Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

Zhou Qing and Xiang Zhili looked at each other and their eyes met.

A short while later, before Zhou Qing could even speak, Xiang Zhili ran up to him, bowed respectfully, and said, "I am Li Shouli, greetings to Senior Brother Zhou."

The fact that a powerful being at the Nascent Soul stage was so humble in front of him, who was only at the Qi Refining stage, made Zhou Qing feel uneasy.

Fortunately, the azure light worked in time. Although he was extremely nervous, he remained calm and did not show any sign of losing his composure.

He pondered for a moment, then spoke in the manner of a senior brother: "So it's Junior Brother Li. It seems you've found this place by good fortune. We both belong to the Luoyun Sect, so we should look after each other. I haven't finished exploring this place yet, so why don't you go and try your luck? If you can find a few rare treasures and hand them over to the sect, you'll reap considerable benefits."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Zhili immediately showed great excitement and thanked Zhou Qing profusely.

Zhou Qing gave a faint "hmm," then pretended to be going treasure hunting as well, and slowly walked back towards the jade gate he had come from.

"Senior Brother Zhou, shouldn't we explore the main hall first?" Xiang Zhili suddenly asked halfway through the journey.

"Well, I prefer to look around elsewhere first. Do as you please," Zhou Qing replied casually, her eyes narrowing slightly but her steps never faltering.

The distance of just a few feet seemed incredibly long to Zhou Qing. He didn't hear Xiang Zhili's footsteps and knew that Xiang Zhili must be watching him from behind. So he did his best to steady himself and make himself look more natural.

Only after passing through the Jade Gate did Zhou Qing quietly quicken his pace and gradually disappear from Xiang Zhili's sight.

As soon as he finished walking down the corridor, Zhou Qing immediately took out a talisman from his storage bag, waved his hand, and disappeared in a dazzling yellow light.

This is his most powerful escape weapon, the Earth Escape Talisman. There is only one of these, making it extremely precious. However, he has no choice but to use it now, as he must leave this place as soon as possible.

Seeing Zhou Qing leave, Xiang Zhili's expression suddenly changed. His previous humble demeanor vanished, replaced by an indifferent and profound look.

After observing the jade platform for a while, Xiang Zhili walked into the depths of the main hall, and soon the strange and eerie stone door appeared in front of him.

He was about to push open the door without hesitation, but the moment his hand touched it, a feeling of unease welled up in his heart. Without thinking, he forcefully activated his spiritual power and pulled his hand away from the door.

"Demonic energy!" Xiang Zhili was slightly startled, then muttered to himself, "It's best not to let anyone else into this secret realm, lest we cause a great disaster!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished into thin air.

……

Outside the secret realm, the elders of the three sects waited for five days before gathering together again. They broke through the secret realm's restrictions and opened a passage for the disciples of the three sects to exit.

This is the day when the restrictions on the secret realm are at their weakest, so the passage will not be repaired quickly after it is opened.

The three sect elders were thus freed up to wait for their sect's disciples to emerge from the secret realm.

The elders of Baiqiaoyuan were the most attentive, keeping a close eye on the passage and eagerly awaiting the first disciple to emerge from it.

The short old man from the Ancient Sword Sect chuckled inwardly upon seeing this scene. In his view, no matter what treasures the disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy found in the secret realm, they would eventually fall into the hands of the disciples of the Ancient Sword Sect.

Elder Feng and Elder Xin of the Luoyun Sect were much more indifferent. They did not expect the disciples of the Luoyun Sect to bring out any earth-shattering treasures. They were content as long as all ten disciples returned safely.

These ten people could all become the backbone of the Luoyun Sect in the future.

Finally, half an hour after the passage opened, a figure rushed out of it at great speed, as if fleeing for his life. It was Zhou Qing, who had an extremely strong will to survive.

Zhou Qing flew out of the passage, observed the situation outside the secret realm, and then flew to Elders Feng and Xin.

This finally calmed my anxious heart.

