The Long Journey to Immortality

The answer can be obtained by combining one's cultivation level and emotions.

Clearly, considering these two points, Yi Qiyan was certain that she would drift further and further away from this senior brother in the future, and that they would definitely not become a couple.

Immediately afterwards, Yi Qiyan asked a question in return.

"Han Lu, let me ask you a question. Do you have someone you like right now?"

Upon hearing Yi Qiyan's question, Wen Erya, who was making calculations, couldn't help but slow down her work.

Han Lu had thought about this question when she was lost in thought in Xiaoyaozi's cave, and she had also thought about it when Xiao Ran of Dayu Dynasty expressed some romantic feelings to her.

But at this time, when she was talking to her friend about these "private matters," her answers were slightly different from the answers she gave when she was lost in thought the other two times.

More rational, more objective.

"I've thought about it, but I don't know."

"My goal in this life is to ascend to the spirit realm, which I'm afraid I won't be able to find in this mortal world."

The answer was somewhat off-topic and even a little vague, but Yi Qiyan and Wen Erya both knew what Han Lu meant.

Because Wen Erya was still performing divination, Yi Qiyan, who had wanted to throw the question back at Wen Erya, could only hold back for a little while.

After Wen Erya finished her divination, she repeated the question and awaited Wen Erya's answer.

“I don’t know either. My thoughts are similar to my junior sister’s,” Wen Erya said. “However, I think that if I can achieve the Nascent Soul stage in this life, I will be content.”

"At that time, we might have a different perspective on this matter."

"Perhaps they will become more picky, perhaps they will not care at all, or perhaps they will simply find an ordinary person they like to be their spouse for decades."

"I can't say for sure about these things."

Wen Erya's face was slightly flushed as she spoke, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

Wen Erya's ideas are quite in line with the views of most cultivators in the Central Plains regarding the matter of Daoist partners.

Cultivating the Tao comes first; things that are close to worldly matters should be put on hold.

Moreover, this matter depends on fate, and one must follow one's own heart.

"Quiet, quiet," Wen Erya said, not wanting Yi Qiyan to press the matter further. "We're about to begin interpreting the divination."

Yi Qiyan swallowed back the next question she was about to ask and looked at Wen Erya with anticipation.

Han Lu, a complete novice, also joined in the fun.

She and Yi Qiyan watched as Wen Erya rearranged the counting rods already arranged on the table, just as she had done when divining the whereabouts of the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl, and arrived at the result in a way that they couldn't understand at all.

Wen Erya had the answer in less than ten breaths.

"Congratulations, Yi Qiyan," Wen Erya said with a smile. "I have deduced that your junior brother may have a special encounter in the future, and he may very well marry you and live happily ever after."

"Huh? Really?" Yi Qiyan was very surprised; such a result seemed unbelievable to her.

However, considering that Wen Erya was Wang Han's disciple, Yi Qiyan immediately believed the result, which suited her wishes, to a great extent.

“If the divination is correct, Erya, I will definitely make up the difference in the divination fee,” Yi Qiyan assured her.

Han Lu teased, "Senior sister is quite wealthy, so you can't just give her a few spirit stones as payment for your divination."

Yi Qiyan said, "That's definitely not the case. This divination fee is guaranteed to be in line with Erya's identity."

Having learned about her own marriage, Yi Qiyan couldn't help but think about her two friends.

"Erya, why don't you do another divination for Han Lu?"

Their eyes simultaneously turned to Han Lu.

Han Lu didn't care. Even she couldn't see her own feelings clearly, so she was naturally very curious about what kind of result Wen Erya would get from the divination.

She replied, "That's fine, but I'm not paying."

"Based on my relationship with my junior sister, this divination is free."

Wen Erya was in high spirits and wanted to try his divination skills again.

Once again, they used their abacuses to calculate.

This time, the scene that appeared before the three of them was different from before.

Wen Erya's counting rods remained suspended in the air, reluctant to land and provide an answer.

Even with Wen Er Ya's frequent urging to use the counting rods, this situation could not be changed.

In response, Wen Erya could only mutter like an ordinary fortune teller, "Junior Sister's marriage is hidden in a thick fog."

"Perhaps, just as my junior sister said before, she will ascend to the Spirit Realm."

"And her destined marriage is hidden in a higher level of the spirit world."

"With my current strength and level of understanding, I cannot see it clearly."

Han Lu was neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the result, but it did relieve her of some of the burden in her heart.

Chapter 546 Countermeasures from All Sides

While Han Lu and her two companions were taking a break in the secret realm to do something unrelated to their own business, most of the teams still in the secret realm were struggling with how to spend the next day and a half so that they could leave the secret realm with as many Moon Pearls as possible and improve their ranking in the final competition.

Different expectations for the performance in the Grand Challenge's Secret Realm events led to different choices made by various teams in this "second half."

Many monks are destined to be "mediocre" from the day they begin their practice.

Most of these mediocre cultivators had already recognized this fact when they formed teams to participate in the competition.

Especially in dangerous secret realms like the "Wilderness Theme," their goal is to stay for three days and then teleport out when the secret realm closes.

Therefore, these cultivators spent the first day and a half searching for the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl, and the remaining day and a half finding a safe place to "seclude themselves" and patiently wait for time to pass and the test to end.

