The Long Journey to Immortality

In May, a Qi Refining disciple could even advance two levels of cultivation.

However, for Foundation Establishment disciples, it is too short a time and cannot bring about any rapid changes in their cultivation.

Therefore, Nian Haoge could not announce good news like Qiu Peng did; he could only talk about trivial matters.

After rambling on about the cultivation progress of several Foundation Establishment disciples under Han Lu's name, Nian Haoge also mentioned the minor problems he had encountered in his cultivation recently.

Having just broken through to the minor level of the "Thrust Technique," Han Lu has gained many new insights into the path of swordsmanship.

Taking this opportunity, while answering Nian Haoge's questions, Han Lu also shared her newly acquired insights with her most outstanding disciple.

Qiu Peng did not practice the Seven Kill Sword Technique. He only vaguely understood this concept, which was something that could only be understood intuitively and was difficult to explain.

However, since it was inconvenient for him to leave, he remained a supporting character, listening for quite a while, and occasionally nodding along with Nian Haoge to enhance the atmosphere.

After Han Lu and Nian Haoge finished discussing "academic issues," Qiu Peng eagerly took out an invitation and handed it to Han Lu.

“Master, this is an invitation from Senior Sister Fu Tianqiao,” Qiu Peng explained why he had it. “It was sent half a month ago. Since you weren’t there at the time, it was given to me so that I could attend the banquet on your behalf.”

"The banquet is tomorrow. It's just in time that you've returned today. So please give this invitation to Master."

Because they were familiar with each other, Qiu Peng called Fu Tianqiao "Senior Sister Fu".

As a former comrade-in-arms of the Dayu Dynasty, Han Lu naturally returned Fu Tianqiao's name.

Han Lu took the invitation but didn't open it. She asked directly, "What kind of invitation is it? A wedding?"

Having inhaled so much pink air along the way, Han Lu's first thought was that Fu Tianqiao had found his other half and was getting married.

Qiu Peng was slightly surprised. He replied, "It was Senior Sister Fu, who achieved the False Core stage three and a half years ago, who successfully formed her Core and advanced to the Golden Core stage."

"This invitation is from Senior Sister Fu for the Immortal Banquet she is hosting within the sect."

"It must be because Master is familiar with Senior Sister Fu and is a renowned elder in the sect that he sent the invitation."

Qiu Peng was far more adept at interpersonal relationships than Nian Haoge.

If Han Lu does not return in a few days, he will take this invitation and make a trip for her, drink a couple of cups of spiritual wine, offer a few words of blessing, and help Han Lu improve her relationship with the sect elders.

Han Lu nodded slightly, agreeing with Qiu Peng's statement, "Although I only spent a little over a month with Elder Fu, we can still be considered friends."

"By the way," Han Lu asked again, "Has Elder Fu chosen a Daoist name for himself, and has he formed a Golden Core of a certain grade?"

Before making a visit, you should not only prepare gifts, but also find out some basic information.

Otherwise, offering the highest level of blessing, only to find that the recipient has only formed a mid-grade Golden Core, would make the sincere blessing sound sarcastic.

When Han Lu addressed Fu Tianqiao in this way, Qiu Peng naturally followed suit, saying, "Elder Fu calls himself Qiqiao. I don't know the specific grade of his Core Formation, but it should be a high-grade Golden Core."

Hearing this, Han Lu shook her head and said, "It's a pity that he only has a third-grade Golden Core. It seems that Elder Fu will face many difficulties in advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm in the future."

It's like saying that most people who work at "BAT" (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) are actually working at Baidu.

If someone claims to have formed a high-grade Golden Core, then it's highly likely they've only formed a third-grade Golden Core.

Fu Tianqiao advanced to the late Foundation Establishment stage ten years earlier than Han Lu, but became a Golden Core cultivator nearly thirty years later than Han Lu.

Such a speed is not considered slow among ordinary cultivators.

However, such a result would only be considered below average among cultivators who aspire to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm and want to go further on the path of cultivation.

Upon hearing Han Lu's comments, Qiu Peng couldn't help but think of himself, who was still struggling in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and a sense of crisis arose within him.

