The Long Journey to Immortality

"There's still more than a day and a half left in the secret realm. Maybe I'll have another chance to transform into my true spirit and make my appearance."

"There's no need to take risks at this time just for a moment's whim."

In order to prove that she was closer to the cultivators of the Central Plains than to the true spirits of the barbarians, Han Lu made a choice.

After changing her approach, Han Lu focused her efforts on dodging. Occasionally, she would use her supernatural abilities to fight back, but only briefly. It was more like she was testing the power of her moves with the Azure Dragon's strong body and rapid recovery ability.

It must be said that the Azure Dragon is indeed a good target, incredibly durable.

Han Lu used every trick in the book, happily transforming the spiritual energy within her body into various attack moves to unleash in the battle, which had a rather playful feel to it.

The misinterpretation of "playing dragon and phoenix" should now be interpreted in reverse.

After a few back-and-forths, Qinglong was only able to barely injure Han Lu twice, and was constantly on the defensive.

Lacking combat experience and lacking intelligence, he had no idea how to change the situation.

In less than thirty breaths, the pale light on the Azure Dragon's body completely dissipated. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that this Azure Dragon, summoned by the artifact, would not stay in this world for long.

Enraged, Qinglong resolved to deliver the final blow to Han Lu, even if he couldn't seriously injure her, he would still fight with style.

Unfortunately, Situ and Zheng had reached their limit and could not hold on for even one more second.

As Situ Hezheng, who was in relatively better condition among the three, also collapsed from exhaustion of spiritual energy, the dragon-scale porcelain bowl on the ground broke into three pieces once again.

Without any warning, the Azure Dragon suddenly vanished from everyone's sight, signaling the end of this dragon-phoenix battle in a bizarre manner.

"Beautiful!" Wen Erya celebrated with a fist pump, but not forgetting to finish the act, she took out her spirit beast pouch and said to Han Lu, "Come back!"

Han Lu was speechless.

However, even though she appears in the form of a true spirit, she does indeed possess the ability to enter the spirit beast pouch.

So, with the idea of ​​taking a look inside the spirit beast pouch, Han Lu actually followed Wen Erya's instructions and went inside.

The world inside the spirit beast pouch is not colorful.

Because Wen Erya had never tamed any spirit beasts or demon beasts, the spirit beast pouch was empty. When Han Lu transformed into her true spirit, all she saw in the spirit beast pouch was a pure white, flawless world; there was nothing else.

Seeing Han Lu crawl into the spirit beast pouch, Wen Erya was speechless.

With an awkward smile, Wen Erya hung the spirit beast pouch back on her waist and planned to clean up the mess and leave before releasing Han Lu, so that she wouldn't be seen by the Golden Core elders nearby who might be attracted by the commotion of the true spirit.

Upon seeing this scene, Yi Qiyan began to let her mind wander, even revealing a silly smile on her face, her thoughts seemingly drifting off to who-knows-where.

They ordered the paper figures to pretend to meditate and heal their injuries, while Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

The two men collected all the spirit pearls belonging to Situ and Zheng.

Having secured this big payout, they successfully increased the number of Spirit Beads held by the three individuals to three digits.

With a total of 113 Spirit Beads in Wen Erya's storage bag, the three of them were one step closer to winning first place in the Secret Realm Kobi Competition.

After escorting Situ Hezheng and the other two back, Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan did not stop for a moment.

Yi Qiyan maneuvered the ark to pack the paper figures inside, and fled as if escaping from the devastated place left by the battle between the two true spirits.

Only after entering the Ark, Han Lu, who was still in her true spirit form, took the initiative to come out of the spirit beast bag, transformed back into human form, and returned to her two friends' side.

Chapter 541 How do you feel?

Wen Erya, Yi Qiyan, and Han Lu, the true spirit phoenix tamed by Wen Erya, had just left on the ark when the two Golden Core elders, who had been hiding nearby, revealed their true forms.

