The Long Journey to Immortality

"Above the mortal realm is the spirit realm, and above the spirit realm? And above the Nascent Soul realm?"

On his deathbed, Elder Haoge saw through the illusions of life and chose to die, leaving the hope of reaching the end for his fellow practitioners in the Zhengyi Sect.

But Elder Haoge's dying words were a wake-up call.

How many cultivators have the opportunity and talent to cultivate to the late Golden Core stage and attempt to transcend tribulation to achieve Nascent Soul?

Such a genius, who had such a great opportunity, was so desperate before his death, and uttered such a cry before his death. Han Lu couldn't help but feel a tremor in his heart and grumble a little, sighing about life.

After a moment of silence, the Golden Core cultivators departed one by one.

Only Daoist Yunmin remained here, grieving.

No one knew whether Daoist Yunmin was grieving for Feng Haoge or for Elder Haoge.

On the way back, Piaomiaozi was not as talkative as she had been on the way there.

Although he will likely never even have the chance to advance to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm in his lifetime.

But he was still moved by Elder Haoge's last words.

However, these insights and thoughts were not suitable to be shared in front of his two promising disciples, which is why he remained silent.

Upon returning to their sect, the three went back to their respective residences without offering any reflection on the day's events.

Piaomiaozi simply instructed his two disciples not to spread what they had seen and heard that day.

Back at her lodgings, Han Lu surprisingly chose to take a nap like an ordinary person instead of meditating and calming her mind as a cultivator.

The next day, after a good night's sleep, Han Lu regained her usual spirits and no longer cared about Elder Haoge's failure to transcend the tribulation.

"It's just the last-minute complaints of a mediocre person."

"Elder Haoge's dying realization is like Feng Bailu's feeling that the path of cultivation is a dead end that can be seen in the early stages of Foundation Establishment."

While this statement may be somewhat exaggerated and harsh, it is not without merit.

Chapter 475 Before the Small Competition

That day, Han Lu spent some time researching and finally figured out what the "Dao Embryo" that Elder Hao Ge and Daoist Yun Min had mentioned the day before actually was.

Only when a late-stage Golden Core cultivator's Golden Core has developed a spirit, resembling pregnancy and forming the rudiments of a Nascent Soul, can they attempt to undergo the tribulation of lightning to advance to the Nascent Soul realm.

When a Golden Core cultivator fails to transcend tribulation, his Golden Core may sometimes be spared from the lightning tribulation.

Then, this golden core that has already developed sentience may be stimulated by heavenly lightning and further develop towards the nascent soul stage.

If these golden cores, which have been cut off from spiritual energy supply, can be carefully nurtured and cultivated, then it may be possible to harvest a Dao embryo after a period of time.

The Dao fetus is just like a human embryo.

Ten months of pregnancy, and then adulthood.

The Dao fetus only needs four to five months to give birth to a newborn baby.

Babies that grow from the Dao embryo have an appearance no different from ordinary people.

His talent in cultivation far surpasses that of ordinary cultivators.

A major sect like the Zhengyi Sect, as long as it is willing to nurture an infant born from a Golden Core Dao Embryo, will not be lazy in cultivation after the infant grows up.

It's a certainty that infants will advance to the Golden Core realm within a hundred years.

Infants born from the Golden Core stage possess exceptional talent and are well-suited for cultivation. This is why Elder Haoge specifically instructed Daoist Yunmin before his death regarding whether or not to allow infants to cultivate.

From a personal perspective, after believing he had seen through the nature of cultivation, Elder Haoge did not want his "child" to become a tool of the sect and follow the same path again.

However, judging from Yunmin Daoist's behavior, he does not seem to want to fully comply with Elder Haoge's will.

Even on his deathbed, Feng Haoge was able to think only of himself and the younger generation.

However, as the sect leader of Zhengyi Sect, he had lost a late-stage Golden Core cultivator because of this incident. Now, a genius with a very high probability of achieving Golden Core within a hundred years was right in front of him. Even if Daoist Yunmin would only remain in the position of sect leader for another twenty years, he could not help but consider the sect's future and thought of recruiting this future genius into his ranks ahead of time.

It's only human nature; there's nothing to criticize about it.

Putting down the books in her hands, Han Lu, sitting in the library, felt that she had gained more knowledge and had a deeper understanding of what had happened yesterday.

"So that's how it is."

"I wonder which Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators in the sect, in this Central Plains region, are born from the Dao Embryo stage?"

There was no answer to this question; it only flashed through Han Lu's mind.

Just as ordinary cultivators might feel a different kind of emotion towards cultivators who have mixed the bloodlines of true spirits and spirit beasts.

Even an ordinary person like Han Lu, who carried her for ten months, would develop different emotions towards the Dao fetus.

That's all.

Elder Haoge's tribulation was just a small episode in Han Lu's long cultivation journey, and it did not cause any major waves.

On the third day after the failed tribulation, Elder Haoge's belongings left in his residence in the sect were sorted out and stored separately.

Among these relics, a suicide note was discovered, left by Elder Haoge before his tribulation.

Elder Haoge's last words did not reflect the profound enlightenment he held on his deathbed.

In his will, Elder Haoge meticulously planned the distribution of his belongings and made future plans for the Dao Embryo that might be left behind.

In his will, Elder Haoge expressed his wish that if he left behind a Dao Embryo, it would inherit his mantle and that an elder in the sect skilled in training disciples would be asked to raise it.

The statements before and after are completely contradictory, but this ultimately provides some theoretical basis for Yunmin Daoist's small selfish motives towards the Zhengyi Sect.

