The Long Journey to Immortality

Having experienced that crushing defeat, Venerable Pot Lamp was no longer the same as ordinary cultivators from the Central Plains, and Han Lu's words struck at his weak point.

On the contrary, Venerable Pot Lamp frankly admitted that his behavior was not so despicable.

"What happened a hundred years ago is a mess. It seems your father told you about it, but he didn't explain it clearly."

"Frankly speaking, the fight was caused by faults on both sides, but in any case, your father did seriously injure me, reduced one of my junior brothers to a cultivation level below Qi Refining, and turned another junior brother into an idiot."

"This grudge exists no matter how you look at it."

Venerable Pot Lamp spoke so kindly that Han Lu could not refute him.

Judging from these words alone, Venerable Pot Lamp does indeed possess some of the qualities of a cultivator from the Central Plains.

"Today I've come to seek revenge on you. You could say it's bullying the weak, but that's not entirely wrong."

"And you keep referring to me as Venerable Pot Lamp, and you say I'm bullying the weak, which actually makes me quite happy."

As he said this, Venerable Pot Lamp recalled the unfair treatment he received in the sect after his cultivation level dropped, and couldn't help but sigh that it was his enemy's daughter who gave him, this "senior," enough respect.

"But I'm not stupid. I won't be ashamed and walk away because of your few words, waiting for you to advance to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm before coming back for revenge."

"Such a good opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

Venerable Pot Lamp learned of Han Lu's relationship with Feng You a year ago, so he naturally had enough time to investigate Han Lu's strength and plan his revenge.

He was well aware of Han Lu's capabilities and knew that if he allowed her to develop for another ten or twenty years, he would definitely not be her match.

Upon hearing that Han Lu had left Zhengyi Sect for the Western Regions, Venerable Hudeng felt this was his greatest opportunity. He hastily spent a fortune and used his connections to hire a top-notch "diviner" to predict Han Lu's movements, planning to ambush her.

"Considering the respect you showed me earlier, and your pleasing appearance, I won't resort to any humiliating punishments like skinning you alive, wasting your energy, or finding you a beggar husband after I capture you."

"I'll only take half your blood and bone, and then give you a clean break. Not only that, I'll also build you a grave, and every five years I'll send my disciple to burn some paper money for you." Venerable Pot Lamp smiled and spoke earnestly, as if he had truly shown some compassion and was thinking of turning hostility into friendship.

Han Lu looked at Venerable Pot Lamp with disdain as he spoke such cruel words so casually.

“Venerable Pot Lamp, it seems this matter cannot be resolved peacefully?” Han Lu’s hand was already on the storage bag. “If you kill him here, it might ignite a great war between the Zhengyi Sect and Xuan Yang Valley. My father and mother will definitely come to Xuan Yang Valley to visit and make a small contribution to reducing the number of cultivators in Xuan Yang Valley.”

"Why not think more about your own sect?"

Han Lu felt that the matter had already been settled and did not want to cause any more bloodshed.

Unexpectedly, Venerable Pot Lamp chuckled upon hearing this and uttered a shocking remark.

"There's no one around here, who would know I killed you?"

"Sect? If the Valley Master knew I was seeking revenge here, he would try every means to clean everything up and make it look neat and tidy. He would probably be eager to hand me a knife or a magic weapon."

[Author's Note] No one guessed correctly.

Chapter 677 Undercurrents, Verbal sparring

Han Lu was terrified by Venerable Pot Lamp's words. She subconsciously pondered for a moment whether the Zhengyi Sect, where she belonged, and the Xuan Yang Valley, where the other party belonged, were still righteous sects of the Central Plains.

After a moment's thought, Han Lu felt that Venerable Pot Lamp's words were somewhat exaggerated, but not without reason.

While there was no explicit instruction or exaggerated delivery of murder weapons, the Valley Master and higher-ups of Xuan Yang Valley certainly implied and tacitly approved the use of Venerable Hu Deng, who had lost his potential, as an "assassin."

The conflict between the Zhengyi Sect and the Xuanyang Valley exists both openly and covertly. Although they mostly abide by the rules of the Central Plains cultivation world, there are always instances of them going astray.

If Venerable Pot Lamp could really sneakily kill this Golden Core cultivator, who was very likely to become the future Supreme Elder of the Zhengyi Sect, in the Western Regions.

The Valley Master of Xuan Yang Valley will surely shed a few tears at the public "memorial service," while secretly celebrating with his fellow disciples.