These two elders were not among the ones Han Lu and Wen Erya were familiar with. They had only come here because they noticed the commotion from the battle between the two teams. They found that both sides were geniuses among the young disciples, so they stayed to watch over them to prevent either side from being killed in this secret realm and causing the sect to lose a genius cultivator who might advance to the Golden Core realm in the future.

"Brother Mingjing." The two Golden Core elders knew each other well and addressed each other as brothers.

"Brother Hutai." Another Golden Core elder bowed.

"Brother Mingjing, the Foundation Establishment disciples these days are truly remarkable," Elder Hutai exclaimed. "They can actually wield spiritual artifacts with their mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, and even summon the Azure Dragon True Spirit."

After watching the battle between Han Lu's team and Situ Hezheng's team, Elder Hutai's evaluation of the strength of the young disciples in the sect rose several notches, marveling at how powerful the young people were.

"That's alright," Elder Mingjing felt similarly to Elder Hutai. "The truly remarkable one is Wen Erya, who actually managed to tame a True Spirit Phoenix?"

"Although it seemed that the True Spirit Phoenix did not listen to Wen Erya during the battle, it fought according to its own will."

“But it is, after all, a living, breathing spirit,” Elder Mingjing, who had been to the East Sea several times and had seen many demonic beasts and spirit beasts, never expected that it would be here for the first time that he would truly witness the splendor of a spirit. “I really don’t know where Wen Erya found the spirit, or what method she used to tame it and make it fight for her.”

Elder Mingjing squinted, imagining himself controlling the True Spirit and fighting alongside it.

Elder Hutai speculated, "Legend has it that when the Wen clan rebelled in the Southern Dynasty, they were aided by a true spirit. Could it be that the true spirit we just saw was the same one that aided the Wen clan during their rebellion?"

It has only been a little over a thousand years since then, and the long lifespan of a true spirit can justify such speculation.

Elder Mingjing remained noncommittal, "Perhaps, but I don't think a Foundation Establishment disciple who is only in his early twenties has the ability and fortune to subdue a True Spirit."

When he said this, Elder Mingjing's feelings were very complicated.

Elder Hutai naturally sensed the sourness in Elder Mingjing's words, so he quickly changed the subject to avoid making Elder Mingjing lose his composure.

As they flew slowly, Elder Hutai asked a question.

"Brother Mingjing, what kind of phoenix do you think it is? I've heard that there are nine types of phoenixes."

When Elder Mingjing heard Elder Hutai ask this question, he couldn't help but smile, and his mood improved considerably.

"Haha, you've come to the right person, Brother Hutai. You could ask ten elders in the sect and they might not be able to answer your question, but I do know the answer."

"Oh? Could this phoenix not be one of the Nine Phoenixes?" Elder Hutai reacted quickly. "I saw the phoenix use the Ice and Fire Divine Power, and it seems to be quite skilled in close combat. There's definitely something strange about it."

Elder Mingjing told Elder Hutai about the "Harmony" and made a judgment: "This should be a phoenix that has fused the bloodlines of the fire phoenix and the ice phoenix."

"As for why he is good at close combat, it is probably due to his own talent."

……

As they chatted, the two Golden Core elders brought up the topic of the six disciples who had just fought.

"Brother Mingjing, what do you think of those six disciples who fought just now? What does their future hold?"

“Situ He is good, but he probably won’t have a chance to advance to the Golden Core stage.”

"His other two friends were slightly less skilled, but they only fought each other."

"In terms of cultivation and the chances of advancing to the Golden Core stage, He Yiran and Qin Zijin should be ahead of Situ Hezheng."

Elder Mingjing's evaluation method reflects a deep-rooted concept among the upper echelons of the Zhengyi Sect.

Only disciples who can advance to the Golden Core realm can be considered "good".

"Wen Erya is a princess of the Southern Dynasty and has a certain reputation in the sect. She is talented and has abundant resources. If nothing unexpected happens, she may form a core within fifty years."