Noticing Qiu Peng's change in expression, Han Lu quickly comforted him, "The cultivation method you practice emphasizes gradual accumulation and eventual release, which is why it's a little slower to learn than other methods."

"However, even so, you still need to work hard in your cultivation."

"At this point, there's not much I can do to help you..."

"You and Haoge have made great contributions in recent years, and I will certainly not forget your contributions."

Han Lu generously took out various materials, pills, and magical treasures from her storage bag and placed them in front of the two of them.

"Pick whatever you like, don't be shy."

Knowing Han Lu's personality, Nian Haoge and Qiu Peng naturally knew that Han Lu was not joking.

They happily sifted through the materials, which were worth nearly 20,000 spirit stones, and divided them up, receiving an extremely generous reward.

Although their relationship was better than that of a typical master and disciple, Han Lu would never use their affection to make her two senior disciples do things for free.

After accepting the invitation, Han Lu inquired a couple more questions about the sect.

Knowing that nothing major had happened except for Fu Tianqiao's advancement, she sent her two disciples away.

Chapter 882 Immortal Banquet

That day, Mo Zhehan, who had just settled in Zhengyimen, shamelessly made up an excuse to visit Han Lu's residence.

When Han Lu casually mentioned that Fu Tianqiao had advanced to the Golden Core stage and was going to throw a big banquet, Mo Zhehan immediately said he would go with Han Lu to the banquet.

"We were competitors back then, and we were also old acquaintances."

"I happen to be in the Zhengyi Gate at this moment, and such a good thing to celebrate, I should naturally show my support."

"Han Lu, let me go with you to offer my congratulations."

Mo Zhehan's words made perfect sense, but in reality, he had barely met Fu Tianqiao a few times back then, and they hadn't even exchanged a single word. How could they be considered acquaintances? They weren't even close friends.

Although Han Lu didn't mind bringing Mo Zhehan along, she couldn't help but find fault with him and make things difficult for him.

"Aren't you going back to the Great Yu Dynasty to the wilderness the day after tomorrow? This banquet won't start until the evening of three days from now."

Mo Zhehan chuckled and said, "For the sake of my friend, delaying my return to the Great Yu Dynasty by one day to report back to the Wilderness is not a big problem."

“The Elder Zhulong who assigned me the task didn’t know about the teleportation gate. He gave me a full year to go to the East Sea to deliver messages and messages,” Mo Zhehan calculated the time. “Only two and a half months have passed now. I still have plenty of time. It won’t matter if I return to the Great Yu Dynasty a day later.”

"I even plan to linger in the Great Yu Dynasty or here for a while before reporting back, so as not to appear that I accomplished this task too easily and give those annoying elders something to criticize and cause me more trouble."

Mo Zhehan had already sensed that the elders of the Candle Dragon Clan were reluctant to "welcome" him, a half-blood, back that day, and naturally they had considered some things.

Hearing this, Han Lu couldn't find fault with it, so she added, "Taking you along is not a problem, but you'll have to prepare a generous gift."

“No problem,” Mo Zhehan said confidently, while inquiring, “What kind of materials does Elder Fu prefer?”

Having spent some time with Fu Tianqiao and even lived together, serving as each other's sparring partners and combat training partners, Han Lu knew quite a bit about Fu Tianqiao's situation.

Fu Tianqiao is neither rich nor poor at the Golden Core cultivator level. Although he has a small family to back him up, he is more like a cultivator who relies entirely on his sect for cultivation.

Giving gifts to monks in such economic circumstances is a simple matter.

"Tianqiao isn't greedy, and she has some resources and magical treasures in her storage bag, so you can take whatever you need."

"Preparing some materials worth a little over a thousand is sufficient."

"It would be even better if we could send some of the special products and resources of the Great Yu Dynasty."

Han Lu helped to come up with ideas and suggestions for Mo Zhehan.

Although with the official commercial use of the teleportation portal, unique resources from both East and West have begun to be traded within a certain scope, benefiting a large number of cultivators in the Central Plains.

However, there are still price differences between many materials in the East and the West.

