The Long Journey to Immortality

And what about the Southern Barbarians and the Western Regions? Not long after this "open selection" ended, news also came from there.

Chapter 155 The Twin Stars of the Southern Barbarians, the Three Heroes of the Western Regions

As a result of the mutual checks and balances and compromises among the three major sects, the Western Regions and the Southern Barbarians, as part of the human race, also gained the opportunity to enter the ancient cultivation secret realm and get a share of the spoils.

Compared to the vast and resource-rich Central Plains, the cultivation environment in the Southern Barbarian and Western Regions is much worse.

Although it is under the influence of Central Plains culture and is vaguely moving towards a peaceful and prosperous era, with fewer open battles and struggles on a daily basis, there are still undercurrents in the shadows, and it is not much more peaceful than it was a thousand years ago.

Such an environment has allowed many outstanding young people from both places to stand out and gain considerable fame at a young age with limited experience.

In the Central Plains region, you can roughly name the top ten sects among all sects, but you can't say which ten young cultivators have the most profound cultivation and the highest magical power among the younger generation.

However, in the Western Regions and the Southern Barbarians, any cultivator who cares about this matter will have a list of five or ten people in their hearts, understanding which young people will shoulder the future of the cultivation world in the two regions.

Based on the quotas allocated to the two regions by the three factions of the Central Plains, the question of which three Qi Refining cultivators were the strongest in the Western Regions and which two Qi Refining cultivators were the strongest in the Southern Barbarians became a question that all cultivators in both regions were exploring.

The candidate chosen through a symbolic election is a popular choice.

The two from the southern barbarians were called the Twin Stars, while the three from the western regions were nicknamed the Three Heroes.

The two stars, a man and a woman, were already acquainted and could be considered childhood sweethearts.

When the two descended upon the ancient cultivation secret realm, they were already at the tenth level of Qi Refining. Now, they have even reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, making them no less capable than the young talents of the Central Plains.

The female cultivator's name was Yi Qiyan. She was skilled in poisons and kept several well-known poisonous insects from the human world. She was extremely capable.

If you take into account the combat experience that Yi Qiyan has gained in her daily battles, she is definitely a formidable character despite her ordinary appearance.

The male cultivator's name was Teng Jinglun. His father was a southern barbarian and his mother was from the Central Plains. His cultivation method was also closer to the Taoist methods of the Central Plains.

Teng Jinglun was a sword cultivator. Legend has it that in addition to his master from the Southern Barbarians, a wandering swordsman from the East Sea also guided his cultivation.

In terms of combat, Teng Jinglun is certainly not as troublesome as Yi Qiyan, whose methods are complex, but his elusive spirit sword will definitely put endless pressure on the cultivators who fight him.

The three from the Western Regions were all Qi Refining cultivators who had participated in the struggles and battles between tribes, hence they were called heroes.

The sects in the Western Regions grew and developed based on tribes and ethnic groups. Qi Refining cultivators were allowed to participate in this "war" that lay between the mortal and cultivation worlds. The three people known as the Three Heroes happened to come from the three largest tribes and ethnic groups in the Western Regions.

Among the three heroes, the strongest cultivator was named Ke Jitong.

Ke Jitong was born with a connection to demonic beasts and spirit beasts. He was skilled in taming beasts and it was said that he carried dozens of powerful Qi Refining stage demonic beasts in the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

If it weren't for Ke Jitong's limited mental strength, which prevented him from controlling too many demonic beasts in battle at the same time.

With the help of numerous demonic beasts, he is mostly able to compete with some cultivators in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

Among the three heroes, the two cultivators who were slightly weaker than Ke Jitong were named Shi Gong and Yu Wenzhang.

The two are half-brothers, both skilled in martial arts.

His body, made of steel and iron, was hundreds of times stronger than that of Su Wen, the "chuunibyou cultivator" who had once fought Han Lu.

In order to help the sect and tribe fight for land, his elder brother Shi Gong has been stuck at the twelfth level of Qi Refining for nearly four years.

In the past four years, it is said that Shi Gong has cultivated his external skills to the highest level that a Qi Refining cultivator can achieve.

Its physical strength is comparable to many mid-grade defensive magical artifacts.

There are even strange stories about him chewing on spirit swords and tearing apart magical artifacts with his bare hands.

His younger brother, Yuwen, was slightly less talented, but he was still a remarkable person of his time.

At the tribal and sectarian level, the three fought amongst themselves, but on a personal level, they were relatively harmonious and even had a sense of mutual respect.

If we can completely set aside our prejudices and cooperate in the ancient cultivation secret realm, we can definitely become a powerful force.

