The Long Journey to Immortality

Then, Feng Rubing casually inquired about some information about the Western Alliance.

Zhuo Lian knew that these things were not suitable to talk about with outsiders, but she dared not not answer.

After answering, before Feng Rubing could speak, Han Lu took out five "Qi Gathering Pills" from her storage bag.

"Good answer. These five Qi Gathering Pills are for the four of you."

The Western Regions have many spiritual plants, but alchemists are scarce, and there aren't many pills available.

Zhuo Lian was overjoyed to receive the five Foundation Establishment level pills. He felt that the two seniors in front of him were approachable and that it would be beneficial for the Blood Moon Clan to associate with them.

Therefore, Zhuo Lian extended another invitation, wanting to invite Han Lu and Feng Rubing, two seniors who were at least at the Golden Core stage, to visit the Blood Moon Clan.

Just wanting to join in the fun and satisfy her curiosity, Feng Rubing had no intention of getting involved in the affairs of the Western Regions and refused Zhuo Lian's kindness.

Afterwards, to make the journey easier, Han Lu asked Zhuo Lian for a map of the Western Regions before she and Feng Rubing set off again on a cloud.

[Author's Note] I finally finished my first playthrough of Pokémon. My Switch arrived on Tuesday.

Chapter 398 The Western Regions Royal City

Discovering that the Western Regions were not as boring and barbaric as she had imagined, Han Lu, who still considered herself a person from the Central Plains, couldn't help but feel a little worried again.

She confided her concerns to Feng Rubing, hoping that this mother, who had at least a thousand years of experience in the Phoenix Realm, could offer her some help.

Feng Rubing was quick to grasp the situation, partly because she was born in a remote and uncivilized region and knew very little about the grudges between the Western Regions and the Central Plains.

On the other hand, her cultivation level, which could basically make her dominate the entire human world, also made her indifferent to such "trivial matters".

However, since her daughter asked, she decided to share her experience.

"Daughter, there's a saying: 'It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature.'"

"The chaos in the Western Regions has lasted for at least 50,000 years. The hatred between the few remaining clans cannot be erased by a few rules or in a few years."

"Initially, the oppressive policies and the disparity in strength may have caused many clans to temporarily set aside their hatred."

"But when these rules can no longer benefit small and medium-sized clans, the flames of hatred will surely be reignited."

"Whether it's accompanied by a breach of contract, an unfair treatment, or even just the death of a Nascent Soul cultivator, this flame will once again ignite the entire Western Region grasslands and deserts, engulfing all the mortals and cultivators of the Western Region."

"And because they were suppressed by rules for ten or twenty years, this fire should be even stronger than before."

As Feng Rubing spoke, a story she had once heard came to mind.

That story is about the last ten years before the Nine Phoenixes disintegrated during the True Spirit Era.

By then, the true phoenix had been gone from the human world for many years, and the conflict between the nine phoenixes had reached its peak due to interference from external forces.

Although the clan leaders of the Nine Phoenixes all understood that division would not end well, they temporarily imposed several clan rules to forcibly unite them.

However, these clan rules only served their purpose for less than thirty years.

Thirty years later, the nine phoenixes completely fell apart due to a small friction.

The beginning of this story is somewhat similar to the current situation in the Western Regions. It is impossible for the various clans in the Western Regions to have a better ending than the Phoenix Clan, who are connected by blood.

Hearing Feng Rubing's words, Han Lu felt slightly relieved, thinking that there was some truth to them.

With most of her worries gone, and the sense of belonging she felt to the Wild Phoenix Clan because of this unexpected trip to the Great Yu Dynasty, Han Lu no longer took the matter to heart.

Sitting on the clouds, the two discussed their return route while looking at the map they had just obtained from the Blood Moon Tribe.

The Western Regions are much larger than the Central Plains, but in terms of area, they are still far smaller than the Great Yu Dynasty and the Wilderness.

Therefore, even though the Blood Moon Clan was just a small tribe, the map they presented to Han Lu and Feng Rubing was still quite detailed.

After determining the approximate location of the two individuals, he used his spiritual power to draw a red dot on the ground.

Feng Rubing decisively drew a red line between the red dot and the location of the Seven Mountains Alliance on the eastern edge of the map, and said, "Let's fly like this."

Although Feng Rubing wanted to spend more time with her daughter, she prioritized Han Lu's homesickness when planning her itinerary.

Han Lu knew perfectly well that Feng You or Feng Rubing wanted her to stay with them a little longer.

Therefore, after observing the area around the red line for a while, the understanding woman decided to make a small change to Feng Rubing's plan.

"Mom, I'm quite curious about the Western Regions capital. It's not far from this red line. How about we take a slightly longer route and stay there for a couple of days?"

The reasons Han Lu gave were not entirely fabricated.

In the Central Plains, she had heard many legends and stories about the Western Regions, and naturally she was quite curious about the "royal city" that appeared many times in these legends.

It's perfectly reasonable to take a trip along the way, and spend two days sightseeing with this top expert.

Feng Rubing was somewhat surprised that her daughter was no longer in a hurry to go home, but she quickly understood Han Lu's thoughts.

Secretly delighted, Feng Rubing said, "Alright, I'll do as you say."

Riding the clouds and slightly changing direction, Feng Rubing carried Han Lu towards the royal city located in the Central Plains of the Western Regions.

Once upon a time, at least five thousand years ago, the royal city was the only place in the vast and open land of the Western Regions that could be called a city.

Legend has it that when Fang Lin and other ancestors of the Eastern human race were dividing up administrative regions, they arranged for the office of the regional governor in charge of the Western Regions to be located in the royal city.

At that time, the royal city was just a small village, chosen solely because of its advantageous geographical location.

