Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

Zhou Qing and the others were led to a hall that was twenty or thirty feet in size.

Inside the hall, seven or eight cultivators with different expressions sat on wooden chairs, talking in hushed tones.

Only one woman in white remained silent, holding a cup of tea and sipping it slowly, as if she were detached from all things and independent of the world.

After Zhou Qing entered and bowed, he kept his head down and did not look to the side, but he did not dare to look closely.

Upon seeing the young cultivator enter with the newly initiated disciple, the other cultivators stopped talking and turned their attention to Zhou Qing and the others.

"Thank you for your trouble, Junior Brother Liu. Please sit down and rest."

The speaker was Wei Yiming, the leader of the Luoyun Sect.

Wei Yiming glanced at Zhou Qing and the others, then said calmly, "There are indeed fewer inner disciples this time, but there are a few with good aptitude. Junior brothers, what do you think is the best way to distribute these disciples?"

Wei Yiming is fair and composed in his dealings with others in the Luoyun Sect, and is deeply trusted by everyone in the sect. If he is just being polite this time, no one will be ungrateful.

"Everything is naturally decided by our sect leader!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Yiming smiled calmly, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Among the Six Wonders Peaks, White Phoenix Peak has relatively few disciples and has always been in a state of low population density. In addition, this is Junior Sister Song's first time coming to the Sect Leader's Hall to select disciples. Since there are extras, let Junior Sister Song of White Phoenix Peak make her selection first."

Wei Yiming had a little scheme in mind this time. In the past few years, Bai Fengfeng had hardly recruited any male disciples when assigning new disciples, but this time all the dual-spiritual-root disciples were male.

If Bai Feng Peak does the same thing again, even if Bai Feng Peak selects all three female disciples, the other peaks will still have dual-spiritual-root disciples to choose from.

In this way, the other peaks, though at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, have an advantage in terms of qualifications, so naturally they can't voice any complaints.

Just as Wei Yiming was waiting expectantly for the woman surnamed Song to reveal her deduction, he heard her clear and melodious voice.

"Let's assign this disciple named Zhou Qing to our White Phoenix Peak."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yiming was taken aback, but quickly realized that this Junior Sister Song was indeed different from the other junior sisters of Bai Feng Peak.

The previous junior sisters were all willing to suffer a slight disadvantage in terms of aptitude in order to choose female cultivators.

Besides Wei Yiming, two other Foundation Establishment cultivators present also frowned slightly after hearing that Song Yu had chosen Zhou Qing.

The cultivator surnamed Liu from Tianquan Peak, in particular, looked regretful.

He thought to himself, "Fire and wood dual spiritual roots, definitely a potential alchemy talent! If only he could join my Heavenly Spring Peak, what a pity."

Although a small, unexpected incident occurred, it was of no great importance. After all, no matter which peak one entered, one was still a disciple of the Luoyun Sect. With this in mind, Wei Yiming continued the work of assigning inner disciples.

The next two Foundation Establishment cultivators selected also each chose one cultivator with dual spiritual roots, while the remaining six cultivators with three spiritual roots were divided equally among the remaining three mountain peaks.

After the inner disciples were assigned, there was still the task of assigning the outer disciples. Several Foundation Establishment cultivators still needed to stay in the main hall, while Zhou Qing and the others were taken to a side hall next to the main hall.

There, Zhou Qing and the others could receive some supplies distributed by the Luoyun Sect to newly initiated disciples.

The items are a set of sky-blue casual clothes, a low-level flying magic weapon, a set of daily refining tools, a talisman pen, a pill furnace, and a storage bag with ten times the storage capacity.

These are standard equipment for newly initiated disciples. As inner disciples, Zhou Qing and others can also receive a bottle of pills to enhance their cultivation and a high-level magic weapon.

The high-level magic weapon can be chosen by oneself. Zhou Qing thought that the pill furnace uniformly distributed by the sect was too low-level. It was okay to refine some low-level pills, but it was not suitable for refining pills above the Foundation Establishment stage. So he specially chose a silver pill furnace.

After receiving the supplies, Zhou Qing put the alchemy furnace and other items into his storage bag and walked out of the side hall.

Looking up, he saw the woman surnamed Song, who had just been in the main hall, now standing at the entrance of the side hall, her beautiful eyes looking at him.

Upon seeing Zhou Qing, she released a brocade handkerchief, stood on it, and said with a slight movement of her lips, "Zhou Qing, come up here, I will take you to pay your respects to the Peak Master."

At this moment, Zhou Qing finally saw the woman surnamed Song's face clearly and was amazed by her beauty.

The woman wore a light white dress, her figure was graceful and her curves were exquisite. She had delicate eyebrows and eyes, her skin was as white as snow, and her slender waist was incredibly beautiful.

The slight baby fat on her cheeks made her look even more charming and adorable.

Such a stunningly beautiful face, enough to make one's heart flutter, suddenly reminded Zhou Qing of someone.

Song Yu!

It seems that Song Yu has not yet reached the Core Formation stage, but it is unknown what stage of the Foundation Establishment stage she is currently at.

Zhou Qing thought this to himself, but his actions were not slow. He respectfully bowed, then stepped onto the colorful brocade handkerchief and stood behind Song Yu.

With a quick hand seal, Song Yu sent the silk handkerchief soaring into the air, carrying the two of them eastward toward the Luoyun Sect.

To stand so close to a female cultivator who possesses both talent and beauty, it would be a complete lie to say that one could remain completely calm.

The saying goes, "A fair maiden is the object of a gentleman's affections."

Even Zhou Qing, a gentleman, couldn't help but feel a slight flutter in his heart at this moment.

