The Long Journey to Immortality

After walking about 300 meters along the corridor, the scenery in front of Han Lu and Mo Zhehan finally began to change.

A grand hall with a ceiling height of twenty meters appeared before the two of them.

The hall was filled with countless resources, piled up in heaps, each protected by its own protective barrier.

The materials were abundant, covering all kinds of categories, giving Han Lu the first impression of stepping into the inner treasury of the Zhengyi Sect.

Unlike the inner treasury, the Dragon and Phoenix Treasury contains higher-grade materials, and these materials make up a much larger proportion of the hall than magical treasures and elixirs.

After all, the islands guarded by that pair of Nascent Soul stage dragons and phoenixes were mostly inhabited by true spirits and magical beasts.

In that era, true spirits and magical beasts still did not accept the method of fighting by transforming into human form and using magical weapons to defeat enemies.

Han Lu guessed that the few pills and magical treasures in the hall were mostly spoils of war obtained in the battle against the East Sea cultivators of that year.

“The situation here is pretty much as Venerable Slaughter described,” Han Lu said, looking around and pointing to a pile of pills and materials. “Look, the formation over there has obviously been forcibly broken.”

Mo Zhehan looked in the direction Han Lu was pointing and said, "Yes, this formation was indeed activated not long ago. It seems that the Slaughter Venerable used the last bit of blood that you and I had left on this formation and used some means to take out the pills that the Coffin Venerable needed."

Both of them noticed that the pile of materials was not arranged as neatly as the other materials.

"Let's look around first, and then gather together to collect the treasures later," Han Lu said, not in a hurry to take all the resources here. "Maybe there are some special rules in the restrictions and formations here."

Mo Zhehan gave an example, "For instance, rules such as only allowing the descendants of dragons and phoenixes who come here to seize five piles of resources?"

“Yes,” Han Lu said, “so let’s take it slow.”

Whether before or after entering the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Vault, Han Lu maintained sufficient vigilance, focusing solely on maximizing the benefits of this trip.

In the future, the resources required to advance to the Nascent Soul realm will surely be an astronomical figure.

Han Lu, who did not want to rely too much on the resources provided by Sanfeng Forest, naturally thought of taking this opportunity to accumulate a fortune to support her extravagant cultivation pace.

She only wanted to advance to a higher realm as quickly as possible, so that she could become one of the main combat forces in the great war that might happen a thousand years later, protect her relatives, friends, clansmen, and fellow disciples, and contribute her own strength to the war.

The two of them, one to the left and the other to the right, strolled around the circular hall.

Since they were all cultivators and could use their divine sense, Han Lu and Mo Zhehan didn't need to look at each pile of materials to know what they were.

With the help of her divine sense, Han Lu quickly grasped the general situation.

"There are a total of fifty piles of resources here. Apart from five piles that add up to nearly ten million spirit stones, none of the other piles of resources are duplicates."

"Judging from the quantity, not all of the resources accumulated by the dragon and phoenix back then are still here," Han Lu secretly speculated. "It is likely that some of them were taken away by their descendants or simply distributed as collective resources to the true spirits and magical beasts that followed them at that time."

"The release of information about the existence of the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Vault was probably also to persuade the cultivators of the East Sea at that time to spare the surviving true spirits and demonic beasts."

"After all, true spirits and magical beasts are all powerful fighters. It would be a loss for the cultivators of the East Sea not to obtain a large amount of resources and sufficient benefits by defeating them."

"Being able to reclaim a large number of rich islands, drive away the True Spirit Beasts, and temporarily end the great war to achieve peace should have been enough for the cultivators of the East Sea at that time. It was definitely a great victory."

Based on her understanding of that period of history and some analytical conclusions drawn from the current situation, Han Lu speculated about the conditions when the Dragon and Phoenix Treasury was established, giving her the air of an archaeologist.

Unlike Han Lu, when Mo Zhehan strolled around the hall, his thoughts were more focused on the value of the materials themselves.

What is the function of each material? What are the varieties of the spiritual plants stored in the transparent brocade box, and what kinds of pills can they be made from?

