Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

Having obtained two ancient cultivation techniques, Zhou Qing's next task became simple.

That's cultivation! After all, time waits for no one!

Of course, in addition to cultivating, he also needed to quickly gather all the ingredients listed in the Foundation Establishment stage pill formulas.

Those that are on hand should be used to induce childbirth quickly using the Lotus Lantern.

If you don't have it, you need to buy it at the market or exchange it at various trade fairs.

The jade slip given by Cheng Tiankun contained many pill formulas, four of which were suitable for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Zhou Qing knew that refining four kinds at once would be too costly and impractical, so he chose the two most effective ones: the Yuan-Nourishing Pill and the Spirit-Transforming Pill.

The medicinal materials needed to refine these two kinds of pills are not difficult to find. The only requirement is that the medicinal materials must be of high age. In this respect, they are quite suitable for him.

After planning everything, Zhou Qing immediately began to take action.

A few days ago, he first made several trips to the markets within the Luoyun Sect and the Yunmeng Market to collect raw materials for alchemy.

Because Zhou Qing didn't have any requirements regarding the age of the medicinal herbs, and the two markets were indeed rich in raw materials, he quickly collected all the materials, which made him overjoyed.

During this time, Zhou Qing also exchanged Foundation Establishment Pills and formations with Song Yu, thus resolving the problem of protecting his cave dwelling that Zhou Qing had been concerned about.

The next day, Zhou Qing activated all the formations and restrictions outside the cave, closed the stone door of the cave, and began his first closed-door cultivation after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

……

Cultivation knows no time; three years passed in the blink of an eye. The cave's gate, concealed by the array, had remained closed ever since.

On this day, Zhou Qing finally took action again.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye. Zhou Qing has finally completed the ripening of all the spiritual herbs needed for this grand alchemy, and it's time to start refining the pills.

Zhou Qing did not plan to go to the Earth Fire Chamber of the Pill Cauldron Pavilion to refine pills this time, mainly because the medicinal materials he prepared this time were too amazing. Both the quantity and the age of the herbs were enough to shock any cultivator in the sect.

Moreover, the protective barriers of the Earth Fire Chamber are now far inferior to those outside Zhou Qing's cave. It's really unnecessary for such a small increase in the success rate of pill formation, since safety is the most important thing for Zhou Qing right now.

With all the raw materials in hand, Zhou Qing entered the alchemy room.

A silver alchemy furnace had already been placed in the center of the alchemy room.

This alchemy furnace is of excellent quality; it is a top-grade magic artifact. It was a reward given to Zhou Qing by the Luoyun Sect when he became an inner disciple.

Zhou Qing had used this alchemy furnace to refine pills many times and was very familiar with its condition.

Sitting cross-legged on the futon, Zhou Qing made a hand seal, his face glowing red. Then, he opened his mouth, and a thin stream of red true fire shot out, spraying onto the bottom of the alchemy furnace in front of him.

As the blazing true fire scorched, the temperature of the silver alchemy furnace rose rapidly. Once the temperature reached a certain level, Zhou Qingyao lifted the furnace lid and poured the dozen or so kinds of spiritual medicine powders that had been prepared into the cauldron before closing the lid.

Then, Zhou Qing immediately channeled his spiritual energy, and the red true fire surged even higher, becoming as thick as a finger.

Now it's up to time.

……

Zhou Qing was so focused on refining pills that he didn't even notice the passage of time.

Before we knew it, another year had passed.

One day at noon, Zhou Qing let out a long sigh, sealed the last pill into a jade bottle, and then got up and walked out of the alchemy room.

During the year, Zhou Qing refined a lot of Yuan-Nourishing Pills and Spirit-Transforming Pills. Although he couldn't guarantee a normal pill yield at the beginning, everything was resolved as his skills became more proficient.

With dozens of bottles of pills, Zhou Qing estimated that it should be enough for him to advance to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. After all, he hadn't been idle at all during these four years, and had been steadily cultivating both cultivation techniques.

He has already cultivated the Kanli Profound Fire Scripture to the fourth level and has also learned a supernatural power - Twin Flame Arrows. With one hand he condenses the cold flames of Kan water and the other hand he gathers the fierce fire of Li yang. The two fire arrows are shot out in parallel, one cold and one hot. When they hit the target, the cold and hot collide and explode, tearing apart the target's magic shield and physical body.

