The Long Journey to Immortality

After a while, Han Lu finally broke free from her father's embrace and casually wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Looking at Feng You, Han Lu, who had calmed down, said, "Father, I need an explanation, an explanation of why you left Mother."

Feng You was prepared for everything that was about to happen, but the loving embrace he had received earlier was something he hadn't anticipated in his pre-meeting plans with Han Lu.

"Sit down first, it's a long story."

"Two years ago, when I learned that I might have a daughter, I was already prepared for this day."

Han Lu wasn't there to argue or cry. She believed that there must be a reason why such an outstanding "spouse" in Feng Rubing's words would leave her mother.

She sat quietly on the bench next to Feng You, patiently waiting for him to tell the story from more than forty years ago.

[Author's Note] Did anyone guess that Feng You was the father of the protagonist I created when they first met Feng Rubing?

Chapter 366 A Story from Over Forty Years Ago

Because Han Lu was familiar with Feng Rubing and already knew a lot about Feng You's story, Feng You didn't elaborate much when he talked about his past love story with Han Lu's mother, Han Shishuang.

He simply recounted everything that had happened to Han Lu from his perspective.

“It was probably fifty years ago,” Fengyang recalled, “when a member of the clan brought me news about Rubing.”

Han Lu already knew about Feng Yang and Feng Rubing's relationship, so when Feng Yang talked to his daughter Han Lu about his "stepmother," he still used this more intimate term.

"Although the news was not very credible, and Ru Bing had been missing for almost five thousand years with her fate unknown, I still followed the news and went to the Northern Dynasty in the Central Plains to search for Ru Bing's whereabouts."

Han Lu had heard Feng Rubing mention this before, but she did not interrupt Feng You.

"I stayed in the Northern Dynasty for about half a month. Because I had some conflicts with a Nascent Soul cultivator from Xuan Yang Valley in the Northern Dynasty, we were enemies. So I just quietly searched for Ru Bing's whereabouts in the Northern Dynasty in a relatively low-key manner."

"But unfortunately, I didn't want to cause trouble, but the other party insisted on coming to my door."

"One day, the Xuan Yang Valley cultivator who had a grudge against me came to me with two other fellow disciples."

"There's no other way, I have to fight them."

Feng You's tone revealed a sense of helplessness.

Han Lu judged that when the feud started, it was mostly because the other party took the initiative to entangle them.

"I can't go into details about the fight, but the end result was that both sides were injured."

"My enemy and I were both seriously injured, while his two fellow disciples, one with slightly higher cultivation, had his consciousness damaged by my illusion and became an idiot, while the other, a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage, had his Nascent Soul shattered and lost 99% of his magic power."

Although Feng Rubing said that Feng Yang was not good at cultivation, his strength was still at the level of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

With such cultivation and true spiritual powers, it is quite reasonable that he could achieve such a result in a fight against three opponents.

"However, the Central Plains Northern Dynasty is Xuan Yang Valley's home ground after all. Besides my enemy and his two fellow disciples, there are four or five Nascent Soul cultivators in Xuan Yang Valley."

"So, after we were both badly injured, he took two fellow disciples and fled back to the sect to get reinforcements, while I used illusion magic to completely conceal myself, transforming into the appearance of a low-level cultivator, and temporarily hid among the people of the Northern Dynasty."

“It was around that time that I met your mother.”

Feng You's gaze gradually drifted into the distance. Even though nearly fifty years had passed, recalling that scene still brought a smile to his face.

This is the power of love.

Next, Feng You's story subtly veers off-topic, focusing more on the details of his acquaintance, friendship, and love with Han Lu's mother, giving Han Lu a dose of "overdue" dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing a romantic relationship).

However, Han Lu, who was listening to the story, had no objections whatsoever. On the contrary, she listened very carefully and even had the illusion that her mother had not died and was living with her father, whom she had just reunited with.

"Your mother, Han Shishuang, belongs to a medium-sized cultivation family in the Northern Dynasties of the Central Plains."

"She does not possess the talent for cultivation, so she is not valued in the family."

"At the time, at her suggestion, I, who was deeply in love with her, agreed to elope with her."

"With my secret assistance, her immature elopement plan was a complete success."

"We successfully crossed the Yuan River and arrived at a mountain forest in the Southern Dynasties of the Central Plains, where we built a house and settled down in seclusion."

"I had intended to spend the eighty years of my life on your mother, accompanying her through a happy life, but things didn't go as planned..."

"After we had been living in seclusion for two years, I was surprised to find that disciples of Xuan Yang Valley had appeared in a village outside the mountains."

"In order not to drag Shishuang down and to avoid involving her in troubles that even I cannot resolve, I have no choice but to leave."

At this point, Feng You paused for a moment, his gaze falling on Han Lu's face, observing the changes in her expression.

Seeing that Han Lu did not show any change in expression at this "melodramatic" love story, he was slightly disappointed and continued.

"At the time, I didn't think too much about it. I just thought that I would sneak back into the Central Plains in ten or fifteen years and return to Shishuang's side. But I didn't expect that when I returned to that mountain forest after recovering from my injuries and dealing with the trivial matters of the clan, it would be twenty years later."

"However, by then, the wooden house had already collapsed, and I only found Shishuang's tombstone in the village cemetery." Fengyou's voice weakened considerably when he mentioned this.

"Because I didn't know Shishuang was pregnant when I left, it wasn't until Rubing came back two years ago, based on your surname, that I found out I might have a daughter."

Although Han Lu did not hold her accountable, Feng You still ended with this sentence out of guilt.

Fengyou took Hanlu's hand and said, "Daughter, I'm so sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for," Han Lu said. As a cultivator, she could understand Feng You's choice at the time. "There's no need to feel too guilty. This is probably fate."

