The Long Journey to Immortality

As for the information on the seven treasure hunters of the Seven Mountains Alliance, Zhong Wencheng used a cheaper method.

Compared to Zhengyi Sect and Xuanyang Valley, the Seven Mountains Alliance, composed of seven medium-sized sects, has a more direct method of determining the seven spots to enter the ancient cultivation secret realm.

Each of the seven sects submitted a name, making a total of seven people.

As for how the name was generated and decided, the leader of the Seven Mountains Alliance will not interfere.

There are bound to be some shady dealings involved, which has caused some minor controversy within a certain scope.

However, Zhong Wencheng gained considerable benefits.

He muttered a few bad things about the treasure hunters in the Sword Forging Manor, and then someone took the initiative to come up to him, an outsider from the Zhengyi Sect, seeking a sense of belonging and telling him all the information about the treasure hunters, hoping to hear a word from Zhong Wencheng.

“This guy is definitely not good enough, brother. The other one you mentioned should be selected.”

After using the same trick several times, he spent spirit stones to buy a book about three treasure hunters from the Western Regions.

The increased exchanges between the Western Regions and the Seven Mountains Alliance over the past few decades have saved Zhong Wencheng a lot of trouble, allowing him to easily find out the background of the three Qi Refining cultivators known as the Three Heroes of the Western Regions.

However, at the same time, the biggest challenge also lay before Zhong Wencheng.

Where should we look for information about the two treasure hunters in southern Xinjiang?

Fortunately, Yi Qiyan and Teng Jinglun were both somewhat well-known cultivators, and it wasn't too difficult to find out about them if they put in the effort.

For the remaining twenty days of the month, Zhong Wencheng visited dozens of minor sects of the Southern Dynasties near the southern border, expending considerable effort to barely obtain some seemingly useful information and fill the gap.

When Zhong Wencheng returned to Zhengyi Sect after completing the task assigned by Han Lu, the "advanced training course" that Han Lu and Wen Erya had been receiving at Wuxing Mountain Academy was also coming to an end.

The teachers who imparted their experience and offered courses were all Golden Core cultivators from the Zhengyi Sect, including even Layman Wanghan and Venerable Qingyang.

A great teacher produces great students. All seven of them were exceptionally talented cultivators, so they naturally learned a great deal.

After a month of courses, even Han Lu, who possessed fragmented memories of Xiaoyaozi, felt she had gained a great deal. Naturally, the other six Zhengyi Sect cultivators, who had almost no experience in adventure and travel, gained even more during this month.

Perhaps, a month later, the seven treasure hunters' combat strength will not have increased much compared to when they stood on the arena a month ago.

However, if they were thrown into the wild west of the Western Regions to "survive in the wilderness," they would certainly survive a little longer than they did a month ago in that treacherous and dangerous place.

Of course, the high-ranking members of the Zhengyi Sect were not satisfied with this.

While improving overall capabilities, it is even more important to enhance combat skills.

Time is of the essence, what is the best way to accomplish this?

The obvious solution was to open the inner treasury to the seven treasure hunters, allowing each of them to choose a few suitable magical tools to help them improve their combat power in this simple and direct way.

The decision to have seven people choose, rather than simply handing over the items, was also intended to test their ability to appraise treasures.

The Zhengyi Sect is large and powerful, and it doesn't lack a few magical tools and treasures to store in its warehouse. However, if someone chooses a magical tool that is not satisfactory, the three sect leaders will make an exception and take out magical tools that the Golden Core cultivators think are suitable for them from the inner treasury and lend them to them.

Although Han Lu had exquisite but few magical tools, she naturally wouldn't miss such a legitimate opportunity to "take advantage of her sect."

Although no more magical treasures like the Moon Pearl could excite her like in the inner treasury, she still relied on the discerning eye she had developed over the past month to select three magical items that she considered suitable from the Five Elements Mountain Academy's inner treasury and put them into her possession.

The quantity was just right—not too much, not too little—so that Han Lu wouldn't seem too greedy, nor would she miss this opportunity presented to her because of so-called "image" or "face."

The three ritual implements are of superior quality.

