The Long Journey to Immortality

Perhaps because this was a new batch of disciples who had just entered the academy, there were unexpectedly nearly fifty people sitting in Han Lu's classroom.

Because the training experience and knowledge are only imparted to young disciples and lower-level Qi Refining disciples, even in the inner sect's morning classes, Dongshan Academy only arranges for a Foundation Establishment cultivator with solid basic skills to teach on stage.

Being a teacher in the morning classes is also a good job for some Foundation Establishment disciples to earn contribution points.

The lectures covered nothing more than the most important and fundamental things for Qi Refining cultivators, such as spiritual veins and acupoints.

Han Lu listened very attentively, at least on the surface.

She came here simply to make herself appear more in line with her background and persona, rather than genuinely wanting to learn anything useful from the morning classes.

After the morning class, it's time for intensive practice.

Only at this point will every disciple of the Zhengyi Sect realize that while the sect may not be overflowing with talented individuals, it certainly has a large number of them.

All told, Dongshan Academy has nearly five thousand cultivators.

The three spirit-gathering arrays, each capable of accommodating nearly a thousand people cultivating simultaneously, were crammed full.

Although the difference in spiritual energy between the center and the edge of the Spirit Gathering Array was negligible, some disciples arrived even an hour before the array was activated, sitting in the center of the array and waiting for the start of their major cultivation session.

Disciples like Han Lu who participated in the morning lessons could only sit and cultivate at the edge of the spirit-gathering array.

However, this was exactly what Han Lu wanted.

She and Wen Erya had agreed to meet in front of a dining hall after the intensive training, have lunch, and then go to the Transmission Hall together.

It's always more convenient to sit further out than to be squeezed in the center by the crowd when leaving.

When the appointed time arrived, protective barriers rose around the edges of the three spirit-gathering formations to ensure that the disciples who were meditating within the formations would not be disturbed.

At the same time, the three spirit-gathering formations in Dongshan Academy began to operate slowly under the guidance of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, gathering the spiritual energy scattered throughout the world for the thousands of disciples within each formation to use for cultivation.

The spirit-gathering array, which had been filled with laughter and conversation, suddenly fell silent.

Everyone inside the magic array entered a meditative state, seizing every minute of the great cultivation time to breathe in spiritual energy and improve their cultivation level.

With abundant spiritual energy, it's the perfect time to open up acupoints and break through bottlenecks.

Han Lu used her exceptional talent in sensing Qi to seize spiritual energy within the Spirit Gathering Array, absorbing it into her body and quickly converting it into spiritual power. Combined with the spiritual power she already possessed, she launched an attack on the eighth firmly closed acupoint.

Han Lu's hard work made things difficult for her fellow disciples who were meditating and cultivating around her.

After all, the spiritual energy in the spirit-gathering array has a limit. Within a certain small area, with cultivators like Han Lu who have exceptional qi perception, the amount of spiritual energy they can sense and absorb will naturally be less.

"What, could it be that the spirit-gathering array activated this time used spirit stones that were not used up last time?"

"Why is there so little spiritual energy around me today? Is it because the place I'm sitting in is not in accordance with feng shui?"

"Could it be that I didn't wash my face this morning, and the dirt is keeping the spiritual energy out?"

……

Full of questions but nowhere to find answers.

When the time for intensive cultivation ended, the cultivators sitting next to Han Lu could only accept the fact that they had made only the slightest progress after two hours.

Han Lu, on the other hand, reaped a great harvest. Not only did she successfully open the eighth acupoint in the "Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique", but she also advanced the newly opened spiritual energy channel to the ninth acupoint. It is likely that if she sits in this giant spirit gathering array for another four or five hours, she will be able to launch an attack on the ninth acupoint.

It should be noted that the eighth acupoint is the last acupoint in the first spiritual meridian located on the head, and spatially it is quite a distance from the ninth acupoint.

The spiritual energy channel connecting the eighth and ninth acupoints is naturally longer than the previous channels.

Han Lu was quite surprised to see such progress in just two hours.

"How come I never noticed before that the sect's spirit-gathering array could be so effective?"

Unlike the other cultivators sitting beside her, Han Lu, who had experience with Xiaoyaozi's cultivation, quickly understood the reason.

"So having exceptional Qi perception has such benefits for cultivation?"

"It seems I can't miss any of the major training sessions from now on."

This unexpected gain raised Han Lu's expectations for her cultivation progress even higher.

In front of a canteen, Han Lu waited for a moment before seeing Wen Erya, who had arrived "late".

