The Long Journey to Immortality

Feng Rubing was very perceptive; with a single flap of her wing, she lifted all the restrictions in the cave.

Sure enough, the many obstacles that had previously prevented Han Lu from entering the depths of the cave were all illusionary spells. Once these "obstacles" were removed, the entrance connecting the cave to the icy world of Yanzhao was not far away.

The ice phoenix cried out twice, and Han Lu understood what Feng Rubing meant.

And so, the two phoenixes spread their wings and flew out of the cave.

Led by Feng Rubing, Han Lu, transformed into a phoenix, soared through the skies above the Yanzhao region.

The heavy snow had just stopped, and many ordinary people in the Yanzhao area were sweeping the snow in front of their homes, making final preparations for the New Year, which was just a few days away.

They naturally witnessed the entire scene of the two phoenixes flying over Yanzhao City.

Ordinary people in the mortal world do not know what true spirit is; they only know that two phoenixes, which are considered auspicious in feng shui books, appeared above their heads.

Countless people looked up, admiring the beautiful scene under the winter sun.

Some people also knelt down and bowed to the two phoenixes that Feng Rubing and Han Lu had transformed into, praying for good luck in the coming year.

In the Northern Dynasty emperor's palace, servants and maids bowed and prostrated themselves, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"

The palace historian, who had been resting in the palace for nearly half a year, was even more excited. He wrote furiously, wanting to record this scene that symbolized "the prosperity of the Northern Dynasty and the imperial throne being ordained by Heaven," and then find someone to draw it into a picture to be presented to the emperor.

The mortals in the secular world noticed the two phoenixes, and the cultivators practicing in Tangmen naturally saw them as well.

Even low-level cultivators have a broader perspective than ordinary people.

Standing in front of the mountain gate, Song Zhengqi, who had just used a paper sword to call his fellow disciples to come out and watch the show, excitedly pointed to the phoenix that had just flown over his and Wen Erya's heads and said, "Senior Wen, look, it's a real spirit!"

“Hmm,” Wen Erya said, tilting her head back, “the giant phoenix’s true spirit should be the legendary Ice Phoenix, while the smaller one…”

"It should also be an Ice Phoenix." Song Zhengqi had heard many stories about true spirits.

“It’s somewhat similar, but also somewhat different,” Wen Erya said. “Looking at its colorful tail feathers, it’s more like a phantom phoenix.”

Song Zhengqi laughed and said, "I know, Da Feng must be Xiao Feng's mother, and Xiao Feng's father is Huan Feng."

Song Zhengqi's unserious jokes made Wen Erya laugh.

The two, along with other Tangmen disciples who rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, looked up to admire the sight of a true spirit descending to earth, a rare spectacle in this era.

Han Lu flew for a full fifteen minutes in the Yanzhao area before she finally got her fill of flying.

After she called out to Feng Rubing, the two phoenixes landed together and returned to their location in the cave.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Han Lu silently recited an incantation, shed her feathers, and transformed back into human form.

Unlike Feng Rubing, Han Lu, whose magical power was weak, was unable to transform the feathers on the phoenix into magical artifact-level clothing to wear.

When she transformed back into human form from a phoenix for the first time, she was naked and quickly rummaged through her storage bag for clothes, hurriedly changing them.

Seeing Han Lu busy in the snow, Feng Rubing covered her mouth and chuckled twice before congratulating her again, "Congratulations, Han Lu, on your successful harmony. Now you possess two kinds of True Phoenix bloodlines, and your future is limitless."

Han Lu quickly changed her clothes and bowed to express her gratitude. "This is all thanks to Sister Ru Bing. She not only helped me and He Ming, but also helped me successfully cultivate the 'True Phoenix Manual' that I had just begun to learn."

"If it weren't for Sister Bing's three drops of essence blood, I'm afraid I would have had to spend decades more to transform into a true spirit and walk in this world in the form of a true spirit."

"It's nothing, nothing," Feng Rubing joked. "So, Han Lu, what do you plan to call your hybrid form after transforming into a true spirit?"

Han Lu had her own idea. "Sister, didn't you say that when the True Spirit Era just began, many of our kind completed the Harmony? What were the Ice Phoenix and Illusion Phoenix called when they harmonized?"

After a moment of recollection, Feng Rubing replied, "It's called Bing Huan Feng."

The name isn't particularly original, but it's still pleasant to the ear.

“Okay, let’s call her Ice Phoenix.” Han Lu didn’t care which of the two words, “Ice” and “Phantom”, came first.

