The Long Journey to Immortality

A month ago, their "15-year partnership" agreement expired, and Han Lu took the initiative to announce their amicable breakup.

This time, Xianyu Ji used the excuse of trying to win back his love to find Han Lu and came to the East Sea to protect the Dharma.

Besides the fundamental purpose of protecting the Dharma, it can also be seen as repeating old tricks to avoid those elders in the family who have been holding back for fifteen years, hoping to act as matchmakers.

Xianyu Ji is Han Lu's "ex-boyfriend," but what about the other female cultivator who was with her?

This female cultivator is a disciple that Han Lu has taken in over the past twenty-three years. Her name is Nian Haoge. She is a girl born from the Dao embryo left behind by Elder Haoge's failed tribulation thirty years ago.

Han Lu is a rising star in the sect, and logically, she shouldn't let trivial matters like tutoring disciples interfere with her cultivation.

However, due to a few minor reasons, Nian Haoge accepted Han Lu as his "little master" and was only tutored by Han Lu during his Qi cultivation practice.

The reason was that Han Lu and Wen Erya witnessed Elder Haoge's failed tribulation, leaving behind a Dao embryo.

One reason why Nian Haoge's inhuman Dao Embryo identity evoked sympathy in Han Lu, who possessed true spiritual bloodline, was also because of this.

Han Lu wanted to find something to do to pass the time, calm her mind, and also to contribute to the sect.

It must be said that Nian Haoge's talent is exceptional, as a cultivator who grew from a Dao embryo into human form.

With Han Lu's excellent teaching skills, Nian Haoge only spent five and a half years growing from a novice Daoist who knew nothing about cultivation into a cultivator at the twelfth level of Qi Refining. Relying on his own talent and hard work, he "severed" his master-disciple relationship with Han Lu.

The official master-disciple relationship was severed, but the friendship that had developed over the past five and a half years did not end.

So, after Nian Haoge's request, Han Lu decided to bring her out to broaden her horizons and observe her own Core Formation, hoping to learn something useful from her.

And so the three of them came together and boarded the flying boat piloted by Xianyu Ji, heading towards the East China Sea.

Chapter 644 Core Formation Ground

Of the three, only Xianyu Ji had been to the East Sea before, which is why the three of them traveled on Xianyu Ji's magical artifact. He was considered half the master of the East Sea.

Sitting in the cabin of the flying boat, Xianyu Ji was mainly in charge of steering the ship, holding a map that Han Lu had collected from the sect and academy. Han Lu sat next to her disciple Nian Haoge, chatting with her or taking the opportunity to teach her about Core Formation.

"Sister Han." At Han Lu's request, the two, who were no longer master and disciple, started calling each other sisters. Nian Haoge, who was only thirty years old, called Han Lu, who was actually just over fifty, "Sister Han."

"What's wrong?" Han Lu put down her novel, looked at Nian Haoge, and asked, "Have you figured out the question I asked earlier?"

“Mmm,” Nian Haoge, who was already thirty years old, nodded earnestly in front of Han Lu, as if she were a young girl who had just grown up, and began to answer Han Lu’s question, “I have thought of the answer to your question, sister.”

During their casual conversation, Han Lu posed a few questions to Nian Haoge, testing her "homework." The most difficult question took Nian Haoge about fifteen minutes to come up with an answer that seemed to be the correct one.

"Come on, tell me." Han Lu turned the miscellaneous books in her hands over her back, placed them on her lap, and looked at her outstanding student Nian Haoge, giving her a satisfactory answer.

Han Lu was testing her understanding of the seven-character sword technique of the "Seven Kill Sword Manual".

As Han Lu's first disciple, Han Lu did not keep anything from Nian Haoge and generously taught her the "Seven Kill Sword Technique".

This question is both difficult and easy.

The difficulty lies in the fact that it is not easy for a cultivator who has only been practicing for a little over ten years to explain the sword intent of Senior Fang Lin.

The simplicity lies in using words rather than swords to express it; it is a fact, and the answer is not entirely accurate. Han Lu cannot nitpick or find fault with it.

Ten years ago, when she graduated from her apprenticeship, Nian Haoge was able to barely explain the two basic techniques she had just begun to grasp.

Now, ten years later, Nian Haoge has at least a superficial understanding of the other five key words, at least verbally.