Wen Erya was indeed still wearing that white dress.

Thanks to Han Lu's deliberate arrangement, the two were dressed quite well together. Coupled with their already outstanding appearances, they attracted the attention of many fellow cultivators entering and leaving the dining hall as soon as they came together.

Before Han Lu could even greet her, with a "Good morning, Senior Sister Wen" stuck in her throat, Wen Erya took her hand and led her into the cafeteria.

"Let's go, let's eat quickly, we still need to go to the Transmission Hall after we finish eating."

[Author's Note] It's just a pure senior-junior relationship. I can't write that kind of thing, I can't write that kind of thing well, and I don't have much interest in that kind of thing.

Chapter Thirty-One: Feast Time, Transmission Hall

Han Lu was stunned when Wen Erya grabbed her hand.

She felt that the energetic and charismatic Wen Er Ya in front of her was quite different from the rumored and imagined thirteenth princess.

But when she entered the canteen and saw so many "strangers" eating together, Wen Er Ya seemed like a different person.

She simply followed Han Lu's example, doing whatever Han Lu did.

Noticing this, Han Lu couldn't help but laugh to herself, "She really is a princess from the palace. She probably has never seen such a 'vulgar' scene before."

Thinking of this, just as the two found a seat, Han Lu teased, "Senior Sister Wen, this is the first time you've ever seen more people than food at a meal, isn't it?"

“Yes, even when I occasionally eat with my elder brother, elder sister, father and mother, there are nearly a hundred dishes on the table, but only four or five people sit at the table and start eating,” Wen Erya nodded slightly and whispered, “When I first came to Zhengyi Sect the day before yesterday, I spent the day with my master and thought that life in Zhengyi Sect was no different from that in the palace.”

Piaomiaozi took great care of this extraordinary disciple, and even kept Wen Erya by his side for a day to give her some time to adjust.

"But last night, after leaving my master and living alone in a small courtyard, I realized that my idea was completely wrong."

“Although I’m not quite used to it yet, I quite like this kind of life,” Wen Erya said, her head down, stirring her chopsticks in her bowl. “I can freely arrange the twelve hours of the day, I don’t have to care about a lot of annoying etiquette, I don’t have to wear a fake smile, and I have interesting people like Junior Sister Han to talk to. Apart from not having palace maids to serve me, it’s much more comfortable here than living in the palace.”

Listening to Wen Erya, who had long lived deep within the palace, express her feelings, Han Lu finally realized that she had indeed guessed Wen Erya's thoughts correctly.

During the meal, Han Lu, who was sitting next to Wen Erya, was not as silent as usual.

When Wen Er Ya asks questions that seem like common sense to most people, he is always willing to patiently answer them one by one.

At this moment, it seemed as if their roles as senior and junior sisters had been reversed.

When answering these "idiotic" questions, Han Lu gained another insight, realizing that Piaomiaozi's invitation to go to Hanchan Bieyuan yesterday also had another purpose: to have her, who was "precocious" in life, take care of Wen Erya.

The chefs who prepared meals for the various mountain courtyards of Zhengyi Sect were highly skilled, and their home-style dishes, which differed from imperial cuisine, gave Wen Erya a rather novel experience.

This made Wen Erya, who was used to a life of luxury but had not developed a discerning palate, quite satisfied with the food at the Zhengyi Sect.

Cultivation is not about making cultivators without desires. There are quite a few cultivators who reach high realms but still crave food and drink.

Watching Wen Erya elegantly wiping her mouth with a silk handkerchief and the clean rice bowl in front of her, Han Lu felt that once Wen Erya reached the Golden Core stage, she would definitely travel all over the Central Plains and taste the delicacies of various places.

After lunch, Wen Erya, who was unfamiliar with the roads of Dongshan Academy, followed Han Lu to the Dongshan Academy Transmission Hall, which was not far from the dining hall.

The Transmission Hall is located in all six major mountain academies. Regardless of its function of storing cultivation techniques and secret manuals, its existence within the Zhengyi Sect is no different from that of institutions such as the Law Enforcement Academy, the Medicine Hall, and the Weapon Refining Pavilion.

Similarly, many disciples from various mountain academies serve other Zhengyi disciples in the Transmission Hall to earn contribution points. For example, the "teachers" who teach morning lessons in the academies of various mountain academies every day are disciples who are registered in the Transmission Hall.

The Transmission Halls of the five mountain academies in the east, west, south, north, and center each have three floors, and each academy houses the secret techniques and manuals of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core cultivation methods corresponding to the attributes of each academy.

