The Long Journey to Immortality

Han Lu also revealed her "gift-giving" plan that she had made over the past few days.

After listening, Wen Erya praised her repeatedly, and her 90% confidence turned into 100%.

The two arrived at the small town where Zhan Yujun lived in less than half an hour.

Like many cities from the Southern Dynasties, this place is quite different from what it was more than fifty years ago.

Upon arriving at their destination, Han Lu and Wen Erya did not rush to visit their old friend.

The two first found a place to stay, and then quietly set off in the early hours of the morning to carry out their plan.

Chapter 1052 Dream? Illusion.

Zhan Yujun can't remember exactly when she started to enjoy drinking.

However, even Zhan Yuyun, who was at the Qi Refining stage, would be captivated by the alcohol in ordinary wines, entering a state of tipsiness that would intoxicate all drinkers.

Several years before her husband's death, Zhan Yujun had already become enamored with this feeling.

She felt that only this feeling of soaring through the sky could add more flavor to the last period of her life, allowing her to recall those beautiful times without any reservations.

That night, before going to bed, she drank half a pot of wine while facing the full moon.

Three years after advancing to the ninth level of Qi Refining, Zhan Yujun stopped cultivating at night and instead tried to sleep as a mortal as possible.

Try to capture the beauty that only exists in dreams, try to meet your long-lost children in your dreams.

After drinking half a pot of fine wine, Zhan Yujun felt much lighter than usual.

Taking steps, big or small, Zhan Yujun was inspired to write poetry, reciting beautiful lines she had seen in poetry collections to pass the time.

Reading various books was a hobby that Zhan Yujun had before she started living alone.

As a nun, she had no worries about money and didn't need to travel around and toil for it.

When there is no hope of advancing in cultivation, one will naturally seek out hobbies to pass the time and give a glimmer of hope to a life that seems to have no future.

The problem that plagues many cultivators from the Central Plains who leave their sects and stop cultivating is mostly the emptiness of their lives.

Cultivators like Zhan Yujun are not a minority.

In the eyes of the monks, they were failures.

In the eyes of mortals, they are "immortals who descended to earth" who do not have to worry about making a living and have long lifespans.

In their own eyes, he was an insignificant outsider who was wasting his life and had no use for the world.

It's as negative as it gets.

It's fortunate that Zhan Yujun has a husband and children; otherwise, she would likely have entered this state in her sixties or seventies, prematurely beginning her "retirement life."

Drinking alone under the moon, I let my poetic inspiration flow freely, spending the most tedious half hour before bedtime in a manner that seemed somewhat eccentric to others.

After the alcohol completely numbed her mind, Zhan Yujun hastily tidied up the wine glasses and wine pot on the table, took some big and some small steps, and lay down on her bed with some tears in the corners of her eyes for some unknown reason.

Sleeping in a rather unseemly position, fully clothed and covered only by a thin blanket, Zhan Yujun soon drifted off to sleep with even breathing.

Lost in her wine, she didn’t notice that two unexpected guests had arrived in her home, which had been empty for three and a half years.

Seeing that Zhan Yujun had fallen asleep, Han Lu and Wen Erya finally appeared.

The two looked at each other in silence, their eyes filled with a hint of sadness.

With just a glance, the two knew what the other was thinking.

They both secretly blamed themselves, lamenting why they were too focused on cultivation and forgot to take even a little time to visit Zhan Yujun's house.

"If I could do that, Zhan Yujun would definitely not be the way she is now."

Han Lu sighed inwardly and gripped the jade artifact containing the "Perfect Illusion" in her hand even tighter.

After grieving alone for a moment, Wen Erya transmitted her voice to Han Lu and said, "Junior sister, quickly use the illusionary magic."

Han Lu nodded slightly and proceeded according to the plan.

Rather than a direct meeting or using illusion magic, Han Lu prefers to deliver this carefully prepared gift using the current methods.

Only after Zhan Yujun was fast asleep was the illusion allowed to affect her mind and body, so that she would mistake the illusion for a dream and be able to accept the kindness of her two friends more calmly.

After several nights, when the illusion had fully played out in Zhan Yujun's dreams, Han Lu and Wen Erya reappeared, bringing their friend a long-awaited warmth and care.

Han Lu tossed the magic weapon into the air and activated it by making hand seals.

The jade ring, which was originally only the size of a palm, expanded twenty times in an instant.

The jade ring floated in the air parallel to the ground, and the hollow part in the middle covered Zhan Yujun, who was fast asleep.

As Han Lu used her abilities to activate the magic weapon, the jade ring emitted a pale light.

These rays of light eventually transformed into a distorted, multicolored spectrum in the air, enveloping Zhan Yujun in curved trajectories.

Using the magic artifact as a starting point, the special gift that Han Lu had prepared long ago was officially unpacked.

While fast asleep, Zhan Yujun, a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, unknowingly fell into a perfect illusion prepared for her by Han Lu and Wen Erya.

After doing all this, Han Lu cast a clever restriction to hide the jade ring magic weapon, which had already entered a semi-dormant state.

After completing the cleanup, Han Lu and Wen Erya exchanged a glance and then quietly disappeared again, leaving no trace in Zhan Yujun's home.

