A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

That night, Zhou Ping tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. The events of the day felt like a dream, and Jin Yan's every smile and gesture lingered in his mind.

He didn't know how he got back to Cuifeng Villa. He only knew that Jin Yan left in a hurry after saying those words, leaving him standing blankly in the main hall for a long time.

If that's the case, then it's pretty good.

After thinking all this through, Zhou Ping suddenly sat up abruptly and slapped his face hard with both hands, trying to clear his head.

Am I going crazy? I've actually started fantasizing about living as a son-in-law of the Jin family.

He got up and washed his face with water. Looking at his ordinary face reflected in the water, he couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

How could a woman as outstanding as Kim Yeon possibly be interested in him?

Zhou Ping secretly warned himself that this was all just a transaction. The Jin Clan wanted the Qingyuan Gong, while he himself was doing it for the safety of his family!

Then he went to the courtyard, looked at the bright moon in the sky, and suddenly felt homesick.

He has been away from home for more than three years now, and has grown from a little kid into a strong and healthy young man.

I wonder if my father's health is any better. The salary he sends home every month should be enough for him to live a comfortable and peaceful life.

The distant mountain peaks were faintly visible under the bright moonlight, and Zhou Ping could vaguely see the trees on the peaks because of his cultivation of the Qingyuan Gong.

Just as Zhou Ping was gazing absently into the distance, a black dot-like shadow suddenly landed on a distant mountain peak and entered his field of vision.

He immediately rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things, and then focused intently on the dark figure.

A human figure! It must be a human figure!

At that moment, Zhou Ping felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had seen a ghost.

Is it even a person? How could a person fall from such a height directly to the mountaintop?

Zhou Ping's heart immediately began to pound wildly. He forced himself to carefully retreat back into the house and peek at the figure through the crack in the door.

Under the moonlight, on the distant mountain peak, a dark figure stood motionless, its features obscured by the distance.

But Zhou Ping's intuition told him that the figure was also quietly watching the area where he was, looking down over the entire Jin Yuan!

Zhou Ping leaned against the wall without moving, trying to steady his breathing. He wasn't sure if the other person could see him, nor was he sure what the other person was looking for.

He was now like a rabbit being watched by an eagle, filled with nothing but fear. He felt as if a pair of eyes were watching him, and this eerie feeling was clearly transmitted to his mind through his keen senses.

After about half an incense stick's time, the feeling finally subsided. Zhou Ping slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling that his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

He tilted his body slightly and slowly moved his eyes toward the crack in the door. The mountain peak was still shrouded in the white moonlight, but the strange figure on the distant mountaintop had vanished without a trace.

The evening breeze gently blew across Zhou Ping's sweat-drenched forehead, bringing a touch of coolness while also making him feel momentarily disoriented, as if everything that had just happened was a dream.

......

"I never expected it to be a damaged first-level spiritual vein. This Jin Clan patriarch certainly knows how to pick a location..."

"A disciple of the Azure Lotus Profound Sect... Hehehe, I didn't expect this brat to actually run into a big fish!"

"Let these two worms fight it out first... I hope the cultivation world won't target me for picking up corpses."

A figure sped through the continuous mountain range, using the "Wind Control Technique" to quickly disappear into the vast mountains.

......

The next morning, Zhou Ping went to Jin Jingtian's place to report for duty as usual, but he seemed a little embarrassed when he saw him.

Fortunately, the other party acted as usual, as if nothing had happened, and checked his cultivation progress as normal before letting him leave.

On the way back, Zhou Ping was somewhat uneasy. The image of the person from last night was like a nightmare, lingering in his mind and refusing to leave.

He didn't know what kind of being it was, spying on Jin Yuan from a distant mountaintop in the dead of night. He originally wanted to tell Jin Jingtian everything he had seen, but after careful consideration, he gave up.

First, he couldn't prove to them whether what he saw really existed; that highest peak was almost impossible for a normal person to climb.

What Zhou Ping saw, however, was a figure descending from the sky onto the mountaintop, which was even more perplexing.

Furthermore, given the current relationship between the two, he is more wary than trusting, and he doesn't want to put on a show of enthusiasm only to be met with indifference.

After understanding the implications of this matter, Zhou Ping had no choice but to become secretly vigilant, deeply imprinting the strange figure from last night in his mind, and remaining on guard at all times.

He had a vague feeling that the figure and the Jin Clan would meet sooner or later.

In the following period, under the stimulation of various external pressures, Zhou Ping relied on ample medication to cultivate frantically.

He needs to break through to the fourth level of Qingyuan Gong as soon as possible before he can devote himself to cultivating martial arts manuals and practicing concocting poisons.

Finally, after twenty days, under the influence of the powerful effects of a large number of "Dragon Beard Pills" and "Black Scale Pills", Zhou Ping successfully broke through to the fourth level of the Qingyuan Technique.

As soon as he entered the fourth floor, Zhou Ping was completely stunned by the changes in himself.

He felt as if he had been reborn, and his five senses were suddenly enhanced to an incredible level.

In his perception, the whole world became more vivid and brighter, and his vision became more open and clear. Distant views that he could only vaguely see in the past now seemed to be right in front of him.

His hearing had been enhanced to an abnormal level; he could even blush as he heard Jin Yan taking a bath at Yunlan Villa.

Everything was so novel and wonderful, making him realize for the first time that Qingyuan Gong was so unique.

Although Zhou Ping's five senses had improved somewhat after cultivating to the first three levels, the difference between those and his current state was like heaven and earth.

He looked up at the distant mountain peaks, where the flowers, grasses, and trees growing on them were no longer a blurry expanse of green; now he could see them all clearly.

Zhou Ping even felt that if the strange figure from that night were to reappear, he would be able to make out its general appearance.

Besides the tremendous improvement in his five senses, his body has also become lighter and more agile. The movement techniques that were once a little strenuous in the Floating Shadow Step can now be performed with ease, without any of the awkwardness he used to have.

Zhou Ping savored the wonderful feeling of being in control of everything; he could clearly sense all the movements within a radius of several dozen feet.

Now he finally understood why the Jin Clan was so obsessed with the Qingyuan Technique. They had only just broken through to the fourth level, yet such an astonishing change had already occurred.

What if we reach the fifth, sixth, or even ninth floor?

Zhou Ping could hardly believe it.