The Long Journey to Immortality

In the images recorded on the jade tablet, Xinshan Jushi had seen Han Lu's "Four Phoenix Sword Formation" and, based on his own experience and the supernatural power displayed by the sword formation, guessed that this formation was entirely based on the bloodline of the true spirit.

In Xinshan Jushi's view, it was already rare for Han Lu to master such a powerful and complex sword formation, and it was impossible for her to waste her energy to study a second sword formation that did not rely on true spiritual means to amplify its power.

He judged that he would not be facing a powerful sword formation when he fought Han Lu.

But who would have thought that Han Lu had inherited the teachings of an ancient cultivator, and had a large number of ready-made "homework" for her to copy.

Therefore, when the Star Sword Formation was set up on the arena, the situation completely exceeded Xinshan Jushi's expectations.

The unexpected situation only caused Xinshan Jushi a moment of anxiety.

Confident in his superior strength compared to Han Lu and possessing the power of the rules, Xinshan Jushi felt certain that even if he only dealt with each move as it came, he would still be able to achieve final victory in the battle.

After setting up the sword formation, Han Lu did not exchange a few words with the hermit of Xinshan as she had when sparring with Xianyu Ji.

Since she was at odds with Xinshan Jushi, Han Lu chose to use the power of stars to directly tell him the power of the sword formation.

The starlight sniped at eight of the one hundred and eight spirit swords that formed the sword formation.

Blessed by starlight, these spirit swords were draped in a "silver cloak," trembling slightly in the air and trailing a small tail as they flew, resembling a comet—it was incredibly beautiful.

Despite their outward strength, these already sharp spiritual swords, imbued with the power of the stars, have transformed into even more advanced combat weapons. Under Han Lu's control, they formed a pincer attack from eight directions around Xinshan Jushi, launching a swift assault.

Feeling the astonishing aura that had him trapped in the center, Xinshan Jushi, who had no intention of dodging or escaping, immediately employed his countermeasures.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned the spirit sword that had just attacked Han Lu to his side to protect one side of his body. At the same time, he cast defensive spells to protect the other side of his body.

While actively defending himself, he was also passively taking hits. Although the Hermit of Xinshan was in a precarious situation within the Star Sword Formation, he was indeed not injured in the slightest and remained in perfect condition.

"This sword formation is quite impressive," commented Venerable Qingyang, who was standing aside acting as a referee. "It seems to have drawn upon the power of the stars to strengthen the spiritual swords."

"It should be the inheritance that Elder Zhenfeng obtained from the ancient cultivation secret realm." As the sect leader, although Daoist Yunmin was in charge when the ancient cultivation secret realm opened, Daoist Qingxu still knew some things that ordinary elders did not know.

Upon hearing this, Venerable Qingyang finally realized, "So that's how it is. It seems that the rumors circulating in the sect that Elder Zhenfeng obtained the inheritance of the ancient cultivator Fanglin must be true."

“Hmm, I think so too,” Qingxu Daoist only knew the general outline and did not fully understand Han Lu’s secret. “Even if it is not the sword formation originally created by Elder Zhenfeng, just the fact that it can be successfully executed is enough to show that Elder Zhenfeng has a deep understanding of swordsmanship.”

Venerable Qingyang nodded in agreement, “Indeed, it seems that even without using her true spirit techniques, the profound True Phoenix Fairy should be able to win smoothly.”

As a senior expert in the Nascent Soul Realm, Venerable Qingyang made a judgment based on his experience.

Upon hearing this, Qingxu Daoist's expression remained unchanged, but he secretly laughed out loud.

Maintaining a calm expression, Daoist Qingxu continued in a neutral tone, "In that case, there is no need for a second match."

The two big shots concluded the sparring match that had just begun at the edge of the ring, but Xinshan Jushi, who was in a difficult situation on the ring, would not easily admit defeat.

While barely managing to hold on, Layman Xinshan was also looking for an opportunity to break the deadlock.

There are many ways to break a sword formation.

One tactic is to wage a war of attrition, until the spellcaster is unable to maintain the sword formation, at which point the formation will naturally collapse.