With this will, Daoist Yunmin was able to arrange the future of any potential Dao embryo without any psychological pressure, so that it could become a cultivator of the Zhengyi sect in fifteen years and contribute to the sect.

At the same time, a memorial tablet was placed in the sect's Shrine of Heroes and Souls for worship.

There was even a small ceremony held at the Shrine of Heroes.

However, that's all there is to it.

Most disciples of the Zhengyi Sect were unaware that a Golden Core Elder, who had not appeared before ordinary disciples for about thirty years, had died due to a failed tribulation.

For them, the most important thing right now is the upcoming sect competition.

Even if they knew about this, they would at most sigh and lament, treating it as something to talk about after dinner.

It's hard to empathize with these sad things when they don't concern you.

With the minor competition approaching, although it has little to do with Foundation Establishment cultivators like Han Lu, she still needs to be busy with this important annual event.

As a Golden Core cultivator who has recently trained two outstanding disciples, Piaomiaozi has also arranged for many Qi Refining disciples to cultivate under his tutelage in the past two years.

Although Piaomiaozi still had some energy left, he still liked to call on disciples with outstanding academic performance and high level of Taoist skills, such as Han Lu, Wen Erya, and Li Haoqiong, to help him share the pressure and mentor the younger generation.

Disciples who can become disciples of Golden Core cultivators are naturally intelligent and talented juniors.

Once a week, for no more than two to three hours each time.

Teaching these younger generations to cultivate is not troublesome, and it also brings a great sense of accomplishment.

Therefore, Han Lu never refused, and even took the initiative to ask Piaomiaozi for two disciples she liked to tutor her alone.

These two disciples, who had the opportunity to gain Han Lu's "favor," were both at the fifth level of Qi Refining. One was male and the other female; they were a brother and sister.

Since her cultivation level had improved and she was no longer able to participate in the minor competition, Han Lu wanted to participate in it in this way.

If, with her guidance, the two could meet in the finals of the competition, it would not only enhance her reputation but also become a celebrated story worth talking about for years to come.

Han Lu had a good idea for this matter, but when she actually put it into practice, she found that the differences between people were indeed huge.

Although this brother and sister were exceptionally talented, they were still considered ordinary cultivators.

They couldn't use the many techniques that Han Lu possessed, which were available even to those at the Qi Refining stage.

In the end, Han Lu could only teach the two some practical techniques, giving them a lot of combat experience in arena battles, and also gave each of them a fairly handy magic weapon to improve their combat power.

Fortunately, Han Lu had a familiar intelligence merchant within the sect.

After receiving the paper sword from Han Lu, Zhong Wencheng immediately compiled the intelligence he had gathered and sent it to Han Lu for her use.

With this intelligence, Han Lu and her brother and sister will know exactly which experts are at the fifth level of Qi Refining in the Dongshan Academy's small competition, and which cultivators are skilled in combined and unconventional moves, so they can prepare accordingly.

With the firsthand information provided by Zhong Wencheng and the careful guidance of Han Lu, Han Lu was confident that as long as the two siblings, who were already quite talented, made it into the top 32 of their respective departments, it shouldn't be a problem.

If she could take a few more steps forward, her face would shine even brighter.

This situation has a bit of the feel of "teachers helping students cram for exam questions before the college entrance exam".

Chapter 476 Small Competition

Of course, Han Lu did not forget Zhan Yujun regarding the small competition.

Compared to her and Wen Erya, Zhan Yujun's progress in the past two years has been much smaller.

When the ancient cultivation secret realm opened, Zhan Yuyun was at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Two years later, she is still some distance away from the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Such a speed of advancement is considered normal among most ordinary cultivators, but compared to Han Lu and Wen Erya, it seems much slower.

However, given this, it's perfectly normal that the three of them are somewhat distant from each other.

After all, even if Han Lu and Wen Erya wanted to treat Zhan Yuyun as a friend, Zhan Yuyun couldn't calmly interact with her two talented and devoted friends.

Because of their relationship, although Han Lu wanted to help Zhan Yuyun in the competition, she couldn't use her senior status to bring Zhan Yuyun to her house for private tutoring like a senior teaching a junior.

In the end, Han Lu used the excuse of caring about the raccoon demon to write a letter to Zhan Yujun, asking her if she had made any preparations for the little contest, sending her a few words of blessing, and also giving her a copy of the "intelligence book" she had obtained from Zhong Wencheng.

As for Zhan Yujun's boyfriend, Han Lu hadn't forgotten him either.

After finding out the exact address, a letter and a piece of information were sent.

In the letter, Han Lu, posing as a friend of Zhan Yujun, "threatened" Zhan Yujun's boyfriend, whom she had only met twice.

She threatened him that if he was fickle and unfaithful, and failed to take good care of Zhan Yujun, she would take her magic weapon and storm his door.

Zhan Yujun and her boyfriend are now living a very close life. The only difference between them is that their cultivation levels and their status in the sect are slightly different, otherwise they would have been living in the same room long ago.

Based on the rumors Han Lu had heard and the occasional news Wen Erya brought about Zhan Yuyun, Han Lu estimated that in about two or three years, Zhan Yuyun would likely marry this lucky male cultivator.

Han Lu didn't have any particular feelings about this, only offering her blessings.

Zhan Yuyun did not refuse the gift Han Lu gave her, and even wrote a letter to Han Lu to express her gratitude.

In the letter, Zhan Yujun recalled a few scenes from when the two first met, which made Han Lu sigh with emotion.