One word at a time, carefully considering the right words, answering one by one.

Nian Haoge answered intermittently for four or five minutes before finishing his answer and handing in the paper.

The answer satisfied Han Lu, who affectionately patted Nian Haoge's head and, as agreed beforehand, presented him with a reward to encourage his cultivation.

It was that magical handkerchief that had accompanied Han Lu on his campaigns for over twenty years.

It's likely that only a "second-generation True Spirit" like Han Lu, with exceptional strength and extraordinary opportunities, would be so generous as to offer a high-grade magic weapon as a reward to a disciple.

In Han Lu's view, once she advances to the Golden Core Realm, she can receive two spiritual artifacts from the sect based on her past achievements in the ancient cultivation secret realm.

Xiaoyaozi must have left some magical treasures in the third cave.

Most of the magical artifacts she possesses are now useless. These treasures should naturally be handed over to those who are destined to receive them.

As his obedient disciple, Nian Haoge can certainly be considered a person with whom he has a special connection.

Overjoyed, Nian Haoge held the Luo Pa in his hand for a long time before refining it and recognizing it as his own.

She couldn't tell whether she was happy because her answer had been affirmed by her master, or because she had received a top-grade magic weapon from him.

After testing Nian Haoge's knowledge of Core Formation, Han Lu then began to teach him about practical matters.

Nian Haoge is exceptionally talented; he advanced to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage in just four years, at the age of thirty.

Han Lu could imagine that her disciple, who was formed from a Dao embryo, would advance to the Golden Core stage in the next thirty or forty years, following in the footsteps of her father, Elder Haoge.

To prevent the tragedy from repeating itself, Han Lu felt it necessary to help Nian Haoge, who had already embarked on the irreversible path of cultivation, to form a high-grade golden core, thus increasing his chances of achieving the Nascent Soul stage.

As a precaution, although Nian Haoge was completely unaware that she was a Dao Embryo and knew nothing of Elder Haoge's tragedy, she had been struggling on the path of cultivation for nearly twenty years and was well aware of the necessity of making preparations in advance.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken the initiative to ask to embark on this not-so-interesting journey with Han Lu.

From elixirs to magical treasures, from the key points of daily cultivation to the selection of the place and time for forming the elixir.

Han Lu explained everything in detail.

In addition, on the Ark, Han Lu also showed Nian Haoge the many resources she had prepared for Core Formation.

Nian Haoge, who had always lived a modest life of cultivation within the sect, stared wide-eyed, especially upon hearing that Han Lu had consumed two doses of Earth Mother Elixir. His eyes lit up with envy.

"This must be my master."

Han Lu's actions contained a bit of "showing off" and "seeking reassurance," but they were also meant to teach Nian Haoge knowledge and make him understand that when he reaches the Core Formation stage in the future, he can swallow his pride and ask Han Lu for these valuable things that Han Lu will definitely not need in the future.

"That's about all the preparations, but the most important thing is the accumulation of daily practice."

"As for the Core Formation site, I only found out its approximate location and time by consulting Senior Sister Wen through divination."

"By the time you reach the Core Formation stage, Senior Sister Wen will almost certainly have already advanced to the Golden Core realm. At that time, her divination skills will definitely be even better."

"Helping you clarify and explain everything shouldn't be a problem."

Han Lu helped Nian Haoge roughly plan her future and pointed out a path that was definitely the right one.

After discussing matters related to cultivation, the two naturally began to chat casually.

Because of Xianyu Ji's presence, Nian Haoge, who cares about his master, naturally became concerned about Han Lu's "love life."

Xianyu Ji is a good man, so Nian Haoge naturally wanted to help Elder Xianyu reconcile and find a good master.

Han Lu felt somewhat helpless about this.

Nian Haoge is great in every way, except he's a big mouth and loves to spread gossip and rumors.

Back then, in order to spread the false relationship between herself and Xianyu Ji, she often used Nian Haoge as a mouthpiece.

Now, their "cooperative" relationship has come to an end, but they still cannot bring things up with Nian Haoge.

If things were explained clearly, the secret between Han Lu and Xianyu Ji would likely be known to the vast majority of disciples in the sect in the blink of an eye upon their return, becoming a topic of conversation.

