A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Zhou Ping put the spirit stones into his storage bag with slight disappointment. He did not expect that there would be only such a small amount of spirit stones among the relics of the fourth ancestor of the Jin Clan.

Based on his understanding of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, having tens or even hundreds of spirit stones on them is normal; they shouldn't only have this little bit.

In fact, Zhou Ping did not know that Jin Wanxuan had almost squandered his entire fortune in order to collect enough Soul-Severing Smoke.

The reason there were these remaining spirit stones was because he considered that his descendants might need some starting spirit stones, so he deliberately left them behind.

After putting away the spirit stones, Zhou Ping immediately fixed his gaze on the ancient token in his hand.

If he remembered correctly, the book he had browsed earlier contained a very detailed description of this token.

Five Mysterious Decrees!

Zhou Ping felt his hands trembling. He hadn't expected that the fourth ancestor of the Jin clan could leave behind such precious items.

With the Five Mysterious Tokens, one can directly access the Five Great Mysterious Sects, regardless of background, talent, or age!

As long as one possesses this token, one can immediately become an entry disciple of the five great sects, which can be called the path to heaven for rogue cultivators.

Zhou Ping exhaled a deep breath and flipped the token with the words "Five Profound" on it over. On the other side was a lotus-shaped pattern, lifelike and full of inexplicable Daoist charm.

It seems that Jin Wanxuan actually comes from the Qinglian Xuanzong sect, one of the five great Xuanzong sects located in Yunnan Province.

Zhou Ping's mind raced as he gently rubbed the token in his palm.

With this Five Profound Token, his path of cultivation will undoubtedly become clearer, and he will no longer need to wander aimlessly like a lost soul.

The difference between having the backing of a powerful sect and being a lone cultivator is obvious to Zhou Ping without anyone having to explain it to him.

Moreover, he was an unorthodox cultivator who stumbled upon the path of cultivation by chance. In terms of both the inheritance of cultivation techniques and the resources for cultivation, there was no comparison between the two.

Despite possessing such a heaven-defying treasure as the mysterious agarwood, Zhou Ping still found the early stages of cultivation extremely difficult.

If even a single golden spirit seed is so hard to find, he has little confidence that he could easily find other, even more precious spirit plants.

These resources are incredibly precious to independent cultivators, but to the disciples of major sects, they might just be ordinary items.

Even in the herb gardens within sects that have been passed down for countless years, they can be found everywhere.

Zhou Ping carefully placed the Five Profound Tokens back into the high-grade storage bag, instead of using the storage bag he had received from Li Jiuxi.

Following the method he had learned, he had already imprinted his divine consciousness mark on this high-grade storage bag again.

From then on, this high-end storage bag truly belonged to him alone.

After calming his excitement, Zhou Ping looked at the only remaining item on the bed: an ancient book with a green cover.

The third form of the Azure Lotus: the Lotus Shield of Luo Sheng.

As Zhou Ping turned to the first page of the ancient book, several simple and archaic characters came into view.

........

"Zhou Ping?"

At the stall of the old Taoist Mingxin, the Taoist Tongxin stared at his senior brother with a gloomy expression and recounted all the information he had obtained from the Jin Clan and the description of Zhou Ping's appearance.

Judging from the old Taoist's expression, the other party must have thought of something.

"Senior brother, among these cultivators who come and go from Guiyuan Pavilion, is there any trace of this boy?"

"I can't wait to ask," Tongxin Daoren asked.

"The name Zhou Ping is unfamiliar; I have no recollection of him."

"But your description of this boy's appearance and approximate age really reminds me of a young man."

Master Mingxin frowned slightly, recalling the transaction from a dozen days ago, and said with some uncertainty.

"Who is it?! Please tell me, senior brother. This person is the culprit who killed my disciple. If you can tell me the truth, I will be eternally grateful for your kindness!"

Upon hearing this, Tongxin Daoren's eyes immediately flashed with a dazzling blood-red light, and the hatred in his heart erupted like a volcano.

Master Mingxin stroked his beard with one hand, pondered for a moment, and then spoke solemnly.

"I don't know this boy's exact name; I only made a deal with him."

"Whether or not this person is the one the master is looking for, you will have to confirm it yourself."

"But I have one request: you must not harm the innocent, otherwise I will be implicated as well."

Eager for revenge, the Taoist Master Tongxin had already fallen into demonic ways in his quest to find Zhou Ping's whereabouts, so he quickly nodded in agreement.

As long as the murderer who killed his disciple can be found, he will agree to any oath without hesitation. Now, Tong Xin has no hope left but to avenge Liu Feng.

"A deal? Don't worry, Senior Brother, Copper Heart isn't a man of indiscriminate killing; you should know that."

"I wonder what kind of deal this boy made with you. Could you please tell me as well, Tongxin?"

The old Daoist Mingxin flipped his hand and took out a spirit stone from his storage bag, placing it in front of the Copper Heart Daoist. Then, slightly puzzled, he said...

"I bought three handwritten books from the old Taoist priest for the price of one spirit stone."

"This spirit stone was obtained from that boy. I remember it very clearly because this was the only deal I made recently."

Tongxin Daoist stared intently at the spirit stone, his breathing becoming rapid, and the anger in his eyes becoming almost tangible.

Then, he took out the remaining spirit stones from his storage bag and placed them next to the spirit stone belonging to the old Daoist Mingxin.

"this......."

The old Taoist priest Mingxin looked at the spirit stone in front of him with a look of surprise in his eyes.

The spirit stones that Tongxin Daoist took out were almost identical to the one he had obtained from Zhou Ping.

It should be known that there are countless spirit stones in the cultivation world. Due to the different mining forces and production areas, most of them will have some subtle differences, and each batch of spirit stones mined will also have its own characteristics.

The spirit stones in front of us, upon closer inspection, clearly come from the same mineral vein.

Although this situation is rare, these seasoned veterans who have been in the cultivation world for decades can still clearly distinguish it.

"To be honest, these spirit stones are all passed down from my master. They are a batch of cultivation resources left behind by my Copper Sheep Temple over countless years."

"Nowadays, it's almost impossible to find someone of the same lineage in the cultivation world!"

"Senior brother, this kid is the one I'm looking for! This spirit stone must have been stolen from your nephew through murder!"

By the end, Master Tongxin was practically grinding his teeth in anger.

The old Taoist Mingxin narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling Zhou Ping's previous words, and finally understood.

It turns out this kid was just using someone else's authority to intimidate others; the mysterious master he mentioned was a complete fabrication!

No wonder that person said when he came back that the kid only drank a pot of tea in Tianyan Town and didn't meet anyone.

It turned out he was all alone, yet he managed to fool them completely.