Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

Zhou Qing is currently in a corner of this ancient palace.

Inside the attic, Zhou Qing walked around cautiously, observing his surroundings.

The passage of time and the erosion of years have filled this ancient palace with an atmosphere of desolation, with traces of antiquity everywhere: abandoned steps, broken seats, and dust as thick as a hand.

Pushing open door after door, Zhou Qing wandered through the various rooms of the attic, trying to find some remaining treasures, but ultimately came up empty-handed.

Following the passage, Zhou Qing walked towards the center of the palace.

Suddenly, Zhou Qing felt his outstretched divine sense being bounced back, unable to explore any further.

This situation delighted Zhou Qing, and he quickly walked over. After walking for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea in the passage, Zhou Qing's spirits suddenly lifted.

A tightly closed white jade door appeared before him.

He didn't dare to push it away immediately, but instead took a few steps back, letting Hui Ri Ya attack the Jade Gate to see the situation.

After a series of attacks, the stone gate remained unmoved, and Zhou Qing finally felt relieved and slowly placed his palm on the jade gate.

When he touched it, he felt a slight coolness, and at the same time, he sensed the unfathomable spiritual power contained within it, which made him even more excited.

Pushing open the jade door, one sees a magnificent and grand hall behind it, with carved beams and painted rafters.

Inside the palace stood several thick jade pillars, each carved with various rare birds and beasts, lifelike in appearance. Unfortunately, Zhou Qing did not recognize any of those mythical creatures.

In the middle of the jade pillar, which is also the center of the palace, sits a jade platform.

The jade platform is square and has three floors, with the top floor covering an area of ​​more than one acre.

Most importantly, on the jade platform, there is a corpse that appears to have already passed away.

The corpse faced the main entrance of the palace, with its side to Zhou Qing, wearing a black brocade robe, and was in a meditative posture.

Zhou Qing noticed that there were many fragments of spirit stones near the corpse, each one as big as a fist, even larger than the mid-grade spirit stone in Zhou Qing's hand. He speculated that they were likely high-grade spirit stones that were extremely difficult to find in the outside world.

Overjoyed at this sudden and significant discovery, Zhou Qing didn't get carried away and rushed forward.

He is still very weak, and he must have a sense of awe for the unknown, even if what is in front of him is just a corpse that has been dead for who knows how many years.

Zhou Qing ordered the Sunbird to go out again. After some probing and confirming that it was safe, he walked towards the corpse on the jade platform with peace of mind.

Upon ascending the jade platform, Zhou Qing was able to observe the skeleton, which had endured countless years, up close. He noticed that the ancient cultivator's left hand held a golden jade slip, gleaming with golden light.

On the outside of the right leg bone of the skeleton, there was a small, dark black leather bag, which was mostly covered by the black brocade robe worn by the skeleton.

If Zhou Qing hadn't observed it so closely, he really wouldn't have noticed it.

Just as Zhou Qing reached for the storage bag, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the main hall.

Judging from the sound, the footsteps were coming from outside the main gate of the hall.

Someone actually found their way here!

Hundred Crafts Academy? Ancient Sword Sect? Or fellow disciples?

Zhou Qing felt a chill run down her spine, her thoughts racing.

"No matter which sect's disciples come, we must not let them see these two items, or the consequences will be unimaginable."

At that moment, Zhou Qing didn't care about anything else. He reached out with both hands at the same time, grabbed the jade slip and the black leather bag, and hurriedly put them into his pocket. At the same time, he had a flash of inspiration and took out an empty jade slip from the storage bag and threw it next to the remains.

Zhou Qing knew that the black brocade robe was also a rare treasure, but it was not easy to take it at the moment. He needed the robe to cover the cultivator's corpse and make it more mysterious.

Just as all this was done, the main gate of the hall was pushed open from the outside.

Zhou Qing looked up and saw that the newcomers were disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy, a total of four people.

The leader, dressed in yellow, held a round magical artifact resembling a compass in his hand.

"Disciples of the Luoyun Sect! How do they know about this place?" Upon entering the main hall, the four disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy were immediately surprised to see Zhou Qing on the jade platform, and their hearts were filled with doubt.

