The Long Journey to Immortality

In short, it will be postponed for another ten days.

As for duels between Nascent Soul Realm experts, neither side has the power to interfere or govern. The Supreme Elders dispatched by both sides would arrange a private duel, fight it out, and then report the results, and that would be the end of it.

So, while Wen Erya, Nian Haoge, and Qiu Peng were still spending their last day in the secret realm, Han Lu temporarily put aside her work of maintaining order in the secret realm and set off with Xuan Chengzi and the other nine elders to Yuanshui to meet the challenge.

Chapter 756 The War Between North and South

Xuan Chengzi originally only planned to send six elders along to form a team of seven Golden Core cultivators to cheer for Han Lu on the spot.

However, because the elders believed that Han Lu was exceptionally strong, watching the battle was a sure way to secure victory, so they eagerly signed up.

Finally, the audience had to expand to ten people, forming a relatively large group, and together they rode the dragon-shaped ark spirit artifact exclusively belonging to the head of the Zhengyi Sect to the venue for the competition and subsequent exchange meeting.

In addition to ten Golden Core cultivators including Xuan Chengzi, Han Lu was accompanied by some "technicians" from the sect's inner and outer treasuries.

In the coming days, they will try to put the underwater large-scale mining method they have developed over the past month based on data and model research into practice and exchange ideas with their counterparts from the Northern Dynasty Xuan Yang Valley.

Regardless of how many matches the two sides ultimately win or lose, the ingenuity of these skilled craftsmen will be dedicated to the mining of underwater spiritual stones.

Although it is only half an hour's journey from Zhengyi Gate to the competition venue to pilot the Ark.

However, Han Lu, the only contestant, still received special treatment.

In addition to having her own room on the ark to rest, Xuan Chengzi also delivered a set of supplies to Han Lu.

This material is a reward that participants will receive from the sect regardless of whether they win or lose.

It mainly consists of elixirs, with a small amount of auxiliary materials generally used to enhance the power of magical artifacts.

There are also many talismans.

But there wasn't a single magical artifact.

There's no way around it; the Zhengyi Sect has no shortage of elixirs.

Even the Yellow Dragon Pills needed for Golden Core Realm cultivation are produced in greater quantities within the Zhengyi Sect each month than those outside.

As for the upcoming battle, some pills that can help cultivators quickly recover spiritual power, injuries, or temporarily boost combat strength are more practical than magic weapons of the spiritual weapon level that require a long time to master.

These things that other Golden Core cultivators would consider valuable were of little help to Han Lu, and she wasn't even after these rewards.

Xuan Chengzi was aware of this, so there were a full one hundred Yellow Dragon Pills in the elixir, which were prepared in advance for Han Lu's future cultivation.

Han Lu would never refuse to get more resources.

After thanking Xuan Chengzi, she did exactly as everyone expected, temporarily locking herself in her room to prepare for battle.

Han Lu's preparations were not spiritual practice, but rather emptying her mind and thinking about what methods she currently possessed, rehearsing and connecting them in her sea of ​​consciousness.

It was a secret which cultivator each side would send in this sparring match, and Han Lu had no idea who her opponent was.

Accustomed to intelligence warfare, she naturally could only do her best to know herself and her enemy in this situation, taking the initiative and responding to all changes with constancy.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Under Xuan Chengzi's control, the dragon-shaped ark carried nearly twenty Zhengyi Sect cultivators to a small Southern Dynasty sect not far from the Yuanshui Mine.

According to the plan, this place will be responsible for receiving the Zhengyi Sect cultivators for the next few days, and will also provide "miners" in order to earn some spirit stone share during the mining of the spirit stone vein.

This job was secured by the Taiping Sect through its friendly relationship with the Zhengyi Sect. Other sects around the source water could only be placed on a waiting list, waiting for a shortage of miners before they could arrange for their disciples to work and earn money in the spirit stone mines controlled by the Zhengyi Sect and Xuanyang Valley.

The wages are meager, about 500 spirit stones a year, which is a drop in the ocean compared to the spiritual vein's annual output of nearly 300,000 or even 400,000 spirit stones.

