The Long Journey to Immortality

Seeing that they were just ordinary animals and there was nothing suspicious about them, Han Lu and Wen Erya did not go any further.

"What a strange sight," Han Lu exclaimed as she stepped out of the cave. "For the sake of survival, these animals, which are not very intelligent and are not even the same species, have cooperated in such a way."

Wen Erya also found it somewhat unbelievable and joked, "Maybe a spirit beast at the Transformation Realm taught them this way of survival."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Han Lu keenly sensed a slight change in the distribution of spiritual energy around her.

The next moment, a light green light appeared from the dark cave, attracting the attention of Han Lu and Wen Erya.

As the light faded, a beautiful female cultivator with deer antlers appeared before the two.

Upon seeing this, Wen Erya wondered if she had acquired the ability to make her words come true, as her words had become a prophecy.

This beautiful female cultivator was clearly a spirit beast at the Transformation Realm.

Upon meeting the senior expert, although they didn't know the reason why the other party had taken the initiative to show himself in front of them, whether it was with goodwill or malice, Han Lu and Wen Erya still took the initiative to bow and greet him, saying, "Greetings, senior."

"What brings you two here?" Because they were strangers, the spirit beast in the Transformation Realm did not give Han Lu and Wen Erya, the two cultivators who had unexpectedly wandered into this place, a friendly look.

Seeing that it was just a question, Han Lu guessed that the other party did not regard the two of them as intruders or enemies, so she told the truth and was thinking of whether she could take this opportunity to ask her, the senior who was meditating here, if there was anything unusual in the vicinity.

If she could get help from this senior spirit deer, Han Lu believed that it would save her a lot of effort in searching the surrounding area for anything suspicious.

“Senior,” Han Lu began, “we are disciples of the Zhengyi Sect of the Southern Dynasty…”

Han Lu first brought up the prestigious Zhengyi Sect from the Central Plains to avoid any misunderstanding.

Moreover, the Zhengyi Sect mainly operated in the Southern Dynasties, while this Senior Linglu lived in the Northern Dynasties, so they probably didn't have any enmity or entanglement with each other.

"I came here because I suspected that there was a source of the plague spreading in this area, which is why I entered this place and disturbed your meditation."

Having cultivated himself in this place and acted as the guardian deity of these animals, this senior spirit deer naturally knew nothing of the Southern Dynasty's plague.

Upon learning that both of them were disciples of the Zhengyi Sect and not villains who wanted to do bad things here, Senior Linglu's tone softened slightly. "I see. I just happened to be cultivating here. This place is inhabited by ordinary animals, and there is no plague here. You have come to the wrong place. You should leave quickly."

Faced with Senior Linglu's order to leave, Han Lu did not immediately comply. Instead, she asked again, "Senior, is there any possibility that there are plague-causing monsters nearby?"

Chapter 490 The Origin of the Plague

The spirit beasts that have advanced to the Transformation Realm but still have deer antlers on their heads clearly do not hold a friendly attitude towards humans.

Seeing that Han Lu had no intention of carrying out her orders, Linglu was slightly displeased.

"Didn't I tell you two to leave quickly? Stop asking so many questions here. If it weren't for the fact that you are disciples of the Zhengyi Sect and came here to do a good deed, I would have used my spiritual power to throw you out long ago."

Wen Erya was slightly frightened and tugged at Han Lu's sleeve.

Han Lu realized that this spirit beast was not a stone, and that she could probably get some information out of it.

Thinking that the other party was probably behaving this way because of their alienation from human cultivators, she made a bold decision.

The True Phoenix Manual was activated, and light shone from Han Lu's body.

Linglu initially thought this impolite junior wanted to fight her, but when she sensed the aura emanating from Han Lu, she immediately understood what Han Lu was doing.

When the light faded, Han Lu had transformed into a three-winged phoenix and appeared in the cave. The "noble" and "powerful" aura emanating from her even made the spirit deer, whose cultivation level was clearly a level higher than Han Lu's, feel a sense of fear.

