The Long Journey to Immortality

Han Lu, who had just transformed back into human form in the wooden house, already looked different from before she formed her core.

Her hair had grown a little longer, the scars around her eyes had disappeared, her limbs had become more slender, and her height had increased from about 1.65 meters to just over 1.7 meters.

Han Lu didn't really want to change anything about her appearance; she just wanted the injury on her right eye to heal and the scar removed.

In other aspects, Han Lu was quite satisfied with her measurements, except that she slightly increased her height so that she wouldn't always have to look up when communicating with tall cultivators like Mo Zhehan and Xianyu Ji.

After doing all this, Han Lu was finally able to complete the process of forming her Golden Core, becoming a cultivator who not only possessed the strength of the Golden Core realm but also the cultivation level of the Golden Core realm.

Han Lu meditated for a while, recovering some of her spiritual power, before pushing open the door and walking out of the wooden house.

As soon as the door to the wooden house opened, the two guardians, who had been anxiously waiting for several days, immediately came forward.

"Sister Han, you're finally out."

Still possessing a girlish heart, Nian Haoge immediately hugged Han Lu tightly.

Feeling the little head resting on her chest, Han Lu's smile was slightly awkward. She joked, "The way you're saying that makes it sound like I committed a terrible crime and was imprisoned for hundreds of years before being released."

Looking at Xianyu Ji, Han Lu expressed her gratitude before Xianyu Ji could speak first, "Thank you for protecting me for these four days, Senior Brother Xianyu."

"No need to thank me," Xianyu Ji said. "Although I don't know why Junior Sister Han took four whole days to form her core, I imagine that with so much time spent and the blessing of Heaven, she must have achieved a first-grade core and reaped a great harvest."

Han Lu smiled slightly, and with a little force, gently turned the little head that was rubbing against her chest away a little.

"Not bad, I was lucky. I don't know how I not only formed a Grade 1 Golden Core, but also a Grade 1 Beast Core."

Upon hearing this, Xianyu Ji was very surprised, "Such a thing exists? I've never heard of it before."

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Although there are very few hybrids between true spirits and humans in the Central Plains, they do exist.

Most of them form Golden Cores, a few form Beast Cores, and cases like Han Lu's are extremely rare. Even the Supreme Elder of the Zhengyi Sect has never heard of a cultivator having two Golden Cores.

Han Lu pondered for a moment and said, "I'm not sure either, but it should be a good thing."

"I felt incredibly relieved when I made this decision."

"It seems that it was done in accordance with the will of Heaven."

Xianyu Ji nodded and said, "That's good. Junior Sister Han has formed a high-grade Golden Core. With her illustrious past achievements, she will surely have a bright future in the sect. I'm afraid that in another two or three hundred years, she will be able to try to advance to the Nascent Soul stage and let me call her Elder Feng."

At this point, both of them burst into laughter.

When Xianyu Ji advanced to the Golden Core stage, Han Lu joked with him about the elders. This time, it was Xianyu Ji's turn to tease Han Lu.

Nian Haoge looked at Han Lu and Xianyu Ji with a slightly blank expression, unable to find anything funny.

After laughing, the three of them did not stay on the island for long.

They quickly packed their things, boarded Xianyu Ji's ark again, and returned the way they came to avoid causing any trouble in the chaotic East China Sea.

[Author's Note] I managed to complete the Golden Core achievement before May. By the way, I'd like to ask for free monthly tickets and razor blades next month.

Chapter 655 Cultivation at the Golden Core Realm

Once aboard the ark, they learned that cultivators who had just advanced to the Golden Core stage were in a relatively weak state and did not have much spiritual power in their bodies.

Therefore, both Nian Haoge, who was extremely curious about Han Lu, and Xianyu Ji, who wanted to find out more information, tacitly gave Han Lu enough private space so that she could meditate and recover her spiritual power.

Before starting her cultivation, Han Lu spent three breaths calculating her lifespan, trying to figure out exactly how old she was and how many more years she could "live on" in this world.

The results obtained through calculation were delightful.

Because of the true spirit bloodline within her body, Han Lu is a genuine long-lived cultivator.

Having just advanced to the Golden Core realm, she possesses a lifespan of 1,700 years, similar to that of some short-lived Nascent Soul cultivators.

It's no wonder that after suffering enough from "short lifespans," Xiaoyaozi would target those cultivators with true spiritual bloodlines for possession.

As for Han Lu's current age, she is exactly fifty-one years old.