The first item is a pair of top-grade silver snake scissors.

Based on Han Lu's own judgment, these silver snake scissors were remarkably effective at breaking restrictions and magic arrays, making them perfect for her to use.

And that is indeed the case.

According to the Seven Flower Fairy, who specifically tutored Han Lu in the art of appraising treasures, these silver snake scissors were made from the corpses of two late-stage Foundation Establishment silver snakes, one male and one female, combined with some rare metals. They are an excellent tool for breaking through formations with force, which can make up for Han Lu's shortcomings in this area.

The second item is an auxiliary magical tool, a top-grade white jade long-necked vase called the "Bone-Eroding White Jade Vase".

The vase contained a highly corrosive acid.

By using this vase to perform water-attribute spells, one can activate the acidic water hidden within, infusing it into the spell and giving it the effect of contaminating magical artifacts and breaking through defensive spells.

This magical artifact is somewhat insidious, but it's perfectly suited for use in the unfriendly environment of the ancient cultivation realm.

This is also quite useful for Han Lu, who knows a lot of powerful water-attribute spells.

Of the three new magical artifacts taken from the inner treasury, this was Han Lu's favorite.

The third item is a set of spirit swords, a total of eighteen, called the "Five Elements Eighteen Swords".

Each spirit sword is a mid-grade rank magical artifact.

Among them are three spirit swords of each of the five elements, and three more made of spirit stones, used to connect the eighteen spirit swords so that they can become a collective in the hands of a cultivator.

Each of the eighteen Five Elements Swords has its own unique characteristics. When put together, if the swordsman also knows some deadly sword formations, this set of magical tools can definitely unleash power close to that of a top-grade magical tool.

Han Lu chose this set of spirit swords to maximize her expertise in weapon manipulation.

After this selection competition, Han Lu discovered that the two Thunder Bamboo Swords were no longer sufficient to meet her requirements for combat.

Many of her brilliant ideas in battle were simply impossible to achieve with just two spirit swords.

With these eighteen spirit swords, she, whose fighting style is already flexible, can have more possibilities in battle and bring her extremely exquisite sword control skills to the extreme.

Compared to Han Lu, Daoist Duobao Wen Er Ya only selected one flying artifact from the inner treasury as a supplement.

The conclusion of the treasure selection event also marks the end of the training for the seven "treasure hunters".

Once the ancient cultivation secret realm opens, Han Lu and the other six will represent the Zhengyi Sect to enter it and seek great opportunities for themselves and their sect in the treasures left behind by the two ancient cultivators from 100,000 years ago.

Chapter 177 Departure

When Han Lu finished her special training course and returned to her courtyard from Wuxing Mountain Academy, she was surprised to find Zhong Wencheng already waiting at the door, obviously having somehow gotten wind of her return.

Zhong Wencheng looked quite different from how he did a month ago.

Not only has her skin become much darker, but her demeanor has also become more mature, losing some of her former casualness.

Upon seeing Han Lu, Zhong Wencheng took the initiative to greet her, saying, "Senior Sister Han, hello, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Hearing Zhong Wencheng's voice, Han Lu was a little surprised, "What, your accent has changed after a month?"

Zhong Wencheng chuckled and said, "I've been in the Southern Barbarian lands for half a month and got led astray. I guess I'll need to listen to official pronouncements for a while longer before I can correct myself."

"It seems you've put in a lot of effort for the task I assigned you," Han Lu said, taking out her token and casually unlocking the restrictions on her courtyard. "Come in and let me see your results."

Zhong Wencheng said confidently, "I will definitely not let Senior Sister Han down."

Upon entering the courtyard, they presented her with a beautifully bound booklet of nearly a hundred pages. After opening just the first page, Han Lu exclaimed in her heart, "Satisfied!" She felt that having Zhong Wencheng handle this matter was the wisest decision she had made a month ago.

Compared to the documents Zhong Wencheng had given Han Lu before, this deluxe booklet not only contained more comprehensive information, but also included a poorly drawn portrait.

The portrait is of average quality, but it's enough to allow Han Lu to recognize the name and identity of any person she encounters in the ancient cultivation realm, and to identify which hero they are.

