The Long Journey to Immortality

With a ferocious expression, his mustache trembled in the wind as he spoke, "This fairy hasn't even been beaten yet and you want me to offer you my head? You must have gotten the East Sea into your brain and gone mad."

"I have roamed the East Sea for over three hundred years and have seen countless cultivators. Even among those at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, there are two who have been defeated by me."

“Young lady, if you really want to use my head to curry favor and seek rewards, then come and take it yourself.”

"But if you can't get it off and end up losing your life, don't blame me."

Having spent many years in the East China Sea, the White-bearded Taoist had encountered countless dangerous situations, which he overcame by relying on his skills and courage.

Right now, in his view, this is not his most difficult moment yet; there is still a glimmer of hope to be seized.

However, this optimistic idea stemmed from Baihu Sanren's ignorance of just how powerful Han Lu and her two companions were who had interfered.

He had always looked down on female cultivators and cultivators from the Central Plains, and regarded the three of them as ordinary cultivators.

He believed that the other side only had the advantage in numbers, and that in a real fight, they might not be able to withstand more than a few moves from him, a formidable and bloodthirsty opponent.

After exchanging a few words with her two friends via telepathy, Han Lu smiled slightly and said, "White-bearded hermit, I won't bully you. My two sisters will take action later and show you the power of the Zhengyi Sect cultivators."

Although the three of them had never discussed seating arrangements or how to define their sisterhood, Han Lu should be the elder sister based on both her cultivation level and age.

Upon hearing this, Yi Qiyan didn't nitpick the first half of the sentence, but immediately addressed the problem with the second half, adding, "Han Lu, I am from the Five Poisons Sect."

Han Lu was slightly embarrassed, and coughed lightly, saying, "Let me show you how powerful the cultivators of the Zhengyi Sect and the Five Poisons Sect are."

Hearing that the True Phoenix Fairy, who was clearly aware of their strength and possessed a mid-stage Golden Core cultivation, did not intend to make a move, the two cultivators from the Three Immortal Mountains couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

In comparison, Han Lu's fame far surpasses that of Yi Qiyan and Wen Erya.

Especially since when Fan Anxiang was invited to the Zhengyi Sect, Wen Erya had not yet formed her core, so he naturally did not know how powerful Wen Erya was.

“Fairy Zhenfeng, why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? To be frank, this White-bearded Hermit is only slightly weaker than me. Your two friends seem to have just advanced to the Golden Core Realm. Two against three…” Although he was communicating with Han Lu through telepathy, Fan Anxiang was quite tactful when facing his savior, and only said half of what he meant.

Han Lu comforted him via telepathy, "Fellow Daoist, do not worry. If this were not the first battle my two sisters fought in the East Sea, one person would have been enough to kill this weak white-bearded villain here."

"Just watch quietly."

Fan Anxiang didn't want to say much, so he chose to trust Han Lu's judgment.

Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan were slightly surprised by Han Lu's arrangement, but they did not back down.

They also trusted Han Lu's judgment.

Temporarily setting aside their fear of the hidden masters in the East Sea, the two regained their usual genius and flew away from the group.

Han Lu's logic for making this judgment is quite simple.

Although Baihu Sanren is experienced, he is still just a "mediocre talent" who has the potential to advance to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

With such a figure along with two insignificant pawns, Yi Qiyan and Wen Erya, two geniuses who can dominate the Zhengyi Sect competition and have a great chance of advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm in the future, it is indeed enough to send only one of them to the field to deal with them.

Now that Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan are both on the field, she only needs to quietly appreciate their outstanding performance.

Chapter 820 Two Moons Under the Scorching Sun

Before the other party could respond, and after rambling on for a few more minutes, the White-Bearded Hermit took the initiative to attack.

Han Lu's decision to send two "newbies" into battle delighted him, giving him a glimmer of hope.

His wishful thinking was racing through his mind.

The White-bearded Hermit planned to fight strictly according to the "three against two" rule set by Han Lu.

