The Long Journey to Immortality

Looking at the three children, no more than five or six years old, beside Yi Qiyan, Han Lu felt immense pressure.

Only then did she remember that in the Southern Frontier, due to its unique method of cultivating cultivators, the young children led into the sect under the name of "Children of God" did not have a happy childhood.

These children are required to learn to read from the age of three. If they are more intelligent, they can begin to practice with the help of their senior brothers and sisters at the age of four.

Although he started practicing early, he was too young to enter a meditative state, and his mind and character were not yet refined.

Therefore, these children who are raised at a young age to cultivate Taoist arts often need to spend a year or even a year and a half to open their first acupoint and advance to the Taoist child realm.

Some were even as late as eight years old before they could barely enter the inner sanctum and become monks in the broad sense.

Such a young Taoist disciple is a true Taoist disciple.

Since cultivators from major Central Plains sects, like Han Lu, who had come to the Southern Frontier, were willing to help mentor their disciples, Yi Qiyan naturally became one of the most outstanding young disciples of the Five Poisons Sect who were cultivating the Central Plains Daoist arts.

The achievements of a six-year-old Daoist boy would likely astound any cultivator unfamiliar with the situation in the Southern Frontier.

Yi Qiyan is a saintess, and as is customary, she holds the position of Golden Core Elder in the Five Poisons Sect. She is decisive and authoritative.

Unfortunately, these young cultivators were too young to understand, and only sparsely followed Yi Qiyan in greeting Han Lu with a "hello." Of the three, only one of the older ones bowed respectfully to Han Lu.

Naturally, Han Lu took a closer look at the young Taoist who was more respectful to her.

The seven or eight-year-old boy's facial features were nothing special.

However, Han Lu noticed that the little boy's facial features were closer to those of people from the Central Plains than those from the southern border regions.

Han Lu did not ask about this point. She simply raised her hand in return and said, "No need for formalities, please sit down."

Since the room was only found temporarily, everyone had to sit on the floor on prayer mats.

He had never been a teacher or master to other cultivators, but he had been a disciple and knew how to be a good teacher.

Although she was only instructing these three disciples for a short three days, Han Lu still inquired about their cultivation stage and methods from the very beginning, so as to teach them according to their aptitude and not mislead them.

It must be said that Yi Qiyan did put in some effort when helping Han Lu select her three apprentices.

The three were not only exceptionally talented, practicing the Daoist arts of the Central Plains, but also quick-witted cultivators.

As she asked and answered questions, Han Lu didn't feel like she was communicating with three ignorant children.

After asking the questions, Han Lu secretly praised the three of them for their behavior, and at the same time analyzed, "I suppose the three of them were just not used to such formalities when they greeted each other."

It's perfectly normal for a child who has been taught the rules of southern Xinjiang since childhood to suddenly adopt the etiquette of the Central Plains to behave the way he did just now.

After listening in for a quarter of an hour, seeing that Han Lu was teaching with dedication and responsibility, Yi Qiyan stopped listening in and putting pressure on Han Lu.

She also needs to help Han Lu find a fellow disciple who is familiar with the geography of southern Xinjiang; even the Holy Maiden would need some time to do this.

After all, the sect's disciple list wouldn't include who knows the geography of the Southern Frontier; she would need to inquire and select suitable people to serve Han Lu.

Yi Qiyan's departure did not affect Han Lu's teaching.

After learning about the talents, cultivation levels, and progress of the three "disciples," Han Lu passed on her extensive experience and insights on cultivation at the Dao Child Realm.

When it comes to the experience of opening up acupoints in the Daoist realm, no one in the world can compare to Han Lu.

These experiences were not passed down within the sect, so Han Lu could teach them without any reservations.

These were all wise words, but Han Lu didn't know how much help they could be to these young disciples who were only six or seven years old.

The three young Taoist disciples listened attentively, especially the older boy who looked more like a person from the Central Plains. He wasn't intimidated at all in front of Han Lu, a stranger, and even raised his hand to ask two questions.

After sharing these useful experiences with the three of them, Han Lu gave each of them a few pointers on their techniques and then guided them into meditation.

Once you enter a meditative state, time flies by, and two hours pass in the blink of an eye.

This was the lesson time agreed upon by Han Lu and Yi Qiyan.

No miracles occurred during those two hours.

These three Daoist disciples, who typically take three to four months to open a single acupoint, did not experience even the slightest acceleration in their cultivation progress or any significant improvement or breakthrough due to Han Lu's special instruction.

Three days, a total of six hours.

Han Lu was meticulous, but apart from becoming more familiar with her and gaining some authentic cultivation knowledge from the Central Plains, none of the three Daoist disciples managed to open up any acupoints with Han Lu's help.

Han Lu felt quite helpless about this, feeling that she didn't have the talent to be a mentor.

Yi Qiyan comforted her, saying, "After all, cultivation is a matter of decades. Maybe the six hours you teach can benefit them for a lifetime."

Yi Qiyan's words made a lot of sense, and Han Lu's mood improved considerably.

“By the way, I’ve found a cultivator to be your guide,” Yi Qiyan said, getting down to business. “I’ll introduce you to her when you get back from the auction. I’ll have her prepare in the next few days so she doesn’t lead you astray.”

"Of course, we can meet first?"

"If you don't think it's suitable, I can help you find someone else."

Han Lu was very confident in Yi Qiyan's ability to handle this small matter.

"It's alright, I trust the people you chose."

During their conversation, Han Lu inquired about the child who looked like a person from the Central Plains from Yi Qiyan.

"Who? Lai Huaqing? He is indeed half from the Central Plains. It is said that one of his parents was from the Central Plains. When he first came to the Five Poisons Sect, he was bullied because of this when he was three or four years old."