This amount of money is nothing to a large sect like Zhengyi Sect; the spirit stones and pills they distribute to their disciples every month far exceed this amount.

However, for a small sect like the Taiping Sect, which consists of only a hundred or so Qi Refining cultivators and a dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators, this is a large number that is enough to drive the sect's expansion.

It should be noted that even cultivators from these small sects who have advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage may not necessarily have a low-grade magic weapon to protect them.

If they spend their five hundred spirit stones sparingly, it will be enough for these small sects to last for one or two years.

With the help of spirit stones and the fact that Zhengyi Sect was the largest sect in the Southern Dynasty, Han Lu and her group received the highest level of VIP treatment in this cultivation sect called "Taiping Sect".

Meanwhile, on the opposite bank of the Yuan River, not far from the Taiping Sect, the "delegation" from Xuanyang Valley had also successfully settled in at a Northern Dynasty sect.

After the two groups arrived at their destination, they rested for only a short while before Long Daoren and Xuan Chengzi led a friendly exchange using paper swords.

The first few letters from Paper Sword were all nonsense, just words about harmony and politeness.

The later letters, filled with the scent of gunpowder, brought the conflict of interest between the two sides to the forefront.

After exchanging a few paper swords in a joking tone among acquaintances, at Xuan Chengzi's invitation, both sides informed each other of the personnel participating in the sparring competition.

The young "Phoenix" Han Lu naturally made her appearance at the Zhengyi Sect.

And Xuan Yang Valley...

Unfolding the paper sword and seeing the name, Xuan Chengzi recalled such a person.

He chuckled softly and said, "I wondered who it was, but it's him."

Han Lu sat down in the seat closest to Xuan Chengzi and asked, "Sect Master, who will be my opponent?"

Xuan Chengzi handed the paper sword to Han Lu and introduced it to her.

"He was a cultivator who formed his core about seventy years ago, Daoist Xuanfeng."

"He's quite famous; I even met him decades ago when I was traveling."

"Although we didn't spar, I didn't discover anything particularly outstanding about him."

Xuan Chengzi had only met Xuan Feng Daoist once and had no further interaction with him, so the only information he could provide was this little bit.

However, soon after, Dan Daoren, who was in charge of the Zhongshan Academy, came along and provided more detailed information.

He began cultivating Taoism at the age of twelve, established his foundation at twenty, and formed his core at sixty. Now he is only a little over one hundred and forty years old, and is only a hair's breadth away from the middle stage of the Golden Core realm.

"Born into the Gu family, the largest cultivation family in the Northern Dynasty, he is one of only two Golden Core cultivators in the family."

"Because their bloodline is that of the direct line of the Gu family, they naturally inherited many magical treasures passed down through five thousand years of Gu family history."

"As far as I know, he is also a Daoist named Duobao."

"He has a profound foundation and many magical treasures. Perhaps that's why he was sent to the source of the water to confront Elder Zhenfeng."

The Zhongshan Academy within the Zhengyi Gate had the function of collecting intelligence on external matters.

Although they couldn't figure out the exact abilities of each disciple of Xuan Yang Valley, they could still get a pretty good grasp of the information about the Golden Core cultivators in Xuan Yang Valley who had appeared in public.

After listening to the introduction from the Taoist priest, Han Lu felt more confident, and her original 85% chance of winning became 95%.

After the last exchange of paper swords, the two sect leaders set a time for their sparring match.

At dawn on the second day, on the source water, the two sides of cultivators drew their swords and engaged in battle.

Chapter 757 Pre-match

The principle of knowing yourself and your enemy is known to all the Golden Core cultivators of the Zhengyi Sect.

After exchanging information about the specific candidates for the participating cultivators, it was natural that the elders who had come here to act as spectators and boost morale also wanted to participate in the matter in a more subtle way, so as to add a sense of involvement to themselves and gain more joy and satisfaction when they finally won.