Unfortunately, that slight tremor was swept away by the blue light in his mind as soon as it appeared.

The saying "No distracting thoughts" truly applies to us!

After flying for a while, Song Yu suddenly turned around and asked, "Zhou Qing, I saw you choose a pill furnace as a reward for an inner disciple. Why is that?"

Zhou Qing had no intention of hiding his alchemy skills, so he replied truthfully, "I am quite interested in the art of alchemy, so I would like to study it in my spare time."

"Alchemy?" Song Yu frowned slightly, then suddenly said, "Zhou Qing, you have good aptitude. As an inner disciple, your main task in the sect should be cultivation. You can study alchemy and other miscellaneous skills after you have successfully established your foundation."

This sudden instruction left Zhou Qing somewhat bewildered.

Although it sounded like a senior giving earnest advice to a junior, he felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

However, he would never listen to Song Yu's words. Learning alchemy was a career that Zhou Qing believed he could dedicate his life to; otherwise, wouldn't he have gotten the Lotus Lantern for nothing?

However, Song Yu's cultivation was far superior to his, so even though he disagreed in his heart, he still had to put on a show of being taught.

"What you said, Uncle Song, is truly insightful. Thank you for your guidance!"

Song Yu seemed quite satisfied with Zhou Qing's performance. After offering a few more words of advice, he led Zhou Qing down to a pavilion atop White Phoenix Peak.

After the two landed, they found themselves in front of a small building called Suxin Palace.

At this moment, a charming and adorable girl in a flowing pink dress saw Song Yu inside the pavilion and ran up to greet him.

"Sister Song, why are you back so soon? Wait, where's the new disciple? There's only one!"

After saying that, her bright almond-shaped eyes looked Zhou Qing up and down.

Song Yu smiled and gently raised his hand to smooth the girl's disheveled hair.

"The selection of the external disciples will be handled by your Martial Uncle Liu. This one is a newly admitted inner disciple, Zhou Qing."

The girl was about to reply when Song Yu suddenly changed the subject, saying with a stern face, "Speaking of which, I'm curious, Yao'er, why are you here? Didn't you repeatedly promise me that you would cultivate diligently from now on?"

The girl immediately looked miserable and stammered out a few words: "I'm tired from cultivating, I need to come out for some fresh air."

Song Yu was also quite helpless about this. The girl was young and had a lively personality, which caused her a lot of distress.

In addition, due to the girl's special circumstances, Song Yu was always unable to bring himself to reprimand her harshly, and always relied on gentle persuasion.

"Alright, after I introduce Zhou Qing to my master, come with me to my cave for a while. I'll also give you some guidance on your cultivation during this time."

Upon hearing this, the girl's worry turned to joy, and she leaned against Song Yu, showing great intimacy.

After letting the girl linger for a while, Song Yu led Zhou Qing into the Su Xin Palace.

After entering the hall, passing through corridors and several courtyards, a waterside pavilion appeared before Zhou Qing.

The waterside pavilion was open on all four sides and hung with white gauze curtains. There seemed to be spiritual energy flowing on the curtains, making it impossible for Zhou Qing to see inside, but he could faintly hear elegant zither music coming from within.

As Zhou Qing and his companion approached the waterside pavilion, the music abruptly stopped, and the white gauze curtain was slowly lifted, allowing Zhou Qing to see the interior decorations.

Inside the pavilion, a beautiful woman dressed in a blue gauze palace gown sat gracefully. A zither was placed on a table in front of her, and a small incense burner stood to the side, from which wisps of smoke rose.

"Disciple greets Master!" Song Yu bowed and handed over a jade slip.

Upon hearing Song Yu's words, Zhou Qing knew that the beautiful woman in palace attire must be the current peak master of White Phoenix Peak, so he immediately called her "Grandmaster".

"Rise, no need for formalities." The beautiful woman in palace attire gently raised her hand to accept the jade slip, speaking softly. "This must be Zhou Qing, the new disciple of my White Phoenix Peak? With dual fire and wood spiritual roots, only eighteen years old, and already at the tenth level of Qi Refining, his aptitude is indeed quite good. My White Phoenix Peak really needs to recruit some disciples with outstanding talent; otherwise, always lagging behind the other five peaks in the Six Peaks Competition is truly unacceptable!"

The beautiful woman in palace attire continued, "According to the rules of the peak, every inner disciple must be assigned a Foundation Establishment disciple to guide their cultivation. Now that you have successfully established your foundation, would you be willing to temporarily take on this role? Of course, if you feel it will interfere with your cultivation, you can refuse, and I will make further arrangements. After all, you are now the most talented disciple on our White Phoenix Peak, so some privileges are only right."

Listening to the beautiful woman in palace attire speaking softly to Song Yu, Zhou Qing couldn't help but sigh that Song Yu was indeed a highly sought-after person on Baifeng Peak.

"Since he is a newly selected disciple, there's no need to trouble the others on the peak. I'll take care of him for now," Song Yu said without hesitation.

"That's fine then." The beautiful woman in palace attire nodded upon seeing this, and then gave Zhou Qing a few more instructions.

"Zhou Qing, your Martial Aunt Song possesses a Heavenly Spiritual Root and is the future pillar of our White Phoenix Peak and even the Falling Cloud Sect. Apart from some difficulties in cultivation, do not disturb her in any other matters, understand?"

Zhou Qing honestly agreed.

After giving her instructions, the beautiful woman in palace attire dismissed Song Yu and Zhou Qing.

The two bowed respectfully and then slowly withdrew.

The white gauze curtain slowly fell, and the melodious music started again.