The Long Journey to Immortality

"Where to go next?" Wen Erya asked Han Lu for her thoughts. "Junior Sister, do you think there might be a large number of Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls somewhere else?"

Looking at the flashes of magical light appearing repeatedly in the lakeside forest not far away, Han Lu said, "I have a feeling that perhaps most of the Spirit Beads in this secret realm have already been captured by other teams."

"Perhaps, very likely, if we want to achieve further gains, we will have to start with other teams."

"Senior sister, are you ready?"

Han Lu's question was taken very seriously.

After pondering for a moment, Wen Erya nodded and gave a heavy "hmm".

Chapter 526 Upholding "Justice"

Compared to Wen Erya, who received a complete education in the Central Plains and spent more than twenty years there, Yi Qiyan is more experienced in non-sparring battles and fights with other cultivators.

Although the southern border is not a dangerous place full of peril, it is indeed less peaceful than the central plains.

As the Holy Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect, Yi Qiyan was not a murderer and was well protected by the sect.

Even so, she had taken several lives and was a cultivator who had seen blood.

Yi Qiyan, who had never received any education in the cultivation world of the Central Plains, couldn't understand why Wen Erya would have such a negative attitude towards her.

But that didn't stop her from saying a few witty remarks and telling her own stories at this time, trying to change Wen Erya's mind so that she could be more ruthless and reckless in the confrontation with other teams later.

Although Yi Qiyan's storytelling skills were not as good as Han Lu's, her stories were relevant to the topic and Wen Erya could still listen to them.

Wen Erya naturally understood what her two friends meant, but she was somewhat bad at expressing herself on this matter and couldn't bring herself to speak up.

She could only silently promise herself that when the fight really started, she would not hold the team back, so that her two friends would understand her intentions through her actions.

Having decided on this strategy, Han Lu didn't hesitate and immediately led Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan to fly towards the direction where she had seen the magical light flash.

“I just saw that there seemed to be some magic being used in this direction. It seems that someone was fighting against something external.”

"If the cultivators are fighting against the demonic beasts, then let's wait and see."

“If two groups of cultivators are fighting over each other’s Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls, then…” Han Lu was at a loss for words, and continued, “it’s better to wait and see, and be the one who reaps the benefits.”

Although he believed that his team, in terms of strength alone, was definitely the highest-level predator in the secret realm's food chain.

However, Han Lu still wanted to combine power and wisdom as much as possible to obtain more Spirit Beads at the lowest possible cost.

After flying for a while, the three quietly landed and used a lightness technique to move quickly through the forest.

The sounds of fighting were clearly audible, and the three of them could find the approximate location of their prey without needing to specifically discern the direction.

“They’re still fighting,” Han Lu said, having already used her secret technique to connect the three of them with silver-white threads. “Judging from the intensity, it seems to be two groups fighting.”

This was not difficult to discern; at least four or five magical treasures collided in the air, unleashing their supernatural powers, and the sounds reached the ears of the three.

The cultivators who were fighting were clearly still cursing as they fought.

Cursing? Of course not at a monster that can't understand human speech.

Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan were also aware of the situation.

The three of them were communicating rapidly and silently using a secret technique.

"Junior sister, shall we go over and check the situation first?"

“Well,” Han Lu had already come up with a script, “Anyway, since everyone is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, most of the magical treasures with the ability to project divine sense will not be used in actual combat.”

"We should be able to sneak up on those two groups of people."

"Wait until they fight to the death and are both severely injured before making your move and taking their Spirit Pearls for yourself."

Han Lu paused, then added, "If they know what's good for them and are willing to hand over all the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls, then we'll let them go."

"If they are unwilling and are thinking of fighting to the death, then we will defeat them first, take away their Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls, and finally help them activate the tokens so that the Golden Core elders stationed in the inner treasury can teleport them out."

Faced with a simple multiple-choice question, Han Lu knew that most of the cultivators participating in the competition, if they recognized her and knew the strength of Han Lu's team, would give a "sensible" answer.

With all the details planned out, the three of them slowed down a bit and used their respective concealment techniques to move closer to the battlefield where the fierce battle was raging.

After traveling for less than ten breaths, the three of them were able to see with their naked eyes a man-made clearing in the forest not far away, where two groups of cultivators were engaged in fierce battle.

The current situation is quite clear: one side has three players who are unharmed, while the other side is full of wounded players. The team with the advantage is trying to win the battle by wearing down the enemy without incurring any losses.

Not far from the two groups of cultivators was the corpse of a demon beast whose species could no longer be identified.

Just by looking at the scene, Han Lu could already imagine what had happened here.

Through a secret technique, Han Lu shared her guess.

"It seems that one group killed this monster and was looking for the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl in the vicinity when they were ambushed by another group."

"The attackers now have an absolute advantage."

“We’ve come at just the right time.”

The situation is one-sided, and the opportunity to reap the benefits without lifting a finger seems to have vanished.

After pondering for a moment, Han Lu came up with a good idea.

"Senior sister, why don't we step forward and uphold justice now?" Han Lu gave the robbery a more palatable twist. "After we win, we can demand a reward in the form of Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls from the three who were ambushed and injured."

“Okay,” Wen Erya naturally understood that Han Lu’s idea was for her sake, “I’ll do whatever you say, Junior Sister.”

