The Long Journey to Immortality

When Han Lu took out the paper sword that Piaomiaozi had used to send the message, and saw the signature and message on the paper sword, the two law enforcement disciples dressed in black finally made way for her.

"So Hanchan Peak is a forbidden area that ordinary disciples are not allowed to enter," Feng Bailu, who used to cultivate at Xishan Academy, was unaware of this. "Fortunately, my master sent a message asking me to come here to pay my respects, otherwise, I would not have been able to see the appearance of Hanchan Peak today."

Once inside the area of ​​Hanchan Peak, Han Lu had only walked a short distance along the mountain path when she noticed that the surrounding temperature had dropped considerably.

Taking out a handkerchief from her bosom and wiping the sweat from her forehead, Han Lu sighed inwardly, "Although I have opened seven acupoints, it is still too difficult to use the lightness spell for a long time with my current cultivation level."

It's not just difficult for a young Taoist who has opened up all seven acupoints; many cultivators, even those who have reached the first level of Qi Refining, find it difficult to maintain the Lightness Technique on their bodies for long.

Although Piaomiaozi is a Golden Core cultivator, he only formed his Golden Core twenty years ago, so his status in the sect is not high enough to allow him to live on the summit of Hanchan Peak.

Higashiyama-in arranged a spacious villa for him to live in near the foot of the mountain.

This saved Han Lu a few steps, allowing her to put away her lightness spell on the scenic mountain path, stroll around for a while, catch her breath, and avoid climbing the nearly thousand-foot-high Cold Cicada Peak.

After knocking on the courtyard gate and displaying the paper sword that Piaomiaozi had sent a message, Han Lu was led into the courtyard by an elderly man with white hair and beard.

Piaomiaozi's residence was hundreds of times larger than Han Lu's, a newly initiated inner disciple. In fact, it even had a sizable medicinal garden, so that a Golden Core cultivator like Piaomiaozi could transplant the rare spiritual plants he had found elsewhere.

In addition, the sect also arranged for young disciples and servants to attend to Piaomiaozi's daily life and take care of the spiritual plants in the herb garden.

The elderly man who led the way for Han Lu was one of them.

Serving a Golden Core cultivator is a highly desirable job that can't be found anywhere else. Although it's a little embarrassing, a large number of "mediocre cultivators" are still willing to do it.

There is a secluded, elegant courtyard in the small courtyard, where many rare flowers and plants are planted, making it a good place to enjoy the scenery and relax.

Han Lu, who was visiting this place for the first time, was first brought to this courtyard.

"Please wait here patiently, Elder Piaomiao has something to attend to."

After saying a few words, the old man left Han Lu alone in the courtyard.

They neither gave a precise time nor told Han Lu what Piaomiaozi was busy with.

But that's normal. How could an old man who just helps guard the gate possibly know what Piaomiaozi, a Golden Core cultivator, is doing?

Han Lu wasn't in a hurry. She strolled around the courtyard with her hands behind her back, admiring these extremely rare, common flowers and plants.

To be honest, these beautiful things actually piqued Han Lu's interest, who had previously been uninterested in such mundane things. She thought about cultivating some flowers and plants in her own little courtyard for appreciation and enjoyment.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, just as Han Lu was admiring a purple flower of unknown origin, Piaomiaozi led a female cultivator with a mature appearance but actually younger than Han Lu into the courtyard.

Upon seeing Piaomiaozi arrive, Han Lu respectfully bowed and said, "Master."

Piaomiaozi waved his hand, indicating that Han Lu did not need to be so polite.

After sitting down on the stone bench in the courtyard, Piaomiaozi waved for the two to make themselves at home, and said, "I called you here today to give you some guidance before you begin your cultivation, so that you don't go astray. I also want you to meet your senior sister who started her cultivation a day earlier than you."

Upon hearing this, Han Lu finally confirmed that the beautiful girl behind Piao Miao Zi, dressed only in the white robes of a Qi Refining cultivator from the Zheng Yi Sect, was indeed the rumored "Thirteenth Princess".

Han Lu, who had just sat down, quickly stood up, looked at the girl, and greeted her, "Greetings, Senior Sister Wen."

The other party was dressed in the most ordinary clothes of the Zhengyi Sect, so low-key that Han Lu guessed that this Thirteenth Princess probably did not want to walk in the sect with such an empty title as "Thirteenth Princess", so she just called her "Senior Sister Wen".

Wen was the royal surname of the Jin Dynasty during the Southern Dynasties.

Sure enough, Wen Erya found the address very pleasant and became even more affectionate towards Han Lu, whom she was meeting for the first time.

However, due to the presence of Piaomiaozi, the two simply exchanged names and told each other where they lived in Dongshan Courtyard.

After the senior and junior sisters got to know each other, Piaomiaozi fulfilled her responsibility as a master and took care of Han Lu's life in the Zhengyi Sect that day.

