The Long Journey to Immortality

Following the instructions on the jade tablet, she unlocked the seal on the door of the room and stepped inside.

There are three entrances to the room, all of which are formed by illusion arrays.

In addition, a complex array was set up at the entrance for protection.

Even if a hostile Nascent Soul cultivator finds these three entrances, without knowing how to break them, these restrictive formations would definitely be enough to delay the opponent for a hundred breaths.

"It's the entrance on the far left of the main gate..." Han Lu muttered to herself. After finding the right path, she used her skills to break the restriction according to the method taught by Xianyu Ji.

The restrictive formation was temporarily neutralized, and Han Lu flew through the air, passing directly through the illusionary formation that misled the eyes, and entered the leftmost entrance of the room.

After walking through a corridor of about 100 meters, the huge underground complex finally appeared in front of Han Lu.

Back when the situation in the Central Plains was quite complex, the cultivators of the Zhengyi Sect built these buildings.

Now, the atmosphere in the Central Plains is peaceful, so most of these buildings are empty except for one weapon-refining room, which is bustling with activity, emitting thick smoke and heat waves.

"That's it." Han Lu scanned the direction of the weapon-refining room with her divine sense and spotted three cultivators performing rituals in front of the weapon-refining platform.

Flying through the air and slowly descending, Han Lu casually removed the restriction on the door of the weapon-refining room and pushed the door open to enter.

Upon hearing the door open, the three cultivators reacted quickly. They first glanced at the door warily, and when they saw that the cultivator who pushed the door open was a female cultivator, they immediately recalled the response from Sect Master Xianyu to their request: "Ah, greetings, Elder Zhenfeng."

Han Lu nodded in response, "No need for formalities, today..."

Looking at the faces of the three people, Han Lu realized that one of them had actually crossed paths with her when she was still a disciple.

"Who are you? Hu Jian?" Han Lu looked at the youngest one among them.

The cultivator named Hu Jian was quite surprised, "The True Phoenix Fairy actually recognizes me?"

“Of course,” Han Lu recalled, “Back then, I borrowed a spirit stone from you and played with it for a while. I knew that you had some dealings with a weapon-refining master outside the sect, but I never expected that you would also follow this path and have achieved some skill, and that you would be assigned to do this job.”

Chapter 1147

Hu Jian couldn't hide the smile on his face.

For Hu Jian, being remembered by such an outstanding sect elder as Han Lu was definitely something to be proud of.

He bowed respectfully and replied, "By chance, I gained the appreciation of the Qingxu Sect Master and thus obtained this job."

"My two senior brothers and I have worked hard here for fifteen years. A few days ago, we finally achieved some results, so we thought of finding an elder of the sect to help us test it."

"I will need Elder Zhenfeng's help these next few days."

These three are the second batch of weapon refiners to undertake this task.

He only started working 15 years ago.

Although Hu Jian was the youngest of the three Foundation Establishment disciples in charge of weapon crafting, he was the most skilled and had the most ideas among them. Naturally, the trio operated under his leadership, carrying out the weapon crafting tasks assigned by Daoist Qingxu.

Each month, the three of them only have five days to work in the underground complex. On other days, they just like ordinary disciples, carrying out their secret cultivation within the sect.

The three of them did not know what the magic weapon they were forging was for, but they were very clear about what kind of magic weapon they were forging and how many difficulties they would encounter.

"Let me tell you about the current situation and how I should cooperate with you," Han Lu looked around, her gaze falling on the weapon-forging platform. "What, are you busy forging weapons right now? Finish your business first before answering my question."

As she spoke, Han Lu walked to an empty seat in the room and sat down, adopting an attitude of "you guys do your thing, I'll mind my own business."

Hu Jian and the other two were overjoyed to have such an understanding sect elder come to their aid.

Nobody wants a petty, fussy, and annoying boss to discipline them.

If it weren't for the fact that they needed a Golden Core elder to help with testing at this stage of weapon crafting, they wouldn't have submitted a report to their superiors to involve others in this work.