Han Lu secretly lamented that the cultivation world in the Central Plains was no longer as pure as before after entering the Golden Core realm. She also made up her mind to have a good match with this most senior opponent she had ever encountered in her cultivation.

“What Venerable Pot Lamp said is interesting.”

"I am not aware of your relationship with my father, and I do not wish to comment on it."

“But today I have been polite to you, while you have been rude to me, which is obvious.”

"If Venerable Pot Lamp is unwilling to apologize, leave, and compensate me with 78,000 spirit stones, then I can only do my best to capture you."

"It just so happens that I'm going to the wilderness soon. I'll settle this score with you on the way, and then I'll take you to see my father in a month so he can talk to you about the grudges from a hundred years ago."

Han Lu made her point clearly, feeling somewhat innocent. She hadn't gained any magical treasures or pills on this trip; instead, she had been ambushed.

It was only because Venerable Pot Lamp's actions were somewhat understandable that he refrained from speaking harshly.

Upon hearing this, Venerable Pot Lamp laughed and said, "Little girl, you've lived for less than a hundred years, yet you speak with such arrogance."

“I said that I might not be able to defeat you in a few decades, but there’s no chance that I will become your defeated opponent today.”

"Let me see just how much you're worth to dare spout such nonsense here."

After saying that, Venerable Pot Lamp launched a surprise attack without warning. With a wave of his hand, he used his magic to condense the surrounding sand and dust together, forming two sand giants that bared their fangs and claws and attacked Han Lu.

The giant was nearly twenty meters tall. Although it had no flesh and blood, it looked like a tough nut to crack.

Although Han Lu could have easily used her flying skills to escape, she still wanted to respond directly to the first round of their exchange, to let this disrespectful former Nascent Soul cultivator know her power.

Han Lu had seen similar tricks before. Although the earth spirits she summoned were not as exaggerated as they were now, the tricks to deal with them could be copied and used in the same way.

Han Lu spat out the tiny sword pellet from her mouth once again.

With a hand seal, the sword pellet, which was originally only half the size of a fist, suddenly expanded to the size of a basketball. When unfolded again, it transformed into a spirit sword, becoming a giant sword that was a full five meters long.

Although it's called a giant sword, it's still a bit short compared to the sand giant.

However, when Han Lu directed the giant sword to unleash the "Point Word Technique," it possessed the power to sweep away thousands of troops.

Responding to the challenge, Venerable Pot Lamp quickly performed a hand seal to break the earth spirit into smaller pieces.

It dodged Han Lu's sharp sword with a cloud of dust, then reformed itself on the spot, like Mount Tai pressing down, crushing towards Han Lu's true form that was suspended in the air.

Seeing this, Han Lu remained calm. A pair of light wings emerged from her back and flapped them sharply.

Soaring into the sky, Tu Ling, who was about to close the doors on both sides to trap Han Lu, missed his target.

Seeing this, the two earth spirits did not need Venerable Pot Lamp to give them any special instructions; they responded according to their own intelligence.

The two earth spirits that collided instantly merged into one.

Tu Ling, who had risen another ten meters or so, casually swung his "fist" at Han Lu, who was flying in the air.

The "fist" flew no more than thirty meters before turning into hundreds of earthen nails, their sharp edges aimed directly at Han Lu, threatening to pierce her body with hundreds of holes.

One move after another followed another. This was the first time Han Lu had encountered such an experienced and powerful opponent. She couldn't help but marvel at how Venerable Pot Lamp was indeed a "Nascent Soul" level opponent.

Despite her lament, Han Lu had plenty of ways to deal with such crude and direct tactics.

Han Lu inhaled through her mouth, the scorching desert wind swirling inside her stomach before being exhaled as it turned into countless frosts.

The numerous soil nails were immediately frozen solid by the frost.

The flow of spiritual energy within the earthen nail, blocked by the ice, caused it to break free from the earth spirit's control and become half-mortal.

Having anticipated this, Han Lu immediately used her artifact manipulation skills to send these mortal objects, which had already transformed into ice spikes, back home.

A sudden and massive hailstorm struck the desert, with countless icicles, each half the size of a person, falling from the sky and pelting the enormous earth spirit with a crackling sound.

The earth spirit roared angrily, and with a mighty roar, it straightened the sand and dust, forming an earthen wall to block the attack.

Although the ice spikes were sharp, they were ultimately just ordinary objects. Although they smashed the makeshift earthen wall to pieces, they did not harm the earth spirit in the slightest.