Fu Chen is a good person, and Han Lu received excellent treatment. When Piao Miao Zi asked about it, she was naturally willing to say a few good words for Fu Chen.

"It's all thanks to Senior Brother Fu Chen who taught me a lightness technique called 'Treading Water Without Leaving a Trace,' otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get here so quickly and meet my master."

Although "Treading Water Without Leaving a Trace" is only the most basic water-attribute lightness technique, upon hearing that Han Lu had mastered it in less than half a day under Fu Chen's tutelage, Piao Miao Zi subconsciously categorized Han Lu as a young cultivator with exceptional comprehension.

"Fu Chen is indeed good; he takes good care of you." After hearing Han Lu's kind words, Piao Miao Zi also praised him, "It seems that when he asks me about Golden Core cultivation in the future, I should say a few more words."

It has only been 20 years since Piaomiaozi formed his Golden Core. Naturally, many disciples in the sect were already familiar with him when he was still in the Foundation Establishment or even Qi Refining stage.

Fu Chen was one of them.

As a writer with some fame, when his literary creations involve high-level cultivation content, in order to avoid making things up, Fu Chen would seek help from Piao Miao Zi, the only Golden Core cultivator he knew and could talk to.

Fu Chen's diligent tutoring of Han Lu was partly motivated by a desire to repay Piao Miao Zi's favor.

After showing concern for Han Lu, Piaomiaozi also asked Wen Erya a few questions.

“Living independently away from the palace is indeed quite difficult, and it may take some time to adjust.” Wen Erya didn’t mind revealing her shortcomings and exposing her weaknesses.

Although she was a princess, the Zhengyi Gate did not grant Wen Erya special treatment and did not allow her to bring servants or maids to the Zhengyi Gate to take care of her daily life.

After fifteen years of living in luxury, suddenly being in a different environment requires anyone to adapt for a period of time, even a cultivation genius like Wen Erya is no exception.

Upon hearing this, Piaomiaozi nodded slightly, clearly quite satisfied with some of the qualities displayed by his two disciples.

He took Han Lu and Wen Erya as his apprentices not only because of their outstanding talents, but also because of their maturity beyond their years.

After working tirelessly for the sect for twenty years during his early Golden Core stage, Piaomiaozi had accumulated a certain amount of cultivation resources and was thinking of using these resources to further improve his realm and strength.

That's why he thought of recruiting some independent apprentices to save himself some unnecessary trouble.

“After new disciples enter the sect, they can enter the first floor of the Transmission Hall of each mountain academy and choose a cultivation technique to learn for free,” Piaomiaozi said after the casual conversation, getting down to business. “You two both entered the sect with prior skills. Have you decided to continue practicing your original techniques, or are you thinking of finding a more advanced and suitable technique from the Transmission Hall?”

To obtain additional cultivation resources from a sect, one must use contribution points to exchange for them.

The cost of exchanging cultivation techniques and secret arts is too high. Many Qi Refining disciples of the Zhengyi Sect have to work hard for their sect for one or two years before they can barely exchange for a single cultivation technique. Disciples who only occasionally contribute to their sect may need five or even ten years to accumulate enough contribution points to find a suitable cultivation technique or secret art in the Transmission Hall.

Therefore, this opportunity, which was obtained for free, was extremely precious even to the thirteenth princess, Wen Er Ya.

Wen Erya spoke first, "Master, I feel that the cultivation method I am currently practicing is perfectly suited to me. This time, I only want to choose one secret technique from the free selection of cultivation methods to prepare for the grand competition in five months."

Wen Erya said everything Han Lu wanted to say, and Han Lu and Yide could only agree, "That's what I think too."

Looking at his two beautiful disciples, Piaomiaozi was somewhat puzzled.

Given that Wen Erya was born into royalty, it's quite normal for her to have access to a superior set of martial arts techniques for early training.

Han Lu, at best, was born into an ordinary cultivation family. Even within the Zhengyi Sect, just the first floor of the Transmission Hall contains numerous excellent cultivation techniques that surpass those of ordinary cultivation families.

"Han Lu, what kind of cultivation technique are you practicing now?" Piaomiaozi asked.

The "Great Zhou Tian Condensing Water Technique" that Xiaoyaozi possessed was of legitimate origin and was not a shady technique. Han Lu openly revealed it and pretended it was a family heirloom.

Upon hearing that cultivating this technique to the first level of Qi Refining requires opening fifty-six acupoints to form the first spiritual meridian, Wen Erya's expression changed slightly, and Piaomiaozi also gave up the idea of ​​having Han Lu change her technique.

"Judging from your description, this cultivation method must be extraordinary, so I will let you have it," Piaomiaozi reminded him. "But cultivation is not easy, and this method is obviously the kind that has a solid foundation but slow progress. I hope that you will not get impatient because of the slow progress in your cultivation in the future. Since you have decided to cultivate this method, you should persevere and stick to it."

