The Long Journey to Immortality

Although Li Feng and Huan Feng have a good relationship, and Feng You has several friends and acquaintances in the Li Feng clan, in terms of blood relations, it would probably take nearly ten generations to find a direct blood connection.

Unfortunately, the distance between them lacked the catalyst for love to blossom; distance didn't create beauty.

From this point of view alone, the success rate of Han Lu and Ming Lifeng's bloodline is naturally somewhat lower.

However, it is different from the previous two times.

This time, Han Lu received guidance from Feng Hanchi, a senior who had a deep understanding of the "Harmony" secret technique.

Both in terms of theory and practice, I have gained more experience than in the previous two times.

With one addition and one subtraction, Han Lu felt that there was at least a 30% chance of successfully harmonizing the bloodline.

The probability of this happening is already very low, and if others overhear this, they might even make sarcastic comments about Han Lu, saying that she has an inflated sense of self-importance.

After all, even in the True Spirit Era, only three senior members of the Phoenix Clan successfully harmonized their three bloodlines to become Four-Winged True Phoenixes.

The Harmony Technique is quite difficult to execute. If there were truly a 30% success rate, countless phoenixes in the Phoenix Clan would have already succeeded in achieving Harmony.

But in reality? There are only a handful of phoenixes that share the same bloodline as Heming.

However, being confident in this matter is not a bad thing.

Han Lu sat upright on the Dharma seat in the practice room.

The harmonious singing requires the phoenix to change its form, and Han Lu's room in the Phoenix Perch Forest is not large enough to comfortably accommodate an adult phoenix.

Feng Wuyi, who had just delivered the essence blood, had already taken his leave, leaving only Feng You by Han Lu's side to protect her.

Although Fengyou, the father, had many things he wanted to tell Hanlu, he simply sat by her side, holding a book, without saying a word, afraid of putting any pressure on his daughter.

After holding the small bottle containing her essence and blood and meditating with her eyes closed for about fifteen minutes, Han Lu once again activated the Harmony Secret Technique recorded in the True Phoenix Manual, trying to get closer to the True Phoenix that had appeared in the human world before the True Spirit Era.

Han Lu gently raised her left hand and used her artifact manipulation technique to pull out the stopper from the small bottle.

A strong smell of blood emanated from the small bottle, and at the same time, the temperature in the room rose slightly.

The smell of blood was slightly different from Han Lu's own blood; it was pungent but also had a chilling quality, somewhat like a mixture of cilantro and chili peppers.

It smelled strange and unpleasant, but it brought her physical and mental pleasure.

Feng Hanchi was very generous, putting about five drops of his essence blood into the small bottle. This gave Han Lu, who was already frugal, an extra valuable resource that she could trade with others.

Carefully using his artifact manipulation skills, he separated the five drops of essence blood and extracted three of them.

After completing this step, Han Lu quickly plugged the bottle opening again and carefully stored it in her storage bag.

Continuing to use her control techniques, Han Lu brought the three drops of blood close to her open mouth. Without any preparation or warm-up, she directly put the three drops of blood into her mouth and swallowed them.

The essence and blood flowed down the esophagus and were discovered and captured by the already activated "Harmony" secret technique before entering the stomach, and then entered the spiritual veins through the skin and flesh.

All roads lead to Rome.

The twelve spiritual meridians that Han Lu opened during her Qi Refining stage saved her a lot of time in circulating her essence and blood at this moment.

With a slight twist, the essence blood passed through the two spiritual meridians, spreading the "energy" and "aura" contained within it to Han Lu's entire body through the activation of a secret technique, and successfully entering Han Lu's dantian after completing this short journey.

These outward-radiating auras of Li Feng, attempting to merge into Han Lu's body, resonated with the medicinal powder and decoction that Han Lu had been given over the past hundred days.

This is similar to having cavalry scouts ahead to explore the route when the troops are advancing, or even having established a "cooperative government" in enemy-occupied territory. Naturally, when the main force advances, everything will go smoothly, and the attack will be unstoppable.

The "one percent" of help that Feng Hanchi mentioned does indeed have some merit.

This time, thanks to the groundwork laid by taking the herbal medicine, He Ming skipped the first adaptation phase and went straight into the intense main event.

