The Long Journey to Immortality

Rubbing her slightly sore eyes, Han Lu thought to herself.

"In the end, it's a useful new supernatural ability. If I had known this move before, I wouldn't have needed to probe so much to discover the flaws and weaknesses in Zhong Hong's spell. Winning would have been much easier."

Han Lu mentally brought her current state into the gambling match she had just witnessed.

He believed that by simply using his ability to see through illusions and a spiritual sword, he could easily defeat Zhong Hong, who was considered to be of some skill among early Foundation Establishment cultivators, in the blink of an eye.

In high spirits, Han Lu was thinking of taking advantage of this moment to increase the amount of mist in her dantian and dantian.

Xiao Ran, who had just parted from her moment ago, once again arrived uninvited and knocked on the small gate of Han Lu's courtyard.

Han Lu looked at Xiao Ran with a rare smile, "What is it, Fellow Daoist Xiao? Is there something you need?"

Xiao Ran played a significant role in Han Lu's breakthrough. Although it was only part of the transaction, it still made Han Lu feel much more favorably toward Xiao Ran, her friend whom she had only known for three and a half days.

It's normal to be more polite and friendly.

Xiao Ran was slightly surprised and paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm here to congratulate Fairy Han. Judging from Fairy Han's appearance just now, she must have broken through some incredible bottleneck. Congratulations, congratulations!"

"Fellow Daoist Xiao has sharp eyes," Han Lu simply praised without explaining the situation. "I have indeed broken through an extremely difficult bottleneck, and this is thanks to Fellow Daoist Xiao's careful guidance these past few days."

"You're too kind," Xiao Ran said with a smile. "There's one more thing. I remember Fairy Han once said that she came to Nine Dragons Mountain to search for some rare metal materials and collect elixirs, right?"

Han Lu nodded and said, "I did say that."

Xiao Ran said, "It just so happens that Ping Zhili, a disciple of Jiulong Mountain, came to me and told me that Jiulong Mountain will be holding a day-long auction tomorrow."

"When the time comes, if Fellow Daoist Han has any materials or magic treasures that he doesn't need, he can take them to the auction to sell."

"And the materials and elixirs that Fairy Han is looking for should also be available at this auction."

[Author's Note] October is coming to an end. Please check if there are any free monthly tickets or razor blades left that you haven't used. Could you give me one?

Chapter 288 Divination Techniques (Part 1)

During her few days at Jiulong Mountain, Han Lu frequently visited the temporary market.

Despite visiting many times, Han Lu did not manage to purchase many of the cultivation resources she needed.

Having acquired quite a few Spirit Gathering Pills, Han Lu now has nearly four hundred Spirit Gathering Pills in her storage bag. At a rate of one pill every three days, which is incredibly "luxurious" for ordinary cultivators, it will still be enough for her to consume for a full three years.

As for the True Essence Gathering Pill, she only received a small amount because of the existence of Nine Dragons Mountain.

Combined with the True Essence Gathering Pills already in the storage bag, there were only thirty of them.

This number is a large number for an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, but for Han Lu, a wealthy and powerful "second-generation immortal," it is still a bit less.

The metal auxiliary materials used in the Seven Kill Sword Technique, which are used to assist in the cultivation of the Golden Core stage or even higher, are nowhere to be found in the market except for Xuan Tie.

Han Lu estimated that, just as Xiao Ran said, these rare metals would only appear at the auction held at Jiulong Mountain for mid-to-high-level cultivators.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, are there any conditions for participating in this auction?" Han Lu came to Nine Dragons Mountain specifically to spend spirit stones to obtain these cultivation resources, so she was naturally very interested in the auction.

“There are conditions, but both I and Fairy Han meet the requirements,” Xiao Ran said. “As long as our cultivation reaches the fifth level of Qi Refining or above, we can participate.”

"Only the fifth level of Qi Refining?" Han Lu was slightly disappointed upon hearing this.

After all, neither the Frost Iron nor the Dark Raven Mithril she was looking for were common metals.

Even cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining can participate in this auction, so she naturally felt that this auction was too low-class and that the items she wanted might not appear.

Xiao Ran was a smart man, so he immediately understood Han Lu's subtext.

He said, "Fairy Han, the low threshold is just to make the auction more grand."

"As far as I know, many Golden Core cultivators will participate in this auction."

"Besides, you're just idling around anyway. If you can't find the materials or pills you want at this auction, you're even less likely to find them in the market."

Xiao Ran's words made a lot of sense, and Han Lu was immediately convinced.

“In that case, it is necessary to make a trip,” Han Lu inquired about the specific details of the auction. “Fellow Daoist Xiao, do you know where the auction is held and what format it is?”

“I know the specific location, but I can’t explain it clearly. Fellow Daoist Han, just come with me tomorrow,” Xiao Ran explained. “The format is rather loose and simple, or rather, it’s rather drawn out.”

The auction was turned into a banquet at Jiulong Mountain.

The auction will continue throughout the morning and afternoon, featuring treasures acquired from our guests.

In the evening, distinguished figures such as Golden Core cultivators will make their appearance, and many valuable items that have been collected in advance to enhance the atmosphere of the auction will be on display.

"Hey? Fellow Daoist Xiao, didn't you lose your storage bag? Have you earned enough spirit stones these past few days? What do you want to buy?" Han Lu's attention was diverted by the first part of Xiao Ran's sentence.

Xiao Ran happily introduced his recent achievements in making money, "I still have two unused magical tools, so I thought I'd sell them at the auction to get some spirit stones."

"As for what I want to buy, there are quite a few. After all, I lost my storage bag and only have a spirit sword as a protective magic weapon, which is really embarrassing. It is necessary to buy a few magic tools."

