The Long Journey to Immortality

"Han Lu," Xiao Ran unusually addressed Han Lu by her full name, "you must have had a tough day and night."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran leaned forward and even took Han Lu's hand, as if to shake hands and express his gratitude.

Han Lu sensed something was wrong and took a half step back, dodging Xiao Ran's hand.

The unfamiliar Xiao Ran made Han Lu wary, and a word she rarely used entered her mind once again during this day.

Han Lu, her hand on the storage pouch at her waist, circulated her spiritual energy and said, "You are not Xiao Ran!"

Chapter 322 Battle Against the Inner Demon (Part 1)

Han Lu's words caused Xiao Ran's expression to change slightly.

He forced a smile and said, "Han... Fairy Han, how could I not be Xiao Ran? You must be joking with me."

"My cave dwelling is quite large. Why don't we go inside and sit down to talk?"

Just one sentence confirmed to Han Lu that her previous guess was 99% correct, and the other party's identity was also revealed.

“You must be Xiao Ran’s inner demon,” Han Lu said coldly, “taking advantage of the situation to temporarily control this body.”

These words completely froze Xiao Ran's facial expression.

But soon, Xiao Ran looked up at the sky and burst into laughter.

"Han Lu, you are indeed exceptionally intelligent. You saw through my identity at a glance. No wonder that cowardly fool Xiao Ran couldn't forget you," Xiao Ran, who was temporarily controlled by his inner demon consciousness, admitted. "You're right, I am Xiao Ran's inner demon. But from now on, this hopeless genius cultivator Xiao Ran will be me."

Clearly, within Xiao Ran's sea of ​​consciousness, the inner demon had suppressed Xiao Ran's original consciousness, and he only acted this way in front of Han Lu because he felt victory was in sight.

"Was it because I was too eager that my identity was exposed?" Xiao Ran asked. "Isn't it said that women love bad boys? I thought Fairy Han was into that."

Han Lu nodded, then shook her head. "I don't think Xiao Ran will become a cowardly scoundrel after receiving the pill. Your change is too obvious. If I couldn't see it, I would be blind."

Han Lu's description of "having the desire to steal but not the courage" clearly made Xiao Ran somewhat unhappy.

He said, "Oh? How does Fairy Han know I don't have the guts to steal? I was just thinking of playing around with you, having some sweet talk, and doing something romantic."

"Now that you've said that, I'm not happy."

"I advise you to obediently follow me into the cave, strip yourself naked, and offer yourself to me..."

"Otherwise, I'll use my magic to subdue you, and then neither of us will be able to have a happy time playing with you."

"It's best to enjoy yourself the first time you do it."

"Besides, it wouldn't be unfair to Fairy Han to become my Daoist partner."

"We are both genius cultivators, so it is only natural for us to get married. We are a perfect match."

Xiao Ran, relying on his advancement to the Golden Core stage, suppressed Han Lu with his strength, treating her like meat on a chopping board.

The facts were there for all to see, and Han Lu felt she was facing such immense pressure for the first time.

However, after a moment of careful thought, Han Lu felt that seven-tenths of the pressure on her body had dissipated.

After Xiao Ran formed his core, he only absorbed a hundred breaths of spiritual energy. His spiritual energy level should still be only around the late stage of Foundation Establishment. He was not without the ability to fight.

Because of the loss of his storage bag, Xiao Ran, as a pseudo-core cultivator, did not have many magical treasures to protect him, nor did he prepare any spiritual artifacts in advance for his upcoming advancement to the Golden Core realm.

From the perspective of magical treasures, Han Lu is even superior to Xiao Ran, a genius cultivator who has just advanced to the Golden Core stage.

Not to mention that the real Xiao Ran should still be battling his inner demon within his sea of ​​consciousness. When Han Lu fights with the inner demon Xiao Ran later, it will definitely give the real Xiao Ran an opportunity. Perhaps Han Lu won't even need to win on the front lines; the righteous Xiao Ran could defeat the inner demon, directly regain control of his body, and resolve this crisis.

This should be the best outcome.

Based on the combination of these three factors, Han Lu judged that if she were to transform into a true spirit, she would have a 70% chance of winning.

