The Long Journey to Immortality

With so much knowledge entering her brain, Han Lu, who was only a Qi Refining cultivator at the time, felt dizzy and unable to keep her mind clear.

Before losing consciousness, she tried her best to maintain a posture that wasn't too unsightly.

After getting into position, she fainted just like the first time.

[Author's Note] Well, the holiday is over.

Chapter 244, Third Level

Although she had experienced being "transmitted with power" for the first time, this time, the amount of information entering Han Lu's brain was simply too great.

Because of this, she remained unconscious in this dark world for even longer than the first time.

About a day has passed.

Han Lu barely managed to sit up from the ground, covering her head and tidying her disheveled hair.

"Ugh, couldn't you have used a gentler method?" Han Lu muttered to herself, complaining softly. "You could have just given me a secret manual, instead of making me dizzy every time."

Despite her complaints, once she regained her senses, Han Lu couldn't wait to search her memory for the secret technique that Senior Fang Lin had given her after passing the second level.

Compared to the inheritance rewards obtained from passing the first level, the rewards for the second level are more numerous but much more monotonous.

This time, Fang Lin taught Han Lu eight advanced sword formations that were comparable to the "Starry Sky Sword Formation" and the "Nine Spirits Sword Formation".

Trying to do too much at once will only lead to failure; with her current teeth, she simply cannot grasp these profound sword formations.

Looking at so many powerful sword formations that she couldn't master, understand, or execute with her current cultivation level, Han Lu felt a bit overwhelmed.

"Senior Fang Lin, why don't you teach me anything that a Qi Refining cultivator could use?"

Han Lu was a little depressed.

Upon careful consideration, the only reward that can help her now after passing the two trials is the sword dao insights that Senior Fang Lin gained through cultivation and battle.

Although somewhat frustrated, Han Lu was even more excited about the rewards for the third level because of these rewards.

"I suppose I can get the cultivation method that Senior Fang Lin practiced after passing the third level," Han Lu subconsciously touched the location of her dantian and thought to herself, "It just so happens that I will take the Foundation Establishment Pill to establish my foundation after leaving the secret realm. At that time, I can cultivate multiple cultivation methods at the same time."

Whether Senior Fang Lin's techniques are suitable for me is another matter, but they must be very powerful.

Even though the exact nature of the third test is still uncertain, Han Lu, who easily passed the first two tests, has already begun to imagine herself practicing the cultivation techniques passed down by Senior Fang Lin, and wreaking havoc on all sides during the future calamities of the human race.

Han Lu's sweet dream was quickly interrupted by Fang Lin's voice.

Upon seeing Han Lu wake up, Fang Lin's voice rang out again in the dark space.

"A good performance. You actually managed to easily neutralize the Starry Sword Formation set up by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. You are a promising young man."

After praising Han Lu's performance in the second round, Fang Lin's phantom continued, "Now there's one last round waiting for you."

"If you pass, I will take you as my disciple and teach you the Seven Kill Sword Technique that I have been practicing."

Upon hearing that the reward for the third level was indeed the cultivation manual that Fang Lin had practiced, Han Lu was overjoyed and her spirits lifted.

With such a tremendous opportunity before her, Han Lu dared not be negligent in the slightest.

She held her breath and strained her ears, afraid of missing a single word Fang Lin was about to say, which would cause her to fail in this crucial third hurdle.

Three breaths later, Fang Lin took two steps forward, getting even closer to Han Lu, before continuing, "The third test is a choice."

After she finished speaking, Han Lu saw Fang Lin's phantom approach her further until it was at zero distance and merged into her body.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Han Lu subconsciously touched her not-so-protruding chest, trying to pull Fang Lin's phantom out of her body.

The phantom disappeared, and Han Lu did not feel the slightest bit uncomfortable or uneasy.

Just as Han Lu was about to scratch her ear and carefully analyze what the test that Senior Fang Lin had just mentioned was, her world finally gained some colors other than black.

As the colors and scenery before her gradually became clearer, Han Lu couldn't help but exclaim, "This... have I returned to the Central Plains?"

Indeed, Han Lu seemed to have left that dark space, and the surrounding architectural style had changed from a scientific steel city to a relatively backward and rustic style.

Sitting at a wooden table, looking at the parchment, wooden slips, and carving knives piled on it, Han Lu vaguely felt that this matter was not so simple.

"Shouldn't I be taking an assessment?" Han Lu looked around and thought to herself, "Besides, the architecture here is slightly different from that in the Central Plains. It's more similar to the architectural style in the Moon Pearl World. The things on the table are also too old. Now... I should have entered Senior Fang Lin's memories and arrived in the ancient cultivation era."

She picked up a roll of parchment from the table and looked at the words on it.

The parchment did not contain any martial arts manuals or secret techniques, but rather ordinary work documents.

The document contains data on Tanxi Village, including population, household registration, cultivated land area, number of monks, and other information.

Having read this far, Han Lu, who knew many stories from the ancient cultivation era, knew that she had not guessed wrong.

"When Senior Fang Lin's cultivation had just reached the Golden Core stage, he served as the sheriff of an ancient village. The name of that village was Tanxi Village."

"It seems that I am now in Senior Fang Lin's memory."

