The Long Journey to Immortality

Therefore, Wen Erya's name was also crossed out.

Of the three people reported by Piaomiaozi, only Han Lu remained.

"Han Lu".

Compared to Wen Erya, Han Lu's reputation was much smaller, and Wuhu Jushi had no idea that there was such an "unknown nobody" in the sect.

Si Xing'er was quite surprised to hear Han Lu's name and had entrusted the task of organizing the files to her subordinates.

She glanced at the file beside her to make sure that this Han Lu was the same person she knew.

Upon seeing the information her subordinates had prepared for her, Si Xing'er couldn't help but interject, "Han Lu? How come she's been included? I remember she was only a Daoist disciple."

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Wuhu Jushi exclaimed in surprise.

“There’s a mistake,” Ding Li joked. “She’s at the first level of Qi Refining now.”

Upon hearing this joke, the expressions on the faces of several people, including Wuhu Jushi, revealed helplessness.

Wu Hu Jushi didn't ask any more questions. He casually crossed out Han Lu's name and muttered a few complaints to Piaomiaozi in his heart, feeling that this newly promoted Golden Core cultivator was being too perfunctory about this matter.

Si Xing'er had a good impression of Han Lu. Seeing the expression on Wuhu Jushi's face, she still spoke well of Han Lu, saying, "However, Han Lu's talent for sensing Qi is truly exceptional."

The group looked at Si Xing'er, clearly intrigued by her words.

Si Xing'er briefly recounted Han Lu's amusing experiences during her intensive cultivation, then mentioned another name, "Elder Wuhu, I remember you also encountered something similar during your intensive cultivation?"

“Indeed, but I didn’t exaggerate to the point of being banned from participating in major cultivation by the Transmission Hall,” Wuhu Jushi recalled his time as a Qi Refining cultivator. “In this light, Han Lu is indeed somewhat special. There must be some deeper meaning behind Piaomiaozi mentioning her name.”

"How about this..."

After a moment, the Hermit of the Five Lakes made his decision.

"The internal treasury will give Han Lu two more Meridian Opening Pills each month, but Han Lu still won't be on this list."

"Even if we report to the sect leader, Han Lu will not be able to make it into the final ten list, so there's no need to waste our time."

Fan Hua said "Yes" and made a note of the matter.

Although many of the cultivators on the list did not enter the "main competition," the Five Lakes Hermits still gave these young cultivators, whom the elders considered geniuses, benefits and showed them plenty of face.

It is only because of such a "highly emotionally intelligent" dean managing the mountain academy that such a large cultivation group as the Zhengyi Sect can operate stably.

It took the four of them about two and a half hours to repeatedly sift through the nearly one hundred names on the list three times before finally determining the final list to be submitted by Dongshan Academy to Wuxing Mountain Academy.

All ten cultivators on the list are exceptionally talented.

Three of them were lucky individuals who had just advanced to the twelfth level of Qi Refining and had not yet attempted to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage.

The other seven are all cultivators at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and they all have the potential to reach the twelfth level of Qi Refining in two years.

Although it is not uncommon for Qi Refining cultivators to defy their superiors, the Zhengyi Sect still prefers that the disciples who enter the secret realm to search for treasures for the sect be top-level Qi Refining cultivators at the twelfth level.

The lists of the five major mountain academies were sent to the Five Elements Mountain Academy one after another. The Zhengyi Sect, this exquisite giant machine, began to slowly start up, devoting all its efforts to the ancient cultivation secret realm that might change the future of the sect two years later.

[Author's Note] It hasn't been released yet; my prediction was wrong.

Chapter 83 Negotiation

Such an important matter would naturally not be something that Daoist Yunmin, the sect leader, would neglect or be perfunctory in the slightest.

The three sect leaders sat together and studied for a full ten hours before finally deciding on the ten Qi Refining cultivators that the sect would focus on cultivating over the next two years.

Only after the matter was settled was it officially made public, allowing all disciples to know about the "privilege".

In addition, the Zhengyi Sect also allows any disciple with a cultivation level of Qi Refining Level 6 or above to question the list, in order to ensure fairness and impartiality.

The ten cultivators on the list are all well-known geniuses in their respective mountain academies, and their cultivation levels are all above the ninth level of Qi Refining. If they receive additional resources from their sects, advancing to the twelfth level of Qi Refining in two years is practically a certainty.

Apart from a few cultivators at the twelfth level of Qi Refining who had objections and went to their respective academy deans to demand an explanation, the vast majority of ordinary disciples participated in this matter as mere spectators.

