The Long Journey to Immortality

The two tacitly avoided discussing the matter of repaying the debt of gratitude.

Ci Daoren did not expect Xiao Ran to meet him again at some point in the future, and presented him with tens of thousands of spirit stones as a thank-you gift.

Xiao Ran simply kept the matter to himself and never brought it up again.

After thanking the Taoist priest, Xiao Ran naturally didn't forget to thank Han Lu as well.

Han Lu didn't take it too seriously, simply saying, "You invited me to protect you, I was just doing what I should do."

Xiao Ran had already gotten to know Han Lu's personality very well during the time they spent together.

He stopped chasing after Han Lu to talk about repaying her kindness, and simply noted this matter down along with the previous ones. Finally, he apologized to Han Lu for his reckless behavior when his inner demons controlled his body.

"Just now, I was controlled by my inner demons and did many impolite things. I hope Fairy Han will forgive me."

Han Lu said, "Doesn't the fact that the inner demon has acted like this prove that Fellow Daoist Xiao is a righteous gentleman? How could I possibly hold a grudge against Fellow Daoist Xiao because of this?"

"Then I am relieved."

Generally speaking, inner demons are completely opposite to a person's behavior, so Han Lu's reasoning is reasonable.

Thinking of this, a startling idea flashed through her mind, and Han Lu subconsciously looked at Ci Daoren, her eyes meeting his.

Ci Daoren gave Han Lu a look, and Han Lu roughly understood what he meant. With her doubts resolved, she nodded slightly and promised to keep the secret.

After learning the truth, Han Lu thought to herself, "This is really an interesting thing."

Noticing Han Lu's response, Ci Daoren's brows relaxed, and he regained his usual calm and composed demeanor, like a still lake.

"Fairy Han, you seem to have a connection with me. Do you have any master or disciple? Would you be willing to become my disciple, travel with me through the Great Yu Dynasty, do good deeds, and comprehend the Dao?"

Whether it was because he valued Han Lu's ability to fight Xiao Ran, a demon at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, with only the cultivation of the early Foundation Establishment stage, to a standstill, or because Han Lu knew his secret, or because he was truly destined to be with Han Lu, in any case, Ci Daoren extended an invitation to Han Lu in front of all his disciples and Xiao Ran.

Generally speaking, being able to become a disciple of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator is an incredible opportunity for a low-level cultivator, let alone becoming a disciple of a Golden Core cultivator like Ci Daoren, who treats his disciples exceptionally well.

However, Ci Daoren's understanding was completely at odds with Han Lu's desire to return to the Central Plains, so Han Lu naturally missed out on this opportunity.

After hesitating for a while, Han Lu finally found a suitable excuse to refuse.

“I would be most grateful if Senior Ci could be my master, but… I already have a master, who is also a Golden Core cultivator.”

“My master has been very good to me. I was only able to go out and train with his permission. I can’t change my allegiance after just one trip and do something that would betray my master and ancestors.”

"There are reasons for this, and I have no choice but to refuse. I hope you can forgive me."

Based on her reasoning and understanding of Cidaoren, Han Lu felt that this excuse was enough to make Cidaoren retract his decision.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Han Lu already had a master at the Golden Core stage, Ci Daoren immediately abandoned his idea of ​​"stealing someone else's love."

Instead, he used Han Lu as an opportunity to praise her teacher several times, saying that "a great teacher produces a great student."

"Since that's the case, it's clear that our time together hasn't come yet, so I won't force it."

Ci Daoren turned around, mounted the camel again, looked down at Xiao Ran, and said, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, Fairy Han, may we meet again someday."

The two men bowed and said, "Respectfully seeing you off, senior."

Riding a camel at the front, Ci Daoren led his disciples away slowly, continuing their journey across the deep blue desert to another prefecture to continue their good deeds.

Han Lu and Xiao Ran did not engage in any further verbal formalities.

Xiao Ran sat back on the throne that belonged to Han Lu, continuing to use the feng shui talisman, which still had some effect, to absorb spiritual energy and restore his spiritual power. At the same time, he healed the mental injuries caused by the fierce battle with the inner demon in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Han Lu continued to sit outside the cave to protect Xiao Ran, so that they wouldn't have to risk irreversible consequences due to a moment of carelessness after finally surviving the ordeal.

