A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

at dusk,

Zhou Ping and the other two rushed back to the Spirit Mountain Realm. Gu Caiwei watched with great reluctance as the two entered the mountain gate of the Azure Lotus Profound Sect.

"Brother Qing, if you go back to Yunnan, you must tell Caiwei!"

Before leaving, the young girl didn't forget to remind Qin Changqing, who was about to disappear into the formation, in a sweet voice. However, the latter seemed to pretend not to hear and disappeared at the mountain gate. Gu Caiwei was so angry that she stomped her feet in front of the mountain gate.

"Excellent, excellent. The fox-crow spirit blood you two brought back is of extremely high quality, especially this bottle of level two fox-crow spirit blood. Not to mention you two, even I have never seen it before."

"However, I must remind you all, you can't be so reckless in the future. If something really happens, how am I supposed to explain it to the sect? And you, Junior Nephew Qin, if anything happens to you, Uncle Tianxing will skin me alive!"

Uncle Yun held a wine gourd and kept circling the porcelain bottle on the table. Although he looked happy, he kept admonishing the two of them, so Zhou Ping and Qin Changqing could only listen silently and dared not make any other moves.

"Rest assured, this mission has been exceeded. I will inform the sect and strive to secure even more merit for you. We absolutely cannot let this level-two spirit blood you brought back go to waste!"

Seeing that Uncle Yun's tone had softened, Zhou Ping and his companion secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly thanked him.

"Junior Nephew Qin, this resource transfer mission is entrusted to you. Junior Nephew Zhou's cultivation is still too shallow to handle such an important task. What do you think?"

Uncle Yun put away the porcelain bottle on the table, took a swig of the strong liquor from the gourd, and then looked at Qin Changqing drunkenly and gave him instructions.

"I will follow my master's instructions and have no objections."

Qin Changqing replied calmly, indicating that he was already fully aware of this arrangement.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping bowed and offered a salute. He was also aware of the situation, since he was only at the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage. Even if Uncle Yun was very generous, he would never entrust him with the valuable sect resources to bring back to the Azure Lotus Profound Sect, as the risks involved were too high.

"Junior Nephew Zhou, there's no need to be discouraged. This task was just a special training exercise set up by our sect for our Qi Refining stage disciples. As for how valuable those Qi Refining stage cultivation resources are, in my opinion, they're just so-so. It's just that your cultivation level is not high enough, and this level of trial is too much for you."

Seeing that the two had no objections, Uncle Yun casually explained to Zhou Ping, which made the latter feel somewhat flattered.

Qin Changqing, standing to the side, also noticed something amiss. He wondered why his usually carefree and easygoing Uncle Yun was behaving differently towards Zhou Ping. However, not one to pry, he didn't press the matter further and instead inquired about the transfer mission.

"Uncle-Master Yun, when may I set off?"

"Don't rush. There's still one item in this batch of supplies that we haven't gathered yet. It will probably take another ten days to half a month. You should rest in the Spirit Mountain Realm for a while. I'll leave this matter to Junior Nephew Zhou."

Uncle Yun waved his hand to reassure Qin Changqing, then turned to Zhou Ping and said casually,

"Junior Nephew Zhou, there is another batch of pills that you need to go to the Pill Spirit Shop in Jiyun City to pick up. Only after you return can Junior Nephew Qin bring them back to the sect."

"Please enlighten me, Uncle Yun, I will retrieve it on time."

Upon hearing that he was to go to the market in Jiyun City to retrieve elixirs, Zhou Ping naturally had no reason not to complete such a simple task, so he readily agreed.

"This batch of pills should arrive at Danlingfang in seven days. You only need to bring them back within ten days. There should be plenty of time. You can decide how to arrange it yourself."

Uncle Yun tossed a receipt to Zhou Ping and then started drinking by himself, ignoring the two of them.

Zhou Ping and Qin Changqing bid farewell to their Uncle-Master Yun and left his residence together. After exiting the gate, Zhou Ping opened the receipt to see what kind of pills his mission was to retrieve.

"Blood-coagulating pill?"

A questioning voice came from Zhou Ping's mouth. He frowned and thought for a moment, seemingly having never heard of such a pill before.

Qin Changqing, who was walking in front, paused slightly after hearing the name of the pill. His calm face suddenly turned cold, and even his handsome eyebrows furrowed slightly. He seemed to understand why Uncle Yun had entrusted this matter to Zhou Ping.

"Does Senior Brother Qin know about this pill?"

Since they had just left Uncle Yun's courtyard and were not far apart, Zhou Ping sensed Qin Changqing's unusual behavior and casually asked him about it.

"You'd better not inquire too much about this pill."

After leaving behind a cold remark, Qin Changqing flew away, leaving Zhou Ping standing there dumbfounded.

"This Senior Brother Qin is truly unpredictable."

After muttering something under his breath, Zhou Ping didn't get the answer he wanted, so he walked dejectedly towards his residence.

Seven days later,

Following Uncle Yun's instructions, Zhou Ping arrived at the entrance of Danling Workshop, located in the inner city of Jiyun City.

Looking at the simple and elegant dark bronze plaque, he checked it again before finally feeling reassured and walking inside.

"Esteemed immortal master, what kind of elixir would you like to purchase?"

As soon as Zhou Ping entered, a smiling, capable-looking waiter appeared in front of him, bending down to lead him inside.

Zhou Ping nodded calmly without speaking. After entering, he first looked around at the surroundings. Seeing that it wasn't much different from other shops, he then spoke, taking advantage of the slightly bewildered expression of the shop assistant.

"Please inform them that I need to see your manager."

Upon hearing this, the shop assistant was slightly startled, realizing he had a job coming up. He quickly gestured and led Zhou Ping into a side room.

"Immortal Master, please rest here for a moment. I will go and invite Manager Wu right away."

Before long, a spirited old man entered the side hall. Zhou Ping sensed him and knew that he was a mid-stage cultivator at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage.

"Fellow Daoist, what brings you to see me by name?"

Shopkeeper Wu slowly sized up Zhou Ping. Seeing that he was not young, yet was only a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he was slightly disappointed. However, he hid this emotion well and maintained a warm and friendly demeanor on the surface.

Although Zhou Ping didn't know what the other person was thinking, he could still sense a casual tone in their voice.

"Manager Wu, please take a look."

Zhou Ping clearly didn't want to beat around the bush anymore. He had a mission to complete and wasn't there as a customer, so he naturally skipped the haggling and probing process.

"This is......"

Manager Wu took the receipt and a cyan token from Zhou Ping's hand. His smile immediately vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

After only a moment, and after carefully checking, he stood up and hurriedly apologized.

"This old man was truly blind; I never imagined it was a distinguished guest of Emperor Xuanzong coming to collect medicine. Please forgive my negligence!"

"It's alright, it's alright. I've come here to collect the medicine as instructed by my martial uncle. I wonder if Danlingfang has prepared it yet?"

When Zhou Ping saw that the other party immediately changed his demeanor after learning his identity, he couldn't help but find it amusing.

Although they were using the sect's name to make a big show of things, the other party's attitude was indeed much more comfortable for Zhou Ping than when they first met.

"Ready! Ready! We're just waiting for our distinguished guest, Emperor Xuanzong, to come and collect it!"

Manager Wu replied with bows and scrapes, completely lacking the otherworldly and detached air of a cultivator he had at the beginning.