"But once he demonstrated his talent for cultivation, that stopped."

Han Lu was quite surprised that the Holy Maiden Yi Qiyan knew about such a trivial matter.

However, upon closer reflection, the fact that Yi Qiyan would send Han Lu to teach the three young disciples shows that she cares deeply about the next generation of the Five Poisons Sect, so it's not surprising that she would know such a little story.

After resting for another day at the Five Poisons Sect, Han Lu took the invitation and left the Five Poisons Sect, the largest sect in the Southern Frontier. She then rode a flying horse carriage to a valley about three hours away from the sect's mountain gate.

Chapter 432 First-Class Invitation

There are actually not many things you need to prepare to hold an auction.

From a certain perspective, the organizers could start this business with virtually no investment simply by preparing some ordinary gold and silver and renting a venue.

However, organizing a large-scale and successful auction is not so simple.

First and foremost, you need a catchy name.

The more prestigious the organizer, the more renowned, powerful, and wealthy cultivators can be invited to participate.

These cultivators often possess a considerable amount of idle and high-level cultivation resources, which will become auction items, further attracting others to participate in the auction.

With a series of chain reactions, a grand and successful auction was held.

So how was the auction held in southern Xinjiang this time?

This auction in Southern Xinjiang was spearheaded by the Five Poisons Sect and jointly organized by the other four major sects in Southern Xinjiang.

It was precisely because of this that Yi Qiyan was able to obtain an invitation for Han Lu so easily.

Besides the five renowned organizers in Southern Xinjiang, the numerous items already scheduled to appear at the auction are also a reason why this auction has attracted a large number of high-level cultivators from outside Southern Xinjiang.

The appearance of a secret treasure from an ancient cultivation realm at an auction is the first time in recent years.

The matter of the ancient cultivation secret realm has caused quite a stir in the Central Plains, the Western Regions, and the Southern Frontier. Naturally, many cultivators who were unable to participate hoped to take advantage of this opportunity and benefit from the auction.

There are fewer than two hundred experts at the Golden Core Realm level in the three regions. Even if they were all summoned, it would only be a highbrow affair and would not achieve the effect that the Five Poisons Sect and other sects wanted to achieve by using this auction.

A play cannot be performed with only experts; low-level cultivators are also indispensable.

Therefore, in addition to sending invitations to experts, the organizers also extended invitations to wealthy cultivators like Long Fei, whose cultivation level was average but who were well-known in the three regions.

They let these minor, somewhat famous figures help them save face.

With these people supporting them, the experts can sit high above and save face.

Legend has it that even the lowest-level invitation to this auction was being sold for a price of one spirit stone.

Even though this auction is being held in this somewhat remote area of ​​Southern Xinjiang, there should still be at least four figures of cultivators participating.

With thorough preparation, appropriate publicity, and the use of an invitation—a highly sophisticated method—you can achieve your goals.

Han Lu could imagine what kind of scene she would see when she arrived at the auction.

When they were still three or four miles away from the venue, Han Lu noticed that there were many more cultivators flying around using magical artifacts or swords.

Many of them, like her, were clearly not local cultivators from Southern Xinjiang.

As Han Lu flew closer, and was able to observe the general situation of Shanggu up close, she discovered that this valley, which was originally a desolate and uninhabited area, was now shrouded by a huge protective magic array because of the auction.

The valley, which was originally considered a barren land, has been transformed into a complex of buildings because of the auction.

At least a hundred monks were strolling along the streets between the buildings.

Shopping at the street-side shops, whose owners were unknown, felt like a warm-up for an upcoming auction.

Since the other party had set up an array as a protective barrier, Han Lu naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to choose to descend from the sky into the valley.

She drove the flying chariot around half of the valley and found the entrance passage for the monks attending the auction to enter and exit the valley.

There were only two days left before the auction started, so there was a long queue of three people at the only passage in and out of the valley. Han Lu, who had just gotten off the car, was fourth in line.

At the entrance and exit, not only were there people specifically responsible for checking whether the cultivators who came to participate in the auction had brought invitations, but four cultivators with the cultivation level of the early Foundation Establishment stage were also specially arranged to act as security guards to maintain order at the entrance.

Only a few of the invitations were signed, so the checks were quick.

In the blink of an eye, it was Han Lu's turn.

When Han Lu took out the gold-rimmed invitation letter given to her by Yi Qiyan, the cultivator in charge of the inspection bowed respectfully to Han Lu. Then, he casually beckoned to another beautiful female cultivator at the Qi Refining stage and said, "Come, take this senior to the first-class room."

Even though Han Lu was clearly not a Golden Core cultivator, the other party still treated her with the highest level of hospitality, given the invitation letter.

Invitations are also tiered based on the recipient.

The invitations received by Golden Core cultivators, Nascent Soul cultivators, and major sects from the three regions were the gold-rimmed invitations like the one in Han Lu's hand.

This invitation is of the highest rank, granting the holder the most prestigious treatment in the deep valley during the auction.

Furthermore, holding an invitation of this caliber can even save you the trouble of being skimmed off by the organizers.

Meanwhile, cultivators and merchants of some renown, such as Long Qian, could only receive silver-edged invitations.

As for the invitations with copper borders, they were mostly distributed through sales. The cultivators who possessed these invitations were mostly unknown individuals, and some were even wealthy mortals.

These people, with only the lowest-level invitations, could only enjoy the lowest level of service in this class-divided place.

Following the female cultivator from Southern Xinjiang, whose appearance could be rated seven out of ten, Han Lu arrived at her residence in the valley after about a hundred breaths.

In this not-so-large space in the valley, the organizers built a total of twenty-seven independent courtyards with mountains and water.