A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Following the instructions in the jade slip, Zhou Ping and his two companions traveled about fifty or sixty miles into the depths of the Hidden Thunder Mountains.

Although they encountered several small groups of independent cultivators during this time, they all changed their routes in advance and fled far away after sensing the late-stage fluctuations of the Qi refining energy emanating from Qin Changqing's body.

It was Zhou Ping's first time going hunting, and he was quite cautious the whole way, always following behind Qin Changqing and the other man at a distance of two or three zhang, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

As the three continued deeper into the area, Qin Changqing, who was leading the way, gradually slowed down his pace.

Firstly, the fog in the forest became increasingly dense as the group ventured deeper, affecting their consciousness and five senses to varying degrees.

Secondly, as they ventured deeper into the mountains, the number of cultivators around them gradually decreased, and many places seemed to have never been visited by anyone before.

These remote and sparsely populated areas often harbor rare and precious medicinal herbs that have gone undiscovered by cultivators, and most of them appear to be extremely old.

"Brother Qing, look! What kind of magical herb is this!?"

Two days later, just as the three were about to approach the area described in the jade slip, a crisp, soft cry came from a dense forest not far away.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping and Qin Changqing rushed towards Gu Caiwei's direction one after the other.

A moment later, Qin Changqing accepted the few crystal-clear spiritual fruits that Gu Caiwei presented to him like a treasure, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes.

"Junior Brother Zhou, do you recognize this fruit?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping placed a spirit fruit in his palm, carefully observed it for several breaths, and then spoke with certainty,

"It should be the Ice Spirit Fruit, which is the main ingredient in several Qi Refining stage pills, especially the Ice Marrow Pill, which is a precious medicine for cleansing the essence and refining the marrow in the late stage of Qi Refining. It is said that its effects are somewhat similar to the Foundation Establishment Pill's effects of cleansing the meridians and changing the marrow, but its effects are not even one-tenth of the Foundation Establishment Pill's effects. Even so, it is the first choice for late-stage cultivators who cannot obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill when they break through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

Zhou Ping rattled off all the knowledge he had learned about identifying medicines from several classic texts on alchemy, before turning his gaze to Qin Changqing and the other person who were listening attentively beside him.

It turned out that during the past two days, the three of them had traveled through this unfamiliar area and had already collected several kinds of precious spiritual herbs, making Zhou Ping feel that the trip had been worthwhile.

However, since neither Qin Changqing nor Gu Caiwei were skilled in alchemy, they only had a superficial understanding of most of the spiritual herbs they obtained.

Therefore, Zhou Ping, who was well-versed in this matter, hesitated for a moment before stepping forward to explain it to the two of them.

This is understandable, as both of them come from large cultivation families and have enjoyed abundant cultivation resources since childhood. They only need to focus on their cultivation and do not need to do alchemy themselves.

Apart from those family scions who are exceptionally talented in alchemy and choose to specialize in it, most cultivation geniuses like Qin Changqing would not choose to waste time studying the four arts of immortal cultivation.

The most crucial and urgent stage for a cultivator is the Qi Refining stage; being in this stage is essentially a race against time.

The sooner one can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, the greater one's cultivation potential will be on the path of immortal cultivation.

Life is only a few decades long. Excluding childhood and old age, the time left for Qi Refining stage cultivators to cultivate is actually not abundant. This is the fundamental reason why the vast majority of cultivators find it difficult to establish their foundation.

Although the lifespan of a Qi Refining stage cultivator is longer than that of an ordinary mortal, upon closer examination, that extra lifespan does not significantly help a cultivator break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

According to the common understanding in the cultivation world, a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage must try to establish a foundation before the age of forty or fifty.

Because once one's lifespan exceeds forty or fifty years, their physical functions and vitality will begin to decline rapidly, making it extremely difficult to establish a foundation at this time.

Therefore, even if a cultivator lives longer than a mortal in their later years, they have almost no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Therefore, those Qi Refining stage cultivators who have lost hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage will devote all their remaining energy to the study of the four arts of immortal cultivation.

There is another situation that is exactly the opposite: those lucky cultivators who successfully establish their foundation have their lifespan double after entering the foundation stage, reaching almost two hundred years.

With sufficient lifespan, one can begin to practice one or two auxiliary skills in addition to cultivation, in order to make one's cultivation path more relaxed and stable.

Of course, for those geniuses and cultivation fanatics among the cultivators, after advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage, there are naturally higher realms waiting for them to challenge and break through.

Whether or not one chooses to be distracted by other things is a matter of personal choice.

Although Zhou Ping had the lowest cultivation level among the three, he was far superior to the other two in his ability to identify and understand spiritual herbs.

Because of the existence of the mysterious agarwood and his years of experience consuming elixirs, after entering the world of cultivation, he had already devoted most of his attention to identifying herbs and refining elixirs.

He knew very well that with his talent, the path of alchemy would be his only shortcut to going far on the path of cultivation.

However, it was precisely for this reason that Zhou Ping neglected to improve and accumulate his own strength and methods, and devoted most of his energy to collecting and accelerating the ripening of spiritual herbs, which foreshadowed the calamities he would encounter later.

Fortunately, he did not lose his life as a result. Although his Dao foundation was damaged, after learning about Senior Brother Wang's experience, it seemed that God still left him a glimmer of hope, which can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

"Zhou Ping! Zhou Ping! Tell me quickly, how old are these Ice Spirit Fruits?!"

After hearing Zhou Ping's explanation, Gu Caiwei stared at the several spiritual fruits in Qin Changqing's hand with shining eyes and asked expectantly.

Although she still calls Zhou Ping by his name, she has become quite familiar with him over the past two days. Especially after seeing Zhou Ping's extensive knowledge of various spiritual herbs, the slight contempt she once felt has vanished without her realizing it.

"Fairy Gu, Senior Brother Qin, I'm not sure about the exact age of these Ice Spirit Fruits, but judging from their characteristics, they are at least significantly older than the hundred-year-old Ice Spirit Fruits I've seen in books!"

Zhou Ping narrowed his eyes, pondered for a long time, and then shook his head uncertainly.

"Over a hundred years old? That's impressive! In my family's herb garden, any medicinal herbs over a hundred years old are treasured rotten by my uncles and aunts; they won't even let me touch them!"

Gu Caiwei put her hands on her hips, first exclaimed in admiration, then, thinking of her uncles and elders in the family, she wrinkled her delicate nose and pouted in complaint.

Upon seeing this, Qin Changqing shook his head slightly, and then spoke.

"You discovered this Ice Spirit Fruit, so you can decide how to distribute it."