The Long Journey to Immortality

Han Lu nodded slightly and casually placed a mid-grade spirit stone on the table. "Shopkeeper, my spirit stone is here. Where are your pills?"

Seeing that Han Lu paid the bill with mid-grade spirit stones, the shopkeeper had more questions about Han Lu's identity.

He rang the bell on the table, summoned a waiter, and gave him a few instructions.

A moment later, the waiter returned to the quiet room carrying the tray.

Five porcelain vases, each about the size of a palm, were placed on the wooden table next to Han Lu.

"Fairy Han, please inspect the goods. These are all pills refined within the last three months; they're all new stock." The shopkeeper proactively opened a porcelain bottle and poured a dark blue Spirit Gathering Pill onto the table.

Han Lu carefully opened each porcelain bottle and inspected them before she was completely relieved.

Seeing Han Lu's actions, the shopkeeper muttered to himself, guessing Han Lu's identity.

"She's probably the daughter of some cultivation family from the neighboring prefecture, who eloped with someone and ran away to Dongzhou Prefecture..."

With the money exchanged for the goods, Han Lu happily pocketed the fifty Spirit Gathering Pills.

"Thank you very much, shopkeeper. Please keep the items for me. See you the day after tomorrow." Han Lu put away the pills and left.

After leaving the pharmacy, Han Lu did not rush to the weapon-refining workshop next door, which was operated by the county government. Instead, she carefully circled around the city and found a secluded spot to change her clothes.

"It seems no one is following us."

"Looks like I was being too cautious."

Given the prevailing cultivation culture in the Great Yu Dynasty, Han Lu naturally couldn't help but project many stories from novels she had read onto herself, subconsciously feeling that someone was following her with ill intentions.

But in reality, she realized that she was just being paranoid and deluding herself.

They swaggered into the only shop in Yuxi County that sold magical artifacts.

Compared to the pharmacies run by the county government, this weapon-refining workshop is doing slightly worse business, but it has quite a few magical treasures.

Numerous magical treasures were displayed in the hall.

The lower-grade ritual implements were all hung on densely packed display shelves.

High-grade magical tools and low-grade magical treasures have their own separate display areas.

In the center of the shop, four screens were also erected for privacy.

Two high-grade ritual implements are displayed behind the screen.

These two ritual implements are the shop's prized possessions.

As for niche magical artifacts like Dharma thrones, which are exclusively for cultivation and lack any distinctive features, even if they reach the level of magical implements, they can only be piled up in the warehouse and have no chance to be displayed in the store.

As soon as Han Lu entered the shop, a shop assistant approached her to promote her products.

"I'm looking for a ritual seat of the highest quality. Do you know if you sell any in this shop?"

"Yes, a few days ago, Master Long happened to use the leftover scraps from refining magical artifacts to make a Dharma seat."

Upon hearing this, Han Lu quickly said, "Quickly, let me see it..."

A moment later, Han Lu spent a full 150 spirit stones to finally acquire the throne.

In terms of quality, this throne is far superior to the one Han Lu once owned.

This Dharma seat, which has reached the quality of a magic artifact, should provide Han Lu with a better environment when she wanders and cultivates in the Great Yu Dynasty in the future.

Chapter 257 Procurement

The throne was acquired, and the metal used to supplement the cultivation of the "Seven Kill Sword Technique" was sold or given away at Han Lu's shameless request, and entered Han Lu's storage bag.

Han Lu bought ten jin of ordinary metals like iron and copper with a gold ingot.

As for the Xuan Iron needed for cultivating the Seven Kill Sword Technique during the Foundation Establishment stage, Han Lu obtained a piece no bigger than the palm of her hand from the weapon-refining room at a slightly lower price.

As for the Frost Iron, the weapon-refining workshop in Yuxi County didn't have even a single piece.

However, Han Lu obtained information about Xuan Tie and Hanbing Xuan Tie from the shopkeeper after helping him complete a large transaction worth over a hundred spirit stones.

