Chapter 44: Another Head of the Family Established

Back on Qinglian Mountain, Wang Mingyuan personally presided over the grand funerals of Wang Yaoliang and the two other deceased family members. During the ceremony, he publicly announced improved benefits for their descendants.

After the funerals concluded, Wang Changsheng went to the study to report his progress in artifact refining to Wang Mingyuan.

"Good, good," Wang Mingyuan encouraged. "Continue to diligently study artifact refining; the future of our family rests on your generation's shoulders."

"Father," Wang Changsheng hesitated slightly before asking, "The Liu family participated in the attack on Ninth Uncle. Why are we still cooperating with them? Wouldn't it be better to work with other families?"

"The Song, Liu, and Sun families united against our Wang family," Wang Mingyuan explained solemnly. "Cooperating with the Liu family is the only way to sow discord among them. Without concrete benefits, the Liu family would never back down. People in this world are driven by profit. Sheng'er, you must always remember that the family's interests come first, always above personal interests. Any family that puts individual gain above the collective will not survive for long."

Wang Changsheng understood immediately. "Father, how did you manage to deceive the Liu family?" he asked curiously. "The quarry was clearly a mineral vein, so how did it turn into a spiritual vein? Was there truly a spiritual vein there all along?"

"Of course not; nothing so convenient exists," Wang Mingyuan replied. "Our family's treasury contains a set of Illusionary Spirit Array Talismans. These can create a low-grade Level Two Illusionary Spirit Array. Everything Liu Huaijie saw was merely an illusion. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator or a low-grade Level Two Array Master wouldn't detect any abnormalities if they investigated in person."

"I see," Wang Changsheng nodded. "What about the Sun family then? How did Second Uncle convince them to back off?"

"Hmph," Wang Mingyuan scoffed, "Those people won't do anything without personal gain. We had to give them a set of earth-attribute, yellow-grade, Level Two cultivation techniques before the Sun family finally relented! If our family were stronger, we wouldn't have to suffer such compromises or endure such bullying. Ultimately, our family's strength is still insufficient. Sheng'er, your generation — those with 'Chang' in their names — are the future of this family. You must not grow complacent; you must cultivate diligently."

Wang Changsheng nodded, realizing that the family had gone to great lengths, leasing shops and even gifting cultivation techniques, just to appease the two families.

"The Song family was the true instigator of this whole affair. The Liu and Sun families only agreed to help because they believed the quarry contained a mineral vein. Without that perceived mineral vein, and having already received benefits from us, they naturally won't cooperate with the Song family anymore. The Song family, however, will certainly not have an easy time of it this time. But enough about them. Now, go back and focus on your artifact refining studies! Strive to become an artifact master."

"Yes, Father. I'll take my leave."

******

Meanwhile, in Pingyang County, at the Song family estate...

Song Ziyang was livid. The initial agreement was for the three families to jointly target the Wang family. However, not only did the Liu and Sun families withdraw, but they also colluded to extort a significant sum from the Song family. They claimed that the Song family's intelligence was flawed, insisting that the quarry was unequivocally a mid-grade Level One spiritual vein, not a mineral vein, a fact their clan members had witnessed firsthand.

With casualties incurred by both the Sun and Liu families, they had besieged the Song family, demanding compensation for their losses.

Naturally, Song Ziyang refused to back down. He brought up his son-in-law, Lin Huai'an, who was the head of the Lin family from Hongye Ridge. His own position as family head owed much to Lin Huai'an's influence.

He had hoped that the mere mention of the prestigious Lin family of Hongye Ridge would be enough to deter the Sun and Liu families.

To his shock, the Liu and Sun families then invoked the names of the Wang, Zhao, and Zhang families. These five families were all connected by marriage. Since attacking the Wang family had been the Song family's idea, the Liu and Sun families flatly stated that if the Song family refused to yield, they would support the Wang family in retaliating. This was a clear and unambiguous threat.

Song Ziyang might have had some leverage against two cultivation families, but he lacked the nerve to face five. More precisely, he couldn't offer sufficient incentives to persuade the Lin family to intervene on his behalf.

Ultimately, it was Song Tianming who intervened, conceding certain benefits. Only then did the Sun and Liu families agree not to support the Wang family's retaliation against the Song family.

As soon as Song Ziyang saw off the representatives from the Sun and Liu families, he immediately proceeded to Song Tianming's private cultivation chamber.

"Second Uncle," Song Ziyang began, "The Liu and Sun families have gone too far! I'll write to Huai'an at once and ask him to intervene on our behalf."

Song Tianming's eyes widened, and he reprimanded him without ceremony. "Enough! Haven't you shamed us enough already? While Huai'an is indeed your son-in-law, do you truly believe he would confront five families for the sake of our Song family? We were in the wrong from the very beginning. In fact, it was my mistake to even agree to your scheme against the Wang family. Now, we've only shot ourselves in the foot."

"Second Uncle, it's all the Wang family's doing," Song Ziyang insisted. "I don't know what tricks they played to make the Liu and Sun families back down. It's not your fault."

Song Tianming shook his head. "When you're wrong, you must admit it," he stated gravely. "To acknowledge one's mistakes and be able to correct them is of paramount importance. It's still not too late to understand your error."

