The Long Journey to Immortality

It had no idea that such wondrous things as talismans existed in this world.

Perhaps realizing that even if it found Han Lu, it wouldn't be able to do anything to her and would only get beaten up, after randomly using its supernatural powers a few times without any results, the desert behemoth let out a final angry roar and randomly chose a direction to continue its unfinished journey.

They came in a hurry, and they left in a hurry.

Accompanied by bursts of sand and earthquakes, the desert behemoth moved away from Han Lu, who was hiding nearby, at a slightly slower pace than before.

Han Lu tore off the talisman and rode her spirit sword, following it from a distance for a while. Seeing that the direction the other party was traveling was completely opposite to Xiao Ran's location, Han Lu decided not to disturb the desert behemoth's journey any further.

Flying on his sword, he returned to Xiao Ran's temporary cave dwelling.

Han Lu spent some time checking the cave's restrictions, and only felt completely relieved after confirming that no one had come during the fifteen minutes or so that she had left.

She quipped about her caution, "If a cultivator really has the ability to use a desert behemoth to lure me away from my mountain, then why bother with all this? Just attack directly, kill me, and then kill Xiao Ran and take his core after he forms his golden core."

After confirming that nothing had happened, Han Lu sat back down in her previous spot, gazing at the bright moon high in the sky. She reflected on her shortcomings during the battle and how she should respond if she encountered a situation where she had to kill a desert behemoth, aiming for a fatal blow.

Han Lu went and came back without Xiao Ran, who was in the process of forming his core, not noticing at all.

He devoted himself entirely to the matter of forming his core, absorbing as much of the abundant spiritual energy around him as possible and quickly converting it into spiritual power to fill his dantian, so that the false core that was absorbing spiritual power in his dantian would have enough nutrients to grow stronger.

Initially, Xiao Ran's speed in absorbing spiritual energy and converting it into spiritual power was slightly faster than that of the fake core in absorbing spiritual power.

However, as the fake pills gradually grew stronger and could be called seventh-grade golden pills, this balance was broken.

As the allure of the fake pill intensified, the amount of spiritual energy in his dantian gradually decreased.

As the sun rose overnight, the golden core in Xiao Ran's dantian had reached the middle fourth grade, and he still had about half of the spiritual power left in his dantian.

The process of forming the Golden Core continues.

Chapter 317 A New Enemy Emerges

The sun replaced the moon and appeared in the sky above the deep blue desert.

Because of these celestial changes, the feng shui in various parts of the deep blue desert has also changed slightly.

During the day, the spiritual energy in the air tends to be more inclined towards fire and wood. Naturally, the extremely earthy place that Xiao Ran deliberately arranged and created also underwent some feng shui changes as a result.

These changes reduced the amount of earth-attribute spiritual energy around Xiao Ran, which in turn slowed down the speed at which he recovered his spiritual power.

Although Xiao Ran was in a meditative state with his eyes closed, this slight change in spiritual energy caused a huge upheaval in his dantian.

If Xiao Ran could barely maintain it before, he tried his best to keep the speed at which the fake core absorbed spiritual energy at an acceptable level.

However, after this change in feng shui, the spiritual energy in his dantian and dantian decreased at an alarming rate.

"Is it already the next morning?" Xiao Ran looked at the pseudo-core in his dantian, its color gradually changing from gray to gold, and felt a little uneasy. "It seems that forming a high-grade golden core shouldn't be a problem, but..."

"There is still about one-third of the spiritual power in my Qi Sea."

"It is difficult to advance from the third-grade Golden Core stage to the second-grade Golden Core stage."

"If my storage bag hadn't been lost, I could have bought more feng shui items or found a kind of pill or soup that could restore spiritual power in the long term, that would have been great."

Xiao Ran was filled with regret, but it was too late to do anything about it.

"It's at least a high-grade Golden Core. Only one in ten out of a hundred Golden Core cultivators can form a high-grade Golden Core, so this result isn't too bad."

After comforting himself, Xiao Ran calmed down his restless heart.

At this moment, all he could do while forming his core was to continue absorbing spiritual energy and gathering spiritual power, trying to make the pseudo-core, which was about to advance and transform into a high-grade golden core, absorb as much spiritual energy as possible, so that the grade of his soon-to-be-formed golden core would be closer to the second-grade.

Han Lu had no idea how Xiao Ran was forming his core in the temporary cave. She was simply fulfilling her duty as a protector, diligently guarding him from the outside.