The magical artifacts that the three of them crafted today are replicas of the new magical artifacts they developed recently.

This serves two purposes: firstly, to verify the replicability of this treasure. Because large-scale refining and production are necessary, even a prototype would have a low yield rate, which would prevent Qingxu Daoist from realizing his ambitions.

Secondly, this is to ensure that the upcoming simple test can proceed smoothly.

Make an extra "sample" to avoid any unexpected problems during testing.

Han Lu's early arrival did not affect the forging of the magical artifact.

About half an hour later, in Han Lu's eyes as an outsider, this fan-shaped medium-sized magic weapon was finally completed and was taken down from the refining platform by the three weapon refiners.

Hu Jian used his artifact manipulation skills to move this fan-shaped magic treasure, which had no owner yet, to Han Lu's front and respectfully said, "Elder Zhenfeng, please allow me to introduce this treasure to you."

Han Lu nodded slightly and said, "Please explain in more detail."

Soon, Han Lu regretted mentioning the word "details".

As the one who crafted it, Hu Jian was almost ready to tell Han Lu the entire process and details of how to craft this treasure.

He talked on and on for almost fifteen minutes before finally bringing this long speech to a close.

Han Lu finally distilled the essence, muttering to herself, "It means that this magic treasure called the Three Talents Treasure Plate can temporarily link the spiritual power of three Foundation Establishment cultivators with the highest combat power, and the three of them can use the array in the treasure plate to cast spells together, making the offensive spells far more powerful than those cast by one person."

Han Lu found the key point: "Is it just that it can only unleash a spell with the power of three people combined? If so, it is only three Foundation Establishment cultivators working together, which is far from achieving the effect of a single strike that can be compared to a Golden Core cultivator."

Even the combined strength of five late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators was no match for a single early-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Naturally, even if the three of them worked together, it would be impossible for them to unleash an attack comparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator, even if it was "1+1+1=3".

Clearly, even based solely on Hu Jian's description, the ultimate goal is still a very, very long way off.

"Actually, whether we can truly achieve the effect of the three of us working together is still unknown," Hu Jian said frankly without feeling embarrassed. "That's why we wanted to invite Elder Zhenfeng to come and be a punching bag, to help us see how powerful this treasure is when used by the three of us."

The higher you climb, the farther you can see.

It would be most appropriate to let Golden Core cultivators come and experience and evaluate the power of the magic weapon.

After roughly understanding her task, Han Lu nodded slightly and said, "No problem, shall we test it here?"

"There is a laboratory nearby that is not protected by any restrictions. Elder Zhenfeng, please move there so we can test our magical artifacts."

They put away the "Three Talents Treasure Plate" for the time being and went to the next room together.

The so-called laboratory is about 400 square meters in size, and the walls are covered with restrictions.

Even so, there are still many scars on the wall, recording the power of a magical artifact when it was first "drawn" many years ago after its creation.

The four people stood on opposite sides of the room.

Hu Jian took out the "Three Talents Treasure Plate" that he had refined a few days ago and which had already recognized its owner from his storage bag, and invited his two fellow disciples to stand on it.

Seeing this, Han Lu frowned slightly, thinking to herself, "This treasure has no protective ability whatsoever. If three cultivators stand on it during their battle, even if they can use it as a spiritual sword to fly, they will be no different from sitting ducks in front of a Golden Core cultivator."

She secretly noted this down, intending to offer it as a suggestion later so that the three of them would take this into consideration during the development of the magic weapon.

After a brief exchange, the three of them simultaneously channeled their spiritual energy into the Three Talents Treasure Plate beneath their feet.

To simulate the situation during a magical battle, the treasure plate floated up under the control of the three people, lifting them to a height of about one meter above the ground.

"Elder Zhenfeng, we're about to attack," Hu Jian announced.

Han Lu hadn't made any special preparations; she simply said, "Anytime is fine."

