The Long Journey to Immortality

Don't turn back and become a sacrifice for the old forces; that would be a huge loss.

After all, there are Nascent Soul cultivators above Golden Core cultivators, and although Wenren Mu is powerful, he is not invincible.

"Better safe than sorry," and this cultivator, skilled in both business and spiritual practice, naturally understood this principle better than others.

He sought only to preserve his life in the chaos of the world, and did not seek fame or recognition among the feudal lords.

After leaving Jiang'an Prefecture, Wenren Mu led Han Lu and Wenren Ou on a low-key journey.

They took a slightly detour and wasted a bit of time, but the three of them still had a smooth journey on the clouds. It took them about ten days to cross three and a half prefectures in the Great Yu Dynasty and arrive at their destination, Manxi Prefecture.

[Author's Note] A new month has arrived, and as usual, I'm asking for free monthly tickets and razor blades.

Chapter 353 Farewell Gift

Manxi Prefecture, as its name suggests, is the prefecture closest to the wilderness among the thirty-two prefectures of the Great Yu Dynasty, located to the west of the wilderness.

This prefecture was not established when the ancient cultivation era was nearing its end and many demonic beasts and true spirits were driven to the "new wilderness" by the human races of the east and west.

At that time, the human race was at its peak. The demons and spirits were either defeated and subdued, or they were allies of the human race and had no intention of opposing or competing with the human race.

Therefore, the area where the wilderness meets the Great Yu Dynasty is peaceful and there is not much fighting.

However, as time passed, the power of the human race weakened as many Nascent Soul predecessors ascended to godhood.

Many monster races living in the "new wilderness" have multiplied and recovered their strength. At the same time, they have forgotten the pain of the past and are thinking about competing and fighting with the human race again.

Battles frequently broke out on the border between the Wildlands and the Great Yu Dynasty.

Although the Great Yu Dynasty did not fall behind, and even spent less than half a year to wipe out these "suddenly inspired" demonic beasts, the casualties were still heavy.

After the war, in order to guard against and protect the safety of ordinary people living near the wilderness, several prefectures near the wilderness contributed a portion of their land closest to the wilderness, which was then reorganized to form a new prefecture for unified management by the central government.

This is the origin of the name of the Manxi Prefecture where Han Lu is currently located.

However, the present-day Manxi Prefecture is very different from the Manxi Prefecture of 80,000 to 90,000 years ago.

In those days, the situation was tense, and the Jitian Palace set up two lines of defense in the Western Barbarian Prefecture to prevent monsters from invading the Great Yu Dynasty.

Now that the situation is stable, most of the mindless and unintelligent monsters have been killed and eliminated, and there are very few monsters or true spirits that would invade the Great Yu Dynasty for no reason and "seek death". The defenses along the line have naturally become weaker.

Only half of the two lines of defense remained, and many of the original military outposts were turned into villages and towns.

Several True Spirits and Spirit Beasts at the Transformation Realm even settled in the remaining strongholds of the Great Yu Dynasty on the edge of the Wilderness, working for the Extreme Heaven Palace to express their stance and try to resolve the conflict between the Great Yu Dynasty and the Wilderness in a more peaceful way.

There is only one or two Nascent Soul cultivators stationed in a fortress deep in the wilderness, serving as a deterrent to the wilderness.

At this point, Wenren Mu revealed another secret: "However, now that place has become an exile for the opposition, it has lost its original purpose."

The recluse Wang Han, who was later arranged to travel to the Central Plains through a portal to steal the Heavenly Bottle, was originally an opponent and a member of the old forces, and was thus subjected to such treatment by the Palace Master of the Extreme Heaven Palace.

Han Lu learned all this information from Wenren Mu while traveling on the clouds.

Hearing that Manxi Prefecture was not as heavily guarded as she had imagined, with sentries every three steps and guards every five steps, Han Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At first, she was worried about the tense relationship between the true spirits, demons and humans in the Western Manor. There were even cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage here, making it difficult for even a true spirit like Feng Rubing, who was comparable to a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, to infiltrate.

