Qinghe Immortal Clan.

Apart from the Chen family, the other major foundation-building families in Qinghe County have also made some progress, but their strength has not changed much.

Only in the Huang family, because of Huang Shengyue's passing, the head of the family has been replaced by Huang Mengde, who has broken through to the late stage of foundation building. It is also this person who came to participate in the "Chiyanfang" meeting this time.

From Pingyang County, a total of eight cultivators from foundation-building families came, led by the head of Huoyun Mountain Cao Family, Cao Rongxue.

The Cao family is the leading immortal cultivation family in Pingyang County with a history of thousands of years. Over the years, there has always been no less than four foundation-building cultivators in the family. The clan leader, Cao Rongxue, has already cultivated to the peak of foundation-building and has tried several times to break through to the golden elixir realm.

However, Cao Rongxue's path is in a similar situation to that of Huang Shengxin of the Huang family back then. She has failed several times in her attempts to form a golden elixir. Now that she is over 200 years old, her blood and essence have begun to decline, and her body is showing signs of aging. It is obviously unlikely that she will have a chance to break through to the golden elixir realm.

In addition to the Cao family, other relatively powerful families in Pingyang County include the Jiang family of Yufeng Mountain and the Liu family of Yulongling. Both families have three foundation-building cultivators in charge, and their strength is not much weaker than that of the Huang family, the strongest family in Qinghe County.

The remaining five foundation-building families are much weaker in strength than the above three. Whether it is the number of foundation-building cultivators or Qi-refining cultivators, the number is much less. The weaker ones are similar to the emerging foundation-building families like the Wang family of Fengtou Mountain, and the stronger ones are not much different from the Gao family.

Pingyang County has a larger area, and the total number of cultivators is about 30% to 40% more than that of Qinghe County. In addition, the monster riot a hundred years ago did not damage the foundation. Therefore, the number of cultivators in the territory has reached nearly 3,000 in recent years.

When everyone in the conference room saw the three people from the Song family walk in, they hurriedly stood up and saluted to each other.

Song Yuanfang glanced at the hall and saw that everyone was present. He took out the conscription order sent to the Song family by the clan's General Affairs Hall and showed it to everyone. Then he reported the tasks he had already assigned to each family to them in person.

Each of the thirteen foundation-building families present must select at least fifteen cultivators at the middle stage of Qi Refining or above to accompany the expedition. Those who are willing to send foundation-building cultivators can recruit five fewer Qi Refining cultivators.

The period of this conscription to the battlefield of Lu State is one year. After one year, all monks can be rotated and return to Wei State for rest and recuperation.

Of course, if a monk is willing to stay on the front line and make meritorious contributions, he can choose to stay after a year.

Just like Song Qingming did back then, all the cultivators who went to the war could exchange the merits they earned on the front lines directly at the rear of Lingyin Sect for the spiritual objects and cultivation resources they needed.

The second-level low-grade puppet beast "Chifeng Beast" on Song Qingming's body was obtained directly by him using his military exploits after he had stayed on the front line of Lu State for two years.

Because the Song family had already known about the conscription order, and Song Yuanfang had already informed everyone in advance, no one was too surprised by the conscription order.

Only Chen Yun'an of Tiexian Mountain and Meng Xuanzhang, the patriarch of a new construction family in Pingyang County, showed a little embarrassment on their faces when they heard the number of monks to be recruited.

After Song Yuanfang explained some conditions and requirements for recruiting monks, as well as the specific time for the monks to gather, the meeting ended.

Chen Yun'an and Meng Xuanzhang immediately went to Song Yuanfang separately, wanting the Song family to help think of a way to recruit fewer cultivators from them.

Both the Chen family and the Meng family were foundation-building families that had just been established not long ago. They did not have any vassal Qi-refining families under their command. The total number of cultivators in their families was only about 10 to 20 people. It was indeed difficult for them to send out 15 cultivators at a time and have to replace them in turns.

After hearing the complaints of Chen Yun'an and Meng Xuanzhang, Song Yuanfang did not show any surprise on his face. After a moment of silence, he spoke with some embarrassment:
"My two Taoist friends, although I am the one who is in charge of this matter, the rules were set by our ancestors in advance. If I don't handle it impartially, I will have a hard time reporting back. You are really making things difficult for me!"

"Fellow Daoist Song, you also know the difficulties of our two families. Please help explain to Patriarch Song that this item is something I got in my early years and I have been keeping it with no use. Consider it as a gift from me as a junior to honor him!"

After Chen Yun'an finished speaking, he took out a piece of second-level refining material from his body and put it into Song Yuanfang's hand.

Seeing this, Meng Xuanzhang, who was standing by, took out a second-level spiritual medicine that he had prepared long ago and placed it in front of Song Yuanfang.

"Fellow Daoist Song, you came here in a hurry and didn't bring anything good. Please accept this pearl spirit medicine first, and please don't stir it up!"