Despite her delicate skin and tender flesh, Han Lu, who had already reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm, was absolutely unharmed even if she withdrew her inner energy and relied on her physical body to withstand an attack from three people.

Although Hu Jian was unaware of this, he knew that the "Three Talents Treasure Plate" was currently riddled with flaws and could not possibly harm Han Lu.

The three of them activated their magical artifacts together, and the next moment, a bolt of lightning shot out from the treasure plate, attacking Han Lu, who was only fifteen meters away.

Compared to other Five Elements spells, Thunder Spells, which originated from Metal-based spells, are clearly the most suitable spells for the "Three Talents Treasure Plate" to use.

The bolt of lightning, as thick as an arm, struck Han Lu, and vanished without even breaking through her protective aura.

Han Lu's expression remained unchanged; she simply said, "Continue, three more times."

Upon hearing this, Hu Jian and the other two activated their magical artifacts three more times to launch an attack, unleashing a thunderous strike against Han Lu.

After the four bolts of lightning were unleashed, Han Lu had a result in mind.

Chapter 1148

"Elder Zhenfeng," Hu Jian jumped off the Three Talents Treasure Plate and asked, "How powerful are the lightning spells of the three of us?"

After much effort, Hu Jian finally created a prototype of a magical artifact based on the methods and solutions he had been thinking about and researching over the years. He wanted to test it out, and naturally hoped that all his efforts over the years would not be in vain.

Even if it's just the first test, the results must meet expectations and be satisfactory.

However, while such a wish is easy to fulfill, the actual result is often disappointing.

"It's just so-so," Han Lu, with her high emotional intelligence, didn't directly give a bad review. "The lightning you three used together was indeed quite powerful, but it was only at the level of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"The path you have chosen is probably the right one, but there is still a considerable distance to go before reaching the ultimate goal, and there is much room for improvement in this magic weapon."

Hu Jian and the other two were all at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. In Han Lu's opinion, the three of them working together to use their magic weapon to achieve such an effect was already quite good, but it was still a long way from the ultimate goal.

Receiving such an evaluation left Hu Jian with mixed feelings, unsure whether to be happy or sad.

However, a weapon refiner standing nearby took the initiative to ask Han Lu for her opinion on improving the magic weapon.

"In just this short time, I haven't thought of much," Han Lu said, still using conservative language. "I'm not sure how much the three of you know, but given the magical effects of this treasure, its use in combat is beyond doubt."

"In that case, you should take into account the various situations that may be encountered during combat when you design and forge the weapon."

Han Lu gave an example: "Isn't it a bit crowded for three cultivators to be so close together in such a small area, making it difficult to unleash their skills and evade enemy attacks?"

"From my perspective, given the Three Talents Treasure Plate's slow flight speed, dodging attacks would be somewhat difficult."

"As it stands, you haven't prepared a protective formation for this treasure... It's not very practical for combat or on the battlefield."

Han Lu pointed out two shortcomings of the magic weapon, but Hu Jian had something to say.

"Elder Zhenfeng, we have naturally considered the two points you mentioned."

"However, these two points are not insurmountable problems; there are many readily available solutions."

"The reason we're leaving these shortcomings blank now is to save some materials and effort when refining the prototype of the magic weapon."

"After all, the ultimate purpose of this treasure is to allow Foundation Establishment cultivators to work together to unleash spell attacks comparable to those of the Golden Core realm."

As the leader of the three-person group, Hu Jian was able to distinguish between the primary and secondary contradictions.

Given the arduous task, resolving the primary contradictions naturally became the key to their problem-solving efforts, while secondary contradictions were temporarily set aside.

While Han Lu's lack of understanding of the specific circumstances was a factor, she also made some of the mistakes that occur when "leaders inspect the grassroots level," where an outsider directs an expert.

Realizing this, Han Lu's expression remained unchanged, but she made some subtle adjustments to her role in this test.

“I see,” Han Lu replied. “Then it seems you have done a very good job over the years.”