The Long Journey to Immortality

Although Han Lu was well aware that she, who had only practiced the Six Arts for over fifty years, was mostly no match for those true spirits and magical beasts who had lived for over a thousand years and could only entertain themselves and cultivate their character in this way in the wilderness, she was still extremely enthusiastic about this matter.

Feng You roughly understood Han Lu's thoughts, so he followed Han Lu's wishes and recorded the six arts projects that Han Lu wanted to participate in one by one.

Next, Han Lu inquired about the preparations for the "Fantasy Garden Party" event that she planned to hold at the Bird Club based on her own ideas.

Feng You kept everyone in suspense, only saying, "It should be a great success, and it will definitely satisfy you and the other guests who come to the Hundred Birds Gathering."

Feng You was full of confidence, having already entered the partially constructed illusion array and had a brief experience, confirming that the activity was full of fun.

Hearing this, Han Lu was finally relieved.

She didn't want her idea to turn out to be a bad one, tarnishing a grand event and leaving the guests disappointed.

"What are your thoughts on the challenges in the secret realm?" Han Lu's proposed activities still had a lot of room for improvement, so Feng You asked her daughter for help with the details, hoping to get some more insightful advice.

Han Lu did have some ideas, and after pondering for a moment, she replied.

"Fun is the most important thing for this activity."

"We can set up some secret realm levels to pose challenges to the true spirits and magical beasts that come to participate in the event."

“For example…” Han Lu made up a math problem on the spot, “A chicken and a rabbit are locked in a cage.”

“Count them, there are thirty-five heads and ninety-four legs in the cage.”

The question asks how many chickens and rabbits are kept in cages.

"Dad, why don't you try it?"

Han Lu raised a very classic question.

Upon hearing the math problem, Feng You was momentarily confused, but then, relying on the superior intellect of a high-level cultivator, he arrived at the answer using a rather foolish method.

“That’s easy,” Feng You said shamelessly after a moment, “Twelve chickens and twenty-three rabbits.”

Han Lu was slightly surprised, but after thinking about it carefully, she understood the mystery behind it.

"Dad, tell me, how did you calculate that?"

Feng You was slightly embarrassed and said, "It was put together."

“If you just force it together, then this problem won’t be interesting,” Han Lu said, using her spiritual energy as a pen to write out the equations in the air and explain the correct solution. “In the secret realm, participants must write out the specific equations or explain the correct solution to pass this kind of math problem.”

"Otherwise, these kinds of fun questions would just become a matter of whoever has the highest cultivation level and can answer them the fastest, and whoever can get the reward."

“Father, there is a library in the clan, which contains many books on arithmetic. You can do what I do and find arithmetic problems to test your knowledge.”

Feng You nodded and noted it down.

Then, Feng You asked her about her relationship with Feng Baizhi.

When he heard that his daughter had simply asked Feng Baizhi to share her "secret techniques" as he had thought, he stopped asking questions.

Since no specific time for meeting was agreed upon, Han Lu was already waiting at home before the sun had completely set.

Not knowing when Feng Baizhi would return, Han Lu simply took out a chess manual and sat by the window, either studying the manual, solving life-and-death problems, or playing against an imaginary version of herself to pass the time.

In the blink of an eye, the sky, which still held a lingering glow of the setting sun, was completely dark. Han Lu still did not hear the knocking and saw no sign of Feng Baizhi.

Han Lu put down the chess piece, took a sip of tea, and thought to herself, "Could it be that I've forgotten about this?"

But upon closer reflection, it was ultimately an invitation from Feng Baizhi, so he shouldn't have forgotten it.

"It's possible that they're too timid to come." Thinking back to her meeting with Feng Baizhi during the day, Han Lu felt more and more that this might be the truth.

"Never mind, no rush, no rush." ​​Putting down her teacup, Han Lu picked up the chess pieces again and placed her hand on the chessboard. Nearly a hundred black and white chess pieces on the board rose into the air and flew back to their original porcelain jars.

Following the chess score in her memory, Han Lu picked up the black and white pieces again and reviewed the final match of the Zhengyi School Chess Competition on the chessboard, summarizing her gains and losses, right and wrong in that game.

She had only spent a quarter of an hour and had won no more than 120 or 130 games when she suddenly heard a sound outside the door.

The voice was unfamiliar, but the matter being discussed was related to her.

A strange female voice said, "Feng Baizhi, why are you standing suspiciously at the young lady's door? Are you planning something bad?"

Feng Baizhi's voice rang out, replying, "Second Aunt, I was just about to knock on the door. I have an appointment with Miss Han Lu."

“Nonsense…” the strange woman’s voice said, “I’ve seen you standing here for at least fifteen minutes. If we really had an appointment, you would have been inside by now.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Baizhi was speechless, and she would never reveal her true thoughts.

He could only bite the bullet and change the subject, not wanting to get entangled with his second aunt. "Second aunt, why would I lie to you? I was just about to knock on the door when I suddenly had an epiphany and stood here lost in thought."

"I was just getting started when you interrupted me."

A strange female voice asked, "Really?"

"Of course it's true. It's true that I have insights, and it's true that I have a date with Miss Han Lu."

Having said that, Feng Baizhi, who had been forced into this situation, finally stopped being "shy."

Just as she was about to knock on the door, Han Lu heard the commotion outside and knew that Feng Baizhi had arrived, so she opened her wooden door.

As Feng Baizhi entered and exited, her knocking hand nearly struck Han Lu's chest.

Fortunately, Feng Baizhi was also a true spirit at the Transformation Realm, and had precise control over her body muscles.

