The Long Journey to Immortality

At this moment, Wen Erya casually sent out a paper sword to summon the "son of an old friend" to meet Han Lu, whom he had been longing for for three months.

"Did you guess it?" Wen Erya asked after presenting the paper sword.

Han Lu nodded slightly and smiled, "I guess this person is related to the ancient cultivation secret realm."

Upon hearing this, Wen Erya was slightly surprised and praised, "Senior Sister is really smart."

"That's right, it's the son of that mortal named Qiu Junyan that you took in in the ancient cultivation secret realm."

Qiu Junyan was a primary school student who remained calm and fearless during the school robbery in the ancient cultivation secret realm. Later, because he had spiritual roots and was destined to be with Han Lu and Wen Erya, the two of them bestowed upon him cultivation techniques and materials and accepted him as their disciple.

Although she had guessed the answer, Han Lu was still a little confused. "It's not strange that Qiu Junyan got married and had a child, and that his son also has spiritual roots and that he is allowed to cultivate."

"But how did his son get out of the ancient cultivation realm?"

Han Lu guessed, "Could it be that the gate to the ancient cultivation realm reopened when I left the wilderness?"

Looking at Han Lu's current expression, Wen Erya couldn't help but think of her own expression three months ago when she first met Qiu Junyan's son and learned about his background.

After pondering for a moment, Wen Erya decided to reveal the answer. "Senior sister, stop guessing. He ascended here after advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm. He came to the Zhengyi Sect because he heard about you and me from my father."

"Let him tell you the specifics."

Half a minute later, Qiu Junyan's son received the paper sword, came to the garden, and met Han Lu.

[Author's Note] A new month has begun, can tech stocks please step up their game? I'm symbolically asking for some free monthly tickets and razor blades (a metaphor for criticism).

Chapter 719 Qiu Peng

Having been at Zhengyi Sect for three months and staying with Wen Erya for three months, Qiu Junyan's son, Qiu Peng, no longer appears in the modern attire he wore when he first left the ancient cultivation secret realm.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. He came to the Central Plains from the closed ancient cultivation secret realm through a method similar to ascension. After meeting Wen Erya, he accepted the reality that he might be separated from his family forever and never be able to return home. He made up his mind to integrate into the cultivation world of the Central Plains and cultivate and live as a cultivator of the Central Plains.

Naturally, at this moment, Qiu Peng's attire, except for his buzz cut, was entirely in the style of a Central Plains cultivator.

"Senior Wen," Qiu Peng greeted Wen Erya respectfully upon arriving in the garden, and asked, "What brings you here, Paper Sword?"

Wen Erya's paper sword only summoned Qiu Peng to come quickly, without explaining the specific situation, intending to give him a surprise.

Wen Erya pointed to the empty seat next to her and gestured for Qiu Peng to sit down.

After Qiu Peng sat down, she introduced, "Qiu Peng, this is the master you came to Zhengyi Sect to seek, the True Phoenix Fairy Han Lu."

Hearing Wen Erya address her in such a tone, Han Lu felt a chill run down her spine. She gently slapped Wen Erya's arm, interrupting and complaining, "Senior sister, don't speak so strangely."

Then, Han Lu looked at Qiu Peng and said, "Just call me Senior Han or Sister Han, no need to be so formal."

Qiu Peng was overjoyed and about to reply when Wen Erya started joking with Han Lu.

Seeing Han Lu's reaction, Wen Erya couldn't help but laugh out loud, "What, is Elder Zhenfeng shy?"

Han Lu pretended to be angry and threatened, "Senior sister, I'm really angry if you do this. Next time you advance to the Golden Core realm and become an elder, I'll call you by your Daoist title in front of others just like that."

Wen Erya pretended to be serious and said, "Then it seems I must think of a Daoist name, at least one that my junior sister won't feel embarrassed or shy calling out to me."

The two best friends joked and laughed as if no one else was around, leaving Qiu Peng unsure whether to close his slightly open mouth or leave it open.

Fortunately, Han Lu noticed Qiu Peng's embarrassment and, wanting to change the subject, introduced herself again, "Qiu Peng, right? Hello, I am Han Lu, the cultivator who came to your world more than 30 years ago and took your father as her disciple."

