Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

"It's a pity this child isn't a disciple of my Tianquan Peak. Otherwise, if I had taken him under my wing, I would definitely have been able to gain more benefits in the distribution of spiritual herbs within the sect. When a disciple makes a contribution, the master can naturally benefit as well! What a pity, what a pity!" Elder Xin shook his head, his heart filled with regret.

At this moment, Elder Feng managed to calm his agitated emotions. With a wave of his hand, he gathered up the scattered medicinal herbs.

The two ancient treasures were sealed away separately to prevent their presence from being revealed and arousing suspicion.

"Zhou Qing, your contribution is too great, and it's difficult for the two of us to decide on a specific reward. After we return to the sect, I will consult with the Supreme Elder before bestowing any reward upon you! Please stand behind us for now! Remember, the matter of the ancient treasure must not be leaked!" Elder Feng said, his words carrying a reassuring tone.

"Disciple understands," Zhou Qing replied respectfully, and then stood properly behind Elder Xin.

Seeing that Zhou Qing showed no arrogance and remained courteous and considerate, the two elders were extremely satisfied and couldn't help but exclaim, "A promising talent!"

After everything was finished, Elder Xin raised his hand and removed the brocade handkerchief that had been blocking divine sense from prying into his eyes. He still appeared calm and composed, as if the amazing gains he had just made had never happened.

Standing behind Elders Feng and Xin, who both have reached the Core Formation stage, Zhou Qing thought to himself, "It seems that the value of those two ancient treasures is even greater than I imagined, causing these two elders to lose their tempers. But that's fine too, as it allowed me to successfully protect the Heavenly Crystal Ant and the two jade slips."

Of course, in addition to that, Song Yu's treasure pouch also played a role. It should be noted that the four-hundred-year-old Black Spirit Lotus and the Azure Phoenix Egg inside were both items rich in spiritual energy, yet they were not detected by the two elders.

On the other side, the four Core Formation elders from the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Crafts Academy saw Zhou Qing and his group's strange behavior clearly and were also filled with doubt.

However, they had not obtained any information about the secret realm at this time, and had no clue whatsoever. It would be an exaggeration to say that they were completely confused. In the end, they could only suppress their doubts and patiently continue to keep a close eye on the exit of the passage, waiting for the disciples to appear.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

There was some commotion in the passage, and two cultivators rushed out from it.

Upon seeing them, Zhou Qing recognized them as the disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy he had met in the ancient cultivator's cave. However, there were four of them back then, but only two of them had come out now: Fu Xiuqi and another disciple of the Hundred Crafts Academy.

Both of them looked exhausted, their clothes covered in dust and stained with blood, indicating that they had fought their way out of the secret realm.

"It seems they've engaged in combat with the disciples of the Ancient Sword Sect who were pursuing them, otherwise they wouldn't be in such a sorry state," Zhou Qing thought to himself.

The elder of Baiqiao Academy, who had been eagerly waiting outside, immediately summoned Fu Xiuqi to his presence upon seeing him.

"How is it?" Elder Baiqiao asked immediately, his heart filled with anticipation.

Fu Xiuqi hesitated for a moment, but finally mustered up the courage to hand over the storage bag and then recounted the whole story.

He knew this matter needed to be kept secret, so he only dared to report it to the elder of Baiqiao Academy through secret telepathy.

"Reporting to Elder Fu, my three junior brothers and I, following the guidance of the magic treasure, did indeed find the ancient cultivator's cave. However, before we arrived, a disciple of the Falling Cloud Sect, Zhou Qing, had already appeared there. Fortunately, he didn't have time to take the treasure. We then planned to use our numerical advantage to force him to give up the cave, but for some reason, just as we were about to make our move, disciples of the Ancient Sword Sect also arrived. In an instant, the three sects gathered together."