Looking at the spiritual objects the two men held out, Song Yuanfang quickly waved his hand and said:

"What are you doing, fellow Taoists? Put these things away quickly. I have been managing family affairs for the ancestor for so many years, but I did not gain the ancestor's trust by accepting gifts.

I know you two are in trouble, so let me give you an idea. If you think it's feasible, you can think about it carefully. If not, you can go back and think of another way!"

Hearing Song Yuanfang say this, Chen Yun'an and Meng Xuanzhang immediately bowed with joy and said, "Please teach me something, Brother Song. We will be very grateful!"

“Since you two are worried about the lack of manpower, why don’t you go directly to the Chiyanfang Market Law Enforcement Team to hire a few people and assign them directly to your family.

Although our market law enforcement team was only recently formed, these are all trustworthy monks that we carefully selected. If you two trust them, I think it is feasible to go there and spend some spirit stones directly. "

"As for hiring other cultivators to deal with the conscription order, I wonder if the ancestors and the sect's general affairs hall will know about this and what they will say about it?" Chen Yun'an said with a slightly hesitant look on his face.

Song Yuanfang shook his head and said, "You two can rest assured about this. If you hire other independent cultivators or cultivators from other families, it would be difficult for me to promise you anything.

But if they are from our Chiyanfang Law Enforcement Team, I can naturally come forward to vouch for the two of you. After all, they are all people that we have carefully selected over the years, so we are naturally assured."

"Then I'd like to trouble Brother Song to help lead the way."

Hearing that the other party had agreed, Song Yuanfang quickly stood up and said with a smile: "In this case, I will write a note to the two of you, and you can go directly to the law enforcement team to pick someone.

But no matter what, the number of people you hire cannot exceed half of the total number of recruits. I hope you are aware of this and don't make things difficult for us later!"

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Song. We are aware of this. I will never forget your kindness in teaching me today!"

After sending Chen Yun'an and Meng Xuanzhang out, Song Yuanfang waved and called in a young monk dressed in Song family clothing from outside.

"Xuan Yu, go find Yuan Tong and tell him that the Chen family will go to the law enforcement team to pick someone up. Ask him to go over and get ready. Be careful on the road and don't run into Chen Yun'an and the others!"

"Don't worry, Sixteenth Uncle, I'll be there right away!" Song Xuanyu nodded slightly, then turned around and quickly left the conference room.

Five days later, a large flying boat flew from the direction of Guyang Mountain and landed on an open space outside "Chiyanfang".

After seeing two foundation-building deacons from the General Affairs Hall of Xiaoyao Sect getting off the flying boat, Song Yuanfang, who had been waiting on the side for a long time, immediately stepped forward and bowed to the two of them.

"My two fellow Taoists, you must have come a long way to make it hard. Can we go to the market to have a cup of spiritual tea and rest our feet first?"

"Fellow Daoist Song, you are too polite. We came here on the orders of our sect's Uncle Master Xu. We dare not delay too much. I hope you can understand!"

Seeing that the other party repeatedly waved his hands to refuse, Song Yuanfang did not insist too much. After a few polite words, he took the two of them directly to a place where a crowd gathered not far away.

"My two fellow Daoists, this is Fellow Daoist Meng, Fellow Daoist Li, and my younger brother Yuan Li. The three of them are the leaders of this expedition. The rest are 200 Qi Refining cultivators. They are all here. You two can check and confirm them now."

After hearing Song Yuanfang's introduction, the two Xiaoyao Sect foundation-building cultivators and Song Yuanli and the other two bowed and greeted each other, then turned their attention to the more than 200 Qi-refining cultivators who had gathered.

After taking a quick look, one of the older men cleared his throat and spoke loudly to everyone present: "Everyone, this expedition is to help the sect, and everyone needs to leave their name and family location in advance.

Please rest assured that no matter you die in battle or are injured, the sect will provide appropriate compensation to your descendants. I hope you can fight hard on the front line and win glory for our country and the world of immortal cultivation."

When the Xiaoyao Sect recruited monks from its vassal families, they were generally required to register and verify their identities before departure.

The reason for doing so is to prevent the vassal families under his command from hiring some independent cultivators to fill in the numbers in order to protect their own cultivators from going to these dangerous battlefields.

Most of these casual cultivators are people who only care about immediate interests and are opportunistic. Once they encounter danger on the battlefield and reach a critical moment when they need to fight desperately, they will easily desert the battlefield, causing the morale of the army to collapse.

Therefore, every time the Xiaoyao Sect had a major war and needed a large number of low-level cultivators to participate, they would basically give priority to recruiting disciples of the sect and cultivators from subordinate vassal families. Only in extremely rare critical situations would they take the risk of hiring these independent cultivators.