Perhaps because Ci Daoren had come and brought some good fortune, another night passed without any more strange troubles happening to Han Lu and Xiao Ran.

The next morning, when Xiao Ran stepped out of the cave again, he had fully recovered and become a true Golden Core cultivator.

Looking at Xiao Ran, who was excitedly trying out the method of flying, Han Lu thought with a hint of envy, "Flying in the sky with wings is much freer than flying."

"But... when will I be able to advance to the Golden Core realm?"

[Author's Note] I wonder if any readers skimmed through the book and still didn't understand Ci Daoren's true identity?

Chapter 326 Parting Ways

It's unclear whether Xiao Ran gleaned something from Han Lu's expression or if he learned a mind-reading technique after advancing to the Golden Core realm.

After flying through the air for a while, Xiao Ran landed and immediately said to Han Lu, "With Fairy Han's talent, advancing to the Golden Core stage will probably be a matter of the next twenty years. There's no need to envy me too much."

"Perhaps in the future, when I am still lingering in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, Fairy Han will have already surpassed me and advanced to the late-stage of the Golden Core realm before I do."

Xiao Ran was certain that Han Lu was the most talented cultivator he had ever seen in his nearly ninety years of cultivation, and that she was the kind of cultivator who possessed both talent and strength.

For an ordinary cultivator, it takes ten years to advance from the early stage of Foundation Establishment to the middle stage, another thirty years to advance from the middle stage to the late stage, and another thirty years to advance from the late stage to the stage of Pseudo-Core Formation.

Therefore, Xiao Ran's evaluation of Han Lu's advancement from the Core Formation stage to the Golden Core stage in twenty years was already extremely high.

Although Han Lu knew in her heart that because of her cultivation technique, breaking through the two bottlenecks of the Foundation Establishment Realm should be much easier for her than for other cultivators.

Based on the current progress, it won't take twenty years.

But she didn't intend to say those frightening words.

"Twenty years? Then I'll take Fellow Daoist Xiao's good wishes," Han Lu said with a smile. "However, I think Fellow Daoist Xiao is also exceptionally talented, so there's no need to be too pessimistic. It should be a sure thing that you will form a pill pattern within a hundred years."

Advancement in the Golden Core realm is naturally determined by changes in the Golden Core.

When a cultivator in the early stage of the Golden Core realm condenses the first pill pattern on their Golden Core, and can then extract the toughened and strengthened Golden Core from their Qi Sea Dantian, they are considered to have successfully advanced to the middle stage of the Golden Core realm.

The vast majority of Golden Core cultivators are "trapped" at the mid-stage because it is very difficult to advance from the mid-stage to the late-stage.

One needs to form twelve pill patterns on the surface of the Golden Core to advance to the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

The difficulty of forming one pill pattern compared to twelve pill patterns is not as exaggerated as twelve times, but for a Golden Core cultivator with a lifespan of around six hundred years, it is still not an easy task.

The threshold for advancing from the late Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage is even more mysterious.

Once the Golden Core awakens, a Dao Embryo is born within it, which can be actively activated by the cultivator to trigger a tribulation of lightning, allowing them to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm with the help of the tribulation's power.

"Since Fairy Han's divination is so accurate, I, Xiao, will surely have a smooth future as Fairy Han has predicted."

If one successfully passes the tribulation of lightning, the Golden Core will "break out of its cocoon and become a butterfly" with the help of the power of heavenly lightning, thus becoming a Nascent Soul. The cultivator will then advance from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage, becoming one of the top beings in the mortal realm.

Although Xiao Ran successfully advanced to the Golden Core stage after some minor setbacks, and his goal was to become a Nascent Soul cultivator, this goal still seemed incredibly distant to him.

However, advancing to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm within a century is something to look forward to.

After exchanging compliments for a while, Xiao Ran hesitated, but just as he was about to speak again, Han Lu spoke up at the same time.

"Fairy Han..."

