The Long Journey to Immortality

"If successful, it will enable many disciples or ordinary cultivators to have a certain combat power."

"Whether it's going to the battlefield or protecting oneself, it's about..." Perhaps the topic was a bit cruel, Xuan Chengzi hesitated for a while before finishing the second half of his sentence, "...it's about increasing the chances of escaping unscathed."

"Of course, it would be best if no war broke out, just like what you, Han Lu, were pursuing in the wilderness."

After praising Han Lu twice, Xuan Chengzi suddenly made a brilliant move.

"Haha." Feeling that his idea was brilliant, Xuan Chengzi chuckled twice, his features, which had been quite close together, relaxed, revealing a relaxed and at ease expression.

Now it was Han Lu's turn to think things through.

After a long silence, Han Lu placed the chess piece in an unexpected position.

Xuan Chengzi looked puzzled, but followed his own line of reasoning to respond.

In the short span of a hundred breaths, the two of them took a full twenty steps.

After all the pieces were placed on the board, Xuan Chengzi realized the intention behind Han Lu's seemingly casual move.

"Sigh." Xuan Chengzi suppressed the urge to concede defeat.

This game of chess continued until the very end.

In the end, Han Lu narrowly won against Jiu Mu.

That day, Han Lu fought seven rounds of wall-building battles with Xuan Chengzi at his home, all of which ended in victory for her with white pieces.

Finally, Xuan Chengzi was completely convinced and praised, "Han Lu, it seems that the championship of the Grand Chess Tournament is rightfully yours."

Chapter 1086 Wen Er Ya Returns

As an activity that has existed since the establishment of Zhengyi Gate, the rules of the competition have long been established.

However, each sect leader would still make minor reforms to the Grand Competition based on their own insights and the contemporary cultivation environment.

This is why Qingxu Daoist added a "chess competition" to the large and small competitions, and also why he arranged for Elders Han Lu and Xianyu Ji to perform a "magical duel".

The purpose of the "fighting demonstration" was mainly to broaden the disciples' horizons and solidify their resolve.

Therefore, the duel between Han Lu and Xianyu Ji was scheduled to take place before the grand arena competition for Qi Refining Realm disciples.

Han Lu and Xianyu Ji have less than ten days left to prepare.

Although she hadn't been involved in any physical altercations for about fifteen or sixteen years, Han Lu hadn't actually made many preparations.

In his own training ground, he practiced using several magical artifacts that he estimated he would use in the battle.

That's it.

On the contrary, Xianyu Ji was very serious, as if he were going to participate in a grand competition.

Xianyu Ji's unusual behavior caught the attention of his apprentice.

Faced with the proactive inquiries and concerns from his beloved disciples, Xianyu Ji did not keep this "important matter," which was not exactly a secret, a secret.

After Xianyu Ji revealed everything, the word spread like wildfire, from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and from a hundred to ten thousand.

Therefore, three days before the start of the competition, almost all the cultivators of the Zhengyi Sect knew that there would be such an exhibition match arranged by the sect during the competition.

Thanks to Xianyu Ji and Han Lu's resounding reputation both internally and externally, many Foundation Establishment disciples who originally did not intend to watch the Qi Refining Realm Grand Competition have also developed the idea of ​​showing up to "watch the show".

Discussions surrounding this sparring match and the two elders' personalities abounded, becoming a major topic of conversation among the disciples of the Zhengyi Sect during their leisure time.

Han Lu, whose fame had faded due to her long absence from the sect and her life in the wilderness, suddenly became a popular figure among the sect disciples again thanks to this trend.

However, the disciples of Zhengyi Sect have formed a rather distinct polarization regarding their comparative evaluations of Xianyu Ji and Han Lu, as well as their predictions of the outcome of this sparring match.

The vast majority of them were still inexperienced and young. It was mostly because of this incident that most of the cultivators who heard the name "Elder Zhenfeng" for the first time were optimistic about Xianyu Ji, this "familiar face".

Most of the older disciples, whose cultivation had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, believed that Han Lu's strength had improved by leaps and bounds after twenty years of cultivation in the wilderness, and that she was more likely to win the sparring match.

Both sides have their own reasons for believing they are correct.

The disciples who support "Vice Dean Xianyu" recognize his strength because of the outstanding achievements Xianyu Ji has made for the sect over the years.

In the past two decades, although no earth-shattering events have occurred, the elders of the sects have been busy maintaining order in the Central Plains.

Xianyu Ji was the most active among them, and naturally gained considerable prestige as a result.

The fact that he advanced to the Golden Core Realm twenty years earlier than Han Lu is also a reason why some disciples who know Han Lu's past illustrious reputation still have high hopes for Xianyu Ji.

In addition, the fact that Xianyu Ji's face was familiar to them was also a reason why they believed Xianyu Ji was more likely to win.

The Zhengyi disciples who support Han Lu have a simpler reason for supporting the "True Phoenix Fairy".

Having witnessed Han Lu's glorious achievements, they had a certain superstitious belief in Han Lu's power.

In particular, the story of Han Lu once outmaneuvering Xianyu Ji to participate in the East-West Tournament in Dayu Dynasty was the fundamental reason why they made such a choice.

In other words, gambling is not allowed in the Zhengyi Sect.

Otherwise, if a gambling platform were set up openly like the Heavenly Palace, the stakes placed on Han Lu and Xianyu Ji would likely be roughly the same.

It can be said that, apart from Han Lu, Xianyu Ji, Fang Han, Wen Erya, and others, in the eyes of most cultivators in the Zhengyi Sect, this was a battle of equal strength.

