The Long Journey to Immortality

The two Qi Refining cultivators waiting outside "Fairy Qin's" residence had no idea that Han Lu, who was at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, had already quietly left.

Concealing her tracks, Han Lu easily arrived at the "check-in" point before the three escorting guardians did.

The set of magical array flags I bought at the auction came in handy very quickly.

She simply used the array flags to set up a bewitching array, giving Han Lu more than enough time. She had a full ten hours to prepare everything, waiting for her prey to fall into her trap.

It was a little earlier than expected, perhaps because I was urged and reminded by countless branch managers before setting off.

The three escorting guardians arrived at the last "check-in" location about 15 minutes and a half early.

The three had worked together at the branch in the Dragon Head Islands for nearly ten years and were already familiar with the entire escort process.

Two mediocre cultivators at the Golden Core stage activated the formation, while Lin Jinhuan, whom Han Lu regarded as the "best traitor," waited with his arms crossed.

Seeing this, Han Lu was secretly delighted. Without hesitation, she quietly transformed into a semi-spiritual state and used the Illusionary Phoenix Divine Power to silently invade Lin Jinhuan's sea of ​​consciousness and control his mind.

Lin Jinhuan's eyes were only confused for a moment before they regained their brilliance.

The other two did not notice anything unusual.

A good show is about to unfold between these three.

Chapter 845 The Grand Show Begins

The three escorts, who were assigned this task at the last minute, complained about it quite a bit along the way.

All three were cultivators with the strength of the Golden Core Realm, and they were serving Dong Weng's shop in order to earn a living.

Although they could receive a subsidy of three to five hundred spirit stones from the shops every year for taking on such responsibilities, tasks temporarily assigned to them based on high-level connections would not earn them an extra half a spirit stone.

The daily treatment was not much higher than that of the smaller merchants, but it was far inferior to that of the Immortal Pavilion.

It's perfectly normal for three familiar cultivators to complain to each other while carrying out such a unprofitable mission.

Lin Jinhuan, who was chosen by Han Lu, was the one who complained the most.

When the three of them occasionally spoke, he would always pour out his negative energy incessantly.

This provided Han Lu with two more pieces of solid evidence to support his fabricated identity as a mole, indirectly helping Han Lu lay the groundwork and making the upcoming story more plausible.

Lin Jinhuan was standing aside waiting for the two Golden Core cultivators who were traveling with him to activate the magic array and complete the rigid "check-in" task. He never expected that after ten years of escort missions with zero accidents and zero dangers, this time, he would lose his life.

However, Lin Jinhuan, who was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, was unable to put up even half a breath of resistance against Han Lu, a cultivator with the bloodline of the Illusionary Phoenix.

His mind was seized and manipulated in an instant. He, who had dominated the East China Sea for one or two decades, was instantly turned into a puppet on strings, at Han Lu's mercy.

Having accomplished all this, Han Lu thought to herself, "Good."

The magic circle was activated, and Han Lu controlled Lin Jinhuan and the other two to pass through the magic circle, completing this step that was part of the security rules.

He was the last to enter the magic circle, but the first to leave, flying on his sword.

The other two cultivators wanted to exchange a few more words, but they could only helplessly follow Lin Jinhuan's route, flying through the air to catch up.

Unexpectedly, the three of them had only been flying for about twenty breaths when an accident occurred.

The world, which was originally calm and peaceful with blue skies and white clouds, suddenly turned into a sky full of yellow sand, and the sky darkened.

Such a sudden change naturally made the two Golden Core Realm escorts immediately wary.

"Oh no, there are thieves!" The two immediately focused their energy, took out their respective magical treasures from their storage bags, and stood ready for battle.

When the two could no longer find Lin Jinhuan, who had been flying ahead, they became increasingly panicked.

One of them said, "Where is Fellow Daoist Lin? Could it be that he's trapped in this formation?"

The next second, Lin Jinhuan, whose mind was controlled by Han Lu, made his grand entrance.

"Are you two looking for me?" Lin Jinhuan's voice rang out from within the magic array.

Upon hearing this, and considering Lin Jinhuan's hasty flight to lead the way, a bad premonition arose in the hearts of the two cultivators: "Could it be that Lin Jinhuan is colluding with outsiders to set up an ambush here and steal the treasures in the storage bag?"

Before the two could ask any questions, Lin Jinhuan's voice rang out again throughout the array, "You two guessed correctly. If you know what's good for you, hand over that storage bag obediently, and I might spare your lives out of consideration for our ten years of friendship."

Han Lu had already made up her mind to spare the lives of the other two cultivators.

This was both to avoid getting involved in the consequences and to have the two of them go back and inform the Chamber of Commerce of Lin Jinhuan's betrayal.

This is an extremely important step. Even if these two cultivators are highly enlightened and do their best to protect the merchant guild's property, she will still show mercy.

However, in reality, the "escort protectors" hired with spirit stones are not reliable.

Upon hearing that there was a way out, the two Golden Core cultivators immediately lost their will to fight.

The two were not stupid. Although on the surface it was two against one, with the two Golden Core cultivators dealing with Lin Jinhuan, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But he also understood that Lin Jinhuan had already colluded with others to set up an ambush here, and he must have many helpers.

Choosing to take action at this time and place naturally indicates complete certainty and absolute confidence in defeating them.

What's the point of resisting? It's better to choose a way to survive and protect yourself.

Hearing the other party's reply, Han Lu, who was used to seeing loyal and courageous cultivators from the Central Plains, was slightly surprised.

But she still managed to make Lin Jinhuan laugh out loud in the first place, and continued, "A wise man submits to circumstances. Although you two are not very strong, you are clear-headed. That's good. It saves my two brothers and me some time."

"However, releasing you directly will make it difficult for me and my brothers to dispose of the stolen goods..."

