The Long Journey to Immortality

"Sigh," Han Lu sighed, just as she was about to withdraw the sword formation, she suddenly realized that she had fallen into a fixed mindset, "Why do I have to deal with this difficult demonic wind?"

Thinking of this, Han Lu's gaze fell on Venerable Pot Lamp, who was not far away, his face ashen, and he was fully controlling the magic weapon.

Han Lu muttered incantations, gathering the remaining star power in the sword formation onto a single point.

This process lasted for about five breaths.

Immediately following, Han Lu shouted, "Hurry!"

A huge beam of white starlight descended from the direction of the moon, its target being Venerable Potalaka, who was waving a flag and "directing traffic" not far away.

When he noticed an astonishing aura pressing down on him like Mount Tai from above, he realized that the Starlight was only a thousand meters away from Venerable Pot Lamp.

Barely managing to parry, Venerable Pot Lamp was completely swallowed by the starlight in the next instant, disappearing from sight within the pillar of intense light.

Chapter 682 The End

As the stellar power within the sword formation was exhausted and completely disintegrated, the 108 spirit swords returned to one, transforming back into the mindset of the sword pellet.

After a fierce battle, although Han Lu's Golden Core Sword Pill was not fundamentally damaged, it had consumed nearly 70% of its spiritual power.

Even with a beast core still inside her, Han Lu's combat strength, in terms of "data," was only about 70% of her peak.

After swallowing the now dim and lifeless sword pellet, Han Lu casually popped a pill into her mouth to restore her spiritual power before taking flight, intending to get closer to the scene of the "divine punishment."

"Divine Retribution" was a name Han Lu had just come up with, a name she had chosen to describe the powerful impact of gathering the starlight.

Although this move was actually driven by Han Lu's will and executed with the help of the sword formation.

But based on the fundamental source of this power, the name, though lacking in poetic imagery, is quite fitting.

Although Han Lu had never personally experienced the power of the "Divine Punishment" move, she knew it clearly through her several uses of the "Starry Sky Sword Formation".

She knew that even if she were in the form of a phoenix, taking such a blow would surely leave her lying on the ground, barely breathing, severely injured.

As for the situation just now with Venerable Pot Lamp, Han Lu believed that unless Venerable Pot Lamp's body still maintained the strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator, she was afraid that she had gone too far and blasted this former Nascent Soul cultivator, this senior who had seriously injured her father, to smithereens, leaving no trace of his body.

However, the actual situation was slightly better than Han Lu had imagined.

Before the powerful "divine retribution" descended, Venerable Pot Lamp still struggled to put up some defenses, which allowed him to still have a breath left even as starlight poured into his body.

However, he was barely clinging to life.

Half of Venerable Pot Lamp's body had disappeared, and blood was flowing incessantly, staining the ice on which his remaining half lay red.

Given his miserable state, the only thing missing was that he was still breathing. Otherwise, Han Lu would have thought that the senior who had just vowed to teach her a lesson was already dead.

Venerable Pot Lamp was already unconscious at this point.

When divine retribution was imminent, the only word to describe his feelings was frustration.

They were prepared to give up everything, but the plan died before it could be implemented.

What else could this be but frustration?

If Venerable Pot Lamp had known this would happen, he certainly wouldn't have used that "Green Flag" magic weapon. He would have simply used his secret techniques to unleash a set of "Military Boxing" first.

Han Lu did not deliver a grand speech or declare victory to the already delirious Venerable Pot Lamp.

They didn't finish the job, leaving this dying senior as a forgotten figure on the beach.

She simply followed her previous promise and quickly used her methods at the level of consciousness to forcibly imprison Venerable Pot Lamp's consciousness, immersing him in an illusion woven by Han Lu from which he could not awaken.

After completing all this, she hurriedly used her magic to heal Venerable Pot Lamp's injuries and sustain his life, lest he die prematurely from his injuries before being "judged" by Phoenix Wanderer.