Han Lu had only made this gesture, but the Spirit Deer Senior already knew what Han Lu meant by this. Without waiting for Han Lu to speak, she took the initiative to say, "I didn't expect you to be a non-human cultivator. I also know two people in the Phoenix Clan. Please feel free to ask me anything you want."

Sure enough, when faced with a higher-level True Spirit, the Spirit Deer, which was only slightly hostile to human cultivators, immediately lost its guard and even took the initiative to establish a relationship with Han Lu, finding an excuse for its previous indifference.

Upon hearing this, Wen Erya was overjoyed.

Han Lu, who had already transformed into a true spirit form, spoke in human language and asked, "Fellow Daoist Spirit Deer, are there any other demonic beasts nearby?"

“There are still a few living here,” Linglu replied, “but they all advanced from ordinary beasts and do not attack mortals. They are obviously not related to the plague you mentioned.”

Ten thousand years have passed since the ancient cultivation era. The hostility between spirit beasts and demon beasts no longer exists. They are simply distinguished by different names given to them because of their different departures back then.

Even this spirit deer, which has already cultivated to the Transformation Realm, only regards the demon beasts living nearby as neighbors rather than enemies.

Therefore, when Han Lu asked her about these neighbors she knew, she was unwilling to answer.

But the situation is different now.

Although this answer wasn't of much use, Han Lu's action at least got this transformed spirit beast, who was familiar with the surrounding area, to speak.

Only after you have one can you have two or three.

Using this as a starting point, Han Lu inquired in detail about the situation of these spirit deer neighbors.

For every question asked, ten questions were answered. Based on the description, and after hearing that there were no venomous snakes or other monsters among these "neighbors," Han Lu stopped asking questions on this issue. Just as Linglu had said, these "suspects" were indeed unlikely to be related to the plague.

Has anything strange happened in that area recently?

Han Lu deliberately asked a slightly vague question, hoping that Linglu would make more connections and give more answers.

Sure enough, Linglu recalled for a moment and said four things, one of which caught Han Lu's attention.

"About two months ago, a meteor fell nearby, not far to the north of this place."

The timing was right, and it was an unexpected foreign object, which gave Han Lu a certain feeling.

"Could this meteor, which happened to fall here, have carried some germs or viruses, which contaminated the groundwater, infected the birds, and ultimately spread a plague?"

After finding out the exact location, Han Lu thanked them and then transformed back into human form, leaving the cave with Wen Erya.

Han Lu shared her thoughts with Wen Erya, and the two found themselves on the same page.

"It seems that although this Senior Spirit Deer appears aloof, he has still been of great help." Wen Erya was overjoyed, never expecting that things would turn out in such a way, different from what she had imagined.

"Luck, luck," Han Lu thought, feeling that they might have found the answer and the truth. Her face beamed with a smile. "If everything goes smoothly, we can find the location where the meteor fell, find the source of the virus, and either do it ourselves or ask the sect to help us purify and disinfect the place with magic or magical artifacts. Then this plague will be completely controlled from its source."

"As long as the virus in the epidemic area is no longer transmitted between people, the epidemic will be completely over once all patients are cured and healthy."

After visiting several places and meeting many people, Han Lu and Wen Erya were in high spirits as a wonderful thing was about to happen.

Following the guidance of the spirit deer, a spirit beast at the Transformation Realm, Han Lu and Wen Erya found the meteorite in no time.

Just like how meteorites leave craters where they land, this crater, created by the massive meteorite, was covered by thick snow, which is why it wasn't discovered by Han Lu and Wen Erya during their not-so-careful search.

Setting aside the snow, the scene in the meteorite crater left Han Lu and Wen Erya speechless.

Looking at the strange creature, roughly the size of a 300-pound fat man, lying in the pit, its fate unknown, Han Lu felt a chill run down her spine. "What is this?"

In a crater nearly seven meters deep, there is a strange purple object, not small in size, with no specific features, resembling a puddle of mud.

A small amount of purplish, viscous liquid was slowly flowing out of its body.

Visible to the naked eye, these viscous liquids slowly seeped into the surrounding soil through cracks created by the impact.

