The Long Journey to Immortality

Late at night, the streets of Shanghai were still bustling, with many young people enjoying the nightlife. Han Lu's appearance did not seem too abrupt.

Shanghai has excellent public security, and no inconsiderate drunk youths approached her. Or rather, those drunk youths with glazed eyes hadn't even seen Han Lu's face clearly before they felt a gust of wind pass in front of them.

When Han Lu arrived at Hans Company this time, only a few offices in the company still had their lights on.

Feeling the time was right, Han Lu took out a simple map she had drawn that night from her storage bag, recalled the approximate location of the "vault" she had seen that day, and then began to act.

Han Lu used the Earth-遁术 (Earth-遁术 is a technique that allows one to burrow underground) again, and she was much more skilled than the night before.

After digging about thirty meters underground, Han Lu discovered the underground annex.

Listening closely to the ceiling and outer wall for a moment, Han Lu, with her keen hearing, confirmed that the hall where the work had been going on yesterday was completely silent and that it was probably empty. Then, she used the same trick again, taking out the three spirit swords that she had been using as "digging tools" to cut a path for herself to sneak in once more.

The Hans company, which was the only one of its kind in this world, would never have imagined that someone would intrude in this way, so naturally it did not install sensors on the roof.

This time, despite the considerable scale of the operation, Han Lu's infiltration was still successful.

Because the two employees who had been knocked unconscious by Han Lu the previous day had gone missing, Hans Company slightly increased the security level within the company.

A guard had appeared in front of the vault that Han Lu wanted to break into.

The guard was tall and strong, heavily armed, and looked like a skilled and capable soldier.

But no matter how tall and mighty he was, he was still just a mortal, and naturally, he couldn't stop Han Lu, who was determined to take the treasure away today.

Finding a shady spot next to the vault, Han Lu removed the illusion talisman from her body and took the paulownia wood flute in her hand.

He played just one note, and the security guard who had been standing guard with full energy just moments before collapsed to the ground, falling into a coma.

Immediately afterwards, Han Lu, shrouded in thick black mist, appeared in front of the vault.

Considering the possibility of a security camera directly facing the vault door, Han Lu, who had only a superficial understanding of modern technology, didn't waste a moment. She once again used her spirit sword to easily dismantle the 40-centimeter-thick metal door into eight pieces.

Sure enough, as the door collapsed in front of Han Lu, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded inside Hans Company.

Noticing the flashing red indicator light inside the vault, Han Lu didn't linger for even a second longer.

Under Han Lu's control, the thick black fog spread out, completely filling the not-so-large space of the vault.

In the blink of an eye, the security guard who was nervously watching the surveillance footage in the monitoring room could only see a black screen.

After completing this deceptive tactic, Han Lu, who had intended to use a deceptive method, did not bother to select or search, and directly put all the nearly one hundred safes in the vault into her storage bag.

She didn't want Hans Company to know that she had come specifically for those "strange artifacts".

After filling a storage bag and completely emptying the vault, Han Lu didn't bother to set up any more restrictions on the entrance to the cave she had entered. She simply used her sword control technique to leave the way she came.

As soon as Han Lu left, the black mist dissipated, leaving the empty vault, which left the security guard watching the surveillance footage speechless.

Because Han Lu committed the crime in the classified weapons department, triggering the alarms, only the sirens inside Hans Company blared, while the ground remained peaceful, as if nothing had happened.

Once back on the ground, Han Lu calmly and leisurely left before the police could set up a roadblock to intercept suspicious individuals under the pretext of checking for drunk driving.

The round trip took a little over an hour and fifteen minutes. When Han Lu returned to Qiu Bin's rented studio apartment, she didn't bother Qiu Bin, who was probably already asleep.

She used her sword control technique again, "flying" into the room through the window she had deliberately opened when she left.

Everything happened so easily, yet it was exactly as Han Lu had expected.

Subconsciously, Han Lu touched the storage bag filled with safes. Now, it was Han Lu's turn to open the safes and appraise the treasures.

The three newly acquired spirit swords were used as "bottle openers" repeatedly.

