The Long Journey to Immortality

"I wonder at what time Xiao Ran has decided to begin forming his core..."

Han Lu recalled her knowledge about Core Formation and guessed.

"His main metal-based cultivation method is most suitable for forming the core between dusk and sunrise."

"However, if you want to form a high-grade golden core, it will take at least a day and a night."

"So it goes like this..."

Han Lu did a simple addition and subtraction in her mind, "Xiao Ran's choice to form his core in the latter half of Shen Shi (3-5 PM) is the most suitable."

Sure enough, at two quarters past Shen time that day, Han Lu was playing with the spiritual energy sword generated by the Seven Kill Sword Technique outside the cave, splitting it into seven and practicing a sword formation outside the cave, when Xiao Ran finally came out of his room and informed Han Lu that he was about to begin the process of forming his core.

Han Lu merged the spiritual energy sword into one, hid it within her body, and then transformed it back into spiritual energy, returning to her dantian. She then descended from the sky and landed in front of Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran bowed and said.

"This time, I owe it all to Fairy Han. If it weren't for Fairy Han, I wouldn't have been able to make a comeback, earn these two thousand spirit stones, and find such a blessed place to form my core."

"If I, Xiao, can successfully form my core, please feel free to ask if Fairy Han has any troubles that I can help you with in the future. I will do my best to help Fairy Han solve her problems."

Xiao Ran's gratitude towards Han Lu was beyond words. He could only promise to risk his life for Han Lu in order to repay her kindness and avoid tarnishing his own Dao heart.

Han Lu understood the reason for Xiao Ran's actions, so she naturally wouldn't be polite at this time. "Then I will respectfully accept your offer. I wish Fellow Daoist Xiao a successful Core Formation and advancement to the Golden Core Realm."

"Thank you for your kind words." Xiao Ran nodded slightly.

Immediately afterwards, he unleashed two bursts of spiritual energy and placed a full twenty spirit stones into the empty space of the magic array, pushing the array to its maximum operation.

As the light on the array flags grew brighter, Han Lu could clearly feel that the area where the cave was located gave her the illusion of being isolated from the world.

She thought to herself, "It seems that Xiao Ran's set of battle flags was a great value for money."

After doing all this, Xiao Ran turned around and went back inside, but this time, he didn't close the door.

Han Lu could stand outside the door and clearly see the final arrangements Xiao Ran made for the Core Formation stage inside the room.

Before Xiao Ran informed Han Lu to begin the Core Formation process, he had already drawn another set of feng shui arrays in the room to alter the feng shui and activate the feng shui-suppressing objects.

Only then did he place the dozen or so pieces of Heavenly Pillar Stone that he had already cut from his storage bag into various parts of the magic array, activating it.

Han Lu, who was practicing water-attribute techniques, could clearly feel that the surrounding spiritual energy was becoming increasingly dense.

The burst of spiritual energy, combined with this feng shui formation, made Han Lu feel as if the air in the cave was about to turn into sand.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Ran was quite satisfied with the current feng shui environment.

Looking at the futon in his room, Xiao Ran turned to Han Lu with a slightly embarrassed expression and said, "Fairy Han, how about I borrow your throne for a moment? I'll pay with spirit stones."

Han Lu didn't say anything, but took her throne out of her storage bag and handed it to Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran thanked him again, then put away the futon and casually stuffed a few spirit stones into the Dharma seat to activate it.

With these arrangements completed, Xiao Ran's preparations for forming his core were finally finished.

Sitting on the throne, Xiao Ran looked at Han Lu and said, "Fairy Han, I entrust my safety to you."

After saying that, Xiao Ran didn't wait for Han Lu's reply. He swallowed the few pills that restored spiritual power from his storage bag whole and then casually released a burst of spiritual power to completely close the stone door that served as the room door.

Chapter 313 Desert Beast (Part 1)

Ten breaths later, there were no earth-shattering changes in the celestial phenomena, nor any strange noises emanating from Xiao Ran's room. However, Han Lu knew from the subtle changes in the flow of spiritual energy around him that Xiao Ran had begun to form his core.

The process of forming a golden core is not complicated.