The information about being "sixteen years old" that they fabricated when they left Xiaoyaozi's cave turned out to be the correct answer.

Han Lu put her hands back on her knees and sat cross-legged in her room.

After taking two deep breaths, she took out the two pills from her storage bag without hesitation.

Since her advancement from Core Formation to Golden Core Realm was practically a done deal, Han Lu had already made some simple preparations for Golden Core Realm cultivators while she was still in the False Core Realm.

This includes preparing some of the pills needed for the Golden Core stage.

Huang Longdan was awarded when they won the "East-West Exchange Competition".

The other Blood Exhaustion Powder, which can help Golden Core cultivators quickly recover their spiritual power, was purchased by Han Lu from the sect's treasury for fifty spirit stones each.

After swallowing two pills, Han Lu began her first cultivation as a Golden Core cultivator aboard the slightly chaotic high-altitude ark.

The main training content in the early stage of Golden Core cultivation, besides breathing in spiritual energy and accumulating spiritual power, is to try to use spiritual power as a paintbrush to "paint" a complete pill pattern on the surface of the Golden Core.

The biggest difference between different cultivators and different cultivation methods in this realm lies in the method of applying the pill patterns and the specific patterns.

Different symbols of cinnabar patterns possess different "special abilities," vary in the difficulty of painting them, and produce different effects.

There are pill patterns that increase a cultivator's lifespan, pill patterns that increase the strength of the Golden Core, and pill patterns that enhance a cultivator's ability to unleash the power of the Five Elements Dao Techniques.

The choice of which type of cinnabar pattern to paint on the surface of the golden core determines which aspect of power the cultivator chooses to enhance.

The Seven Kill Sword Technique and the Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique that Han Lu practiced were both top-grade martial arts techniques.

The cultivation method records nearly a hundred different patterns of cinnabar patterns for practitioners to choose from.

Of course, the genius cultivators who created the cultivation techniques had already summarized some routines for future generations of cultivators and established several sets of "Twelve Pill Patterns" systems.

First draw this, then draw that, and finally complete it in one go, transcending tribulation and becoming an infant.

Although Han Lu did something unprecedented and unlikely to be repeated when she first formed her core, she did not have any intention of being unconventional at this stage. She decided to follow the guidance of her predecessors in the cultivation manuals and steadily walk the "excellent and stable" old path that these predecessors had taken.

Because she used a sword pellet to form a golden core, she naturally chose to "draw" the core patterns on it, mainly following the guidance of the "Seven Kill Sword Technique".

Senior Fang Lin pointed out two paths for the younger generation of cultivators in his sword manual.

One path is the "Sword Self" path, which focuses on sword pellets and spirit swords. The patterns "painted" on the golden core are mainly for enhancing the grade of the sword pellets.

The other path is the "true self" path, which is mainly for cultivators. The patterns "drawn" on the golden core are similar to other cultivation methods, and are mainly aimed at strengthening the cultivator's own abilities.

Han Lu had already decided to follow the path of "true self," and after acquiring another clear True Spirit Beast Pill, her resolve only strengthened.

If humans cultivate and improve their Golden Core realm in this way, then how do True Spirits and Demonic Beasts cultivate when they reach the Transformation realm?

Han Lu knew nothing about the Warcrafts, nor could she find out anything about it.

However, Han Lu knew exactly how True Spirits cultivated, and through this, she understood why there were so many True Spirits in Phoenix Perch Forest comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Simply put, it's about passing the time.

By cultivating daily and breathing in spiritual energy, one can improve their cultivation level when the amount of spiritual power within their body reaches a certain point.

The purer the bloodline of a true spirit, the easier it is for it to pass through the tribulation of the Transformation Realm and above.

Han Lu could only conclude that it was Heaven's favor upon the True Spirits, which was why the cultivation of the vast majority of True Spirits at this level was so easy and pleasant.

However, it is precisely because of this relaxed and comfortable way of cultivation that the strength gap between cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core Realm and True Spirits is not as huge as it was at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

While waiting for the medicinal effects to be released after swallowing the pill, Han Lu, based on her current situation and her knowledge of Golden Core cultivators and True Spirit cultivation, basically determined the general path she would take for the next hundred years.

As for the Imperial Extreme Pill that Han Lu had in her hand, which could allow early-stage Golden Core cultivators to quickly "draw" their first pill pattern, Han Lu planned to use it after she advanced to the mid-stage of Golden Core.

