A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

In the early morning, Zhou Ping went to the Weapon Pavilion to report as usual. Under the strange gaze of the senior brother on duty, he left the Weapon Hall without expression.

For months, he had gotten used to his bizarre identity as a blacksmith boy. In the weapon pavilion, he was like air, ignored and uncared for.

But this seemingly insignificant status has made more and more outer disciples envious. If they could, most of them would be willing to take his place!

The Transmission Hall was bustling with activity today because it was the monthly Transmission and Question-Answering Day. At the end of each month, a special elder would be stationed at the Transmission Hall to answer questions for the disciples.

On this day, the disciples would usually stop their arduous cultivation and gather at the Transmission Pavilion to raise any problems they encountered in their cultivation, seeking guidance and correction from the elders.

Zhou Ping was no exception. Because the cultivation of Qingyuan Gong was exceptionally slow, he decided to take the opportunity to consult the transmission elder to see if there was a way for him to switch to other cultivation methods to increase his cultivation speed.

He had barely sat down when a short figure approached him.

"Zhou Datongzi, you're the most reliable one!"

The newcomer was named Duan Yu. Like Zhou Ping, he was an outer disciple. Given that his family's circumstances were average, he naturally grew closer to Zhou Ping over the past few months.

Duan Yu had a handsome and fair appearance, unlike Zhou Ping, who had an ordinary appearance and a darker complexion.

Because of his short stature, he was often ridiculed by some people in the outer sect, but he didn't care at all. In Duan Yu's words,

"I'm short because I'm young and haven't started puberty yet. My mom says I can still grow taller at 23, so I'm only 13!"

Zhou Ping shook his head inwardly, ignoring him, and handed over a prayer mat beside him.

Aside from being talkative, this person had no other flaws. On the contrary, because of his talkativeness, Zhou Ping learned a lot of gossip from him.

"Hey! What's with that expression?"

Duan Yu took the prayer mat and plopped down next to Zhou Ping.

"At such a young age, you always act all serious. You're even a year younger than me! I don't know who you're trying to fool..."

Zhou Ping was already used to his chatter. He took out two white steamed buns wrapped in oil paper from his pocket.

"Want some? If you're not busy, I'll give it to someone else."

"Eat! Eat! Eat!"

Duan Yu snatched the steamed bun from his hand, unwrapped the oil paper, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Waaah... Zhou Datongzi is still the best...waaah...so righteous!"

"Hey? Eat slowly! I didn't bring any water, you might choke!"

Zhou Ping watched Duan Yu wolf down his food and was choked by it. A childlike schadenfreude finally appeared on his calm face.

He himself didn't realize that he hadn't had that expression on his face for a long time.

As Duan Yu described, Zhou Ping, who had cultivated the Qingyuan Gong, became increasingly profound and lost his childlike innocence.

Seeing Duan Yu's face turn red, Zhou Ping couldn't help but pat him on the back.

"Uh...cough cough!"

Duan Yu finally swallowed the steamed bun in his throat, took a few deep breaths, and desperately swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva.

Under Zhou Ping's disapproving gaze, he finally remained silent.

Because Zhou Ping was always relatively free, he was able to arrive at the Transmission Pavilion earlier than others on the day of the Q&A session in order to secure a good listening position.

After getting to know Duan Yu, he brought him along, and the steamed buns were something he casually prepared after finishing his breakfast.

Compared to the various pieces of information revealed by Duan Yu, these small favors were really insignificant. On the contrary, they made Zhou Ping's image in their hearts more reliable and righteous, and they were more willing to tell Zhou Ping everything they knew!

Zhou Ping was happy to have such a helpful and knowledgeable person by his side, as it greatly facilitated his daily cultivation at the Green Bamboo Sect.

Finally, after Duan Yu finished eating the two steamed buns, more and more disciples came to the main hall of the Transmission Pavilion.

"Do you know who the elder on duty is today?"

Duan Yu looked at Zhou Ping with feigned mystery, and before the latter could ask any questions, he eagerly began to explain.

"It's Elder Ma Liuyun of the Flying Shadow Hall! You know the Flying Shadow Hall, right? It's my goal! The basic cultivation technique I practice, 'Light Body Step,' was tailor-made for the disciples of the Flying Shadow Hall!"

"Elder Ma, one of the three elders of the Flying Shadow Hall—the ones of Wisdom, Darkness, and Trust—is unparalleled in his wisdom and strategy, earning him the nickname 'Long-faced Monkey' in the martial arts world!"

Zhou Ping's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this. "That compliment sounds like a vulgar insult..."

Duan Yu interrupted him before he could finish speaking.

"What do you know? As the intelligence and assassination organization of the Green Bamboo Sect, the Flying Shadow Hall has a notorious reputation in the martial arts world. The fact that it has earned such a title precisely demonstrates Elder Ma's terrifying status in the eyes of the enemy!"

"Only if I could become a formal disciple of the Flying Shadow Hall could I fully unleash my talents!"

Zhou Ping suddenly realized why this kid was so keen on collecting intelligence and information; it turned out he was preparing to join the Flying Shadow Hall.

"I really admire your ability to gather information. There's not a single rumor, big or small, from the outer sect that you don't know about!"

Duan Yu looked smug after being praised, but Zhou Ping's next words made his expression freeze instantly.

"But your big mouth isn't really suitable for Fei Ying Tang..."

"Disciples of the Flying Shadow Hall will definitely have access to a lot of classified information. If you join the Flying Shadow Hall, things will be fine as they are, but what if you are captured alive by a rival sect?"

"I think you don't even need to be criminally detained; you've already spilled everything you know!"

"If I were a steward of the Flying Shadow Hall, I would absolutely not want someone like you!"

Looking at Zhou Ping, who was speaking earnestly and eloquently, Duan Yu gritted his teeth.

"If you're so talkative, then talk more! You're usually so quiet, but you're quite the chatterbox!"

Zhou Ping looked at Duan Yu, whose emotions were written all over his face, and couldn't help but smirk.

"Young Master Duan is a future disciple of the Flying Shadow Hall, so don't lower yourself to my level, you nobody."

And so, the two of them kept teasing each other, and over the months they had come to regard each other as their best friends.

Zhou Ping only acts like a child when he's with Duan Yu, adding a touch of childlike fun to his otherwise dull and monotonous cultivation life.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a thin, long-faced old man appeared in the Transmission Hall. He swayed as he walked up to the stage, ignoring the noise around him.

"Elder Ma!"

"Elder Ma!"

.......

Upon seeing this, everyone stood up and respectfully bowed to him as a disciple, and the hall immediately returned to silence.

"Yes, yes, please sit down."

Elder Ma smiled and gestured with one hand downwards, indicating that everyone should sit down.

"Is this Elder Ma? He's a little different from what I imagined..."

Zhou Ping watched the old man sit on the high platform, his expression slightly surprised.

Duan Yu also stared at the latter with great curiosity, craning his neck and gleaming with interest.

"This is also my first time meeting Elder Ma. I never expected that one of the three elders of the Flying Shadow Hall, who is so infamous in the martial arts world, would be like this..."

"I see..."

"Simple and unpretentious".

"Yes, yes, yes! Simple and unpretentious!"