The Long Journey to Immortality

"Or perhaps the daughter of the chieftain of the Wild Phoenix Clan?"

……

Each identity has its advantages and disadvantages, but it seems that in this harmonious environment between the Western Regions and the Central Plains, each one has the potential to help her achieve her wishes.

Han Lu pondered and imagined the scenario in her mind for a long time, but ultimately did not make a final decision.

Neither Feng Bailu nor Xiaoyaozi are good at dealing with strangers.

She was full of confidence that Han Lu would fight against the Golden Core cultivators in the Western Regions.

However, she was unsure about how to deal with the powerful figures in the Western Regions under various identities, and didn't know what the outcome would be.

She is neither the politically experienced Daoist Yunmin nor Xuanchengzi.

Han Lu was self-aware. If she simply sought cooperation with the Western Regions, it would likely not be fair. Even if it were fair, a portion of her gains from this trip would inevitably be taken away.

Before having a foolproof plan, she would rather take a detour than "seek help from a tiger."

The so-called long journey naturally involved dealing with other Western tribes who had long lived on the edge of the desert.

Although the Western Regions were largely integrated, the tribes still managed their own affairs.

If ancient maps truly exist on these tribes, Han Lu is willing to pay and spend a little time; she should be able to achieve about 70% of the "seeking help from a tiger" effect.

Just as Han Lu was trying to think through the two paths more clearly, there was a knock on her door.

"Fairy Zhenfeng," a strange voice called out from outside, directly addressing Han Lu by her Daoist name, "May I open the door and see you?"

Upon hearing this voice, Han Lu remained expressionless, but her heart tightened.

After getting out of bed, tidying her hair, and sitting upright at the table, Han Lu finally spoke to the stranger outside, whose identity she did not know, after removing the seal on the door, "Which fellow Daoist is this? Please come in."

The door opened with a push, and a Western Regions cultivator with a tan complexion appeared outside.

Han Lu was certain that she had never met this cultivator before, and that the other party must have only learned of her identity through other means.

The Western Region cultivator walked into the room with an air of nonchalance, not treating himself as an outsider at all.

After closing the door, before Han Lu could speak, he took the initiative to introduce himself, "Greetings, Fairy Han. I am Qing Shi Dao Ren. I have come here on behalf of the High Priest to invite Fairy Zhen Feng to the Holy City for a meeting."

The High Priest mentioned by the Green Lion Daoist refers to the Nascent Soul cultivator who is currently in charge of presiding over sacrifices and organizing religion in the Western Regions Royal City.

The so-called holy city is the religious name for the Western Region royal city that Han Lu once visited.

Just as Han Lu was thinking of avoiding cooperation with the three tribes of the Western Regions as much as possible, the other party suddenly figured out her background and took the initiative to come to her door, which left Han Lu speechless.

However, upon reflection, it's quite normal. Along the way, she didn't completely hide herself. In fact, while frequently interacting with merchants and travelers, she was also exposed to the sight of Western Region cultivators.

Her identity was perfectly clear, and given the premise of cooperating with the Seven Mountains Alliance, it was rather late for the Western Regions to come knocking on her door at this point.

Boasting that she had "Nine Phoenixes" as her backer, Han Lu wasn't worried about her life being in danger when meeting the so-called High Priest.

However, she was still somewhat reluctant to choose this path.

With a bargaining mindset, Han Lu replied, "Fellow Daoist Qing Shi, may I ask what business the High Priest has with me?"

Chapter 664 An Invitation from the Western Regions

The Green Lion Taoist was assigned to send out the invitation, so he naturally made sure he understood everything and anticipated that Han Lu would not accept the invitation directly.

He laughed and said, "Fairy Han, there's no need to be nervous. The High Priest is such a great figure, how could he possibly harm you? If he really wanted to harm you, why would he only send me to extend the invitation?"

"I've come here with good intentions this time."

Although the words of the Green Lion Daoist didn't quite sound like those of a Golden Core cultivator, they did indeed ease Han Lu's already low level of wariness.

Seeing the change in Han Lu's expression, the Green Lion Taoist continued.