Han Lu opened the safes one by one, revealing the mysterious items stored inside.

Blueprints, individual weapons still under development, rare metal materials...

Of course, the cultivation treasures that Han Lu was concerned about were also included.

Unlike loot box services in pay-to-win mobile games and online games.

The safe in Han Lu's storage bag was stolen, and it must contain priceless treasures.

There were a total of eighty-six safes. It took Han Lu a full half hour to open them all and examine the contents, selecting the treasures that might be related to the cultivation civilization.

It took another half hour to complete the identification, and Han Lu was practically grinning from ear to ear.

There are a total of twelve magical artifacts, including four magical treasures at least at the level of spiritual artifacts. As for whether they are spiritual treasures, further identification is needed.

Even so, Han Lu's gains from this trip were comparable to raiding the homes of two wealthy Golden Core cultivators, making it a very fruitful trip.

Chapter 195 Unsolved Case

After opening the box, Han Lu stored all sixteen magical treasures she had obtained in another storage bag.

Compared to the "strange artifact" magic weapon, Han Lu knew very little about the materials used to refine high-level magic weapons.

Therefore, with the idea of ​​"better to have more than less", Han Lu, who had plenty of storage space, also put the materials that looked like weapon-refining materials from the unpacked items into her storage bag. She planned to take them back to the sect and then have them appraised by the elders who were familiar with weapon-refining and alchemy, to determine which of them were secret treasures left behind by ancient cultivators and which were products of modern technology.

Han Lu even had a sudden, whimsical thought: "Maybe those synthetic substances made with modern technology, when fused into magical artifacts, will have miraculous effects..."

Based on the special materials that Qiu Bin had introduced to her, Han Lu felt that her ingenious idea might actually have a chance of being realized.

However, thinking is one thing, doing is another. Only when Han Lu returns to the Central Plains world will her series of conjectures have a chance of being realized.

After finishing all this, in addition to obtaining magical artifacts and materials, a pile of contraband and a safe that were difficult to dispose of were also lying in Han Lu's storage bag.

To avoid attracting attention, Han Lu did not intend to take these useless items out of her storage bag and discard them.

"Anyway, there's plenty of space. Besides, these things might have other uses."

There was no need to haggle over the not-so-large space in the storage bag, and Han Lu was too lazy to make a fuss about it at night, opting for a more troublesome method that might expose her presence.

That night, Han Lu sat cross-legged on the sofa in Qiu Bin's home to meditate and rest, just like the day before, while many employees of the security department of Hans Company's Shanghai branch stayed up all night.

As the security department of a super corporation that controls the world, it is naturally composed of the most skilled humans in this world at dealing with crime, preventing crime, and investigating cases.

The security division of Hans Corporation not only serves its own internal operations but also provides security services to many cities lacking administrative power.

This force is not only full of talented people, but also possesses a great deal of technological equipment from Hans Corporation. To the average person, under the protection of Hans Corporation's security department, there would be no chance of any accidents happening.

They have seen it all, including all sorts of strange and unbelievable cases and crimes.

However, even the security manager of the Shanghai branch of Hans Company, who had served the company for thirty years, had never seen an incident like the theft of the underground warehouse of Hans Company in Shanghai.

Han Lu's route to infiltrate Hans Company was discovered almost immediately, and then the major case of the day was linked to the "coma" incident of the previous day.

However, no matter how hard the fifty-something security minister racked his brains, he couldn't figure out how the nearly one hundred safes in the vault had disappeared in less than thirty seconds.

How did so many heavy safes manage to escape through a "robber's hole" that could only allow one person to pass through at a time?

The security minister was furious at the impromptu meeting because of a multitude of unsolvable questions.

Many insults that the people had come up with through their wisdom were uttered by him and used against his subordinates.

After venting his anger, he began assigning tasks, directing his subordinates—whom he had already categorized as foolish alpacas who suckled milk and squeezed grass—to investigate this bizarre theft.

If a security minister with thirty years of experience can't figure something out, how can his subordinates possibly have any clue?

After receiving the task, one of the young men couldn't help but complain under his breath.