After a cultivator forms a pseudo-core, all they need to do is actively introduce a large amount of spiritual power into it and activate it like a magic weapon. It will be as if a switch has been triggered, turning the pseudo-core into a black hole-like entity within the dantian.

Once activated, the fake core will greedily absorb the spiritual energy in the dantian.

This process will accelerate and cannot be stopped voluntarily until there is no more spiritual energy in the dantian for the false pill to absorb and strengthen itself.

This process is called Core Formation. After this process, the false core will transform into the golden core that cultivators talk about, becoming evidence that the Foundation Establishment cultivator has made further progress and greatly increased their magical power.

The grade of a pill depends on the amount of spiritual energy absorbed by the fake pill.

The less spiritual energy absorbed, the lower the grade of the resulting pill.

The more spiritual energy absorbed, the higher the grade of the pill.

The choices a cultivator makes along their cultivation path, the numerous foreshadowings they lay, and whether they make sufficient preparations before finally forming their core are all predetermined.

The process of forming a golden core is more like copying the answers onto an exam paper than answering questions.

Since Xiao Ran had already begun to form his core, Han Lu consciously retreated to the outside of the cave, so as not to let her presence, as a cultivator with a water-attribute spiritual root, have a bad influence on the feng shui of the cave and interfere with Xiao Ran's core formation.

Practicing sword formations would inevitably consume spiritual energy, so after thinking it over, Han Lu took out some cultivation novels from the Great Yu Dynasty that she had bought in Mingsha Village from her storage bag and sat down in front of her cave to read them.

Because of the different cultivation cultures, the styles of novels written by cultivators in the Central Plains and the Great Yu Dynasty are naturally different, giving Han Lu a novel experience to read.

Late at night, as Han Lu was engrossed in reading a novel with a solar-powered desk lamp she had bought from an ancient cultivation secret realm beside her, an unexpected event occurred.

Han Lu noticed that the light from the desk lamp next to her was swaying, and the gravel on the ground beside her was also shaking slightly.

"earthquake?"

Just as she was wondering, a ferocious beast's howl faintly echoed from a great distance.

Han Lu silently put away the novel in her hand, patted the storage bag at her waist, summoned her spirit sword, and flew into the sky on the sword.

While on the flying sword, Han Lu silently recited the incantation, circulated her cultivation technique, and her eyes shone with golden light.

While the "See Through" move is primarily used to identify the enemy's weaknesses and deliver a fatal blow, it also enhances eyesight, making it quite suitable for use in this situation.

Looking in the general direction from which the sound came, Han Lu's already serious expression became even more solemn.

All she could see was billowing "blue dust," so much so that it filled half the sky with sand and gravel stirred up by the mysterious object.

"There don't seem to be any monsters on the sand. Could it be that it's not a beast tide?" Han Lu crossed out one of her guesses.

Immediately following the tremors, Han Lu had a thought: "Could it be that some enormous monster is moving beneath the sand?"

Recalling the rumors about desert monsters she had heard from merchants while strolling through Mingsha Village a few days ago, she figured it was probably true.

"Sigh," Han Lu sighed, noticing that her area was roughly on the desert behemoth's route. "What terrible luck! The merchants said that this desert behemoth only ventures out to hunt for food once every three or four years. I never expected that Xiao Ran would encounter it when he was forming his core."

Fortunately, judging from the stories told by the merchants, even with exaggerated elements added, the desert behemoth shouldn't have the strength equivalent to a Golden Core cultivator, and Han Lu felt confident that she could still drive it away.

Han Lu already had a general idea of ​​what to do. "After all, this giant beast probably wasn't coming for Xiao Ran, who is currently forming his core. It was just passing by. If I hurt it, with its sand-filled head, it will definitely run away on instinct."

Thinking of this, Han Lu put away her supernatural ability of sight, estimated her relative position to the desert behemoth, and without hesitation, directly rode her spirit sword towards the direction where the desert behemoth was.

In the story, the desert behemoth is like a small mountain.

Like Xiaoshan, this was a demonic attack at roughly the late Foundation Establishment stage. Han Lu, who was not transforming into a True Spirit, was not confident that its attack would not interfere with Xiao Ran, who was in the process of forming his Core.