They also attempted to capture one of Wen Erya or Yi Qiyan during the battle and take her hostage.

They traded the lives of hostages for their own.

As for the "lackeys" who had followed him for thirty or forty years, he would live if they could, and if they couldn't, he would shed a few tears for them afterward, then return to the cave to take stock of their belongings, take out the mundane items to build a cenotaph, and thus end the decades of brotherhood.

Having roamed the East China Sea for years, the White-bearded Hermit's reputation was earned through murder.

Having intercepted and killed many cultivators, it's no surprise that the White-Bearded Hermit's collection in his storage bag is among the most abundant.

There were many magical treasures of various kinds, including three spiritual artifacts.

Although they were all of medium to low quality, they were still much wealthier than the Misty Child who cultivated in the Zhengyi Sect back then.

With a powerful strike, the White-Bearded Hermit summoned a massive hammer, which he had used countless times in daily combat, from his storage bag.

With a hand seal, the iron hammer floated in the air and swung around, treating the air as an "iron felt," slamming it down heavily and creating a loud bang and countless ripples.

With a little control, the supernatural powers unleashed by these magical treasures were all directed at Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan, without affecting anyone else in the slightest.

Bai Hu Sanren was afraid of angering Han Lu and Fan Anxiang, with whom he had just met, lest he, who had gained the opportunity to "fight with numbers," fall into the situation of "fighting with fewer numbers."

Seeing the iron hammer unleash its power, Fan Anxiang was still shaken and instinctively used his magic weapon to protect himself and his junior brother beside him.

If Han Lu hadn't been there and he hadn't been afraid of being misunderstood by her, he would have thought of flying three or four hundred meters away to leave this dangerous area and avoid being affected.

Han Lu didn't react in any particular way. She even thought about trying to take the attack with her own body to see if the five extra Dan patterns on her Golden Core were as powerful as described in the "Cultivation Manual".

Unlike Han Lu, Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan both took the situation seriously.

At first, when they saw the White-Bearded Hermit using a hammer, the two thought it was a magical weapon made of brute force.

Upon seeing the generated sound waves, the two quickly changed tactics, each employing their own methods to defend themselves.

A faint light barrier appeared, blocking Wen Erya's view and completely obstructing the sound waves.

Yi Qiyan quickly took out two clusters of spiritual plants from her storage bag and put them into her ears to block out the sound waves that could disturb her consciousness.

When Bai Hu Sanren made his move, the third member of the trio who had been "idling" on the sidelines followed suit and used his techniques.

Thousands of flames flew out from a pouch in his hand and surged towards Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan.

Although this flame was not as powerful as Han Lu's Phoenix Flame, it was not a flame produced by ordinary magic either.

It was burning fiercely in the air, and under his careful control, it really did have the air of setting the sky ablaze and burning everything on the sea and the earth.

However, momentum is just momentum; a mere mid-grade magic weapon can only unleash a limited amount of supernatural power.

A small bottle appeared in Wen Erya's hand.

She uttered a single word, "Collect," and absorbed all the flames surrounding her and Yi Qiyan into them.

Upon seeing this superior magical artifact, Han Lu thought to herself, "Not bad."

She began to imagine what would happen if she encountered this magical artifact that countered the fire element when she was fighting Wen Erya and unleashed the Fire Phoenix True Flame.

The red-haired monk's attack came too late.

After learning that his brother's identity had been exposed, he remained in a state of "cowardice," lost focus, and lacked a firm fighting spirit, naturally making his moves a beat slower.

A low-grade spiritual weapon, a sword that had been stolen three years ago but had never had the chance to be exchanged for goods or spirit stones, flew out from the red-haired cultivator's long sleeve.

The spirit sword was not long, more like a short dagger, and was dark red all over. When it flew, it looked like a red light, and its speed was much faster than that of an ordinary spirit sword.

However fast it may be, this spirit sword is perfect for surprise attacks and sneak strikes.

However, the red-haired cultivator was already a beat too slow in his attack, and a mere low-grade spiritual weapon with nothing special about it could not play its intended role as a vanguard.