Han Lu's self-introduction was very modest, showing no airs of a Golden Core cultivator or Qiu Peng's father's "benefactor".

Hearing Han Lu's self-introduction and Wen Erya's recommendation, he naturally had no doubt that the female cultivator in front of him, who was so different from the one in the "teaching video," was the senior Han he was looking for.

Knowing about Han Lu's relationship with Wen Erya, Qiu Peng addressed her as "Senior Han" and greeted her.

"Qiu Peng, come and tell me quickly what happened after my senior sister and I left the ancient cultivation secret realm. What is the condition of your father, and how were you born?"

"Oh, right, and one more thing," Han Lu looked Qiu Peng up and down, and even used her divine sense to briefly probe him to confirm that he was indeed at the early stage of Foundation Establishment before continuing, "How did you manage to reach the early stage of Foundation Establishment at the age of sixteen or seventeen in that place with barren spiritual energy?"

Wen Erya added from the side, "Qiu Peng, don't forget to tell Fairy Zhenfeng about your ascension here."

Han Lu pretended to hit her, while Wen Erya covered her mouth, laughed, and moved her chair a little further away from Han Lu.

Qiu Peng was astonished to see two seniors, whose cultivation and seniority were far superior to his, joking and playing around in front of him.

His feelings were complicated. First, he felt that he was in the way, and second, he felt that the two seniors did not treat him as an outsider.

Still thinking about becoming Han Lu's apprentice like his father, Qiu Peng steeled himself, lowered his eyes, and began to answer the questions raised by Han Lu and Wen Erya in a way that was half narration and half commentary, as if he were performing a monologue.

"In response to Senior Han."

"After you left the secret realm, Father went to school during the day and cultivated at night. In about two and a half years, he condensed his first spiritual vein. By the time he entered high school, he was already a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining."

But judging from this speed, even in the ancient cultivation secret realm where spiritual energy is scarce, and even with the resources and pills left by Han Lu and Wen Erya for cultivation, Qiu Peng's father, Qiu Junyan, is considered to have a fast cultivation speed.

"It's funny, but in order to continue his studies while still practicing his spiritual cultivation, my father became a sports specialist."

Speaking of this, Qiu Peng couldn't help but laugh, "Because my father is a cultivator, after his physical functions were enhanced, both his speed and strength surpassed those of ordinary mortals by a lot."

"He even broke our 20-year-old 100-meter record, improving it from 9.5 seconds to 9 seconds."

"According to my father, this was a result he deliberately underperformed, because he was afraid that if he progressed too fast, he would actually be taken to the research institute of Hans Company for further study."

Having spent time in the ancient cultivation realm and learned about that world, Han Lu and Wen Erya were able to understand and appreciate the things Qiu Peng said, even though the concepts were unfamiliar to cultivators from the Central Plains.

“That’s certainly interesting,” Han Lu said with a smile. “Such excellent results must have made your father famous and turned him into a top sports star.”

“That’s right, he had a lot of advertising endorsements. Running shoes, milk, cars, they all came to my father to endorse them,” Qiu Peng recalled. “This income not only ensured that our family had enough to eat and wear, but also allowed my father to have some spare money to collect spiritual plants that might be related to cultivation.”

"It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but it was thanks to this that I was able to reach the Foundation Establishment stage at the young age of eighteen."

The "treasures" left behind by the ancient cultivators in the secret realm were definitely not all taken by Han Lu and other cultivators. Qiu Junyan's approach of spending money to pick up the bargains was absolutely correct.

"Oh? Tell me more." Han Lu pressed for details.

Qiu Peng replied.

“When I was about eight years old, my father began to secretly teach me cultivation techniques.”

"I wasn't told about cultivation until I was twelve years old."

“I was very surprised at the time, and I thought that my father was just joking with me.”

“But after my father explained everything clearly, I realized that everything was true, and I became even more attentive to the matter of spiritual practice.”

At this point, Qiu Peng raised his eyes slightly, which had been lowered, and looked at the hem of Han Lu's clothes. He continued, "However, my rapid advancement to the Foundation Establishment stage wasn't due to my exceptional talent or diligent cultivation..."

"I was just lucky; I accidentally ate a magical herb that my father had found."

