A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

"As your senior brother, I would never lie to you, junior brother. As long as you are willing to make a small gesture, I will take care of this matter."

Seeing that he seemed to have piqued the other party's interest, Qin Lang made a promise.

Seeing that his true colors had finally been revealed, Zhou Ping's mind raced, and he asked in return,

"I am rather slow-witted and do not know what my senior brother desires. Please enlighten me."

Although he was outnumbered and outmatched in the Qinglian Xuanzong sect, he didn't want to be easily deceived. If he showed weakness now, these people would definitely take advantage of him and push their luck.

As a formal disciple of the Azure Lotus Profound Sect, these fellow disciples in the Qi Refining stage dared not openly do anything to him. After all, their status within the sect was practically negligible, and they were unlikely to cause any trouble.

"Junior Brother Zhou, you are sorely mistaken. How could it be that I want something? It's that you're going to bring something to pay your respects to Senior Brother Changqing!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Lang's face turned pale. Seeing that the other party was pretending to be stupid, he said in a cold voice.

"Oh? Then I misunderstood, senior brother, please forgive me."

Zhou Ping pretended to have said something wrong and carefully smiled ingratiatingly.

Seeing his attitude, Qin Lang snorted softly. How dare an ant at only the fifth level of Qi Refining stage question his words? He really doesn't know what's good for him.

However, he showed no outward sign of anything amiss, merely glancing coldly at Zhou Ping before continuing,

"Ignorance is no excuse, Junior Brother Zhou, just be more careful in the future. Seeing you're new here, rushing around aimlessly, I'm afraid you might have committed some taboo. If you offend some important figures, there will be no place for you in the entire Qinglian Xuanzong!"

"What you say is true, senior brother. If I have acted rashly in any way, please remind me."

Zhou Ping raised his hand and bowed slightly to Qin Lang, saying, "Yes, sir."

"Here's what we'll do: you take out five low-grade spirit stones first, and I'll pave the way for you. I'll make sure you get to see Senior Brother Changqing before you go on your mission. How you behave then is up to you."

Qin Lang frowned and said with a hint of difficulty, as if it would be very difficult to accomplish this task.

Zhou Ping watched this unfold, a smile playing on his lips. This person really thought he was a fool, daring to ask for five spirit stones so readily—it was utterly outrageous.

"Um... I am very grateful for your kindness, senior brother, and I would like to do as you suggested to improve my relationship with senior brother Changqing, but I have no choice but to decline your good intentions."

"What do you mean by that, Junior Brother Zhou? Do you really intend to give up this opportunity to curry favor with a powerful figure?"

Qin Lang's expression darkened, his tone carrying a hint of impatience, and even his gaze towards Zhou Ping became colder.

"Senior brother, you don't know this, it's not that I'm unwilling to cooperate, it's just that I'm a bit short of funds!"

Zhou Ping shrugged at Qin Lang and continued to complain.

"I am just a rogue cultivator. It is already a blessing from my ancestors that I was able to join the Azure Lotus Profound Sect. However, the path of cultivation is really bumpy. It has been very difficult for me to get here. I have not accumulated any cultivation resources at all. As you can see, let alone five spirit stones, I would be embarrassed to even give one."

While complaining, Zhou Ping took out a spirit stone from his storage bag and showed it to Qin Lang.

Qin Lang, standing to the side, frowned even more deeply as he looked at the spirit stone in Zhou Ping's hand. "This can be called a spirit stone?"

"Zhou Ping, are you trying to humiliate me...?"

Qin Lang's gloomy voice came out, word by word, and a trace of killing intent enveloped Zhou Ping along with his voice.

"Senior brother, please calm down. How could I dare to humiliate you? I simply have nothing to offer!"

Zhou Ping took a slight step back, his body tensing as he became secretly on guard, though his tone remained innocent. Now it seemed that Qin Lang's character was not so good, and he wasn't sure if the other party would get angry and do something foolish.

Although his cultivation level was one small realm lower than hers, he was not without the ability to fight back if it really came down to it.

During this time, he had already learned several basic spells, and with his current magical power, he could use them with ease. He was no longer as ignorant and weak as when he first became a cultivator.

"Hmph! I knew you wouldn't dare!"

Qin Lang let out a cold snort, glanced at Zhou Ping disdainfully, and said sarcastically.

At this point, he was no longer the kind person he had been at the beginning; his face had turned cold, and he no longer concealed his disdain.

"Let's go, let's go. I'd be too ashamed to present this to Senior Brother Changqing!"

Qin Lang waved his hand dismissively, his face full of disdain, and spoke to Zhou Ping as if dismissing a servant.

Zhou Ping calmly put away the spirit stone that had been used to humiliate the other party. This low-grade spirit stone, which had been used up to almost no spiritual power, was no longer of any value.

Qin Lang's change was within his expectations. To deal with such a despicable person, he had to let him know that he was not a lamb to be slaughtered.

Within the Azure Lotus Profound Sect, as long as he doesn't violate the sect's rules, his fellow disciples in the Qi Refining stage can't do anything to him.

Although he didn't quite understand the specific reasons, he vaguely realized that although the Qin family was powerful, there were still people in the sect who were keeping an eye on their every move.

Zhou Ping could tell from Yuan Zhengze's attitude towards Qin Zhong that the two were definitely not on the same page, and the invisible power behind them represented the Qinglian Xuanzong.

These invisible forces existing within the sect are the real behind-the-scenes giants controlling the Azure Lotus Profound Sect.

..........

"Is this the prestige of the Qin family? They're only one level higher than me in cultivation, yet their demeanor is almost on par with a Foundation Establishment senior."

After leaving the Hall of Merit, Zhou Ping piloted the flying boat towards the Pavilion of Inquiry. Recalling Qin Lang's arrogant demeanor earlier, he couldn't help but complain.

He was going to Luoyun Prefecture to carry out a mission in a few days. During his cultivation, he had encountered some difficulties with the techniques, so he wanted to take this opportunity to ask Senior Brother Fang Miao for guidance.

As for Qin Changqing, whom Qin Lang mentioned, he didn't want to make contact with him now. The other party's cultivation level was far higher than his own, and coupled with the fact that his fellow disciple had died under mysterious circumstances, he had an extremely strong sense of vigilance towards this person and now wanted to avoid him at all costs.

In any case, the mission location has been clearly told to them. As long as he arrives at Jiyun City in Luoyun Prefecture before the specified time, there will be senior disciples stationed there to arrange the next mission for him.

Zhou Ping had already made his plans. He was going to travel to Luoyun Prefecture alone. Now that he had several cultivation techniques and the Azure Leaf Flying Boat by his side, he was confident that as long as he was careful, he should not encounter any dangers along the way.

This was the first time he had traveled to such a far place alone since entering the world of cultivation, which would allow him to slowly learn about the local customs and the strange tales of the cultivation world.