"The amount of mineral deposits in Dongzhou Prefecture is not small, but the mineral deposits near Yuxi County are mostly jade mines."

"If the fairy really wants to find that Frost Iron, she might as well look in the direction of Panshi County and Yinshan County in Dongzhou Prefecture."

"There are many iron mines near those two counties, and the amount of black iron produced each year is quite large. I suppose there is also some cold ice black iron there."

"In terms of price, it will be much cheaper than finding these two items in Yuxi County."

The waiter pointed out a general direction to Han Lu, and Han Lu, without being stingy, casually took out a piece of gold as a reward and noted down the information.

Having received the spirit stones, the shopkeeper, who already regarded Han Lu as a Nascent Soul cultivator, smiled even more broadly and began to promote the jade, a specialty of Yuxi County, to Han Lu.

The name Yuxi County is derived from the characters for "jade seal".

During the Great Yu Dynasty, all the jade seals used in the imperial court, prefectures, and counties were made from jade produced in Yuxi County.

Han Lu saw that the jade here was indeed of good quality, much better than the white jade from the Central Plains, so she didn't hesitate to buy some, intending to make it into seals and ornaments to give as gifts later.

The guys who had benefited greatly from Han Lu were practically calling her "Mom."

With smiles on their faces, the shop assistant greeted and saw Han Lu off, showering her with compliments until he was ten steps away from the weapon-refining shop.

Such enthusiastic service made Han Lu wonder if the atmosphere in the Great Yu Dynasty was as treacherous as she had imagined.

Back at the hotel, Han Lu couldn't wait to take out the newly bought throne.

This throne only has three types of spirit-gathering arrays, but in terms of the quality of the throne and the level of the spirit-gathering arrays, it is far superior to the throne that Han Lu once owned.

However, activating these three spirit-gathering arrays also required significantly more spirit stones.

She then took out a total of thirty-two spirit stones from her storage bag and casually embedded them into the Dharma seat.

Han Lu activated the Dharma seat and smiled as she sensed the changes in the spiritual energy in the air.

With a light leap, Han Lu sat on the reverse seat, made hand seals, and began cultivating, just as she had done when she was in the Qi Refining Mirror stage.

Another day and two nights passed. This time, Han Lu felt that the gaseous spiritual energy she introduced into her dantian was at least three times more than when she first became a cultivator.

In other words, if Han Lu originally needed three years of cultivation to advance to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage...

Now, Han Lu can save a full two years by relying on this Dharma seat.

Han Lu's expression changed slightly as she looked at the spirit stones on the throne, which had dimmed considerably, but she still praised them.

"That's right, the money was well spent."

Han Lu's idea was simple: she didn't lack spirit stones, so spending more of these external resources to create a better cultivation environment for herself was definitely worthwhile.

After having a meal, Han Lu leisurely arrived once again at the only pharmacy in Yuxi County that sold pills to the public.

This time, however, after waiting for a while in the quiet room, Han Lu not only met the shopkeeper, but also another cultivator dressed in a green robe.

Upon seeing the uninvited guest arrive, Han Lu's face darkened, and she subconsciously stood up from her chair, asking sternly, "Manager, what's going on here?"

The shopkeeper smiled and introduced the cultivator beside him to Han Lu, "Fairy Han, this Senior Lin comes from Nine Star Mountain and is also a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you."

Han Lu had heard of Jiuxing Mountain.

There was one Nascent Soul cultivator and nine Golden Core cultivators in the sect.

While this might not seem remarkable in the entire Great Yu Dynasty, it would rank second in Dongzhou Prefecture.

Upon hearing this, Han Lu's ominous premonition grew stronger, and she felt that trouble was about to happen between her and this fellow Daoist Lin.

Seeing how beautiful Han Lu was, Lin Jin, who had originally intended to speak to her in a condescending tone, put on the air of a refined gentleman and said with a smile, "Greetings, Fairy Han. I am Lin Jin. My purpose in coming here coincides with that of Fairy Han. We are also here for these eight True Essence Gathering Pills in the pharmacy."

