The Long Journey to Immortality

Chapter 642 Twenty-Three Years Later

In the blink of an eye, twenty-three years have passed since that fierce exchange match.

As the champion of the "Dayu Dynasty Competition Area" and a "hero" of the Central Plains, Han Lu's wonderful duel with the cultivators of the Jitian Palace in the Dayu Dynasty and the contributions she made to the Central Plains were not widely known until fifteen years after the exchange began. This made Han Lu's reputation go from being famous in the Zhengyi Sect to being well-known throughout the Central Plains.

This was not Han Lu's original intention, nor was it the result of Zheng Yi Sect's deliberate publicity, nor was it Xuan Yang Valley's attempt to help Han Lu gain fame.

In reality, it was just that the Seven Mountains Alliance finally realized something was wrong with the area where the teleportation portal was located, discovered the exchange and trade between the two major sects of the Central Plains and the Extreme Heaven Palace, and did this to get people involved in this profitable transaction.

Who leaked the intelligence? Although the two major sects were eager to know the identity of the leaker, they had no way of investigating.

The cultivators from the Jitian Palace who came to the Central Plains over the past fifteen years are undoubtedly the prime suspects.

After all, if another Seven Mountains Alliance could join the exchange and trade, it would only benefit them.

Not to mention the magical treasures and elixirs that are the specialty products of several sects in the Seven Mountains Alliance, which are also the supplies they need.

By making the deal clear, they can get these good things at a better price.

Through a power struggle, Han Lu not only became famous in the Central Plains and was regarded as a great contributor to promoting East-West exchanges, but was also given the nickname "the strongest Foundation Establishment cultivator".

Of course, while the title sounds impressive, it's not very catchy, and most cultivators prefer to call Han Lu "Fairy Phoenix".

A fairy who possesses the true spirit bloodline of the phoenix.

Naturally, Han Lu preferred the latter, and at the same time this nickname spread, she decided to use it as her "Dao name" after advancing to the Golden Core realm.

Possessing the bloodline of a true spirit did not cause Han Lu as much trouble as she had expected.

Although after returning to the sect from the Great Yu Dynasty, Daoist Yunmin jokingly "questioned" Han Lu a few times, asking her why she didn't tell her about this sooner.

But when Han Lu answered truthfully and explained her concerns in detail, Daoist Yunmin expressed his understanding and even granted Han Lu certain privileges and conveniences.

Since that day, Han Lu has been allowed to fly freely within the territory of Zhengyi Sect by transforming into a true spirit.

Yunmin Daoist's explanation for this is as follows.

"If the disciples knew that there was a true spirit protecting the sect, they would feel a sense of happiness and honor."

"Furthermore, this will completely kill your interest in participating in the competition, so that before you even advance to the Pseudo-Core Realm, you won't break records and defend your first place title several times, causing your fellow disciples to lose confidence and possibly even hold a grudge against you."

With such a caring elder, Han Lu felt a strong urge to risk her life for Zheng Yimen when she heard about this decision.

Han Lu also mentioned the exchange visit mentioned by the Venerable Zhetian to Daoist Yunmin.

Daoist Yunmin naturally refused righteously, not giving the Jitian Palace any chance to poach Han Lu, this outstanding disciple.

Following this conversation, under the arrangement of Daoist Yunmin, the news that Han Lu possessed the True Spirit Bloodline quietly spread from the day she returned to the Zhengyi Sect.

Although some extremists discriminated against or were jealous of Han Lu because of this, the vast majority of Zhengyi disciples still held a positive attitude.

Every so often, a phoenix spirit would fly across the sky above the Zhengyi Sect, drawing the disciples to look up and admire it, which instilled in them a strong sense of belonging to the sect.

This preferential treatment was not revoked even thirteen years after Han Lu returned to the Zhengyi Sect and after Daoist Yunmin "stepped down".

Despite her smooth sailing in the sect and the cultivation world, Han Lu did not slack off in her cultivation at all.

Through the friendly match, Han Lu obtained the treasures of the three major sects. Among them, the Earth Mother Spirit Liquid of Xuan Yang Valley was the only good thing she could use when she was in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Two portions of Earth Mother Spirit Liquid were boiled into a medicinal soup according to the prescription provided by Xuan Yang Valley. Its amazing effects allowed Han Lu, whose dantian was already far larger than that of ordinary cultivators, to reach an even higher level.

