Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

After going upstairs, Zhou Qing quickly found the book "The Records of Falling Clouds" on the first-floor bookshelf.

It wasn't that Zhou Qing had sharp eyes, but rather that the book was truly eye-catching, placed right in the center of the second floor, occupying an entire bookshelf, with more than a dozen copies of it.

Although greatly surprised, Zhou Qing was never an impatient person.

Since there's no need to pay spirit stones here, it wouldn't hurt to spend a few days here and read everything in peace.

Reading is also a way to cultivate one's mind; this has been true in both lifetimes, and always has been true.

Without thinking further, Zhou Qing moved a chair from the bookshelf, sat down, and began reading the first volume of "The Records of Falling Clouds".

It must be said that the person who wrote the first volume of "The Records of Falling Clouds" is a remarkable person. Zhou Qing originally thought that this book would be a historical record of major events, but now it seems more like a memoir.

An elder of the Luoyun Sect accepted the sect's mission to record everything he had experienced in a book.

There is not a trace of dryness or rigidity in the text; his cultivation experience is perfectly integrated into the sect's history.

The book also recounts his early adventures, his insights and lessons learned from his battles, the dangers and opportunities he encountered while venturing into secret realms, and even many unknown old stories of various sects and the hidden interactions between different factions.

Zhou Qing only glanced at a few pages before gradually becoming engrossed in reading.

Although the style of the subsequent volumes changed drastically due to the change of the author, Zhou Qing, who calmed down, did not feel displeased and continued to read them carefully.

One night, Zhou Qing was reading the last volume of "Luoyun Chronicles".

Suddenly, a white-haired old man appeared before him, holding a book in his hand.

Zhou Qing hurriedly stood up from his chair, cupped his hands in greeting, and immediately felt a faint sense of oppression envelop him, causing his heart to tighten and making him dare to keep his head down.

The white-haired old man ignored Zhou Qing, calmly inserted the book in his hand into the bookshelf, and then suddenly disappeared again.

Zhou Qing didn't dare utter a word throughout the entire process, and was extremely cautious. Only after the white-haired old man left did he dare to go to the bookshelf to check. The book the old man had placed there was the latest volume of "The Records of Falling Clouds".

Zhou Qing took the latest copy in his hand, quickly flipped to the last page, and at the end of the last page, there was a single word: Cheng.

"Cheng? Yes, that's it! The moment he appeared, he seemed to take control of the entire library. This oppressive aura is most likely that of Cheng Tiankun, the Supreme Elder of the Luoyun Sect. I never expected to encounter a Nascent Soul cultivator only two days after I entered. I wonder if this is a blessing or a curse!"

Despite his unease, Zhou Qing forced himself to read through the entire "Luoyun Chronicles" before quickly leaving Yunji Tower.

Back in the cabin, Zhou Qing sat at his desk and began to make plans.

According to the "Luoyun Chronicle".

Currently, there are three ways for disciples in the Qi Refining stage of the Luoyun Sect to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills.

First, one must make great contributions to the sect, and then the peak masters of each peak will reward one with Foundation Establishment Pills.

Secondly, they wait for the sect to assign them. Every ten years, the sect will distribute a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills to young inner disciples under the age of sixty who have reached the minimum requirements for taking the pills. Of course, not everyone can have one; the pills will be distributed in order of merit based on aptitude, cultivation level, and other criteria.

Thirdly, those who stand out in their sect and rank among the top ten at the Yunmeng Conference held once every thirty years will also be given a Foundation Establishment Pill.

None of these three conditions are easy to fulfill.

In Zhou Qing's view, making great contributions to the sect was too unrealistic and hopeless.

Unless he exposes those spies from both the righteous and demonic paths who infiltrated the three sects of Yunmeng right now.

With such great merit, he will certainly be rewarded with a Foundation Establishment Pill, but at the same time, he will definitely be coveted by both the righteous and demonic paths, which would be a loss for him.

Looking at the second condition, given Zhou Qing's dual spiritual root aptitude, there shouldn't be any problem in him being included in the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill allocation list.

However, there are too many ways to manipulate these internal rankings. It's not impossible that some elder or senior might feel sorry for their junior and insist on having a spot.

Although Zhou Qing has excellent talent, he has no background and is definitely not as competitive as the disciples of those cultivation families.

The safest option is definitely the last one: in a ring competition, victory or defeat depends entirely on one's own strength, and there's no room for cheating.