Before Lin Jinhuan could finish speaking, the two cultivators became wary. "What do you want?"

Lin Jinhuan said, "I just want you to get some sleep and go back to report later."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Han Lu quietly made her move.

The two "mediocre talents" at the Golden Core stage only felt a flash of multicolored light before their eyes, and then they lost consciousness.

With these two cultivators easily dealt with, Lin Jinhuan naturally lost his last value.

In order to make him disappear and prevent Dongweng Shop from finding him and discovering the truth, Han Lu had already decided to make this former villain disappear from the world completely before taking any action.

It spewed out the true flames of the Fiery Phoenix, and in just a moment, Lin Jinhuan, who was still in a deep sleep, was burned to ashes by the raging flames and scattered with the wind. Only the storage bag remained in the world.

Using her skills, Han Lu broke through the ordinary restrictions on Lin Jinhuan's storage bag. Not greedy, she simply took the two thousand spirit stones hidden inside, tied the storage bag, which might have given her away, with a stone, and casually threw it into the East Sea.

As for the two cultivators, Han Lu pondered for a moment, in order to make it seem as if Lin Jinhuan, the greedy mole, had colluded with outsiders to plunder the goods of Dongweng's shop.

She removed their storage bags, broke the restrictions on each one, and burned all the materials inside except for the spirit stones to prevent future troubles.

Such caution ensures absolute safety.

After taking care of everything and sending the two cultivators, who would be unconscious for at least another half a day, back to the island where the "check-in point" was located, Han Lu picked up the storage bag belonging to Dong Weng Shop, which contained materials and magic treasures worth nearly 90,000 spirit stones.

If the anti-theft restrictions on the other three storage bags are only at the Foundation Establishment level...

The anti-theft restrictions on this storage bag are at least at the late Golden Core stage.

Han Lu, who was not very familiar with the art of formations, was certain that without Lü Zhi's assistance, even if she managed to snatch the storage bag, it would be useless, as she would not be able to open it successfully within three or four days.

After carefully studying the storage bag for a while, Han Lu attempted to break the restriction using the methods provided by Lü Zhi.

Even so, it took almost a hundred breaths before the storage bag "opened" in front of her.

After looting all the valuables, Han Lu smiled and returned the way she came, her hands behind her back.

The storage bag was casually tossed into the East China Sea.

Han Lu hoped that the seawater would allow the storage bag to serve as bait for a while longer, causing more twists and turns in the subsequent investigation by Dongweng Xian Pavilion.

In another half day, Han Lu, who had quietly sneaked back to her residence in the Star Islands, only needed to wait for the five-day period to expire before she could take the initiative to go to the nearby Dong Weng Shop to confront him and watch a good show unfold.

Chapter 846 Investigation

The supplies, taken from the warehouse of Dongweng Shop in the Dragon Head Islands, were looted and robbed by Han Lu with exquisite methods fifteen hours after being shipped to the Star Islands.

However, the news of these supplies being robbed on the way was only brought to the attention of Manager Chen of Star Islands, who had noticed something amiss, about two hours after Han Lu returned to Star Islands and settled down.

But all they did was pass on the news that the three escorting protectors had not yet arrived.

Manager Chen dared not make a hasty judgment, imagining that a major event that had not happened for hundreds of years might just happen to fall on his business.

It wasn't until the news reached Dragon Head Islands at an extremely slow pace, and after a series of investigations and confirmations, that the Dongweng Shop branch on Dragon Head Islands finally confirmed on the second day that the supplies worth nearly 90,000 spirit stones had been unexpectedly lost.

However, they knew nothing about the more specific details.

In particular, very little is known about the specific circumstances of the robbery.

Information obtained from various surveys and feedback.

Dongweng Xiange only knew that the three escorting protectors encountered the robbers near the third "checkpoint" of their trip.

The storage bag is now moving at a very slow speed near the opening point, clearly indicating that it has been abandoned and is probably thrown into the sea, drifting with the waves.

This limited information was passed through layers of channels and eventually reached the ears of a high-ranking official in charge of the Dongweng shops in the Dragon Head Islands.

Compared to the slow pace of information transmission, the speed at which this high-ranking official, who had initially agreed out of consideration for Young Master Lanya, launched his reprimand was much faster.

Upon receiving the message, he immediately summoned Young Master Lanya to his office and gave him a severe dressing-down.

If things go smoothly if you don't follow the rules, you might be praised for being quick-witted and unconventional.

But if something goes wrong, it becomes dereliction of duty or even abuse of power.

As for the final outcome, that depends on the final result of how things are handled.

Remembering the words "I'll take full responsibility" that Young Master Lan Ya kept saying when he was smoothing things over, this second-in-command of Dongweng Shop, who was stationed abroad, naturally did not hesitate to shift the blame for this matter onto Young Master Lan Ya.

"You're in charge of this."

"We must investigate the situation within three days and recover all the lost materials without missing a single one within half a month."

"If not, I will report to the chairman and ask him to launch an internal public investigation to thoroughly investigate this matter."

"I don't need to say more about what will happen to you then."

"If you want to make amends and resolve this matter properly, then just like when you pushed through this irregular process, put in more effort to retrieve those materials."

After uttering those harsh words, the second-in-command, who was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, patted Young Master Lanya on the shoulder with a gentle smile and said, "I will do my best to assist you in this matter. As long as it is in accordance with the rules, you can use most of the Chamber of Commerce's resources on the Dragon Head Islands to investigate this matter."

"I'm leaving everything to you, so don't let me down."

In just a few words, Young Master Lanya's mood plummeted from heaven to earth.

He never expected that after the Chamber of Commerce further improved its escort security regulations, an accident that hadn't happened in almost three hundred years would happen to him.