The size and strength of her dantian have increased by one-third compared to before, allowing more spiritual energy to be incorporated into it, giving Han Lu a 30% greater chance of forming a first-grade golden core.

However, this is only the upper limit. How much spiritual power Han Lu can control in her dantian when she truly forms her core will require a lot of daily accumulation before the final answer can be known.

Han Lu's pseudo-elixir was formed in the eighteenth year after she returned to the Central Plains from the Great Yu Dynasty.

At that time, she was already considered a pseudo-core cultivator, but with lofty goals and detailed plans, Han Lu did not intend to use that pseudo-core to form a core.

According to Han Lu's plan, after she reaches the Golden Core stage, her main cultivation of the "Great Zhou Heaven Water Condensation Technique" will follow the path of "true self" rather than "sword self" in the "Seven Kill Sword Technique". Like most ordinary cultivators, she will focus on herself rather than the spiritual sword formed from the Golden Core sword pill.

In this way, the two techniques can be combined more organically, allowing her to gain more benefits from both techniques during her practice.

Twenty years after returning to the Central Plains, while attending the funeral of her "grandfather" Helian Che, Han Lu had an epiphany due to her grief, elevating her understanding of the "Transformation Technique" to a minor level and condensing a sword pellet comparable to a fake elixir.

In her eyes, from that moment on, she truly had the qualifications to try to form a core and advance to the Golden Core realm with that sword pellet.

Despite obtaining a fake core, Han Lu still cultivated for another two and a half years, allowing the spiritual energy stored in her dantian to reach about 90% of its maximum capacity before she began to consider forming her core.

Although Han Lu also knows divination techniques and is skilled in water divination, which allows her to predict good and bad fortune in simple ways, calculating the time it would take for someone to reach the Core Formation stage is not a problem.

However, with Wen Erya, the successor of the ancient cultivation tradition, by her side, Han Lu still entrusted this crucial task to her most trusted senior sister.

Wen Er Ya's service was comprehensive, calculating and writing down all the suitable times and locations for Han Lu to form her core within the Central Plains cultural sphere over the next five years.

Although the Central Plains cultural sphere is far smaller than the Great Yu Dynasty, it has many auspicious sites, with a total of thirty-one locations and times suitable for Han Lu to form her core.

There are advantages and disadvantages, conveniences and inconveniences among them, which Han Lu can choose freely according to her own situation.

Knowing the situation clearly, Han Lu was not in a hurry to form her core.

She prepared and cultivated simultaneously, and it wasn't until the twenty-third year after leaving the Great Yu Dynasty that she felt she was fully prepared.

A week before the best day for Core Formation provided by Wen Erya, Han Lu, accompanied by Xianyu Ji, who had already advanced to the Golden Core realm twenty years ago, set off for the East Sea.

Accompanying them was a female cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage who was only twenty-five years old.

Han Lu on the ark still had the same hairstyle that covered her right eye.

Upon returning to the Central Plains, she did not use ointment to remove the scars, but instead used these unsightly scars as motivation to spur herself on to improve.

Han Lu and her group's destination was a small island in the East China Sea.

Seven days later, there will be a burst of spiritual energy there, a "cultivation weather".

In addition, there was already a considerable amount of water-attribute spiritual energy.

Xianyu Ji, a cultivator in the early stage of the Golden Core realm, also assisted in protecting the Dharma.

With the right timing, location, and people, Han Lu decided to use this as a foundation to try and form a first-grade golden core, thus breaking through to the Golden Core realm.

Chapter 643 Fake Boyfriend, Little Apprentice

There are many reasons why Xianyu Ji would travel with Han Lu.

One reason is the arrangement made by the newly appointed Zhengyi Sect Master, Xuan Chengzi, and the other is that Xianyu Ji has a harmonious relationship with Han Lu because of certain events that happened in the past twenty-three years.

Secondly, Xianyu Ji was thinking of finding something to do and temporarily leave the sect to avoid his family.

Han Lu's status in the sect was no lower than that of an ordinary Golden Core elder. In addition, she had a good relationship with the former sect leader, Daoist Yun Min, and a close friendship with the branch dean, Daoist Qing Xu. Therefore, she knew many Golden Core elders in the sect and had close relationships with many of them.

However, most of the Golden Core elders that Han Lu knew were Golden Core cultivators with little "future"—they had plenty of administrative ability but lacked potential and combat power.

People like Jin Zhenren and Han Lu's master Piaomiaozi are not suitable to protect Han Lu in the East China Sea.