"Unfortunately, even if I sell those two magical items, I estimate I'll only have two thousand three or four hundred spirit stones in my storage bag, which isn't enough to buy any decent magical treasures."

"Therefore, I would like to buy a few feng shui items with suitable properties and reasonable prices to prepare for my core formation."

Perhaps because he was short on money, Xiao Ran spoke a little ramblingly, clearly not yet having fully decided how to use the limited amount of spirit stones in his storage bag.

Even though he lost his storage bag, Xiao Ran still decided to stick to his original plan and advance to the Core Formation stage in the near future.

Even though Han Lu possessed Xiaoyaozi's memories, the matter of Core Formation was still somewhat unfamiliar to her.

Although she had long known about the various things to pay attention to when forming her core through different channels, this was the first time she had heard of a familiar cultivator forming his core.

"Have you chosen a suitable location and time for Core Formation?" Han Lu asked curiously.

Han Lu's question stumped Xiao Ran. "That hasn't been decided yet. I was planning to find a divination master in Jiulong Mountain in the next few days to help me cast a divination and find an auspicious time and place."

Immediately afterward, Xiao Ran said with a smile, "Fairy Han, I wonder if you are skilled in divination? How about you tell my fortune?"

Upon hearing this, Han Lu coughed and said in a serious tone, "Among the cultivation techniques I practice, there is indeed a secret art of divination. I have been struggling to find someone to cooperate with me. Let me try to see if I have any expertise in this area. Fellow Daoist Xiao, you don't mind wasting some time with me, do you?"

The "Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique" records a rudimentary divination technique that can be used once one has reached the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

This secret technique is quite simple, but it is extremely difficult to make it work when used on the user. Therefore, Han Lu, who has always been alone in the Da Yu Dynasty, has never found an opportunity to use it.

I cannot verify whether I possess a talent for divination, nor can I verify whether choosing Fang Lin's inheritance instead of Senior Wang Han's in that ancient cultivation secret realm was the right thing to do.

Han Lu's answer surprised Xiao Ran. "Fairy Han is truly multi-talented. May I ask how much the divination fee is for each reading?"

Xiao Ran volunteered, willing to be the guinea pig that would suffer no loss.

"No money needed." Whether it works or not is unknown, so Han Lu naturally wouldn't charge people for divination like a typical cultivator skilled in divination. "Just fetch me a basin of clean water."

"it is good."

Xiao Ran turned and left Han Lu's courtyard.

When he returned, a basin filled with clear water was floating in front of him.

"Is this all?" Under Xiao Ran's control, the wooden basin sat steadily on the stone table in Han Lu's courtyard.

“It’s ready,” Han Lu said. “Wait a moment.”

"Fairy Han, will this move harm you?" Thinking of some rumors about divination techniques, Xiao Ran asked another question.

Han Lu chuckled, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, you're overthinking it. It's just some basic divination techniques. Aside from consuming some of my spiritual energy, there's no other loss."

Xiao Ran nodded and said nothing more.

Han Lu stared at the basin of water in front of her, held her breath, and silently recited the incantation in her mind.

A deep blue spiritual energy emanated from Han Lu's body and slowly seeped into the basin of water.

Soon, the spring water changed, as if it had been boiled.

After completing all this, Han Lu quickly said, "Quickly, put your hand in the water, and at the same time, silently recite the question you want to ask."

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Xiao Ran naturally wouldn't hesitate just because the water looked like boiling water.

Xiao Ran quickly put his hand into the water.

Feeling the water was not as hot as it appeared, but rather cool to the touch, Xiao Ran was slightly surprised.

But he dared not be careless, and kept repeating a question in his mind, waiting for Han Lu's secret technique to produce new changes and arrive at the final result.

Chapter 189 Divination Techniques (Part 2)

Although this was Han Lu's first time using the water divination technique, it was not particularly profound or difficult, so she succeeded on her first try.

As Xiao Ran silently recited the question he wanted to ask, he dipped his hand into the water for a moment.

The boiling water gradually calmed down, and the dark spiritual energy that had been injected into the water formed characters no bigger than tadpoles, which were pieced together in the water.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran couldn't help but sigh inwardly, slightly anticipating the final result Han Lu would arrive at based on these characters.

Looking at the characters in the water, Han Lu felt a little strange.

"Why are there only so many?"

The characters in the water were pieced together and eventually formed only seven characters.

Although Han Lu couldn't remember the general meaning of each character in the manual, she knew very well that if it was about predicting the appropriate time and place for Xiao Ran to form his core, these few characters alone couldn't explain it.

"Could it be that we failed?" Han Lu didn't think she had any talent for divination, so she felt that this result was reasonable.

However, she only said these words in her heart and showed no outward expression.

She simply said, "Alright, Fellow Daoist Xiao, the secret technique is complete. You can extend your hand now."

Immediately afterwards, Han Lu took out the secret manual containing the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation method of the "Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique" from her storage bag and quickly began to read it.

After the water divination technique is performed, the approximate meaning of each character is recorded in the secret manual.

Although Han Lu couldn't remember clearly, it didn't stop her from consulting the dictionary one by one.

"This..." Han Lu flipped through the pages one by one, muttering to herself.

Seeing Han Lu's serious expression and meticulous demeanor, Xiao Ran's expression changed slightly, and he hesitated to speak.

With just seven characters, Han Lu only spent about a minute flipping through the manual before she knew the final result of this divination.

"What's going on?" Han Lu was even more puzzled by the interpretation. "Fellow Daoist Xiao, what question did you ask? Why did the result of the divination be 'No Fate, No Bond'?"

"Could it be that the question you were thinking about just now has nothing to do with Core Formation, but is related to marriage?"

Upon hearing this answer, a hint of disappointment flashed across Xiao Ran's face.

He chuckled and said, "Isn't this just to test whether Fairy Han's water divination technique is effective?"