A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

"Senior brother, you flatter me. It is our duty as disciples to share the burden of the sect. I dare not take credit for it."

After seeing his senior brother Wang get out of bed, Xiao Huaichuan hurriedly went forward to support his arm and helped him sit down in a chair.

"Please sit down too. You don't need to be so formal with me."

Senior Brother Wang gestured for Xiao Huaichuan and Zhou Ping to sit down, his tone very gentle.

Seeing that Xiao Huaichuan had sat down, Zhou Ping followed suit and sat down on a wooden chair next to him at the latter's gesture.

"Junior Brother Xiao, this Junior Brother Zhou's cultivation level..."

Senior Brother Wang looked at Zhou Ping, then asked with a doubtful expression.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Huaichuan immediately understood the other party's doubts and promptly replied,

"Senior brother, this Junior Brother Zhou came carrying the Five Profound Tokens, which is why his cultivation level is somewhat lower."

"The Five Mysterious Tokens? I wonder whose Five Mysterious Tokens these are?"

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Wang's expression suddenly turned cold, as if he cared about it very much.

Zhou Ping, who was sitting to the side, felt a chill the moment the other person's expression changed. He felt a chill run down his spine and his whole body tensed up involuntarily.

The source of this chill was quite clear: it came from the senior brother surnamed Wang, who was slumped in the main seat.

Xiao Huaichuan wasn't surprised by this, but simply sighed softly and explained,

"Senior brother, please don't be angry. Junior brother Zhou's background is not from any family or faction."

"Junior Brother Zhou obtained the Five Profound Token from the mortal clan of a deceased senior brother. He was the only outsider in the entire clan who was fortunate enough to enter the Great Dao. Therefore, he took the Five Profound Token to Guiyuan Pavilion where Uncle Yuan was located. Strictly speaking, he can only be considered a rogue cultivator."

Upon hearing Xiao Huaichuan's explanation, Senior Brother Wang's expression softened, and his imposing aura momentarily dissipated.

"I see... Most of the Five Mysterious Tokens of my Azure Lotus Mysterious Sect are concentrated in the hands of various families. I was quite excited when I heard about this item. I hope my two junior brothers will forgive me."

"Senior brother, you flatter me. I know all about what happened to you. If it were me, I might have found it even harder to control myself."

Xiao Huaichuan shook his head and said with a sigh.

Zhou Ping listened quietly from the side. Although he was somewhat confused, he could roughly understand some of the hidden information from the conversation between the two.

It seems that this senior brother surnamed Wang was not targeting the Five Profound Token in his hand, but rather harbored considerable prejudice against the various families that were affiliated with the Azure Lotus Profound Sect.

"In that case, this disciple token will be given to Junior Brother Zhou. Later, you only need to drip a drop of your essence blood onto this token to activate the restrictions within. With this token, you will be able to freely enter and exit some key areas of the sect in the future."

Senior Brother Wang flipped his hand and took out a blue wooden plaque, handing it to Zhou Ping as he spoke.

Seeing that the mission was accomplished, Xiao Huaichuan did not linger. He stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Senior Brother Wang, and said,

"I still have to take Junior Brother Zhou to report to a few other places, so I won't bother you any longer, Senior Brother. I hope you take care of yourself."

Zhou Ping stood up with Xiao Huaichuan, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Senior Brother Wang, and then followed the latter out of the room.

........

Several hours later, Zhou Ping followed Xiao Huaichuan to no fewer than five or six places, and each time Xiao Huaichuan explained something to Zhou Ping.

Gradually, Zhou Ping also gained a general understanding of the Azure Lotus Profound Sect from the other party's words.

As one of the five major sects, the Azure Lotus Profound Sect has a large number of disciples, with cultivators of all realms numbering in the thousands.

Of these thousands of people, over 90% were cultivators at the Qi Refining stage, which explains why Jingxin Peak was so lively.

Above that, besides the seven Core Formation cultivators and the elusive Nascent Soul ancestor, there were only about a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators left.

These Foundation Establishment cultivators are the true core strength of the Azure Lotus Profound Sect.

Almost all matters, large and small, within the sect, as well as various exchanges and contacts with the outside world, are handled by these Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The seven Core Formation cultivators above them, while not as mysterious as the Nascent Soul Ancestor, were all people who cultivated in seclusion and completely ignored the trivial matters of the Azure Lotus Profound Sect.

Unless it's a matter of life and death, they rarely concern themselves with sect affairs.

Of course, there are some exceptions who sometimes interfere in sect affairs, but these are things that Zhou Ping cannot know at present.

The reason why the Five Great Mystic Sects hold a superior position and are able to stand above the many cultivation sects in Liang Kingdom is that they all have Nascent Soul stage cultivators within them.

This is also what Zhou Ping is most interested in. It is said that when a cultivator reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, their lifespan will double, and they can live to be almost two hundred years old.

The lifespan of a Core Formation stage cultivator reaches five hundred years, while the Nascent Soul stage elders can live for a thousand years.

It is said that the Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Azure Lotus Sect is already an old man over eight hundred years old.

While feeling envious, Zhou Ping also increasingly understood why the cultivation world believed that only after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage could one be considered to have truly entered the ranks of cultivators.

Because once a cultivator enters the Foundation Establishment stage, their lifespan will double, which transcends the limitations of the mortal realm and allows them to truly begin to explore the path of immortality, which is to live as long as heaven and earth.

Zhou Ping vaguely sensed that the increase in lifespan was the key to a person's transcendence and transformation from mortal to immortal. As long as one's realm could continue to improve, one could have an infinite lifespan and become an immortal ancestor!

Just as Zhou Ping was lost in thought, Xiao Huaichuan piloted his flying boat to a secluded spot.

There were significantly fewer disciples coming and going here. Apart from the occasional person hurrying along the way, no one else came into their sight.

"Senior Brother Xiao, where is this place?"

Looking at the empty hall, Zhou Ping asked curiously. Xiao Huaichuan had helped him a lot along the way, and had also explained a lot of sect rules and common sense to him.

This undoubtedly increased Zhou Ping's goodwill towards him, and he was no longer as reserved as before.

"This is the last place we're going to, the Council Hall."

"To put it simply, this is where the sect's miscellaneous tasks are assigned. All newly joined disciples must come here to receive their assigned sect miscellaneous tasks."

Xiao Huaichuan patiently explained to Zhou Ping, and the two walked towards the center of the main hall as they talked.

In the Azure Lotus Profound Sect, all disciples in the Qi Refining stage must undertake a miscellaneous task, which is both an obligation and a way to earn spirit stones.

After all, the Azure Lotus Profound Sect provides its many disciples with unparalleled cultivation conditions. In exchange, these Qi Refining stage disciples must take on a corresponding responsibility.

Of course, if one's cultivation level breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage, that's a different story.

As the core force of the sect, cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage no longer need to spend a lot of time completing the various tasks assigned by the sect.

Apart from a few management positions, most Foundation Establishment cultivators have relatively leisurely lives.

The Azure Lotus Mystic Sect will grant them special permission to choose their own cave dwelling within the vast territory as a place for cultivation, where they can diligently practice and improve their cultivation level.

They are only assigned tasks when the sect faces a crisis, in order to ensure the sect's safety and stability.

To put it more bluntly, these Foundation Establishment cultivators are the Qinglian Xuanzong's personal henchmen. They are sent wherever there is discontent and directed wherever there is conflict.