Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

When Zhou Qing read the original novel in his previous life, he only regarded characters like Chen Qiaoqian, Song Meng, and Zhong Weiniang as background characters.

But now these people were actually standing in front of him. Chen Qiaoqian stood quietly with her eyes downcast, still as aloof as ever; Song Meng's face was strong, with a touch of composure; Zhong Weiniang stood to the side with her gentle figure, her brows and eyes showing a hint of lingering worry.

He looked at the group of people, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him. The indifferent detachment he had developed in his previous life shattered considerably when he faced these living, breathing people.

"Who are you? Why are you staring at the three of us and eavesdropping on our conversation?" Song Meng suddenly took a few steps, shielding Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang behind him, and looked at Zhou Qing, asking in a rather unfriendly tone.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qing smiled calmly, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I am Zhou Qing of the Luoyun Sect. I would like to greet you fellow Daoists from Huangfeng Valley."

At the same time, Zhou Qing also showed Song Meng his temporary token to prove his identity.

Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang then realized what was happening and looked at Zhou Qing.

They were initially worried that Song Meng's rash and reckless actions might offend some powerful figure, but when they saw that Zhou Qing was only in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, their worries naturally dissipated.

"Luoyun Sect? Are you a cultivator from the Heavenly Dao Alliance?" Upon hearing that Zhou Qing was a cultivator from the Heavenly Dao Alliance and after seeing Zhou Qing's token, the expressions of Song Meng and the other two softened.

The three of them had absolutely no goodwill towards either the righteous or demonic sects, after all, the Yue Kingdom was secretly annexed by them. The Heavenly Alliance, on the other hand, did not fight or vie for anything, only seeking self-preservation, which earned them a higher level of goodwill.

"Indeed. The Heavenly Dao Alliance has come to support the Nine Kingdoms Alliance in resisting the Mulan people. I am a member of the support team. I was curious when I heard you fellow Daoists talking about Huanglong Mountain and Tiantai Valley Fortress, so I listened a little more. I hope you fellow Daoists will forgive me."

"I see. It seems your situation is similar to ours. I am Song Meng from Huangfeng Valley!" Upon hearing that Zhou Qing was also going to the southern front of Yu Kingdom to guard the fortress and resist the Mulan people, Song Meng's wariness lessened considerably, and he took the initiative to introduce himself.

Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang introduced themselves, and the group got to know each other.

Afterwards, Zhou Qing took the initiative to invite them to a tea room specifically for cultivators to exchange ideas and receive guests, and Song Meng and the others gladly agreed.

Zhou Qing knew that Huang Feng Valley was part of the Nine Kingdoms Alliance and was considered a local power. They were certainly more knowledgeable about the border situation than he, from Luo Yun Sect. So he thought he would take this opportunity to learn from them.

Otherwise, once you arrive at your destination, you'll be completely clueless and will have to passively adapt day by day.

"Fellow Daoist Song, I am new here and don't know much about the situation. What is the situation on the southern border? Are the Mulan people still launching an attack?" Zhou Qing asked.

"Since our Nine Kingdoms Alliance, together with other forces in Tiannan, decisively defeated the Mulan coalition in Tiantian City, the Mulan people seem to have fallen silent. In the past few decades, they have not attempted a large-scale invasion of our Nine Kingdoms Alliance. However, to guard against them, the Nine Kingdoms Alliance has established outposts in many key locations along the southern border, such as Huanglong Mountain and Tiantai Valley. These outposts are guarded by many cultivators and have protective arrays for defense. If you are stationed in these places, you will be relatively safe."

After listening, Zhou Qing nodded. These key locations with protective arrays were usually guarded by many high-level cultivators on rotation, which made them much safer.

Moreover, these places are all strategic locations, which the Nine Nations Alliance will not easily give up, and they will certainly attach even greater importance to them.

However, Zhou Qing was meticulous and knew that border areas could not all be safe.

He then looked at Song Meng and asked, "From what you're saying, fellow Daoist, besides our garrison duties, we might have other tasks?"