The second magical artifact that had just been obtained from Xiaoyaozi's cave came in handy at this moment.

Taking out the Soul-Gathering Bag, Han Lu made a hand seal and activated the magic weapon.

The original storage bag-sized Naling Hun Tian Bag instantly expanded to nearly ten times its original size, enough to fit half a person inside.

Of course, the Soul-Gathering Bag, flattered by the taciturn Xiaoyaozi, wouldn't allow Han Lu to kidnap Venerable Pot Lamp like a bandit.

An irresistible pull emanated from the dark pocket, like a waterspout sucking water, and drew the already mindless Venerable Pot Lamp into it.

Having accomplished all this, the pocket was naturally secured, and the obedient creature returned to its original form, flying back into Han Lu's hand once more.

With the Venerable Pot Lamp inside, the Soul-Gathering Bag could no longer be put into the storage bag. Han Lu could only hang it on her waist, making herself have another bag on her waist, like a mobile warehouse.

This is not over yet.

Han Lu waved her hand, dispersing all the surrounding ice and snow, before picking up the storage bag that Venerable Pot Lamp had dropped on the ground.

The "Heavenly Punishment," formed from the power of stars, could even shatter Venerable Pot Lamp's body. Naturally, it also tore Venerable Pot Lamp's storage bag, which he had originally hung at his waist with a dragon tendon rope, to shreds.

The storage bag had lost its mysterious power and become just an ordinary strip of cloth, with the countless magical treasures it contained scattered on the ground.

Of these magical treasures, only the spirit stone remained intact.

Scattered and fragmented, Han Lu used her artifact manipulation skills to collect all these things, and about 17,000 to 18,000 spirit stones entered Han Lu's storage bag.

This number isn't many, but it's not few either.

It seems that in the past hundred years, Venerable Hudeng has spent a lot of resources to treat his injuries and illnesses, and to seek divination from highly accomplished diviners about Han Lu's condition.

That's why he only kept this number of spirit stones in his storage bag, which was somewhat incongruous with his status.

As for magic weapons and other resources...

The elixirs were all reduced to dust in the final blow of the divine punishment.

Some of the items originally belonging to Venerable Pot Lamp were severely injured in the battle and temporarily unable to be used, while others were also sunk by divine punishment and reduced to scrap metal. Only a few magical treasures that flew a little further away after their storage bags broke were spared.

It was only slightly injured and is still usable.

Looking at the wealth that Venerable Pot Lamp had accumulated over nearly 1,500 years, Han Lu couldn't help but feel a surge of greed.

But upon closer reflection, although Venerable Pot Lamp's "relics" were good, few of them were suitable for her.

Swallowing it in one gulp only cast a shadow over her mood and added some more resources to her storage bag; she gained nothing else.

Thinking of this, Han Lu quickly put all the odds and ends, whether they were usable or not, into an empty storage bag.

She then divided the spirit stones she had just collected into two parts.

The mere three thousand spirit stones were used for medical expenses, and the remaining fifteen thousand spirit stones were also put into the storage bag, to be arranged after Venerable Pot Lamp had determined the fate of the person in question through his "judgment".

After that, Han Lu felt that the air she was breathing was much fresher.

After a fierce battle and a quick cleanup of the aftermath, Han Lu took out the map again and found the nearest oasis town to temporarily set up camp.

After estimating the time, she activated the feather that Feng Rubing had left behind more than 30 years ago to mark her approximate location, while simultaneously going into seclusion to recuperate, giving herself only three days to recover her spiritual power.

Chapter 683 The Heavenly Tribulation of Core Formation

The battle left Han Lu with considerable injuries.

Leaving aside the magical artifacts damaged in battle, it would take at least a month just to restore her sword pellet to its peak condition.

If that's the case, why did Han Lu decide to rest for only three days before continuing westward?

The main reason is that her long-delayed tribulation for achieving the Golden Core is finally about to arrive.

After a cultivator advances to the Golden Core realm, they will all encounter a tribulation.

