Quickly, a disciple who reacted faster jogged over, and respectfully answered, "R-Reporting, my lord, these are just debris stones. The Blood Rock Crystal Stones that were sorted out were taken by Lord Tian this morning."
Zhou Qing listened and lightly replied with an "Oh," then pretended to continue asking, "Where is Old Tian now?"
"Refining the Thunderous Golden Toad in the house..." The disciple responded instinctively, then immediately realized and shut his mouth quickly.
The lord in front of him looked somewhat familiar, and gave off an invisible sense of pressure.
It must be one of the prodigies sent by the sect for a mission.
Moreover, calling Lord Tian "Old Tian" suggested they knew each other well.
But it seemed like Lord Tian didn’t know this person was coming. If a wrong word led to the benefits of the Thunderous Golden Toad being shared by others, he would be in big trouble.
Hearing this, Zhou Qing finally understood. Then, he feigned an expression of having known all along, continuing to ask unhurriedly, "Is it the half that was dug out from Spirit Skull Mountain?"
Upon hearing this, the few disciples finally relaxed.
Turns out this lord knew everything, and at this point, they didn’t dare to hide anything and nodded in agreement.
"That thing is worthless to absorb. Even if you give him ten more of those, he still won’t break through!" Zhou Qing sneered, with a face full of disdain.
The few disciples smiled awkwardly. It seemed this lord was quite familiar with Lord Tian. Could it be an old friend passing by to give a surprise?
One of them immediately put on a flattering smile and said, "Lord Tian is now at the peak of the mid Nascent Soul Realm, just a step away from the late stage. Maybe refining the Thunderous Golden Toad this time will help him advance further."
Since they were old friends, of course, some flattering words were necessary.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing laughed immediately.
The advantage of the Four Flowers Gathering at the Crown lies in its complete overpowering of others in the same realm, making cross-realm battles a breeze.
When he first broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, he could easily crush mid-stage opponents; now, it went without saying.
"What a pity, if only he was at the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. At least I could have a good exercise. Lead the way!"
Zhou Qing became assured and spoke with a tone of slight regret.
The disciple speaking earlier nodded repeatedly, immediately saying, "This way, my lord, please!"
With that, he led the way in front, guiding Zhou Qing towards where Tian Xiong was.
Watching Zhou Qing leave, the rest exchanged glances, looking puzzled.
This lord seemed very familiar, but where had they seen him before? Logic said he should be a prominent figure in the sect, but they had only been transferred here from the mountain gate two months ago.
"Are there no other Nascent Souls at the Blood Rock Mine?"
"Reporting, my lord, recently our sect’s mines have been repeatedly raided by the Three Sects alliance, with significant losses. The other lords have rushed to support quickly."
"I see, then he’ll do. Making do is fine."
"One can tell that my lord and Lord Tian haven’t seen each other in a long time. I get it, usually when old friends reunite, they first have a fight and then laugh heartily and give each other a hug."
"You’re mistaken. This is our first meeting."
"Impossible. You’ve even taken out a rusty Broken Sword. Clearly, you don’t want to hurt an old friend, just a symbolic gesture..."
The disciple had just said this when he suddenly felt something was off, his heart skipping a beat as a bad premonition surged in.
He instinctively looked at Zhou Qing more closely and suddenly remembered something, his face turning pale instantly.
He hastily and clumsily pulled out a jade slip from his Storage Bag, opening it with trembling hands.
A quick glance, and his eyes were immediately filled with terror, his legs uncontrollably starting to tremble.