The Long Journey to Immortality

Therefore, for the sake of his personal cultivation, he naturally had to relinquish his identity as the leader and pass the position to a suitable successor.

According to the rules of the Five Poisons Sect, the selection of the new sect leader must be made by the Nascent Soul cultivators within the sect.

Considering that her master had made many enemies when she was the leader of the sect, and that she was about to go into seclusion to cultivate, Yi Qiyan, who was about to relinquish her identity as a saintess with her master, naturally felt a sense of crisis and worried that she would be persecuted in the Five Poisons Sect.

That's why I thought of asking Han Lu for help.

Yi Qiyan hoped that Han Lu, whose status in the Zhengyi Sect had greatly improved after advancing to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, could help her make a deal with the sect and get them to extend a "diplomatic invitation" to her, inviting her to the sect for cultivation and exchange while her master was still in office.

In other words, they hoped Han Lu could help communicate with those above and below them, and ask the Zhengyi Sect to grant them an opportunity for "political asylum".

Han Lu is currently in seclusion for cultivation, so this important task naturally falls on Wen Er Ya's shoulders.

Fortunately, Wen Erya broke through to the Golden Core Realm a few years ago, and with her talent, she has considerable influence in the sect.

After communicating with the ambitious Xuan Chengzi, Wen Erya easily obtained the "chicken feather command arrow".

In just three days, Wen Erya, who had traveled to the southern border, successfully rescued his friend from a sect that was about to become a "dragon's den and tiger's lair," and the two friends reunited in the Zhengyi Sect.

Fortunately, Han Lu had her best friend Wen Erya by her side; otherwise, who knows how things would have turned out.

Everything went smoothly outside, and Han Lu, who was in seclusion and quietly cultivating, was also doing very well here.

Chapter 799 Emerging from Seclusion

Han Lu is still in seclusion, practicing her spiritual cultivation.

Outside, Wen Erya, Yi Qiyan who came to the Zhengyi Sect, and many other cultivators who were familiar with Han Lu were all worried about Han Lu's seclusion and cultivation.

Inside, Han Lu also tried to overcome one unprecedented difficulty after another, and tried to firmly grasp the opportunity she had gained from listening to Gu Xiu Wang Han's lectures.

Although Han Lu was groping her way forward in a swamp she had never been to before, the troubles she encountered were not as numerous or as complicated as she had imagined.

Just like what you do in your daily cultivation, repeatedly use your spiritual power to trace the shape of the pill pattern on the golden core, gradually making it complete and clear.

Furthermore, because a rough outline has already formed on the surface of the golden core, the efficiency of each repeated act of drawing the core patterns is much higher than usual.

These elixir patterns, acquired through chance, were not completely "fixed" on the surface of the golden core. They showed signs of fading over time. When dealing with the last few elixir patterns, Han Lu needed to spend more time to complete them.

Otherwise, Han Lu would most likely only need to spend a year to emerge from seclusion and accomplish the feat of adding five new pill patterns to her Golden Core, which was only a year and a half after she had just advanced to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

As a result, it took Han Lu a full three years to solidify the five new pill patterns, allowing the golden core, which had become restless due to the sudden addition of the five pill patterns, to return to its former calm state.

For a cultivator at the Golden Core stage, three years is almost the blink of an eye, let alone the time spent in meditation and seclusion.

With the problem resolved, Han Lu immediately circulated her cultivation technique for two more cycles to keep her dantian full before leaving the meditative state.

Getting out of bed, Han Lu did some quick calculations and figured out exactly how many days had passed since she went into seclusion.

"It's pretty much as I guessed, a little over three years and a month."

If it weren't for the fact that the process of drawing the cinnabar pattern tens of thousands of times was so mechanical and made people feel "drowsy," Han Lu wouldn't have been able to roughly judge the flow of time in the outside world and know how long she had been meditating during her meditation.

This was the first time Han Lu had not moved her body for such a long time. Even though she was already a Golden Core cultivator, she could still feel the fatigue hidden in her muscles and bones.

As if she had just woken up, Han Lu stretched lazily before making a hand seal to release the array and restrictions that had protected her for three years.

The moment the restriction was lifted, a paper sword that had been lingering outside for who knows how long flew into Han Lu's room.

Seeing the paper sword that flew so urgently to her, Han Lu thought to herself, "Could it be that something big has happened, and my senior sister or other fellow disciples want me to know as soon as I come out of seclusion?"

Feeling uneasy, Han Lu secretly prayed that nothing serious had happened outside.

As she unfolded the book, she saw the elegant and neat handwriting on it, and Han Lu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"If it were truly some earth-shattering event that would affect the entire cultivation world of the Central Plains, this paper sword certainly wouldn't have been given to me by my senior sister," but before she could feel at ease for a moment, a new worry arose, "Could it be some personal trouble?"