"If all else fails, and Xiao Ran is unable to overcome his inner demons, then I will subdue them first, and then try to invade Xiao Ran's sea of ​​consciousness to lend him a helping hand."

Recalling the fierce battle with the remnant soul of Xiaoyaozi, Han Lu was full of confidence in her combat power at the spiritual level, given her possession of the Illusionary Phoenix bloodline.

I believe that dealing with the inner demons of a cultivator who has just advanced to the Golden Core stage is no problem.

Thinking of this, Han Lu's expression became more relaxed, and she even took the initiative to provoke, "I think you're all bark and no bite. Even if I were really willing to give myself to you, you'd be lucky if you could last three seconds."

Having had experience with men and having been teased and joked with by her companions, Han Lu naturally knew which aspect to attack with words to anger the inner demon controlling Xiao Ran.

Before Xiao Ran, the inner demon, could answer, Han Lu took the initiative to act.

Considering that Xiao Ran was currently controlled by his inner demons, Han Lu decided to use lightning magic and illusion techniques to fight him.

Thunder magic is effective against evil spirits and is equally useful against inner demons.

Illusion magic allows Han Lu to win the battle without harming Xiao Ran's true form as much as possible.

Han Lu didn't want to turn Xiao Ran into a human stick with only a third leg after a fierce battle before she could drive away her inner demons.

The spiritual sword was drawn from Han Lu's body once again.

It multiplied from one into nine, shooting out in nine directions.

Having learned from her first experience, Han Lu used the "Nine Dragons Thunder Formation" even more frequently than the first time.

Before the last word of her mocking words had even faded, she had already completed her sword formation, trapping her inner demon within it.

Han Lu's preemptive move completely surprised the inner demon.

In comparison, Xiao Ran thought Han Lu was just a talented female cultivator with outstanding looks, figure, and personality. She only had the cultivation level of the early Foundation Establishment stage, but she could compete with and defeat ordinary cultivators in the middle Foundation Establishment stage.

With such strength, he naturally never expected that Han Lu would actually provoke him into a fight when he was already at the Golden Core stage.

"You're refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit," the inner demon Xiao Ran thought Han Lu's initiative was pointless. "I wanted to have a peaceful and harmonious relationship with Fairy Han, but I didn't expect you to be so ungrateful. In that case, I'll have to use my spiritual power to show you the difference between a Golden Core cultivator and a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"Just don't cry when you lose."

Although she spoke toughly and seemed confident, Han Lu was not taking this battle lightly at all.

Hidden within the sword formation, Han Lu once again entered a semi-spiritual state. Her long hair turned red and broke free from the hair tie, fluttering in the desert wind.

She has already elevated herself to the highest level without using her True Spirit Transformation.

"If this still can't resolve the matter, then the only option is to transform into the Three True Phoenixes in this deep blue desert and engage in a fierce battle with the inner demon Xiao Ran."

The spiritual energy erupted, and many cultivators formed their cores and traveled back and forth in the deep blue desert to cultivate.

Given the less-than-friendly relationship between the Great Yu Dynasty and the Savage True Spirit, Han Lu was not keen on ending the battle in this way.

With a series of hand seals, the spiritual energy swords distributed throughout the sword formation trembled at the same frequency.

Immediately afterwards, thunder roared from all directions, and a powerful lightning attack was poised to strike in a short time.

Hearing the rumbling thunder, Xiao Ran, the inner demon, felt a sense of foreboding. He abandoned his previous contempt, took the soft sword named "Follow Your Heart" from his waist, and prepared for battle.

Chapter 323 Battle Against the Inner Demon

They launched a surprise attack, seizing the initiative. When the real battle began, Han Lu naturally wouldn't waste any more words with the inner demon that had taken over Xiao Ran's body.

With full control over the nine spiritual swords, Han Lu once again activated the sword formation, releasing the Yang Lightning that had been accumulating within the nine spiritual swords for some time.

Han Lu unleashed the "Hundred Thunderbolts" technique for the third time, and the sheer scale of this thunderous attack was already far superior to the previous two.

As countless bolts of lightning hurtled towards him from all directions, Xiao Ran, the inner demon, showed no hesitation. He circulated his spiritual power, activated the protective aura that only Golden Core cultivators could unleash, and at the same time used the software in his hand to try his best to draw in the lightning, attempting to change the overall direction of each bolt of lightning.

