Mortal: Starting by joining the Falling Cloud Sect

After leaving the pavilion, Song Yu was about to take Zhou Qing to Liuying Courtyard, where he would live on Baifeng Peak.

The girl in the pink dress had been waiting outside the pavilion, so Song Yu brought her along as well.

The three of them rode on a silk handkerchief and flew to a small courtyard.

The courtyard is nestled against the mountain and beside the water, giving it a tranquil feel that is secluded from the world.

"This used to be my residence, but after I reached the Foundation Establishment stage, I built my own cave dwelling in the Yunmeng Mountains, and this place was abandoned. You can cultivate here. This is the location of my cave dwelling. If you have any questions about cultivation, you can come and find me."

As he spoke, Song Yu handed a jade pendant to Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing accepted the jade pendant with both hands.

"Thank you very much, Uncle Song!"

Zhou Qing's expression of gratitude was extremely sincere, because the courtyard was indeed lovely.

Located next to a spiritual vein, it is rich in spiritual energy; the scenery is beautiful and the environment is very quiet. There is usually no one to disturb him, so it is indeed the best place for Zhou Qing to live.

Since inner disciples don't need to do any miscellaneous tasks, there's nothing more to remind them of.

After saying a few words of encouragement, Song Yu left the courtyard with Song Yao.

After Song Yu and the other person disappeared from sight, Zhou Qing turned around and slowly walked into the small house in the courtyard.

There are two wooden houses in this small courtyard. The largest one is the main house, where the reception room, bedroom, and meditation room are all located.

The side room was empty, with nothing inside.

The main house was kept very clean and didn't look like it had been abandoned for a long time.

Zhou Qing lay on the wooden bed, pondering his future cultivation plan.

His storage bag still contained a considerable amount of Yellow Dragon Pills and Golden Marrow Pills.

Before he entered the sect, he was able to quickly break through his cultivation level precisely because of these two kinds of pills.

Pills that can be refined without the true fire of a pill furnace and can also be used to enhance magical power—Zhou Qing could only say, "They're amazing!"

Zhou Qing estimated that with the existing stock, it wouldn't be a problem for him to break through to the eleventh level of Qi Refining, and he might even reach the twelfth level, because he hadn't yet developed the drug resistance that Han Li had shown back then.

Besides improving his Qi Refining stage cultivation, there was another thing that Zhou Qing thought about day and night: how to obtain enough Foundation Establishment Pills as soon as possible.

He had two purposes for joining the Luoyun Sect.

One reason is to seek a stable environment for cultivation, so that one doesn't have to live like a rogue cultivator, constantly hiding and living in fear.

Secondly, one can obtain Foundation Establishment Pills through the sect and enter the Foundation Establishment stage.

Although the sects of Xi Kingdom do not have the same almost strict control over Foundation Establishment Pills as the seven sects of Yue Kingdom, very few of them can still be transferred to the territory of independent cultivators.

Obtaining even one pill requires paying a huge price.

From this perspective, obtaining the Foundation Establishment Pill within the Falling Cloud Sect is more practical.

However, Zhou Qing has only just joined the sect and is not very familiar with the affairs of Luoyun Sect. The matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill still needs to be planned slowly.

……

After a night, Zhou Qing woke up from her sleep.

After changing into the sky-blue casual clothes of the Luoyun Sect, he headed towards the sect's library, Yunji Tower.

Yesterday, Zhou Qing asked a disciple of Bai Fengfeng where he could quickly familiarize himself with the Luoyun Sect. The disciple decisively recommended a book to Zhou Qing, "The Luoyun Chronicle".

According to him, it records every aspect of the Luoyun Sect, almost everything.

After expressing his gratitude, Zhou Qing decided to go and take a look today.

Upon arriving at the place the disciple had described, Zhou Qing saw three tall and ancient pavilions before him.

Disciples frequently entered and exited two of the pavilions, while the one in the middle was much quieter.

Zhou Qing walked to the middle pavilion and was about to step inside when he heard a voice coming from inside.

"Stop right there! Don't you know the rules?"

Zhou Qing remembered the Yuelu Hall in the original novel and thought that he would have to pay spirit stones to enter, so he took out a few spirit stones and held them in his hands.

"Newcomer? The main hall doesn't require spirit stones. Show me your disciple certificate."

Zhou Qing suddenly realized what was going on, put away the spirit stones, and took out his jade token, which proved he was an inner disciple of White Phoenix Peak.

As soon as the jade tablet appeared, it was swept into the building by a surge of spiritual energy, and then a shocked voice came from inside.

"Bai Fengfeng! Come in quickly."