The Three Phoenix Bloodline within Han Lu was slow to react. When she discovered the "invasion" launched by foreign elements and began to fight back, the environment within Han Lu's body became completely complicated.

Just as the four bloodlines were divided into two camps and began a fierce battle of literary and martial arts, the three drops of essence blood that entered Han Lu's dantian truly began to play their role as materials for the Heming Secret Technique.

As the secret technique came to its main point, Han Lu naturally transformed back into the form of a phoenix.

A huge phoenix lay in Fengyou's training room, as if it had fallen into a deep sleep.

The colors of the phoenix feathers that Han Lu had transformed into resembled a map of several armies at war, painted with colors by two opposing forces, reporting the specific results of the battle within Han Lu's body.

The process was painful, but because Han Lu had the experience from the previous two times and was well prepared, she did not lose her mental clarity because of the physical pain.

Her mind remained calm, allowing her to exert her secret arts to intervene in the war at the right time as the master of her body, mediate, and force the various forces within her to make peace, form a "united government," and cooperate, becoming part of her power after she transformed into a true spirit.

A thin, reddish film appeared out of thin air, completely enveloping Han Lu's phoenix body.

Some liquid, similar to blood, seeped out from the gaps between the feathers, completely filling the empty space in the membrane.

Han Lu herself also fell into a deep sleep under the influence of the Harmony Secret Technique, relying solely on the natural functioning of the technique and her body's instincts to continue operating this complex secret technique.

Seeing this, Feng You, who was not very proficient in the art of harmony, became slightly nervous. He dared not leave Han Lu's body for even a moment, lest something go wrong.

The paper sword was launched, and Feng Hanchi rushed over in a hurry.

When Feng You learned from the expert Feng Hanchi that this was just a normal change, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued to stay by Han Lu's side, waiting for the Harmony Secret Technique to be completed, hoping that Han Lu would become the only four-winged true phoenix in the clan.

[Author's Note] After recommending Hearts of Iron IV to a friend, I finally bought the game and became addicted to it again.

Chapter 697 Discussing Overt Strategies

Just as Han Lu obtained Feng Hanchi's essence blood and began to use secret techniques at her home in Fengqilin to try to share a bloodline with Mingxin, the elders of several types of phoenixes among the Nine Phoenixes, who had always been at odds with the Illusion Phoenix, Fire Phoenix, and Ice Phoenix clans, gathered together.

Although what they were discussing wasn't about dealing with Han Lu, it was still closely related to Han Lu and Ming's matter.

Even setting aside the identity of a true spirit, the struggle between people of the same race would be an open and aboveboard affair rather than a clandestine conspiracy.

And this is especially true for a wild and powerful clan like the Phoenix Clan.

Even simpler, just "tough it out" instead of planning out a series of steps that make a simple matter complicated and difficult to handle.

After all, moderate internal strife can help a group move upward, but large-scale and complex internal conflicts can cause a group to move downward.

Therefore, the content of their discussion was not complicated.

This was simply to guard against the possibility of "centralization of power" that might occur after Han Lu achieved the Four True Phoenixes.

Although the Nine Phoenixes had already unified once again after the True Spirit Era, their relationship was more like a loose confederation than a tight federation.

We must stand together and deal with important matters collectively, and not lose face for the Phoenix Clan.

They prefer to handle minor and private matters on their own, rather than having another leader of their own tribe pointing fingers and giving orders in front of everyone.

Even if these pointers are useful, and if the power of the Nine Phoenixes can help them handle these matters perfectly, I still don't like them.

It has been too long since the True Spirit Era that any major event has occurred that has threatened the entire Phoenix Clan, and the Nine Phoenixes have become accustomed to being carefree.

If someone is so averse to authority, what would happen if Han Lu were to achieve the Four True Phoenixes? She might rely on the so-called "legitimacy" to gain widespread support for the Illusion Phoenix Clan and become the so-called "absolute authority."

If the "True Phoenix" were to truly reappear in the world, they would be willing to acknowledge it and truly regard it as their supreme ruler, hoping to realize the glory of the Phoenix Clan in the era of the True Spirit.

However, simply having "four true phoenixes" was not enough to win their hearts and minds, make them willingly submit, and place them in a subordinate position.