There are different levels of skill, and talent cannot be easily quantified and compared.

Ultimately, however, it was up to the sect leader and other high-ranking members to decide this matter.

Ultimately, those cultivators who questioned the accuracy of the list fell silent due to the prestige of the Golden Core cultivators and the slight benefit they received. They acknowledged the fairness and correctness of the list.

Meanwhile, most of the geniuses who didn't make the list were secretly competing with each other, thinking that they should work hard in the next two years to improve their cultivation and combat power, and strive to defeat the ten "deceitful" geniuses on the list in the final selection competition before the secret realm opens.

Han Lu, Wen Erya, and Yu Hongfei were not too surprised that they were not on the list. In fact, Yu Hongfei felt that he had gotten a good deal.

After all, without this incident, he wouldn't have been able to receive an extra spirit stone from his sect every month.

Making a profit without putting in any effort made Yu Hongfei, who had been busy with his family for the past two years, very satisfied.

Wen Erya didn't feel anything special, but like the other cultivators who failed to be selected, she was frustrated and thought about winning the selection competition two years later.

However, she didn't want to vent any resentment; she just wanted to enter the secret realm, witness the demeanor of the ancient cultivators, and broaden her horizons.

Only Han Lu felt a little regretful.

Unfortunately, the dean in charge of the selection within the branch, Layman Wuhu, only gave her a few extra pills each month as encouragement.

Instead of arranging even half an hour of extra time for her to cultivate on Hanchan Peak.

Like those cultivators who narrowly missed out, Han Lu was full of fighting spirit for the final selection.

Han Lu was solely focused on the numerous cultivation resources within the secret realm; her thoughts were far more realistic and worldly than Wen Erya's.

Similar stories of selecting and screening talented Qi Refining cultivators have also occurred in Xuan Yang Valley and the Seven Mountains Alliance, but they are slightly different from each other.

Xuan Yang Valley is a large and powerful family, and the number of cultivators practicing in Xuan Yang Valley is nearly ten thousand more than that of the Zheng Yi Sect.

With a solid foundation and a large number of cultivators, there are naturally more genius cultivators among them.

In the end, the list finalized by Xuan Yang Valley included as many as thirty Qi Refining cultivators.

Xuan Yang Valley planned to cast a wide net, leveraging the sect's power to gain an advantage at the cooperation meeting of the three major sects, ultimately becoming the biggest winner in the secret realm treasure hunt two years later.

The Seven Mountains Alliance, sandwiched between the Central Plains and Western Regions cultural spheres and barely qualifying as the third largest "sect" in the Central Plains region, is much more "stingy" with its disciples.

As a collective formed by the union of seven sects in a small region, the Seven Mountains Alliance, in order to address internal issues and maintain harmony, ultimately selected only seven cultivators as key trainees.

Each sect has one person, and the cultivation resources needed by that person are provided by their respective sect.

This arrangement was made out of sheer necessity.

However, due to the awkward position of the Seven Mountains Alliance, the cultivators under its command had a lot of combat experience, so the seven selected cultivators were even stronger than the other two major sects in terms of combat power at this time.

Everything is progressing smoothly and steadily.

Just when many cultivators who disliked gossip were about to forget about the strange phenomena and the fact that the ancient cultivation secret realm had little to do with ordinary cultivators, the delegation from the Zhengyi Sect to go to the deep valley for negotiations and consultations was finally selected.

Being sent to negotiate with Xuan Yang Valley and the Seven Mountains Alliance was not a pleasant task.

If Xuan Yang Valley can take the action of sending paper swords to notify the meeting, it will naturally do more bullying things at this consultation meeting that is related to the future development of the three major sects.

The Golden Core cultivators weren't fools, so naturally they were unwilling to volunteer and go to the meeting only to be humiliated for nothing.

Yunmin Daoist had to use a lot of persuasion to assemble a delegation of ten elders.

Ultimately, the Yunding Zhenren, who had a relatively bad temper, stayed behind at the sect, while Yunmin Daoren and Qingshui Zhenren led the team. Together with the deans of the East, South, and Central Mountain Academies, and five Golden Core cultivators skilled in social interaction, they formed a ten-person delegation.

It's not impressive enough for just ten people to go to the deep valley to negotiate.

Before their departure, the Qi Refining cultivators who made it onto the list of fifty were taken aboard the ark under the pretext of "checking out the venue." Together with ten Golden Core cultivators, they went to the deep valley to meet with the other two parties and discuss various matters concerning the ancient cultivation secret realm.

