The Long Journey to Immortality

As one of the "question setters," Han Lu's participation in this event had a bit of a "both referee and player" feel to it.

In addition, she had a penchant for learning all sorts of things and grew up in the Central Plains. Although she might not have eaten as much salt as those true spirits who had lived for four or five thousand years, Han Lu was quite adept in the illusion. With the help of the small magical artifacts she obtained in the secret realm through her outstanding performances, it seemed that no problem could stump her.

[Author's Note] My National Day holiday was packed with activities; I had something to do every day—how "happy"! Wishing everyone a happy National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival.

Chapter 974 Resource Exchange

Overcoming all obstacles, Han Lu conquered fifty levels in the illusion in less than an hour, obtaining a total of one hundred and seventy feathers.

Just as Han Lu was contemplating whether to deliberately answer two questions incorrectly so that she could leave the illusion, she was automatically teleported out.

Upon returning to the outside of the illusion, before Han Lu could even react, the two phoenixes who managed the illusion array came forward to congratulate her.

"Young Miss is incredibly intelligent, she's amazing."

"As expected of the clan leader's daughter, the young lady is knowledgeable in astronomy and geography. If it weren't for the limitations of this illusion array, she would definitely have been able to pass through a thousand levels in one go."

To avoid suspicion, the two were clever enough to speak vaguely, but still made their meaning clear.

When praised, Han Lu naturally returned the compliment with a smile and said modestly, "It's just luck. I just read a lot of miscellaneous books and leisure books on weekdays."

"Where should I go to redeem my reward?"

The rules do not address this point.

One of the phoenixes in charge of managing the illusion array explained, "Miss, you can check the jade token. It not only records your achievements and results in each adventure in the illusion array, but also explains the specific location for redeeming rewards and includes a list of redeemable resources."

"Given the young lady's performance in the illusion array this time, if she achieves further success in various competitions after five attempts, she should be able to exchange for quite a few good things."

Han Lu casually thanked him, then held the jade pendant at her waist in her hand, checking the information inside as she walked.

As the phoenix said, the jade tablet contained a lot of information about the "Illusory Garden Tour" event.

How many chances are left? What were the results of each entry into the secret realm? What was the process like? How many challenges did you overcome?

Many achievements that are worth showing off to your friends can be found in it.

There was also a rough map of Sanfeng Forest, marking the locations where guests could redeem their rewards.

Han Lu, who was familiar with Sanfenglin, glanced at it and knew where she should go.

The place was not far from the guest accommodation area, which explains why many guests knew where to redeem their rewards without asking questions or checking the information in their tokens.

The form lists a variety of items available for guests to redeem.

It contains many precious materials that are effective for Nascent Soul Realm True Spirits and Magical Beasts, as well as good things that even fledglings can use.

Even if the guest uses up all five chances and only gets five feathers, the "unlucky" guest can still exchange the five feathers for fifty spirit stones on the form as a consolation prize.

The most expensive resource is three thousand feathers, which can be exchanged for three Myriad Spirit Grasses that take five thousand years to mature.

Feeding it to baby birds can help them develop intelligence early on, which is beneficial for early education and helps them realize their talents sooner.

This price is a bit high; even Han Lu would need to participate in at least twenty "Fantasy Garden Tours" to redeem it.

However, if you include the reward of 1,500 feathers for winning the Six Arts and beauty pageants, then the highest-grade material that can be exchanged is not so out of reach.

There were still some items on the form that Han Lu could redeem.

Most of them are ancient spiritual plants that can only be found in the wild.

These items are quite valuable in the Central Plains and the Great Yu Dynasty. They can be used for trading, having alchemists make medicines, or directly exchanging for spirit stones.

Upon arriving at the exchange, Han Lu went straight inside to see what was going on.

Since it was only the first day, there weren't many people in the exchange office; there were only about twelve or thirteen people in the hall, including guests and phoenixes.

Two phoenixes sat at two tables serving the guests, who huddled together in two groups, chatting amongst themselves.

Without deliberately eavesdropping, Han Lu simply pretended to crane her neck to look at the redemption forms hanging in the lobby, and the conversation between the two groups of guests drifted into her ears.

The two groups exchanged different things.

A group of five people were gathered around "Zhongyuan Pengniao," who had met Han Lu at the banquet on the first day. They were actively exchanging ideas, helping to come up with suggestions, and urging "Zhongyuan Pengniao" to exchange the more than ninety feathers in his hand for some interesting and useful trinkets to try out.

The other group of four was discussing and deliberating, calculating which resources on the exchange form were the most cost-effective.

Not only that, they were also considering combining the feathers they had obtained the day before the Hundred Birds Gathering ended to see if they could exchange them for some of the best items listed.

The trading of feathers among guests is not prohibited; in fact, Feng You even harbors the idea of ​​encouraging everyone to trade.

After all, the Hundred Birds Gathering can only be a lively and bustling event if there are mutual interests among the guests.

Han Lu's arrival did not initially attract the attention of the two groups. It was only when the phoenix bird, who was working there, took the initiative to greet her and called her "Miss" that they realized Han Lu had arrived.

Having hosted three banquets, Han Lu was a well-known figure among the guests, and the guests in the hall naturally recognized her.

The "Peng Bird of the Central Plains" who had spoken with Han Lu at the banquet took the initiative to come up and greet her.

"Good morning, Han Lu." Peng Zhan, a phoenix born in the Southern Dynasty of the Central Plains, greeted Han Lu with the etiquette of the Central Plains.

Like Han Lu, Peng Zhan is also of mixed race; his mother is human, while his father is a roc.

Unlike Han Lu, his parents did not separate from him during his childhood for various reasons.