At that moment, a scholarly-looking middle-aged man entered the chamber.

"Second Uncle, Eldest Brother," the man greeted.

Song Tianming nodded gravely. "Zixian, you've arrived at an opportune moment. I have a very important announcement. From today forward, you will be the head of the Song family. Ziyang will henceforth remain in the adjacent secret chamber to cultivate. Without my express command, he is forbidden from taking even a single step outside that chamber, or he will face severe punishment."

Song Ziyang's face instantly went pale, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees, pleading tearfully, "Second Uncle, you cannot depose me! My father treated you well during his lifetime! My son-in-law is Lin Huai'an; I am the most suitable choice for family head. You cannot do this to me!"

Witnessing Song Ziyang's pathetic display, Song Tianming's disdain deepened. He sneered, "If I allow you to remain head, our clan will inevitably face ruin. This time, your greed led you to conspire with the Sun and Liu families against the Wang family, and you ended up shooting yourself in the foot. It's also my fault for being so foolish as to believe your deceptive words; otherwise, we wouldn't be in this predicament today. If you succumb to greed again and target other families, I assure you, it won't be resolved so easily. If you continue to lead, the Song family will surely perish. What I find most intolerable is your inability to even distinguish between a spiritual vein and a spiritual mineral vein."

"Second Uncle, the quarry was clearly a mineral vein, not a spiritual vein at all!" Song Ziyang desperately argued, "The Wang family must have deliberately created an illusion to deceive the Liu and Sun families!"

"Evidence?" Song Tianming snapped, glaring at Song Ziyang. "If you could produce even a single piece of ore, the Liu and Sun families wouldn't have backed out. Both families sent their own people to inspect the quarry, and it was undeniably a spiritual vein! The Wang family had established spiritual fields there, and their clansmen's frequent movements were for transporting materials to build array formations, which you foolishly misinterpreted as transporting ore. Don't tell me the members of the Liu and Sun families are blind, unable to distinguish between a spiritual vein and a spiritual mineral vein! In just a few days, even if the Wang family had set up a spirit-gathering array, the soil wouldn't have become saturated with spiritual energy, nor would spiritual plant roots have embedded themselves deeply within it. The Sun family even sent a mid-grade Level One array master to the quarry, and he found no abnormalities. Are you still going to argue?"

"Second Uncle," Song Zixian hesitated slightly, pleading for his brother. "Eldest Brother acted with the family's best interests at heart. He has worked tirelessly for many years. Please, just forgive him this one time! With this harsh lesson, he surely won't make such a mistake again." Since Song Ziyang was Lin Huai'an's father-in-law, Song Zixian was uncertain if he could firmly hold the position of family head. He felt it might be wiser to defer.

"Yes, Second Uncle!" Song Ziyang chimed in, "I won't dare to do it again! Please, just spare me this one time!"

Song Tianming snorted softly, then stated coldly, "Hmph, I'm not dead yet! The Song family's affairs are still my purview. Lin Huai'an is, and always will be, an outsider; he has no business interfering with the Song family's internal matters. Zixian, now that you're about to become the head, what are your intentions?"

After this incident, Song Tianming was absolutely determined to remove Song Ziyang from his position. Someone who seeks to exploit every opportunity and then shirks responsibility when things go wrong is unfit to lead a family. Had Song Ziyang proactively admitted his mistake, Song Tianming might have allowed him to retain his position. However, Song Ziyang had refused to acknowledge any error from start to finish.

Upon hearing this, Song Ziyang collapsed to the ground, his face utterly pale. Song Tianming was already treating Song Zixian as the new family head; Song Ziyang knew he had no chance left.

Song Zixian pondered for a moment before replying, "Wang Yaozong went to Qingzhu Market and publicly stated that the attack on the Wang family members was carried out by evil cultivators. This indicates that the Wang family doesn't wish to escalate the matter. If that's the case, we should also officially attribute this incident to evil cultivators. Of course, since we were ultimately in the wrong, and if my memory serves me, Wang Mingyuan's birthday is in another month, we should send someone to offer our felicitations. This might help mend the relationship between our two families. Regardless, we must maintain appearances. Furthermore, we need to properly console the families of our deceased clansmen, as they were merely following orders; the fault was not theirs."

"Very well, let's proceed with that plan," Song Tianming agreed. "Now, take Ziyang away. Without my explicit instruction, if he dares to step even a single foot out of that secret chamber, he will be charged with treason and executed without mercy."

"Huai'an is Eldest Brother's son-in-law, after all," Song Zixian suggested cautiously, "and there's also Huiyun, who is, at the very least, the matriarch of the Lin family. I believe merely stripping Eldest Brother of his family head position would suffice. There's no need to imprison him, is there?"

Song Tianming waved his hand dismissively. "No," he commanded. "Do you see any sign of remorse in him? Not confining him would only impede your management of clan affairs. It's decided. Take him away now! I do not wish to see him again."

Song Zixian felt a surge of inner satisfaction. Outwardly agreeing, he helped the ashen-faced Song Ziyang to his feet and escorted him out of the secret chamber.