Besides the three major sects in the Central Plains, the list of the other six cultivators who will enter the ancient cultivation secret realm has been finalized.

A month before the opening of the ancient cultivation secret realm, the Seven Mountains Alliance, the Zhengyi Sect, and the Xuan Yang Valley began their respective internal selections.

The specific arrangements and rules of the three major sects are slightly different, but they all aim to select the most outstanding disciples from among their many excellent students and entrust the future of the sect to these young talents.

As disciples of Piaomiaozi, Han Lu and Wen Erya, who had just advanced to the twelfth level of Qi Refining, learned about the approximate schedule of the selection competition immediately.

The Zhengyi Sect will first select seven disciples from the "key training" list who are considered the most outstanding by the Golden Core elders to serve as the main champions defending the arena.

Then, other disciples with at least the tenth level of Qi Refining cultivation will act as challengers.

This is all the information that Piaomiaozi, as an "outsider," knows.

As for the specific details regarding who will challenge the champion and how they will do so, these are still being finalized and will be officially announced on the day the selection competition begins.

Upon hearing the competition rules, Han Lu and Wen Erya immediately grasped the key points of the rules and understood how they should prepare in the final three days before the start of the selection competition.

The list of the seven challengers was leaked through various channels the following day and circulated within the Zhengyi Sect, allowing the disciples to evaluate them.

Of the fourteen disciples who were given special attention, all but two who were disappointing managed to raise their cultivation to the twelfth level of Qi Refining in the past two years.

The senior members of the Zhengyi Sect, who had spent considerable time dealing with these "treasure hunters," were well aware of who was stronger and who was weaker.

The defending champions are all somewhat famous within the sect, and even the worst among them has achieved at least a top-eight finish in the major competitions or minor competitions of the mountain academy in the past two years.

While their actual ability is difficult to assess, their grades on paper are certainly satisfactory.

Even from the perspective of Han Lu, Wen Erya, or other disciples of the Zhengyi Sect, it is well-deserved.

As soon as the list was released, just like during the major and minor competitions, many disciples eager to enter the ancient cultivation secret realm to search for treasures began to investigate the information of these seven champions through various channels, hoping to find out the one whose strength was relatively weaker or who was countered by them, and to take that one as their target and snatch the qualification from the other.

Although Han Lu and Wen Erya were confident that securing a spot would not be a problem, they still believed in the saying "know yourself and know your enemy and you will never be defeated" and decided to put some effort into the intelligence war.

The day before the selection competition began, Wen Erya sought out Han Lu to share information.

When Han Lu looked at the words "Editor: Zhong Wencheng" written on the intelligence book provided by Wen Erya, a memory from a year ago appeared in her mind.

Han Lu muttered to herself, "I almost forgot to settle the score with that bastard."

[Author's Note] Go LGD!

Chapter 156 The Deal with the Intelligence Chief

Han Lu first heard Zhong Wencheng's name when she listened to a storyteller in the capital of the Southern Dynasty.

While the two disciples of the Zhengyi Sect at the next table were chatting, they mentioned her, and then she tricked them into revealing Zhong Wencheng's name.

Although there were few clues and no clear evidence that Zhong Wencheng was the culprit who spread rumors about her, Han Lu's intuition, which had only been awakened for two and a half years, told her that Zhong Wencheng should be the answer to the question.

Hearing Han Lu specifically mention this name, Wen Erya suddenly remembered that incident and immediately guessed Han Lu's thoughts and intentions.

"Are you going to go directly to Zhong Wencheng and ask him to provide us with assistance?" Wen Erya asked.

Han Lu nodded slightly and said, "Pretty much. In my opinion, the information about these defenders is not necessarily important. What is important is the information about our fellow disciples who may be participating in the challenge with us."

"However, this information is too chaotic, massive, and difficult to predict."

"That day, according to what my two fellow disciples said, Zhong Wencheng was quite famous in the Zhengyi Sect for his intelligence work, and was a well-deserved intelligence chief with the nickname of 'gossip'."

"If we cooperate with him and have him specifically help us solve this problem, it will definitely be of great benefit to us in the future selection and challenge."

Based on Han Lu's judgment, the sect would definitely not allow all disciples with the right to challenge to engage in a series of battles against the seven champions to determine the final spots.

The challengers will definitely fight each other several times first, with a few challengers emerging every day or every few days, before they can face the seven reigning champions.

Therefore, compared to the information about the champion that would appear in all the "leaks," Han Lu valued more the information about her fellow disciples who were also challengers, like Han Lu and Wen Erya.