There were quite a few words on the paper sword, nearly a thousand, but Han Lu could read a hundred at a glance. In just three breaths, she used the words on the paper sword to figure out what had happened in the past three years that was related to her and that needed to be communicated in this way.

"Yi Qiyan sought refuge from the Five Poisons Sect and came to the Zhengyi Sect? It's been decades since we last met. After you come out of seclusion, we should catch up and get to know each other better."

"The Han family of the Northern Dynasty came looking for me? How did they know about this?" Han Lu didn't even try to recall her conversation with Xuanfeng Daoist on the Yuan River. "But I suppose they must have confirmed my blood relationship with them before they came to the Zhengyi Sect."

“Perfect timing. My mother’s last wish was to return to the Han family, at least to move her grave back and have her name added back to the family genealogy. I can take this opportunity to help my mother move her grave and fulfill her dying wish.”

……

There were also some trivial notes written on the paper sword, which had little to do with Han Lu.

Wen Erya also explained the situation of her disciples. Clearly, Wen Erya took Han Lu's entrustment before her seclusion very seriously and did not slack off in the slightest.

Based on this, Han Lu judged that Wen Erya sent this paper sword probably in the second year after she went into seclusion.

"Not bad. The two most important things are big events, so it can be considered a good thing, albeit barely."

Compared to Yi Qiyan's temporary predicament in the Five Poisons Sect, Han Lu still felt that it was a good thing for the three friends to be able to spend time together in the future.

Holding the unfolded paper sword, Han Lu pondered for a moment, figuring out how to face Yi Qiyan and handle matters concerning the Han family before slowly walking out of the room and heading unhurriedly toward Wen Erya's residence not far away.

Han Lu had only walked halfway when Wen Erya came to greet her.

Wen Erya had set up a restriction on the paper sword. The restriction would be triggered the moment she opened it to read, allowing her to know the news of Han Lu's emergence from seclusion immediately.

"Junior sister, you've finally emerged from seclusion," Wen Erya gave Han Lu a hug, the two Golden Core cultivators embracing each other in a manner quite uncharacteristic of high-level cultivators. "How was it? Did it go smoothly?"

"Not bad. Although it took a little longer than expected, we still achieved the desired result in the end."

Hearing this, Wen Erya was also happy for Han Lu, "Junior Sister, did you have a sudden enlightenment and cultivate diligently for three years, gaining an extra Dan pattern?"

Wen Erya's thinking is that of an ordinary cultivator. To measure the cultivation level of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, one should naturally use Dan patterns as the unit of calculation.

Generally, a Golden Core cultivator with some talent and a chance to advance to the Nascent Soul stage often needs about fifty years to draw the first pill pattern from the early Golden Core stage and advance to the middle stage.

As the skill of drawing the cinnabar patterns became more and more proficient, the remaining eleven cinnabar patterns could often be completed in a hundred years, which was usually only about three hundred years.

In Wen Erya's view, licking a new pill pattern onto the Golden Core is definitely worthy of three years of seclusion for a breakthrough.

Answering this question caused Han Lu a little trouble.

After vaguely saying "more or less," she changed the subject, "Senior sister, is Yi Qiyan staying with you now?"

"Well, let's hurry up and go. She talks about you every few days," Wen Erya said sourly. "She sent you a letter asking for help, asking you to pull some strings to rescue her, but in the end, I was the one who went to southern Xinjiang to help her."

“It’s because my cultivation level was higher back then. I suppose Yi Qiyan thought my words would carry more weight in the sect than my senior sister’s,” Han Lu heard Wen Erya’s unspoken message, smiled slightly awkwardly, turned the page, and said, “Let’s go to your house first, and we can talk in detail later.”

Wen Erya wasn't a petty person. Over the past year, her relationship with Yi Qiyan had warmed up, so she naturally wouldn't care too much about this matter. Bringing it up now was more or less a way of teasing Han Lu.

With a light "Okay," the two Golden Core elders of the Zhengyi Sect strolled leisurely and freely along the mountain path on Hanchan Peak, behaving like ordinary mortals.

Chapter 800 Two Questions

When they arrived at Wen Erya's residence, Yi Qiyan was still in meditation, so the two of them did not disturb their friend who had come to "Zhengyi Sect for refuge" to find a safe place to cultivate.

Wen Erya helped by sending a paper sword to summon the Han family disciple who came from the north to Zhengyi Gate and eventually became her disciple.