In the ancient cultivation era, the relationship between mortals and cultivators was much closer than in Han Lu's time.

Therefore, cultivators like Fang Lin, who have reached the Golden Core realm, would be stationed in various large villages, serving as heralds.

While governing a region and maintaining order, they also protect ordinary people who have no magical powers, allowing them to live and work in peace and contentment during the perilous ancient cultivation era.

"So now, am I... now Senior Fang Lin?"

Thinking of this, Han Lu lowered her head and looked at her body.

Her body had not changed at all; she still looked like Han Lu and had not temporarily transformed into Fang Lin.

Having figured out her current situation, just as Han Lu was wondering what the test was, someone suddenly rushed into the room where Han Lu was sitting.

"Lord Fang, something terrible has happened..."

A minor official dressed in a plain-colored robe approached Han Lu, completely unaware of the change in the person before him.

"No need to rush, tell me what happened slowly."

Based on the clues Fang Lin left him at the end, Han Lu knew that a test was coming.

After bowing, the official began to speak very quickly about the matter at hand.

It turns out that the two largest households in Tanxi Village have a conflict and are now gathering with friends in the fields to argue. It seems that the verbal dispute is about to turn into a physical fight, and a bloody incident seems inevitable.

Both of these families were large households with twenty or thirty members, and some of their children possessed the talent for cultivation.

If this were to escalate into a fight, it could become a major incident that shakes the very foundations of Tanxi Village.

The minor officials patrolling the area couldn't solve the problem; they could only temporarily stabilize the situation by invoking Fang Lin's name.

He hurriedly ran to find Lord Fang Lin, hoping that this highly skilled Golden Core cultivator could use his authority to properly resolve the matter and eliminate the conflict between the two parties.

Although they knew that something big had happened, they did not know what the two families had argued about that had escalated to the point of physical violence.

But Han Lu knew that this should be the third test, or one of the tests.

Chapter 245 The Third Stage

Guided by Han Lu, with the help of a minor official.

Within this memory, Han Lu, who temporarily possessed the Golden Core realm, skillfully and spontaneously performed a flight technique.

Holding the minor official in one hand, the two of them arrived at a water diversion ditch that had only been dug for half a year in less than three breaths.

With the ditch as the boundary, there were more than twenty farmers dressed in tattered clothes standing on each side of the ditch.

The group of farmers, holding simple farming tools, were arguing fiercely.

Beside the two groups of people, in the field, were two oxen.

One death and one injury.

Upon seeing Fang Lin, played by Han Lu, arrive, the farmers spontaneously stopped their conversation and knelt down to pay their respects to Fang Lin, the official in charge of protecting the peace of Tanxi Village.

"No need for formalities," Han Lu said for the first time. "What is the matter that you are arguing about again? Send a representative from each of your sides to explain to me."

A moment later, a middle-aged man and an elderly man, representing their respective families, came before Han Lu.

The two of them, one in front of the other, began to tell the story of what had just happened in the field.

The mortals of the ancient cultivation era were simple and honest, and disliked lying, so the stories told by the two were naturally very similar and had little difference.

The reason for the argument between the two groups was simple: two oxen, one dead and one injured, lying not far away.

At first, it was just an ordinary afternoon, with the two families, whose members were skilled in farming, each operating an ox to work in their own fields.

But for some unknown reason, the two cows suddenly went mad and, while working in the field, became uncontrollable and started fighting each other.

The farmer tilling the land had no cultivation, so naturally he couldn't stop the two oxen from fighting.

In just a moment, the winner between the two bulls was decided.

One family's cow died, and another family's cow was injured.

The family whose cow died naturally wanted to claim compensation, since a cow was not cheap in the ancient cultivation era, and losing this cow would have a significant impact on the harvest of this season's crops.

The family that injured the cow naturally didn't want to take responsibility for the incident.

In their view, it wasn't a deliberate act to kill the cow; it was simply an accident, and they shouldn't be held responsible for it.

They exchanged heated words, which almost escalated into a brawl.

After they finished telling their stories, the representatives of both families unanimously and respectfully addressed Han Lu, saying, "Everything is up to Lord Fang to decide."

Looking at the forty-odd ordinary people in front of her, Han Lu knew that the test questions had been set, and now it was up to her to answer them.

"This must have been an interesting incident that Senior Fang Lin encountered when he was a sheriff."

"He probably wanted to see how I handled this matter, whether I could handle it well, in order to judge whether I possessed certain qualities that he wanted to see."

Han Lu judged that this third test was a test of human nature.

"As for which qualities..." Han Lu hesitated, "Just wisdom, decisiveness, leadership, fairness, and approachability? All of those are possible."

Unable to guess the correct answer for the time being, Han Lu simply followed her own personality and showed her true self in this test.

After listening to the two representatives' statements, Han Lu beckoned over several farmers who were watching from the sidelines but had not been involved in the affairs of the two families, and asked them to explain the matter again from an outsider's perspective.

After hearing the statements from all three parties and confirming that the incident was merely an accident, Han Lu already had a general idea of ​​how to handle it.

"Since I am the local sheriff, does anyone have any objections to me acting as the referee in this dispute?" Han Lu asked casually.

The people being questioned bowed one by one and all indicated that they would leave it to Han Lu to arrange as she pleased.