Yi Qiyan had been keeping a close eye on the red-haired cultivator with foul mouth. Upon seeing him make a move, she immediately exhaled purple smoke.

The purple smoke transformed into a hand in the air, and with a swift move, it caught the flying spirit sword firmly between two fingers.

Han Lu didn't know the origin of this purple smoke, but guessed that it was probably a secret technique or supernatural power that Yi Qiyan had mastered using some kind of spiritual plant and medicine.

"Not bad," Han Lu said, her evaluation slightly lower because she didn't know the details. "Besides using it like a normal hand, I wonder what other uses it has."

In one round, all the methods used by the three East Sea cultivators were easily neutralized by Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan.

The once confident Bai Hu Sanren suddenly placed Wen Er Ya and Yi Qi Yan on a similar level to himself, and immediately made some changes to his plans.

"We still have to capture him, but it will most likely come at a price."

He scanned his two brothers beside him with his divine sense, already considering which of his younger brothers he could sell for a good price in this battle.

Back and forth, the three East Sea cultivators wanted to coordinate their attacks again and pursue the enemy, but they had to deal with Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan's counterattacks first.

Yi Qiyan unleashed the Five Poisons Sect's signature poison technique, sending thousands of poisonous insects flying out from the spirit beast pouch at her waist.

These poisonous insects were just ordinary poisonous insects, the "leftovers" she used as consumables; the real main course was hidden among them.

This move is a psychological tactic. If Yi Qiyan's opponent becomes complacent after wiping out two waves of insect swarms, then she will suffer a great loss.

Wen Erya possesses numerous magical treasures and enjoys using them. Naturally, in this first duel with cultivators from the East Sea, she brought out two of her most prized magical treasures.

She took out the "pagoda" that she had used when she was in the Qi Refining stage.

This time, however, they used genuine products instead of the "defective" or "fake" products forged by the weapon-making masters employed by the Southern Dynasty's royal family.

Countless ghosts, urged on by Wen Erya, flew out of the pagoda and rushed straight at the enemy.

These ghostly remnants were all transformed from cultivators who broke the law in the East Sea and were imprisoned in the pagoda.

It appears to be a sinister magic weapon, but after figuring out the origins of these ghosts, it becomes "righteous and awe-inspiring".

Outnumbered, Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan both relied on their combat experience before reaching the Golden Core stage to employ this one-against-many tactic.

Seeing the methods displayed by the two cultivators from the Central Plains, the three cultivators from the East Sea had different expressions, but each of them had a strategy that they thought was acceptable.

Chapter 821 Evenly Matched?

The cultivators who frequent the East Sea region are generally exceptionally experienced in deadly battles.

Apart from a small number of cultivators who grew up under the protection of sects established by powerful figures in the East China Sea, the vast majority of cultivators who were able to advance to the Golden Core Realm or even just reached the mid-to-late Foundation Establishment Realm had experienced at least five battles during their cultivation process where defeat could mean death.

With extensive experience, one is naturally exceptionally adept at adapting to changing circumstances.

The three, including Baihu Sanren, have worked together for nearly fifty years and have long since developed a set of cooperative battle tactics.

During the previous sneak attack, they fought independently, using their respective most proficient methods.

But when it came to defending against the counterattacks launched by Wen Erya and Yi Qiyan, the three of them began to rely on the familiar routines they had honed during their daily practice and raids, forming a three-on-two defense.

The White-Bearded Hermit and the Red-Haired Cultivator together activated a scripture.

The two of them recited the scriptures together, and their entire demeanor instantly changed, becoming even more upright than Wen Erya, who was wielding this strange magical artifact.

This scripture was a ritual implement that the two men had forcibly seized in their early years.

Although it doesn't fit their cultivation methods, many cultivators in the East Sea region enjoy using sinister magic weapons and secret techniques.

Such righteous and awe-inspiring magical artifacts are precisely the counter to these kinds of secret techniques and magical artifacts.