Hard to Distinguish Right from Wrong

Even though Huang Zhengming was a Qi Condensation cultivator, he could hardly suppress the surging waves of excitement and elation in his heart.

He had been refining the Green Jade Pill for over a year now, a process that had swallowed a sea of resources. Even a clan with over a century of accumulated heritage like the Huang family was reaching its breaking point.

Unlike the newly risen Zhou clan, the Huang family was old and fractured, split into numerous branches and lineages with deeply entrenched, tangled interests.

To fund the refinement of the Green Jade Pill, the two branches led by Huang Zhengming and Huang Bailin had sacrificed an immense amount of their own assets, breeding deep resentment over time.

Huang Zhengming had already decided that if these next few attempts yielded nothing, he would cease this grand alchemy campaign to let the clan catch its breath and recover its vitality.

Yet, against all odds, he had succeeded this time, producing four pills in a single cauldron!

He hurriedly recorded every nuance and insight from the refining process. Now that he had captured the experience, future batches would merely be a matter of constant practice to master the skill.

"Zhenghua! Zhenghua!"

Huang Zhenghua rushed into the chamber frantically. "Brother Zhengming, what happened?"

"Quickly, go to Pingyun Mountain and inform Grand-Uncle! I have successfully refined the pills!"

Huang Zhenghua was seized by sudden ecstasy. He spun around and sprinted toward the peak, his arrival instantly throwing the entire Huang clan into a fervor.

"Hua'er, is what you say true? He truly refined them?" An old, decrepit elder gripped Huang Zhenghua's arm with trembling strength, tears of old age streaming down his face.

His name was Huang Yuanshan, the head of the second branch, and a Spiritual Awakening cultivator who possessed fourteen and a half strands of Spiritual Qi.

In his youth, the clan had purchased a Green Jade Pill for him, but his breakthrough had ended in failure, leaving him in this withered, dying state.

But he was unwilling to accept his fate. He wanted to break through, he wanted to preserve the authority of the second branch, and above all, he wanted to live!

Among the five branches and eight lineages of the Huang clan, his branch had been the most vocal supporter of the endeavor, second only to those of Huang Bailin and Huang Zhengming.

"Yes, Father! You have hope for a breakthrough!" Huang Zhenghua embraced Huang Yuanshan, weeping with shared sorrow.

Over the past two years, the second branch had suffered bitterly to support the pill's refinement, to the point where they could barely scrape together cultivation resources for their younger generation. Now that the clan could produce the pill themselves, a single Green Jade Pill might allow Huang Yuanshan to cross the threshold.

Not far away, however, the other branches of the Huang clan watched with conflicted expressions.

Huang Zhengming's obsession with alchemy had bled the clan dry. To appease the anger of the common clansmen, several branches had been forced to liquidate their properties, which naturally fell into the hands of these rival lineages.

"Uncle Yuanhai, should we return those assets now?" Huang Zhengtong asked hesitantly.

Beside him, Huang Yuanhai snorted coldly. "We didn't rob them, nor did we force them. When he was refining pills, our branch contributed plenty of materials."

"Those assets were their compensation to the clan. Why should we give them back? We are all part of the same clan anyway. When the time comes, it's not as if they can deny us our share of the Green Jade Pills."

Huang Yuanhai harbored deep grievances of his own. It was not that he lacked clan loyalty; when Huang Zhengming first began his attempts, the fourth branch had provided nearly ninety Spirit Stones' worth of resources, and they had given more later. They had fulfilled their obligations entirely.

But Huang Zhengming had failed repeatedly. Those properties were put up by Huang Zhengming himself to sustain his alchemy, and the fourth branch had paid a fair price to acquire them. They had not kicked a man while he was down, nor had they wronged the third branch.

Huang Zhengtong opened his mouth to argue further, but seeing the cold expressions of the surrounding uncles and elders, he knew words were useless. He fell silent and stepped back.

This was the prevailing sentiment among the other branches. Each had drained their own stores to support Huang Zhengming, but they could not disregard the survival of their own direct flesh and blood.

Whether to stake everything on an uncertain gamble for a glorious future, or to secure what was in front of them and build steadily-no one could truly say which path was right or wrong.

Huang Bailin was filled with wild joy upon hearing the news, flying directly from Pingyun Mountain to the market town.

The four Green Jade Pills were distributed to three of the clan's peak Spiritual Awakening cultivators who possessed fourteen or fifteen strands of Spiritual Qi, with Huang Yuanshan among them.

