The Long Journey to Immortality

Mo Zhehan had complete trust in Han Lu's judgment.

Moreover, he was eager for the trip to happen so that he and Han Lu could find a good opportunity to be alone together and "flirt with each other" again.

Who knows, it might just be during this back-and-forth that a real spark of love ignites.

Upon hearing this, Han Lu initially wanted to promote democracy, but ultimately accepted the important task entrusted to her by Mo Zhehan.

After much deliberation, Han Lu chose a compromise.

"How about this, Lü Zhi and Kong Qiaosheng, you two arrange for people to search the ancient books and find the exact location of the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Vault."

"If we can find any clues, then we will take the second route."

"Economical and effective."

"If there's no progress in ten years, then let's see if we can reconnect with the Slaughtering Venerable." Because of her friend's presence, Han Lu also became more interested in the resources in the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Vault. "If we can get a share, we'll give it a try. I think it shouldn't be a problem."

After stating her choice, Han Lu added a prerequisite: "However, we need to first determine whether the Slaughtering Venerable has already swept away all the resources in the treasure vault this time. The probability is not high, but there is still a 10% chance."

Han Lu believed that the pair capable of protecting a large number of dragons and phoenixes must not have simply placed their resources in a treasure vault.

“That’s not difficult,” Lü Zhi said confidently. “The Slaughter Venerable has had a lot of dealings with the Immortal Pavilion because of the exchange of spirit stones for the wanted posters back then, so he can be considered one of the Immortal Pavilion’s major clients.”

"If he really obtains a large amount of resources, he will definitely come back to our Immortal Pavilion to do business, and exchange those useless resources for spirit stones or other useful things."

"I only need to have someone keep an eye out for whether that Slaughter Venerable has visited the Immortal Pavilion recently, and I will know the final outcome of this matter."

With the Immortal Pavilion standing behind them, it was indeed much more convenient for Han Lu and the others to handle matters in the East China Sea.

However, not long after Han Lu revealed the plan, Yi Qiyan had another question: "What if that Slaughter Venerable finds other dragons and phoenixes to cooperate with during these ten years?"

Han Lu thought it through and replied, "Putting aside how many difficulties this matter would be, if we hadn't met Mo Zhehan and me east of the dividing line, I'm afraid that even if Venerable Slaughter searched for ten or twenty years, he might not have been able to find a dragon or phoenix willing to cooperate with him, a cultivator from the East Sea."

"If he finds us now, then we are not fortunate enough and have missed our chance."

Han Lu didn't have much greed for the resources in the treasure vault, which made her particularly calm about the matter, as if she was being "pushed" by her friend to strive for and pursue it.

Han Lu's words temporarily put the discussion on the matter to a halt. Next, all that is needed for Lü Zhi to do is to discuss it with Han Lu a little more, and the matter of finding the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Vault will be finalized.

After the trouble was over, the courtyard was filled with laughter and joy once again.

The conversation focused more on Mo Zhehan.

In the eyes of Han Lu's many friends, this Zhulong cultivator, who is quite a good match for Han Lu, is undoubtedly a popular candidate to become Han Lu's Daoist partner.

It's perfectly reasonable to become close friends with someone so early on.

As for helping to fuel the flames, that's only natural.

These days, which were both easy and difficult for Han Lu, lasted for four days. Finally, it was time for the group of four to leave Donghai.

Chapter 880 Triumphant Return

Having experienced separation once before, Yi Qiyan's mood was not as bad when she said goodbye to Lü Zhi this time.

After all, for the two Golden Core cultivators, the East Sea is not actually that far from the Southern Frontier.

Given their respective backgrounds, even without meeting in person, they can easily arrange for others to deliver letters, expressing their love and sharing their lives through writing.

The separation was destined to be only temporary.

Not to mention that privately, Lü Zhi had already promised that as long as Yi Qiyan finished dealing with the trivial matters in the Southern Frontier, he would take the initiative to go to the Southern Frontier to meet with Yi Qiyan within a year and stay in Yi Qiyan's territory for a while.

One can imagine that this separation will likely be beautiful, making the brief separation even better than the honeymoon.

