The Long Journey to Immortality

According to Xiaoyaozi's own account, he once used this magic weapon to trap no fewer than five Golden Core cultivators who were in his hands, and completely extracted their Golden Cores.

These five golden pills were traded as commodities, earning him approximately 30,000 spirit stones and accumulating a considerable fortune.

Having benefited greatly, Xiaoyaozi boasted extensively about the "Spirit-Gathering Heavenly Bag" in the jade tablet, exaggerating the power of this spiritual artifact, which had only just reached the upper-grade level, to the point that it was comparable to a spiritual treasure.

Seeing that it was only these two magical treasures, Han Lu was slightly disappointed.

The first magical item, the all-purpose ointment, didn't suit Han Lu's style of fighting, so naturally, she didn't like it.

The second magic weapon was too vicious; Han Lu could only use it for trapping enemies. As for refining people and stealing their elixir, that was something Han Lu was simply incapable of doing, which significantly reduced the value of the magic weapon.

But upon closer examination, it's quite reasonable for Xiaoyaozi to have placed these two magical treasures here.

After all, he was just a rogue cultivator from the East Sea with limited possessions.

He could prepare a lot of resources for those who came after him during the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, but he didn't have the resources to do so when they reached the Golden Core stage.

Thus, coupled with the few bottles of leftover pills used by those at the Golden Core stage, it was already a huge financial drain for Xiaoyaozi, who still had three or four years of lifespan left at that time.

Thinking about this, Han Lu gained a new understanding of Xiaoyaozi's message.

After storing the magic treasures, pills, and a mere five thousand spirit stones in her storage bag, Han Lu thoroughly searched her cave dwelling to make sure nothing was missing before leaving through the teleportation portal once more.

Even considering the Nascent Soul stage cultivation technique, the "Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique," this trip can only be described as "coming with high hopes and returning disappointed."

Chapter 675 Attack

As Han Lu left through the portal, before she could even breathe in the scorching desert air, an unexpected event occurred.

"what happened?"

Standing in the now dimly lit teleportation array, Han Lu discovered that the array she had set up had somehow been broken and neutralized, plunging the surrounding world into near-total darkness.

"Oh no." A bad feeling crept into her mind. The few words of martial arts experience that Xiaoyaozi had left in the jade tablet suddenly appeared in Han Lu's mind. Without thinking too much, she subconsciously activated the Five Elements Qi that enveloped the Golden Core cultivator to the extreme and immediately activated the Spirit Water Ring that had just recognized her as its master.

The Spirit Water Ring, held in Han Lu's right hand, emitted a faint blue light. In the next instant, a thick and turbid dark blue water curtain appeared in front of Han Lu.

Having just finished all this, and having returned to the desert less than three breaths later, Han Lu was met with the first wave of attacks launched by the raiders who had destroyed the "formation flags".

Han Lu's quick reaction took the attackers by surprise.

However, considering that they were still in the shadows and had already set up a formation and prepared multiple methods, the attackers still chose to launch the attack when Han Lu was prepared.

The first wave of attacks consisted of a set of twenty-four spirit swords.

The twenty-four spirit swords had been poised and ready for action, forming a sword formation. At the attacker's command, they launched an attack on Han Lu from all directions in the darkness.

Hearing the familiar sound of a flying spirit sword, Han Lu was finally certain that someone with ill intentions had somehow located her and set up various methods to launch a sneak attack.

Despite having many questions, Han Lu chose to first counter the attacker's various tactics, then drag the attacker out of the darkness, "winning people over with virtue," and figure out whether the other party acted intentionally or was simply passing by and taking advantage of the situation.

Passive defense was not Han Lu's habit. Having finally found an opportunity to fight without any scruples, she couldn't wait to spit out the sword pellet inside her body after setting up two layers of protection, and fought for the first time as a Golden Core cultivator.

The sword pellet unfolded and transformed into a spirit sword about one and a half meters long.

Han Lu made another hand seal, and the single spirit sword instantly multiplied into seven, transforming into seven golden spirit swords, each possessing the quality equivalent to a high-grade spirit weapon.

This is one of the major advantages that using the sword pellet as a false core to form a first-grade golden core brings to the Seven Kill Sword Technique.

The formation blocked Han Lu's use of divine sense, so she could only locate people by sound. She would probably have to use her spirit sword to make it fly in seven directions.

Just as Han Lu finished doing all this, the spirit sword activated by the attacker flew out of the darkness with rainbow light and appeared in her sight.