Chapter 148 Parting

Looking at Han Lu, Feng Rubing, who had merged a portion of her bloodline into Han Lu's body, even developed feelings for Han Lu that were somewhat similar to those between sisters or even mother and daughter.

Following up on the previous question, Feng Rubing asked, "Then, Han Lu, how does it feel to transform into the True Spirit Ice Illusion Phoenix?"

After hesitating for a moment, Han Lu returned to a few words: "novel, free, and full of power."

For Han Lu, who had lived as a human for decades and carried the memories of hundreds of years of humanity, transforming into a true spirit was indeed an incredibly novel experience.

This experience is even more novel than going from male to female.

Being able to soar through the sky at the ninth level of Qi Refining, it's not an exaggeration to say that one can talk about freedom.

As for strength, that's easier to understand.

Compared to the weak human body, the true spirit, with its powerful physical talents and supernatural abilities, truly deserves the title of "powerful."

After answering that question, Han Lu had some more questions. "Sister, after I transform into a true spirit, what realm of human cultivator do you think my strength would be equivalent to?"

This problem is not difficult for Feng Rubing, who has a cultivation level equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm.

She replied, "After all, the Ice Phoenix you transformed into is only in the form of a fledgling, and you cannot freely use many of the magical powers of the Illusion Phoenix and the Ice Phoenix."

"Transforming into a true spirit will have limited impact on your current cultivation level. It will only increase your physical strength several times over and give you additional resistance to illusions and water-attribute spells, and at most, the ability to fly freely."

After analyzing for a while, Feng Rubing finally made a judgment: "I estimate that he is at most at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage."

Hearing this, Han Lu was very happy. She then asked, "Then, sister, am I considered a Phoenix Clan True Spirit or a Human Clan cultivator?"

This question was a little difficult, but Feng Rubing knew why Han Lu had asked it, so the answer became much simpler.

"Some hybrids of human and true spirit bloodline identify as true spirits, while others still consider themselves human."

"But if I really have to make a judgment, based on a certain standard, I really don't know what that standard is."

"But don't worry, the Illusion Phoenix Clan was on good terms with the human race during the True Spirit Era, and you still have most of the human blood in your body. Presumably, entering the ancient cultivation secret realm left by Fang Lin and Wang Han shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Hearing this, Han Lu breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the opportunities in the ancient cultivation realm are not as significant for her improvement as they were a year ago, she has been striving for this goal for some time and naturally still hopes to enter it to explore and find treasures.

Seeing Han Lu beaming with joy as she envisioned the future, Feng Rubing felt she should pour cold water on this fledgling bird that was not yet fully grown.

She used her own experience with the True Spirit Taoist as an example to warn Han Lu to be careful.

"Especially now that your cultivation level is not high, but you possess the bloodlines of two Phoenix True Spirits, if you are targeted by a high-level cultivator with ill intentions, your life will be over."

Upon hearing this, Han Lu imagined herself in her true spirit form, being captured and used as a mount or contracted to become a spirit pet. She couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Seeing that her warning had an effect, Feng Rubing worried that she had gone too far, so she offered a few more words of comfort.

"However, from what you've said, the cultivation world is now in harmony, and there are almost no evil cultivators traveling in the Central Plains. So there's no need to worry too much about this and not dare to transform into a true spirit to fight against others during battles."

"Furthermore, although my Phoenix Clan is not as powerful as it was in the early days of the True Spirit Era, as far as I know, there were no fewer than ten Phoenix True Spirits with Nascent Soul cultivation in the world five thousand years ago, and there are probably no fewer five thousand years later."

“If someone really has designs on you, they must also consider the power of the Phoenix Clan. If the other party is truly ruthless, then tear this feather apart,” Feng Rubing stuffed a snow-white feather into Han Lu’s hand, “and I will receive the signal and come to save you immediately.”

Han Lu stroked the feather a couple of times before carefully putting it away and thanking her, "Thank you, sister."

"Also," Feng Rubing handed over a jade slip, "this is the part of the True Phoenix Manual that records the Ice Phoenix Divine Power. You can study its mysteries after you reach the Golden Core stage."

Although she didn't know why they had to wait until the Golden Core stage to study the Ice Phoenix Divine Power, Han Lu still shouted "Okay".