Han Lu explained her thoughts to Wen Erya in detail. Wen Erya agreed with her, but she also had different opinions.

“But since Zhong Wencheng likes to make up stories and spread rumors about you, doesn’t that mean he doesn’t have much real knowledge? Does he just rely on his imagination to leak information and do intelligence work?” Wen Erya didn’t trust Zhong Wencheng.

"Then why not just study this document?" Han Lu said with a smile. "We've had some brief contact with those champions and popular challengers. If our opinions are the same as Zhong Wencheng's, then it shows that he does have some skill, but he just likes to make up stories and show off."

Wen Erya nodded.

The two returned to the topic they had initially discussed, focusing their efforts on the document compiled by Zhong Wencheng.

Wen Erya's document clearly details the information of the fourteen "treasure hunters".

Han Lu and Wen Erya were quite familiar with several of them who were in Dongshan Academy. Although they had never fought each other, they both knew what tricks and tricks the other had and how much they were capable of.

By comparing the information in the documents with what they already knew, the two concluded that Zhong Wencheng was somewhat reliable.

“Alright, let’s set off now,” Han Lu remembered the address information she had obtained from the two fellow students from Sun Yat-sen University. “I’ll approach him under the pretense of confronting him. If he’s willing to apologize and work for us for free, that will save us some trouble. If not…”

"Just buy it with money."

"Merchants are driven by profit. Since Zhong Wencheng would choose to sell materials, he certainly wouldn't dislike spirit stones."

Having reached the peak of the Qi Refining stage, the nearly 400 Meridian Opening Pills remaining in Han Lu's storage bag became a kind of universal currency similar to spirit stones, making Han Lu's storage bag bulge and giving her more usable capital.

"If that doesn't work... we'll think of something else. After all, this is just icing on the cake. If we don't have it, it won't be a big deal."

Having advanced her cultivation to the twelfth level of Qi Refining, grasped the basics of some True Spiritual Powers, and learned many powerful secret techniques from the "Water Condensation Technique," Han Lu was bursting with confidence. She felt that she was much stronger than Feng Bailu, who had once reached the Foundation Establishment stage, and that dealing with cultivators of the same level was no problem at all.

Even if the other party is a rising star valued by many Golden Core cultivators in the sect, this is still the case.

Wen Erya's view on this is similar.

A few days ago, her father, the emperor, took out three high-grade magic tools from the imperial capital's cultivation treasury and sent them to Wen Erya's most beloved thirteenth princess.

Although Wen Erya had not yet fully mastered these three superior magical artifacts, she felt that her strength had increased considerably by relying on these artifacts, which she could only barely use.

According to Wen Erya, if she could fully master these three powerful magical artifacts, she would once again have the confidence to challenge Han Lu.

After exchanging a few more words, the two decided that Han Lu would go to find Zhong Wencheng alone, while Wen Erya would continue to study the materials and look for useful information to share with Han Lu upon her return.

Although the Zhengyi Sect has strict management of its disciples entering and leaving the sect, it does not require reporting to superiors for minor matters such as disciples of the Dongshan Academy visiting other academies.

Therefore, Han Lu didn't beat around the bush. After leaving Wen Erya's residence, she directly used the advanced lightness technique she had learned from the "Great Zhou Tian Condensing Water Technique" to its fullest extent, and headed to Zhongshan Academy at a speed no less than that of some mediocre people flying on swords.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Han Lu arrived at Zhongshan Academy from Dongshan Academy.

After asking several fellow students and searching for a while in the unfamiliar Zhongshan Academy, Han Lu finally found the No. 13, Third Courtyard, where Zhong Wencheng lived.

Although Zhong Wencheng's cultivation level was not low, having reached the eighth level of Qi Refining a year and a half ago, his talent and other qualities were not considered high, so he was only an outer disciple, sharing a dormitory with others and living in a large courtyard.

Although many outer disciples live in the compound, its security is not much worse than that of the inner disciples' residences.

Apart from the fact that individual rooms are not protected, the outer perimeter of the compound is still fully protected by numerous restrictions. Even Han Lu cannot become an uninvited guest who breaks in without triggering the restrictions.

After spending a moment thinking about the script and composing her emotions, Han Lu took the initiative to trigger the restriction on the gate, intending to enter the courtyard where at least twelve outer disciples lived in a more polite manner.

At this time, the great cultivation had just ended, and most of the Zhengyi Sect disciples were either in their residences or on their way back. So, in just a short while, someone lifted the restriction and opened the door for Han Lu.

"Who are you looking for, senior sister?"