The Long Journey to Immortality

However, in Sanfenglin, there is often not a single major event that requires the personal attention of the clan leader, Fengyou, even once in a century.

This relatively stable environment, with family by her side, is why Han Lu, who was originally devoted to Taoism, longed to settle here.

Although she has changed considerably since forty or seventy years ago, this idea still remains deep in her mind, influencing her way of dealing with people and things.

Knowing that her parents had not encountered any major problems during the years she was away, Han Lu was completely relieved.

Although Feng Hong was talking about trivial matters, there were still some pieces of information that Han Lu should pay attention to.

In particular, there was a piece of "intelligence" concerning Feng Rubing.

“My mother has spent less time on spiritual practice in recent years and is more often able to stay by my father’s and my side.”

Han Lu knew that the elders of the Ice Phoenix Clan placed their hopes for another Nascent Soul Realm phoenix on Feng Rubing.

Because of their great strength, the ceiling for True Spirits in the human realm has been lowered from the True Spirit era to the current level. Anyone who advances to the Divine Transformation Realm will be forced to ascend to the Spirit Realm within three years at most.

This is why the True Spirits have gradually become "kind" and are willing to stay in the wilderness as local overlords, rather than relying on the large number of their respective races that are comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm to fight against the human race.

After all, a human cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage can "survive" in the mortal realm for at least three hundred years.

Instigating conflict is detrimental to the true spirit in the long run.

The Ice Phoenix Clan's main reason for hoping that Feng Rubing could "ascend to heaven as soon as possible" was to compete for the right to speak in the Phoenix Perch Forest.

After the True Spirit Era, the Nine Phoenixes formed a "confederation" again, barely managing to stay united.

The distribution of decision-making power within the Phoenix Clan was replaced by a scoring system developed with the help of ancient human cultivators.

This rule, because it was mutually agreed upon and effective, was maintained and continued as a tradition.

For example, if a powerful cultivator from a certain clan emerges at the Nascent Soul stage and successfully ascends to immortality, although it weakens the power of a branch, it gives that branch of the Phoenix Clan a lot of points, greatly increasing its influence in the Phoenix Perch Forest.

Currently, the Ice Phoenix Clan is at its weakest, facing a generational gap and having the least say among the Nine Phoenixes in the Phoenix Perch Forest.

Naturally, when Feng Rubing, the former genius, returned, the Ice Phoenix Clan placed their hopes for the revitalization of the tribe on her.

This includes, but is not limited to, enabling Feng Rubing to have more children and give birth to several exceptionally talented ice phoenix offspring; and focusing all her efforts on cultivation, striving to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm within a thousand years.

Although Feng Rubing longed to spend more time with her husband and children in the mortal realm, ascending to the spirit realm was her dream. Now, feeling a sense of indebtedness to her clan, Feng Rubing "obediently listened" after obtaining a large amount of cultivation materials, focusing more on cultivation, which she could not see any hope for at the moment.

Now, the wind has shifted. Clearly, something has happened within the Ice Phoenix Clan that could earn them a "score" in a short time. There's no need to squeeze any more of Feng Rubing's remaining value in such a short period.

"This is a good thing," Han Lu thought to herself.

Han Lu didn't explain the overly complicated matter to Feng Hong, who was still a child. Even if she had, Feng Hong's little brain wouldn't have understood.

As they talked about family matters, Mo Zhehan listened with great interest.

This scene gave him the illusion that he had really married Han Lu and become a member of this family.

Enjoying himself, Mo Zhehan continued to act as Feng Hong's "brother-in-law," participating in the conversation and occasionally asking a few questions, waiting for Feng Hong to excitedly reveal all the information he wanted to know.

Seeing Feng Hong's attentive behavior towards Mo Zhehan, Han Lu didn't notice anything amiss.

"It's normal for kids to like to show off."

"I just don't know what kind of spell Mo Zhehan cast on Feng Hong during that one hour."

