A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

After a long while, Zhou Ping finally recovered from his shock. Looking at the outstanding young man in front of him, he was momentarily captivated by him.

Fortunately, he quickly recovered and realized that now was not the time for lamenting, so he hurriedly corrected himself.

"So...it's Senior Brother Qin. Junior Brother Zhou Ping greets Senior Brother."

Zhou Ping's bow was extremely solemn and showed genuine respect. The other party had not only rescued him from the clutches of the Three Flowers Gang, but also brought him all the way to the vicinity of Jiyun City, thus eliminating potential dangers on his journey.

As early as when he was activating the Qingyuan Technique, he had already secretly sensed a trace of the lingering medicinal power in the other party's body. He figured that the fact that his injuries were recovering so quickly was because the other party had intentionally saved him.

Therefore, Zhou Ping's heart was filled with gratitude. This was one of the few times since he entered the world of cultivation that he could express his true feelings from the bottom of his heart in such a dog-eat-dog and treacherous environment.

"Now that you have recovered, Junior Brother, and this place is close to Jiyun City, you should make plans as soon as possible. I have some personal matters to attend to."

Unexpectedly, Qin Changqing completely ignored Zhou Ping's thanks and remained calm and cold, his tone clearly showing his aloofness.

Zhou Ping was slightly taken aback, understanding the meaning behind the other party's words. He could only scratch his head awkwardly, but without feeling any dissatisfaction, he once again respectfully cupped his hands and said...

"I will remember your great kindness, Senior Brother. I will not bother you any longer. I wish you a successful mission and a prosperous immortal journey!"

After saying that, under Qin Changqing's indifferent gaze, he made a hand seal with one hand, cast a lightness spell behind him, and leaped out of the magic boat, disappearing from the latter's sight in an instant.

.......

Half an hour later.

In the distance, a majestic city stretching for dozens of miles appeared faintly in Zhou Ping's field of vision. As far as the eye could see, even several verdant and towering mountain peaks were included within it, causing him to rub his eyes repeatedly, as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

Such a colossal city is truly unheard of and unseen! Zhou Ping looked at the mountains in the distance, which appeared somewhat insignificant in comparison, and let out a heartfelt exclamation.

According to his understanding before his departure, this giant city is one of the few mega-cities in the Great Liang Kingdom. It has two mid-grade spiritual veins and more than a dozen low-grade spiritual veins. Its spiritual energy concentration is one of the most concentrated cultivation treasures outside of the major first-class sects in the Liang Kingdom, and it is also a cultivation holy land for a large number of independent cultivators in the Liang Kingdom's cultivation world.

At first, Zhou Ping thought the description in the book was too exaggerated. He thought that a city was nothing compared to the unique advantages of those immortal cultivation sects hidden in the deep mountains and mists.

But now that I can see it from afar, I realize that I was being narrow-minded. Although its scale cannot be compared with the five great sects that span hundreds or thousands of miles, it is nothing short of a colossal beast compared to a giant town like Tianyan Town.

Such a treasure land naturally attracted the covetousness of various sects in the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom. However, in the end, no one could take this huge piece of cake by themselves. The five major Xuanzong sects had to step forward and define it as a common property of the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom, allowing all major forces to jointly occupy this place.

Over time, various sects, large and small, from the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom set up outposts and liaison offices here, making Jiyun City increasingly prosperous and even earning the reputation of being the number one cultivation holy land outside of the five major sects.

As Zhou Ping approached Jiyun City, he noticed a sudden increase in the number of cultivators coming and going. The sky was filled with the sounds of various magical artifacts, flying boats, and spirit birds piercing the air, which dazzled him and made him feel a sense of panic and vigilance.

Having just escaped the persecution of the Three Flowers Gang, his feelings were quite complicated. Unlike in the sect, this was the first time he had seen so many cultivators alone outside, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

In particular, among the passing cultivators, there would occasionally be a few oppressive Foundation Establishment spiritual pressures that swept by, causing nearby cultivators to hurriedly give way and not daring to obstruct them in the slightest.

When Zhou Ping arrived at the city gate, which was several dozen feet high, he was amazed to see so many cultivators gathered there in an orderly fashion, walking into the city.

It should be known that all cultivators are exceptional individuals, proud and arrogant, but after arriving in Jiyun City, they were as respectful and low-key as ordinary people.

If it weren't for the faint spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from everyone, Zhou Ping would have truly believed he had arrived in a mortal realm.

Even those high-level cultivators who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, upon arriving here, also walked into the city like them.

"Is that the protective anti-flight formation of Jiyun City!?"

Standing beneath the giant gate, Zhou Ping gazed at the enormous light shield faintly appearing above his head, his face once again showing astonishment. It was said that when this anti-air formation was fully activated, even a Core Formation stage cultivator could be easily severely injured, and its power was comparable to that of a Nascent Soul stage monster.

With such a grand formation, the entire city of Jiyun became a no-fly zone. The major sects jointly stipulated that, apart from the elders of each sect whose cultivation had reached the Core Formation stage, everyone else was prohibited from flying or fighting in the city. Those who disobeyed the order would be killed by the formation on their own, and those who fought would be detained by the city's law enforcement team and handed over to the Elder Hall of Jiyun City for trial and judgment.

Of course, given the power of this formation and the anti-air restriction it contains, even someone at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage would find it difficult to withstand its pressure and escape by flying without the powerful cultivation of a Core Formation stage cultivator.

Therefore, under the joint control of the major sects and the protection of the anti-air formation, the order in Jiyun City has been extremely orderly for hundreds of years, and very few cultivators dare to fight, kill, or rob here.

Zhou Ping quietly touched the storage bag in his arms and the sandalwood token worn close to his body inside his Daoist robe, feeling somewhat at ease, before following the flow of people into the giant gate.

He checked these two items immediately after waking up on Qin Changqing's flying boat, and thankfully they hadn't been stolen by the villains.

This storage bag is alright, but it's just a low-level storage bag that he always carries with him, which he got from Li Jiuxi, and there's nothing valuable inside.

For safety reasons, he left all the spiritual herbs he had painstakingly collected to refine the Golden Marrow Pill, as well as the high-level storage bag, at his residence in the Azure Lotus Profound Sect, and did not dare to carry them with him.

After entering the main gate, since it was Zhou Ping's first time in the city, he spent three spirit stones to obtain an identity token in a side hall. With this token, he could freely enter and leave Jiyun City.

"Zhou Ping."

He took a deep breath of the city's fresh and rich spiritual energy, glanced down at the name faintly appearing on the token, and then, with a smirk and a look of curiosity, stepped into the sacred land of cultivation that the rogue cultivators had been talking about.