The Long Journey to Immortality

If it were any other cultivator who had only been in the Zhengyi Sect for a dozen days, even Wen Erya, they would definitely have focused their attention on these rather threatening plant soldiers at this time.

However, Han Lu, who has rich combat experience, will not provoke these plant soldiers who are difficult to deal with using water-attribute magic.

Han Lu moved quickly, temporarily distancing herself from the plant soldiers. At the same time, the water bullets that had completely liquefied beside her were thrown directly at Zhan Yujun, who was not far away.

Catch the thief first to catch the king.

Han Lu did not believe that Zhan Yujun, who was only at the second level of Qi Refining, possessed a powerful soul and spiritual strength, and could control these plant soldiers to attack her while simultaneously dealing with her strong offensive.

Two water bullets shot out first, hitting Zhan Yujun, who was eight zhang away from Han Lu.

Zhan Yuyun, whose attention was entirely focused on the grass soldiers, noticed the water bullets flying towards her, but it was too late.

Her instinctive dodge allowed her to avoid the first wave of water bullets, but it also caused her to completely lose her balance and fall flat on her backside.

Faced with a female cultivator who was quite attractive, Han Lu still felt a bit of pity and tenderness towards her.

The remaining five water bullets were fired, but they only "gently" poured onto Zhan Yujun's body.

In the blink of an eye, Zhan Yujun was soaked to the bone, having been doused with five basins of water.

This unexpected situation left Zhan Yujun completely bewildered, and she sat on the ground in a daze.

The controller "disconnected," and as soon as he stood up, the grass and wood soldiers that had been baring their teeth and claws at Han Lu lost their previous arrogance.

The three unarmed grass soldiers scattered into weeds and lay on the ground.

The two soldiers wielding grass and wood shields and spears were even worse off; they actually started fighting amongst themselves, wanting to test their skills and see whose spear was sharper and whose shield was stronger.

The duel between Han Lu and Zhan Yujun has clearly been decided, and the audience has begun to cheer for the two plant soldiers who are competing in martial arts.

Some restless male cultivators noticed the unusual undergarment beneath Zhan Yuyun's blue robe after it was soaked by the water, and couldn't help but take a few more glances. Some of the bolder ones even pointed and whispered, and some even whistled provocatively.

Sitting on the ground, Zhan Yujun quickly realized her predicament and, without even bothering to shout "I admit defeat!", covered her private parts with her hands.

Tears mingled with the water from the water bullet spell as Zhan Yuyun sobbed and went straight into the courtyard where Han Lu lived.

Without the user's spiritual energy supply, the two plant soldiers who had just fought fiercely with swords and spears disintegrated, just like the other three predecessors, and turned back into ordinary withered grass and rotten wood.

When an outsider forcibly broke in, the waist tag on Han Lu's waist began to vibrate.

Han Lu shook her head helplessly, apologized to the crowd, then manipulated the waist token to remove the restriction and chased after Zhan Yujun.

Han Lu didn't know how to comfort Zhan Yuyun in this situation. She could only extend a little hospitality by allowing Zhan Yuyun to use her bathroom to shower and change, washing away her disheveled state.

Leading Zhan Yujun into the bathroom, Han Lu pointed to her bathtub and said, "Use it wherever you like."

Zhan Yujun, however, did not remember Han Lu's kindness at all, and did not treat this place as Han Lu's home at all. She simply and decisively kicked Han Lu out of the bathroom.

Standing at the bathroom door, Han Lu made a point of explaining through the door, "Zhan Yujun, I didn't mean to do that just now. I hope you won't hold a grudge against me."

"How could someone as magnanimous as me hold a grudge?"

Han Lu could hear Zhan Yuyun's voice but couldn't see her facial features or expression. However, from her tone, she could imagine that Zhan Yuyun was probably saying things against her will through gritted teeth.

She thought to herself helplessly, "It seems I should have just not held back. I wanted to resolve the conflict, but instead I made people lose face and created an enemy."

Despite the helplessness, the competition had to continue.

"Next time you use this spell, try leaving some grass seeds around yourself to have a few plant soldiers as your bodyguards..."

"Or we can wait until our cultivation level is higher before using this kind of technique that requires mental effort to control."