Since the two people with the deepest bond share this attitude and these thoughts, it's natural that Han Lu, Wen Erya, and Mo Zhehan reacted even more calmly.

Mo Zhehan, who had only known Lü Zhi and Kong Qiaosheng for a few days, had long been looking forward to the day when he and Han Lu would leave the East China Sea and return to the Central Plains.

After a few symbolic drinks and heartfelt words, Yi Qiyan and Lü Zhi embraced and kissed as their final farewell.

Although everyone watching saw the same scene, their reactions were all different.

Kong Qiaosheng thought of his "wife" whom he had neglected recently due to being busy with official and personal matters.

Mo Zhehan imagined the scene where he would switch places with Lü Zhi, and Han Lu with Yi Qiyan.

Han Lu imagined Yi Qiyan's future happy life with Mo Zhehan.

Wen Erya, on the other hand, was thinking that she was the only one of the three sisters who was still single. Should she also find an outstanding man and see if she could taste the flavor of love?

Both Yi Qiyan and Lü Zhi are Golden Core cultivators, so their endurance is naturally exceptional.

The passionate kiss turned into a long kiss, lasting a full hundred breaths before ending amidst the deliberate coughing of the onlookers.

The two, their lips parted, embraced for a few more moments, whispering and making several promises.

Three people came, and four people left.

Mo Zhehan, who was originally going to the Central Plains, returned to the Central Plains with Han Lu, Wen Erya, and Yi Qiyan.

Since there was another traveler, Han Lu and her two companions, who felt they had already spent too much time in the East China Sea, did not consider sightseeing on their return journey.

Traveling on the ark at breakneck speed, the coastline came into view in just eleven and a half days.

"Finally back," Wen Erya said with emotion, then looked at Mo Zhehan and asked, "Would you like to stop by the Zhengyi Sect for a while or go straight back to the Wilderness to report?"

Upon hearing Wen Erya's question, Mo Zhehan subconsciously turned his head towards Han Lu.

Seeing that Han Lu was only looking into the distance, gazing outside the ark, and not showing any particular reaction, he had an idea in mind.

"Haste makes waste. If you try to get too close, it will only make Han Lu feel disgusted. It might be better to take a step back and move forward. It might work wonders."

With this as his guiding principle, Mo Zhehan replied, "It has been a while since I visited Zhengyi Gate. I will find a place to stay in Zhengyi Gate for a couple of days before leaving."

Two days is neither too long nor too short; it's just the right amount of time.

Upon arriving in the Central Plains, given Mo Zhehan's status, he was naturally a distinguished guest of the Zhengyi Sect.

Han Lu naturally couldn't voice her objection to this distinguished guest's reasonable request to stay for a couple of days, as she had no legitimate reason to do so.

Therefore, when Mo Zhehan gave such an answer, Han Lu still chose to remain silent, secretly pondering whether her decision a while ago was correct.

If that's true, why do I feel a sense of rejection towards Mo Zhehan?

If it's not true, why would she let Mo Zhehan hang around her and show affection?

With a thousand conflicting emotions swirling in her mind, Han Lu was unusually silent during the last short stretch of her journey home, almost completely absorbed in her own world, asking and answering her own questions, pondering the difficult problems.

Han Lu's two friends had occasionally seen her in this state.

They assumed that Han Lu, this diligent and talented cultivator, had encountered some minor opportunity and was pondering questions about the path of cultivation, so they had no intention of disturbing her.

Mo Zhehan, however, sat to the side, appreciating the beautiful scene he was seeing for the first time out of the corner of his eye.

For Han Lu, who was truly immersed in her inner world, it was almost the blink of an eye that she had returned to the Zhengyi Sect from the edge of the East Sea.

Because Mo Zhehan was the closest to Han Lu as a visitor, Han Lu helped him with the procedures for his visit and accommodation.

The procedures were not complicated. As a Golden Core Elder, Han Lu only made a simple trip and gave a few instructions. Several cultivators from the Inner Treasury then helped to find a good place to stay for Mo Zhehan, a distinguished guest of the Great Yu Dynasty who was at the Golden Core stage, within the Zheng Yi Sect's mountain gate.

