The Long Journey to Immortality

Han Lu knew roughly what this cultivator was thinking and whereabouts. "I have no ill intentions this time. I just came here to visit a friend. I am looking for Fellow Daoist Yi Qiyan of your Five Poisons Sect. If it is not too much trouble, please let me know."

Upon hearing that they had come to find the Holy Maiden, the cultivator from the Southern Frontier no longer hesitated.

After confirming Han Lu's name again, the cultivator from Southern Xinjiang said "Later" and hurriedly left.

Although the injury caused by Han Lu was not treated immediately, it slightly damaged his foundation.

However, Yi Qiyan did indeed obtain the inheritance of ancient cultivation in the ancient cultivation secret realm, and her potential has only increased.

Naturally, she remained the supreme saintess within the Five Poisons Sect.

Chapter 428 Spirit Insects

The Holy Maiden is not someone that any cultivator from the Central Plains can meet at will.

However, Han Lu was from the Zhengyi Sect after all, and her purpose in coming was to visit a friend. This disciple of the Five Poisons Sect should give her some face, so as not to neglect Han Lu, who might be a close friend of the Holy Maiden.

With someone helping to relay the message, the matter became much simpler.

When the news reached Saintess Yi Qiyan, she naturally did not hesitate and arranged for people to invite Han Lu, her savior who had taken the initiative to visit her, to the Five Poisons Sect.

If it weren't for her esteemed position within the sect, which made it inappropriate for her to appear before mortals, Yi Qiyan would have personally come out to greet Han Lu.

After waiting for a while outside the Five Poisons Sect, Han Lu followed another Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Five Poisons Sect. Han Lu passed through a mountain gate that was hidden by restrictions and formations. It took her some time and effort to finally enter the core area of ​​the Five Poisons Sect, the largest "sect" in the Southern Frontier.

Although it operates under a completely new system externally, within the sect, it is merely a slight modification of the mature system of the Central Plains sects.

According to its doctrine, the core area of ​​the sect is divided into five parts, each corresponding to one of the five deities of the Five Poisons Sect.

The five branches of the sect are distinguished by the cultivation techniques practiced by the cultivators in each branch and the methods commonly used in combat.

Those skilled in using poison were grouped together for training.

Those skilled in controlling spirit beasts were assigned to the same branch of the sect.

Some who followed the orthodox path of cultivators from the Central Plains also established a branch sect.

……

This arrangement means that, apart from the fact that the status of disciples within the sect is determined more by talent than cultivation, the organizational structure of the Five Poisons Sect and the Zhengyi Sect is not significantly different.

As a figure of such extraordinary status as a saintess, Yi Qiyan was naturally not in a particular branch of the sect, but was assigned to an internal organization similar to the "Five Elements Mountain Academy".

Therefore, the Five Poisons Sect cultivators who were assigned to guide Han Lu did not lead her to a mountain where a branch sect was located, but instead headed into the depths of the valleys between the mountains.

Knowing that the Central Plains cultivators behind them were the Holy Maiden's distinguished guests, the Five Poisons Sect cultivators responsible for bringing them in naturally wouldn't remain silent like taciturn men and walk ahead.

Whenever he passed by or saw some of the Five Poisons Sect's core but not secret places from afar, he would take the initiative to explain a few words to Han Lu, so as not to neglect the distinguished guest.

"That's where spirit beasts are kept; there are about three thousand spirit beasts living in that area."

"Some insects that are difficult to raise, such as poisonous insects, live in the dark places on the back of the mountain not far away, and there are people who are responsible for feeding and raising them every day."

"Disciples of the Poison Sect, Beast Sect, and Insect Sect can choose a spirit beast or spirit insect from their sect to raise individually after their cultivation reaches a certain level."

“Like the saintess, when she had just begun her cultivation a few years ago, she made eye contact with a sunflower-eyed worm with the potential to reach the Golden Core realm.”

"Now, after six or seven years of cultivation, that sunflower-eyed worm should have advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage."

"If they can be propagated, a swarm of Foundation Establishment stage Sunflower Eye Insects would be comparable in combat power to a Golden Core stage cultivator."

……

Knowing that Han Lu and Yi Qiyan were good friends, the Five Poisons Sect cultivator who was leading the way would always talk about Yi Qiyan to pique Han Lu's interest and prevent awkward silences.

This approach certainly suited Han Lu's taste.

She listened attentively, occasionally asking a few questions, which made what should have been a dull journey quite lively.

By the time Western Region cultivators reached their twenties or thirties, they generally understood that the religious system was merely a facade used to deceive mortals and consolidate their status. Judging solely from his behavior, speech, and understanding of the world, Han Lu felt that the Five Poisons Sect cultivator in front of her was not much different from ordinary Central Plains cultivators.

"The only difference might be the accent, but it's quite interesting to speak with a slight accent."

Han Lu had been to Dayu Dynasty once, so she was naturally immune to such a slight accent, which was enough to make her unable to understand what the other person was saying.

The two of them took about a quarter of an hour and a half to traverse a small part of the Five Poisons Sect at a leisurely pace.

Han Lu then arrived at the residence of the Holy Maiden Yi Qiyan, led by the Five Poisons Sect cultivator.

As the holy maiden of the Five Poisons Sect, Yi Qiyan's residence was decorated in a style full of religious elements.

The exterior walls are covered with the sect totems of the Five Poisons Sect, statues of the five gods, and many strange graffiti.

In addition, incense was burning outside Yi Qiyan's house, symbolizing the believers' worship of the saintess, the incarnation of a god who descended to earth.