In situations like this, "passing the buck" is the best way to comfort people.

Seeing that Han Lu had said that, Feng You finally let go of her psychological burden.

He said, "Then, daughter, tell me about what happened after you were born."

“Okay,” Han Lu nodded slightly, “but before I tell the story from more than forty years ago, I want to tell a story from three years ago first.”

Feng You said, "It's up to you. We have plenty of time. I just want to spend more time with you and hear you say a few more words."

So, Han Lu told Feng You about her story in Xiaoyaozi's cave.

It tells the story of her gender transformation and how she learned that she had the bloodline of the Phoenix.

If even Han Lu could accept the gender swap so easily, then Feng You, a true spirit who has lived for over six thousand years, would naturally accept it without any burden.

For him, Han Lu's change of gender was simply a matter of him changing how he addressed her.

On the contrary, Feng You was extra excited when he learned that he was the "second person" to know about this matter.

He was overjoyed that he could fulfill his responsibilities as a father so soon after they recognized each other.

At the end of the story, Fengyou praised Hanlu for changing her name.

In his view, Han Shishuang's surname was more suitable to replace his incompetent father's surname on Han Lu's body.

After explaining the consequences, Han Lu then began to recount the backstory, pushing the narrative back to forty years ago, to the time when Feng Bailu was a child and lived with his mother.

Without prior preparation, Han Lu's story was somewhat fragmented.

Fortunately, she had practiced storytelling for a while, which allowed her to express her thoughts in a way that Feng You could understand.

To be considerate of Fengyou's feelings, Hanlu made some minor selections from these stories whose memories were already somewhat hazy, only telling the happy ones to avoid making Fengyou feel guilty again.

Two full hours had passed between Feng Rubing's departure and Han Lu's departure from Fengyou's wooden house.

During the conversation, they only talked about past stories and did not mention anything about the "Guizu".

Han Lu knew very well that they both needed some time to think about and sort out those past events that had already passed but would continue to affect them.

Chapter 367 Sister Becomes Daughter

After leaving Feng You's place, Han Lu returned to Feng Rubing's door, stood there for a moment, and then hesitantly knocked on the door.

"Just come in, there's no need to be so polite."

Hearing that Feng Rubing's voice inside the room was normal and similar to usual, Han Lu felt relieved and pushed the door open to enter.

Compared to Feng You and Han Lu, Feng Rubing, who had a premonition and was mentally prepared, was the first to accept this reality.

In addition, the psychological guilt she felt after being separated from Fengyou for five thousand years was also one of the reasons why she was able to accept so quickly that her beloved had a "wild child" outside.

However, while he accepted it, figuring out how to face Han Lu and how to address her became a difficult question.

Fortunately, although the two had not known each other for long, they were connected by blood because of the matter of He Ming.

If we really have to categorize them as mother and daughter based on seniority, then that would be appropriate.

However, in the end, it was Feng Rubing who took the initiative to bring up the matter and gave what she considered to be an appropriate answer.

“Feng You and I haven’t officially defined our relationship yet, so let’s just call each other sisters,” Feng Rubing joked. “That way, I’ll look a little younger.”

"We'll talk about it later," Feng Rubing said, giving Han Lu the choice. "You can call me whatever you want then."

"If you call me Mom and I call you Sister, that's fine too," Feng Rubing said nonchalantly.

In her view, even if Han Lu were to be included in the "family tree," she would definitely return to live in the Central Plains. Considering the time spent in seclusion for cultivation, the mother and daughter might not see each other even ten times in a hundred years, so there was indeed no need to put too much effort into this superficial formality.

This arrangement suited Han Lu's wishes.

Having just learned the identity of her father, Han Lu was not prepared to have her sister become her stepmother.

During the time when Han Lu and Feng You were "reminiscing about the past", Feng Rubing, who knew Han Lu's general personality, had already helped Han Lu prepare a small house for her to live in.

Han Lu, who had no immediate plans to live with her father, naturally did not refuse Feng Rubing's kindness and settled in comfortably with him.

The wilderness is rich in resources, and Feng Rubing is a true "local tycoon".

In addition to a simple wooden bed, the room prepared for Han Lu also contained a wealth of cultivation resources.

A dozen or so high-grade spirit stones, a large amount of materials from demonic beasts and spirit beasts, and some spirit plants that are not commonly found in human-inhabited areas.

This is a stepmother's love for her daughter. Although Han Lu really wanted to say no, faced with such an expensive gift and Feng Rubing's good intentions, she still chose to accept it silently and happily became a relatively wealthy "second-generation immortal" who was no less than Wenren Ou.

Although the father and daughter had only recently reunited, they tacitly agreed to temporarily refrain from discussing the matter further.

So Han Lu diligently cultivated for a while, and improved the gaseous spiritual power in her body by a step.

The spiritual energy in the wilderness is a bit thinner, but the Wutong Forest is an extremely suitable place for cultivators like Han Lu who possess the bloodline of the True Spirit Phoenix.

With the help of the Spirit Gathering Array, Han Lu's cultivation speed after transforming into a Three-Winged True Phoenix was comparable to her cultivation speed in the quiet room of Cold Cicada Peak.

Thus, Han Lu, who already enjoyed cultivation and wanted to advance to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible, naturally devoted even more energy to cultivation in this place lacking entertainment.

While I wouldn't say I'm working day and night without eating or sleeping, I'm pretty close.

Ten days after that conversation, Han Lu, who was in seclusion cultivating, suddenly received a divine message from Feng You, which prompted her to leave her meditative state and step out of Feng Rubing's hut once again.

This time, Feng You gathered all the members of the three clans who had not yet entered meditation in the Three Phoenix Forest together, intending to introduce his daughter to his clansmen and friends.