Mo Zhehan settled into his new home at Zhengyi Sect. Yi Qiyan, who was also about to return to Southern Xinjiang, stayed at Wen Erya's residence to rest.

Compared to Mo Zhehan, Yi Qiyan is much busier.

Although the Five Poisons Token, which could help her solve her problem by chance, fell into her hands in the East Sea, she still needed to lay some groundwork before she could truly make the token work.

At the very least, Yi Qiyan needed to find out the meaning of that potential "backer" and see if the other party was willing to provide Yi Qiyan with some protection based on the great merit of "finding the Five Poisons Token".

If you're willing, then everything is negotiable.

If they are unwilling, then Yi Qiyan will have to keep busy.

Back at her place, Han Lu temporarily put aside her worries, which she could not find the right answer for most of the time.

He quickly drafted two paper swords and sent them to his two eldest disciples.

No more than fifteen minutes after the paper sword was sent out, Qiu Peng arrived first to report to Han Lu.

Han Lu, his mentor, had been away from the Central Plains for nearly five and a half months and missed a small competition. Qiu Peng, who was entrusted with an important task, naturally had many things to report to Han Lu.

For Golden Core cultivators, May is but a blink of an eye, but for Qi Refining disciples, it is enough to change their lives.

Because they were busy with cultivation and began to educate their disciples through a hierarchical system, Han Lu's lineage had not achieved good results in the sect competitions for the Qi Refining Realm for quite some time.

However, this time, thanks to Qiu Peng's efforts, the situation was indeed different.

Sure enough, Qiu Peng immediately took the achievements of several of Han Lu's disciples, who were still in the Qi Refining stage, in the small competition to Han Lu to boast about his success and report this series of good news.

Seeing that two of her six students had won the championship, two had reached the semi-finals, and two had made it to the final round of the top 64, Han Lu was in high spirits.

Coincidentally, she had just made a windfall in the East Sea, and as always, she generously and decisively took out materials and magic treasures worth money and spirit stones from her storage bag and handed them to Qiu Peng. She instructed Qiu Peng, her senior brother, to distribute these materials fairly as rewards to encourage the six new disciples who had not even met Han Lu many times to cultivate diligently.

The two were having a pleasant conversation when Nian Haoge, who had just received Han Lu's paper sword while still cultivating, arrived late.

Chapter 881 My Friend Advances

Although the reasons for accepting Han Lu's two eldest disciples into her tutelage were somewhat strange, it was not because Han Lu personally selected them as her disciples.

However, they each have their own strengths and share some similarities with Han Lu.

Relying on his unique way of thinking and unique life experience, Qiu Peng explored and summarized a set of monk education methods that are different from the general traditional methods.

This made him a capable assistant under Han Lu, who was known as a "famous teacher" in the Zhengyi School.

Over the years, the fact that Han Lu's lineage has been able to continue unbroken while Han Lu was in "seclusion" is all thanks to Qiu Peng's efforts.

Nian Haoge inherited Han Lu's qualities of being good at cultivation and fighting.

If it weren't for his rather "aloof" personality and the lack of equally strong friends in the sect, Nian Haoge, with his strength, could have easily monopolized the championship title with his friends, just like Han Lu did back then.

Although Nian Haoge has suffered occasional defeats in the sect, if all the Golden Core cultivators in the sect were to gather together to vote on which disciple is most likely to become a powerful Golden Core cultivator in the future.

Nian Haoge, who has not yet formed a false core, is definitely the most popular candidate in this vote.

It was only because of these two outstanding disciples that Han Lu dared to be a "hands-off manager," shamelessly handing over some of the obligations and responsibilities that Golden Core elders should bear to the two of them.

"Haoge, you've come at the right time. Qiu Peng just told me about Xiao Bi. Do you have any official business to report to me?"

Before leaving, Han Lu divided her disciples into two groups.

Qiu Peng was put in charge of the Qi Refining disciples who were slightly weaker and needed more help.

The Foundation Establishment disciples who are strong enough to cultivate independently are taken care of by Nian Haoge.