“That Yi Qiyan is an outsider, so I can’t comment on her. But just looking at her age…” Elder Mingjing paused for a moment, thinking of his own experience of barely reaching the fifth rank of Core Formation at the age of one hundred and ten. “Reaching the Golden Core realm shouldn’t be a problem.”

"Perhaps, three or four hundred years from now, there will be another Nascent Soul cultivator in Southern Xinjiang."

Elder Mingjing was quite active and had traveled to the Southern Frontier, the Western Regions, and the East Sea several times. When evaluating Yi Qiyan, he naturally had less of the prejudice of the Central Plains cultivators and more objectivity.

"What about Han Lu?" As the most famous of the six disciples, Elder Hutai was naturally most curious about Elder Mingjing's evaluation of Han Lu.

"I can't tell," Elder Mingjing said honestly. "He seems to be bad at fighting. He seems to have been injured in the fight before the dragon and phoenix battle, and he has been sitting cross-legged in meditation to recover from his injuries."

"But judging from the speed of advancement alone, achieving the Golden Core stage should not be a problem."

"Nascent Soul?" Elder Mingjing joked. "Among the current Grand Elders and Nascent Soul cultivators in the sect, who can clearly predict and know that someone will advance to the Nascent Soul stage when they are still in the Foundation Establishment stage?"

"Han Lu is different from Yi Qiyan, so I can't judge."

Elder Mingjing knew the significance of the Five Poisons Sect's Holy Maiden's identity, and also knew that Han Lu was currently just an ordinary disciple with a slightly greater reputation in the inner sect, so naturally he dared not make any rash judgments.

The two Golden Core elders chatted and laughed, then resumed their concealed state, flying at a leisurely pace through the secret realm to continue carrying out the tasks assigned to them by the sect.

If Han Lu and the other two had heard what the two Golden Core elders said, they would have been overjoyed.

It wasn't just because the two "seniors" were optimistic about the three's future, but also because Han Lu's possession of the true spirit bloodline had not been exposed.

This is particularly important for Han Lu, a "top-tier second-generation official" who doesn't want the sect to know about her relationship with the Wilderness and the Phoenix Clan at this stage.

Sitting on the ark, Han Lu, now back in human form, casually fiddled around for a bit before removing the black anklet from her feet.

Yi Qiyan came over and teased Han Lu with a playful smile, asking her if she had any special feelings about becoming Wen Erya's spirit pet.

Han Lu simply instructed Feng Lingyi to cover her ankles again before saying, "The weather is nice today."

She didn't have any strange quirks.

If it weren't for the need to make the act convincing and to allow her to use all her abilities to help her two friends in the secret realm, and to temporarily make Wen Erya her clansman, she wouldn't have made such a decision to stage such a humiliating performance for the true spirit.

Chapter 542 Let's try a contract?

Wen Er Ya's question is easier to answer.

"Junior sister, what kind of world is inside the spirit pet pouch?"

Despite the novelty of the experience, Han Lu was still willing to share it with her friends.

"It was a white world, like the world before the final trial in the ancient cultivation secret realm, but it was also different."

"There was a feeling of drowsiness there."

"There isn't much spiritual energy there, so it's not a good place for cultivation."

"Senior sister, if you really want to tame a spirit beast, you should get a higher-grade spirit beast pouch."

Han Lu's words had a somewhat "experience review of the pet bag" feel to them.

Wen Erya explained, "It was just a cheap item I bought casually for this battle plan. If I have the chance next time, I will definitely buy a high-end one to satisfy my junior sister."

Yi Qiyan smiled.

"There are quite a few cultivators in our Five Poisons Sect who tame demonic beasts and spirit beasts."

"My spirit beast pouch is quite good."

"Han Lu, why don't you come into my spirit pet pouch and take a look?"

Han Lu stuck out her tongue and said, "Forget it, I'd better just be a decent human being."

Unexpectedly, Yi Qiyan came up with another strange question.

"Han Lu, tell me, if you appeared in your true spirit form, could you sign a spirit pet contract with me?"

"Why not give it a try?"