The Transmission Hall of the Five Elements Mountain Academy is a full seven stories high. The essential texts from the Transmission Halls of the other five academies are all copied and stored in the Transmission Hall of the Five Elements Mountain Academy. In addition, many miscellaneous books on weapon crafting, alchemy, and the history of the cultivation world are also included in the Transmission Hall of the Five Elements Mountain Academy.

The nearly ten thousand cultivation manuals stored in the several Transmission Halls are one of the reasons why the Zhengyi Sect was able to establish itself in the Central Plains and become the second largest cultivation sect in the region.

Before entering the Hall of Transmission of Skills, you need to "swipe" your identity token on a first-grade magic item at the entrance to confirm your identity and the number of contribution points you have.

Wen Erya was only somewhat famous among the new disciples. For the disciples who had been cultivating in the Zhengyi Sect for several years, they only knew that there was a genius named "Thirteenth Princess" who had entered the sect. They did not know the name of "Thirteenth Princess" and naturally did not recognize Wen Erya's identity.

The disciple guarding the entrance to the Transmission Hall was only doing his duty because Han Lu and her companion were new disciples. He explained to them the rules for new disciples to choose cultivation techniques and manuals when entering the Transmission Hall.

"Do not make loud noises inside the Hall of Transmission of Skills."

"Be careful when reading martial arts manuals, and put them back in their original place after you have finished reading them."

"New disciples are only allowed to select secret manuals on the first floor of the Transmission Hall."

……

"Write down the book number of the manual you want to exchange for. When you come out, give the book number and someone will help you make a copy to exchange for the manual."

"The secret manuals obtained from the Transmission Hall must not be passed on to others indiscriminately."

Han Lu knew these rules well in advance, while Wen Erya listened very attentively.

Upon entering the Hall of Skill Transmission, the two were not as shocked as other new disciples.

Han Lu had been cultivating in the Zhengyi Sect for nearly thirty years, and she had entered and exited the Transmission Hall of Xishan Academy at least ten times. Apart from the layout, there was not much difference between this place and other places.

Wen Erya, having seen the even larger Royal Library, naturally didn't have any particular feelings about this Transmission Hall, which stored cultivation manuals.

Although the Zhengyi Sect has many cultivation manuals, they are rare. In terms of quantity, they are far fewer than the comprehensive collection of books on the Six Arts, miscellaneous books, historical records, and so on in the Royal Library.

Nearly ten thousand secret manuals were gathered together, and the Transmission Hall made a simple classification of these manuals.

The fundamental cultivation techniques, as well as secret manuals on weapon control, spells, and body protection, are all displayed separately. This arrangement makes it much easier for disciples of the Zhengyi Sect to choose the secret manuals and techniques they desire.

However, cultivation manuals are also precious items that are easily destroyed, so only the introductory texts for specific manuals are displayed on the bookshelf.

No wonder Piaomiaozi wanted to give the two new disciples some pointers in advance.

Otherwise, just looking at the few pages of rudimentary introductory text, Han Lu and Wen Erya would probably have to spend a lot of effort in this Hall of Skill Transmission to find a suitable secret technique manual.

With the help of Piaomiaozi, Wen Erya had identified her target early on, so the two of them went to the area where the Artifact Control Techniques were concentrated to search for the "Hundred Treasures Artifact Control Manual".

Finding a known cultivation technique among five hundred manuals was not a difficult task for Han Lu and Wen Erya.

After searching up and down the ten rows of bookshelves for about half an incense stick's time, Han Lu found "The Art of Hundred Treasures and Artifacts" and took a synopsis from the bookshelf to "report the good news" to Wen Erya.

After passing two rows of bookshelves, when Han Lu found Wen Erya, she discovered that Wen Erya was holding a brief introduction to a sword-wielding classic called "Azure Lotus Sword Manual" and reading it very carefully.

"Senior Sister Wen, I've found the 'Hundred Treasures Artifact Control Technique'."

Wen Erya reluctantly put the "Azure Lotus Sword Manual" back in its original place, took the introduction to the "Hundred Treasures Weapon Control Manual" from Han Lu, flipped through it a couple of times, and said with satisfaction, "Just as Master said, this weapon control technique is indeed very suitable for me."

After quickly memorizing the book number, Wen Erya said, "Thank you, junior sister. Now it's my turn to help you."

[Author's Note] As usual, I'm asking for recommendation votes. Does anyone have a book list? Regardless of how many you've added it to, if you think this book is passable and worth recommending, please add it to your list and help promote it.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Transactions