But it was precisely because of this decision that the royal city received more and more resources, and a city was gradually built up in the relatively barren Western Regions.

However, due to clan divisions, regional management policies, and the distribution of regional resources, ordinary people in the Western Regions had no choice but to live a nomadic life.

This meant that the second truly significant city in the Western Regions was not established until five thousand years ago.

Since it is merely an administrative center, where does the legendary aura surrounding the royal city come from? To answer that, we must mention several stories that took place more than 70,000 years ago.

Compared to the desolate Western Regions, people from the Central Plains preferred to live in this fertile land.

This applies to mortals as well as cultivators.

Therefore, for nearly twenty consecutive terms, the administrative officials appointed by the Central Plains region were all native Western Region cultivators directly appointed by the Central Plains region.

At that time, due to the passage of time, the administrative relationship between the Central Plains and the Western Regions became increasingly weak, and it had even become a matter of nominal management and control.

This situation naturally led some local officials in the Western Regions to develop independent ideas.

After nearly two hundred years of accumulation, this was finally achieved by a local official who relied on his strength and political skills.

In legend, this hero, known as the "King of the Western Regions," led the people of the Western Regions to break free from the control of the Central Plains and embark on a path of independence.

In the story, in order to extinguish this lone flame, the Central Plains region specially arranged for several Nascent Soul cultivators to go to the Western Regions to carry out a decapitation operation.

Five major battles broke out between the Western Region King and the Central Plains cultivators around the royal city.

The King of the Western Regions won five battles in a row, which led to the eventual independence of the people of the Western Regions.

It was the battles between these high-level cultivators that made this otherwise unremarkable political story legendary.

Back when the Central Plains were still under the unified management of the cultivator forces left behind by Senior Fang Lin, these stories were forbidden to be circulated or told.

However, the cultivators in the Central Plains also began to split into different sects and factions.

When the secular forces divided the Central Plains into the Northern and Southern Dynasties, each with its own administration.

To make their rule more legitimate, these stories about the "King of the Western Regions" were exaggerated and spread.

Over time, and with minor adjustments and embellishments by later generations, it became the version that Han Lu heard in her childhood.

[Author's Note] I would like to recommend "The Split Girl's Kingdom" as a friendly recommendation. Don't have too high expectations for its completion.

Chapter 399 Sacrifice

Legends are just legends.

Because of the passage of time, it's uncertain whether the Western Region King actually fought five Nascent Soul cultivators of the same realm, let alone anything else.

Perhaps the King of the Western Regions is just a completely fabricated heroic figure, a fictional character created simply to satisfy the people of the Western Regions' yearning for independence and freedom.

The real story is that the Western Regions were simply a place that was too useless and that the management of the cultivation organizations in the Central Plains was too weak, so they were selectively abandoned.

However, this did not prevent the royal city from transforming from a village into a major city comparable to the capital of the Southern Dynasties for various reasons, becoming the most prosperous and Central Plains-flavored place in the Western Regions.

The King of the Western Regions is no longer in the mortal realm, and it's uncertain whether there are any of his descendants in the current royal city. Naturally, the administrators of the Western Regions royal city have long since changed.

Han Lu didn't know much about the history of the Western Regions over the past thousand years, but she did know that the current capital was jointly controlled and managed by the three major clans that organized the Western Alliance.

In a sense, the current capital city of the Western Regions is the true capital city that belongs to all the people of the Western Regions.

However, who ultimately manages and controls the capital city is not of much concern to Han Lu, who belongs to either the wilderness or the Central Plains.

Her purpose in coming here was simply to spend more time with Feng Rubing and, incidentally, to pay homage to the Western Regions capital city she had heard about countless times in stories, fulfilling a small wish she had held in her heart since childhood.

When he was a child, Feng Bailu was extremely fascinated by the "King of the Western Regions" and never forgot his dream of visiting the Western Regions Royal City.

Now, his little wish can only be fulfilled by Han Lu.

The Western Regions capital is not far from where Han Lu and Feng Rubing are currently located.

Although Feng Rubing's technique for navigating clouds was not particularly skillful, relying on map positioning, the two of them arrived at the Western Regions Royal City, located in the heart of the Western Regions, in less than two days.

The establishment of the Western Regions capital was a gradual process, but when determining the core urban area and building the walls, it was the Central Plains craftsmen from tens of thousands of years ago who were employed.

Therefore, even after thousands or tens of thousands of years, and with repeated repairs, the style of the city walls and many buildings remains that of the Central Plains.

With its Central Plains-style architecture, harmonious atmosphere, and the city teeming with merchants from the Central Plains who have come to the Western Regions, it's no exaggeration to say that the Western Regions capital is the most similar place to the Central Plains.

Outside the city walls lies an area three to four times larger than the core urban area inside the walls.

Including cultivators, there are at least 700,000 people from the Western Regions living here.

This is also the most densely populated area in the entire Western Regions.

Members of various clans mingled in this most prosperous place in the Western Regions, working for their clans or for themselves. For various reasons and in various ways, they worked together to build a better tomorrow for the Western Regions under the leadership of the three major clans that controlled the capital city and the Western Alliance.

With thriving commerce, there are naturally many merchants coming and going. In addition, given the administrative nature of the royal city, there are quite a few inns for both mortals and cultivators.

There were high-class and low-class residences, but none were worthy of a residence befitting a great deity like Feng Rubing.

Fortunately, Feng Rubing, who spent almost 90% of her life in the wilderness, was not the kind of phoenix that loved luxury.

As long as she could stay with Han Lu, she didn't really care which inn in the Western Regions capital she stayed at.

Han Lu chose the place to stay.

Since she was just visiting as an ordinary tourist, Han Lu didn't make a big fuss about it.