Song Meng replied, "Indeed. Besides being assigned to guard various key locations, we conscripted cultivators might also be assigned to border patrol teams! That's much more dangerous."

Zhou Qing wanted to ask more about the patrol team, but Song Meng said he had never been in the patrol team and didn't know much about it, so he had no information to share with Zhou Qing.

The only thing we know is that each patrol team is very mysterious and its members are extremely powerful.

After learning about the situation at the border, Zhou Qing wanted to find an excuse to leave, but Song Meng seemed to take a liking to Zhou Qing at first sight and kept chatting with him, implying a competition between them.

Zhou Qing immediately declined, saying that he was only good at alchemy and that competing in magic was just a trivial matter.

To Zhou Qing's surprise, upon hearing that Zhou Qing was skilled in alchemy, Song Meng's eyes lit up, he chuckled a few times, and then asked Zhou Qing if he was interested in exchanging pills.

"Brother Zhou, don't worry, I don't need much, just one or two bottles of pills that can enhance my magic power. As for the exchange conditions, you can name your price."

"Pills to enhance magical power?" Zhou Qing pretended to look troubled. He had plenty of pills in his storage bag, but people's hearts are hidden from view, so he couldn't reveal them so easily.

Song Meng seemed extremely eager for the elixir, and he patted his storage bag, revealing all the items in it that could be exchanged.

There were more than a dozen items, including ritual implements, talismans, and spiritual minerals, laid out on the table.

However, these items were mostly ordinary and unremarkable, and Zhou Qing didn't find them appealing at all, until his gaze fell on a small brocade box.

He was about to reach out and open the brocade box when, unexpectedly, Zhong Weiniang suddenly waved her hand and snatched the box away.

"I'm sorry, Fellow Daoist Zhou, the items here cannot be exchanged!" She then glared at Song Meng, seemingly displeased that he was exchanging the item.

Seeing this, Zhou Qing had no choice but to give up. He scanned all the items Song Meng had shown him, then shook his head helplessly but resolutely.

"I'm sorry, Fellow Daoist Song. These things are all very good, but unfortunately they are not what I need right now. I may not be able to exchange them with you."

"Ah, take another look. This golden sword talisman is a high-level beginner talisman, very powerful. And this magic weapon, the black iron shield, has extremely strong defensive capabilities. And..." Seeing this, Song Meng wanted to try again, introducing the items on the table in various ways, hoping to impress Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing could sense Song Meng's feelings, but he didn't want to be taken advantage of. Although he wanted to get to know them, there was no need for him to go out of his way to please them. In the end, they were just casual acquaintances.

Seeing that Zhou Qing remained indifferent and showed no sign of being moved, Song Meng's words gradually became hesitant, and his expression faded. Finally, he stopped.

He remained still for quite a while, and no one knew what he was thinking.

However, after a moment, his expression suddenly turned serious, as if he had made some kind of decision.

"Wei Niang, bring me the brocade box." Song Meng's words were soft, but firm, allowing no room for disobedience.

Zhong Weiniang looked incredulous: "That's the only thing Master left behind."

Soon, Song Meng's voice suddenly rose a few decibels: "Give it to me, that was given to me by Uncle Qiong!"

Before he finished speaking, Song Meng snatched the brocade box from Zhong Weiniang's hand, placed it in front of Zhou Qing, and opened it. Inside, there was a small piece of iron essence.

"This... Iron Essence!" Zhou Qing was greatly surprised. He recognized Iron Essence at a glance. It was a priceless treasure that even Core Formation cultivators would greatly need.

Zhou Qing desperately wanted this piece of iron essence. If he could incorporate it into his Qingfeng Sword, the sword's power would be enhanced to an extremely terrifying level.

However, he also knew that it was impossible to exchange this piece of iron essence for just one or two bottles of pills, so he took the initiative to ask.

"Would you like to exchange for a few bottles of pills?"

"Brother Zhou, it seems you know what this is! I won't say anything more." He then put all the other items on the table back into his storage bag, and then told Zhou Qing his exchange conditions.