A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

In the main hall, Jin Jingtian stared blankly at the black spiritual guide on his wrist. His aged face had turned completely bloodless, and he looked somewhat similar to Mo Liancheng.

"Clan leader, your disciple has arrived as promised. Please enlighten Zhou Ping."

Zhou Ping stared intently at Jin Jingtian not far away, keeping a close watch on him while also feeling a bit surprised.

In just a few days, how could a martial arts grandmaster in his prime have turned into such a grotesque figure? What drastic change has occurred in him?

Upon hearing this, Jin Jingtian paused slightly, slowly averting his gaze. He raised a hand to stroke his aged, rough face, and a strange, cryptic voice drifted from his lips.

"Kid, do you want to become an immortal...?"

Becoming an immortal?

Zhou Ping was confused by the cryptic words and couldn't understand what the other person was saying. This was the first time Jin Jingtian had called him "kid," so he answered honestly.

"Clan leader, I don't understand what you're saying. I just want to know what instructions you have for me here today."

"Heh... what a lucky kid who doesn't know how good he has it!"

Jin Jingtian gave a bitter smile, looked up and sized Zhou Ping up and down, his expression gradually turning from indifference to fervor, his scarlet eyes flashing with greed and desire.

At this moment, Jin Jingtian's face was aged, and his eyes were bloodthirsty, like a wild beast about to devour its prey. Zhou Ping felt a chill run down his spine when he saw him, and he involuntarily took two steps back, looking on guard.

Jin Jingtian ignored his reaction and continued speaking.

"Let's start with the Qingyuan Gong..."

"You have practiced this technique for so many years, yet you still don't know its purpose. Today, I will tell you everything in detail."

"Come with me, we can talk as we walk." Jin Jingtian stood up and beckoned to him, then took the lead and walked towards the back of the main hall.

Upon hearing the name Qingyuan Gong, Zhou Ping's pupils constricted slightly. After a moment of contemplation, seeing the other party slowly walking away, he maintained a distance of about three or four people from him before quietly following behind.

After leaving the main hall, the two walked one after the other along a quiet path.

Jin Jingtian glanced sideways at Zhou Ping not far behind him. Seeing the other man's cautious and wary expression, he didn't mind and continued to leisurely discuss the previous topic.

"The Qingyuan Technique was learned by my Jin Clan's Fourth Ancestor from his master's sect more than a hundred years ago and brought back to the clan. The Fourth Ancestor's sect was a cultivation sect, which was full of cultivators rarely seen in the secular world."

"Cultivators, as the name suggests, are beings who can cultivate themselves into immortals, the ethereal gods in the eyes of us mortals..."

"The Qingyuan Technique you cultivate is a supreme cultivation method that can lead to immortality!"

On the quiet path, only Jin Jingtian's rustling footsteps could be heard. After hearing the other party's seemingly unbelievable words, Zhou Ping was immediately stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

A cultivator? The Azure Origin Ability can be cultivated to become an immortal?!

Zhou Ping remained motionless, savoring the other party's earth-shattering words. He felt as if he had been struck by lightning and was unable to recover for a long time.

Do immortals really exist in this world? A cultivation technique that can lead to immortality—no wonder it has driven the entire Jin clan mad.

If what Jin Jingtian said is true, then the Jin clan's various abnormal behaviors toward Qing Yuangong can be explained.

It's not just the Jin clan; any individual or family that obtains a secret manual that allows them to cultivate into immortals would likely act even more madly than the Jin clan.

The thought that he was actually cultivating a technique that could make him an immortal made Zhou Ping's heart pound wildly, and he became somewhat dazed.

"Follow me..."

A faint sound came from not far away, immediately waking Zhou Ping from his startled state.

Watching Jin Jingtian walk away, Zhou Ping shook his head, slowly calming himself down, and secretly began to circulate the Qingyuan True Qi within his body.

A cool sensation instantly spread throughout his body. As he carefully experienced the various extraordinary effects of the Qingyuan Technique, Zhou Ping felt as if he had rediscovered the blue energy flow in his meridians.

"Why am I the only one who can cultivate this divine technique? What is this special physique you mentioned earlier?"

Zhou Ping gradually caught up with Jin Jingtian's pace, while maintaining a certain distance.

"Because you have spiritual roots. To become a cultivator, you must have spiritual roots. Only in this way can you absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into your body and cultivate to become an immortal."

When Jin Jingtian said this, a rare hint of melancholy appeared in his tone.

With his talent and skill in martial arts, he could be considered a prodigy of his time, if not the best of all time. He reached the level of Grandmaster at a young age, which made countless people take notice.

But on the path of cultivating immortality, he was just like all the mediocre mortals, lacking spiritual roots and utterly useless.

This filled him with an unprecedented sense of shame. He did not accept this arrangement by fate, and he refused to submit!

Zhou Ping seemed to sense the resentment in the other person's tone. After a moment of silence, he continued to ask.

"With so many members and disciples from the Jin Clan and the Qingzhu Sect, why am I the only one with this so-called spiritual root?"

"You're so ungrateful... Do you think spiritual roots are so easy to find? Describing them as one in ten thousand wouldn't be an exaggeration!"

"If everyone could cultivate immortality, then the legends of immortals wouldn't be so vague and unrealistic..."

As the two continued forward, they finally reached the end of the path, where a bluestone road formed by the convergence of several smaller paths came into Zhou Ping's view.

The road is very wide, but you can see all the way to the end.

Zhou Ping could smell the incense wafting from the end of the bluestone path from afar. With his superior vision, a huge ancestral hall came into view.

We've arrived at the ancestral hall of the Jin clan.

After pondering for a long time, Zhou Ping finally voiced the question that had been lingering in his heart.

"Jin Clan... or rather, Clan Chief, do you have some other ulterior motive towards me?"

Jin Jingtian, who was walking ahead, paused, turned around to look at him, and then readily admitted it.

"Indeed, I do have another request. In addition to the Qingyuan Technique, my great-uncle had something else sealed here, and only your help can open it."

"You need me to open it? It must require the help of the Qingyuan Technique, right?"

Zhou Ping was somewhat skeptical of his words. If only he could be effective, then it must be related to the Qingyuan Technique.

"Yes, only those who have cultivated the Qingyuan Technique to the fourth level can open it."

A hint of admiration appeared in Jin Jingtian's eyes. The other party had grown from a clueless child in his teens into such a meticulous and calm young man. The effect of Qingyuan Gong was self-evident.

After listening, Zhou Ping suddenly understood. No wonder the other party had been working so hard to raise his Qingyuan Gong cultivation level to the fourth level, sparing no effort to do so. So that was the reason.

Zhou Ping pretended to understand, but in his heart he became even more suspicious of the other party's intentions.

If it were really as simple as he said, why would he use the safety of his own family to blackmail them?

Be extra careful once you're inside...

----------------

Dear readers, please read on, add to your favorites, recommend, and vote with monthly tickets!

If you don't have anything to say, leaving a comment would be great too!