With everything prepared, and only a slight adjustment, Han Lu skillfully manipulated the seven spirit swords to entwine around it.

Despite being outnumbered, Han Lu remained calm and confident in the spirit sword formed from the sword pellet.

All that could be heard in the dimly lit area was the clanging sound of spirit swords clashing.

The attacker's expression changed from confident to bewildered as the sounds rang out.

"What's going on? Han Lu's spirit sword is so powerful?"

Generally speaking, a complete set of spirit swords has many advantages, but they all have one disadvantage: their quality is not high.

The set of spirit swords wielded by the attacker, although rated as a high-grade spirit weapon, could only be barely considered a seventh-grade spirit weapon in terms of quality for a single spirit sword.

The difference in quality between these magical artifacts is why Han Lu's sword pellet spirit sword can fight against multiple opponents and gain the upper hand.

Noticing that part of his spirit sword had been damaged and temporarily rendered ineffective, the attacker's expression grew increasingly grim, and he raised his already high opinion of Han Lu to an even higher level.

With a wave of his hand, the attacker decisively cut his losses, retrieving his spirit sword as much as possible to prevent it from being completely destroyed by Han Lu's spirit sword within the formation. At the same time, he hurriedly activated the formation's restrictions and launched a second wave of attack.

The Five Elements magic was activated through the magic array, launching a fierce attack on Han Lu like a thunderstorm.

These spells seemed to be cast without expending any spiritual energy, one after another without any pause.

Seeing this, Han Lu first controlled the sword pellet spirit sword to continue chasing the "deserter," while at the same time injecting more spiritual power into the "spiritual water ring" in her hand to use this magic weapon for defense.

In Han Lu's hands, the Spirit Water Ring could indeed unleash power beyond its grade.

Although it had only recently become her possession, Han Lu could already sense the compatibility between this magical artifact and her cultivation technique.

Using this treasure to unleash its supernatural powers was not a burden whatsoever for Han Lu, who possessed two first-grade golden cores and whose magical power was comparable to that of a mid-stage golden core cultivator.

The spiritual energy consumed by the numerous spells launched by the formation being blocked by the spiritual water ring is almost negligible and can be replenished with just a breath.

The attackers were unaware of this, and continued to pour their spiritual energy into the formation, using its power to "save energy for casting spells," thinking of "bullying the weak with the strong," using a war of attrition to wear them down first, and then ending the battle themselves.

After being battered by this sustained offensive for about a hundred breaths, Han Lu realized the attacker's general mindset.

"Want to wage a war of attrition? Then let it drag on. Anyway, you launched a sneak attack on me, so dragging it out is to my advantage."

She became increasingly confused about the attacker's identity, and at the same time, she began to think about how to break the formation and capture the attacker hiding in the shadows.

There are many ways to break the formation, and under these circumstances, Han Lu has the energy and resources to try them.

After a moment of contemplation, Han Lu opened her mouth and spat out a ball of Phoenix True Flame.

She planned to use the Phoenix True Flame, fueled by spiritual energy, to destroy the spiritual energy flow of the array surrounding her, thereby breaking it and restoring light to the world.

In order to make the attackers believe that this "war of attrition" would work on her, Han Lu deliberately put on an act, occasionally putting a pill in her mouth to accelerate the recovery of her spiritual power, making herself appear to be lacking in spiritual power and on the verge of collapse.

Another quarter of an hour passed. Just when the attackers thought they could almost completely destroy Han Lu's spiritual power and reap the rewards of their victory, Han Lu finally determined the approximate layout of the formation beneath her feet and divided a ball of Fire Phoenix True Flame into ten balls, placing them in suitable positions.

As if pressing an "explosion button," ten clusters of fiery phoenix flames attacked simultaneously, causing the formation to "short-circuit" instantly.

The sky of endless yellow sand in the Western Regions once again came into Han Lu's view.

At the same time, the attacker, flying a hundred meters away from Han Lu, revealed his true identity to Han Lu right before her eyes.

The attackers disguised themselves as ordinary monks and did not use illusions to conceal their faces.

Han Lu looked at the other person carefully, unable to connect the other person with any of the cultivators she knew, and also unable to tell whether the other person came from the Central Plains or the Western Regions.

"They were probably just passing by with the intention of killing and robbing."

Having made a rough judgment in her mind, Han Lu put the spirit water ring back into her storage bag, flew through the air, took the initiative to meet him, and asked.