"Let's put everything else aside for now. Why don't you try it out and see if Heming can solve your problem of not being able to cultivate in extremely cold environments after obtaining my Ice Phoenix bloodline?" Feng Rubing pointed to the cave and said, "There is a half-broken ice spiritual vein in here. The environment should be similar to the Cold Cicada Peak you mentioned. Why don't you go in and give it a try?"

Reminded by Feng Rubing, Han Lu remembered why she had initially agreed to the harmony, and quickly walked into the cave.

With the absence of Feng Rubing, the powerful being who activated the spiritual veins and emitted a large amount of spiritual power, the environment inside the forbidden cave is much better than when Han Lu first arrived.

Sensing the spiritual energy in the air, Han Lu murmured to herself, "It's slightly inferior to that on Cold Cicada Peak, but the difference isn't significant. It's certainly worth conducting an experiment to see if the Ice Phoenix bloodline can solve this major problem."

Finding an open space to sit down, Han Lu circulated the "Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique," breathing in spiritual energy in this unfamiliar cultivation paradise as she usually did, trying to open up her acupoints.

Sure enough, after meditating for nearly a quarter of an hour, the floating ice that would hinder the flow of spiritual energy reappeared in Han Lu's spiritual veins and channels.

But the moment these ice floes appeared, countless warm currents surged out, melting them.

Sensing all this, Han Lu was overjoyed.

Knowing the result, and not wanting Feng Rubing to wait too long outside, Han Lu hastily ended her cultivation, walked out of the cave with a beaming smile.

Seeing Han Lu's beaming expression, Feng Rubing could guess that the problem was solved.

"Alright, then I've delivered my gift to repay your kindness," Feng Rubing said with a smile, giving Han Lu a hug. "Han Lu, it's time for me to say goodbye."

"Huh? Why are you leaving so soon?" Han Lu had originally intended to invite Feng Rubing to Tangmen to meet Wen Erya.

Feng Rubing didn't tell Han Lu where she was going, but urged her, "Quickly, say goodbye to me."

"Okay, goodbye, Sister Ru Bing."

Although they had only spent less than two hours together, the two, who were bound by blood, had already established a close relationship that far surpassed that of ordinary friends. When saying goodbye, Han Lu felt her eyes welling up with tears.

After all, the difference in their cultivation levels is huge. Although they are both in the same cultivation world, they are at different levels and may not have the chance to meet again in the future.

After embracing for a moment, Feng Rubing flew away from the place where she had lived for five thousand years.

Watching Feng Rubing leave, Han Lu couldn't help but sigh, lamenting the unpredictability of life.

Before she entered that cave, she could never have imagined that such a story would unfold in those two hours, or that such changes would occur in her life.

After brushing the remaining snow off her clothes, Han Lu used her lightness technique to run towards Tangmen.

[Author's Note] CNdota has performed exceptionally well this year. I vaguely remember when I wrote about Los Santos, Wings won the championship, and I was happy for a very long time.

Chapter 149 Returning to the Zhengyi Sect

When Han Lu returned to Tangmen and met up with Wen Erya, the cultivators in Tangmen were still discussing what had just happened.

The most powerful sect leader in the Tang Sect was only a cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage. In his nearly 150 years of cultivation, he had never seen such a rare thing as a True Spirit, let alone the disciples under the Tang Sect.

When Han Lu returned, everyone gathered around Song Zhengqi, listening to this second senior brother tell stories he had "stolen" from Wen Erya and show off his knowledge.

Looking left and right, Han Lu didn't see Wen Erya, so she disregarded politeness and walked straight to Song Zhengqi's side, interrupting his loud conversation, and asked, "Song Zhengqi, where is my senior sister?"

Seeing Han Lu's accusatory look, Song Zhengqi wasn't nervous. He first addressed her as "Senior Han" before replying, "Senior Wen was invited by the sect leader to have tea and a chat."

"Chatting over tea?" Han Lu raised an eyebrow, but after a moment, she realized that this was perfectly normal.

After all, Wen Erya was also Lan Daoren's disciple, and could be considered half a member of the Tang Clan. It was quite normal for the sect leader to want to chat with Wen Erya, talk about Lan Daoren's affairs, and strengthen their relationship since he had finally come to the Tang Clan.

When did you go?

“About fifteen minutes ago,” Song Zhengqi said with a smile. “Senior Han, don’t worry, the sect leader isn’t a chatterbox. You’ll probably see your Senior Sister Wen in a little while.”

Han Lu nodded slightly and then asked, "What about the Cold-Repelling Pill? Did the Hu family do business with us?"