Just as the battle was gaining momentum, Wen Erya finally finished dealing with Zhan Yujun's affairs and returned to the sect the day before the Qi Refining Realm competition began.

Han Lu was unaware of this at first. It was only when she saw Wen Erya at the competition the next day that she learned of her return.

Han Lu went to the competition venue mainly to watch the battles of Wen Erya's disciples.

The reason why Wen Erya came here immediately after returning to the sect was also for this reason.

On this day, only Han Lu and Wen Erya, both Golden Core cultivators, went to the Dongshan Academy to watch the competition.

So the two people sitting next to several empty chairs simply treated the viewing platform, which was specially prepared for the Golden Core Elders, as their private territory and chatted idly as if no one else was around.

The topics of conversation were quite broad, mostly related to the competition.

Han Lu didn't bring it up herself, and Wen Erya only said a few words about how she helped Zhan Yujun find Guan Feng.

It's not much different from the content of the letter, just a little more detailed.

After confirming that Guan Feng should be in the East Sea, Wen Erya immediately went to the East Sea to seek help from the Immortal Pavilion.

With countless shops throughout the East China Sea, the Immortal Pavilion naturally possessed a great deal of intelligence.

Unfortunately, Wen Erya didn't have much information about Guan Feng, only a general appearance and a name.

This adds considerable difficulty to the search for the missing person.

Fortunately, Wen Erya was a cultivator skilled in divination, and her bond with Guan Feng was not deep enough to affect the divination results.

After failing to ascertain Guan Feng's exact whereabouts using ordinary divination methods, Wen Erya attempted to use "astrology," which she had obtained from Han Lu, for divination.

With the help of the stars, Wen Erya finally learned Guan Feng's approximate location and information.

With this more complete information, the Immortal Pavilion successfully located Guan Feng, who was traveling in the East Sea under a false name to conceal his identity.

Once the person was found, everything else fell into place.

Wen Erya spoke privately with Guan Feng and persuaded the wanderer to return home.

That's all they said; they didn't mention Guan Feng's current situation at all.

Han Lu and Wen Erya had a good understanding; since Wen Erya didn't say anything, Han Lu didn't ask any further questions.

The two focused their attention more on the disciples of the Zhengyi Sect who were engaged in a fierce battle in front of the viewing platform.

If any of Wen Erya's disciples stepped onto the arena, he would watch the battle intently.

If not, they would look around and try to find disciples who could be considered "outstanding" in the eyes of Golden Core cultivators to pay attention to.

Although she had completely given up on taking on disciples, Han Lu didn't mind putting in some effort to find hidden geniuses among the outer disciples of the sect.

"This disciple is quite good. His swordsmanship is powerful and impressive. He seems like a promising talent."

"The two on the third arena are evenly matched. Although their cultivation is only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, their combat strength is comparable to that of an ordinary eighth-level Qi Refining disciple. Not bad, not bad."

……

Chapter 1087 Spectating the Battle

Observe the battle from the perspective of a Golden Core cultivator.

Although Han Lu and Wen Erya appreciated the somewhat "naive" and "immature" battle with an encouraging attitude, they could only give the disciples fighting on the stage a "good" evaluation at most.

However, it was Qiu Peng's apprentice, Hong Tong, whose performance on the stage caught Han Lu's eye.

Although he had only cultivated for three years and had just reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, he was as experienced as a veteran with nearly ten years of combat experience on the arena.

"Professor Qiu Peng's apprentice is really quite skilled," Han Lu said to Wen Erya, watching Hong Tong calmly toying with his opponent on the stage. "He really has the style of you and me back then."

Hearing such praise from Han Lu, Wen Erya couldn't help but smile. "Junior sister, you really know how to praise people."

“That’s true. Hong Tong is indeed quite capable,” Wen Erya commented in more detail. “Although the magic weapon in his hand is not of high grade, it is used with exceptional skill, allowing him to unleash 120% of its magical power.”

Qiu Peng wasn't wealthy, so the magical artifacts Hong Tong possessed were naturally no better.

It was fortunate that Han Lu returned to the Central Plains a few months earlier and gave Hong Tong a "gift from his grandmaster," otherwise, Hong Tong would not have been able to fight such a large and successful battle in the arena competition.

This is something we can probably guess, but it doesn't affect Han Lu's evaluation of Hong Tong.

“The magical artifacts in Hongtong’s possession were all obtained from me more than a month ago.”

"He's only been using it for a short while, yet he's already wielding it with such power. It's clear he has a special talent for weapon manipulation."

Wen Erya smiled and said, "Or perhaps you've been working extra hard and preparing a lot for the competition?"

“Yes,” Han Lu said, “In either case, it means that Hong Tong is indeed a talented cultivator.”

Having experienced the bitterness of lacking "talent," Han Lu also regards diligence as a talent that cultivators need to go far on the path of cultivation.

Hong Tong, who was easily fighting on the arena, was completely unaware that two Golden Core elders who had some connection with him were praising him from a distance.

While preserving himself as much as possible, Hong Tong used his magic weapon to knock his opponent off the stage. In just a hundred breaths, he easily won his first major competition since arriving at Zhengyi Sect, expending only a little spiritual energy.

Raise your hands and cheer for yourself.

Hong Tong immediately turned his gaze to his master Qiu Peng, who was watching the fight from the side of the ring not far away, and bowed deeply in the direction where Qiu Peng was standing to express his gratitude.

Then, with a hint of anticipation, he glanced at the viewing platform in the distance out of the corner of his eye.

When he saw Han Lu and Wen Erya clapping softly, an indescribable excitement welled up inside him.