Mo Zhehan's idea was very simple: to reduce the pressure of "dividing the spoils" later.

Unfortunately, his appraisal skills were only average, and his ability to distinguish between materials, elixirs, and spiritual plants that existed tens of thousands of years ago was even worse.

He scanned the area with his divine sense and could only discern the value of one-third of the resources, which did not meet his expectations.

"Han Lu, how good are your appraisal skills?" Mo Zhehan asked telepathically.

"Not so good. What, are you thinking about dividing up the resources?"

"Well, how about we just split it in half?" Mo Zhehan suggested.

Han Lu feigned mystery, "I have a way."

The two circled around and reunited. Han Lu didn't explain her method, but simply said, "Let's try to break a magic array first. We don't want to spend so much time discussing it only to end up empty-handed."

Chapter 1134

They decided to break the restriction and retrieve the mountain of resources in front of them. Although there was no one around and no competitors, Han Lu and Mo Zhehan still discussed it for a bit and decided on the order in which they would retrieve the treasures.

"First, take out the pills and spiritual plants."

"Even if it's a magic weapon."

"The third option is a variety of materials."

"We'll try to get our hands on the spirit stones last."

This arrangement was mainly planned and laid out by Han Lu.

Mo Zhehan had no objection, and after agreeing, he obediently took on the responsibility of the "key," ready to follow Han Lu's instructions at any time, provide blood, and open the barrier.

After finding out what the "key" to unlocking the barrier is, you still need to find the location of the keyhole.

Fortunately, the dragon and phoenix statues were originally intended to be a treasure trove for future generations to preserve these collected materials.

What they were really interested in was the fresh blood of dragons and phoenixes.

The formation was not complicated; even Han Lu, a cultivator with only a basic understanding of formations, could understand its structure.

With a simple analysis, Han Lu found the two key points in the formation that needed to be injected with blood.

After giving Mo Zhehan some pointers, the two separated by three steps and approached the two key points of the array that protected a large number of spiritual plants and pills.

The two exchanged a glance, and Han Lu gave the order, saying, "Let's begin."

The two physically strong cultivators used the same trick again, easily bleeding themselves out once more.

Two streaks of blood flowed into the two key points of the formation.

After tasting the fresh, still warm blood of the dragon and phoenix, the formation that had been operating for tens of thousands of years gradually loosened.

The amount of blood required to fully activate the formation was much greater than Han Lu had imagined.

After bleeding for a full twenty breaths, contributing enough dragon and phoenix blood to fill two teacups, the runes that drew the array were finally completely stained red and dissolved, unfolding before Han Lu and Mo Zhehan.

With a large amount of blood flowing out, even a Golden Core cultivator like Han Lu could feel a little tired and her mind was momentarily dazed.

Using her spiritual power to heal the wound on her forearm, Han Lu looked at the other restrictions that had not yet been lifted and complained, "Unlocking all these restrictions would probably require three or even four times the amount of blood in our bodies. Even with the help of blood-replenishing pills, it would still be quite a hassle for us."

Mo Zhehan also felt a little tired and uncomfortable.

He discerned a deeper meaning in the dragon and phoenix symbolism.

“I’m afraid the resources in the treasure vault weren’t prepared for individuals like you and me at all,” Mo Zhehan analyzed, drawing on history. “The dragon and phoenix pair hoped that their descendants would make a comeback and take over the treasure vault, so they naturally assumed that at least a dozen or twenty dragons and phoenixes would enter the treasure vault many years later, which is why they made such arrangements.”

Indeed, if ten dragons and ten phoenixes were to enter the treasure vault, providing so much blood to break the seal would not be a difficult task.

“That makes sense,” Han Lu agreed. “Fortunately, we are both Golden Core cultivators. At worst, we can stay here for a few more days and take some pills. It shouldn’t cause us any harm.”

"Let's put the resources in an empty storage bag first, and then we'll consider dividing them up after we've deciphered all the formations."

Upon hearing this, Mo Zhehan nodded in agreement.

Mo Zhehan was not in a hurry and, based on his understanding of Han Lu, believed that Han Lu would eventually come up with a satisfactory division plan, leading to a happy ending for everyone.