Therefore, taking the initiative rather than passively defending and resolving the problem at a distance is the right choice.

In just a moment, Han Lu arrived amidst the swirling sand and dust.

From her vantage point, she could clearly see the small, rapidly moving hills rising slightly from the desert surface.

The giant desert beasts, swiftly traversing the shallows of the desert, clearly failed to notice the tiny creatures flying in the air, continuing their "swimming" forward without changing course or stopping in the slightest.

Han Lu rubbed her fingers together, struggling with what method she should use to deal with the desert behemoth.

"If this is the top of a desert behemoth's head, then the behemoth's body must be as tall as a four or five-story building."

"Stopping it won't be easy."

After a moment of contemplation, Han Lu recalled the methods she had used to deal with the sand wolves.

"Perhaps using some fire-related spells or supernatural powers would have a miraculous effect."

Thinking of this, Han Lu did not hesitate and activated the "True Phoenix Manual", intending to use the True Spirit Divine Power Fire Phoenix True Flame that she had awakened recently to deal with the behemoth that had not yet revealed its true form.

Han Lu once again picked up the True Phoenix Manual, which she had not yet fully mastered, and learned the techniques for transforming into a true spirit. She simply transformed a part of her body into a true spirit to unleash true spirit supernatural powers in order to enhance their power.

Her phoenix feather robe turned red, and a strange facial pattern appeared on Han Lu's face.

Her originally black eyes and hair turned completely red at that moment.

Finally, two wings of light sprouted from Han Lu's back, allowing her to detach from the spirit sword and temporarily fly in the air in human form.

Feeling the rapid loss of spiritual energy within her body, Han Lu didn't hesitate.

Suddenly, countless balls of blood-red flames appeared around Han Lu's body. The next moment, under Han Lu's command, these flames rained down from the sky like a bomb, targeting the desert behemoths that were still "swimming" in the desert.

In just three breaths, these fireballs traversed a distance of a hundred meters and landed precisely on that sand dune.

The fireballs all disappeared into the desert, and at the same time, the small hill that had been moving forward suddenly stopped.

Just as Han Lu was wondering whether the Fire Phoenix True Flame had actually harmed the desert behemoth that had not yet shown itself, another howl came from the desert below her.

The next moment, a giant beast a hundred times larger than Han Lu leaped up from the desert, flew low for a moment, and then landed back on the desert surface.

For the first time, Han Lu saw the true face of this desert behemoth.

Chapter 315 Desert Beast

A rhinoceros, seemingly found only in southern Xinjiang, appeared before Han Lu.

However, the rhinoceros in this picture book looked slightly different from the one Han Lu had seen.

It swelled to at least ten times its original size, reaching the height of four or five stories.

Its body is also basically made of sand, at least from the outside.

Of the behemoth's exposed parts, only one long tusk at its front was composed of a rock-like substance. Han Lu speculated that the desert behemoth's ability to "swim" so easily beneath the desert was not only related to its innate supernatural abilities, but also to its pair of tusks capable of easily splitting mountains and cracking the earth.

The desert behemoth, having been hit by dozens of clusters of fiery phoenix flames from Han Lu, was not in good condition.

His head, composed entirely of sand and devoid of hair, was undergoing a massive fire caused by the True Flame of the Fire Phoenix.

The Phoenix Flame does not cause any burning or pain when it burns.

The desert behemoth's mournful howl was entirely due to the fact that it was composed of sand imbued with spiritual energy.

When the Phoenix Flame burns on his body, it not only burns away the spiritual power within him, but also destroys his body.

In just a short while, the desert behemoth, which was originally four or five stories tall, shrank by half. Its already unsightly head was missing a small part, and its appearance became even more ferocious and vicious.

After suffering such a severe blow, the desert behemoth finally discovered Han Lu, who was flying in the air observing, and realized that she was the one who had caused it to "be furious".

Enraged, the desert behemoth unleashed its supernatural power, causing countless giant sandstones to rapidly sprout from its skin and shoot towards Han Lu, who was hovering in the sky, like cannonballs.