Decades ago, when the monsters were rioting, Song Qingming hired many independent cultivators to help defend the Jinshanfang defense line when the sect was unable to provide support. At that time, in order to stabilize these people on the battlefield, Song Qingming not only promised a lot of benefits, but also gave up a lot of battlefield interests, which once caused many puzzled emotions among the vassal families under his command.

Fortunately, there will always be brave men when there is a great reward. After a great battle, there were not many monks who defected from Jinshanfang. Although it was a little difficult to defend, everyone still insisted on waiting for the support of the sect, killed the White Lion Demon King, and won the final victory.

After watching the cultivators register their names and information and board the flying boat, Song Yuanfang confirmed with the Xiaoyao Sect that there were no problems. Then he turned calmly and came to Song Yuanli.

"Eighteenth brother, I'm leaving all these children in your care. When you return with success, I will definitely hold a celebration banquet for all of you. Then we brothers will invite everyone to have a good drink together!"

Song Yuanli nodded with a relaxed look on his face and said, "Okay, then it's settled. You have to bring out some good wine when the time comes."

Although Song Yuanfang and Song Yuanli had a difference of more than ten years in establishing their foundation, they were actually only a few years apart in age. They could be considered brothers who grew up together and had always had a good relationship in the family.

Among the "Yuan" generation cultivators who grew up together, except for a few of them who successfully built their foundation, the others who are still alive have all grown old and no longer look like their youth. This has made them feel the ruthlessness of time over the years, and they cherish the brothers who are still around them even more.

Compared to Song Yuanfang's tactful management of the family, Song Yuanli has always been more introverted. After building his foundation, he has been focusing on his own cultivation. Even in such a farewell scene, he would not say much.

After saying his final goodbye to his brother, Song Yuanli turned around and strode towards the Xiaoyao Sect's large flying boat. His handsome figure soon disappeared from Song Yuanfang's sight.

After watching the flying boat slowly go away, Song Yuanfang turned around and silently walked towards the gate of "Chiyanfang". Not far from the gate, Song Yuantong, who had slightly gray hair and was wearing the uniform of the Fangshi Law Enforcement Team, quickly walked up to Song Yuanfang.

"Sixteenth brother, I picked some smart people this time. The people from the sect's General Affairs Hall should not have noticed anything just now!"

Song Yuanfang shook his head after hearing this, and said calmly: "Don't worry! Even if it is discovered, it doesn't matter. Hiring more than ten people is not a big deal. It's not like no one has done this before in other places.

I'm afraid the war in Lu State in the south won't end so soon. Brother Jiu, the law enforcement team needs to find a way to gather more people and make preparations in advance."

"Haha! It's not difficult to gather more people, but I'm old now, and I'm afraid I'll collapse suddenly and delay the family's affairs. You should send someone more reliable to replace me as soon as possible."

"Well! Brother Jiu, your spirit is not inferior to those younger generations. I feel more at ease leaving this place to you for the time being. I haven't seen anyone suitable in the family yet. Let me think about it!"

Since the construction of "Chiyanfang", Song Yuantong, who manages part of the industry in Qinghefang for his family, came to this market and served as the elder of the law enforcement team for several years.

When Shi Chun was still alive, he secretly gathered some independent cultivators in Qinghefang to gather information for the Song family and do things that they were not convenient to do.

Later, after the development of two generations of cultivators, Song Xintang and Song Yuantong, these cultivators, who were apparently independent cultivators but had secretly become part of the Song family, were now much stronger than they were before.

A few years ago, after the "Chiyanfang" was built, Song Yuanfang transferred most of them here to join the Fangshi law enforcement team. After several years of development, there are nearly 30 people in the law enforcement team who were secretly recruited and trained by the Song family.

These people were carefully selected by Song Yuantong and others from among many independent cultivators after years of testing. Although they did not have much connection with the Song family on the surface, they all secretly received salaries from the Song family and were peripheral cultivators who worked for the family outside.

The reason why Song Yuanfang gathered them all to the "Chiyanfang" was to strengthen and expand this force so that they would have more opportunities to contribute to the family in the future.

Ever since being promoted to the Jindan Immortal Clan, the Song family has been suffering from the rapid development of the family and the severe shortage of cultivators.

Even the Song and Yuan dynasties had already issued a policy a few years ago to encourage family monks and mortals to have more children.

However, because the original mortal base of the family is not large, it is unlikely to see a large increase in the number of monks in a short period of time. It will take time to slowly manifest.

Therefore, Song Yuan just put his idea on recruiting independent cultivators to expand the family's cultivator strength.

In Qinghe and Pingyang counties, due to the rise of the Song family in recent years, not only has the number of cultivators and mortals in the area experienced an explosion, but it has also attracted many foreign cultivators. The Lingshan territory in the area has become somewhat overcrowded.

