Chapter 27: Fellow Travelers

Inside a cave dwelling.

Blue spiritual power circulated incessantly through Li Qing's body.

After completing a full cycle, his aura began to settle into tranquility.

Today was the day to depart for the sect mission.

Li Qing slowly withdrew the spiritual power from his body, left the cave dwelling, and headed toward the Internal Affairs Hall.

When he arrived at the plaza in front of the Internal Affairs Hall, he found that many outer disciples were already standing there.

Most were standing to the side, waiting for the arrival of the sect representatives.

Li Qing took a quick glance; there were about a dozen disciples standing there.

He had previously made private inquiries regarding this mission.

The sect organized such external missions every year.

In the Thousand Realms Archipelago, aside from a few remote islands on the periphery, most islands rich in resources and spiritual items were occupied by the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect, with disciples stationed within them.

Every year, the spiritual mines being excavated were handed over at a fixed time.

Ordinary outer disciples like Li Qing were basically responsible for some of the common spiritual mines.

Their destination this time was Huangyu Island, a large island located on the outskirts of the Thousand Realms Archipelago that was rich in spiritual mines.

In terms of area, Huangyu Island was considered a medium-to-large island within the archipelago, and it possessed a Tier 2 spiritual mine called Azurite.

In addition to this, there was a cluster of small islands surrounding Huangyu Island.

These scattered islands were distributed around the perimeter of the main island.

Due to the terrain, most of the surrounding islands were rich in a common Tier 1 spiritual mine known as Warm Jade.

This mineral, called Warm Jade, could barely be classified as a Tier 1 spiritual mine.

Its purpose was not for weapon forging, but was primarily used for the construction of important buildings.

The effect of Warm Jade allowed the surrounding area of a building to remain like spring throughout the four seasons, and it also had a slight effect on gathering spiritual energy.

Li Qing's gaze swept across the plaza.

He discovered that his cultivation level was actually among the lowest.

Among the dozen or so disciples, several were outer disciples at the late stage of Qi Refinement; the rest were at the middle stage.

However, it appeared that only a few disciples were at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, while the rest were at the sixth layer—the peak of the middle stage.

Most of these figures carried an arrogant demeanor.

At a glance, it was clear that many were children of prominent families or individuals with significant backgrounds.

Just as Li Qing was lost in thought, he suddenly saw a familiar figure appear in the plaza.

Mu Qing walked in from one side.

She was currently wearing an elegant cyan Taoist robe, which made her slender figure appear even taller and more captivating.

Upon appearing, Mu Qing greeted several of the late-stage Qi Refinement disciples standing in front. Seeing this, those outer disciples hurriedly returned the greeting.

The other arrogant outer disciples also took the initiative to bow upon seeing Mu Qing.

Standing at a distance, Li Qing watched this scene with a calm expression.

"It seems the family behind Mu Qing is even more powerful than I imagined," Li Qing thought to himself.

After all, Mu Qing was only at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement; if her family weren't powerful, others wouldn't treat her with such attitude.

A moment later.

Mu Qing walked toward him with a smile.

"What a coincidence, Fellow Daoist Li. I didn't expect you to be performing this mission as well," Mu Qing said with a smile as she approached.

"Indeed, I didn't expect to run into you here, Fellow Daoist Mu," Li Qing replied with a smile.

"I didn't realize you had also taken this sect mission."

"You know, I actually had to find a clan brother; it was only with his help that I was assigned this task."

Mu Qing looked at Li Qing with a hint of doubt in her eyes.

Those assigned to such missions were usually people with connections.

She had long since investigated Li Qing's background.

Ever since his parents passed away in the inner sect, she had never seen anyone helping him.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have reached a point where even a Foundation Establishment Pill was being targeted by others.

"I was assigned this mission by the senior brother in charge of tasks as soon as I entered the Internal Affairs Hall."

Li Qing did not hide the process of how he received the mission.

He intended to use this opportunity to see if he could obtain any useful information from Mu Qing.

"Oh?"

The doubt in Mu Qing's eyes deepened slightly.

"I wonder which fellow daoist you are grouped with, and what specific tasks you are responsible for?" Mu Qing continued to ask.

"I am paired with a senior brother named Jiao Yujian. He said we are heading out to carry out the task of collecting Warm Jade."

After speaking, Li Qing turned his gaze back to Mu Qing.

Sure enough, when Mu Qing heard the name Jiao Yujian, her eyes flickered noticeably, suggesting she knew the man.

Li Qing remained silent, continuing to look at Mu Qing as if waiting for her words.

Seeing this, Mu Qing hesitated slightly before parting her red lips and saying, "I know a bit about this fellow daoist. He is a late-stage cultivator at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement."

"And..."

Mu Qing paused before continuing, "And it is said that this person has a close relationship with Wei Xuan."

"As expected, Wei Xuan is the one pulling the strings."

Li Qing's eyes flickered slightly.

Things were indeed not that simple.

This was likely Wei Xuan's true intention—deliberately pairing him with Jiao Yujian.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you should stay vigilant."

"The words my clan brother said previously remain valid..."

After saying this, Mu Qing walked to the side.

Even now, she had not given up on the Foundation Establishment Pill in Li Qing's hands.

In truth, she had her own difficulties.

The clan brother she had asked for help had a status in the clan that she could not compare to, and she did not dare to offend him.

Moreover, she wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to that clan brother.

Mu Qing's status within her clan was far from as glamorous as it appeared on the surface.

Her clan was a large family within the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect, with more than one Golden Core cultivator.

But since it was a clan, it meant the internal order was divided by bloodline and talent.

She was born from a branch with no status whatsoever, unable to be compared to the noble members of the main branch.

To make matters worse, her talent was merely an ordinary mid-grade spiritual root, which held little value for the clan.

Currently, she could only rely on her beauty to handle various trivial matters for the family.

Her deliberate attempt to please that main-branch clan brother was also to advance her position toward the core of the family.

Only in this way could her path to cultivation become smoother.

Beneath her beautiful exterior, she also possessed a heart seeking the Dao.

Mu Qing cast a beautiful glance at Li Qing in the distance.

The information he revealed was also a good thing for her.

As long as Wei Xuan continued to deliberately cause trouble for that man, the man might eventually be unable to endure and thus sell the sect's Foundation Establishment Pills.

When that time came, she would have the chance to profit from it.

Seeing Li Qing continue to sit cross-legged with eyes as calm as still water, Mu Qing couldn't help but shake her head secretly.

That Fellow Daoist Li was merely an individual of ordinary talent; such talent and strength held no status whatsoever within the sect.

Facing Wei Xuan's suppression, he could only endure it.

Even if someone in the sect knew about this, they would not step forward on his behalf.