His father, Peng, was quite responsible. He not only revealed his identity to Pengzhan's mother, but also stayed with Pengzhan in the Central Plains for nearly fifty years.

After Pengzhan's mother, who was only at the Qi Refining stage, passed away, the father and son left the Central Plains and returned to the wilderness.

Judging from the points alone, Pengzhan is much luckier than Hanlu.

Han Lu felt a natural affinity for this "human cultivator" whose background was similar to her own.

In response to the other party's friendly greeting, she replied with a joke, "With Fellow Daoist Pengzhan's knowledge, I imagine you must have gained quite a bit in that illusion."

“Not bad, I only got ninety feathers,” Pengzhan said, touching his nose. “Some of the miscellaneous knowledge I learned when I was studying in the Central Plains more than two hundred years ago came in handy.”

"So, Fairy Han has also been to the Illusionary Realm? She must have gained a lot from it."

"That day I exchanged miscellaneous knowledge with Fairy Han, and I am very clear about Fairy Han's knowledge."

At that banquet, Han Lu and Peng Zhan exchanged many topics that would only be discussed among cultivators from the Central Plains, and they had a very pleasant time.

Han Lu humbly replied, "Slightly more than Fellow Daoist Pengzhan."

"What, Fellow Daoist Pengzhan, are you planning to exchange some resources now?"

Chapter 975 First Round Tour

Pengzhan smiled awkwardly and said in a low voice, "I didn't, it's just that a few friends wanted to try something new, so they persuaded me to come here."

“But it doesn’t really matter. I’m just curious about this,” Pengzhan added, noticing that several friends had followed them. “Did Fairy Han have any recommendations?”

Pengzhan only knew that Han Lu was the daughter of Feng You, the chief of the Huanfeng clan, so he subconsciously felt that Han Lu knew everything about the Hundred Birds Gathering.

Pengzhan's clansmen knew Han Lu's identity, so they didn't say anything like "low-level jokes" about Pengzhan and the Phoenix Clan beauty being "lovey-dovey".

They greeted each other warmly, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

In response to Pengzhan's question, Han Lu replied, "Although this activity originated from a small idea of ​​mine, I am not particularly clear about the specific arrangements and details."

"Not to mention knowing which of the prizes on the redemption list are useful to Fellow Daoist Pengzhan."

"However, if it's just advice, I can offer some suggestions."

Han Lu had once visited the treasure vault of the Illusionary Phoenix Clan in the Three Phoenix Forest at her father's request, and was quite familiar with many of the unique resources found in the wilderness.

After inquiring about Pengzhan's needs, she looked through the form for a while and then spoke.

“Pengzhan, although you are practicing the cultivation method of human cultivators as a supplement, many of the magic treasures on the list that true spirits and magical beasts don’t like to use are very suitable for you.”

“I recognize some of them, and they would fit your requirements quite well.”

Because true spirits and magical beasts don't like to use magic weapons during battles, Fengyou set the prices of the magic weapons on the list relatively low.

Many magical artifacts that can be sold for 10,000 or 20,000 spirit stones can be obtained for only 700 or 800 feathers on the list.

Although it doesn't perfectly suit Pengzhan personally, it's perfectly fine to use it as an aid in battles.

Pengzhan was very excited to hear that there were such cheap spiritual artifacts to exchange for, but he was also a little discouraged when he thought about how he only had ninety feather tokens.

"Fairy Han, although the items are good, I can only earn four or five hundred feathers at most. That's still a long way from exchanging for even one of these magic treasures."

Han Lu pointed out a path for Pengzhan, "Didn't you say the other day that you were good at chess? If you can get a good ranking in the chess competition, you can get two or three hundred feathers."

"As for the remaining feathers, you can use spirit stones to buy them from your friends."

"Then you can just buy that magical artifact that you've taken a fancy to."

Upon hearing this, Pengzhan nodded slowly, then looked at the three friends beside him.

All three expressed their support for Pengzhan's extravagant purchase.

After all, their miscellaneous skills were generally mediocre, and even if they honed their skills at the last minute, they would be lucky to earn thirty or forty feathers after five rounds.

Instead of exchanging for some useless gadgets, it's better to support your companions and be a good Samaritan.

"Fairy Han, do you have anything you like?" Pengzhan asked.

Han Lu pointed to the form hanging in the hall and said, "I have some ideas about those spiritual plants."

"I already have enough magical treasures, so there's no need to compete with Fellow Daoist Pengzhan and other guests for them."

"These more versatile spiritual plants and herbs are more suitable for me."

Han Lu and Peng Zhan's conversation attracted another group of people in the hall.

The three parties chatted casually about the various documents on the form.

Han Lu, who was only in her nineties and had only average appraisal skills, learned a lot of new knowledge from this third group of seasoned veterans.

As a new event, "Fantasy Garden Party" served as the vanguard, setting a good precedent for this bird festival. Other activities followed suit in quick succession.

On the afternoon of the first day, the first event was a chess competition.

The chess competition is time-consuming, involves many games, has a large number of participants, and is highly competitive. It is the most watched event besides the beauty pageant, so it has always been a highlight of the Hundred Birds Festival.

The event was scheduled for the first day to avoid peak times, so that guests who are skilled in chess but have also signed up for other activities would not be able to attend to both.

With so many participants, preparing chessboards and pieces before the start of the Bird Festival was one of the tasks the phoenixes did in the days leading up to the event.

When the competition began, nearly eight hundred chess players, all at least at the Transformation Realm, gathered together, concentrating intently on the black and white chess pieces in front of them, creating a spectacular scene.

Fortunately, the organizers also possessed cultivation comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm, and were highly prestigious phoenixes; otherwise, not just anyone could have maintained order in such a situation.