Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

"This piece of top-grade iron essence was refined by my late master over ten years. It is worth at least ten thousand spirit stones, so I need at least six bottles of pills to exchange for it!" Song Meng suppressed his reluctance and said in a deep voice.

"Six bottles?" After hearing Song Meng's request, Zhou Qing decisively shook his head; he could not accept this condition. "Fellow Daoist Song, this piece of iron essence is indeed precious, but I can only accept exchanging it for three bottles of pills."

After saying that, Zhou Qing flicked his sleeve, and three small white jade bottles appeared on the table.

Upon hearing this, Song Meng and the other two were somewhat displeased.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qing simply smiled calmly and continued, "Fellow Daoist Song, please don't be in such a hurry to refuse. You can open the jade bottle and take a look to see if I'm sincere!"

At this point, a hint of surprise flashed in Song Meng's eyes. He immediately picked up a small white jade bottle and opened the lid with some skepticism.

Instantly, a pure spiritual energy emanated from the jade bottle. Song Meng simply took a sniff and felt refreshed and invigorated, his meridians thirsting for this spiritual energy as if they had been parched for a long time and now needed rain.

Song Meng couldn't help but show an expression of extreme surprise. Just based on the concentration of spiritual energy in this pill, he was certain that its efficacy far surpassed all the pills he had ever seen before.

After examining the two remaining jade bottles on the table, Song Meng was greatly surprised and couldn't help but glance at Zhou Qinggao a few times.

"What a wonderful elixir!"

After speaking, Song Meng handed one of the jade bottles to Zhong Weiniang and Chen Qiaoqian. After looking at the pills, the two were greatly surprised, as their spiritual energy far exceeded that of ordinary pills.

Each of these three bottles of pills is enough to save them years of arduous cultivation!

Chen Qiaoqian put down the jade bottle and sighed, "I had heard that the Luoyun Sect was famous throughout Tiannan for its alchemy, and that the alchemy skills of its high-level cultivators were exceptionally high. Seeing it with my own eyes today, I know that its reputation is not unfounded at all. Fellow Daoist Zhou's alchemy skills are truly admirable!"

Seeing that Song Meng and the other two had no idea that the pill's potency was due to the high quality of the ingredients used in its preparation, rather than to any high level of alchemy skill, it was clear that the pill's potency was entirely due to the superior medicinal materials used in its preparation.

Zhou Qing was secretly delighted and immediately decided to go along with it, while also being appropriately modest.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, you flatter me. I was only able to refine these few bottles of pills with the help of the sect elders; I was merely assisting. However, since all three of you find these pills excellent, would it be possible to exchange them?"

"Exchange! Of course, exchange! Three bottles it is!" Song Meng readily agreed, pushing the brocade box in front of Zhou Qing.

Both parties packed up their belongings, feeling quite satisfied.

Perhaps having witnessed Zhou Qing's profound alchemy skills firsthand, Song Meng and the other two became much more polite to him, their words carrying a hint of intimacy.

This made Zhou Qing realize that perhaps revealing his ability to refine pills wasn't entirely a bad thing.

"I had a very pleasant conversation with the three fellow Daoists from Huangfeng Valley. Unfortunately, I have some matters to attend to, so I must take my leave now."

During this exchange, Zhou Qing not only learned about many aspects of the Tiannan border region, but also unexpectedly obtained a piece of iron essence, which made him quite satisfied. He then bid farewell.

"This is my first time meeting Fellow Daoist Zhou, yet it feels like we've known each other forever. Once this mission is completed, I will definitely seek out Fellow Daoist Zhou for another get-together," Song Meng said with a smile.

Zhou Qing didn't reply, but simply smiled and nodded before turning and leaving the tea room.

After Zhou Qing left, Song Meng stopped smiling and looked down at the three bottles of pills he had just received, his eyes filled with appreciation.

However, he soon handed three bottles of pills to Zhong Weiniang, leaving none for himself.