Although the Extreme Heaven Palace claimed that this pill had no side effects, Han Lu still preferred to complete the first pill pattern with her own strength, so as to accumulate experience and pave the way for future cultivation.

Breathing in spiritual energy, Han Lu began to manipulate the limited spiritual power within her body, attempting to draw patterns on her golden core according to the patterns recorded in the "Seven Kill Sword Technique".

Under Han Lu's deliberate control, the spiritual energy in her dantian "condensed" into a calligraphy brush.

Danwen (丹纹) is not complicated. The first danwen that Han Lu plans to draw on the golden core only has four strokes.

After visualizing the shape of the first Dan pattern on the path of the Seven Kill Sword Technique in his mind for a moment, Han Lu picked up his brush and circulated his energy.

The experience and skills Han Lu had gained from practicing calligraphy came in handy at this time.

It was completed in one go, with four strokes in quick succession.

The azure-colored golden elixir resembled a blank sheet of paper. After Han Lu made her mark, four pale blue spiritual energy traces appeared on the elixir.

A moment later, the four marks merged into the golden core and disappeared without a trace, as if everything Han Lu had just done was completely futile.

"As expected," Han Lu thought to herself after observing the surface of the Golden Core for a while, "Even a first-grade Golden Core is not so easy to draw the pill patterns on."

"It will probably take tens of millions of times to truly leave the pill pattern on the surface of the golden core, and generate the first pill pattern, so that the golden core, which is now like a blank sheet of paper, will undergo a transformation, and my cultivation will advance to the middle stage of the golden core."

After trying twice more and figuring out the general cultivation method of the Golden Core Realm, Han Lu was not in a hurry to continue the cultivation on the Ark that required a lot of spiritual power. Instead, she focused on restoring her spiritual power so that she wouldn't have to rush into battle with an "empty" body if she encountered trouble on the way.

Fortunately, Han Lu and the other two only left the Central Plains for a short period of ten days. The cultivation world in the Central Plains did not change and remained peaceful and harmonious as always.

With a smooth journey, the three of them returned safely to Zhengyi Sect after three days.

Xianyu Ji immediately informed the sect of the good news after Han Lu successfully formed her Golden Core. Therefore, when the three returned to the Zhengyi Sect, Xuan Chengzi, the sect leader at the time, presented Han Lu, who had just advanced to the Golden Core realm and obtained the qualification to become an elder of the Zhengyi Sect, with a welcome gift.

Five Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered in the bell tower of the Five Elements Mountain Academy, each playing their musical instruments and magical treasures, letting the music resound throughout the sect to express their congratulations on Han Lu's advancement to the Golden Core realm.

Chapter 656 Phoenix Fairy?

Xuan Chengzi is the current head of the Zhengyi Sect. He is the successor of Yunmin Daoren, who is acquainted with Han Lu and can be considered a "friend despite the age gap".

Xuan Chengzi took office eleven years ago.

Before that, although Daoist Yunmin had reached the end of his term, he was allowed to serve as the head of the Zhengyi Sect for an additional three and a half years due to his "outstanding achievements" during his term, with the support of the two Supreme Elders. It was not until Venerable Qingyang's disciple, Xuanchengzi, returned from his travels that he relinquished his position to Xuanchengzi, who had once been a popular candidate for the position of sect leader.

Interestingly, the situation of Xuan Chengzi, the new sect leader, is different from that of the previous sect leaders of Zhengyi Sect.

Generally speaking, the position of sect leader of the Zhengyi Sect is reserved for Golden Core elders who have a slight chance of advancing to the Nascent Soul stage.

The purpose was to allow them to accumulate merits so that after they stepped down, they could legitimately receive extra care from the sect, obtain more resources, and thus increase their chances of advancing to a higher cultivation level.

Xuan Chengzi, on the other hand, was a prodigy in the sect, with a status similar to that of Xianyu Ji, and was always regarded by the sect's higher-ups as a future Nascent Soul cultivator.

It is indeed a rare thing for a cultivator like him to serve as the head of the Zhengyi Sect and to be preoccupied with trivial matters.

The reason for this is not too complicated; it is mainly related to Gensei's upbringing.

Xuan Chengzi was originally an abandoned orphan who, by chance, was adopted by a couple who were unable to have children at the outer stronghold of the Zhengyi Sect.

Naturally, under such circumstances, he only felt that the Zhengyi Sect had nurtured and cultivated him, and after achieving success in his cultivation, he thought of repaying the sect in various ways.