The Long Journey to Immortality

"Brother, this isn't my first time doing something like this, so I'm a little nervous. I'm afraid that the cultivator just now finished forming his core and advancing to the Golden Core realm before we could make a move, and then turned around and killed us both."

Zhong Zhengzhen was exasperated and said, "Second brother, didn't I tell you before we started that even if that cultivator advanced to the Golden Core stage, he would have no spiritual power to use immediately, making him inferior to a Qi Refining cultivator? Why were you in such a hurry to act?"

"The matter of forming the core was not completely completed; we only managed to obtain a low-grade seventh-rank golden core with great difficulty."

"If we wait a little longer, this seventh-grade golden core might rise to the sixth grade, and then the value of this golden core will at least triple."

Demonic beasts comparable to the Foundation Establishment Realm can advance to the next level by refining Golden Cores.

Refining a low-grade golden core has only a 10% chance of allowing a demon beast to advance in rank, and once it advances, it becomes very difficult to improve its cultivation level.

The effects of mid-grade and high-grade Golden Elixir are several times better than those of low-grade Golden Elixir in this regard, and naturally, their prices are also several times higher.

A sentient beast might spend four or five thousand spirit stones to buy a mid-grade golden core from a cultivator for the sake of its clan's descendants, but it would never spend one or two thousand spirit stones to find a low-grade golden core for such a minuscule probability.

Although this low-grade golden pill is valuable, it is not easy to sell, especially for the two brothers who lack a secret channel.

Zhong Zhengzhen's words were all reasonable and sincere, and Zhang Chu, who was already aware of his mistake, naturally did not refute or contradict his elder brother Zhong Zhengzhen.

He repeatedly assured him, "This time, I will definitely follow my elder brother's arrangements. I will wait until the cultivator in that cave has completed his core formation before killing him and seizing his core."

"Alright, but before that, the two of us brothers need to deal with that female cultivator first."

"It's nothing, just a female cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment. I guess she's probably the Daoist partner of the one who has formed the Core in the cave, which is why she's protecting him," Zhang Chu, who had just killed a fake Core cultivator, didn't take Han Lu, whose cultivation was lower than his, seriously. "Maybe I can take care of her by myself later without my elder brother having to do it."

Zhong Zhengzhen had always been cautious and prudent in his cultivation over the years, and this time, taking such a risk, he naturally brought out this characteristic to the extreme.

"Second brother, don't let your guard down. When we attended the celebration at Nine Dragons Mountain, we saw a genius who could fight against a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with only early Foundation Establishment cultivation. That female cultivator might just be one of them."

"Later, we'll go up and strike up a conversation, using asking for directions as an excuse to get closer to the other person."

“You handle this. You’re more handsome than me, and your voice is gentle and pleasant. That female cultivator should be able to talk to you for a bit.”

"Once the female cultivator lowers her guard, we will strike suddenly and kill her instantly."

"Finally," Zhong Zhengzhen stroked his beard and smiled, "we will patiently wait for the cultivator in the cave to complete his core formation before killing him to take the core."

"That female cultivator is quite attractive. I imagine her Daoist partner is also a cultivator with some talent. If all goes well, we should be able to get a mid-grade Golden Core."

Listening to Zhong Zhengzhen's words, Zhang Chu couldn't help but imagine the scene where the two of them sold their Golden Cores through a relatively secretive channel in exchange for a large number of spirit stones.

Zhang Chu quickly replied, "Brother is wise. I will follow your instructions. If you tell me to go east, I will definitely not go west."

Zhong Zhengzhen and his second brother Zhang Chu went over the script and discussed in detail the methods they would use when launching a surprise attack. Once they felt it was perfect, they rode their spirit swords and flew towards the temporary cave dwelling established by Han Lu and Xiao Ran.

Seeing the two cultivators secretly discussing something in the distance for a long time, Han Lu's vigilance reached its peak.

When the two finally flew towards her location on their spirit swords, Han Lu was certain that these two cultivators had not come here by chance, but were there to kill her and steal her core.

"Since that's the case, I don't need to be polite with them anymore."

"Just kill him."

Most of the cultivators in the Great Yu Dynasty had blood on their hands, and Han Lu felt that killing such cultivators would not be judged by Heaven as doing something bad or creating a bad karma.

They were worried that it would disturb the surrounding spiritual energy and affect Xiao Ran's core formation.

Han Lu simply took the initiative, just like yesterday, and rode her sword to meet them.