Zhou Qing bowed respectfully and said, "Disciple Zhou Qing greets the two elders!"

"Did you gain anything from the secret realm?" Although Elders Feng and Xin did not know Zhou Qing well, they could see that Zhou Qing had abundant spiritual power and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Qi Refining stage, so they had some hope for him.

"Yes!" Zhou Qing answered truthfully. The two people in front of him were both Core Formation stage experts. Apart from jade slips and other items without spiritual energy fluctuations, it was impossible for them to hide things like magic treasures or spiritual medicines.

Upon hearing this, Elders Feng and Xin couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation, waiting for Zhou Qing to take out the items.

However, Zhou Qing did not act rashly and deliberately appeared somewhat hesitant.

Elder Xin, with his keen mind, quickly realized what was happening. With a flick of his sleeve, he released a brocade handkerchief, covering the three of them and creating a secluded space.

"Bring out whatever you have. The elders won't be able to detect it from inside this brocade handkerchief," Elder Xin said quite amiably.

"yes!"

Hearing this, Zhou Qing felt relieved. He took out a storage bag from his sleeve, turned the bag upside down, and after a flash of white light, a large pile of things was found on the ground.

Among them were more than twenty medicinal herbs of different ages and two unusual ancient treasures.

This earth-shattering gain caused the two Core Formation stage elders to suddenly freeze in shock. Elder Feng's fingertips paused slightly, and Elder Xin's breath hitched. For a moment, neither of them could speak. After a long while, they finally recovered.

Their gazes were not fixed on the twenty-odd medicinal herbs, but rather on the two ancient treasures.

Although some of those spiritual herbs were thousands of years old, enough to make even Nascent Soul cultivators crave them, they were utterly insignificant compared to the two ancient treasures.

Elders Feng and Xin each picked up an item and examined it carefully.

After a long pause, Elder Feng finally spoke in a deep voice, his words tinged with excitement yet restraint: "An ancient treasure!"

Elder Xin nodded slightly, his smile becoming even more pronounced. His lips curved upwards, and his gaze returned to Zhou Qing, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

This is shocking and unbelievable! The disciples of the Luoyun Sect actually brought out two ancient treasures from the secret realm!

At this moment, they were filled with excitement, as if they had an impulse to slap the ancient treasure in the faces of those elders from the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Crafts Academy, to show them the capabilities of the disciples of the Falling Cloud Sect.

Especially that short old man from the Ancient Sword Sect, who openly and secretly looked down on the Falling Cloud Sect.

Unfortunately, they knew they could only indulge in these fantasies in their hearts and could not actually do it.

How could one possibly show such an ancient treasure to others?

The only option was to conceal it, bring it back to the sect, and hand it over to the two Supreme Elders for handling.

"Zhou Qing, well done! You've done a tremendous service to the sect this time!"

Elder Feng, who had been slightly impatient with Zhou Qing's dawdling earlier, now greatly admired him, thinking to himself: This boy is indeed meticulous and cautious. If the elders of the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Crafts Academy were to see these two ancient treasures, it might cause quite a stir among the higher-ups of the three sects.

He then secretly transmitted his voice to Elder Xin: "Junior Brother Xin, these two ancient treasures must be handed over to the two Supreme Elders for handling. They cannot be revealed to outsiders. For this bet, just choose one at random."

"Excellent!" Elder Xin, still basking in joy, smiled and transmitted his voice, "This is a very good solution! I never thought our Luoyun Sect would one day willingly surrender!"

The two looked at each other and smiled again.

Elder Xin is becoming more and more satisfied with Zhou Qing. Putting aside the ancient treasures, those twenty-odd spiritual herbs alone are extremely coveted treasures for him.

He had been stuck at the peak of the early stage of Core Formation for a long time and wanted to refine some pills that could help Core Formation cultivators break through bottlenecks. However, he had been struggling to gather the main ingredients for the Breakthrough Pill formula. The batch of rare spiritual herbs with a history of hundreds or thousands of years in front of him just solved his urgent problem that had been piling up for many years.