Because Han Lu was not a member of the Five Poisons Sect, she could not understand the meaning behind these decorations.

However, she maintained sufficient respect, quietly inquiring about any taboos in the area from the monk who was leading the way, before carefully avoiding the offerings placed on the ground, covering her nose, and approaching Yi Qiyan's residence.

She knocked gently on the door, and after a moment, Yi Qiyan's voice came from inside.

"Is that Han Lu? Come in quickly, the door is open."

Upon hearing this, Han Lu pushed the door open and entered.

To everyone's surprise, just as Han Lu pushed open the door, a sharp insect chirping sound came from inside the room, and a golden light shot towards her.

As a conditioned reflex, she subconsciously used her Five Elements Qi to protect her face.

Unexpectedly, the golden light suddenly stopped half a meter in front of her, revealing its true form.

It turned out to be a golden flying insect.

The flying insects, perhaps sensing the aura of the phoenix spirit emanating from her, hesitated to advance, losing all their previous fierce demeanor. Before even exchanging a single glance, they fled back as if fleeing.

At this moment, Yi Qiyan slowly walked out of the house, waved her hand, and put the golden flying insect back into the spirit beast pouch at her waist.

Upon seeing this, Han Lu's expression changed. Just as she was about to question Yi Qiyan about her motives, Yi Qiyan spoke first.

"As expected, Xiao Jin was right. It seems that the phoenix that injured me was Fairy Han."

Upon hearing this, Han Lu's already unpleasant expression darkened even further.

"Fellow Daoist Yi, what do you mean?" Han Lu pretended not to understand.

Yi Qiyan did not show any more hostility, but explained, "That day, when I was fighting the phoenix in the ancient cultivation secret realm, I also released Xiao Jin, who was waiting for an opportunity to strike."

"But unfortunately, although its rank is not low, it is severely suppressed by the True Spirit Bloodline and dares not go up to fight against the phoenix whose cultivation is only at the Qi Refining stage."

"That's why it remembered the approximate scent of that phoenix."

"When I returned to the deep valley in the Central Plains, Xiao Jin told me about this."

"You might be the phoenix that saved me."

"At first, I didn't believe it, but after trying it today, it seems that Fairy Han is indeed hiding her true abilities."

Compared to Qi Refining cultivators, spirit insects have a much stronger sense of aura, so it's not particularly surprising that they were able to identify Han Lu's identity.

Hearing Yi Qiyan's words, Han Lu felt a sense of crisis.

This is the Five Poisons Sect, with two Nascent Soul cultivators stationed here. If Yi Qiyan really disregards her status and tries to harm Han Lu, there's a 95% chance Han Lu will die here.

On the surface, Han Lu remained calm and casually praised, "Fellow Daoist Yi's spirit insects are well-raised and very clever."

As she spoke, Han Lu began to consider whether she should run away or assert her authority and reason with Yi Qiyan.

[Author's Note] I've completely settled into a work-slacking rhythm. Now, my workday basically consists of going to a site, doing some internal paperwork, and then playing Zelda.

Chapter 429 Flirting

Han Lu's response was abrupt, but Yi Qiyan had already considered all the possibilities and made all the necessary preparations before Han Lu even entered the house.

That's why she didn't continue to play "Tai Chi" with Han Lu as she had suggested.

The Holy Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect continued, following her own script, "Han Lu, you really fooled me that day."

Han Lu remained silent.

In fact, there was nothing wrong with what she did.

Even from the perspective of cultivators in the Central Plains.

Before entering the ancient cultivation secret realm, the sect elders and sect leader hinted to Han Lu and other disciples that they should not show mercy to cultivators from other sects and regions within the secret realm.

Han Lu's actions—killing first and then saving—could even be considered kind-hearted.

Even if she deliberately showed herself to provoke Yi Qiyan in Pengcheng into making a move, it was Yi Qiyan who struck first, and she was in the wrong.

However, this kind of thing, this kind of reason, cannot be said openly and frankly.

At least, Han Lu couldn't bring herself to say it in front of Yi Qiyan.

Therefore, she could only remain silent and wait for Yi Qiyan's next move in order to decide how to resolve this major crisis that she had brought upon herself.

The two stared at each other in silence.

This stalemate finally ended with a sudden burst of laughter from Yi Qiyan.

"But in the end, I was the one who hit you first, and you saved me."

"An eye for an eye."

"Let's call it even."

"I was able to inherit Senior Ru Yingying's lineage in the end, and you deserve some credit for that."

"If you don't mind, Fellow Daoist Han, how about we still be friends?"

Ru Yingying is the real name of the Nascent Soul cultivator who inherited the Daoist lineage from the ancient cultivation secret realm.

Having cultivated in the Southern Frontier, Yi Qiyan was not the kind of naive cultivator who knew nothing, so naturally she wouldn't take those grudges to heart too much.

Not to mention that Han Lu later made amends and saved her life.

This time, she was simply trying to see if Han Lu was really the true spirit she had met in the ancient cultivation secret realm, and she had no intention of offending Han Lu at all.

After all, Yi Qiyan, who had always dealt with spirit insects and demonic beasts, was well aware of the power of true spirits.

She would be more than happy to be able to communicate with the true spirit.

Hearing this, Han Lu breathed a sigh of relief, forced a smile, and said in a lighthearted tone, "Fellow Daoist Yi, your joke has gone a bit too far."

Han Lu looked at a string of wind chimes not far away and laughed, "I thought that after you found out that I was the True Spirit, you would shake that string of beautiful bells and call your two Nascent Soul stage elders to deal with me."