This tribulation is not very powerful; even many Foundation Establishment cultivators can easily overcome it. It only increases in power when it is afflicted on extremely wicked cultivators, becoming a means for Heaven to select "good and evil cultivators."

This calamity is both a tribulation and an opportunity.

A very small number of cultivators have even been known to use this Heavenly Tribulation to improve the quality of their Golden Core.

The date of this tribulation varies for each cultivator.

For the vast majority of cultivators, the thirty-sixth day after forming their core will bring them the test of this heavenly tribulation.

For example, Xiao Ran, who successfully formed a second-grade core in the deep blue desert of the Great Yu Dynasty with the help of Han Lu, was able to do so because he had made many good connections and his behavior was in accordance with the will of Heaven. As a result, the date of his core formation tribulation was changed to forty-nine days, giving him more time to prepare.

If this applies to good people, what about bad people?

Ci Daoren, a Golden Core cultivator who had met Han Lu a few times and even helped her, had committed evil deeds and defied the will of Heaven, which led to him encountering a massive lightning tribulation half a day after forming his Golden Core.

Not only was he severely injured and his cultivation level dropped, but his body was also possessed by an "unconventional" inner demon, transforming him into his later form.

If such a wicked and evil person is treated this way, then what about a kind person like Han Lu, who is seen as virtuous by Heaven? Naturally, she also receives special treatment.

Immediately after forming her core, Han Lu didn't even sense the exact time when the tribulation of core formation would arrive, which was unheard of.

It wasn't until just before she left home that she learned, through some unseen intuition, the exact date of her tribulation to achieve immortality.

It has been exactly one hundred days since the day she left home.

In Han Lu's opinion, this was more than enough time. She was fully capable of reaching the Wilderness smoothly and, under the "protection" of her clan and parents, passing through the Core Formation Tribulation, which might not even be considered a calamity.

But to everyone's surprise, the journey was not smooth, and two and a half months passed in the blink of an eye.

In order to find a safe place to undergo the tribulation, she chose to rest for only three days before setting off quickly, hoping to return to the wilderness as soon as possible with the help of her father or mother and settle down before the heavenly tribulation descends.

Three days is neither a long nor a short time.

Unfortunately, the oasis where Han Lu rested was not a sacred place for cultivation.

Otherwise, with her extravagant use of numerous pills and decoctions to aid her recovery, Han Lu could have even recovered to about 95% of her original condition.

Even though the spiritual energy was slightly weaker, Han Lu still managed to restore the luster of the sword pellet, which had become "dull and lusterless," within three days. Although she was still unable to freely transform the sword pellet into a spiritual sword as she had when she fought against Venerable Pot Lamp.

However, in this state, dealing with some ordinary early-stage Golden Core cultivators would certainly not be a problem.

Not to mention that Han Lu didn't even transform into a phoenix during that great battle; her beast core remained in its most perfect state. If she were to fight Venerable Pot Lamp again in that state for another three hundred rounds, Han Lu would definitely activate her cultivation technique to transform her true spirit immediately, moving from her victory three days ago to a new victory in a different way.

As for Venerable Zhonghudeng's condition during these three days, it can only be described as being under Han Lu's control.

His consciousness was imprisoned, trapped in a bag, half-dead.

They lose consciousness and are unable to escape, but they will not die from their injuries.

Han Lu hopes to maintain Venerable Pot Lamp's state until she meets her father, explains the matter, and helps him resolve or violently resolve the grudge from a hundred years ago.

Three days later, Han Lu set off again.

This time, with a clear objective, she traveled almost in a straight line, holding a white phoenix feather in her hand.

Thanks to Han Lu's improved cultivation, the connection between the phoenix feathers and the phoenix feathers is much stronger than it was back then.

Han Lu even suspected that if she were to advance to the Nascent Soul realm, she might be able to use the phoenix feather to send out some simple messages and communicate directly with Feng Rubing or Feng You, even from thousands of miles away.