"The name of Fairy Zhenfeng was already widely known in the Western Regions more than a decade ago. The High Priest just wanted to meet a talented young woman like Fairy Zhenfeng, make friends, and also see what Fairy Zhenfeng was busy with all over the Western Regions. He wanted to see if we could cooperate and provide her with some convenience."

Upon hearing this, Han paused for a moment before replying, "Since the High Priest has invited me and is willing to cooperate with me and help me, I naturally cannot refuse."

"I would like to trouble the Green Lion Taoist to lead the way and take me to the Western Region Holy City to broaden my horizons."

Western Region cultivators have always longed for recognition from the so-called orthodox Central Plains. Although Han Lu did not openly proclaim "I love the Western Regions" or "The Central Plains is bad, the Western Regions is good," her polite tone suited Qing Shi Dao Ren's taste perfectly.

"That's wonderful! If Fairy Zhenfeng has some free time, why don't we leave now?"

Knowing that there was still a long way to go from here to the royal city, Han Lu was determined to figure out how to face the high priest mentioned by the Green Lion Daoist on the way.

"It's probably just the cave dwelling of a Nascent Soul cultivator. The help they're asking for is just a map. It shouldn't cause any big commotion."

After offering herself a few words of comfort, Han Lu replied with a hint of helplessness, "Okay, I'll pack my things and we'll leave now."

Han Lu casually placed some loose silver on the table, then put all the miscellaneous items she had brought with her into her storage bag before leaving on a cloud with the Green Lion Daoist.

On the way, the Green Lion Daoist struck up conversations with Han Lu whenever he had the chance, clearly hoping to establish a good relationship with this newly promoted Golden Core cultivator who was somewhat famous and valued by the High Priest as soon as possible.

Han Lu took this opportunity to subtly hint at the situation, hoping to find out whether the Western Region cultivators' general attitude towards her was truly as Qing Shi Dao Ren had described.

Since they both had their own ideas, they naturally hit it off immediately.

Han Lu treated Qing Shi Dao Ren with great enthusiasm, omitting his Daoist title and addressing him as "fellow Daoist" repeatedly.

The Green Lion Taoist also told Han Lu everything he could, revealing some information about the Western Regions to her.

“Ancient maps? Of course we have them. Even documents from 30,000 years ago are well preserved in the Holy City’s library.”

"With the influence of Fairy Zhenfeng, it's just a map. Just ask, and I'll pass on the message. I'm sure I can get a copy."

……

"The High Priest's situation? I cannot say."

"I can only tell you that the High Priest is able to communicate with the Holy King and is a top figure in the clan. His own cultivation has reached the edge of the Nascent Soul Realm, and he will definitely become another cultivator in the Western Regions in the past three thousand years to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm."

"At the sacrificial ceremony ten days from now, the high priest will convey our sincere sentiments and ask the Holy King to bestow his blessings and help our tribe to live in peace and prosperity in the Western Regions and to grow stronger."

……

The Green Lion Taoist spoke eloquently, leaving Han Lu slightly stunned. She subconsciously asked, "May I ask the Green Lion Taoist's age?"

Although it was impolite to ask other cultivators their age directly, Han Lue felt it necessary to say something after hearing the words of the Green Lion Daoist, which sounded like those of a religious fanatic.

The Green Lion Taoist didn't take it to heart. "He has cultivated Taoist arts for ninety-seven years. If we were to calculate his age, he would be exactly one hundred and eight years old."

"If Fairy Zhenfeng wants to call me brother, I won't mind."

Having advanced to the Golden Core stage in such a short time, he had reason to be proud, which is why the Azure Lion Daoist didn't mind Han Lu's impetuous question and instead gave her a clear answer.

Upon hearing that the Green Lion Daoist was only 108 years old and a newly promoted Golden Core cultivator, she understood why the Green Lion Daoist, despite being a Golden Core cultivator, acted like a religious fanatic.

When the Green Lion Taoist began his cultivation and inquiry into the Dao, it was precisely when the Western Regions, under the leadership of the so-called High Priest, were attempting to establish a faith.

Based on this, Han Lu guessed that this "Green Lion Taoist" should also be from a poor family.

Having received this kind of education since childhood, it's not surprising that he speaks to Han Lu in this manner.