This allows for targeted treatment and makes the information more useful.

After all, exploring secret realms is not like being on a fighting stage; there's no such thing as announcing your name.

Unfortunately, Zhong Wencheng was not omnipotent. This deluxe booklet did not contain portraits of the five cultivators from the Southern Barbarians, the Western Regions, etc., but only a few sentences describing them.

But in Han Lu's view, this was just a minor flaw and did not affect her approval of Zhong Wencheng's work.

After symbolically glancing through the two people's files and seeing that the quality remained at a high level, Han Lu expressed her appreciation for Zhong Wencheng's work in the most straightforward way.

Han Lu casually took another handful of spirit stones from her storage bag, didn't even count them, and just placed them on the table.

Han Lu praised, "These spirit stones are my reward to you."

"Junior Brother Zhong, you did a great job, the quality is excellent. I'll help you deliver it to the sect leader later, and you'll definitely receive a lot of benefits from the sect."

"You've had a tough time lately."

"As for the promise I made before..." Han Lu pondered for a moment and said, "I'm not busy lately. You can start whenever you're free, but I'll only train you for three days."

Han Lu felt that Zhong Wencheng had a good foundation, and three days of training would be enough to fulfill her promise to him.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Wencheng felt relieved and immediately felt much more relaxed.

He replied, "Senior Sister Han, if you don't mind the trouble, how about you give me some pointers now?"

“Okay,” Han Lu agreed without bothering to find another time, “Let’s go to the arena area.”

For the next three days, Zhong Wencheng was "tortured" by Han Lu for at least four hours every day in the Dongshan Academy arena.

Every day after training, when he was exhausted and his spiritual energy was depleted, and he barely managed to get back to Zhongshan Academy, lie on his bed and close his eyes, Han Lu's image would always flash before his eyes.

He increasingly felt that the nickname "femme fatale" that he had casually given Han Lu was actually quite fitting.

Three days will pass in the blink of an eye.

Even in the final test, Zhong Wencheng was still unable to withstand a single move from Han Lu in their magical duel.

But both he and Han Lu were certain that Zhong Wencheng's fighting strength had increased significantly in these three days.

Even if they can't guarantee a spot in the top four, as long as they don't encounter any truly exceptional players, securing a place in the top sixteen should be no problem.

As for Han Lu's promise to Zhong Wencheng to donate this document to the sect, Han Lu had not forgotten it.

As she had envisioned, Zhong Wencheng and Han Lu received much praise when the document was delivered to the three sect leaders through the Five Lakes Hermit.

The next day, several copies of the document were made and sent to several other treasure hunters from the Zhengyi Sect.

Of course, the battles between the skilled fighters also yielded rewards, and at the same time, the elders were also assigned tasks.

They were required to thoroughly understand this document before the ancient cultivation secret realm began, and summarize the keywords for dealing with the 23 cultivators in the document, so that the seven treasure hunters could learn and comprehend it.

Han Lu's generous sharing naturally made the other treasure hunters feel favorably toward her, and their impression of her changed.

Han Lu felt quite helpless about this, and could only secretly deduct some points from Zhong Wencheng's image, blaming him for spreading too many fabricated rumors that damaged her reputation.

Because of this incident, the seven of them had more private contact and barely became nodding acquaintances. In the ancient cultivation secret realm, it was not a problem for them to cooperate with other forces to fight for the interests of the Zhengyi Sect.

Ten days before the opening of the ancient cultivation secret realm, the seven returned to the Five Elements Mountain Academy and gathered in front of the academy's gate to await the appearance of the three sect leaders.

This was the day everyone had agreed to go to the secret valley.

Of the group about to embark on a dangerous journey, Han Lu is the one with the fewest worries.

The day before, after entrusting the raccoon demon A Xiao to Zhan Yujun and her new boyfriend, Han Lu was now all alone, with no worries about anyone else.

The rest of the people, even the Golden Core cultivators who arrived early, all had expressions of tension on their faces.

The unknown is a terrifying thing.

No one knows what kind of world will be on the other side of the portal after the ancient cultivation secret realm opens in ten days.