He planned to kill the two of them with lightning speed, nipping the crisis in the bud in a way reminiscent of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Chapter 319 Taking the Initiative

Seeing the female cultivator who had been standing in the distance "in a daze" suddenly fly up on her sword and take the initiative to greet them, the Zhang brothers, Chu and Zhong Zhengzhen, were quite surprised.

"What's going on?" The sudden change gave Zhong Zheng a bad feeling.

Zhang Chu didn't take Han Lu's actions too seriously. "Brother, don't worry. This female cultivator is here to protect her partner and help him successfully form his core."

“We were far away before, so she probably didn’t notice us.”

“We took the initiative to approach her and let her see us, which naturally made her wary.”

"Now, she will most likely step forward and ask us why we came."

Zhang Chu's analysis was reasonable and well-founded, which dispelled Zhong Zhengzhen's already few concerns.

Therefore, Zhong Zhengzhen said, "Second brother is right, so let's proceed according to the original plan."

"But you have to be decisive when you take action, so as not to cause any unforeseen complications."

Although it wasn't yet a point where action was absolutely necessary, the enormous profits at hand still led Zhong Zhengzhen to choose to take the risk.

Zhang Chu readily agreed, "Don't worry, brother, I guarantee my words will lower that female cultivator's guard."

"Yes, just follow my lead."

"clear."

In the short time it took to speak, Han Lu was already not far from the two of them.

Zhong Zhengzhen and Zhang Chu exchanged a glance, then stopped discussing countermeasures and instead focused on making up stories to get closer to each other.

“Fairy…” Zhang Chu, standing on his flying sword, bowed respectfully, but was interrupted by Han Lu before he could finish his sentence.

When they were still more than 30 meters away, Han Lu stopped her sword and went straight to the point, "You two have been lurking around here for a long time, and now you've come here to kill someone and steal their pills?"

This unconventional question and answer left Zhang Chu, who was only doing this kind of thing for the second time, somewhat bewildered.

Zhong Zhengzhen reacted a little faster and quickly denied Han Lu's statement, "Of course not, fairy, please don't misunderstand. My brother and I just got lost in this deep blue desert. We stood there trying to figure out the direction for a while, and only just now did we notice that you were nearby. That's why we came up to you and wanted to ask you for directions."

"Fairy, may I ask you for directions? I don't know which direction to go to Tongyuan Prefecture?"

Zhong Zhengzhen felt that his response was appropriate and that Han Lu should not be able to see through his act.

But another unexpected turn of events made him decide to act ahead of schedule.

Zhong Zheng gave Zhang Chu a look, and his hand was already on the storage bag at his waist.

Having known each other for quite some time, Zhang Chu immediately understood the meaning behind Zhong Zhengzhen's gaze.

He smiled and followed Zhong Zhengzhen's words, saying, "Fairy, you misunderstand. We were on our way to visit a friend in Tongyuan Prefecture, but we got lost. We meant no harm, no harm at all."

Zhang Chu moved slowly, thinking of creating some distance and angle between himself and Zhong Zhengzhen. When it was time to make a move, he could use a "crossfire" tactic to attack Han Lu from both sides and end the matter with lightning speed.

Han Lu thought the two actors' acting was very poor, and their words were full of loopholes.

Now that she was certain that the other party had indeed come with ill intentions, Han Lu felt completely relieved and could act without restraint.

She didn't bother to find fault with the two of them and said bluntly, "With this reason, do you two fellow Daoists think I'm a brainless idiot with big breasts? I think you two have some of the characteristics of evil cultivators who like to kill and steal pills, like those degenerate cultivators who have no talent for cultivation but want to take advantage of others' efforts and reap without sowing."

"Let's stop talking nonsense and see who's the best."

Without waiting for a second reply, Han Lu instantly retrieved the spiritual energy sword that had been fully condensed in her dantian.

The moment the spiritual energy sword was drawn from Han Lu's body, it split into nine and shot out in nine different directions.

With Han Lu herself as the array's core, the nine spiritual swords activated the entire sword formation in less than a breath, enveloping Zhong Zhengzhen and Zhang Chu, who were still caught off guard.

Han Lu, who was at the heart of the formation, completely concealed herself within the sword formation and disappeared from Zhong Zhengzhen and Zhang Chu's sight.

The two were shocked. They had intended to seize the initiative with lightning speed, but they never expected that Han Lu, whose cultivation level was lower than theirs and who was alone, would launch a surprise attack.

