A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

In the following days, Zhou Ping repeatedly adjusted the dosage of "Qi Mechanism Guide" and finally grasped the key to suppressing Qingyuan True Qi.

With this, Zhou Ping, who had stored a large number of high-quality pills, could finally begin his cultivation without restraint.

At this point, almost seven months had passed since his straightforward conversation with Jin Jingtian.

Zhou Ping had already delayed his breakthrough to the fourth level of the Qingyuan Technique by four months under the pretext that the medicines provided by the Jin Clan were of inconsistent quality. Now, he only has a maximum of nine months left to use as he sees fit.

When the time comes, he must break through to the fourth level of the Azure Origin Technique; there is no reason to delay any longer.

Zhou Ping is now very clear that the fourth level of the Qingyuan Technique is a crucial milestone, and both the Jin Clan and Jin Jingtian are waiting for this day to arrive.

By then, whether he becomes a son-in-law of the Jin family or faces Jin Jingtian's unknown schemes, Zhou Ping will have no way out.

Therefore, he must carefully plan the remaining time and try to improve his survival skills as much as possible before danger strikes.

Now, with the cover of "Qi Mechanism Guidance", the cultivation speed of Qingyuan Gong will advance by leaps and bounds, and it should be able to break through to the fourth level in a short time without worrying about being discovered by the Jin Clan and Jin Jingtian.

Without the subsequent cultivation methods of Qingyuan Gong, Zhou Ping could then devote all his time to cultivating other martial arts.

After more than half a year of training, the Floating Shadow Step has achieved some initial success. It is believed that after another nine months of training, it should be able to slightly approach the threshold of the Great Completion Realm.

As for the Intercepting Wind Hand and the Wandering Soul Needle that he obtained two months ago, although their destructive power is astonishing, they are extremely difficult to cultivate, and Zhou Ping is still in the exploration stage.

If both can reach the minor completion level in nine months, it will be a powerful tool for Zhou Ping.

As for other martial arts manuals, Zhou Ping plans to visit Ma Liuyun when he has time. If there are no techniques that can provide a huge improvement in a short period of time, he will not continue to practice new martial arts manuals.

He understood the principle of not trying to do too much at once, and focusing his remaining time on cultivating the existing techniques was the most important thing for Zhou Ping.

Besides practicing these techniques, Zhou Ping also gained great inspiration from the several poison manuals he brought back from Ma Liuyun.

If he could master even a fraction of the methods of using poison within, and combine that with the peerless poisonous herbs cultivated by agarwood, he would be fully capable of concocting extremely poisonous substances that are beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Zhou Ping was very interested in the strange and unusual methods of poison making in the manual, especially the several rare poisons that were highlighted in it. These poisons were incredibly lethal and had a great reputation in the martial arts world.

Unfortunately, the poisonous herbs required for its refining are extremely rare, consisting of very old and unusual items. Therefore, very few people in the world are able to successfully refine it.

Zhou Ping, who possessed agarwood, looked at the refining methods with shining eyes, his heart filled with anticipation.

.......

In the main hall, Zhou Ping looked at Jin Jingtian, who had placed his hand on his meridians, and felt uneasy.

This was the first time he had used "Qi Guiding" in front of the Jin Clan Chief, so he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Don't be nervous. The slowdown in your cultivation speed is not your fault. The clan has been doing its best to collect various medicines."

After checking Zhou Ping's cultivation progress, Jin Jingtian casually patted him on the shoulder, his expression remaining unchanged.

Seeing this, Zhou Ping secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the other party really couldn't detect the changes in his true energy and simply attributed the slowdown in cultivation to the medicine.

"This disciple will certainly strive to cultivate diligently and will not let the clan leader down!"

Zhou Ping, looking utterly loyal, bowed to Jin Jingtian.

Jin Jingtian seemed not to hear, and slowly sat down on the rattan chair at the entrance of the main hall, gazing at the distant green peaks, lost in thought.

He was already used to Zhou Ping's blind loyalty. Although he knew that Zhou Ping was not as simple as he seemed, he did not intend to expose him.

Faced with absolute strength and strategy, these inferior disguises are nothing more than petty tricks and are not worth mentioning.

"You've been going to the inner gate quite often lately. Can you tell me what you've been doing?"

Jin Jingtian suddenly spoke, asking in a leisurely tone.

"I would like to inform the clan leader that I have some free time and would like to learn more about medicine and pharmacology to see if it can slightly improve my cultivation speed."

Zhou Ping calmly delivered his prepared remarks and then fell silent.

"Oh? Any progress?"

Jin Jingtian seemed to have become interested and turned to ask Zhou Ping.

"No... This disciple has studied many pharmacology books and found that the efficacy of a medicine mainly depends on the age of the herb; there are no other shortcuts."

Zhou Ping, looking ashamed, uttered a few ambiguous words, feeling somewhat nervous.

He felt that Jin Jingtian was acting strangely today. In the past, after checking his cultivation progress, he would only occasionally share a few cultivation tips with him, and otherwise he would just let him leave.

Today, the other party actually asked about his whereabouts during this period. It seems that, just as Zhou Ping had expected, someone had been secretly monitoring his every move.

A mocking smile appeared on Jin Jingtian's lips as he continued,

"I can see that you are a filial person. You send most of your salary home every month. From now on, you should cultivate diligently at the Green Bamboo Sect and not let your family worry about you."

"This disciple will heed the clan leader's teachings!"

Zhou Ping bowed his head in respect, but a chilling glint appeared in his eyes.

Jin Jingtian brought up his family again in front of him, which was a blatant warning, indicating that the other party was somewhat dissatisfied with his performance during this period.

Just then, a slender figure walked in from the outer courtyard; it was Jin Yan, one of the five elders of the Jin clan.

Upon seeing Jin Jingtian and Zhou Ping, she first bowed gracefully to the former and greeted him as "Clan Chief," before turning her tender gaze to Zhou Ping.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Ping hurriedly cupped his hands in farewell and prepared to take his leave.

But Jin Jingtian raised his hand to stop him from doing anything further, and said something that left him speechless.

"I've left the person with you; you can decide what to do with them."

Jin Jingtian gave Jin Yan a deep look, and after saying those words, he walked out of the main hall without looking back.

Zhou Ping stood blankly in the main hall, watching Jin Jingtian gradually disappear into the distance, his face full of confusion.

Jin Yan gracefully sat down on the main seat in the hall, her usually radiant face now showing a faint trace of sorrow.

She stared blankly at the boy so close to her, then said something that made him blush.

"Little Zhou, isn't your sister beautiful?"