Everything was obvious. The strange purple creature that fell from the sky a few months ago and was now discovered and dug out by Han Lu and Wen Erya was the culprit behind this plague outbreak.

Having finally uncovered the truth, Han Lu felt a little excited, but more than that, she was wary of the strange creature before her, whose fate was unknown.

"If such a severe epidemic was caused by just a little bodily fluid contaminating the groundwater, it must be a poison that carries its own toxins."

"It fell from a great height and still has a breath and is still alive. It must be something powerful, not something that my senior sister and I can easily deal with."

Faced with the strange purple creature of unknown identity, neither Han Lu nor Wen Erya dared to approach it rashly at the first moment.

After exchanging a glance, the two spoke almost simultaneously.

"Senior sister (junior sister), I'll stay here and keep an eye on this monster. You go back to your sect and ask the elders for help."

[Author's Note] Just think of it as lying in a puddle of stinky mud.

Chapter 491 Calling for Reinforcements

The two of them suddenly said the same thing, and were both taken aback, glancing at each other.

Han Lu reacted faster, and she began to explain why she made this arrangement.

"Senior sister, I'd like to trouble you to make this trip and do this mission of delivering the message."

“My cultivation level is slightly higher than yours, so it’s more suitable for me to guard this place.”

"Moreover, if the strange purple monster in the pit shows any signs of awakening, I can go and ask that senior spirit deer for help."

"And since your status in the sect is slightly higher than mine, it will be more convenient and faster for you to find the elders and deans in the sect."

"Our division of labor is perfectly reasonable."

Upon hearing this, Wen Erya was about to explain the rationale behind her own proposed arrangement, but she discovered...

Faced with Han Lu's well-reasoned arguments, her simple statement, "You are the junior sister, and I am the senior sister," was not enough to convince Han Lu.

“Alright,” Wen Erya chose to back down in front of Han Lu, no longer only considering her responsibilities as a senior sister, but also thinking more about the big picture and rationality, “Then let’s do as junior sister says.”

After saying that, Wen Erya was about to leave at full speed to return to her sect to report the matter, but Han Lu stopped her again.

Han Lu took out the letter of introduction, the token given to her by Daoist Qingxu, and said, "Senior Sister, if you can't find the Dean or Sect Leader right away, you might as well go and find Elder Qingxu, who is in charge of handling the plague."

Wen Erya knew that Han Lu had interacted with Qingxu Daoist in the sect, so naturally, when she heard Han Lu mention Elder Qingxu, she immediately understood what Han Lu meant.

Taking the token, Wen Erya said, "Junior sister, please be careful here. If you see any danger, you might as well go directly to find Senior Spirit Deer to avoid any accidents. I'll be right back."

Han Lu nodded, glancing at the large crater beside her out of the corner of her eye, and said, "Have a safe journey."

After saying that, Wen Erya rode her spirit sword and flew quickly south.

It's said that they'll be back soon, but given Wen Er Ya's flying speed, it's hard to imagine how long it will take to complete a round trip.

Even if a Golden Core elder from the sect were to travel on clouds on the way back, it would still take at least eight or nine hours.

This period of time is neither long nor short, but there are always variables.

Han Lu and Wen Erya could not guarantee whether the purple monster they had just dug out of the snow would wake up or remain in its current state of feigned death and severe injury during this short period of time.

That's why Wen Erya wanted to hurry, so that Han Lu wouldn't encounter any danger here.

After Wen Erya left, Han Lu was left alone with the unknown purple monster.

Although Han Lu is now at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, she can even fight back against a True Spirit at the early Golden Core stage.

But standing next to this purple monster, she couldn't help but feel a sense of fear rising from the bottom of her heart.

This unknown creature surpassed her in cultivation level and strength by a considerable margin. The aura it emitted exerted a slight suppression on her, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, causing Han Lu to feel fear.

Feeling increasingly certain that this purple monster was no pushover, Han Lu began to ponder how to keep the half-dead purple monster in this "quiet" state until the sect elders arrived.

"Why don't we bury this purple monster back in the snow first?"

Han Lu guessed that the low temperature under the snow was one of the reasons why the purple monster was so quiet.