"Fellow Daoist Xiao..."

The two were taken aback for a moment, and Xiao Ran spoke first, "Fairy Han, you go first."

Han Lu did not refuse. After pondering for a moment and carefully considering her words, she spoke again, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, I think it is time for us to part ways now."

Xiao Ran's expression froze.

"What?" Han Lu noticed Xiao Ran's expression. "Did you want to tell me something similar just now?"

Xiao Ran nodded slightly embarrassedly and said, "That's right, Fairy Han, I was just thinking of saying goodbye to you."

"However, because I still owe Fairy Han a lot of favors, I was hesitant and embarrassed to speak up."

Xiao Ran was certainly not an ungrateful person, which is why he hesitated and stammered.

Han Lu was very clever. Combining the fact that Xiao Ran was only in his eighties but was in such a hurry to advance to the Golden Core realm, she guessed, "Fellow Daoist Xiao has a grudge against someone, which is why he is in such a hurry to advance to the Golden Core realm and settle the score?"

Xiao Ran was quite surprised, "As expected of Fairy Han, she is incredibly clever and guessed almost everything."

Xiao Ran assured her, "Fairy Han, I will be careful to settle this grudge and preserve my body to repay your kindness during this time."

Han Lu waved her hand dismissively, saying, "I've always said that I only helped you because I felt we shared similar interests. There's no great favor I owe you that you need to repay."

"If we are still friends, let's not talk about repaying a debt of gratitude anymore."

Han Lu's words were not true. Initially, she did have a slight intention to invest in Xiao Ran, but when she discovered that Xiao Ran was a person from the Dayu Dynasty who looked remarkably like a person from the Central Plains, she changed her mind and regarded their encounter as meeting an old friend in a foreign land, thinking of preserving this friendship that was a luxury for her.

Xiao Ran certainly did not disappoint Han Lu.

Since Han Lu had already said so much, Xiao Ran stopped mentioning the matter of repaying the favor and simply promised, "If Fairy Han is in trouble next time, I, Xiao Ran, will definitely do my best to help."

"Alright, alright, but I have a feeling that after this parting, we won't see each other again for a hundred years."

Having experienced three battles in the deep blue desert, Han Lu now has an extremely clear understanding of her current strength.

The events at Jiulong Mountain and Xuanyu Temple also gave her a premonition that the Dayu Dynasty was about to be thrown into chaos.

The interaction between internal and external factors led her to decide to bring forward her return plan.

However, if a calamity were to befall the world within a thousand years, the Great Yu Dynasty and the Central Plains would certainly cooperate. Han Lu guessed that she might return to the Great Yu Dynasty in the future, which is why she didn't completely rule out what she had just said.

"Is Fairy Han going back?" Xiao Ran asked somewhat vaguely.

Based on the image of Han Lu that Xiao Ran had seen in his sea of ​​consciousness, he guessed that Han Lu was a true spirit in human form, and that she was about to return to the wilderness.

Han Lu hadn't thought of that.

Nodding, Han Lu replied, "More or less."

Xiao Ran looked dejected, clearly having exaggerated Han Lu's words, thinking that this parting today would mean never seeing such a pleasant friend again.

“Sigh,” Xiao Ran sighed, taking out half a bottle of wine from his storage bag, “but it’s always better for both of us to decide to part ways than for one side to want to leave while the other wants to stay.”

"Fairy Han, I'll drink a cup of wine, you drink a cup of tea, and let's part ways cleanly and decisively."

Even if they talked a few more words, they were destined to part ways. For Xiao Ran, who had mixed feelings about Han Lu, it was better to bring that moment forward.

Han Lu nodded. "That's a good idea, but I'd also like to have a drink today."

Han Lu and Xiao Ran divided the half-full bottle of wine.

Facing the rising sun, Han Lu and Xiao Ran raised their glasses, tacitly agreeing not to offer any toasts, but simply drinking their wine in one gulp.

He didn't throw the cup on the ground with any domineering air.

At Xiao Ran's suggestion, the two exchanged wine glasses, kept them as souvenirs.

Immediately afterwards, the two of them collected their belongings from the cave.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."