The Long Journey to Immortality

"Thanks to the effective leadership of the two sect leaders," Hu Jian said in official jargon, "after we make some adjustments to this prototype, we will need to trouble Elder Zhenfeng to come here and help with the testing in a while."

Having finally managed to invite an understanding and cooperative elder to assist in the development of the magic weapon, Hu Jian naturally hoped to get as much help as possible from Han Lu within the limited time available.

This was something she had agreed upon with Xianyu Ji, so Han Lu naturally wouldn't refuse.

Not only that, she also promised, "If you encounter any difficulties, please feel free to speak up. I will help you report to the sect leader, and I should be able to help you."

To be fair, although it was the most crucial project in the Zhengyi Sect in recent years, Hu Jian and the other two did not have special status, so the help they received from the sect could not fully meet their requirements for developing magical artifacts.

Having finally found an opportunity, the three of them naturally spoke freely, telling Han Lu about the difficulties they were currently facing and what resources they needed to support them.

Han Lu wrote them down one by one.

She realized that what Hu Jian and the other two needed most was a large quantity of different types of refining materials.

When asked for the reason, Hu Jian explained it this way.

"To gather the spiritual power of three or more cultivators and unleash a more powerful spell, one needs to rely on numerous arrays drawn on the magic weapon, as well as spirit stones and materials for assistance."

"We experimented a thousand times before finding the few materials we have now, and used them to refine the Three Powers Treasure Plate, which ultimately led to this positive result."

"This is our main approach to solving the problem at present."

"Naturally, the more types of resources the sect provides, the more experiments we can conduct to find materials that can bear this power and achieve the desired effect."

With ample reason, Han Lu naturally regarded this matter as a top priority.

"When will you need my help next?" Han Lu asked before leaving.

After discussing it briefly with his two fellow students, Hu Jian gave them a definite answer.

"In about half a month, we will make some simple modifications to the current magic weapon. At that time, we will trouble Elder Zhenfeng to come and test it again."

"In that case, that should be enough for now."

Hu Jian's second half of his statement was quite conservative, and he did not make any hasty judgments.

Han Lu nodded and said, "Alright, I will arrive as scheduled. You all still need to work hard and not let down the sect leader and the elders who know about this matter."

Simply offering empty promises won't solve the problem.

With a considerable amount of spirit stones in her storage bag, Han Lu was quite generous and gave each of the three weapon refiners two hundred spirit stones in the name of the sect as a reward for their hard work recently.

After Han Lu left, the other two weapon refiners praised Han Lu to Hu Jian.

The three men have received both "data" and "rewards," and their morale is now soaring.

They were clearly going to work hard for fifteen days to upgrade and modify the prototype of the magic weapon in their hands before Han Lu's next visit, giving Han Lu and the sect that valued them a pleasant surprise.

Back at her residence, Han Lu happened to run into Qiu Peng, her disciple who had come looking for her a quarter of an hour earlier.

Qiu Peng came here mainly to discuss personal matters with Han Lu.

Private matters concerning love.

Strangely enough, Qiu Peng was forced to seek out Han Lu, this "bachelor," to discuss matters of love.

Duan Xiaoxuan is at most one or two years away from advancing to the Golden Core Realm.

Although they were deeply in love, they had not yet finalized their marriage, which made Qiu Peng feel a sense of urgency.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so it's not surprising that he sought Han Lu's advice.

Chapter 1149

I've never eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run.

Although Han Lu had no personal experience in this area and was even confused about her own situation, she could still mutter a few words when facing Qiu Peng, her prized disciple.

"Well, these kinds of things," Han Lu said, pretending to be an expert, "are mainly about mutual consent."

"Xiaoxuan is about to become a Golden Core cultivator, and has long since separated from the family to become an independent individual."

"As long as she likes you and thinks highly of you, this will definitely work out."

Han Lu's words were clear and perfectly aligned with Qiu Peng's inner thoughts.

However, those in charge were still somewhat confused, so Qiu Peng consulted Han Lu again, asking what the next step should be.

When facing relationship problems, it's always a good idea to consult your "mother" a few times.

"It's very simple," Han Lu said, not taking her disciple's love life lightly. She gave a rather pertinent and prudent suggestion: "While your relationship is still going strong and Xiaoxuan is around, just go and confess to her."

Han Lu imitated Qiu Peng's tone and said, "Xiaoxuan, I like you. Would you like to become my Daoist partner?"

"It's very simple," Han Lu said casually without having to say it herself. "It can be done in the blink of an eye."

"What if..." Qiu Peng felt it wasn't time to burn his bridges yet, "What if Xiaoxuan doesn't agree?"

Han Lu said matter-of-factly, "Then you can find someone else. The fact that she still won't agree to be with you after all this means that either she doesn't care about you, or she never wanted to be with you in the first place."

"It's a good thing to end it sooner rather than later."

Either way, it's not a bad thing. Although the possible outcome is somewhat cruel, Qiu Peng still accepted Han Lu's suggestion.

Just as Qiu Peng was about to confront her, Han Lu stopped him and asked him to help her come up with a plan.

Qiu Peng was already aware of the disaster, and it was not against the rules for Han Lu to discuss "refining magic weapons" with him.

After briefly explaining the new magical artifact she had just witnessed, Han Lu asked, "Qiu Peng, in your opinion, what aspects of this artifact could be improved?"