"Let's put aside whether the people from Luoyun Sect stumbled upon this place by chance, but how did the disciples from the Ancient Sword Sect also find their way there? And they arrived right after you, with such a short time gap. I think you must have been followed without even realizing it! That old devil Qi is truly a cunning old fox!" Elder Baiqiao suddenly interjected.

"The elder is right. It's just a pity that we didn't realize it at the time and thought it was a coincidence." Fu Xiuqi was not surprised when he heard this, but looked regretful.

"Continue," Elder Baiqiao urged.

"Yes." Fu Xiuqi continued to report, "The three sects are vying for the ownership of the cave dwelling, and a battle is inevitable. However, if it is a sect-wide battle, given the situation at the time, our Hundred Crafts Academy is not at an advantage. Therefore, I deliberately lured Zhou Qing of the Falling Cloud Sect to propose a decisive battle between one person from each of the three sects to determine the ownership of the cave dwelling, and secretly instructed the other disciples to prepare to activate the talisman treasure 'Qiankun Tower'."

Relying on the 'Qiankun Tower' talisman, my junior brothers suppressed the Ancient Sword Sect disciples, while the disciples seized the opportunity to steal the remains of the ancient cultivator and the golden jade slip. Unfortunately, at that time, I didn't expect that the Ancient Sword Sect disciples could track our location, which led to our surprise attack while we were resting in the secret realm.

Fortunately, I realized what was happening in time and decisively split up. Junior Brother Qin and I fled west with the ancient cultivator's remains, while Junior Brother Hu and Junior Brother Meng headed east with the golden jade slip. This way, at least one item could be saved. Now, Junior Brother Qin and I have escaped, but I don't know the situation with Junior Brother Hu and the others.

At first, Elder Baiqiao's expression did not change significantly, but the more he listened, the more gloomy he became. Finally, his face tightened, his brows furrowed tightly, and he felt a surge of anger at being secretly plotted against.

He slowly swept his gaze over the elders of the Ancient Sword Sect and the Falling Cloud Sect, his suppressed resentment making his voice low and muffled: "Step down."

Fu Xiuqi replied in a low voice, "Yes," and then he and another disciple of the Hundred Crafts Academy moved to stand behind the two elders of the Hundred Crafts Academy.

This journey to the secret realm was full of twists and turns, and he felt that he had done his best and come up with all sorts of plans, but in the end he still ended up in this situation, which made him feel a little disappointed.

Just as Fu Xiuqi was filled with resentment, several more figures emerged from the passage.

Leading the group were disciples of the Ancient Sword Sect, namely Sun Ke and his two companions, followed by the other two members of the Hundred Crafts Courtyard's four-person group, and finally Xiang Zhili.

As soon as Sun Ke appeared, he immediately attracted everyone's attention. He was holding a jade slip in his hand, which was particularly eye-catching.

As soon as he stepped out of the passage, he quickly walked to the Ancient Sword Sect and presented the jade slip in his hand to the elder of the Ancient Sword Sect, namely the short old man.

The short old man accepted the jade slip with a beaming smile, his face radiant. At the same time, he secretly glanced at the elder of the Hundred Crafts Academy, a hint of smug satisfaction in his eyes.

On the other side, the two disciples of the Hundred Crafts Academy were in a much worse state, covered in blood and dressed in rags, clearly having suffered a great deal.

The group slunk up to the elders of Baiqiao Academy, but before they could say more than a few words, the elders chased them away.

Xiang Zhili, on the other hand, behaved much more normally, walking respectfully to Elders Feng and Xin and presenting them with the two spiritual herbs he had obtained in the secret realm.

With Zhou Qingzhu's outstanding achievements as an example, Xiang Zhili's mere two spiritual herbs were naturally insignificant. However, the two elders did not criticize him further. Instead, they praised him gently before letting him leave.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Ancient Sword Sect, the short old man was beaming with pride, his fingers stroking the jade slip, wondering what ancient cultivation technique, top-tier supernatural power, or ancient pill formula might be inside.

He slowly immersed himself in it, wanting to see what was inside.