"Wei Niang, your aptitude is better than mine. Take these three bottles of pills. With these three bottles of spiritual pills, perhaps you will have a chance to break through to the Core Formation stage."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Weiniang was startled and immediately wanted to refuse, but Song Meng's actions were resolute. He looked at Zhong Weiniang with gentle eyes and stuffed three bottles of pills into her hands.

Watching this scene, Chen Qiaoqian felt a mix of emotions, both happy for Zhong Weiniang who had obtained the elixir and a little envious.

If she could also obtain three bottles of spiritual pills, it would probably be possible for her to advance to the late stage of Foundation Establishment. But where would she find someone to give them to her?

Inside the tea room, the three had another conversation, which we will not discuss for now.

On the other side, Zhou Qing left the teahouse and returned to the streets of the market.

He had another important matter to attend to: purchasing a batch of practical talismans for unforeseen circumstances.

This time it really is time to go to the battlefield. Although it's a battlefield where the smoke of battle has temporarily cleared, we might still encounter the Muran mages. We must be fully prepared.

The magic of the Mulan mage is quite powerful, surpassing even ordinary Five Elements magic, and can often be cast instantly.

With this skill, those low-level mages could fight against ordinary cultivators in Tiannan without using magic tools or talismans and were not at a disadvantage at all.

Ktian City is, after all, the headquarters of the Nine Kingdoms Alliance, and its markets are filled with a wide variety of talismans.

Because the cultivators of the Nine Kingdoms Alliance have always deeply resented the Mulan mages, many of the talismans here are specifically designed to counter the Mulan mages' spiritual arts, and they are very popular.

Zhou Qing didn't spend much time buying all the talismans he anticipated he might need, the most important of which were three Earth Prison Talismans and two Earth Escape Talismans.

The Earth Escape Talisman saved Zhou Qing's life last time, so it must be used again this time. Besides, the southern border region is mostly Gobi and grassland, so the Earth Escape Talisman will only be more useful.

After buying the items, Zhou Qing returned to his loft, where he meditated and cultivated while quietly awaiting news from the Nine Kingdoms Alliance.

Several days later, Zhou Qing and the others received a rallying order from the Nine Nations Alliance.

After everyone looked at each other's locations, they were surprised to find that their gathering points were not the same. If the gathering points were not the same, then their garrison locations were also likely not the same.

With this question in mind, Zhou Qing consulted one of the managers of the Nine Kingdoms Alliance.

The reason he received left him speechless; it turned out to be a new regulation established by the Nine Nations Alliance to avoid repeating past mistakes.

It turns out that more than a decade ago, fellow cultivators from the same sect were guarding a key border location when they encountered a powerful enemy. None of them had the will to fight to the death, and they scattered without putting up any resistance. Afterwards, because there were too many deserters, the responsibility was dispersed and could not be investigated, which led to the drawback of "the law does not punish the masses".

From then on, the alliance split up its fellow cultivators into separate groups, stationed them in different locations, and gathered separately to avoid the chaos of them banding together and fleeing again.

The next morning, Zhou Qing arrived at the assembly point in accordance with the instructions on the assembly order.

This is a spacious stone-paved training ground, where more than a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators stand silently, the atmosphere heavy with tension.

The people were dressed in different styles, all of them disciples recruited from various sects within the Nine Kingdoms Alliance and the Heavenly Dao Alliance.

Five elders at the Core Formation stage sat atop the high platform of the training ground. According to the assembly order, one of these elders was at the late Core Formation stage, two at the middle Core Formation stage, and two at the early Core Formation stage.

Zhou Qing didn't recognize most of these elders, and had never even seen them before.

However, there was one person whom Zhou Qing recognized at a glance, even though he had never seen her before: the Red-Robed Fairy of Yellow Maple Valley.

She wore an elegant orange-yellow Taoist robe, appeared to be in her thirties, still possessed a graceful charm, and exuded a cool and dignified aura.

These elders concealed their spiritual power, appearing ordinary, yet they possessed the majesty of high-level cultivators, causing all the Foundation Establishment cultivators below to hold their breath and dare not make the slightest move.