The Long Journey to Immortality

The Nine Spirits Sword Formation taught by Senior Fang Lin only requires finding the essential materials from twelve true spirits and forging nine spirit swords with them to set up the formation.

It's not exactly simple, but it's certainly much simpler to set up than Han Lu's "adapted" Four Phoenix Sword Formation.

In this world, only Han Lu could rely on her several phoenix bloodlines to perform such an operation.

If it were any other human cultivator, even with all their might, following Han Lu's method, they could at most set up a "one dragon" or "one phoenix" sword formation.

If Qiu Peng were to ask Han Lu for guidance, such as "Teacher Han, could you teach me the Four Phoenix Sword Formation?" even if Han Lu were willing to teach him, Qiu Peng, being a completely human cultivator, would only be able to talk about it on paper and would be completely unable to put it into practice.

Once the sword formation is in place, if it were a private duel, Han Lu would be happy to pause for a moment and explain the intricacies of the sword formation to Xianyu Ji, who is a kindred spirit.

But now we are in a public place with so many fellow disciples watching. It's not even appropriate to chat casually. How could I possibly reveal my secrets and explain the mysteries of my sword formation to the public?

After simply saying "Elder Xianyu, be careful," Han Lu then activated her hand seals and sword formation, unleashing her "self-created move" for the first time in a battle.

Xianyu Ji and Han Lu had only sparred a few decades ago when they were still in the Foundation Establishment stage, so he actually knew almost nothing about Han Lu's techniques and methods, who was already a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Even if Han Lu didn't use a new move, Xianyu Ji wouldn't recognize the long spear she just used or the semi-spiritual techniques she employed in her "Li Feng" state.

However, based on his understanding of Han Lu, Xianyu Ji believed that Han Lu's current words were not a feint.

The sword formation before us may not be "a signature move inherited from Fang Lin," but it must be some incredibly powerful technique.

Xianyu Ji firmly believed the rumors about the relationship between Han Lu and Fang Lin.

However, being cautious does not mean sitting idly by and waiting for death.

Han Lu knew how to defend against Xianyu Ji's sword light and spirit sword, and Xianyu Ji would naturally follow his experience and choose a method that could directly break the formation to retaliate.

Once the sword formation is broken, no matter how many sharp techniques the sword formation has, it will be unable to be used, and that will solve the problem once and for all.

With a tap on his storage bag, Xianyu Ji took out a blood-red longbow and immediately drew it fully open.

As the bow was fully drawn in half a breath, nearly one-tenth of Xianyu Ji's spiritual power was injected into this magical artifact with this rather "cool" action.

After holding the bow fully drawn for half a breath, four equally blood-red arrows appeared on the bowstring.

Once the four arrows were fully formed, Xianyu Ji released his right hand from the bowstring.

Four blood-red arrows flew out in the same direction.

However, as an arrow formed from spiritual power, its flight trajectory is naturally not as rigid as that of an ordinary arrow.

Under Xianyu Ji's mental control, four arrows traced arcs in the air, forming a "formation" and flying towards the red phoenix totem closest to Xianyu Ji.

These four arrows are equivalent to four full-force strikes from a cultivator in the early Golden Core stage, and have always been one of Xianyu Ji's sharpest weapons.

The best way to break a formation centered around a spirit sword is to remove the spirit sword's spiritual energy, which would render the formation ineffective.

Based on these most basic principles of cultivation combat, Xianyu Ji would have resorted to such methods to try and neutralize Han Lu's spiritual sword.

Faced with this powerful arrow, which was clearly generated by spiritual power, Han Lu was not flustered at all; in fact, she was secretly pleased.

He made a hand seal and uttered the word "burn"!

With this low murmur, the fire phoenix totem within the sword formation emitted a dazzling red light.

Immediately afterwards, the three spirit swords located next to the fire phoenix totem simultaneously released purplish-red flames.

The Phoenix True Flame, which is specifically designed to suppress spiritual power, was unleashed by Han Lu on the arena in the form of "Fierce Phoenix Semi-True Spirit Transformation".