Han Lu thought to herself, "As expected," and asked aloud, "What, Fellow Daoist Lin, do you intend to use the name of Nine Star Mountain to seize the treasure from me?"

“No, no,” Lin Jin said. “Nine Star Mountain is a reputable sect and would never do such a despicable thing.”

"I asked the shopkeeper to meet with Fairy Han so that we could have a proper talk and see if we can resolve this matter properly and share these eight True Essence Gathering Pills."

Hearing that the other party did not intend to act domineeringly, Han Lu breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, then what are your thoughts, Fellow Daoist Lin? Tell me."

Lin Jin said, "My purpose in coming here is to purchase True Essence Gathering Pills for my sect, as one of the rewards for celebrating the sect's 2000th anniversary..."

In January, it will be the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the founding of Jiuxing Mountain.

The celebration also included a competition among the sect's disciples, with the winners receiving elixirs and magical treasures as rewards from the sect.

As the core strength of the sect, Foundation Establishment cultivators naturally deserve good treatment.

The True Essence Gathering Pill, which greatly benefits Foundation Establishment cultivators in "transforming Qi into liquid" and "transforming liquid into solid," is naturally a good choice to be given as a reward during the celebration competition.

However, True Essence Gathering Pills are not easy to obtain. It is already difficult to find two pills that can be called True Essence Gathering Pills out of a hundred pills refined in one batch.

Jiulong Mountain is not a Zhengyi Sect, so it can recklessly squander spiritual plants to refine such Foundation Establishment pills.

Therefore, Nine Star Mountain arranged for Lin Jin and other Foundation Establishment stage disciples to go to various cities and counties in Dongzhou Prefecture to purchase True Essence Gathering Pills to make up for the shortage in the stock and to support the two-thousand-year celebration.

Han Lu listened to Lin Jin talk about Jiulong Mountain, occasionally making an "uh-huh" sound. After Lin Jin finished talking about these "off-topics," she asked again, "So, what are Fellow Daoist Lin's plans?"

"How about this, Fairy Han, take two, and I'll take six?" Lin Jin gave Han Lu some face.

Han Lu was not very satisfied with this distribution method. "When buying things, there is a first-come, first-served principle. I reserved these pills in advance. If I take them all, Fellow Daoist Lin will have nothing to say."

"This..." Lin Jin was speechless for a moment.

Han Lu took out forty-eight spirit stones and placed them on the table, saying, "Shopkeeper, give me six, and leave the rest for this Fellow Daoist Lin."

The shopkeeper glanced at Lin Jin's expression and saw him nod stiffly, so he didn't hesitate any longer and quickly completed the transaction with the two of them.

After obtaining the elixir, Han Lu took out five spirit stones to buy some Qi-Harmony Pills and Purple Sun Powder before leaving the pharmacy.

This arrangement seemed reasonable to Han Lu, but it displeased Lin Jin, a top disciple of Jiuxing Mountain.

He was thinking of discussing this matter with Han Lu privately to complete the task assigned by his sect, so he asked the shopkeeper for news about Han Lu.

Upon hearing that Han Lu might be the daughter of a cultivator family from another prefecture in Dongzhou Prefecture, he had some other thoughts.

Holding two True Essence Gathering Pills, Lin Jin met with his junior brother, who had also been assigned to Yuxi County to make purchases, at the inn.

Chapter 258 Conspiracy

Unlike Lin Jin, who was responsible for purchasing elixirs in the backward county of Yuxi, Lin Jin's junior brother, who was assigned to purchase jade in Yuxi, had a great harvest.

This junior brother Tang, who had only advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm three years ago, was carefully examining a piece of jade he had bought from the weapon refining room.

After these jade stones are sent to Jiulong Mountain, some of them will be mixed with other materials to make magical artifacts and treasures.