After all, activating a teleportation portal requires a large amount of spirit stones. Even with storage bags to help transport goods, the resources carried by individual merchants alone are still insufficient to meet the needs of the majority of cultivators.

If we follow Han Lu's suggestion and send some special materials from the Great Yu Dynasty that are suitable for Golden Core cultivators, it will save Mo Zhehan some spirit stones and give him face.

In a few words, it was decided that Mo Zhehan would attend the Immortal Banquet with Han Lu.

Three days later, Han Lu and Mo Zhehan arrived at the banquet on time.

After advancing from the Core Formation stage to the Golden Core stage, Han Lu held a small banquet to celebrate this historic moment on her cultivation journey.

Only a few invitations were sent out, but many elders in the sect sent gifts to Han Lu to express their goodwill.

This time, Fu Tianqiao's fairy banquet was no exception.

Many elders of the Zhengyi Sect who did not receive invitations sent their disciples to present gifts and express their goodwill.

Elders and disciples like Han Lu who received invitations also prepared generous gifts to celebrate this glorious and important moment for Fu Tianqiao.

There were over twenty invitations, but more than fifty gifts arrived.

All things considered, there are about 20,000 spirit stones worth of materials, enough for Fu Tianqiao, who has just advanced to the Golden Core Realm, to use for a while.

Although Han Lu and Fu Tianqiao were acquainted, Han Lu was definitely not the cultivator in the sect who was most familiar with Fu Tianqiao.

When Han Lu arrived, Fu Tianqiao expressed her gratitude and reminisced with Han Lu about the time they spent together, but did not say anything special.

Mo Zhehan's arrival, on the contrary, surprised her.

When she learned that Mo Zhehan had attended the banquet with Han Lu, she had the same association that Mo Zhehan hoped she would have.

"Fellow Daoist Mo, have you gotten together with Fairy Han?"

Han Lu and Mo Zhehan did not make any intimate gestures or bring up the matter, so Fu Tianqiao did not ask any further questions.

After congratulating Mo Zhehan on advancing to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm and reminiscing about the past, Fu Tianqiao arranged for his junior brothers and sisters, who had come to help, to lead the two distinguished guests into the hall.

When Han Lu and Mo Zhehan arrived, there were only a dozen or so cultivators in the hall.

Fu Tianqiao didn't know many Golden Core cultivators, so he only sent out four invitations to the sect elders.

One was given to Han Lu, one to her master, the Wine Pot Daoist, and the other two were given to the deans and vice deans of the branch she knew.

Although there is no clear hierarchy between elders and disciples in the Zhengyi Sect, Fu Tianqiao still separated the area for Golden Core cultivators from the area for ordinary disciples when arranging seating.

The food and drinks on the table were the same, simply to avoid awkwardness or making the attending students feel uncomfortable.

Mo Zhehan's arrival was unexpected, but simply adding a chair resolved this unexpected problem.

Upon taking their seats, before Han Lu could even offer a greeting, Fu Tianqiao's master, the Wine Pot Daoist, took the initiative to greet her.

"Elder Zhenfeng, it's been a long time."

Han Lu couldn't actually remember when she had seen Elder Wine Pot before. She just assumed it was a polite remark and replied in the same manner, "Long time no see, Elder Wine Pot."

"Who is this?" Elder Wine Pot was naturally a little surprised to see an unfamiliar Golden Core cultivator appear at the banquet.

After Mo Zhehan introduced himself, and combined with his apprentice's experience of "competing abroad" back then, Elder Jiuhu could immediately guess when Mo Zhehan had met Fu Tianqiao.

Although it was strange that the cultivators from the Great Yu Dynasty would happen to be here, all three of them were cultivators at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, and they also had a connection with Fu Tianqiao, so there was naturally not much of a barrier between them when they started chatting.

Before long, the ever-generous and hospitable Venerable Wine Pot took out a large amount of wine from his magical wine pot and distributed it to Han Lu and Mo Zhehan, inviting the two to taste the wine together.

Meanwhile, as the time for the banquet arrived, the immortal feast celebrating Fu Tianqiao's advancement to the Golden Core Realm officially began.