As they were speaking, the seemingly empty space in front of Zhou Qing suddenly distorted, revealing an opening large enough for one person to pass through.

As Zhou Qing stepped inside, he felt that the scenery before him had changed drastically.

He was now in the lobby of a circular building on the first floor.

Inside the hall, there was a fan-shaped counter, behind which stood a young man in a yellow shirt, holding the jade token that Zhou Qing had just taken out.

"My nephew is actually a disciple of Bai Feng Peak, what a blessing! I wonder which fairy from Bai Feng Peak chose him?" The young man in yellow returned the jade token to Zhou Qing after he entered, and asked with a smile and a hint of envy.

Zhou Qing couldn't discern the extent of the young man's strength, but judged him to be another Foundation Establishment stage senior uncle or master.

"As a newly initiated disciple, I was favored by Uncle-Master Song Yu of Baifeng Peak and selected to join Baifeng Peak as an inner disciple."

"Oh my, my junior disciple is so lucky! He gets to meet Fairy Song of White Phoenix Peak as soon as he enters the gate. I'm so envious."

The young man in the yellow shirt looked even more envious, and when he mentioned Song Yu, the slight sense of infatuation made him look exactly like a playboy.

Zhou Qing was speechless. Seeing that the young man in the yellow shirt was about to say something more, he hurriedly bowed and was about to go upstairs via the stairs on the right side of the counter.

Before he could take a step, he was stopped by the young man in the yellow shirt.

"Hey, junior disciple, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Only a few people come here each day; it's quite boring. Why don't you chat with your uncle a bit more? How about this: you're new to the sect, so you probably don't know the core principles of my Luoyun Sect. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll explain them to you right here, shall I?"

Zhou Qing initially wanted to refuse the young man in yellow, because he really didn't want to talk about Bai Feng Peak. However, when he heard the young man in yellow say that he would introduce him to Luo Yun Sect, he became somewhat tempted.

"Since my uncle is willing to give me some pointers, I will listen attentively."

"That's more like it." The young man in the yellow shirt chuckled, waving his hand to produce a stool, from which teacups and a teapot appeared on the table. "Sit, sit, sit. Have some tea!"

Zhou Qing was no stranger to etiquette. He took the teapot and poured a cup for the young man in the yellow shirt, then poured one for himself before sitting down on the stool.

The young man in the yellow shirt smiled kindly, took a sip of tea, and then slowly said:

"If we were to name the core of our Luoyun Sect, besides the six extraordinary peaks, these six locations would be the most important. They are the Pill Cauldron Pavilion, the Myriad Talisman Hall, the Treasure Artifact Hall, the Eight Array Tower, the Hundred Spirits Valley, and the Waterfront Pavilion."

"I'd like to hear the details," Zhou Qing added at the opportune moment.

The young man in yellow continued, "The Pill Cauldron Pavilion is where the disciples of the Falling Cloud Sect refine pills. Our sect is renowned for its pill refining skills not only because our elders are highly skilled in alchemy, but also because the Pill Cauldron Pavilion is located in a Xuan Yang Fire Land that is extremely famous in Tiannan. With this spiritual land, our sect has so many disciples who can refine pills, and the success rate is not low."

"The Hall of Ten Thousand Talismans and the Eight Arrays Tower, as their names suggest, are where disciples learn to refine talismans and research array formations. The Treasure Weapon Hall is the place for refining weapons, not far from the Pill Cauldron Pavilion. The two share a fiery ground, but it is not as large as the Pill Cauldron Pavilion. Hundred Spirits Valley nurtures many spirit beasts, including our sect's prized fifth-level spirit bird, the Azure Light Eagle. And the 'Near the Water Pavilion' is a sacred place for countless male disciples of my Falling Cloud Sect!"

"Holy Land?" Zhou Qing was taken aback. The first five places encompassed almost everything: pills, talismans, arrays, beasts, and artifacts. Could there be any place more desirable than these five?

Just as Zhou Qing was about to press for answers, he saw the young man in yellow reveal his womanizing ways again, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.

Sure enough, as the young man in yellow slowly explained, Zhou Qing learned that this "close-to-the-water pavilion" had nothing to do with cultivating immortality or comprehending the Dao. Rather, it was a place where male and female disciples of the sect could meet, chat, and get to know each other.

Moreover, because it is adjacent to Baifeng Peak, many female disciples from Baifeng Peak would go there, which explains why it is regarded as a sacred place by the male disciples.

After learning about the sect's key locations and their places, Zhou Qing felt he had gained a great deal.

After exchanging a few more words with the young man in the yellow shirt, he decisively bowed and took his leave, then went upstairs amidst the other man's reluctant gaze.