The two Golden Core cultivators departed, signifying the completion of their mission, but the illusion Han Lu had prepared for Zhan Yujun had only just begun.

Originally, Zhan Yujun, who was fast asleep, was experiencing a bizarre and illogical dream.

However, due to Han Lu's intervention, the dream in her mind quickly reorganized and changed, and in the short span of five breaths, it became the illusion woven for her by Han Lu.

In her sleep, Zhan Yujun was completely unaware of anything amiss.

Just like an ordinary mortal, she returned to the age of fifteen in her dream, starting all over again and experiencing a cultivation life that was almost completely different from reality.

He joined the Zhengyi Sect, but because of his lack of talent, he was not selected by Piaomiaozi, who was choosing disciples at the disciple recruitment ceremony that day, and could only enter the Zhengyi Sect as an outer disciple.

Just like back then, Zhan Yujun sought out Han Lu, wanting to "bully the weak" and defeat her, thereby demonstrating her own strength and venting her slight jealousy towards Han Lu.

This time, in the illusion, Han Lu granted Zhan Yujun's wish.

After a fierce battle, Zhan Yujun defeated Han Lu in front of her fellow disciples, becoming the victor of that battle.

When Han Lu was writing this story, she hesitated a bit, wondering if it was the outcome of that battle that led Zhan Yujun astray on the path of cultivation.

Wen Erya helped to comfort her for a while before she felt relieved.

Just as Wen Erya said that day, cultivation is determined by talent. Even if Zhan Yuyun defeated Han Lu that day, she was indeed chosen by a Golden Core elder and entered the inner sect to obtain more cultivation resources.

Zhan Yuyun may have only changed from being stuck at the Qi Refining Realm to being stuck at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and it won't change much.

However, reality is reality, and a story is a story.

In the illusion, Zhan Yujun's cultivation journey underwent a dramatic change starting from this unique experience.

Chapter 1053 A Happy Life in the Illusion

Zhan Yuyun defeated Han Lu in the battle. Although she was not immediately valued by a Golden Core cultivator, she still became acquainted with Han Lu because of this battle, just like before.

Then, through Han Lu, she became friends with Wen Erya.

Thanks to Han Lu and Wen Erya's kind words to Piaomiaozi, Piaomiaozi, who already had quite a few disciples, made an exception and accepted Zhan Yujun as well, so that the three friends could be reunited under his tutelage.

Despite some setbacks, Zhan Yujun successfully became an inner disciple of the Zhengyi Sect in the illusory story, making a good start to her cultivation career.

In the first year of the competition, all three made a name for themselves in their respective weight classes.

Han Lu and Wen Erya won first place, while Zhan Yujun was slightly inferior but still successfully advanced to the top four, almost making it to the finals.

This result delighted Zhan Yujun, who not only gained a large amount of resources and magical artifacts, but also gained confidence.

The subsequent cultivation portion of the story within the illusion is merely a diversion; the majority of the narrative focuses on friendship.

The main theme is the life Zhan Yujun shared with her two friends during their time in the sect.

Those beautiful memories that Han Lu and Wen Erya often recall are repeatedly played out in the fantasy world in a "more and sweeter" way.

With no significant difference in cultivation level or talent, the three had an even stronger relationship than before in the illusion.

As Zhan Yujun slept soundly, immersed in her dream world, she experienced these moments of friendship that she often reminisced about. A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

The story of this night begins from when Zhan Yujun joined the Zhengyi Sect until the fourth year when Zhan Yujun became the last of the three to advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The illusion is very well made.

So, it took four years to complete, but only one night.

When Zhan Yujun woke up the next morning.

At this moment, her mind was clear, unlike when she was usually drunk and asleep.

She remembers every detail of her dreams clearly, as if she had experienced them herself.

Although she had already woken up, she kept her eyes closed and savored the moment for a long time.

Only when she could no longer capture the wonderful sensations she had experienced in her dream did Zhan Yujun reluctantly open her eyes and slowly get out of bed.

After sitting on the bed for a while, Zhan Yujun murmured, "I really want this dream to continue."

Guided by the illusory dream, Zhan Yuyun recalled the happy times she spent with Han Lu and Wen Erya. She smiled, but two lines of tears kept falling down her face.

After laughing and crying for a while, Zhan Yujun turned her head to look at her aged self in the new-style mirror.

She looked at herself in the mirror and asked, "Han Lu, Er Ya, are you alright?"

After asking that question, most of the sparkle in Zhan Yujun's eyes faded.

She habitually reached for the bedside table, picked up the wine jug on it, and deftly used a simple spell to warm the wine inside before drinking it in one gulp.

The warm wine soothed her aching heart.

He took out a handkerchief, wiped the wine off his lips, carefully folded the wine-scented handkerchief, and put it away in his storage bag.

This handkerchief was embroidered by Guan Feng when she was a child. Zhan Yujun has always kept it by her side and protected it with a seal.

It looks a bit old, but you can still clearly see the patterns on it.

Apart from that dream, Zhan Yujun's day was not much different from any other.

She is now just a mortal with the abilities of a cultivator, living the same leisurely life day after day, year after year, quietly waiting for death to come without causing any ripples.