In his hundred-year cultivation career, Piaomiaozi had seen many ambitious geniuses, and he felt it was necessary to give Han Lu a few words of advice.

"Your disciple will remember your teachings."

Both decided not to change their cultivation methods, so Piaomiaozi recommended several practical secret techniques stored on the first floor of the Transmission Hall based on his own cultivation experience. He even demonstrated three Qi Refining stage secret techniques that he had mastered for their reference.

Sitting in the courtyard, the three of them talked for a full half hour before Piaomiaozi helped them decide which secret technique to exchange for.

Because the goal is to compete in a major tournament, the selected secret techniques are all related to magical combat and duels.

Following Piaomiaozi's advice, Wen Erya decided to select a secret technique for controlling magical artifacts called "The Hundred Treasures Artifact Control Technique" from the Transmission Hall, in order to take advantage of her possession of numerous magical artifacts.

This technique cleverly allows cultivators at the Qi Refining stage to control multiple magical artifacts simultaneously and use them to defeat enemies.

If one cultivates to the highest level, one can unleash a hundred treasures and use wealth to intimidate others.

As for Han Lu, her cultivation level is still shallow. Piaomiaozi only suggested that Han Lu choose a protective cultivation technique, without giving any very specific advice.

Han Lu, Feng Bailu, and Xiaoyaozi all agreed with this.

With a solid foundation in the "Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique," Han Lu's spiritual energy was twice or even several times greater than that of other Daoist disciples.

Having an excellent body-protecting technique allows one to fight defensively and counter-attack, engaging in a war of attrition, which will surely lead to repeated victories.

Even if we don't win the championship, making it into the top four shouldn't be a big problem.

After confirming the cultivation techniques they would exchange, Piaomiaozi helped each of them resolve a minor cultivation problem before letting them leave.

After leaving Piaomiaozi's residence, Han Lu was pulled by Wen Erya to visit her in her small courtyard.

I sat for a while at Wenerya's place.

Before leaving, the two agreed to go to the Transmission Hall together the next day to choose a cultivation method.

Han Lu was puzzled by this. She even had the illusion that she was the "noble" thirteenth princess, and that Wen Erya was trying to get close to her.

[Author's Note] The main idea is that after finishing this book, Cyberpunk 2077 will probably be released, and maybe I can follow the trend. Now I'm starting to slowly research cyberpunk.

Please vote for me.

Chapter Thirty: Morning Lessons, Intensive Training

Returning to the small courtyard where she had just moved in, Han Lu resumed her eye-cleansing practice, which she hadn't done for the past two days.

From the perspective of cultivating a secret technique that requires perseverance day and night, having a stable cultivation environment is indeed extremely important for a cultivator.

For ordinary Taoist novices living in the mountains, even fetching clean water every day would be a troublesome task, let alone purchasing medicinal herbs and preparing medicinal solutions.

Sitting cross-legged on the Dharma seat, Han Lu meditated and cultivated for a whole night. Before she could open up the spiritual energy channel to the eighth acupoint, she also figured out the reason why Wen Erya was so enthusiastic towards her.

The emperor of the Jin Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties had many children, and the thirteenth princess was the youngest among them.

Not only that, even the twelfth prince was thirteen years older than Princess Wenerya.

This meant that during the nearly fifteen years that Wen Erya lived deep within the palace, she had no peers with whom she could even speak, let alone someone like Han Lu who didn't care about her princess title and could talk freely with her.

Han Lu's mature demeanor was to Wen Erya's liking, and with the connection to Piaomiaozi, it's no wonder that Wen Erya would want to befriend her and develop their relationship into that of sisters or best friends.

Once Han Lu understood this, she no longer felt any resistance towards Wen Erya.

Who wouldn't want another senior sister who is exceptionally talented, incredibly capable, and willing to protect them?

At least Han Lu was willing.

Thinking that Wen Erya would most likely still wear that white shirt on this day, Han Lu also took out a plain-colored dress from her storage bag and changed into it, so that the two of them would look more coordinated when they were together.

Han Lu did not skip her first morning class. Instead, she went to the inner sect's new disciples' morning class early and found a quiet spot to sit down.

Morning lessons were established in the early years of the Zhengyi Sect. Although some basic cultivation knowledge became less practical and less popular among disciples due to the proliferation of numerous cultivation guides and the widespread dissemination of it both within and outside the sect, it was ultimately preserved as a system and a habit.

Regardless, some disciples will still set aside a few days each month to participate in morning classes, listen to their senior brothers and sisters impart cultivation knowledge, solidify their foundation, and improve their abilities.

In the East Mountain Academy, there are three classrooms for inner disciples to participate in morning classes, each capable of accommodating nearly one hundred people.

Depending on the disciples' cultivation level, those at or below the third level of Qi Refining study in the same school for morning lessons, while the sixth level is another dividing point.