Longevity: Comprehending the Heart Method

"We respectfully send off the Grand Elder!"

At this moment, the crowd waiting outside the courtyard had gathered at the door. A dense mass of people knelt, all of them weeping uncontrollably.

Song Youlin, still in his swaddling clothes, seemed to sense something and began to wail...

Looking back on Song Xianyun’s life, it was simple and unadorned. He had dedicated nearly everything to the Song Clan. "To give one’s all until the heart stops beating" was the truest description of him.

He had lived through the Song Clan’s most glorious era and had also nearly watched it fall into the Abyss. Now, he had personally witnessed the clan wash away its tarnish and rise anew under Song Changsheng’s leadership. For him, this life held no more regrets.

Perhaps the only thing he couldn’t let go of was the continuation of his own bloodline.

In his entire life, he had only taken one wife, who had passed away long ago, leaving his branch of the family with very few descendants.

Although he treated all the clan’s younger generation as his own children, it was... ultimately not the same. The concept of "continuing the family line" carried immense weight in this world.

However, when he heard that clear, crisp cry as he was on the verge of death, he was finally able to rest in peace.

The clan had a successor, and his own line had a successor as well!

In the 482nd year of the Song Clan calendar, on the first day of the sixth month, to the toll of nine bells from the Soul Lamp Hall, the Song Clan’s seventh Grand Elder, Song Xianyun, passed away in meditation on Vast Mist Peak. He was 218 years old...

The Song Clan held a grand funeral for Song Xianyun. Except for those who absolutely could not make it back, the vast majority of Song Clan Members returned, voluntarily wearing mourning clothes for him.

To them, Song Xianyun was not just the clan’s Grand Elder, a figure of authority, but also a kind and benevolent senior.

Everyone respected him from the bottom of their hearts.

Song Xianming stood on a mountaintop, looking down at the sea of white below. His expression was devoid of joy or sorrow. From the moment Song Xianyun passed until now, he had not shed a single tear. After so many years, he had long grown numb.

By now, only a few Cultivators of the "Xian" generation remained in the clan. His tears had long since run dry.

Despite this, when Song Xianyun’s coffin came into view, Song Xianming’s body still trembled slightly.

Lying in there was his brother.

The brother who had supported him since childhood, who had shared thick and thin with him!

He was also the only person in the clan who was close to his age.

The long road to immortality only grows lonelier the further one walks. So many brothers and sisters had fallen along the way.

Now... Song Xianyun had fallen too. There was no one left by his side. He would have to walk the rest of the path alone.

"Twenty-first Brother, may your journey be peaceful."

Song Xianming murmured softly, his once-straight figure now seeming somewhat hunched...

Song Changsheng stood at the very front of the funeral procession, a passage suddenly surfacing in his mind.

’A person experiences death three times in their life.’

’The first is when he stops breathing. As an individual, he is dead.’

’The second is when he is buried, when people attend his funeral and remember his life.’

’The third is when the last person who remembers him forgets him. Only then is he truly dead.’

’Sometimes, being forgotten is more frightening than death itself.’

In the Mortal World, after a person dies, it only takes a hundred years, or even just a few decades, for all traces of them to completely disappear. By then, no one will remember them anymore.

At that point, they will have truly vanished from this world.

But in Song Changsheng’s view, Song Xianyun would not suffer this fate. His deeds would ensure that generations of Song Clan Members would remember him.

As long as the Song Clan endured, he would never truly disappear!

After the funeral, Song Changsheng returned to Song Xianyun’s small courtyard. Song Qingyang was there with a few others, sorting through Song Xianyun’s belongings.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a drawer out of the corner of his eye. Before Song Xianyun passed away in meditation, he had pointed there, but Song Changsheng had been in no state of mind to pay attention at the time.

He reached out and opened the drawer. Inside was a brocade box, and beneath it lay a sheet of red paper covered in tiny, dense script.

Song Changsheng picked up the red paper and read softly:

"Changsheng, my grandson, by the time you see this letter, I am most likely gone. Do not be too sad.

With my aptitude, I had no hope of breaking through to the Purple Mansion Realm in this lifetime. Rather than waste another thirty years, it is better to find release sooner.

With you and the others here for the clan, I am at ease. I firmly believe you will all lead the clan to glory.

However, I have one great regret, and that is not being able to drink a toast at your wedding.

I know you already have someone in your heart. That is very good. You want to let things progress naturally, and that is also good. It’s just a pity that my time is short, and I fear I will not see the day of your wedding.

But no matter. I prepared your wedding gift long ago.

Inside the box is a Unity Stone that I came upon by chance in my early years. May you be forever of one heart and grow old together.

When the time comes, do not forget to pour a cup of wedding wine before my grave."

PLOP.

A large teardrop fell onto the red paper, quickly soaking a corner of it.

He didn’t know when it started, but tears had already blurred his vision.

Song Changsheng never expected that in his final moments, Song Xianyun wasn’t concerned about his descendants or the clan, but about his marriage.

"Twenty-first Grandpa, why couldn’t you have waited just a little longer..."

Clutching the brocade box with both hands, Song Changsheng was choked with sobs...

At the first clan meeting after Song Xianyun’s passing, the atmosphere was somber. Everyone was still mired in grief, and it felt as if a heavy leaden cloud was pressing down on their hearts.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

After a long silence, Song Changsheng was the first to speak. "Twenty-first Grandpa has passed away in meditation. Who in the clan can take on the great responsibility of Instructor Elder?"

Everyone exchanged glances. The Instructor Elder was in charge of the Scripture Pavilion and oversaw the education of the clan’s younger generation. While the position didn’t hold a lot of direct power, it was a crucial role that required not only profound Cultivation but also great prestige and moral character.

Among the Elders of the Clan Elder Council, only Song Luzhou and Xia Yunxue had the seniority to qualify for the position.

However, one was the Minor Affairs Elder and the other the Hundred Arts Elder. Both already had heavy responsibilities and could not be easily reassigned.

Below them, Song Lutong was barely qualified, but his disposition made everyone uneasy. If the clan’s younger generation were entrusted to his tutelage, wouldn’t they all grow up crooked?

Besides him, there was no one else. The others either lacked the necessary Cultivation or didn’t command enough prestige within the clan.

For a moment, no one knew how to answer Song Changsheng’s question.

Seeing this, Song Changsheng sighed deeply.

’If only Song Luyao or Song Luhuai were still alive, this wouldn’t be the situation.’ The older generation of Cultivators in the clan had withered away too severely.

"Let’s do this. Clan Brother Chang’an will be laterally transferred to the position of Instructor Elder."

At this point, Song Changsheng had no choice but to boldly promote an Elder from the new generation.

Song Chang’an was upright and meticulous in his work. In his years as the Punishment Elder, he had accumulated considerable prestige within the clan. Appointing him as Instructor Elder was a stretch, mainly because his Cultivation was somewhat lacking.

But there was no other way. He simply hadn’t had enough time to grow.

With no better candidates available, no one objected. Compared to Song Lutong, Song Chang’an’s character was far more steadfast.

"Then who should take over the position of Punishment Elder?" Song Luzhou asked with a frown.

The Punishment Elder was in charge of the Law Enforcement Hall. It was undeniably a position of high status and power, but it also came with immense pressure. After all, they had to deal with their own kin, making it very difficult to avoid favoritism.

Therefore, this position had to be held by someone iron-willed and impartial.

Song Changsheng had already considered this. His gaze passed over the crowd and landed on a figure near the corner.

"The position of Punishment Elder will be filled by Qingxing!"

...