.
The scorching sun dangled high in the sky, between the dunes in the vast, empty desert, not a hint of greenness or any sign of life in sight, with only rolling sand billowing and waves of heat rising.
Song Lingqing sat cross-legged in the middle of the desert, the surrounding sandstorm unable to approach within half a zhang of her, blocked by an invisible barrier.
Streams of light yellow Qi circulated in and out of her mouth and nose, radiating an indescribable fluctuation.
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Qin Feng sat not far away, his eyelids drooping as if he were dozing off.
Suddenly, his eyelids twitched, and he flipped his hand to take out a jade book, slowly opening it.
Under his gaze, the originally blank jade pages began to reveal two lines of text in a deep red hue.
[Purple Blood Valley, Night Light Pavilion, the true teachings of Earth Dragon Sect have all descended the mountain. A Protector has been probing your whereabouts. Song Residence is in danger, someone intends to use this to coerce Song Lingqing to return.]
Qin Feng's eyes showed not the slightest ripple. The text that had appeared gradually vanished, leaving the jade page blank once more.
He then took out a jade pen and slowly wrote a line of text.
[Current whereabouts still concealed, proceed as usual to the Great Tournament. Song Lingqing has entered the Spiritual Spring.]
The written text lingered only for a moment before slowly dissipating and the page reverted to its original state.
Qin Feng watched the fading text on the jade book, put it away, and gently closed his eyelids again.
The Great Tournament of Ten Thousand Sects was of paramount importance; he would not reveal this news to Song Lingqing at this critical juncture.
Before returning to the Song Residence, he had already warned Song Lingqing that such actions could bring danger to herself and her family, yet she still wanted to return.
The outcome was entirely within his expectations, which was why he had felt it was a pity at that time.
In the final analysis, Song Lingqing had no significant backing. She was not the only true disciple of the Phantom Spirit Sect.
With limited power and alone, the Sect naturally could not consider too much for her.
Worldly kinship is actually an obstacle to the Immortal Path.
At the same time, blood feuds are also a sort of motivation for a cultivator.
Those who cultivate the Immortal Path do not need so many worldly entanglements. Helping Song Lingqing cut away her burdens with external forces is killing several birds with one stone for the Sect.
Such is the way of the world: to gain something, one must lose something else. This was the path Song Lingqing chose for herself.
When Song Lingqing returns to Great Zhou, it would be more than twenty years later. By then, what Great Zhou will be like is anyone's guess.
...
...
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed.
In these days, the Song Residence carried on as usual, but Chu Zheng, who was in the Mansion's Treasury, began to sense something unusual.
During this time, carriages loaded with wooden boxes, moved from the treasury and quietly left the Song Residence through the back door, their destinations unknown.
In just over ten days, almost half of the Mansion's Treasury had been emptied—a significant amount given it represented the accumulation of three hundred years for the Song Family.
Yet, the martial artists guarding the treasury seemed not to notice anything amiss, just as usual. Song Tonghai and Song Lingxue showed no signs of abnormality either.
Although Chu Zheng found it strange, he did not dwell on it, as his mind was wholly focused on the Great Circulatory Qi Guideline - Upper Volume.
After more than ten days of waiting, the Great Circulatory Qi Guideline - Beginner Chapter was finally repaired.
The moment it was repaired, a vast amount of information poured into Chu Zheng's mind in an instant,
[Great Circulatory Qi Guideline - Beginner Chapter: A very essential method of Qi Refining to solidify the foundation. It could not be better. The subsequent parts are largely missing and still require some time to repair.]
At the same time, the information on the interface changed.
[Current repair capabilities: Great Circulatory Qi Guideline - Upper Volume (0/1000)]
Chu Zheng could not bother to look at the number of repairs needed as his entire consciousness was immersed in the information in his mind.
The Way cannot be transmitted lightly. In the Qi Refinement - Beginner Chapter, many rules are written.
Those with an incomplete mind, ill motives, perverse and violent dispositions, deep blood feuds, subjected to humiliation, repeatedly oppressed, should not be taught.
The reasons why these individuals cannot be taught are also noted.
Should such individuals prevail, they may create too much carnage, unable to control themselves, struggling to pass the threshold of life and death.
Those who cultivate the Method of Qi Refining with the aforementioned traits will not have longevity; they will be bound by inner demons and perish amid their great calamities.
If the technique is transmitted to them, the karmic burden will be too heavy, severely harming the Qi Cultivator's own merit and virtue.
To begin Qi Refinement, one must absorb the essence of the sun and drink the Moonlight for nine Major Circuits of Qi, practicing the Circuit of Qi eighteen times daily, then within a hundred days, Spirit Transformation will occur.
Spirit Transformation is the first realm of Qi Refining, also the entrance level.
Upon perfecting Spirit Transformation, one may live three yuan, with each yuan being two jiazi or sixty years, totaling three hundred and sixty years of lifespan.
Just as Chu Zheng had speculated, the Great Circulatory Qi Guideline does not have the shackles of the Immortal Bone, allowing anyone to practice it.
Even so, the speed of cultivation is indeed related to the elusive comprehension.
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