Attacking the spirit sword at the core of the formation and dispelling its spirituality is also a way to break the sword formation.

Even without the connection between the sword formation and the caster, the sword formation can still be broken.

Finally, escaping the sword formation's range can also break the formation.

After spending some time carefully considering all the methods, Master Xinshan finally decided to first try to sever the connection between the sword formation and Han Lu. If that didn't work, he would switch to a war of attrition.

The reasons for making these two choices are not complicated.

Firstly, based on the observation of the formation process of the sword formation by the Hermit of Xinshan, it was determined that Han Lu must have relied on external forces to complete the formation. Breaking the formation by severing the connection was a method with a high success rate.

Secondly, it is because Xinshan Jushi is not only proficient in swordsmanship, but also has the advantage of a higher level of skill than Han Lu.

According to Xinshan Jushi, waging a war of attrition is a sure-fire way to make money.

Guided by this battle strategy, while passively taking hits, Xinshan Jushi kept a close eye on the sword formation, trying to find the key point to sever the connection between the sword formation and Han Lu.

However, for Xinshan Jushi, who had no idea what the Starry Sky Sword Formation was, such an idea was somewhat fanciful.

Even if Master Xinshan were a master of swordsmanship, he could not do it in a short time.

Taking advantage of the gaps in Han Lu's sword practice, they launched several attacks on the sword formation.

After three unsuccessful attempts, Master Xinshan resigned himself to his fate, focused on defense, and switched to a war of attrition.

This decision led to a stalemate in the battle on the ring.

Even Han Lu, who didn't use her true spiritual abilities, had to admit that Master Xinshan did indeed have some skills.

Even though she had improved her skills in the Star Sword Formation over the past month, she still didn't have a good way to deal with the Xinshan Hermit's all-out defense.

"Looks like I need to change tactics." After muttering to herself, Han Lu began to think about her next move.

Chapter 1092

Suddenly, a very reliable idea popped into Han Lu's mind.

"If the incantations I learned from sword control were combined with the Starry Sky Sword Formation, it should produce a particularly outstanding effect..."

This idea was no less shocking than combining mantis shrimp and beef balls to make mantis beef balls; even the ancient cultivator Fang Lin had never thought of it.

After all, setting up and maintaining a sword formation already takes up most of a cultivator's energy. Trying to incorporate incantations and skillfully use the sword while operating the formation would increase the difficulty by more than tenfold.

Although it seems feasible, it is extremely difficult to actually implement.

This was the first time Han Lu had ever had this idea; she had never practiced it or even tried it once before.

The main reason is that neither of her two most proficient sword formations relies on the spirit sword itself for combat.

Using the spirit sword as a medium to unleash true spiritual powers and thunder magic are the combat methods of those two sword formations.

Fighting in that way, without being able to use word techniques, naturally wouldn't give rise to such thoughts.

"Is this feasible?" Han Lu asked herself again, pondering as she manipulated the sword formation.

With the battle at a stalemate, it didn't matter if Han Lu was distracted by thinking.

Unlike Han Lu, who actively sought change, Xinshan Jushi, who was determined to persist in attrition and rely on his cultivation level, which was one realm higher than Han Lu's, to finally break the sword formation, had no intention of changing his moves.

Han Lu's offensive, launched through the sword formation, weakened. He assumed it was because he had handled it well and that Han Lu was gradually running out of strength, which only strengthened his resolve to stick to the "war of attrition" strategy.

In the short span of five breaths, a million thoughts raced through Han Lu's mind.

After weighing the pros and cons, Han Lu decided to make an attempt in this battle of wits, using the powerful but unworthy Xinshan Hermit as a test subject.

"Perfect, since you're willing to be a sitting duck, then you might as well take the beating, you jerk."

After muttering a couple of soft but harsh words to herself, Han Lu didn't hesitate to start her first attempt.

Although in Han Lu's imagination, after combining the Star Sword Formation with the "Word Technique" skill, all 108 spirit swords would have "intelligence" and could demonstrate their understanding of swordsmanship under her control.