It must be said that Xuanfeng Daoist was indeed a somewhat famous cultivator in the Central Plains, at least when he was at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Of the nine elders present, excluding Han Lu, who were at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, five had heard of him, and three had even had direct contact with him when they were at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Han Lu learns some interesting but not necessarily useful information in a joking manner.

This Taoist Xuanfeng is a romantic, and it is said that he has had three Taoist partners. Not only does he have many children and grandchildren, but his great-grandson was born a few years ago and is being raised in the Gu family.

This unique personality, even considering his background as a family of cultivators, is quite distinctive.

Xuanfeng Daoist was proficient in various arts and, like Han Lu, was skilled in illusion. However, he rarely used illusion during battles, but was more interested in using illusion to confuse himself and harmonize his mind.

……

Before long, the image of a somewhat strange Central Plains cultivator was attached to Xuanfeng Daoist.

Since none of the people present had actually fought against Xuanfeng Daoist, no one added too much speculation to Xuanfeng Daoist's cultivation and combat strength based on the information from the academy, thus interfering with the information.

Han Lu didn't mind letting her fellow disciples, who were trying to be friendly and help her, say a few more words.

She doesn't entirely believe in the saying "many hands make light work," but she does believe there's some truth to it.

Although the elders of the same sect were unaware of how diverse, powerful, and unbelievable her methods were.

However, this did not prevent Han Lu from simulating the battle of the second day through the suggestions put forward by the elders, gaining some inspiration, ideas, and more information about that Xuanfeng Daoist.

The same scenario played out among the cultivators of Xuan Yang Valley.

However, unlike the Zhengyi Sect's understanding of Xuanfeng Daoist, the Xuanyang Valley has a much deeper and more detailed understanding of Han Lu, who has been rising in prominence in the last twenty years.

Although most of the information was about Han Lu when she was in the Foundation Establishment stage, Han Lu had only achieved the Golden Core stage five years ago. In the eyes of the cultivators of Xuan Yang Valley, this information was still quite useful.

Unfortunately, Han Lu's methods were far more sophisticated than they had imagined.

Long Daoist, along with three early-stage Golden Core cultivators and two mid-stage Golden Core cultivators, sat around Xuanfeng Daoist.

Of the seven, the one who had just advanced to the Golden Core stage in the early stage, only twenty years ago, was the one who kept talking about information about Han Lu, while the others only occasionally chimed in and mainly acted as listeners.

Coincidentally, Han Lu, the Xuan Yang Valley elder who was talking incessantly, was someone she knew, had met, and had contact with.

It was Huang Ziqiang, one of the two Xuan Yang Valley cultivators who had traveled with Han Lu through the teleportation portal to the arena to compete against the elite disciples of the Great Yu Dynasty's Ji Tian Palace.

Fortunately, Ni Kuan, who also advanced to the Golden Core stage nearly twenty years ago, was not present.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be Huang Ziqiang performing a solo act at this point; instead, he and Ni Kuan would be telling a crosstalk routine about Han Lu's story.

At this time, Huang Ziqiang, who had advanced to the Golden Core realm, had become "Zhuxuan Hermit".

This new Daoist name is a hundred times more elegant than his original real name, but apart from being slightly more restrained in front of his fellow disciples, his behavior is not much different from what it was twenty years ago.

He speaks crisply and directly, and uses simple language.

However, Huang Ziqiang was more cautious when recounting the story of the Dayu Dynasty from his own experience.

Given the current "opposing" stance of both sides, he was very careful with his words, trying not to show the joy he felt from the victory brought by Han Lu, and focusing as much as possible on Han Lu's performance in those matches.

These things were not secrets, but apart from Long Daoren, none of the Golden Core cultivators present had paid much attention to them more than twenty years ago, so they sounded like a new story.

In terms of its function, it is significantly more effective than the gossip and idle chatter mentioned by the Zhengyi sect cultivators.

At least, it excited Xuanfeng Daoist, who was originally relaxed and wondering why the Zhengyi Sect would send a cultivator who had only been in the Core Formation stage for five years to participate in the competition, and who thought he had the easy target in his grasp.

But as the story unfolded, Xuanfeng Daoist's excitement turned into worry.