However, while Huang Yuanshan received his without cost, the other two cultivators had to exchange their branch assets for them. Even so, the price was far lower than the market rate, costing each branch a mere thirty-five Spirit Stones.

When the three closed doors opened once more, only one had successfully broken through to the Qi Condensation realm-a youth named Huang Zhengqing.

In another secret chamber, Huang Zhenghua wailed in agonizing grief, cradling the lifeless body of Huang Yuanshan. "Father!"

Outside the door, Huang Bailin let out a heavy sigh. Huang Yuanshan was his grand-nephew, a boy he had watched grow into an old man. To think that his advanced age would cause him to lose his life during the breakthrough.

Yet, the sorrow he felt was fleeting.

Having lived for over ninety years, Huang Bailin had witnessed too many partings. His parents, his siblings, and even his own children and grandchildren had died before him one by one. The endless march of grief had long left his heart cold and detached.

Turning his gaze toward the newly ascended Huang Zhengqing, a sense of deep comfort and joy bloomed within him. Huang Zhengqing belonged to the Zheng generation and was only in his twenties. With both him and Huang Zhengming guiding the clan, the Huang family could stand firm for at least another century.

Furthermore, with the Green Jade Pill now in their possession, as long as the clan continuously produced peak Spiritual Awakening cultivators, their lineage would never be extinguished. Instead, it would flourish.

"The clan will eventually be passed into your hands," he murmured.

Meanwhile, Huang Zhengming was still riding the high of his first success. Seeking to press his advantage, he immediately attempted three more batches, but every single one ended in failure.

A single set of raw materials for the Green Jade Pill cost fourteen Spirit Stones. In the blink of an eye, over forty Spirit Stones had vanished into ash. To call it burning money was an understatement.

"Alas, my proficiency is still lacking."

To raise his success rate, he needed continuous practice. But at more than ten Spirit Stones per attempt, the Huang clan could not endure such a devastating drain.

Huang Zhengming rose and ascended the mountain peak. After paying his respects to the newly ascended Huang Zhengqing, he gathered the two elders to propose his plan.

"Grand-Uncle, Brother Zhengqing, my success rate for the Green Jade Pill is still too low. The financial burden is immense, and our clan cannot bear it alone. Furthermore, the neighboring forces have already sensed something." Huang Zhengming paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing slowly. "Therefore, I intend to sell the Green Jade Pill openly and draw the surrounding immortal clans into our circle to share the cost."

Huang Bailin stood up abruptly, his face darkened with rage. "Are you not afraid that those clans will grow strong enough to surpass us?"

He had opposed the establishment of the market town from the very beginning, knowing that while it brought wealth to the Huang family, the other clans profited as well. The growth of the Zhou and Zhao clans was already visibly accelerating.

Now, Huang Zhengming wanted to sell them the Green Jade Pill. Was he truly not afraid that their neighbors would field more Qi Condensation cultivators than they could match?

"Grand-Uncle, please hear me out first," Huang Zhengming said, stepping forward to soothe the old man's temper. "The Green Jade Pill is a vital treasure for breaking through bottlenecks, making it exceptionally precious and difficult to refine even among first-grade pills."

"In the past, it was entirely monopolized by the Li clan, the Song clan, and the Baishan Sect in the northern commandery. They have always ruthlessly suppressed any outside attempts to refine it. Even if one could purchase a pill from the Immortals' Directorate, demand far outstripped supply."

Huang Bailin frowned. "Did we not establish the market town precisely for this reason?"

"Though we used the market town to mask our movements, those dominant clans still noticed something over the past year. Just days ago, they swept through the market and bought up a massive quantity of raw materials. Right now, we can barely piece together a few sets of ingredients," Huang Zhengming sighed.

"I want to use this window before the secret fully leaks to bind the surrounding immortal clans to our chariot. Just like the Zhou clan's monopoly on White Marrow Grass, we can assign each clan to cultivate one or two specific raw materials to guarantee our supply. As long as our Green Jade Pills are priced lower than those of the grand clans in the commandery seat, they will never betray us."

"As for the risk of them surpassing us, we will simply retain the lion's share of the refined pills for our own use and sell only the remainder to them. This will prevent them from threatening our position while forcing them to depend entirely on our clan."

Huang Bailin opened his mouth to speak, but the words died in his throat. Finally, he let out a defeated sigh. "Grand-Uncle is old. Do as you see fit."

Huang Zhengming bowed deeply, his posture filled with reverence. "Grand-Uncle, rest assured. Zhengming's heart will always belong to the clan."

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