Although she was an amateur in this field, Han Lu still wanted to do her part and add some color to the newly completed prototype of the magic weapon.

As a cultivator who emerged from an ancient cultivation realm, Qiu Peng's unique methodology and insights were one of the reasons why Han Lu posed this question to him.

"I was just saying, Master, you'll need to do your own research after hearing this..." Qiu Peng knew he didn't understand weapon crafting, so he gave a heads-up before offering unprofessional advice.

“Go ahead and say it,” Han Lu said, showing her trust. “I think you can offer some interesting suggestions.”

As expected, Qiu Peng's answer did not disappoint Han Lu.

Qiu Peng first introduced the "airplanes" and "fighter jets" in the ancient cultivation secret realm to Han Lu, and then compared them with the arks that cultivators often use on a daily basis and the magic treasures that the sect is secretly developing.

“Master, I think it would be better to make this magic weapon in the shape of an ark. It doesn’t need to be too big, just the kind of ark that can barely carry three to five cultivators.”

"Wouldn't it be easier to use the Ark as a template and add various functions on top of it? We could also draw more formations to utilize its functions."

"Moreover," Qiu Peng added, "this also ensures that the treasure's flight speed and defensive capabilities meet the requirements."

"It can even be somewhat deceptive."

Qiu Peng thought to himself, "Master, just imagine, what if there were two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators flying at the very front during a great battle?"

"The second row consists of you, me, and other Golden Core Elders and Nascent Soul Elders."

"The last row would be hundreds or even thousands of arks that look like fighter jets. What a magnificent sight that would be."

Han Lu nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, "That's indeed a good idea."

Compared to the rudimentary fan-shaped frisbee that required three people to squeeze together to control, Han Lu felt that the "fighter ark" that Qiu Peng mentioned was obviously a better and more suitable solution.

Despite the praise, Qiu Peng knew he wasn't a professional and was aware of the shortcomings of his design.

"However, refining magical artifacts would require a lot of materials, so it might not be a good idea."

According to Qiu Peng, building an invincible fleet would definitely be a huge expense.

Although the Zhengyi Sect is wealthy, Qiu Peng believes that the likelihood of them actually spending a large amount of resources to "build ships" is only fifty-fifty.

After noting down Qiu Peng's suggestions, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, Han Lu decided to offer advice to Hu Jian and the other two "experts" next time.

After leaving Han Lu, Qiu Peng immediately went to confess his feelings to Duan Xiaoxuan.

The ending was naturally a happy one, as Duan Xiaoxuan was not the kind of heartless and ungrateful person.

She and Qiu Peng were deeply in love, and she made a vow of love to him without hesitation in front of him.

With just a few words, the two pledged their lives to each other, only needing to agree on an auspicious wedding date.

Having facilitated another wonderful match, Han Lu even wondered if she had a talent for matchmaking.

Half a month later, Han Lu went to the secret room under the Five Elements Mountain to keep the appointment.

Even if Hu Jian and his two companions improved their skills by another level in just half a month, they still couldn't make many improvements or modifications to the prototype of the magic weapon.

In fact, during this test, the new items added to the Three Talents Treasure Plate caused one of the two prototypes to collapse and lose its spirituality during use, causing the three people standing on it to fall flat on their backs.

Although Han Lu did not make any negative comments about the unexpected incident in the test, Hu Jian and the other two, who had just obtained spirit stones not long ago, were extremely ashamed.

“Elder Zhenfeng,” Hu Jian hurriedly explained to Han Lu as he got up, “this is probably because we drew too many magic arrays on the treasure plate…”

"A temporary setback is nothing," Han Lu comforted her. "Your thunderous attacks just now were indeed much stronger than they were half a month ago. You've improved."

"If we can find better materials or slightly change the appearance of the magic weapon, we should be able to avoid any mistakes this time."

Hu Jian blinked. "Change the appearance of the magic weapon?"

Han Lu had no intention of plagiarism. "This was the idea of ​​one of my disciples, who is also an elder in the sect."

"Look, if this treasure were made into the shape of an ark, wouldn't it make it easier for you to refine and use magical artifacts?"

In the Central Plains, no one has ever associated the Ark magical artifact with the magical artifacts used in combat.

That is to say, Qiu Peng would have such "unorthodox" ideas.

Naturally, when Han Lu mentioned this, it immediately inspired Hu Jian and the other two weapon refiners.

"So...it seems pretty good." Hu Jian murmured, feeling as if a door had opened before him, and success seemed within easy reach.

Chapter 1150

It takes time for an idea to become a reality.

Not to mention doing "heretical" things, adding offensive features to the Ark, which is a means of transportation in the eyes of cultivators.

Even with Hu Jian's optimistic estimate, he figured it would take at least three to four years to produce another prototype of a magical artifact.

Whether that prototype can achieve the current supernatural powers of the Three Talents Treasure Plate is still unknown.

"Not bad," Han Lu thought the result was acceptable. "You and the previous batch of weapon refiners worked for more than 20 years to produce the Three Talents Treasure Plate."

"If we can build an ark that can cast offensive spells and roughly meets the requirements within five years, then that can only be described as lightning fast."

Hu Jian and the others were still in the dark, and Han Lu shouldn't be too explicit.