It allows for the simultaneous use of multiple phoenix techniques, which is why Han Lu chose to set up this sword formation.

Rock versus scissors—the outcome of Xianyu Ji's attempt to break the formation is self-evident.

Four streams of fiery phoenix flames formed a protective barrier, shielding the phoenix totem and the three spirit swords within.

Those four blood-red spiritual energy arrows were indeed powerful, successfully piercing through the fire net with the force of cleaving through waves.

However, the destructive effect of the Phoenix Flame on spiritual power was fully revealed at this moment.

The flaming arrows, as bright as the sun in the sky, flew over the blockade.

When the arrows approached the three spirit swords, they were burned by the flames of the Fire Phoenix True Flame, leaving only a faint candlelight.

The Phoenix True Flame, fueled by spiritual energy, made a great contribution at this time.

Although the four arrows, which were weak on the outside and not strong on the inside, accurately hit the three spirit swords that formed the sword formation, they only made a simple "ding" sound, and could not even cause the formation to fluctuate or weaken.

Seeing this, many cultivators from Dongshan Academy sat in the stands and applauded for Han Lu.

In their view, their own branch's "Elder Zhenfeng" had completely gained the upper hand on the stage, and this time, their Dongshan Academy would surely be one step ahead.

They can also use this to show off in front of their fellow disciples at Xishan Academy.

The disciples of Xishan Academy mostly had solemn expressions.

Some disciples who knew what methods Xianyu Ji had even started discussing and helping their vice dean devise strategies to reverse the tide of battle.

Qiu Peng's surroundings were even more lively.

Many of Qiu Peng's fellow disciples were already asking him what techniques Han Lu used on the stage.

Qiu Peng continued to use his imagination and intuition to make things up.

Qiu Peng had only ever experienced this feeling of being the center of attention when Han Lu's lineage was thriving, as the eldest disciple.

Chapter 1093 Illusionary Attack and Defense

"Master has fused the bloodlines of various phoenixes, and the move he just used was the legendary divine power of the Fire Phoenix."

"That flame can burn everything. Even a Golden Core cultivator would have his skin burned off if he were to be engulfed by that flame."

"How could four mere spiritual energy arrows possibly withstand this flame?"

Qiu Peng spoke eloquently, gesturing with his hands, "Later, Master will definitely broaden everyone's horizons and let everyone see the supernatural powers of the other three types of phoenixes."

"Don't get distracted, or you might never see what happens again in your lifetime."

Qiu Peng spoke with absolute certainty, and after watching several rounds of combat, the Zhengyi Sect disciples around him also became convinced of his claim.

Everyone kept their attention and eyes firmly fixed on the arena, only listening to Qiu Peng's long speech so that they could understand the arena match more clearly.

On the viewing platform, the happiest people were not Wen Erya and Xiao Ran, who were close to Han Lu, but Qingxu Daoist, who was in charge of this arena competition.

He observed the conversations among the elders around him and the enthusiasm of the disciples in the stands for this arena competition.

Having largely achieved his goal and witnessed an extraordinary battle of magic, Daoist Qingxu was naturally all smiles and beaming with pride.

Watching the two elders locked in fierce combat on the arena, Daoist Qingxu thought to himself, "If this is already so effective, imagine what it would be like if Han Lu transformed into a true spirit and fought Xianyu Ji for another three hundred rounds..."

"Tsk tsk, that's a really good idea."

The reactions from the viewing platform and the stands were excellent, but the two fighters on the ring had very different thoughts.

Xianyu Ji realized that none of his various methods seemed to pose a significant threat to Han Lu.

Han Lu, however, was unsure of Xianyu Ji's defensive capabilities and feared she might overdo it. She worried about ruining what was supposed to be a 15-minute battle, and she would feel terrible if she injured Xianyu Ji.

But despite the thoughts and concerns, the fight still has to be fought.