The first level of the "Heavenly Valley Inner Landscape Scripture" has been completed, and the cultivator is now advancing to the second level. His divine sense has far surpassed that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, with a detection range approaching two miles. He can also divide his divine sense into dozens of separate divine senses, allowing him to control multiple magical artifacts simultaneously.

This represents a significant boost to Zhou Qing's combat capabilities.

That awkward scene of having to retract other magical artifacts before unleashing the Azure Edge Sword is gone forever.

After leaving the alchemy room, Zhou Qing went to the front hall, lay down on a wooden chair, and wanted to close his eyes and relax.

He hadn't left his cave for about four years, and he felt a little restless. It wasn't because he couldn't bear the loneliness of cultivating immortality; he just hated being alone.

Gradually, Zhou Qing actually fell asleep and didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky the next day.

Upon waking, Zhou Qing seemed to be in a better mood, full of energy. Holding a bag full of pills, he prepared to enter the cultivation chamber to continue his secluded cultivation.

Just then, a blue light flew in from the horizon and rushed straight to Zhou Qing's cave. It transformed into a young man dressed in a blue robe. He took out a sound transmission talisman and threw it into Zhou Qing's formation.

The sound transmission talisman instantly transformed into a streak of fire, silently seeping into the great formation.

Then the young man flew away on his magical artifact.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Zhou Qing calmly waved his hand at the flame. The flame immediately seemed to find its direction and rushed towards Zhou Qing, eventually stopping in front of him.

Zhou Qing flicked his finger, sending a wisp of spiritual energy onto the firelight. The firelight flashed, and Wei Yiming's voice came from within it.

"Junior Brother Zhou, the sect elders have ordered that we assemble at the sect council hall in three days. Those who are late will be punished according to sect rules!"

As the sound ended and the firelight dissipated, Zhou Qing's expression turned somewhat grave, his brows furrowed slightly, as if he vaguely sensed that something significant had occurred.

Although Zhou Qing had made many preparations for seclusion, and given time, he would soon be able to advance to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, he was still a disciple of the Luoyun Sect, and the sect urgently summoned him, so he had no choice but to obey.

Three days later, Zhou Qing closed his cave dwelling, boarded the Ink Scale Boat, and headed straight for the sect's council hall.

Along the way, Zhou Qing saw many cultivators flying in the same direction. Without exception, they were all Foundation Establishment cultivators like Zhou Qing, and it seemed that they were all going to the council hall.

"What are all these Foundation Establishment cultivators gathering here for?" Zhou Qing couldn't help but wonder to himself.

Soon, Zhou Qing arrived outside the council hall.

Upon entering the council hall, Zhou Qing saw over two hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered there. Although none of the disciples spoke, their expressions of confusion were exactly the same as Zhou Qing's.

"It seems these people don't know what's going on either," Zhou Qing thought to himself. "More than two hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators—it's practically half of the sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators have come. I wonder what we're about to face."

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators entered one after another, including Wei Yiming, the sect leader of Luoyun Sect, who had sent a telepathic message to Zhou Qing.

Wei Yiming walked up to the platform in the main hall, counted the number of people below, and nodded slightly.

At that moment, several streaks of light flew in from outside the hall and landed on the platform. After the streaks of light became visible, Zhou Qing recognized one of them as Elder Feng of Illusion Stone Peak.

It is worth noting that the two Core Formation stage elders, including Elder Feng, deliberately stood behind a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion.

At this moment, Wei Yiming stepped forward and introduced the identities of the elders and the middle-aged man to everyone.

"Fellow disciples, let me introduce you. This is Elder Lu, the Supreme Elder of our Luoyun Sect, Elder Feng of Huanshi Peak, and Elder Li of Huoyun Peak. The sect has an important mission now, which is to go to the aid of the Nine Kingdoms Alliance as members of the Heavenly Dao Alliance to help them resist the invasion of the Mulan people." After saying that, he consciously stepped aside.

"To aid the Nine Nations Alliance? To fight against the Mulan people!" Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing was shocked. He remembered very clearly that there had been no major war between Tiannan and the Mulan Grassland in the past hundred years!

Inside the main hall, not only Zhou Qing, but all the other disciples were also astonished. Fighting against the Mulan people? This was no joke. They still vividly remembered how many Foundation Establishment cultivators died during the last aid mission to the Nine Kingdoms Alliance.