Although they lost the initiative, Zhang Chu and Zhong Zhengzhen calmed down in a short while and took out their respective magical treasures.

"Fairy, are you perhaps planning to fight two against one?"

"You think you can trap us brothers with this mere nine unranked spirit swords in a sword formation?"

Their cultivation level was the basis for their boasting and scheming against Han Lu. As long as this, which they considered their greatest advantage, was not lost, there was no need to panic.

Zhong Zhengzhen said, "Second brother, follow me to break through the formation."

After saying that, Zhong Zhengzhen released the short pestle magic weapon in his hand.

Zhang Chu responded to Zhong Zhengzhen's call with action. Standing on a magical sword, he unleashed another mid-grade fifth-rank magical sword, following Zhong Zhengzhen's short pestle magic weapon, and attacked what they considered to be the weak point of their sword formation.

The spiritual sword formed by the Seven Kill Sword Technique was divided into nine, and its power and grade naturally decreased. However, these nine spiritual swords still had the power comparable to a mid-grade magic weapon. With the addition of the "Nine Dragons Thunder Formation" that Han Lu had just mastered, the power of the fully unleashed swords was beyond the imagination of the two mediocre Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivators in the sword formation.

Zhong Zhengzhen's short pestle is a high-grade magic weapon, best at breaking magic arrays. This is one of the reasons why he is confident in not taking Han Lu's sword array seriously.

But when he unleashed his magical artifacts within the sword formation, attempting to break the formation by force, he realized he had made a grave mistake.

The short pestle fought several rounds against the nine spirit swords hidden in various parts of the sword formation, but was defeated in each battle.

"Damn it!" Zhong Zhengzhen waved his hand, retracting the short pestle that was already covered in wounds, and cursed, "This sword formation is weird, why do I feel like I have strength but can't use it?"

Zhang Chu's spirit sword fared even worse; it went and came back, but when it returned to Zhang Chu's side, it had lost its light and most of its spiritual power.

Seeing the excellent magic weapon that he had snatched from that fake Core cultivator suffer such a heavy blow, Zhang Chu angrily cursed, "You vixen, what kind of hero hides like this? If you have the guts, come out and fight my brother and me face to face."

These challenging words almost made Han Lu burst out laughing.

The contradictory and nonsensical profanities did not even manage to provoke Han Lu in the slightest.

Knowing that the two were indeed mediocre Foundation Establishment cultivators, Han Lu felt increasingly relaxed, viewing this battle as a good opportunity for her to practice and train her sword formation.

"You two are quite lucky," Han Lu's voice seemed to come from all directions to Zhong Zhengzhen and Zhang Chu. "Later you'll have to experience it firsthand and savor the wonders of the Nine Dragons Thunder Array, which has been passed down from the ancient cultivation era."

Chapter 320 The Power of Thunder

Although Zhong Zhengzhen and Zhang Chu had personally experienced and realized that the sword formation was indeed extraordinary, they did not believe that the sword formation Han Lu was using was truly a genuine artifact passed down from the ancient cultivation era.

The two of them assumed that Han Lu was just bluffing.

“Brother, this demoness has probably run out of tricks and was injured by our moves just now, which is why she’s talking big here,” Zhang Chu said optimistically. “If we combine our strength and launch another attack, we will definitely be able to break through this sword formation and capture and kill that demoness.”

The foul-mouthed second brother made Zhong Zhengzhen feel somewhat unfamiliar, but in this critical moment, having already chosen to embark on a wicked path, he naturally wouldn't care about such trivial matters.

"Second brother, you're right. Come on, let's try again."

With their magical artifact damaged, Zhong Zhengzhen and Zhang Chu naturally considered using magic to break through the somewhat powerful sword formation.

Han Lu wasn't just talking nonsense; the Nine Dragons Thunder Formation was the only sword formation she had a basic understanding of, based on the knowledge she had received from Senior Fang Lin.

Zhong Zhengzhen and Zhang Chu died under this technique that had been lost for ten thousand years, so it can be said that they died a worthy death.

The two silently recited incantations and made hand seals, trying to unleash their most proficient and powerful spells.

However, the subsequent changes in the sword formation made them immediately abandon the idea of ​​counterattacking and switch from offense to defense.

Suddenly, a deep rumble of thunder resounded from all directions of the sword formation, accompanied by several thunderclaps.

The Deep Blue Desert belongs to the Earth element, while the spiritual sword that unleashes thunder magic is formed from the metal element of the "Seven Kill Sword Technique".