The area around "Chiyanfang" is still basically barren land, and the farthest sacred mountain is hundreds of miles away, so there is still a lot of space that can be expanded around it.

After a few years, when there are more and more cultivators in "Chiyanfang", the law enforcement team controlled by the Song family can continue to expand its territory in the surrounding areas and slowly turn this originally barren land into a place that can provide survival for cultivators and mortals.

The Song family wants to keep these people in the market law enforcement team, but once the number of people increases, it will also be a heavy burden on the market. Therefore, Song Yuanfang is now trying to find various tasks for them, trying to earn more spirit stones and try to reduce the burden on the market.

Having the Chen family and the Meng family hire these people from the Market Law Enforcement Team was actually something Song Yuanfang had planned long ago. It would allow the monks from the Market Law Enforcement Team controlled by the Song family to take on the task and earn spirit stones, and after going to the front battlefield, it would also allow them to get some training and grow faster.

As long as the Song family can provide more guidance behind the scenes and let the immortal cultivation families in need of personnel come to the "Chiyanfang" law enforcement team to hire cultivators, in the future, the many immortal cultivation families in Qinghe and Pingyang in the Song family's territory will become more and more dependent on the "Chiyanfang".

In this way, the Song family, which firmly controls this market town, will see an immediate increase in its influence over the vassal immortal cultivation families under its command.
-
Half a month later, in the "Huixian Pavilion" on the top of Funiu Mountain.

Song Yuanqian, with a slightly nervous look on her face, stood aside, carefully looking at Song Qingyu who was checking a pile of refining materials in front of her.

After a while, Song Qingyu stood up and nodded with a smile, saying, "Not bad, it's been less than a month and you've almost collected all of them. Yuan Qian, you did a great job on this. I'll definitely give you credit in front of Brother Seven!"

Hearing the praise from her own Jindan ancestor, Song Yuanqian nodded with joy and said, "Thank you for the reward, Auntie!"

Song Yuanqian had just reached the stairs when she bumped into Song Qingming and Song Yuanfang who had just walked up. She quickly stood aside and bowed slightly to Song Qingming and the others.

"I've met the clan leader!"

Song Qingming glanced at Song Yuanqian, and then at the refining materials in Song Qingyu's hand not far away. He instantly realized that she seemed to be here to give Song Qingyu the spiritual objects needed to refine his life magic weapon. He smiled and nodded at her:

"You have been searching for spiritual objects all these days. Thank you for your hard work. Go back soon!"

After Song Yuanqian left, Song Qingming and the others walked over to Song Qingyu and asked, "Have you collected everything this time?"

Song Qingyu smiled and nodded in response: "Yes! With these materials, I can go into seclusion to refine my own magic weapon soon. Yuan Qian did a very good job this time. We must reward her well later."

"Of course. If you can refine your life-defining magic weapon one day earlier, it will be of great help to your path. We should not be stingy with the reward, not to mention that they are all family members!"

"Well! Brother Qi, you and Yuan Fang came here to see me, but is there anything else?"

Hearing Song Qingyu's question, Song Yuanfang, who was standing nearby, quickly said, "The family received two more foundation-building pills yesterday. My seventh uncle and I wanted to discuss with my aunt about who should be given these two foundation-building pills to use for foundation-building first."

"Two Foundation Establishment Pills? Didn't I only get one Foundation Establishment Pill with my previous good deeds? How come there is another one? Where did it come from?" There was a hint of confusion in Song Qingyu's eyes.

Seeing this, Song Qingming smiled slightly and said, "I actually got this foundation-building pill by accident from the Tiandan League!"

"Tian Dan League! Could it be that you, a dignified Jindan cultivator, actually went to participate in the auction for foundation-building cultivators they held?"

Before Song Qingyu formed his first foundation-building pill, he had attended an auction held by the Tiandan League in Weiguo in order to search for spiritual objects for forming a foundation-building pill. Naturally, he knew where foundation-building pills might appear.

However, the "Tian Dan League" auction is only open to cultivators at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment levels. Song Qingming is already a Jindan cultivator, so logically speaking he should not be able to join in the fun.

Song Qingming shook his head slightly and said, "Unless there is news of a Five Elements Pill Spirit Object, I will not attend the Tiandan League auction for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

I wonder if you still remember the fellow Taoist Gu from the Tiandan League that I mentioned to you before?
It was a bit of a coincidence that I ran into him on the way to the sect this time. After chatting for a while, I learned that he had successfully refined a furnace of foundation-building pills not long ago. I used the two third-level spiritual medicines in my hand to exchange for one from him directly. "

"So that's how it is. This is really a coincidence!" After hearing Song Qingming's explanation, Song Qingyu finally understood and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

The Taoist friend Song Qingming mentioned was named Gu Qing. He was a deacon elder of the "Tian Dan League" and was responsible for all the business of this organization in Weiguo and several neighboring countries. (End of this chapter)