The Long Journey to Immortality

The situation was unclear, but Venerable Qingyang did not hesitate to choose the simplest way to find the person.

With a wave of his hand, Venerable Qingyang, without leaving the ark, addressed the island below in a solemn voice, "Elder Moyun!"

The sound traveled out of the ark without any obstruction, and was even amplified several times, becoming deafening.

Countless birds on the island were startled into flight, and many beasts scattered in terror, as if they had encountered their natural enemies.

Anyone on the island, whether a cultivator or a mortal, could hear Venerable Qingyang's shouts.

As expected, the jade pendant's guidance was completely accurate.

Three breaths later, another golden light flew up from the island, guiding Venerable Qingyang and his group.

Then, another unfamiliar male voice rang out from somewhere on the island.

His voice carried a mixture of excitement and relief.

"Is this Fellow Daoist Qingyang? Come, follow the golden light to my place."

Clearly, Elder Mo Yun had already realized that Venerable Qingyang was leading the team to provide support, and he seemed to be in a state where he was unable to move.

"Let's go," Venerable Qingyang said, his expression also becoming much more relaxed after learning that Elder Mo Yun was mostly unharmed. "Let's go take a look."

After leaving the Ark, Venerable Qingyang led Han Lu, Layman Xinshan, and Nian Haoge to follow the golden light.

After descending from the sky to the ground and quickly traversing a small section of forest, Han Lu and the others finally met Elder Mo Yun, who had led the team to the East Sea half a month ago to search for the wreaking havoc phoenix.

There was nothing particularly special about her except for her long gray hair.

Han Lu couldn't determine whether the Nascent Soul Realm cultivation level was in the early or middle stage.

The person was sitting on the grass, facing a cave that wasn't very deep.

The cave was clearly enchanted by an array, which was being kept running by the spiritual power that Elder Mo Yun was injecting into it.

This situation is somewhat unbelievable, not to mention that Han Lu and the others could not find any trace of Xuan Chengzi and the other three Golden Core elders here.

"This is..." Venerable Qingyang had never seen anything like this before. Confused, he hurriedly asked, "Fellow Daoist Moyun, what's going on?"

Elder Mo Yun didn't rush to answer, but instead turned his gaze to Han Lu and asked, "Are you Elder Zhen Feng?"

"Yes, senior." Han Lu returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

"Have you figured out anything?" Elder Mo Yun asked, continuing to sit cross-legged and maintain the operation of the formation.

Despite having been here for some time and participating in all the miscellaneous and trivial matters, he suddenly asked Han Lu this question.

Han Lu knew without much thought that Elder Mo Yun was probably testing her eyesight.

The question is very broad, so the answer is not difficult either; just answer whatever comes to mind.

Han Lu looked at the cave, examined it carefully for a moment, and then answered the question raised by Elder Mo Yun, based on the formation that Elder Mo Yun was controlling and assisting in operating. She added some of her own conjectures.

"Then I'll just make a guess. Please forgive me if I'm wrong, Elder Mo Yun," Han Lu said, maintaining the attitude of a junior towards an elder. "I guess Elder Xuan Cheng and the other two elders are currently trapped in this cave, bound by the illusionary formations here."

"This illusion array was not set up by Elder Mo Yun, but you are the one providing the spiritual power now."

"Am I right about these two points?"

Han Lu countered with a question.

Elder Mo Yun nodded slightly and said, "You guessed correctly, that's indeed the case."

This situation left the other three even more confused.

"What's going on?" Venerable Qingyang became wary and subconsciously took a half step back. "Elder Moyun, please explain this matter clearly."

Venerable Qingyang was well aware of what had happened to Kong Du.

Although he felt that Elder Mo Yun was a Nascent Soul cultivator and most likely wouldn't be controlled by the Illusionary Phoenix from the East, he still kept a watchful eye to avoid any unexpected events.

He even considered the possibility that Elder Mo Yun in front of him was actually the phantom phoenix in disguise.

“Venerable Qingyang, there’s no need to worry,” Han Lu interjected, helping Elder Mo Yun, who was feigning mystery and testing the younger generation, answer, “This formation should be a trap set by my kin from the Eastern World. Elder Xuancheng and the other two most likely stumbled into it by mistake.”

"Senior Mo Yun must have met my clansman and heard a few words from him, which is why he is acting as an accomplice here, maintaining the formation while sending out a message for help, specifically asking me to come here to help solve the problem."

Upon hearing Han Lu's clear conjecture, Elder Mo Yun smiled and repeatedly said "Good" twice.

“No wonder Elder Yunmin, Elder Xuancheng, and now the Qingxu Sect Master all praised Elder Zhenfeng in front of me. Elder Zhenfeng is not only exceptionally talented and accomplished in cultivation, but also incredibly intelligent,” Elder Moyun praised. “That’s right, that’s probably how it is.”

Upon hearing this, the other three, who were still completely unaware of the situation, looked surprised. If Han Lu hadn't been on the same ark with them all along, they would have assumed that Han Lu had come here in advance to scout the place and was putting on a show with Elder Mo Yun.

"We can talk about this later, Elder Zhenfeng..." Elder Moyun looked at Han Lu, "Why don't you take a look at this formation?"

"That Huanfeng told me that if this formation is interrupted due to insufficient spiritual energy, or forcibly broken by external forces, it will cause severe damage to the consciousness of the cultivators trapped in the formation. Is this true?"

Elder Mo Yun's words, combined with his previous confirmation of Han Lu's conjecture, basically explained most of the reason why he was sitting here maintaining the formation.

Upon arriving, Han Lu only noticed that the formation surrounding the cave was an illusion formation, without conducting a more detailed study.

When suddenly asked such a question, she naturally wouldn't answer rashly.