Let Han Lu meet this relative who is separated by countless ties first, and then through this "informant" who has been arranged to enter the Zhengyi Gate, help to make connections so that the Han family can quickly recall the decision made three years ago, and then arrange for an elder with a prominent position in the family to come to the Southern Dynasty to meet Han Lu.

Before this disciple, who had been forced upon them, arrived, Wen Erya smiled and chatted with Han Lu about this young apprentice who also shared the surname Han.

Her name is Han Yinshuang, she is seventeen years old, has a Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation, and is female, but she has a rather masculine air about her.

Hearing this, Han Lu joked, "Could it be that he's grown a beard, practiced some kind of external martial arts, and is now tall and strong, with a masculine aura that's two heads taller than me?"

The two chuckled softly in unison.

Wen Erya added, "Of course not, I was talking about personality and way of doing things."

Wen Erya spoke of Han Yinshuang's performance in the two small competitions, her satisfaction with her apprentice evident in her words.

Unintentionally, she helped her senior sister find a good apprentice, and Han Lu breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Wen Erya was worried that Han Lu's help in choosing the successor of the Wen Dynasty would cause trouble for Han Lu, Han Lu also did not want to leave behind a mess because of her three years of seclusion, which would require Wen Erya to clean up and cause her trouble.

It was precisely because both of them held such a considerate attitude towards others that these two talented cultivators were able to come up with such a harmonious idea and forge a friendship that would surely last from beginning to end.

After exchanging a few words about Wen Erya's apprentice, the conversation naturally turned to Han Lu's disciple.

Wen Erya was meticulous in her work and remembered the cultivation progress of the disciples that Han Lu had entrusted to her in a very clear way.

It's not just about the level of cultivation one has reached, but also about the details of daily cultivation and performance in the two recent minor competitions.

In terms of meticulousness and attention to detail, Han Lu is far more conscientious than Han Lu, who has become lax in this regard in recent years and started to engage in "layer-by-layer subcontracting."

As they were talking, Han Yinshuang finally arrived after she retrieved the paper sword her master had given her.

Upon seeing Han Lu, who did not resemble her at all, Han Yinshuang felt inexplicably nervous, and for a moment forgot all the words of care her uncle and grandfather had given her a few years ago.

After thinking for a moment, Han Yinshuang greeted him cautiously, "Hello, Sister Han."

Calling her "elder" felt too formal, but calling her "sister" based on the kinship relationship deduced by her uncle and grandfather seemed too strange. So Han Yinshuang simply called her "sister" according to her own idea.

When it comes to titles, Han Lu is definitely one of the most indifferent high-level cultivators.

She naturally wouldn't mind being the older sister to this junior who was related to her by blood.

After exchanging a few warm words, Han Lu brought up the topic of "going home".

Han Yinshuang didn't dare make any promises, only saying that she would inform her family, and that elders from the clan would definitely come to Zhengyi Gate to help "Sister Han" arrange everything.

Upon hearing this, Han Lu nodded slightly, feeling a little more confident about fulfilling her mother's last wish.

"Yinshuang, please pass on a message for me: say that my mother always wanted to go home before she passed away, and as long as my family is friendly to me, I am willing to give them a smile."

Immediately afterwards, Han Lu, in her capacity as an elder, presented Han Yinshuang with a magical artifact, and then sent the younger woman away.

After Han Yinshuang left, Han Lu discussed Yi Qiyan's matter with Wen Erya.

The former Holy Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect, a disciple of the former sect leader, had long cultivated in the Zhengyi Sect. "Having no home to return to" was ultimately not a good thing.

During Han Lu's seclusion, Wen Erya and the elders in the sect who knew the reason for the matter discussed it a lot and gathered together to think about solutions.

There are many methods, but few are truly practical, and even fewer can truly and satisfactorily resolve this matter.

One suggestion is to simply have Yi Qiyan join the Zhengyi Sect. After all, apart from the lack of cultivators from the Western Regions, the Zhengyi Sect has Golden Core cultivators from all over the Central Plains cultural sphere, so it wouldn't be unusual or surprising for Yi Qiyan to join.

While this solved the problems of Yi Qiyan's cultivation environment and personal safety, it also caused Yi Qiyan to completely offend the Five Poisons Sect.

The saintess of yesteryear became a "traitor" in the blink of an eye, and even the existence of internal strife cannot fully explain this.

Not to mention that Yi Qiyan is not a blockhead; she is loyal and righteous. Based solely on her relationship and feelings with her master, she would not have made such a straightforward yet heartbreaking selfish decision.

The second explanation is to wait for good news. Once Yi Qiyan's master emerges from seclusion and eventually advances to the Nascent Soul stage, all the problems will be solved.

Although this method is somewhat passive, it can indeed solve all the problems and make everyone happy.