Although such a grand event will surely attract the attention of everyone in the sect, and countless experts will eagerly participate, the difficulty of successfully breaking through will definitely not be low.

But Zhou Qing wasn't the type to back down before a fight. He believed that whether he succeeded or not, he would only know after trying.

Having decided to prioritize attending the conference and wait for sect assignments as a secondary objective, Zhou Qing immediately took action.

There are still more than four years until the next Yunmeng Conference, which is enough time for Zhou Qing to prepare seriously.

There's no rush when it comes to magical artifacts and talismans; the priority is to improve one's cultivation level.

A cultivation level of ten in Qi Refining is considered remarkable among independent cultivators outside the sect, but it's completely insignificant within the sect itself.

After closing the courtyard gate and hanging up the sign for closed-door cultivation, Zhou Qing began his first closed-door cultivation at the Luoyun Sect.

From then on, Zhou Qing's life could be described as monotonous and boring.

I get up early in the morning, make a trip to the Transmission Pavilion, ask the senior brother who transmits magic for some instruction, and then practice diligently for a few hours after returning home.

He then devoted all his remaining time to cultivation, and even sleeping and resting were completely replaced by meditation.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye. After using up all the pills he had stored, Zhou Qing's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking through two levels in a row. He is now at the twelfth level of Qi Refining.

After meditating for a while, Zhou Qing got up and stretched his sore and numb muscles and bones.

Suddenly, several sounds were heard from inside the courtyard, as if someone had fallen from the sky.

When Zhou Qing opened the door, he saw a young woman in a purple dress and a veiled hat standing in the courtyard.

One could not see its face or detect its cultivation level; one's consciousness seemed to sink into an ocean.

"I don't know which senior uncle or grandmaster has arrived. Disciple Zhou Qing greets you." Zhou Qing said, bowing respectfully.

The young woman gave a soft "hmm," but instead of looking at Zhou Qing, she turned her gaze to a small patch of medicinal herbs in the courtyard.

The medicinal herb field is planted with various medicinal herbs that Zhou Qing collected before entering the sect.

Although they weren't particularly precious medicinal herbs, they were all necessary for Zhou Qing to refine the Yellow Dragon Pill and the Golden Marrow Pill, so Zhou Qing took good care of them and tended to them diligently.

"Just call me Senior Song. I'm currently lacking a few auxiliary herbs for refining pills, and I happened to see some in your herb garden. I really like them. Would you be willing to part with them for me?" the young woman said.

"Another one surnamed Song? He comes in asking for medicinal herbs right away?" Although Zhou Qing was displeased, he was wary of the other party's apparent strength and dared not easily make an enemy.

Besides, the herbs in this medicinal field aren't any particularly precious celestial medicines. Taking this opportunity to give one or two to this senior and make a good relationship wouldn't be a bad thing.

"If Senior Song finds the medicinal herbs in this field pleasing, this disciple is willing to offer a few."

"Hmm, good. You're very good!" the young woman said with a smile. Then she lightly raised her hand, and several medicinal herbs flew out of the herb field and disappeared into the young woman's storage bag.

As Zhou Qing listened to the young woman's clear and melodious laughter and saw her raise her delicate hand, revealing a blue bracelet on her right hand, he suddenly remembered someone.

He then called out in a deep voice, "Song Yao!"

"Huh?" The young woman was taken aback, seemingly incredulous that Zhou Qing could recognize her true identity.

But then she removed her veil, revealing her petite figure and true face; she was none other than Song Yao, who was extremely close to Song Yu.

Upon seeing it, Zhou Qing was immediately struck by how wondrous the veil was. Not only could it block divine sense from prying into the eyes, but it could also conjure up a lifelike illusion.

"It really was you!"

"Oh dear, this is so boring. I even borrowed this veiled hat from my sister, but I still couldn't prank Brother Zhou."

As she spoke, Song Yao pouted, put away her veil, took out a few medicinal herbs she had picked from the herb garden, and was about to return them to Zhou Qing.

"Here, take these herbs back."

Seeing Song Yao's reluctant expression, Zhou Qing chuckled and then waved his hand, saying, "Since Junior Sister likes these medicinal herbs, why not accept them?"

"Really? You'll regret it!" Upon hearing this, Song Yao was overjoyed and immediately took the herbs back. "Since you gave them to me, it won't be easy for my sister to lecture me later."

The two had known each other for a long time, and after joking around for a while, they finally got back to business.