The only one who could be called "powerful" was, Yunmin Daoist, who happened to be in seclusion for cultivation.

Therefore, it was Xianyu Ji who volunteered in the end that allowed Xuan Chengzi to find a suitable person to protect Han Lu.

How did Xianyu Ji, the senior disciple of Dongshan Academy who had only met Han Lu a few times, manage to get closer to her and become her friend?

This brings us back to Mo Zhehan, who was far away in the Great Yu Dynasty.

Originally, dating expert Dong Fengyu only suggested that Mo Zhehan use the portal to avoid the pain of unrequited love and give it another try.

But who would have thought that Mo Zhehan was also a lovesick fool? After Han Lu left Dayu Dynasty, he thought about her day and night and became more and more convinced that Han Lu was the one he was looking for.

With frequent exchanges between East and West, Mo Zhehan, the prized disciple of the Palace Master of the Extreme Heaven Palace, naturally ventured into the Central Plains many times through teleportation portals, seeking to meet Han Lu under the guise of exchange.

In just over twenty years, Mo Zhehan has visited four times.

One time, it was as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Three times, he was a Golden Core cultivator.

The first two times, Mo Zhehan was still the reserved and shy guy he always was.

When they came to find Han Lu, they were hesitant and evasive, often using the pretext of exchanging Taoist teachings or visiting friends.

Han Lu had no shame in directly refusing a "honest man" like Mo Zhehan with harsh words, or simply turning him away.

However, every time she made it clear to Mo Zhehan that she had no intention of spending the rest of her life with him, this love-struck man still wouldn't let it go.

In Mo Zhehan's view, as long as Han Lu has not yet married that Daoist partner, he still has a chance.

Later, when he came to the Central Plains for the third and fourth time, Mo Zhehan, who was already familiar with the Zhengyi Sect, even began to openly inquire within the sect about who Han Lu's sweetheart was, thinking of meeting her to test the waters and see if she was a hero among men, and whether he still had a chance to steal her away.

The third time was better; he only asked a few familiar Zhengyi sect cultivators, but not only did he not find out the specific results, Han Lu also learned about the matter.

In order to avoid being seen as a fraud by Mo Zhehan and thus increasing his desire to pursue her, Han Lu approached Xian Yuji in advance, promising him some benefits in exchange for the help of this understanding senior disciple.

He acted as her boyfriend, blocking Mo Zhehan.

As a result, Xianyu Ji did not refuse, and even asked Han Lu to do the same for him.

The two hit it off immediately.

Since they were both cultivators, Han Lu and Xian Yuji's fake relationship didn't need to be maintained by doing anything intimate in public; they only needed to let the rumors out.

Han Lu spread the word that she was having a romantic relationship with Xianyu Ji and was helping him fend off the countless beautiful girls introduced by his elders who were hoping he would carry on the family line.

Xianyu Ji did not deny it, and even took the initiative to openly and frequently visit Han Lu.

This made the two of them a couple in the eyes of the disciples of the sect.

Besides Han Lu, only Fu Tianqiao and Wen Erya knew the truth about this matter.

Putting aside cultivation and strength, Xianyu Jilun's masculine charm is no less than Mo Zhehan's, and his personality is even more like that of an excellent husband.

With such a remarkable person helping Han Lu, sure enough, on his fourth trip to the Central Plains, Mo Zhehan, who had met Xianyu Ji, was quite disheartened.

Seven or eight years passed before he set foot in the Central Plains a fifth time to search for Han Lu.

Han Lu benefited, and Xianyu Ji also profited.

Xianyu Ji came from a not-so-small cultivation family in the Southern Dynasty.

The family was small, and before his father passed away, he made a will, instructing the elders in the family to help his son Xianyu Ji solve the problem of continuing the family line.

Xianyu Ji, who has advanced to the Golden Core realm, has a lifespan of at least six hundred years. Since he is focused on cultivation, he is naturally not in a hurry about this matter.

Being pressured into blind dates by a group of elders, he gradually developed a sense of resistance.

Perfectly, by pretending to be in a relationship with Han Lu, he can avoid being harassed by a group of elders who, following his father's dying wish, come to introduce him to female cultivator girlfriends, as he had before.

Back then, when Xianyu Ji advanced to the Pseudo-Core Realm, he chose to go to the East Sea to cultivate, which was partly due to his desire to avoid arranged marriages.