"Immortal herb?" Han Lu couldn't help but think of stories from many cultivation novels, and her gaze towards Qiu Peng changed from before.

[Author's Note] There may be some minor changes in the settings compared to the past, but they don't really matter. I've started playing FM2020 again, but it doesn't feel the same as when I played FM2012.

Chapter 720 New Disciple

"Yes, it's a strange red spiritual plant that my father found and collected, but I secretly stole it and ate it."

When the topic came up, Qiu Peng looked a little embarrassed. "At that time, it had only been a week since I first heard about cultivation. My mind was full of unrealistic fantasies. In addition, after reading some novels and watching some movies about cultivation, I had the idea of ​​taking elixirs to improve my cultivation."

“My father mentioned that spiritual plant to me, saying that it might have the effect of improving cultivation. He planned to give it to me after he had thoroughly studied it and my cultivation had improved a bit.”

"then……"

When asked about a foolish thing he did, Qiu Peng stammered, feeling ashamed and unwilling to talk about it in front of his two seniors.

After hearing Qiu Peng's three sentences of description, Han Lu was able to guess what had happened.

"So, being so young, you impulsively ate that spiritual plant."

"Then, with a bit of luck, he actually benefited from that spiritual plant and improved his cultivation?"

Qiu Peng nodded, "What Senior Han said is pretty much the same."

"After eating that spiritual plant, I slept for a full year and a half before waking up."

"When I woke up, I had already opened up a full twelve spiritual meridians in my body. Not only that, there was also a lot of spiritual power in my body in my dantian, which was originally empty and not used for cultivation in the Qi Refining stage."

Qiu Peng touched his clean-shaven chin with a solar-powered electric razor, smiled sheepishly, and said, "In the end, I guess I've turned misfortune into blessing."

“Indeed,” Han Lu commented, “Without such a divine herb, you could not reach such a level of cultivation even if you cultivated in the secret realm for another thirty years.”

“Go on.”

Skipping over his most embarrassing moment, Qiu Peng spoke fluently again, "Although my father and I both have a rather shallow understanding of cultivation, we both know the principle that haste makes waste."

“An unstable foundation is definitely detrimental to cultivation.”

"So, although I was able to try to build my foundation by relying on the methods in the cultivation technique given to me by Senior Han, it still took me a full five years to prepare."

"Familiarize yourself with the Foundation Establishment methods, and regulate your spiritual veins..."

Recalling that very difficult time, Qiu Peng's speech slowed down considerably.

“Well done,” Han Lu said. “If you had been in a hurry to establish your foundation back then, you would most likely have failed, not only ruining your future but also wasting a magical herb.”

Han Lu had heard many stories like this.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Peng's expression relaxed considerably, and he completely forgot about the idea that that period of time was a "waste of time".

Following the storyline, Qiu Peng continued, "About five months ago, I finally attempted to establish my foundation."

With thorough preparation, everything goes smoothly, and naturally, the result will be as you wish.

"However, neither my father nor I expected that after I had just finished the Foundation Establishment stage, I was sucked into the secret realm after only three days. It was a huge hole that fell from the sky."

"I was transported to the Central Plains in about thirty seconds inside that hole."

Only cultivators with cultivation levels below the Foundation Establishment stage are allowed to exist in the ancient cultivation secret realm.

Qiu Peng, whose cultivation had reached the Foundation Establishment stage at that time, was naturally regarded as a "heretic" and a "dangerous source" and was driven out immediately.

This scene is indeed 90% similar to the situation where cultivators who have advanced to the Nascent Soul stage in the mortal realm are banished to the spirit realm.

It's simply a difference between a high standard and a low standard.

Han Lu pressed further, "Is it in a canyon?"

Qiu Peng nodded and said, "That's right, Senior Han, I was in a canyon after I came out of that hole."

"At the time, I wondered where that was. There were many ancient buildings but no people. It wasn't until Senior Wen answered my question that I understood why that place looked like that."

The portal disappeared, the road to the ancient cultivation secret realm was completely closed, and the Seven Mountains Alliance did not deploy any more guards there, leaving the already empty and dim canyon in a state of desolation once again.

The rest of the story is incredibly simple.