However, Han Lu was not so arrogant as to think that she could take on the highest difficulty level just because it was her first attempt.

Concentrating her mind, Han Lu focused on controlling one of the eight spirit swords that were attacking Xinshan Jushi. She attempted to use this spirit sword as a tool to interpret and demonstrate her understanding of the way of the sword while maintaining the normal operation of the sword formation.

The sword formation shifted slightly, and the starlight in the sky dimmed a little.

The spirit sword controlled by Han Lu operates along an unusual path, disrupting the harmonious situation formed by the cooperation of the spirit swords within the sword formation.

Having just begun to try, he sensed something was wrong, and needless to say, his first attempt ended in failure.

Not only did this spirit sword fail to execute the normal attack as Han Lu had envisioned, but it also failed to reveal the profound meaning of the word technique.

The starlight on the remaining seven spirit swords had dissipated considerably, making their monotonous attacks less efficient.

Upon sensing the changes in the sword formation compared to before, Xinshan Jushi was overjoyed.

"It seems that Han Lu is indeed just relying on her True Spirit talent to act recklessly inside and outside the sect."

"My own strength is insufficient, and my spiritual power has already run out in just a short while."

“Not only that, she’s also incredibly stubborn,” Xinshan Jushi said, his gaze falling on the spirit sword that had been exchanging blows with him for a hundred breaths not far away. “If she only tries to trap me without attacking, I really won’t know what to do with her.”

"If you just stand there dumbfounded and don't stop, you're just courting death."

Xinshan Jushi thought he had the whole situation under control and did a thorough analysis in his mind.

Little did he know that if he said these words, Han Lu would only laugh her head off.

Little did he know that in addition to forming a first-grade golden core, Han Lu also had a first-grade beast core lying in her dantian.

In terms of the sheer amount of spiritual energy within her body, even a Golden Core cultivator at the Great Perfection stage cannot compare to her.

Let alone simply casting the sword formation for a hundred breaths, maintaining the Starry Sky Sword Formation in its full state for a quarter of an hour would not be difficult for Han Lu.

Not to mention, she also has countless pills in her storage bag that can quickly restore spiritual power.

If Han Lu is truly determined to maintain this stalemate with Master Xinshan, then Master Xinshan must be prepared to stand on the stage all night.

The failure of the first experiment did not dampen Han Lu's enthusiasm; on the contrary, it confirmed one thing for her.

"The sword formation did not completely collapse during the trial, which neither affected the combat nor hindered the feat of using this method."

"With a few more attempts, we're sure to achieve something."

With no worries and having learned from the first experience, Han Lu only briefly summarized her lessons before immediately making a second attempt on the stage.

Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly.

Three of the four cultivators standing by the arena realized that Han Lu was not "lacking in strength" but was seeking change.

In particular, Nian Haoge, a disciple who practiced the same technique as Han Lu, understood that Han Lu was trying to integrate the word technique into the sword formation.

"Master's ideas are too ingenious," Nian Hao sighed inwardly, at a loss for words. "If this works, the power of the Star Sword Formation will be three or even five times greater than it is now."

"In that case, breaking through Elder Xinshan's defenses will certainly not be a problem."

Daoist Qingxu and Venerable Qingyang also saw through the trick.

They whispered among themselves, discussing and speculating about how Han Lu planned to change her tactics and break the current stalemate, which was somewhat dull.

"They must be planning to use some magical artifact," Venerable Qingyang guessed.

Qingxu Daoist was more familiar with Han Lu. "Given Han Lu's personality, she would definitely still be fighting to the death with Elder Xinshan over spirit swords and sword formations."

Another twenty breaths passed, and Han Lu's second attempt ended in failure once again.

However, this time, because the "side effects" from her deliberately operating the sword formation in a different way were far less obvious than the first time, Han Lu was certain that she was on the right track.

"If all else fails," Han Lu had her own plan, "as long as we can maintain the stability of the sword formation and allow the spirit sword that we are focusing on to form the effect of combining the spell with the power of the stars, that will suffice."

"If we settle for second best, this should make things much simpler."