Fortunately, Feng Hong was still as affectionate as when they first met. Otherwise, Han Lu might have become a little jealous of Mo Zhehan, causing Mo Zhehan's wishful thinking to unexpectedly backfire.

The three of them sat and chatted for about half an hour, then Feng Hong begged Han Lu to cook for her.

"Huh? Han Lu, you can cook?" Mo Zhehan was quite surprised.

For monks, practicing the Six Arts in their spare time is an elegant activity that can nourish the mind and body.

Cooking is not included in this category.

Even cultivators have no need for food, and cooking is considered a vulgar and useless skill by many cultivators.

Mo Zhehan was naturally surprised that Han Lu was also a good cook.

"What, does Fellow Daoist Mo, a Golden Core cultivator who doesn't need to eat, look down on me, a cook?" Han Lu joked.

Mo Zhehan chuckled, "How could that be? My ideal partner is the kind who can cook delicious meals, be elegant in public and skilled in the kitchen..."

Mo Zhehan praised Han Lu at length and concluded that he liked her even more because of this.

Han Lu wasn't really satisfied or dissatisfied with this, she just said, "Then you stay here and keep my brother company, I'll go cook something delicious for you."

Feng Hong happily performed a "reciting of dishes" in front of Han Lu, using her ever-chattering mouth. Mo Zhehan said that he liked whatever Han Lu cooked.

After pondering for a moment, and adding a few more dishes to her mental menu, Han Lu got up and went to the kitchen in the small house to cook a feast.

The kitchen was empty.

Since she was going to live in Sanfeng Forest for another ten years or so, Han Lu took out all the ingredients and seasonings related to cooking from her storage bag.

She used her Ice Phoenix Divine Power to create a refrigerator-like container, similar to the one she had seen in the ancient cultivation realm, to freeze and refrigerate perishable ingredients.

Nearly a hundred kinds of spices and seasonings were neatly arranged on the shelf next to the stove, ready for her to use.

The flames used in cooking were the raging fire that Han Lu generated with her Fire Phoenix Divine Power.

High temperature and stable, adjustable at her whim.

With such a flame, it's no surprise that the pot Han Lu uses when cooking dishes also has some history.

It is a first-grade magic tool. According to the cultivator who helped Han Lu forge this "black pot", the dishes cooked with this treasure will taste even better.

With so many excellent ingredients to complement the dishes, and with Han Lu being a top-notch chef, the resulting cuisine is naturally exceptional.

The eight dishes and one soup, all served on large platters, were devoured by Mo Zhehan and Feng Hong in just fifteen minutes.

Feng Hong really has a huge appetite.

Mo Zhehan expressed his appreciation for Han Lu's cooking in a simple way.

From this perspective, Mo Zhehan's personality is not much different from back then.

Of course, these dishes are delicious in themselves.

Chapter 951 The Thick-skinned Tactics

After eating his fill, Feng Hong took his leave of Han Lu, saying he needed to go home and diligently cultivate to prove that his previous promises were not empty words.

Han Lu was naturally very happy that Feng Hong had such an idea.

Han Lu offered a few words of encouragement to Feng Hong and repeatedly praised Feng Hong for being sensible.

For children, praise is always more powerful than criticism.

Feng Hong left Han Lu's residence in high spirits. Clearly, Han Lu's few words of praise were enough to keep him in this state of mind for ten days or half a month, so that he could be a "good boy".

Han Lu is not good at helping "bad kids" recognize their mistakes and correct their ways, but she does have some skill in educating "good kids".

After seeing Feng Hong off, Han Lu turned her gaze to Mo Zhehan, who was still sitting at the dining table.

"How are you? Have you eaten yet?" Han Lu asked casually as she sat down next to Mo Zhehan.

Mo Zhehan patted his stomach and said with a shameless grin, "I'm not full. I won't complain about having too much of this delicious food."