Not to mention, this matter sounds somewhat illogical and even unbelievable.

"Senior Mo Yun, let me take a look. I'm not good at formations, but if it's a formation set up by one of my clansmen, I might be able to see through its mysteries." Han Lu approached the cave and observed carefully.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Han Lu to give her an answer.

Ten breaths later, Han Lu saw through it all and replied, "My clansman was only telling half the truth."

"If this formation is forcibly destroyed by external force or collapses on its own due to a lack of spiritual energy, it will indeed cause harm to the cultivators trapped within it."

"But with Elder Xuancheng and the others' cultivation, they will only be asleep for three to four days at most, and there will be no major problems."

"She said that because she couldn't defeat Elder Mo Yun, she planned to use this method to keep you here."

Chapter 1097

Hearing Han Lu's assessment, Elder Mo Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

The three, including Venerable Qingyang, also felt much more relaxed.

Although we were prepared for battle, the best outcome would be for our fellow disciples to be safe and sound.

Since Han Lu was able to see through the mystery of this formation, Elder Mo Yun must have a way to break it.

Even if he doesn't have any, at worst he can stop providing spiritual power to this illusion array and let the array collapse on its own.

Let him sleep for a few days; with him and Venerable Qingyang who came to support him, there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Elder Zhenfeng," Elder Moyun made a decision based on the information provided by Han Lu, "can you break this formation?"

"If possible, then let's try to break the formation."

"If I am powerless, then I will simply stop injecting spiritual energy into the formation or forcibly breaking it."

"Even if this matter is bad, it will only allow Elder Xuancheng and the other two to sleep a little longer."

Upon hearing this, Han Lu nodded slightly and said, "Breaking this formation is not difficult. We only need to find the array eyes that the Illusion Phoenix cultivator set up here, destroy them in a certain order, and the formation will close, allowing Elder Xuancheng and the other two to escape from the illusion."

"I am capable of accomplishing this."

In Han Lu's view, that fellow clansman from the Eastern Lands was not a master of formations. He simply used his own feathers and blood as protective objects to set up this illusionary formation in the most ordinary way.

Even if it weren't her, any other master of formations would have been able to see the intricacies, but they wouldn't have been able to delve into and break through the barriers.

"Alright, then please Elder Zhenfeng take action." Although he was a senior, and specifically requested Han Lu to come here to handle this matter, Elder Mo Yun, who was completely convinced of Han Lu's abilities, treated her with the same attitude one would show to a Nascent Soul Realm elder.

Without hesitation, Han Lu transformed into a four-winged phoenix and flew into the cave.

The action was somewhat rash, but no one thought Han Lu was acting recklessly.

Upon entering the cave, Han Lu immediately fell into an illusionary formation.

However, because she possesses the bloodline of the Illusionary Phoenix, Han Lu has extremely strong resistance to illusions.

In her eyes, the cave was still a cave, and she saw Xuan Chengzi and the other two who were traveling with Elder Mo Yun inside the cave.

All three lay on the ground, struggling against the illusion within their consciousness.

This formation can isolate divine sense, so Han Lu immediately used her true spirit form to speak human language and report the good news to her companions outside.

"I found Elder Xuancheng and the other two; they are all safe and sound."

"I will break the formation and rescue them."

After saying that, Han Lu slowly flew through the not-so-large cave.

After finding the six key points of the illusion array, she took out the phoenix feathers buried at the key points according to the order in which spiritual energy flowed within the array, thus severing their connection with the array.

After all six key points of the formation were destroyed in a gentle manner, the formation completely lost its function, and the three people trapped inside the formation slowly woke up.

After getting up from the ground, the three of them were not mentally damaged, but they were still a little dizzy in the dark cave and could not distinguish between day and night or east and west.

Han Lu raised her hand and used her spiritual power to illuminate the area, drawing the attention of the three people.

"Han Lu?" Xuan Chengzi instinctively called out Han Lu's name. "What are you doing here? What are we doing here?"

Looking around, Xuan Chengzi asked in confusion, "What's wrong with us?"

Han Lu only knew the general outline, so naturally she couldn't explain things clearly to the three who were still confused.

Han Lu pointed to the cave entrance and said, "Elder Mo Yun is still waiting outside. Let's go out first and talk."

After saying that, Han Lu led the three of them outside.

The two groups met outside the cave, and Xuan Chengzi and his two companions recalled some events before they entered the cave and fell into the illusion array.

“I remember now,” one of the elders, whom Han Lu had only met at that secret meeting, seemed to suddenly realize, “We tracked the phantom phoenix from the Eastern Land to this place, but we never expected to fall into the trap she set.”

Elder Mo Yun said, "It seems there's nothing wrong with the sea of ​​consciousness. Let's return to the Central Plains first. This matter will probably require further consideration."

Just as Han Lu was about to speak, she suggested that the two teams work together to search for the whereabouts of the phantom phoenix.

But upon closer reflection, Elder Mo Yun's statement was likely due to the fact that the "compass" Wen Er Ya had given him these past few days had lost its effectiveness, which led to his decision.

Without further ado, the group boarded Elder Mo Yun's Ark and returned to Zhengyi Sect at a leisurely pace.

Once aboard the ark, the eight elders of the Zhengyi Sect gathered together. Before Venerable Qingyang could ask any questions, Elder Moyun began to recount the accidents that had occurred during their trip, explaining why it had ended in this way.

"Thanks to the compass that Elder Wen made using his divination skills, it took us about twenty days to find the phantom phoenix from the East on an island nearby."

"Although I don't know if she used illusion magic to change her appearance, this is what she looks like in my eyes."

As he spoke, Elder Mo Yun handed a recording jade tablet to Venerable Qing Yang.