This cave is extremely well hidden, and no disciple of the three sects has ever discovered it in the past years. They only found its exact location by relying on this special magical artifact in their hands.

Moreover, after entering, they went through countless dangers and almost lost their lives before finally arriving at this main hall.

At this moment, they also saw the corpse sitting on the jade platform. The black brocade robe exuded a mysterious aura, and the jade slip in front of the remains stirred their hearts.

Seeing that someone had gotten there first, several disciples of Baiqiaoyuan secretly communicated.

"Senior brother, what should we do now? We finally found this place, we can't just go back empty-handed, can we? Elder Fu is still waiting for our good news outside the secret realm."

The yellow-robed cultivator's expression turned slightly serious. This ancient cultivator's cave was the result of years of information gathering by their Hundred Crafts Academy, and they had even gone to great lengths to craft a special magic weapon for it.

If they return to their sect empty-handed, not to mention the potential punishment, their future prospects will be ruined.

The yellow-robed cultivator's gaze fell on the black brocade robe. Seeing that it had not decayed despite being eroded by ten thousand years, he was certain that this was no ordinary object and must be a rare ancient treasure. Therefore, he was even more unwilling to give up.

He immediately sent a telepathic message to the other disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy, saying, "The heavy responsibility of our sect rests on our shoulders; we absolutely cannot let him take it away! We outnumber him and have the upper hand. Let's first put pressure on him to give up this place. If he knows what's good for him, we'll let him leave. If he doesn't know what's good for him, then we'll teach him a lesson, and we'll spare his life then!"

"Yes." The other disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy responded, and then followed the yellow-robed cultivator, leaping up and landing on the jade platform, subtly forming a confrontation with Zhou Qing.

"Fellow Daoist of Luoyun Sect, I don't know how you found this place, but this cave was discovered and entered by our Hundred Crafts Academy long ago, and we have been staying here for several days. It is unreasonable and unethical for you to take away what we have worked so hard to find. I hope you will leave now!"

The yellow-robed cultivator sized up Zhou Qing and saw that he was handsome and had sharp eyes. He showed no fear in the face of so many people, so the cultivator softened his tone.

"They've been lingering here for several days?" Zhou Qing sneered inwardly. He had been in this palace for so long, how could he not know? It was just an excuse to try and steal it.

Although they didn't expect the treasure to have already fallen into my hands, it's really difficult to escape now. There are Heavenly Crystal Ants on the Jade Gate Passage, and we don't even know the route out of the main gate.

Let's pretend to fight over the treasure first, and draw their attention to the brocade robe and jade slip. As for the rest, we'll just have to play it by ear.

"Fellow Daoist, your words are rather far-fetched. Since I entered the secret realm, I have explored my way here and visited several places in the hall, but I have never seen any trace of anyone lingering here. The rules for the three sects exploring the Yunmeng Secret Realm were all agreed upon beforehand: the treasures will be obtained by those who are destined to receive them. This cave is unclaimed, and whoever obtains the opportunity first will have it. Fellow Daoist, it is too domineering to try to seize the treasures from everyone right away."

"You!" Several disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy looked grim when they saw Zhou Qing's lack of awareness of the situation. They took out their magical artifacts, as if they were about to teach Zhou Qing a lesson at the command of the yellow-robed cultivator.

Just as the yellow-robed monk was about to make his move, a burst of hearty laughter came from outside the palace gate.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect the disciples of Baiqiao Academy to behave like this, bullying the few with the many. It's not a good look if word gets out!"

Before the words were finished, three figures calmly stepped into the palace. All three wore golden crowns, moon-white robes, and long swords with jewels on their scabbards that glittered. However, the one who had spoken earlier also wore a purple-gold belt around his waist, with a jade bead the size of a dragon rock hanging from his sword tassel.

All three were handsome young men, and this one was especially tall and elegant, with a spirited demeanor. He strode into the hall, flanked by the other two who were on his left and right.

The newcomer was none other than a disciple of the Ancient Sword Sect!