If Mo Zhehan were to visit the Central Plains again, all of Han Lu's efforts would be in vain.

Therefore, at this point, Han Lu could only continue telling the story she had already made up and cover up the lie.

Life on the Ark wasn't particularly eventful, but it wasn't monotonous either.

After a long period of meditation and occasional interactions with his disciple, the three of them left the Central Plains in just two days and arrived above a small island in the East China Sea.

This is the place where Wen Erya chose for Han Lu to form her core, using ancient divination techniques.

Chapter 645 Layer by Layer

Wen Erya helped with divination and chose a deserted island in the East China Sea as the site for Han Lu to form her Golden Core, named "Ma Island".

It is not large, only a dozen square kilometers in size. It is named after the amphibious, horse-like magical beast that inhabits it because there are no people on it.

Although it is an uninhabited island, cultivators occasionally stop here to rest and stay temporarily.

If this island weren't so small and lacking in spiritual energy, there would surely be independent cultivators from the East Sea who would choose to settle on this small island not far from the Central Plains, making it their place of cultivation and seclusion.

Having spent three years in the East China Sea, Xianyu Ji was exceptionally cautious in his actions.

Even though the ark carried him and Han Lu, both cultivators with the strength of the Golden Core Realm, he still did a lot of work before they landed.

After navigating the ark and circling Ma Island twice, Xianyu Ji used his Golden Core cultivator's ability to project his divine sense to scan the island from top to bottom. Only after confirming that it was indeed an uninhabited island as described in the twenty-year-old map and gazetteer in Han Lu's hand did he find a beach and slowly lower the ark.

After disembarking from the ark, Nian Haoge looked at a group of strange magical beasts that resembled horses but had scales and webbed feet. She asked curiously, "Sister Han, are you a true spirit? Have you ever seen these strange magical beasts before?"

Han Lu examined it carefully, shook her head, and said, "I've never seen anything like it before. This magical beast looks so strange."

After speaking, Han Lu released a little bit of her true spirit aura, and these "strange horses" did not scatter in fright like ordinary low-level magical beasts or spirit beasts.

Seeing this, Han Lu was very curious, "These strange horses seem to be somewhat different from others."

However, this is not the time to study these "magical creatures".

After confirming that these "strange horses," which were not even at the Dao Child Realm level, had no intention of attacking, Han Lu and her two companions no longer cared that they had become the objects of the strange horses' attention.

Han Lu began her preparations for Core Formation on this deserted island five days before the "spiritual energy explosion" weather arrived, following her own plan.

First, naturally, we need to determine the best, simplest point.

Although Wen Erya inherited the divination techniques and magic treasures of the ancient cultivator Wang Han, she had only been at the late Foundation Establishment stage for five years and her strength was limited. She was unable to accurately calculate the best Core Formation site from thousands of miles away, over several years.

She could only arrive at a rough range; the final determination of the location would have to be left to Han Lu to conduct on-site calculations.

To encourage Nian Haoge to participate more, Han Lu instructed him to help her fetch a basin of seawater.

After Nian Haoge returned from fetching water, she sprinkled some of the prepared medicinal powder into the seawater, then reached into it and slowly stirred the powder floating in the basin of seawater, performing hand seals and chanting incantations as she cast the "water divination" spell.

Although Han Lu rarely uses this move, after so many years of cultivation, she is much more proficient than when she first became a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In less than ten breaths, she completed the spell, withdrew her hand from the basin, observed the movement of the powder in the water, and waited for the water, now imbued with magic, to reveal the final divination answer to her.

Xianyu Ji and Nian Haoge watched curiously from the side.

Xianyu Ji disliked miscellaneous studies and therefore did not know how to perform divination. The only time he used a technique similar to divination was when he calculated his own lifespan as a Golden Core cultivator.

Under Han Lu's influence, Nian Haoge was only obsessed with swordsmanship and did not practice the "Great Zhou Tian Condensing Water Technique", so he did not understand divination or other mysterious and unorthodox practices.

On the small island, Han Lu used seawater taken from the sea to divine a matter that was only a small thing five days later. So the powder in the water quickly formed characters, revealing the result of the divination.

Cultivators have exceptional memories, so Han Lu could naturally memorize the nearly one hundred pages of characters in the cultivation manual and understand what they meant.