A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

After returning to Jinyuan, Zhou Ping habitually headed towards Cuifeng Villa.

He had nothing else important to do besides cultivating, so he strolled along leisurely, not in a hurry.

As Zhou Ping passed by Yunlan Villa, where Jin Yan lived, he glanced inside casually.

The small courtyard was filled with all sorts of flowers and plants, neatly arranged, making it clear that the owner was a flower lover.

Just as he was about to walk past, a voluptuous and beautiful woman came out of the house.

She was dressed in plain clothes, her long, thick black hair was casually draped over her shoulders, and she was carrying a long-spouted water bottle filled with water.

It was Jin Yan, the elder of the Jin clan, whom I hadn't seen for some time.

After Jin Yan came out, she immediately saw Zhou Ping standing in front of the door, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on her elegant face.

This unadorned appearance, unlike her usual bright and glamorous look, possessed a refined and ethereal beauty in Zhou Ping's eyes.

Before he could even greet him, the other person smiled slightly at him and then waved.

"Little Zhou, could you help my sister water the flowers?"

Upon hearing the other woman speak, Zhou Ping hastily bowed. Three years had passed, and this woman had become even more radiant and beautiful.

"Greetings, Elder Jin! I dare not disobey your orders!"

"It's been so long, and you still keep calling me 'elder, elder,' it makes you sound so old! From now on, call me 'sister'!"

Jin Yan frowned slightly, pretending to be angry.

"Yes, Elder Jin!"

Zhou Ping hurriedly agreed, cupping his hands and bowing his head even lower.

Seeing this, Jin Yan rolled her eyes slightly and stopped worrying about it.

"Alright, alright, come in."

Upon hearing the other party's instructions, Zhou Ping hurriedly took the spray bottle from her hand, but his mind was a little blank.

This woman was so beautiful and charming, her mature and alluring demeanor left Zhou Ping momentarily stunned, unsure how to react.

Just as he was at a loss and his mind was in a panic, a wisp of cyan true energy flowed out from his dantian, passed through several major acupoints, and rushed straight to the Niwan acupoint on his head.

A refreshing sensation instantly spread through Zhou Ping's mind, restoring his clarity of mind immediately.

Zhou Ping was secretly alarmed and shifted his gaze away from Jin Yan, not daring to look at her again.

Jin Yan had no idea what he had gone through, but she saw that he panicked slightly when he saw her, but quickly returned to his usual sullen demeanor.

Zhou Ping secretly circulated his Qingyuan Gong, his true energy flowing throughout his body. Under Jin Yan's beautiful gaze, he carefully watered the flowers.

"Brother Zhou, you've been with the Jin Clan for three years now, haven't you?"

Jin Yan watched his retreating figure, and suddenly asked, as if she had thought of something.

"Reporting to the Elder, it has been three years."

"Three years...it's been so long in the blink of an eye. Thinking back to when I picked you up, you were just a greenhorn."

Jin Yan gazed at the boy before her, slightly lost in thought, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes. Before he could react, she asked softly,

What are your impressions of the Jin people?

Zhou Ping's arm, which was watering the flowers, stiffened for a moment, then returned to normal, his face replaced by a look of surprise.

"This disciple is humbled. My sect has shown me great kindness, and the Jin clan treats me like their own disciple. I wonder why the elder would ask such a question?"

After hearing Zhou Ping's answer, Jin Yan nodded slightly, her expressionless face revealing no emotion.

"You are not a fool. You probably already have some doubts about the Jin Clan's investment in you."

"Regardless of whether my answer just now was sincere or not, I just want you to know that the Jin clan does indeed have designs on you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping trembled. Before he could think further, Jin Yan continued,

"You will know everything when the time comes, but I assure you that the Jin clan has no ill intentions towards you, and their request will not cause you any harm."

"In fact... if you're willing to cooperate, it might be a good thing for you."

At this moment, Zhou Ping had already stopped watering the plants. After the other person finished speaking, he turned around and once again respectfully performed a disciple's salute.

Regardless of whether what Kim Yeon said is true or not, at least one thing is certain: his previous guess was correct.

The Jin clan did indeed have some unknown scheme against themselves, or rather against themselves who had cultivated the Qingyuan Technique.

Although Jin Yan said that the Jin clan did not have any ill intentions towards him, Zhou Ping knew very well that this friendly facade was only on the premise that he would not resist.

If he learns of the Jin Clan's intentions later and refuses to cooperate, he will have no idea what kind of danger is hidden behind that mask.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Ping went through the matter in his mind. After analyzing it, he deliberately showed a confused look on his face, hesitated slightly, and then bowed again.

"Although I don't quite understand Elder Jin's words, I do understand the principle of repaying a small kindness with a great one."

"If the sect or the Jin clan ever finds me of any use in the future, I, Zhou Ping, will dedicate myself to their service until my dying breath!"

After hearing this, Jin Yan shook her head helplessly.

"Get up. How many times have you bowed in this short time?"

"I've told you everything I need to say. As for things like death and sudden death, I'll keep those to myself. You'll understand soon enough, and then you'll know whether I've been lying to you or not."

"Alright, go back now. If others see this, they'll be mad at me again."

Seeing Zhou Ping's silent and wooden demeanor, Jin Yan felt somewhat disheartened and waved him out of the courtyard.

After leaving Yunlan Villa, Zhou Ping kept replaying his conversation with Jin Yan in his mind, and hurriedly returned to his residence.

His mind was in turmoil. Jin Yan's words made him realize that his little schemes could not possibly be hidden from the Jin clan.

Jin Jingtian and those elders of the Jin clan, who are able to control the entire Jin clan and the Qingzhu Sect, are all cunning and shrewd individuals.

Even knowing that Zhou Ping might develop a rebellious mentality, she had no intention of exposing him and continued to let him take whatever he wanted from the Jin Clan in terms of cultivation.

What does this tell us?

This shows that the Jin clan has him cornered, and whether he likes it or not, they are confident that they can get what they want from him.

Thinking of all this, Zhou Ping's heart sank to the bottom. Compared with seasoned veterans like Jin Jingtian, he was still too young.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Zhou Ping forced himself to practice the Qingyuan Gong, trying to calm his mind so that he could make the most correct judgment.

"For now, we can only trust Jin Yan. As one of the five elders of the Jin clan, she must have some knowledge of this matter."

"She said the Jin clan doesn't have any bad intentions, so she probably wasn't lying to me."

"If you wanted to deceive me, you wouldn't have needed to tell me all this. You could have just kept me in the dark. There was no need for all this trouble."

Zhou Ping gently exhaled a breath of stale air, slowly opened his tightly closed eyes, and after thinking it through, he stopped worrying.

Now it seems that if he can cultivate the Qingyuan Technique in a down-to-earth manner, the Jin Clan will not have any improper thoughts about him. On the contrary, they will do their best to remove all obstacles to his cultivation.

In that case, his current goal is to work hard to improve his cultivation and prepare as many trump cards as possible for himself!

Hopefully, Duan Yu will bring me some surprises next time we meet...