A total of sixty people boarded the giant dragon ark, which was jointly controlled by three Golden Core cultivators, and arrived in the western part of the Central Plains from the southeast in less than an hour.

The meeting location was chosen by the Seven Mountains Alliance, the "host," in a deep valley, only five hundred steps away from the teleportation portal to the ancient cultivation secret realm.

The talks were of great importance, and the cultivators, with their extraordinary abilities, managed to erect a complex of buildings in just one month, providing temporary accommodation for the representatives of the other two major sects attending the meeting.

The dragon-shaped ark plunged into the deep valley and came to a stop on the open ground in front of the complex of buildings.

After disembarking from the ark, I gazed into the distance.

This was the first time that the fifty-nine cultivators, including Daoist Yunmin, had seen what the portal to the ancient cultivation realm actually looked like. Zizhu Fairy, the most beautiful and good-natured female Golden Core cultivator of the Zhengyi Sect, was also on the delegation; she was the only one among them who had seen what the portal looked like before.

Yunmin Daoist thought that after getting off the dragon boat, he would see several Golden Core Daoist friends from the Seven Mountains Alliance come to greet him, but he did not expect that there was only one Golden Core cultivator from the Seven Mountains Alliance guarding in front of the dragon boat.

Seeing this, Daoist Yunmin was naturally displeased.

He tried his best to maintain the demeanor of a sect leader, "Where are Fellow Daoist Situ and Fairy Bai?"

The two Daoist friends mentioned by Daoist Yunmin are the leaders of the Seven Mountains Alliance in recent years.

The Golden Core cultivator in charge of receiving the Zhengyi Sect group smiled and pretended not to hear Daoist Yunmin's question, "I am Daoist Hongyu, and I welcome all fellow Daoists of the Zhengyi Sect."

"Where are Fellow Daoist Situ and Fairy Bai?" Daoist Yunmin raised his voice slightly and asked again.

"The two alliance leaders are currently receiving fellow Daoists from the Southern Barbarians and the Western Regions. They will meet with Sect Leader Yunmin shortly."

Hongyu Daoist's words changed the expressions of several Golden Core elders from the Zhengyi Sect who had not held high hopes for the trip.

"Are cultivators from the Southern Barbarians and the Western Regions here too?" Daoist Yunmin questioned. "Could it be that the Seven Mountains Alliance is thinking of changing allegiance and going to the Western Regions to eat sand?"

This statement was quite blunt, but the well-prepared Hongyu Daoist maintained his smile and carefully explained, "Although the Southern Barbarians and the Western Regions have different cultures from the Central Plains, they still have a head, two hands, two feet, and wear clothes; they are human cultivators."

"The stone tablet in front of the ancient cultivation secret realm clearly states that this matter is related to the entire human race."

After explaining the principles, Master Hongyu said something to silence Master Yunmin for the time being.

"The organizer of this meeting, Xuan Yang Valley, is also aware of this matter. As far as I know, the current Valley Master, Master Long, and several of the Valley's Supreme Elders are quite supportive of this matter."

"Otherwise, the Seven Mountains Alliance would not have opened its doors to the Western Regions. In terms of hatred, the Seven Mountains Alliance's hatred towards the Western Regions is a hundred times greater than that of the Zhengyi Sect."

Yunmin Daoist could hear the helplessness in Hongyu Daoist's words, so he stopped criticizing her.

"Alright, Fellow Daoist Hongyu, may I ask where we are staying and when the meeting will begin?"

Seeing that Daoist Yunmin was no longer pursuing the sad story of the Seven Mountains Alliance, Daoist Hongyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Please come with me. The Seven Mountains Alliance has prepared accommodations for all of you distinguished guests for the next few days."

"As for the meeting, I'm afraid we'll have to wait another day."

"Why?" asked Daoist Yunmin.

Hongyu Daoist said with a wry smile, "The Valley Master Long, who is in charge of the negotiation meeting here, is delayed in the East China Sea Islands and will be able to lead the team here tomorrow."

Upon hearing that Xuan Yang Valley was once again acting arrogantly, Daoist Yun Min felt quite helpless.

Under the arrangement of Hongyu Daoren and his many disciples, the Zhengyi Sect group successfully settled down in the deep valley.

Most of the Golden Core cultivators were able to maintain their composure, but the Qi Refining cultivators who had come to the deep valley with them all headed to the teleportation portal immediately.

They wanted to see up close what this thing, which might influence the future of the Central Plains and even the human race, actually looked like.