"Only superpowered beings and cultivators in novels can do this. How could ordinary people like us possibly find out the reason?"

These discouraging words were overheard by the Minister of Security, who was already in a bad mood, and he gave them a few more harsh reprimands.

More than 30 security personnel worked from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m., but did not obtain more intelligence information than during the initial investigation.

Faced with this unsolved case that resulted in significant losses, the Minister of Security was at his wits' end, fearing that his plan for a peaceful retirement was about to fail.

Just as the security department of Hans Company in Shanghai was working overtime to investigate the major theft committed by Han Lu, Han Lu used a magic charm to board a high-speed train bound for Shenzhen.

In order to conceal her identity, Han Lu's many flying techniques could not be freely used in this world.

Fortunately, Qiu Bin has a flexible mind and a wildly imaginative mind.

After learning that Han Lu possessed the ability to conceal her identity, he suggested that Han Lu, who lacked legal status, use her invisibility magic to bypass the high-speed rail security and board the train to Shenzhen by "piggybacking" on its journey.

This is both convenient and worry-free.

The idea was good, so Han Lu naturally adopted it and put it into practice.

Coincidentally, Pengcheng is Qiu Bin's hometown, and he is quite familiar with the place. So, at Han Lu's request, he spent money to buy a ticket and boarded the high-speed train to Pengcheng, continuing to act as a medium between Han Lu and the technological society, and as Han Lu's temporary guide in Pengcheng.

Because Han Lu has a phantom talisman attached to her body, she is "stuck" to the top of the train carriage in a rather strange and unsightly manner to prevent passing passengers from bumping into Han Lu, who is in a transparent state, and causing a series of supernatural events.

Shanghai is not far from Shenzhen. The high-speed train took only half an hour to take the two of them to the city where Qiu Bin was born.

Leaving the high-speed rail station, tearing off the illusion talisman, and reappearing beside Qiu Bin, Han Lu looked at the buildings in Pengcheng that were clearly inferior to those in Shanghai in terms of appearance, and directly noticed the gap between Pengcheng and Shanghai.

Compared to Shanghai, Shenzhen is smaller and less developed, ranking third from the bottom among the thirty-two cities.

There are only a few very small industrial enterprises in Shenzhen, and there is a large woodland in the city center. Therefore, the air is fresh and the environment is beautiful, making it a good place for leisure and retirement, rather than an ideal stage for young people who are eager to strive.

"Do we need to go home first?" Han Lu asked, looking at Qiu Bin beside her who was gazing into the distance with a dazed expression.

"No need, it won't make a difference if it takes a little longer."

Qiu Bin felt ashamed to go home and see his parents because he had been wandering around for half a year without a name or a job.

"Let's take care of Senior Han's important matters first."

He was eager to seize this excellent opportunity and dared not neglect Han Lu's affairs in the slightest.

“Okay,” Han Lu said, “Let’s go to Hans Company in Pengcheng first to check things out. After you get home, I’ll find a way to find Yi Qiyan and get rid of her.”

Han Lu was determined to deal with Yi Qiyan before stealing the treasure, lest Yi Qiyan, who was skilled in insect control, suddenly appear and ruin her plans.

Chapter 196 Visit, Parting

The way Qiu Bin spoke of murder so casually made his gaze towards Han Lu reveal something more.

However, this only lasted for a moment.

Qiu Bin did not know Yi Qiyan, whom Han Lu mentioned. He did not know what Yi Qiyan looked like or who she was. Naturally, he could not feel any sympathy for Yi Qiyan, who might only have one more day to live.

Although he was not a ruthless person, he was also not overly compassionate.

He would much rather Han Lu achieve great success in this world, and he would gain countless benefits by helping Han Lu so that he could return home in glory.

This thought became even stronger when he returned to Shenzhen.

It was so intense that they wouldn't care about sacrificing this stranger named Yi Qiyan.

Even more curious than about Han Lu's magical duel was Qiu Bin's interest in her life. He wanted to know how much the cultivator in the novel resembled Han Lu, the living cultivator.