She quickly withdrew her hand and put her right hand, which had been knocking on the door, behind her back. Only then did Feng Baizhi breathe a sigh of relief, thinking to herself, "I almost caused a huge disaster."

"Young Miss." The female phoenix greeted Han Lu respectfully with a bow.

Having only met the other person a few times, and not even knowing their name, Han Lu could only nod and smile in response.

Looking at Feng Baizhi, who was clutching her right hand as if she were injured, Han Lu said, "Feng Baizhi, don't just stand there, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Upon hearing this, Feng Baizhi seemed to be electrocuted, and quickly stood up straight, stepping sideways through the space Han Lu had made to enter the room.

"The young lady really has a date with Bai Zhi?" The female phoenix was quite surprised.

To avoid any misunderstanding, Han Lu explained simply, "I asked Feng Baizhi to talk about Heming, just to exchange cultivation insights."

After saying that, Han Lu closed the door.

Although Han Lu was telling the truth, the female ice phoenix felt that she was trying to cover something up.

"However, I cannot spread the news about the young lady."

Forcing herself to forget what she had just seen, the female phoenix returned to her post and continued to guard the peace of the Three Phoenix Forest.

Chapter 967 Different Opinions

After Han Lu closed the door, Feng Baizhi followed behind Han Lu obediently.

His gaze was level with the person in front of him, staring at Han Lu's back and long hair, as if Han Lu's home was filled with private items that he shouldn't be seeing.

His restraint made him seem completely unlike a guest visiting Han Lu's home for the first time, rendering Han Lu's half-finished explanation of the home's furnishings useless.

He led Feng Baizhi into the study and pointed out a soft chair for her to sit down. Only then did Feng Baizhi relax a little.

Noticing the Go board on the table, Feng Baizhi asked curiously, "Han Lu, were you practicing Go just now?"

Compared to the daytime, Feng Baizhi, who was slightly more familiar with Han Lu, was much more proactive and even took the initiative to start conversations.

Han Lu casually put the chessboard away and replied, "Isn't there a chess competition at the Hundred Birds Gathering? I signed up and am just cramming for it."

"I'm thinking of improving a little more, so I won't be completely wiped out by my opponents."

Although Han Lu intended to focus on participation and demonstrate the Phoenix Clan's friendly attitude, she did not want to embarrass herself in such a public setting.

Feng Baizhi was unaware of Han Lu's skill level in Go, and she herself was not particularly knowledgeable about this "art," so she simply used two common, nice phrases like "close your eyes" to praise her, without delving deeper into the topic.

With a flick of her wrist, Han Lu summoned a ball of flame, added the slightly cooled tea from the teapot, poured a cup for Feng Baizhi, and then sat down in her seat, facing Feng Baizhi, to get down to business.

"I don't think you're going to stay here any longer, so let's get straight to the point and finish this business as soon as possible."

After this rather impolite opening remark, Han Lu went straight to the point and asked, "Feng Baizhi, why don't you tell us your thoughts on the Harmony Secret Technique?"

During the fifteen minutes that she stood outside the door, Feng Baizhi made a lot of preparations.

Well-prepared, he answered Han Lu's questions with the same fluency and ease as when he extended the invitation during the day.

"The Harmony Secret Technique is like the True Phoenix Manual that the phoenix usually practices. It is a way of exploring the potential of bloodlines and an imitation of the ancestral true phoenix."

Legend has it that a phoenix with nine different bloodlines will transform into a higher-level ancestral phoenix.

"At first I didn't believe this claim, but after successfully obtaining a phantom phoenix bloodline in the Phoenix Perch Forest, I became a supporter of it."

……

At this point, Feng Baizhi paused, slightly raising her gaze to observe Han Lu's changing expression.

Feng Baizhi's behavior clearly showed his thoughts on his face.

Han Lu thought it was good, so she didn't hide her praise and said, "Feng Baizhi, your answer is very good. It is well-organized and logical."

Han Lu said this, but she was puzzled in her heart, thinking to herself, "Do introverted people like to immerse themselves in their own world? She is clearly a talkative and eloquent person, but she is so shy."

With Han Lu's encouragement, Feng Baizhi finally got into the zone.

Many things that he would only mutter to himself or mutter to himself on ordinary days were spoken out loud.

The two engaged in a question-and-answer session, finding themselves in perfect harmony.

It must be said that although Feng Baizhi's cultivation level was not as high as Han Lu's, and she only shared one bloodline with Heming, her views on the Heming Secret Technique were slightly different from those of the general public.

These subtle differences, along with her experiences and insights from playing in harmony, were actually quite helpful to Han Lu.

After sharing her insights, Feng Baizhi hesitated for a moment before asking, "Han Lu, I wonder if you could tell me about these issues? I suppose you have already achieved the Four-Winged True Phoenix, even if it's just a superficial understanding, it would help me advance further."

Han Lu nodded slightly and said, "That's right. The meaning of communication is that we each gain something from our exchanges."

"My view on Heming is rather pragmatic."

"It is no different from other secret techniques; it is a secret technique that enriches the Phoenix's supernatural abilities, enhances its combat power, and has no obvious side effects."

"The only drawback is that it is difficult to cultivate, and one must be a phoenix to cultivate."

……

Han Lu's views on the Harmony Secret Technique stemmed largely from her identity as a human cultivator.

Just like at the beginning, she did not recognize her identity as a phoenix, but simply regarded the bloodline in her body and the supernatural powers she possessed as tools.

Observing and describing from this perspective, the results obtained are naturally inconsistent with those of the vast majority of phoenixes.

If we say that among the nine phoenixes, at least one-tenth of them share the same or similar views on the secret art of harmony as Feng Baizhi.