Metal generates water, so this method does have some effect.

Although Han Lu had tried her best to calibrate the aim, she was still somewhat rusty when she used this move. With the interference of the inner demon Xiao Ran, only one-third of the Yang lightning with the ability to ward off evil landed where the inner demon Xiao Ran was standing.

The lightning bolts struck, but all stopped in front of Xiao Ran.

The protective aura of a Golden Core cultivator is ultimately a superior innate ability compared to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The nearly twenty bolts of Yang Lightning that Han Lu unleashed and hit the target were unable to pass through the thin light barrier at all, and were completely blocked by the light barrier.

Han Lu was slightly surprised by what she saw.

"The protective aura of a Golden Core cultivator is so powerful? My Five Elements Qi technique is worlds apart from this."

However, this minor setback did not shake Han Lu's confidence in winning the battle.

She knew that maintaining her protective aura was a huge drain on Xiao Ran, the inner demon who had only recovered a hundred breaths of spiritual power.

She only needs to rely on the lightning regeneration ability of the Nine Dragons Thunder Formation to outnumber the enemy and repeatedly wear them down, so that she can gradually tip the scales of victory in her favor.

It would be laughable if word got out that a Foundation Establishment cultivator was fighting a war of attrition against a Golden Core cultivator.

However, given the current special circumstances, it is indeed an absolutely correct approach.

Despite taking so many hits without sustaining any damage, Xiao Ran, the inner demon, could still appreciate the power of this attack.

"Excellent, excellent. I wonder where Fairy Han learned such a powerful sword formation and such powerful lightning magic. I admire you."

"How many times can you use such a powerful move? Two or three times? Don't hurt yourself and develop health problems that could affect our future children."

Although this move posed a certain threat to him, Xiao Ran did not believe that Han Lu, with her early Foundation Establishment stage spiritual power, was capable of repeatedly casting this level of lightning magic.

Han Lu didn't answer, but instead showed her inner demon Xiao Ran that she was far more formidable than he had imagined.

However, in order to give Xiao Ran, the inner demon, a false impression and confuse him, Han Lu slightly reduced her strength.

When "Hundred Thunderbolts" was used for the second time, only about eighty bolts of lightning were triggered and unleashed from various parts of the sword formation.

Although Xiao Ran, the inner demon, couldn't count how many thunderbolts Han Lu had unleashed in a short time.

However, he could clearly feel that the pressure on him during the battle had decreased significantly, and he could move around in small areas to dodge, unlike before when he was completely blocked.

"Just as I thought." Overjoyed, Xiao Ran, the inner demon, seemed to already see the scene of Han Lu being defeated after exhausting her spiritual power and being subdued by him.

Time and again, but when Han Lu's relentless offensive continued and Xiao Ran's spiritual power was depleted by 70%, he realized he was wrong.

"Damn it!" Xiao Ran, the inner demon, once again withstood all the lightning. He cursed inwardly, "They must have deliberately put on this show to confuse me. I can't stay trapped in this sword formation. I must break out of it."

Sensing that Xiao Ran, the inner demon, was already somewhat weakened, Han Lu finally spoke for the first time within the sword formation.

"See? I told you so, your stamina really isn't good."

Xiao Ran, the inner demon, ignored Han Lu's words and did not utter a rebuttal.

His gaze swept across the sword formation, searching for a breakthrough and trying to break this stalemate that was disadvantageous to him.

With a flick of his soft sword, Xiao Ran, the inner demon, cleaved a bolt of lightning. At the same time, he used the aerial flight technique, which only Golden Core cultivators could perform, to soar into the air and attack what he saw as the "weak point" of the sword formation.

It must be said that, as Xiao Ran's inner demon, his swordsmanship also inherited Xiao Ran's aura-inducing abilities.

This seemingly casual thrust was actually aimed at the weak point of Han Lu's Nine Dragons Thunder Formation.

However, Han Lu would not allow the inner demon Xiao Ran to use his abilities freely within the sword formation, and this sword formation, inherited from the ancient cultivator Fang Lin, was not something that could be easily broken or eliminated.