Han Lu could only offer a few words of advice to Zhan Yujun through the door, hoping that it would reduce her resentment.

The matter of Zhan Yujun turned out to be a bad thing, but good news came from outside the courtyard.

Han Lu's two consecutive decisive victories deterred four of the remaining five challengers from competing against her. They recognized the gap in their abilities and acknowledged that Han Lu was worthy of being a disciple of a Golden Core cultivator. They voluntarily conceded defeat, saving Han Lu a lot of trouble.

Standing in the center of the open space, looking at the last challenger standing on the sidelines, Han Lu asked loudly, "What about you? Are you going to fight or not?"

The onlookers didn't want such a good show to end so soon, so they all turned their attention to the last challenger, fearing that he might back down before even fighting.

Surrounded by so many people watching with expectant eyes, the boy's face turned bright red, clearly undergoing a fierce internal struggle.

After hesitating for a moment, he took a deep breath, made up his mind, and answered, "Fight."

"However, I have one request."

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Clash of Magical Tools, The Strange Zhan Yujun

"Requirements? Tell me."

There was a slight mishap in Zhan Yujun's matter, and Han Lu didn't want to make enemies with the other challengers.

It's always better to communicate each other's needs and ideas clearly as early as possible than to have misunderstandings and unpleasantness.

The young man continued, "I've already noticed that Senior Sister Han possesses great magical power and extraordinary abilities."

"However, I am a little curious about the magical artifacts in Senior Sister Han's hands, so I hope that during the competition later, Senior Sister Han can take out her magical artifacts to compete with me."

A very strange request.

Han Lu was full of doubts, wondering if the boy in front of her had been standing in the sun for too long and had burned his head.

Seeing Han Lu's expression, the boy realized that he had made a mistake in his haste, and quickly added, "Senior Sister Han, what I meant was that we should all take out our magical tools and compete, instead of holding back like we did before."

Han Lu held back in the previous two matches, which was obvious to anyone with eyes.

Hearing this, Han Lu finally understood what the boy meant and nodded. "But I am Elder Piaomiao's disciple. Aren't you afraid that I might have powerful magical artifacts bestowed upon me by Elder Piaomiao?"

“I’m not afraid,” the young man said innocently. Han Lu’s casual remark revealed all his thoughts. “I’ve found out that Elder Piaomiao didn’t reward Senior Sister Han with any magical artifacts at all. And Senior Sister Han just comes from an ordinary family in Moyu City. She probably doesn’t have any magical artifacts on her right now. She probably set this rule because she was afraid we would use magical artifacts against you…”

The boy's words caused an uproar among the onlookers, and he realized he had said the wrong thing.

But since things had come to this point, he could only grit his teeth and pretend that he hadn't said the "truth" earlier, continuing to press on the request and asking, "Senior Sister Han, just tell me whether you agree or not."

Han Lu's family background was not "unintentionally revealed" in the small courtyard where she was stationed in Moyu City.

However, few of the teenagers in Moyu City believed that Han Lu, at only sixteen years old, possessed the cultivation level of a Daoist novice.

They assumed Han Lu was "vain" and had fabricated a good family background for herself. Based on their own guesses, they regarded Han Lu as a lucky person who had unintentionally ventured into cultivation but unexpectedly discovered her talent.

Knowing this, and having learned that Piaomiaozi hadn't bestowed any magical artifacts upon Han Lu, the young man boldly requested that he "use magical artifacts." He planned to rely on the sharpness of these external magical tools to defeat Han Lu.

Although this is somewhat unfair, winning is better than losing.

Upon hearing this, Han Lu subconsciously touched the storage bag at her waist, thinking of the two spirit swords that hadn't left the storage bag for more than half a month since she left the cave, and hadn't breathed fresh air.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally nodded and said, "Okay."

The boy's expression changed slightly, but Han Lu's next sentence made the smile that had just appeared on his face disappear, "However, the information you found out was slightly inaccurate..."

“Actually, I still have a few magical artifacts on me,” Han Lu said, taking out the golden sword from her twin swords and hanging it at her waist. “So, even if we follow your rules, you won’t gain much of an advantage.”

