Longevity: Comprehending the Heart Method

The Song Clan took the message from the siblings, Yulong and Yushi, very seriously. Song Luzhou and Song Luyun, two influential elders, set out at once and hurried to their temporary encampment.

The sight that greeted them left them stunned.

A massive ship, over a hundred zhang long and dozens of zhang wide, was docked inside a valley, completely hidden from view. In terms of sheer size, it was several times larger than the Black Star Ship moored at the Moon Viewing Marketplace.

Of course, in this world, size didn’t equate to combat prowess.

The vessel before them was a giant Flying Ship designed for long-distance transport, typically used for special cargo or passengers, similar in function to a Cross-Domain Flying Ship.

Its hull was thin and its capacity large. Speed was its only advantage; it had virtually no powerful offensive capabilities.

The Black Star Ship could take on ten of these.

Even so, the value and difficulty of constructing such a massive Flying Ship were considerable. Across all of Daqi, only the Golden Crow Sect had the ability to build a Flying Ship of this size; not even the Celestial Vein Sect was capable of it.

The Song Clan’s Ancestral Vein had the capability, but they possessed very few such ships, and one would certainly never appear here.

Thus, Song Luzhou and Song Luyun grew suspicious.

”There are quite a few people inside this Flying Ship,” Song Luzhou said, his brow furrowed. ”And... many of them have the aura of mortals.”

Due to their long-duration voyages, these types of giant Flying Ships would sometimes carry a contingent of mortals to act as servants or as playthings for the Cultivators’ amusement.

But mortals usually made up only a small fraction of the passengers. On the ship before Song Luzhou, however, the vast majority were mortals. This was highly unusual.

These anomalies put them on high alert. The two exchanged a glance. In the end, Song Luzhou used Sword Control to ascend above the valley, while Song Luyun positioned herself a short distance away.

”I am Song Luzhou, Minor Affairs Elder of the Moon Viewing Song Clan! Are my dear niece and nephew, Yushi and Yulong, present?” Song Luzhou’s voice boomed, resonating from his Dantian.

The moment he finished speaking, Song Luzhou sensed a commotion inside the Flying Ship. Soon after, two figures emerged together—it was indeed the siblings, Song Yulong and Song Yushi.

They looked utterly exhausted and travel-worn. Compared to a few years ago, the siblings seemed much more weathered by hardship.

But the moment they saw Song Luzhou, they became like aggrieved children. With a THUD, both of them fell to their knees. Song Yulong cried out in grief, ”Fifth Uncle, Father... Father has fallen.”

Beside him, Song Yushi was already sobbing too hard to speak, kneeling on the ground as silent tears streamed down her face.

Song Luzhou’s heart lurched. He landed and rushed over to the siblings. ”What did you say?” he demanded urgently. ”What happened to Seventeenth Brother? What’s going on? Tell me everything, now!”

Hearing this, Song Yulong choked out, ”Three years ago, Father passed the clan’s Purple Mansion trial. He earned the right to use a Yin Yang Purple Tree Heart and was preparing to enter seclusion.

But the very next day, a high-ranking and influential Purple Mansion Elder came to see him. He wanted to trade for the right to use the Yin Yang Purple Tree Heart, to give it to a junior from his own branch of the family.”

Naturally, Father refused him outright.

Who knew that while the old scoundrel said nothing, he was secretly harboring a grudge. He somehow bribed several clan Elders and, despite knowing Father was about to enter seclusion, assigned him a last-minute demon-slaying mission.

A clan decree is as immovable as a mountain; Father could not refuse and had to obey.

And then... then he left and never came back. The official story from the clan Elders was that he’d fallen into an Evil Demon’s trap and died fighting to the last.

But we suspected foul play. While we tried to uncover the truth, we also petitioned the clan for the Yin Yang Purple Tree Heart. Who would have thought that the clan would use our father’s death as an excuse to reassign it to that old scoundrel’s descendant.

Yushi and I have only mediocre talent, and our Daqi branch isn’t valued within the main clan. We had no choice but to swallow our bitterness and endure it.

But that old scoundrel wasn’t satisfied even after getting the Yin Yang Purple Tree Heart. Knowing we were still searching for the truth, he abused his authority to oppress the Cultivators from our Daqi branch, sending us on the most dangerous missions.

In less than a month, our branch lost three Clan Elders, and Yushi and I nearly lost our lives as well.

Later, an Elder who had once received a favor from our father spoke up for us. This made the old scoundrel back off a little, and we were lucky to survive.

But from then on, the cultivation resources allocated to our branch dwindled, until finally, our provisions were even being withheld!

That depraved old scoundrel didn’t even spare our mortal clan members, wanting to send them to mine the highly toxic Molten Stone.

I had nowhere to turn for help, and was even severely wounded by men the old scoundrel sent. Left with no other choice, while he wasn’t looking, I led our people to flee the clan with the tacit approval of one of the Elders. It was a long and difficult journey, but we finally made it back to Daqi.

We beg you, for the sake of our past bonds, please take us in!”

With that, Song Yulong and his sister kowtowed deeply to Song Luzhou.

After hearing Yulong’s story, Song Luzhou’s eyes were bloodshot, his chest filled with a boiling rage. Only one thought echoed in his mind: ’This is going too far!’

Looking at the siblings who remained kneeling, refusing to rise, Song Luzhou suppressed his anger and reached out to help them up, but they didn’t move an inch.

Just then, with a great RUSH, nearly a hundred people poured out of the Flying Ship. They were of all ages, but all of them were Qi Cultivators. They came before Song Luzhou, knelt in unison, and pressed their foreheads to the ground, crying out, ”We beg the clan to take us in!”