Although the division of resources was postponed, it didn't stop Han Lu from rambling a bit and commenting on the spiritual plants and pills worth mentioning while holding a storage bag and storing the resources stored in the newly opened formation in the "Resource Mountain".

Han Lu not only clearly explained the names of these spiritual plants and elixirs, but also their medicinal effects and uses.

This unusual performance surprised Mo Zhehan.

"Han Lu, you didn't do a lot of research for this trip, did you look through many ancient books? That's amazing. Or, is it just..." Mo Zhehan paused, "or is it just making things up, teasing me, joking with me?"

Han Lu was about to make up a reason to brush the matter off, but she found that she had no aversion to telling Mo Zhehan some of the secrets about the artifact spirit.

"This is really strange," Han Lu suddenly felt a little confused about her standards for friendship, thinking to herself, "I haven't mentioned this to my senior sister, but I feel I can share a few words with Mo Zhehan."

Without wanting to think about it further, Han Lu explained seriously, "You guessed wrong. My appraisal skills and knowledge are not much better than yours."

"Actually, it's just that one of my magical artifacts awakened a spirit."

"It was she who helped me identify spiritual plants and elixirs, which is why I can stand here and listen to what others have said, talking eloquently in front of you and pretending to be an appraisal master."

Han Lu did not truthfully explain the origin of the artifact spirit bottle, but this did not prevent Mo Zhehan from being the cultivator who knew the most about the matter.

"You actually have a spirit artifact by your side?" Mo Zhehan was quite surprised. "No wonder, when it comes to the ability to appraise materials and magic treasures, cultivators like us with average eyesight are indeed no match."

Mo Zhehan simply sighed and did not elaborate on the topic or make any request to meet the spirit of the artifact.

Mo Zhehan's reaction at this moment was to believe Han Lu's answer and result, and to be happy that a spirit could help him in this matter.

The peaceful ending of the matter is why Han Lu decided that she could tell Mo Zhehan about Ping'er's existence.

One by one, she sent the items into the storage bag. By the time Han Lu had emptied the entire mountain of materials, the spirit bottle had already given her "estimation".

"Although I am not very clear about the current prices, these materials would have been worth at least one million spirit stones ten thousand years ago."

“You’ve really struck gold this time,” Ping’er exclaimed. “If the Zhengyi Sect had had so many resources available when it was founded, it would be the only sect in the Central Plains now. There would be no need for Xuan Yang Valley.”

Han Lu didn't take Ping'er's second half of her sentence seriously.

"Thank you very much. I would appreciate it if you could take another look later, Senior Ping." Han Lu expressed her gratitude simply.

Ping'er said, "It's nothing. We're mutually beneficial anyway, so helping you is also helping myself."

With Ping'er's help, Han Lu and Mo Zhehan's pressure in the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Vault was greatly reduced.

It took the two a day and a half, while ensuring their own condition as much as possible, to empty the fifty mountains of resources in the outer vault of the treasure house by bloodletting with the help of elixirs.

In an instant, the once somewhat crowded hall became empty.

Conversely, Han Lu and Mo Zhehan's "net worth" increased many times over in just one and a half days.

"The materials in this storage bag are probably worth sixty to seventy million spirit stones in total," Han Lu said excitedly, holding the storage bag.

The two of them are now undoubtedly the wealthiest Golden Core cultivators in the world.

Chapter 1135

As the array in the hall was broken and the resources were collected, the path leading to the inner treasury of the Dragon and Phoenix Treasury opened up before Han Lu and Mo Zhehan.

"Will it teleport us to some nearby place via a teleportation array?" Han Lu temporarily put away her storage bag and her gaze fell on a teleportation array that had suddenly appeared not far away. "Can it teleport us to the so-called Inner Treasury?"

"Probably," Mo Zhehan said, not entirely sure. "But thinking about it, we've already looked around the area, and there's no way to go any further, nor any other entrance or exit."

"If your investigation is true, there really is an even more precious treasure here. It seems that the only way to enter this place is through this portal."