Nothing happens during the time from when the moon sets and the sun rises, finally hanging high in the sky.

Occasionally, a few low-level demonic beasts that went out to forage were also driven away by Han Lu, who wielded her spirit sword in the manner of a mortal.

Around noon, just as Han Lu was calculating the time and figuring that Xiao Ran would complete the Core Formation in at most another hour or two, another unexpected event occurred.

Two small black dots appeared in the distance, hovering around where Han Lu was located.

"Yes, cultivators?" Han Lu's eyesight was sharp; after a moment's observation, she clearly recognized the two black dots that had suddenly appeared as cultivators flying on swords.

Having been "infected" by Xiao Ran, Han Lu was even more wary of cultivators than the many monsters and ferocious beasts in the Deep Blue Desert.

Han Lu still vividly remembers the scene at that auction where a beast core sold for 20,000 spirit stones.

She was unwilling to let Xiao Ran, a friend with whom she had a fairly good relationship, become prey for some greedy cultivators, have his golden core stolen, and be used as a commodity to exchange with sentient demonic beasts.

However, since the other party was only watching from a distance, Han Lu would not provoke them as she had the previous night when dealing with the desert behemoth.

After all, the Deep Blue Desert was a no-man's land, and Xiao Ran and Han Lu did not carve their names on the sand of the temporary cave they built.

In a place brimming with opportunities, dangers, and benefits, it's quite normal for monks to be present and active.

Perhaps these two cultivators who flew on swords came here following the tracks of the desert behemoth from last night?

They were simply conducting a normal hunt, not intending to commit acts of murder and pill theft that would be considered heretical even in the Great Yu Dynasty.

Taking the initiative to approach someone and say anything is inappropriate; it might attract their attention, cause them displeasure, and bring trouble upon them.

After a moment's thought, Han Lu decided to stay put and guard the cave entrance, remaining calm and unchanging in the face of any eventuality.

Han Lu muttered, "Judging from their flying sword posture, they should only be Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"If someone really wants to kill someone to steal their core, it's because they have no hope of forming their own core that they would think of taking such a heretical and unorthodox path with no future."

"If there are too many of them, they must be weak. Even if there are only two, there's no need to panic."

After last night's fierce battle with the desert behemoth, Han Lu has gained a deeper understanding of her current strength in human form.

He was confident that with the various means he possessed and the numerous magical artifacts he held, dealing with the two "useless" mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators would be no problem.

With this mindset, Han Lu watched the two cultivators in the distance with a relaxed expression. If it weren't for Xiao Ran forming his core behind her, which required her to be careful, she would have even hoped that the two would come up to her so she could practice her skills and see what the result would be if she used her new techniques on a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Just as Han Lu had guessed, the two cultivators who were furtively observing from afar were indeed heading towards the pseudo-Core Formation cultivator who was currently taking advantage of the burst of spiritual energy in the deep blue desert.

The two cultivators, both harboring malicious intentions, were independent practitioners who had known each other for forty years and had long since become sworn brothers.

The eldest brother's name is Zhong Zhengzhen. He has been stuck in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage for a full hundred years. At the age of one hundred and seventy, he is not far from the end of his life as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The second brother's name is Zhang Chu, and his cultivation level is also at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. He has also been stuck at this awkward level for more than fifty years.

Although he was only a little over a hundred years old, Zhang Chu knew that his talent was limited and that he probably would never be able to transform the spiritual energy in his Qi Sea from liquid to solid, advance to the later stage, or even achieve the Golden Core.

Originally, knowing that they had no hope of forming a Golden Core in this lifetime, the two traveled together in the Great Yu Dynasty, trying to find opportunities to break through their cultivation level while also gaining experience and seeing the beautiful scenery of various places in the Great Yu Dynasty.

A few days ago, the two happened to travel to the vicinity of Mingsha Village, and even participated in the Immortal Fate Gathering of Cidaoren, just like Han Lu.

However, the two were clearly not destined to meet Ci Daoren. Despite their shamelessness as Foundation Establishment cultivators, they went up on stage without receiving any elixirs or magical treasures from Ci Daoren and left empty-handed.

Disappointed, the two left Mingsha Village immediately, intending to cross the deep blue desert to seek other immortal opportunities in other prefectures, but they did not expect to encounter this rare weather of spiritual energy bursting forth.

It has been noted that quite a few pseudo-core cultivators have chosen to enter the Deep Blue Desert at this time to attempt core formation. Perhaps only the elder brother Zhong Zhengzhen, who has lived for thirty years, has such malicious intentions.