When a cultivator advances to the Golden Core realm, they will naturally not experience the slightest discomfort from swallowing ordinary food.

If a Golden Core cultivator were willing, they could easily consume all the produce of the Southern Dynasty in a single day.

"Alright, then I'll make you four dishes and four soups, and warm a pot of fine wine for you. I'll also find a few beautiful Phoenix Clan women who can sing and dance to keep you company, how about that?" Han Lu teased.

Upon hearing Han Lu's words, Mo Zhehan immediately lost his previous casual demeanor and said seriously, "That's enough, that's enough. When a guest does as the host says, Han Lu, if you say I'm full, then I'm full."

"You're smart enough to know what's good for you," Han Lu snorted, pointed to the leftover food on the table, and said, "Go wash the dishes."

"Wash the dishes?" Mo Zhehan was quite surprised by Han Lu's arrangement.

But upon closer reflection, he happily used his magical artifact manipulation technique to collect all the dirty plates, bowls, and chopsticks on the table, then manipulated these ordinary utensils to go to the kitchen next door to wash the dishes.

In Mo Zhehan's view, Han Lu's arrangement showed that she didn't treat him as an outsider.

Moreover, he doesn't mind doing these trivial things as Han Lu's husband in the future.

In his view, this is also part of the fun and intimacy in a couple's life, even an important part of it.

Mo Zhehan's performance surprised Han Lu somewhat.

She only intended to tease Mo Zhehan, but she didn't expect him to act as if he had received a reward.

Watching Mo Zhehan's retreating figure, Han Lu murmured, "Could it be that there was some kind of poison in the dishes that could bewitch a Golden Core cultivator, and it poisoned Mo Zhehan into a stupor?"

In this respect, Han Lu was even less capable than Mo Zhehan, completely unaware of how she had given Mo Zhehan any favors.

Washing dishes is a very simple task for a Golden Core cultivator.

But Mo Zhehan treated it as a major task.

Holding a coarse cloth that he had somehow found in a storage bag, and using some simple cleaning techniques, Mo Zhehan vigorously wiped the plates, looking every bit like a cleaner in an ordinary canteen.

Enjoying it so much, Mo Zhehan even began to enjoy this incredibly troublesome chore.

After completing the task diligently, Mo Zhehan returned to the restaurant.

"Finished washing?" Han Lu leaned back slightly in her chair and asked.

With Han Lu facing him in this posture, Mo Zhehan couldn't help but linger his gaze on Han Lu's protruding chest for a moment.

After a moment of hesitation, she replied, "It's clean."

"Hmm, not bad," Han Lu casually praised. "Come with me, I'll arrange a place for you to stay."

Mo Zhehan hesitated for a moment before boldly suggesting, "Han Lu, why don't I stay here? There are guest rooms, so there's no need to find me another place to stay."

"It's just a short stay of two days, please don't go to too much trouble, I'd feel really bad about it."

Hearing this, Han Lu felt embarrassed and asked in return, "Then I won't feel embarrassed if you stay here with me?"

Mo Zhehan shamelessly replied, "Well, well, since we know each other so well, it's not strange at all that I'd like to stay for a couple of days."

Mo Zhehan followed Dong Fengyu's earnest teachings, adhering to the famous saying, "You have to be shameless to win a girl's heart," and acted as if he wanted to stay at Han Lu's house.

Han Lu let out a long breath, her gaze lingering on Mo Zhehan for a moment before she said, "Alright, it's only two days anyway, consider it a reward you deserve for teaching Feng Hong well."

Mo Zhehan breathed a sigh of relief, chuckling to himself, "Senior brother really didn't lie to me."

On the surface, Mo Zhehan put on an air of "it's all my due" and said, "That's right, I'm your brother's brother-in-law."

Not yet daring to make a strong declaration in front of Han Lu, Mo Zhehan took a roundabout approach, playing a little trick.