"Heh heh heh…"
The masked man could only let out a raspy gasp, but the look in his exposed eyes was filled with mockery.
Xia Yunxue's rage surged even higher as she coldly demanded, "This is your last chance. Who sent you? What were you trying to do?"
The masked man revealed a twisted smile. Without making any obvious movements, his body began to tremble as foul blood leaked from all seven orifices.
"Hmph!"
Xia Yunxue immediately crushed his neck and tossed him aside like a rag doll. His body quickly melted into a pool of blood his soul utterly destroyed.
"Blood Demon Sect…"
Her face darkened like ink. These remnants of the demonic path were growing more and more audacious.
This was the first time Song Changsheng had seen this side of his mother. In his memory, she had always been a gentle and graceful woman.
"Changsheng, are you alright?"
After confirming that Song Changying was unharmed, Xia Yunxue anxiously examined her son's injuries.
Upon discovering they were only minor wounds, she finally let out a breath of relief and embraced Song Changsheng. She had already lost her husband she couldn't bear to lose her only son.
Song Changsheng forced out a weak smile and said, "Mother, I'm fine… but Uncle and the others…"
"It's my fault. I came too late," Xia Yunxue said, full of remorse. If she had been just a bit faster, could the outcome have been different?
"It's not your fault," Song Changsheng comforted her gently.
"No one could have expected these demonic cultivators to target us. Let's go gather the remains of my uncles first, so nothing else happens."
The two carried the unconscious Song Changying to the ambush site. The area was already in shambles, with broken trees scattered everywhere.
Several corpses lay there, cold and alone.
Song Luding had been cleaved in half at the waist. His bronze cauldron was shattered.
Song Luzi still wore an expression of fury even in death. A large hole had been pierced through his chest his heart was gone.
Song Changjiu's headless body lay nearby. His head was nowhere to be found. Even in death, his hand clutched tightly to a broken sword.
Seeing such a tragic and heroic scene, Song Changsheng felt the world spinning. He nearly lost his balance. Just moments ago, they had all been talking and laughing together.
He could still picture Song Changjiu's goofy grin. But now, they were forever separated. He had only been fifteen, just at the beginning of his life…
"Sigh… They shed their last drop of blood for the family. I'll report this to the clan and request that they be honored," Xia Yunxue murmured with a sigh. She had seen scenes like this too many times the Song Clan had bled too much over the years.
"But they're already gone. What's the point of posthumous honors…"
Song Changsheng's voice was low.
"Their families need that honor," she replied.
The Song Clan had stood for hundreds of years, enduring war after war. The key to their continued unity was their strict and fair system of rewards and punishment.
They never shortchanged anyone who shed blood for the clan.
Song Changsheng silently nodded. He respectfully gathered the corpses, cleaned up the battlefield, and afterward, Xia Yunxue personally led the children hiding in the cave back to the clan.
A grand funeral was held for the fallen. Compensation was given according to merit. Yet for the living, it was only a small comfort.
The demonic cultivator attack had shaken the entire clan, enough so that even the clan leader came out of seclusion early.
After the funeral, Song Xianming personally gave orders: Third Elder Song Luyao and Fourth Elder Song Luhuai were to lead the Enforcement Hall disciples down the mountain, equipped with demon-slaying artifacts, to eliminate evil.
They conducted a carpet-style search of the entire Wangyue Mountain Range. In the end, they rooted out over a dozen demonic cultivators but no major figures, nor any useful intel. The mission ended in frustration.
But all of this had nothing to do with Song Changsheng at the moment he was focused on healing.
Thanks to his outstanding performance during the mission, and the recent discovery of his rare dual spiritual roots and unique elemental affinity…
The clan rewarded him with two hundred spirit stones and a second-grade low-tier Rejuvenation Pill. With the help of the spiritual medicine, his wounds were healing quickly.
In the courtyard, Song Changsheng let out a long breath of turbid air and muttered with lingering fear,
"Turns out my second-tier spiritual wine is not something to drink lightly… Next time, I might not be so lucky."
At the time, he had exhausted too much energy and, with no other choice, gulped down several mouthfuls of the second-grade low-tier spirit wine he'd gotten from his Fifth Uncle, Song Luzhou.
Fortunately, his parents had laid a solid foundation for him since childhood his meridians were both broad and resilient and he just happened to be in a state of intense energy depletion.
Otherwise, with the immense spiritual power contained in second-grade spirit wine, he would've exploded on the spot. Even now, thinking back on it, he still felt a lingering sense of fear.
It was a classic case of a fledgling unafraid of the tiger. That had been Song Changsheng's first true life-or-death battle, and in the heat of the moment, he had thrown caution to the wind.
If it were now, there's no way he'd dare drink that much again.
Feeling that his injuries were mostly healed, Song Changsheng retrieved four storage pouches from his person.
These were from the four enemies he had slain. He'd only kept these bags and a few magic tools everything else he had already given to the descendants of Song Luding and Song Changying.
"Let's see what kind of spoils I got from my first real battle," he thought with anticipation, focusing his mind on breaking the seals.
Since the owners were already dead and gone, it didn't take him much effort to unlock the four storage pouches.
He first looked into the bags belonging to the two 4th-layer Qi Refining demonic cultivators. They were absurdly poor only fifteen spirit stones between them. Aside from a few usable pills and ores, the rest was just trash.
The one from the 8th-layer Qi Refining cultivator had a slightly better stash of fifty-two spirit stones, some ore for forging, and a few demonic cultivation manuals.
He burned the manuals immediately. Such harmful things were better destroyed.
Finally, he turned to the bag belonging to the 9th-layer Qi Refining cultivator, who had been the leader of the group. As expected, he had the richest haul of ninety spirit stones, along with pills, ores, and various resources worth about a hundred spirit stones in total.
Near the bottom, a purple jade vial caught Song Changsheng's attention.
Purple jade was rare and precious. Containers made from it could preserve spiritual energy for long periods and were typically used to store rare and valuable spiritual items. This made Song Changsheng all the more curious about what might be inside.
Carefully pulling out the stopper, a strange and fragrant aroma wafted out. With just one glance, he immediately sealed the bottle again, exclaiming in delight,
"It's Earth Essence Spirit Liquid!"
Earth Essence Spirit Liquid was a rare spiritual fluid formed deep within the earth's veins. Consuming it could increase cultivation and even cleanse the body's meridians and bones a truly rare treasure.
"Must've been what that demonic cultivator was saving to break through to the peak of Qi Refining," Song Changsheng said, gazing lovingly at the purple jade bottle.
The Qi Refining stage had four bottlenecks: advancing to the 2nd layer, 5th layer, 8th layer, and finally achieving full completion.
Among them, the breakthrough to full completion was the most difficult, often requiring a long time and effort.
However, that process could be hastened using rare items such as this Earth Essence Spirit Liquid.
"Perfect I'll use this to push my cultivation to the next level."
Song Changsheng, however, didn't plan to save it for the 9th layer.
Unlike rogue or demonic cultivators, he had access to his clan's resources. When the time came, he could easily exchange for a suitable pill to assist his breakthrough.
That was the advantage of having a strong clan behind you your starting point was naturally higher.