In hindsight, she had overthought things; they were much easier than she had imagined.

Han Lu even suspected that if Feng Rubing received the signal she sent, it wouldn't be impossible for him to come looking for her openly, provided that a fellow True Spirit working at the Jitian Palace gave her a heads-up.

Riding on the clouds, Wenren Mu led Han Lu and Wenren Ou to Manxi Prefecture. After flying for about an hour, they settled down temporarily in a city that had evolved from a stronghold into a town.

Although they had arrived at their destination, Han Lu did not rush to use the feather given to her by Yu Fengrubing to call for help. Instead, she put on a convincing performance in front of Wenren Mu.

After settling in, Han Lu spent two more days traveling around the outskirts of the wilderness with Wenren Mu and Wenren Ou before taking the initiative to say goodbye.

Finding an opportunity to be alone with Wenren Mu, Han Lu presented the story she had carefully prepared.

“Fellow Daoist Wenren, although I have only been active on the edge of the wilderness under your guidance these past few days, I have also realized that it is impossible for me to cross the wilderness on my own.”

"Therefore, I plan to follow your advice and head north to Beihai, where I will try to cross the sea to the east."

Han Lu took out the Beihai route that Wenren Mu had mentioned to her before, using it as a reason for her to part ways with Wenren and his son.

Wenren Mu nodded slightly after hearing this, as if everything was within his expectations.

"Fairy Han, your choice is correct. Although traveling by sea is not easy, it is still more reliable than entering the wilderness casually and unprepared."

"However, I don't know much about the situation in the north, and it's not easy to get on a merchant ship heading east along the coastline."

Wenren Mu offered his further suggestion, "I think Fairy Han might consider my previous idea and join my Jitian Palace first. After a few years of arduous cultivation, I believe that with Fairy Han's talent and cultivation at such a young age, she will definitely be able to advance to the Golden Core Realm within fifty years."

"At that time, you will take the initiative to escort those eastward caravans."

"Not only will I not be rejected, I might even earn some spirit stones."

Even when they were parting, Wenren Mu still did not hide his vulgar hobby of spirit stones and money from Han Lu.

Han Lu looked very serious and thoughtful, as if she was considering and deliberating on Wenren Mu's plan.

Having been given ample face and allowed half a minute to "think wildly," Han Lu's answer was naturally still a refusal.

The reason is the same as last time.

Wenren Mu assumed that Han Lu's stubbornness stemmed from a prejudice against the Jitian Palace for various reasons.

As a Golden Core cultivator, he naturally wouldn't continue to try to win Han Lu's favor after she rejected him twice.

After wishing Han Lu good luck, Wenren Mu summoned Wenren Ou and asked him to say goodbye to Han Lu.

Han Lu had already explained that she would part ways with the two of them after arriving at Manxi Prefecture, so Wenren Ou did not show her sadness on her face.

He simply took out the gift he had prepared beforehand and told Han Lu to keep it safe and not to forget his old friend whom he had spent almost half a month with.

Unsure of Daewoo's gift-giving culture, Han Lu did not inspect the gift on the spot. She simply accepted the beautifully wrapped gift with care and made a promise.

Wenren Mu also prepared farewell gifts.

His gift was a token inscribed with the words "Wenren".

"With this token, Fairy Han can claim to be my disciple."

"I believe that if used properly, my name should be able to provide some help to Fairy Han."

Han Lu thanked her repeatedly and accepted the valuable item, which she probably wouldn't need.

The Wenren father and son had prepared gifts, and Han Lu was not a heartless person.

The gift was prepared on short notice, but it was a rare item that could not be seen in the Great Yu Dynasty or the Central Plains.

"This is called a solar-powered flashlight. You can leave it in the sun to dry, and at night, when you need light, just press this button to make it light up..."