Han Lu had no intention of becoming sworn brothers and sisters with the Western Region cultivator she had only spent a quarter of an hour with. After praising the "Azure Lion Daoist" as having outstanding talent and having the potential to ascend to the Spirit Realm and meet the Holy King like the High Priest, she changed the subject and went on to talk about other things.

The Green Lion Taoist knew Han Lu's general background. When they were about to run out of things to say, he took the initiative to ask Han Lu about her experiences in the Dayu Dynasty and about the situation of the Dayu Dynasty, which was still a mysterious place in the Western Regions.

Han Lu had told these stories countless times. Traveling was boring enough, so she naturally didn't mind letting this Golden Core cultivator from the Western Regions broaden his horizons.

In just two and a half days, the two hit it off and chatted for four or five hours.

It must be said that the High Priest's arrangement for the talkative and young Green Lion Taoist to be the greeter made sense.

Riding on auspicious clouds, the two Golden Core cultivators did not stop for a moment during the two and a half days.

When they arrived at the holy city mentioned by the Green Lion Daoist, which Han Lu knew as the "Western Region Royal City," although it was her second time here, Han Lu still pretended to marvel at it, as if it were her first time visiting this magnificent city that had been built on the grassland for tens of thousands of years.

Hearing such praise coming from the mouth of a genius and handsome cultivator from the Central Plains, Daoist Qing Shi felt pleased.

He led Han Lu to a place where VIPs could stay and settled in.

“Fairy Zhenfeng, I will go and find the High Priest for you, and see when he will be available to see you.”

Immediately afterwards, the Green Lion Taoist repeated Han Lu's needs and the purpose of his trip to the Western Regions, thinking that he could take care of Han Lu's matter while he was at it.

The Green Lion Taoist was extremely efficient; in just a quarter of an hour, he returned to Han Lu's residence and relayed the message.

“Fairy Zhenfeng, the High Priest will have time to see you in five days. Although you are not from the Western Regions, I hope you can bathe and change your clothes and burn three sticks of incense before seeing the High Priest to show your respect.”

"Okay," Han Lu nodded in reply.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Han Lu didn't mind going through a little trouble before meeting him to avoid getting into trouble afterward.

"As for the map," the Green Lion Daoist handed a jade tablet to Han Lu, "If Fairy Zhenfeng doesn't mind the trouble, she can go to the library at any time during these five days to find the map she wants."

"If you find it troublesome, I will retrieve the map from the library for you after we have met the High Priest."

It was a small matter, and Han Lu was naturally not afraid of trouble.

"How could I trouble the Green Lion Daoist for such a small favor? I can handle this myself."

After finding out the location of the library, Han Lu decided to rest there for a day and then visit the library.

[Author's Note] Although Xia Yin Ge only has the first year's storyline and gameplay, it's truly a lot of fun. Especially now that I'm playing my second save, having thoroughly explored the Qixi Festival storyline, I've discovered that the game's plot is very rich. After completing a large number of side quests on Qixi Festival, at the end of the Qixi Festival storyline, I can see many people I helped appear in the last scene of that day. This didn't happen in my first save where I directly progressed through the story by doing events.

If you don't mind the short storyline and enjoy martial arts and simulation games, you can buy it and give it a try.

Chapter 665 Changes Over Thirty Years

That night, Han Lu unexpectedly did not choose to spend the night practicing alone.

After enjoying a meal of "Western Region specialties" served by the servants at the invitation of the Green Lion Taoist in her room, Han Lu changed her appearance from the Phoenix Feather Robe to wearing clothing more in line with the Western Region style and went out for a stroll.

More than thirty years have passed since Han Lu last visited the Western Regions capital.

Thirty years is a relatively long time span, even for an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator.

In a society like the Western Regions, where cultivators, even high-level cultivators, coexist with ordinary people, the effects of this period on the two groups of people would naturally result in drastically different changes in the cities.

The area where ordinary people mainly live on the outskirts is changing rapidly.

The ancient city still maintains its ancient style as much as possible, with high-level cultivators conducting activities and sacrifices. Many ancient buildings have even been renovated to try to make everything look like it did 40,000 years ago.

Although Han Lu was invited to the capital, she was ultimately an outsider.

She has no right to arbitrarily trespass into the core area of ​​the royal city.

In addition, she just wanted to stroll around, pass the time, and experience the Western Regions.