Han Lu felt that among the many techniques of the Four Phoenix Sword Formation, the easiest to control was illusion. So she did not hesitate to activate the three spiritual swords that contained her true spirit and true body's divine power, intending to use the illusionary phoenix technique to test Xianyu Ji's depth again.

With a wave of her hand, the pink of the phoenix totem behind Han Lu intensified.

The three spirit swords guarding the totem flew swiftly within the sword formation, as if threading a needle to weave a giant net.

Seeing this, Xianyu Ji, who couldn't think of any way to quickly break the formation, switched from offense to defense without hesitation.

Xianyu Ji looked at the pink phoenix totem behind Han Lu, which was displaying its supernatural powers, and thought to himself, "This is the totem of the Illusionary Phoenix. It seems that Han Lu is going to use illusion magic to deal with me at this time."

Having roughly figured out what methods Han Lu would use, Xianyu Ji took out several methods he had prepared in advance to guard against illusions.

He swallowed a handful of light blue spiritual plants whole.

As these spiritual plants entered Xianyu Ji's stomach, a light blue light emanated from his head, and seventy-nine warriors appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness, ready for battle.

Immediately afterwards, Xianyu Ji used his left index finger to hook the jade pendant he wore at his waist.

The jade pendant, which appeared to be an ornament, shattered into pieces immediately.

The burst of emerald green powder formed a barrier in front of Xianyu Ji.

Finally, Xianyu Ji took out a magical artifact called the "Soul-Startling Gong" from his storage bag.

This treasure is a magical artifact that can help cultivators unleash soul attacks. It requires very little skill in cultivating one's soul, and its power is only average.

But at this time, this magical artifact became Xianyu Ji's means of defense.

He had already added a restriction to the gong that startled him.

If he is bewitched by the illusion and falls into the illusion, the alarm gong will be activated immediately and sound towards him.

Just like when he was tired or exhausted, he would hang himself from the rafters and prick his thigh with an awl to stay awake. Xianyu Ji planned to use this small self-harming method to avoid falling into Han Lu's trap.

When an illusion is cast, only the caster and the recipient can usually see the resulting illusion.

However, since this sparring match was an exhibition match, the audience's experience needed to be taken into account. Therefore, Han Lu deliberately expended a little more spiritual power to present the illusion on the arena.

As celestial music played, countless images of fairies in flowing robes appeared on the arena.

Such an alluring scene drew gasps of admiration from the audience in the stands.

The fairies flew from all directions toward Xianyu Ji, who was standing at the other end of the arena, clearly intending to use their seductive skills in broad daylight.

This was just Han Lu's mischievous quirk; she did it on purpose to make the competition more interesting.

Besides, she also harbored a slight intention to show mercy.

She felt that Xianyu Ji's seemingly profound understanding of love that day meant he was unlikely to fall for seductive illusions and become immersed in them.

In that way, the battle could continue, and she could use other methods to please the Qingxu Sect Master.

Faced with these beautiful fairies with their curvaceous figures, Xianyu Ji successfully resisted the temptation brought by his lower body.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, forty-nine warriors were engaged in a "wrestling" battle with twelve fairies who were attempting to invade his sea of ​​consciousness; the scene was incredibly exciting.

It was fortunate that Han Lu was unaware of the scene within Xianyu Ji's sea of ​​consciousness; otherwise, if it had been released, some disciples in the stands who were not yet eighteen years old would have lost their composure, and the female cultivators would have blushed deeply.

In just three breaths, the great battle within Xianyu Ji's sea of ​​consciousness was about to come to an end.

The forty-nine strongmen, each weighing over two hundred pounds, born from the spiritual plants he consumed, easily slaughtered the nine delicate fairies who came to him, leaving them without a trace, simply by relying on their muscles.

The fairies were driven out of the sea of ​​consciousness, and Han Lu's illusion naturally collapsed as a result.

The celestial music playing on the arena abruptly stopped, and the fairies transformed into gray-haired old women in their eighties or nineties, vanishing into thin air in a short time.