As the hailstorm ended and the earthen wall collapsed, just as Venerable Pot Lamp was about to make a sarcastic remark, Han Lu launched her second attack, revealing her second method for dealing with earth spirits.

Han Lu's past experience fighting against desert behemoths in the deep blue desert of the Great Yu Dynasty led her to use the "Fire Phoenix True Flame" technique, a practical but not flashy move, as a backup plan.

The earth spirit, which formed a giant entirely from sand and gravel using spiritual power, was easily ignited.

The Fire Phoenix True Flame had barely touched the surface of the Earth Spirit when the sparks of fire quickly spread throughout the Earth Spirit's entire body, transforming it into a giant of fire in the desert.

"Oh no, it's the Fire Phoenix's divine power." Venerable Pot Lamp, who had investigated Han Lu's background long ago, immediately recognized what move Han Lu was using. He thought to himself that things were not good, and he quickly made a hand seal to sever his connection with the Fire Spirit in order to avoid getting burned. At the same time, he could also free up his hands to prepare for a second wave of attack.

The Phoenix Flame burned on the Earth Spirit for only ten breaths before completely burning away its spiritual essence, leaving it as an empty shell.

When the flames subsided, only a giant, glass-colored statue remained in the desert. Han Lu then used her Sword Pellet Spirit Sword to strike it lightly, shattering the once arrogant earth spirit into pieces.

Sheathed her spirit sword and, without any politeness, mocked, "Venerable Pot Lamp, is this all you've got? Where did you get the audacity to cause trouble for my father back then?"

Upon hearing this, Venerable Pot Lamp's expression remained unchanged; he merely forced out a few words through gritted teeth.

"Since you're not feeling right, why not try this trick again?"

Chapter 678 Dragon-Headed Monster

The battle with Han Lu's father, Feng You, was a mental obstacle for Venerable Hu Deng. During the hundred years that he lost most of his strength and fell to the Golden Core realm, he spent about 30% of his time reviewing that battle, searching for a sliver of hope that he and his junior brother could defeat Feng You together.

Because of his obsession with this, after learning about Han Lu's identity and having the idea of ​​a daughter atoning for her father's debts, Venerable Pot Lamp devoted a lot of time and effort to studying Han Lu.

Based on the information Han Lu had revealed, he had rehearsed the process of fighting Han Lu at least two thousand times in his mind.

Therefore, although Venerable Pot Lamp suffered a setback in the first move, his mind was at its clearest during the battles he had fought in his more than a thousand years of cultivation.

Numerous subsequent measures and preparations are underway, awaiting a suitable opportunity to be deployed to the battlefield.

Venerable Pot Lamp flicked his ten fingers in quick succession, and specks of black light fell to the ground.

After a simple formation was formed, he patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist and summoned a monster that resembled a beast but was not quite.

The monster was shaped like a chariot, with a dragon's head but no snake's tail, and looked like a magical beast with mixed dragon blood.

Upon entering the magic array, influenced by the array's power, the dragon-headed monster, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened its eyes. Dark brown flames erupted from the chariot, and an aura comparable to that of a cultivator in the early Golden Core stage emanated from the strange dragon-headed monster.

In a life-or-death battle, Venerable Pot Lamp naturally wouldn't explain the origins of this strange dragon-headed monster to Han Lu.

He muttered an incantation under his breath, directing the chariot—whether it was a magical artifact or a monster—to charge towards Han Lu.

Upon seeing this, Han Lu frowned slightly.

It wasn't that she found the monster difficult to deal with, but rather that its ugly appearance made her uncomfortable.

The sword pellet, which had originally expanded to five meters in size, descended from the sky and flew back into Han Lu's hand, returning to its usual shape as a sword pellet.

Han Lu held the sword pellet in her right hand, and with her left index finger gathering spiritual energy, she drew a symbol on the sword pellet.

As the final stroke of the symbol was completed, the spirit sword, which had just returned to its original sword pellet shape, unfolded once more, and a spirit sword that was nine-tenths similar to the spirit power sword that Han Lu had once wielded appeared in her hand.

Han Lu's hand holding the sword trembled, and a golden lightning bolt rolled out from the hilt. The surface of the spirit sword was crackling with electricity, and at first glance, it looked as if Han Lu was holding a bolt of lightning.

This is a supernatural ability that Han Lu learned after forming the sword pellet.

The sword pellet can change its nature and attributes under the operation of the Seven Kill Sword Technique, so that the spirit sword it transforms into can have various attributes and forms, so that Han Lu, the user, can use it flexibly and skillfully to defeat the enemy.