Han Lu took out the golden sword instead of the wooden sword because she wanted to demonstrate her skill in wielding weapons.

After all, she had won both of the previous matches using magic. If she could demonstrate her talent in weapon manipulation, it would naturally deter fellow cultivators who met the requirements and wanted to challenge her from causing her trouble.

The boy fixed his gaze on the golden sword at Han Lu's waist, trying to determine its grade.

Unfortunately, he wasn't a master craftsman, nor did he have the eyes to identify the grade and attributes of magical artifacts at a glance. After looking at it for a while, he could only tell that what Han Lu said was true, and that the sword was indeed a magical artifact.

That's it.

Seeing the boy hesitate again, Han Lu became a little impatient. "Still want to fight?"

There's no turning back now that the arrow has been released; Han Lu had already agreed to his request, so the young man had no reason to back down.

He inwardly resented the two fellow disciples who had given him the wrong information, but outwardly he immediately replied, "Fight, fight right away."

The boy took two steps forward, walked to the center of the open space, and took out a spirit sword, ready for battle.

Although the opponent now possessed a magical artifact resembling a spirit sword, the feeling this opponent evoked in Han Lu was somewhat different from that of Sikong Junfeng and Zhan Yujun.

"I feel a little nervous."

"Could it be that they are complete novices who have never fought anyone before?"

The thought only flashed through Han Lu's mind for a moment.

The boy held the spirit sword, looked at Han Lu, then at Wen Erya, and wondered why Wen Erya hadn't announced the start of the competition. Then he remembered that he had forgotten something and quickly introduced himself.

"Bao Yi".

Han Lu nodded slightly, indicating that she had remembered his name.

Wen Erya, acting as the referee, took out a blood-activating and wound-healing medicine from her storage bag. After preparing to treat her sword wound, she announced the start of the third match.

Bao Yi gently tossed the spirit sword in his hand into the air. Immediately afterward, the spiritual power within his body surged through his spiritual meridians. Using his magical power as a thread, he controlled the spirit sword, which was connected to his mind, to dance in the air.

As for Han Lu, a simple golden light flew out from her waist.

In terms of sheer presence on the Spirit Sword stage, Han Lu was far superior.

In magical combat, it's not just about the grade of the magical artifact being used, but also the skill and spiritual power of the user.

Han Lu knew almost nothing about Bao Yi.

The only thing she was certain of was that, in terms of sheer spiritual power, Bao Yi, who was already at the second level of Qi Refining and had opened at least fifteen or sixteen acupoints, should have a little more than her.

With Han Lu's current cultivation level, controlling a top-grade magic weapon like the Golden Sword is already quite an achievement.

Her tactical strategy for this competition was to achieve a swift and decisive victory.

After all, even the best magical swords and artifacts require the caster to replenish their spiritual energy in order to fly through the air and use them at will.

Han Lu's imposing entrance with her spirit sword stunned Bao Yi and the surrounding crowd.

Originally intending to seize the initiative, Bao Yi subconsciously manipulated his spirit sword to intercept the golden light in the air.

He certainly didn't want that imposing sword strike to land on him.

The opinions of the spectators on the sidelines regarding Han Lu have also changed considerably since before the competition.

Apart from a small group of relatives and friends who still clung to the fact that Han Lu's cultivation level was low, the vast majority of viewers were shocked that she, with the cultivation level of a Daoist disciple, could defeat two cultivators at the second level of Qi Refining in succession, and thus acknowledged Han Lu's abilities.

Although Bao Yi's handling of the spirit sword was clumsy, he still managed to successfully intercept Han Lu's golden sword in mid-air.

The two spirit swords clashed and collided rapidly in the air for several rounds, but in the end, Han Lu's golden sword gained the upper hand.

The light on the golden sword remained undiminished, while the already inconspicuous blue light on Bao Yi's spirit sword became even dimmer.

Seeing this, Bao Yi thought to himself, "It seems that Han Lu's spirit sword is of a high grade. If I had known, I would have been better off not making any requests."

He cursed his fellow disciples in his mind again for giving him false information. He made hand seals and tried his best to pour spiritual power into his spirit sword, controlling the flying sword with all his might, hoping to hold out against Han Lu's golden sword in the air for a while longer.