Since the discussion aims to come up with a clever strategy, there aren't many practical options.

The five seniors and the four types of phoenixes spoke freely, each bringing out what they thought were feasible methods. The group then discussed and voted on these methods, aiming to form a small alliance among the nine phoenixes to deal with the "minor crisis," unify their statements according to a certain plan, and advance and retreat together.

The five phoenix elders each came up with three different ways to deal with the situation.

Some people who had some connection with Feng You assured the meeting that Feng You was not an ambitious man, but a good father, and would not use his daughter as a tool.

In addition to these two points, the phoenix also mentioned the lifespan of the phoenix, telling everyone that the phoenix only has a little over a thousand years left to live in the human world.

The subtext is clear: Fengyou will focus more on cultivation than on power struggles in the next thousand years.

Only one person held this view; it was not the mainstream opinion among the attendees.

This claim was refuted by many almost as soon as it was put forward.

The phoenixes participating in this small meeting have lived for at least four thousand years, and they are not used to handing their fate over to others.

The saying "You can know a person's face but not their heart" was also used as a counter-argument, and the names of several ambitious "two-faced" figures in the history of the Great Yu Dynasty's Heavenly Palace were also mentioned.

The phoenix, which held such friendly views, was slightly disappointed but could do nothing about it.

Compared to the first idea or statement, the remaining two are slightly more radical and sensitive.

Two senior phoenixes from the Prison Phoenix Clan proposed that they bring out their juniors, who had already reached the late stage of human transformation and possessed two phoenix bloodlines, to challenge Han Lu.

If this junior also achieves harmony and becomes one of the Four True Phoenixes, then there will naturally be no so-called struggle for legitimacy. Everyone can continue to live their own lives peacefully. Even if Feng You is truly ambitious, he will not be able to use this as an excuse to seize power.

This approach has both public and private motives, but it is still a good one.

At least, after it was said, the other three phoenixes from other clans agreed, feeling that it was a good idea that could achieve both "reconciliation" and "progress".

As for the last method, it is to "promise a pie in the sky".

If Han Lu truly succeeds in achieving harmony, then we should directly use this as a pretext to convene a Nine Phoenix Conference. On the surface, we can celebrate and congratulate them, but in reality, we can use this opportunity to establish a standard for "establishing a common leader."

The so-called standard is naturally based on the bloodlines of the Heming lineage, which resulted in the creation of several true phoenixes, serving as the benchmark.

The standards are set a little higher. For example, as long as a member of a clan can harmonize with five bloodlines and become a six-winged true phoenix, he will be given the title of "true phoenix" and become the nominal patriarch of the nine clans of the phoenix clan.

In this way, if the standards are not met, there is naturally no legitimate reason to "cause trouble".

This is a good approach, but it requires the approval of all nine phoenixes, which makes it a bit troublesome.

But to everyone else, it was a one-time solution.

After all, Han Lu had already attempted to harmonize with the third bloodline at the early stage of her transformation. If she succeeded this time and the younger generation of the Prison Phoenix Clan failed, then the second option would be declared bankrupt.

Even if it succeeds, no one knows what the next step will bring. It's far less straightforward than the third option.

However, after the five representatives from their respective races discussed the matter for a while, they decided to proceed with the second and third plans simultaneously.

In this way, the emergence of "absolute authority" can be avoided, and this opportunity can be used to make the already close relationship between the four tribes even more harmonious. It is a good thing.

Yan Feng Hua Mao had no objection to the need to provide his essence blood for the younger generation of the Prison Phoenix clan.

As the one who proposed the first plan and had some acquaintance with Fengyou, he was happy that things were developing in this acceptable direction.

However, the words of the five people do not count.

The five-person meeting can only be considered a preliminary meeting, a prelude; the real decision-makers are still the tribal chiefs.

After the meeting ended, the five familiar phoenixes, who lived in the Phoenix Perch Forest, did not disperse.

They sat together and, taking advantage of this rare opportunity to gather, immediately started a tea party.

They chatted about everything under the sun, exchanging ideas on music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—what a delightful experience!

Compared to power struggles, the long-lived spirit of the phoenix cares more about cultivation and daily life.