"Sir, you are a Golden Core cultivator, yet you set up an array here to launch a sneak attack. Do you want my wealth or my life?"

[Author's Note] Guess the identity of the attacker. If you guess correctly, I'll consider adding an extra chapter.

Chapter 676 Daughter Pays for Father's Debts

Upon hearing Han Lu's question, the attacker burst into laughter three times before replying, "I never expected that Fairy Han's Taoist magic is so profound, yet her mind is so dull."

"I've come here, naturally to take your life and avenge the grudge between us."

These two sentences changed Han Lu's mind.

The title "Fairy Han" is clearly not something a highway robber would use.

Naturally, using this title to address Han Lu is definitely aimed at Han Lu, and they came here specifically to ambush and seek revenge.

Frowning slightly, Han Lu asked herself, "Do I really have an enemy in this world whose strength is roughly equivalent to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm?"

Having just advanced to the Golden Core realm a year ago, and having lived and cultivated in the peaceful and harmonious Central Plains for so long, Han Lu had no recollection of having any enmity with such a person.

"Could they be helpers invited by the Three Immortals of Tiger Mountain?" This thought had barely crossed her mind when Han Lu dismissed it.

Not to mention how far this place is from the East China Sea.

Even though they were so close, Han Lu didn't think that the fact that she had resolved about 90% of the grudges with the Three Immortals of Tiger Mountain would attract such a cultivator to ambush her.

"You actually recognize me?" Han Lu asked bluntly. "May I ask how I am addressed, and what grudge we have against each other?"

The attacker flicked his sleeve, put his hands behind his back, and said, "I wonder if Fairy Han has ever heard your father mention the name of Venerable Pot Lamp?"

Han Lu shook her head and said, "I've never heard of you. Are you Venerable Pot Lamp? If you are a Venerable, why do you only have a cultivation level comparable to the mid-stage Golden Core realm?"

Although even Foundation Establishment cultivators can call themselves Venerables, most shameless cultivators only change the suffix of their Daoist title to "Venerable" when they advance to the Nascent Soul stage or reach the late Golden Core stage.

“That’s all thanks to your father,” Venerable Pot Lamp recalled the past and gritted his teeth in anger. “A hundred years ago, your father injured me and caused me to fall from my cultivation level.”

"Today I will take his daughter Qichu, capture you, torture you for a hundred years and then kill you, to avenge myself and my two junior brothers and vent my anger."

Having said that, Han Lu naturally understood the cause and effect, and guessed the identity of this Venerable Pot Lamp and the specific reason why he came to seek revenge.

After advancing to the Golden Core Realm, Han Lu's information was naturally leaked due to the intense public attention.

Part of this was due to the Zhengyi Sect leveraging their influence and fueling the flames. In short, the vast majority of high-ranking figures in the Central Plains cultural sphere were aware of Han Lu's relationship with the True Spirit of the Wilderness Phoenix. A small number, such as the High Priest and other Nascent Soul cultivators, even knew about Han Lu's relationship with Feng You.

It was because this Venerable Pot Lamp knew about this relationship that he took the initiative to seek out Han Lu, hoping to make her repay her father's debts.

Based on the information Han Lu currently possesses, she judges that this Venerable Pot Lamp should be the Xuan Yang Valley cultivator who, nearly a hundred years ago, when Feng You came to the Central Plains to search for Feng Rubing's whereabouts, offended and fought with her for some unknown reason.

Venerable Pot Lamp was probably the only one among the three Xuan Yang Valley cultivators who was in the mid-Nascent Soul stage, and also the Xuan Yang Valley cultivator who had the best outcome after the great battle with Feng You.

The other two cultivators who fought with Feng You were Venerable Hu Deng's junior brothers. One was beaten into an idiot, and the other was beaten into a "sweeping uncle" whose arduous cultivation was reduced to ashes.

After figuring everything out, Han Lu couldn't help but feel speechless, as if she had suffered an undeserved misfortune.

But bowing down and flattering such an unreasonable cultivator was not Han Lu's style.

Not to mention that the other party was rude first, Han Lu decisively chose to start with a verbal battle to provoke the matchmaker who truly brought Feng You and her mother together a hundred years ago.

“Venerable Pot Lamp, I think you are truly shameless.”

"I have no idea why you fought with my father, but it is a certainty that you and your three junior brothers ganged up on the weak."

"Now, you've come to seek revenge on me again, bullying the weak with your strength."

“I see absolutely no trace of the upright and honorable spirit of the cultivators from the Central Plains in you.”