These types of cultivators make up about half of the remaining two hundred or so teams still in the secret realm.

If they, who possess less than ten Spirit Beads, were truly determined to "cowardly hide," there would be a 99% chance they could leave safely.

Among the other hundred or so teams, they were further divided into several categories based on their strength and expectations for the competition results, and each adopted different methods and measures.

The team was not much better than the previous group, either passive or active.

However, their enthusiasm was rather limited; they merely plotted against the demonic beasts, hoping to do what Han Lu and her group had done a few hours earlier—to pick up the remaining Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls scattered throughout the secret realm and use them for their own purposes.

However, they still understand the importance of moderation.

Even if ten spirit beads were placed in front of them, they would only take nine of them.

This level of cultivator team is well aware that they are no match for those teams that "hunt" everywhere, and dare not take too many Spirit Beads, lest they become targets that can be found by search spells.

Some of them are a little smarter and seal a portion of the Spirit Pearls separately, protecting them with their own magic array.

They then stayed in this area until the secret realm was almost over, at which point they retrieved the temporarily sealed Spirit Pearls as part of their achievements.

This type of cultivator is considered the middle layer within the Zhengyi Sect, forming the core of the sect's lower ranks.

The criterion for classifying cultivators as elites within a sect is whether they can rank higher than their fellow disciples in the grand competition.

At this point, any team that dares to possess more than ten Spirit Beads is a strong team.

However, even with strength, there are still distinctions between high and low levels.

Teams like Han Lu and her two companions, and Situ Hezheng and his two companions, that possess fifty Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls are extremely rare.

Many elite teams are still in a "wait-and-see" state, passively waiting or wandering around looking for opportunities to fight and seize the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl.

Those who are most anxious right now are those whose desire to improve their grades is not commensurate with the speed at which they acquire the Spirit Pearl, and whose personal abilities are not proportional to the speed at which they acquire it.

If given a chance to compete against Han Lu's team, they would definitely seize it fiercely, hoping to grasp the sliver of a chance to win and turn the tide.

There are only four teams like Han Lu's three.

These teams all aim to win the championship, and reaping the rewards of other teams has become their sole objective at this point.

These teams, who held the initiative, wandered around like Han Lu and her two companions before, frequently using search spells and initiating duels with their fellow disciples, using the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl as the stake.

A team like Han Lu and her two companions, possessing top-tier strength yet doing the work of ordinary cultivators, is unprecedented in the history of the competition.

However, it was only because of Wen Erya's exceptional divination skills that Han Lu and Yi Qiyan agreed to compete for the championship in the secret realm in such a mundane way.

Ultimately, only a few of the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls were lost outside.

With eight hours remaining before the secret realm closed, Han Lu and her two companions had collected a total of 195 Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls.

The spell was cast again, and this time, the abacus report brought Wen Erya bad news, which finally brought the three of them to an end this unconventional but incredibly smooth journey.

Wen Erya felt it was a pity, as she thought that fighting monsters and breaking magic arrays together with her friends would have been a very interesting journey.

Unfortunately, the counting rods could no longer guide them in this regard.

Having traveled a long and unusual path, the three had to return to the main theme of the secret realm subject test and began to consider targeting other cultivator teams.

After learning the results of the divination, Yi Qiyan gave Han Lu a look. Han Lu understood and, being closer to Wen Erya, spoke up, "Senior sister, since you can figure out which corner the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl is hidden in, you should also be able to figure out which way to fly to encounter the team carrying a lot of Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls, right?"

Wen Erya nodded slowly, "It shouldn't be a problem."

“Let’s give it a try,” Han Lu said. “This competition is different from the past. These nearly two hundred Spirit Beads may not guarantee that we will win the test. We should grab more Spirit Beads to keep with us so that we can feel at ease.”

“Okay.” Wen Erya’s answer was simple. After reciting a sentence, she activated her technique again, used the counting rods to deduce and search for the target.

Considering efficiency, Wen Erya consulted with her friends and decided to choose teams with five or more Spirit Beads for the divination.

Wen Erya's divination is much more flexible in finding people than the tracking techniques in the token.

Furthermore, considering the need for Wen Erya and Han Lu to maintain a good image within the sect, the three agreed that they would engage in verbal combat rather than physical combat.

If the other party is willing to surrender and offer up the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl, then only a portion of the Spirit Rhinoceros Pearl will be collected as "protection money".

Not only that, but they also had to bring the other party aboard the ark to truly fulfill their duty of protection.

Yi Qiyan listened to the plan the two had come up with and found it somewhat unbelievable, feeling that Han Lu and Wen Erya were not playing by the rules.

Han Lu and Wen Erya felt that their thinking was more comprehensive and far-sighted than those fellow disciples who "bullied the weak" by taking advantage of the rules in the secret realm.

The two were confident that if everything went smoothly, they could not only gain a good reputation, but also accumulate Spirit Pearls with less loss and at a faster pace.

To gain both fame and fortune—isn't that wonderful?

The main competition was between Wen Erya and Han Lu, so Yi Qiyan naturally wouldn't raise any objections.

With a quick divination, Wen Erya found a team that possessed six Spirit Rhinoceros Pearls, located no more than ten miles away.