Such a novel gift was naturally welcomed by the Wenren father and son.

After exchanging gifts, Han Lu parted ways with Wenren and his son, beginning the second leg of her journey home.

Chapter 354 Waiting

Han Lu had no idea where Feng Rubing was in the wilderness at that moment.

It should be noted that the area of ​​the Wilderness is much larger than that of the Great Yu Dynasty, and the danger level in most places is several times greater than that of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Although Han Lu knew that Feng Rubing was incredibly powerful, she estimated that if Feng Rubing received her distress signal and wanted to find her, it would take at least half a month.

We might encounter some troubles along the way, and it could take up to a month.

Therefore, after entering the city, Han Lu found a good place to stay and prepared for a long battle and a long wait.

In addition, she raced against time, and as soon as she settled down, she went into her room to retrieve the white feather that she had placed so much hope in.

He took out the feather, held it in both hands, and examined it for a moment.

Han Lu had no idea how the seemingly ordinary feathers could achieve the effect described by Feng Rubing.

But she was certain that this was the only lifeline she could rely on.

If the feather fails to summon Feng Rubing, or if Feng Rubing encounters some misfortune in the wilderness, then Han Lu will truly have no choice but to follow Wenren Mu's advice and attempt a gamble with a success rate of less than 10%.

Her hands, holding the feathers, trembled slightly as Han Lu prayed in her heart, "It has to work."

After repeating it three times, Han Lu stopped dawdling.

Following the instructions on how to use feathers given by Feng Rubing, Han Lu first casually summoned a thin piece of ice and cut a small wound on her wrist.

Under Han Lu's deliberate control, a considerable amount of her blood flowed from the small wound, all of it landing on the white feathers.

With only some ordinary blood loss, Han Lu, who was already at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, didn't even show any change in expression.

After Han Lu used her blood to dye the originally snow-white feathers red, she used magic to heal the wounds and then infused spiritual power into the feathers.

The blood that stained the feathers served as a pass, proving that Han Lu, the sister Feng Rubing recognized, was using the feathers here.

Infusing spiritual energy into the feathers is like lighting a lighthouse, guiding Feng Rubing in the right direction.

After pouring about one-fifth of the spiritual power in her dantian into the feather, Han Lu, who was touching the feather, could vaguely sense a faint fluctuation of spiritual power coming from the far east.

"This is probably where Sister Ru Bing is right now," Han Lu guessed. "So, it's a success? Sister Ru Bing should know my approximate location now."

"Now, all I need to do is wait."

This feeling was just like the day Han Lu and Xiao Ran buried the positioning talisman in the sand of the deep blue desert.

After holding the feather and thinking for a moment, Han Lu decided not to put it into her storage bag.

She wasn't sure if Feng Rubing could still sense the location signal emitted by the feather in her hand after it entered the storage bag.

Taking out cinnabar and several talismans from her storage bag, Han Lu carefully inscribed a small magic array on the table in the room, placing the feather, which was crucial to her return to the Central Plains, inside and storing it carefully.

Even so, Han Lu still felt uneasy.

She took out the array flags that she used to set up the temporary cave dwelling during the harmony period from her storage bag.

Another defensive formation was set up in this small suite.

Therefore, Han Lu was confident that even if a cultivator in the early stage of the Golden Core realm came to her door for no reason, she could still deal with him in human form by relying on the formation.

"However, there shouldn't be any ruthless Golden Core cultivators here, since this is the Western Barbarian Prefecture, which is directly under the jurisdiction of the Extreme Heaven Palace."

With this in mind, Han Lu felt relieved and stopped worrying. She took a few deep breaths to clear her mind and then focused her attention on cultivation.

While traveling on the clouds, Han Lu took the initiative to ask Wenren Mu, a cultivation genius, for a lot of advice.

Perhaps because they are both geniuses, Han Lu and Wenren Mu, despite their different cultivation methods, share a special common ground in their cultivation.