Yi Qiyan was already prepared and began asking Han Lu when to make her move.

"Should we wait a little longer, or take action now?"

Although Han Lu had never heard the story of "The Farmer and the Snake," she didn't want to fall into a disadvantageous situation of being attacked from both sides after stepping out to be a good person.

After all, Han Lu didn't know the group of cultivators who were ambushed. Who knew if they would be grateful or have no choice but to obediently pay "protection fees" after being rescued?

After a moment's thought, looking at the situation, which was clear but obviously still needed some time to determine the winner, Han Lu said, "Let's wait a little longer."

While waiting, the three of them did not just sit idly.

Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan analyzed the approximate strength of the two teams, actively communicating and making plans using secret techniques.

Han Lu, holding the beast's eye, remained vigilant, wary of her surroundings, fearing a scenario where "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

Perhaps because many teams that entered the secret realm through the yellow portal were still wandering at the bottom of the lake, Han Lu did not spot "Huang Que" (the crocodile).

While the three waited, the battle situation between the two groups finally became clear.

After knocking down the last remaining opponent, one of the male cultivators who had launched the sneak attack struck a victorious pose and said, "Thank you for helping us defeat and subdue this giant iron-eating beast."

Pointing to the spirit beast lying to the side, which was mainly black and white and resembled a bear, the male cultivator continued, "Now, quickly hand over all the spirit beads on your body, so that I can put in a good word for you with Senior Brother Wu, lest he think you have a bad attitude and directly activate your tokens and throw you out of the secret realm."

Hearing his companion describe him as too cruel, the cultivator called Senior Brother Wu couldn't help but say, "Junior Brother Chen, I'm not that heartless."

"However, I still advise you to hand over the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl."

"Whether you get eliminated and end up at the bottom or you can stay alive and fight again, you can always choose between these two paths, right?"

Hearing this, the three cultivators, who were already powerless to resist, hesitated a little and thought of bargaining.

Perhaps feeling that his image should be more positive, Senior Brother Wu joked again, "Are you dawdling like this because you think reinforcements will appear from around here and rescue you?"

"Stop daydreaming?"

Upon hearing this, Han Lu did not hesitate for a second.

The villains have already bared their fangs, so the hero can no longer stand idly by.

"action."

At a command, Han Lu and her two companions suddenly appeared, startling the six cultivators in the open space.

Chapter 527 Punishing Evil and Promoting Good

The six people who were negotiating took a closer look and realized that it was Han Lu and two others, and their reactions were all different.

The three cultivators who were taking advantage of the chaos were startled.

Although the three had heard of Han Lu and Wen Erya, they did not recognize what they looked like.

But when doing something wrong, one is always afraid of being caught.

The fact that Han Lu and the other two suddenly appeared at this moment clearly indicated that they had come with ill intentions. Senior Brother Wu, who had just been joking around, thought to himself, "Could these three be our reinforcements?"

The three cultivators who had already been defeated were both surprised and delighted.

Whether Han Lu and her two companions are reinforcements or not, their presence here to do good deeds and bring more variables to the matter is certainly a good thing.

After all, things couldn't get any worse.

They saw Han Lu and the other two as their lifeline, hoping that the three of them would come to this place to punish evil and promote good, and help them break the crisis.

Han Lu and Wen Erya felt a moment of stage fright when they noticed that the six people were looking at them with different thoughts.

Although they had done things to uphold justice, it was still somewhat laughable to talk about chivalry during the Grand Tournament of the Secret Realm.

To get them involved in this "robbery" with a sense of justice, a suitable opening statement is clearly needed.

Yi Qiyan, on the other hand, readily agreed to the suggestion.

Seeing that her two friends didn't immediately speak up or say something like "I'm the way out," she took the initiative to take responsibility.

Yi Qiyan spoke up, "These three senior brothers have quite the refined taste, making this act of taking advantage of someone's misfortune sound so respectable."

After all, they were cultivators from the Central Plains. Although they were acting according to the rules, they still felt somewhat embarrassed after Yi Qiyan said that.

"What's wrong?" asked Wu, the leader of the three. "This secret realm competition is meant to encourage fellow disciples to compete for resources. We're just following the rules."

"If they really wanted to be bad people and do bad things, why would these three be sitting here?"

Yi Qiyan clapped her hands lightly. "What this senior brother said is right. In that case, the three of us would like to follow the rules this time as well, how about it?"

"What's that saying again?" Yi Qiyan's acting talent was not bad either. She imitated the tone of the three people's words just now and said, "Now, quickly hand over all the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls on your body. That way, I can put in a good word for you in front of Han... Lu, so that he won't think that you have a bad attitude and directly activate your tokens and throw you out of the secret realm."

Yi Qiyan initially intended to address Han Lu as "senior sister," but realizing that would make her a junior sister to Wen Erya, she simply gave her name directly.

Upon hearing Yi Qiyan's words, the robbed party's expression improved, and he was overjoyed.

A person's name, a tree's shadow.

Upon hearing that Han Lu, a famous figure in the sect, was among these three female cultivators, the three unlucky souls naturally felt that they were finally going to be saved.

The three who took advantage of the chaos had also heard of Han Lu's name.