Despair drives people mad.

After the eldest brother, Zhong Zhengzhen, subtly hinted at his intentions, he and the second brother, Zhang Chu, who refused to accept his fate and still longed to achieve the Golden Core, hit it off immediately.

So the two began searching for a newly built temporary cave in the deep blue desert, hoping to find an opportunity to kill a pseudo-core cultivator who was forming his core without anyone to help protect him.

Regardless of their grade, even if they couldn't exchange the stolen golden cores for beast cores, they could still obtain a large amount of spirit stones and cultivation resources, giving them a better chance of advancing.

Before arriving at the area where Han Lu and Xiao Ran were, they had already attacked a pseudo-Core Formation cultivator who had formed his Core alone.

The fake Core cultivator had exhausted most of the spiritual power in his dantian and sea of ​​qi because he had already formed his core. Faced with the sudden sneak attack from the two, he was defeated without any resistance and lost his life. At the same time, he "gave" his not-yet-fully-formed golden core to the two.

Although they only obtained a low-grade Golden Elixir, the two brothers still tasted the sweetness of success through this attack.

Most importantly, the thrill of killing cultivators with higher cultivation levels made the two "disappointed" individuals, who were basically unable to form their own cores, unable to resist the urge.

So the two continued to roam the deep blue desert together, trying to find a suitable target.

Han Lu and Xiao Ran in the cave behind her became the next targets of the two.

Chapter 318 Killing to Obtain the Elixir

"Brother, how is it? Have you found anything?" Zhang Chu looked at Zhong Zhengzhen, who was performing a secret technique beside him, and asked, "What is the cultivation level of that female cultivator in the distance? Is there a cultivator forming their core in the cave behind her?"

Although Zhong Zhengzhen remained at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage for a long time, he did not completely waste his time during that period.

His talent for cultivation was poor, and his cultivation progressed slowly, but he had a special talent in spiritual sense, which was stronger than that of ordinary cultivators.

In particular, he has mastered a secret technique of spiritual awareness.

After performing the secret technique, he can extend his divine sense outward like a Golden Core cultivator to detect and explore, directly knowing the approximate realm of other cultivators.

Successfully mastering this secret technique is Zhong Zhengzhen's proudest achievement.

He used to use this trick to cheat when gambling with other Foundation Establishment cultivators and earn spirit stones.

But now, having temporarily switched to the role of "Core Formation cultivator hunter," he has developed a new use for this technique: to scout out enemy positions, so that he and Zhang Chu don't run into a brick wall while "hunting."

After all, most cultivators who form their core in a treacherous place like the Deep Blue Desert will invite like-minded friends to come and protect them.

Zhong Zheng was perfectly aware of his own and his second brother's strength.

They wouldn't go looking for trouble with that type of Core Formation cultivator.

After a long silence, Zhong Zhengzhen finally finished performing the complete secret technique.

"The temporary cave dwelling in the distance has a restriction set up to isolate divine sense."

"I couldn't detect whether any cultivators were forming their cores there, but judging from the feng shui and the density of spiritual energy..."

"There must have been a protective object set up to gather spiritual energy and change the feng shui. From this, we can infer that a cultivator must have formed their core here."

Zhang Chu assumed that Zhong Zhengzhen hadn't heard his question clearly, so he asked again, "Brother, what is the cultivation level of the female cultivator who is protecting the Dharma outside? She should be the only cultivator helping with protection nearby, so she should also be at the late Foundation Establishment stage."

"How about," Zhang Chu said, more concerned about his life than the potential profits, "we hurry up and go explore other places?"

Zhong Zhengzhen chuckled twice and said, "Second brother, you guessed wrong. According to the results of my divine sense detection just now, that female cultivator seems to have not yet transformed her Qi into liquid; she is only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment."

"If the two of us join forces, dealing with her should be a piece of cake."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chu's face lit up with joy. "Really? That's wonderful!"

Neither Zhang Chu nor Zhong Zhengzhen felt they had any chance of losing, whether it was a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator fighting an early-Foundation Establishment cultivator or two against one.

Zhong Zhengzhen said, "Yes, this time we must learn from our experience and not act too early, lest we only manage to obtain a low-grade golden pill."

Zhang Chu could tell that Zhong Zhengzhen was referring to him, and immediately began to reflect on his own actions based on the experience of the two of them killing someone and stealing the elixir.