The Long Journey to Immortality

The reason Han Lu was needed to take charge this time was because one of the other two families had acquired a cultivator with late-stage Golden Core cultivation a few years ago.

In order not to be at a disadvantage in the "Division Ceremony", the Han family wanted to ask Han Lu, a fellow clansman with the same late-stage Golden Core cultivation, for help.

"Elder Zhenfeng, there may be a battle of magic, and the outcome of the battle will determine the final ownership of those mines."

Upon hearing about the upcoming battle and the possibility of competing against cultivators from the north, Han Lu decided without hesitation to be a good Samaritan.

"Alright, I will go to the Han family with you tomorrow."

Han Yinshuang was surprised that things went so smoothly, readily agreeing to the agreement.

Chapter 1157

“Then I will thank Elder Zhenfeng on behalf of the elders of the clan,” Han Yinshuang said with a happy expression. “Tomorrow, Elder Zhenfeng, just send me a paper sword to tell me when you are leaving.”

"Okay, around noon tomorrow." After casually setting a time, Han Lu presented Han Yinshuang with a small gift in the capacity of a family elder.

It was slightly simpler than the gift Wen Erya gave, serving as both a benefit to the younger generation of the family and a way to give Wen Erya face.

Nearly thirty close-knit monks stayed at Han Lu's house, "going crazy" until midnight.

Finally, Han Lu even played music with several of her fellow music lovers to add to the festivities.

The group of master and apprentices joked and played around, and the atmosphere among them was much more harmonious than before the banquet.

Everyone here is a cultivator, even the lowest level of cultivation is at least the third level of Qi Refining.

Apart from a few heavy drinkers who were a little tipsy, no one did anything shameful when they left.

After the Golden Core cultivators arranged for some of their sober disciples to help take the intoxicated disciple back to his residence, the five of them bid farewell and left.

Back in the hall, seeing the mess, Han Lu, slightly tipsy, didn't send the two servants who were already asleep to work the night shift. Instead, she used simple magic to clean up the mess herself.

After cleaning the house in a quarter of an hour, Han Lu lay down on the soft bed in the bedroom for the first time in a long time and quickly fell asleep in a meditative state.

After a four-hour nap, Han Lu woke up feeling refreshed.

The paper sword was sent out on time to summon Han Yinshuang.

After Han Yinshuang arrived, she summoned Fangzhou and flew north with her junior Han Yinshuang.

On the way, Han Lu naturally asked Han Yinshuang about the specific situation.

Whether it was because she drank too much spirit wine last night or because she really didn't know too much of the truth, Han Yinshuang answered questions a little slowly and somewhat vaguely.

After asking several questions, Han Lu didn't get much information.

"Could it be that Han Yinshuang is deliberately avoiding the topic and unwilling to say more because she's worried I'll back out at the last minute?"

The thought only flashed through Han Lu's mind briefly, and she didn't dwell on it.

If we were to say who among the family knows Han Lu's cultivation level and combat strength best, it would definitely be Han Yinshuang, who has been cultivating in the Zhengyi Sect of the Southern Dynasty for many years.

Would she underestimate herself and think she was no match for a Northern Dynasty cultivator who was also at the late Golden Core stage? Han Lu didn't believe it.

"They probably just don't know enough and are afraid of misleading me."

With a clear understanding of the situation, Han Lu secretly analyzed the information she had obtained from Han Yinshuang regarding this trip.

In the area where the Han family lives, besides the Han family, there are two other slightly larger cultivation families.

The Lu family and the Qian family.

The late-stage Golden Core cultivator that Han Yinshuang mentioned earlier came from the Qian family and is currently the only Golden Core cultivator in the Qian family.

The three are evenly matched, and they are also evenly matched in the resource competition that occurs once every hundred years.

The three mineral veins, seven auspicious sites, and two spiritual soil gardens suitable for cultivating spiritual plants in the vicinity were divided equally among the three families during the last century.

The Han family ranked first in the last competition, winning the richest mine, three auspicious burial sites, and an excellent medicinal herb garden.

The Qian family ranked second and ultimately received a mineral vein, two auspicious sites for the family's descendants to cultivate, and a slightly less desirable medicinal garden.

Because the Lu family only had one cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, they ended up at the bottom, receiving only a relatively barren mine and two auspicious burial sites.

The disparity in resources has led to different development outcomes for the three companies over the years.

The strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker.

But that only represents overall strength; the competition for resources mainly relies on top-tier combat power.

With the Qian family's mid-stage Golden Core cultivator completing the twelve Golden Core runes and advancing to the late-stage Golden Core realm, the balance of power among the three families shifted.

Without Han Lu's presence, the Han family would likely have been able to surpass the Han family this time, relying solely on the "Xuanfeng Daoist" who was cultivating in Xuan Yang Valley to compete for resources.

This is not what the person in charge of the Han family wants to see.

As for the information about the late-stage Golden Core cultivator from the Qian family, Han Yinshuang only knew bits and pieces.

I know that the cultivator called himself "Master Guangbo" and was an elder in Xuan Yang Valley. He was about four hundred years old and had just advanced to the Golden Core realm ten years ago.

He claimed to have read 100,000 ancient books when he was in the Foundation Establishment stage, making him a scholar among cultivators.

If Han Lu is considered a renowned teacher in the Zhengyi School...

The Venerable Guangbo was also a top cultivator with a similar reputation in Xuan Yang Valley.

"How is their combat strength?" Han Lu asked finally.

Han Yinshuang chuckled and said confidently, "Senior Zhenfeng, in the last competition for nearby resources, it was also Master Guangbo who represented the Qian family."

"What do you think of Master Guangbo's combat strength?"

At first, Han Lu didn't realize what was going on, but soon, through a simple comparison and arrangement, she found the answer that Han Yinshuang wanted to say.

She once defeated Xuanfeng Daoist.

Xuanfeng Daoist once overpowered Guangbo Shangren a hundred years ago.

Although Master Guangbo has now advanced to the late stage of the Golden Core realm, his strength is no longer what it used to be.

However, she also improved by two minor realms compared to back then, becoming a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

With a quick comparison, Han Lu easily arrived at an answer that Guangbo Shangren was likely far inferior to her own.

"Now I can rest assured."

Focusing on navigating the Ark, Han Lu and Han Yinshuang, whose status and cultivation levels differed greatly, stopped chatting idly on the Ark.

At most, Han Lu would ask a question, and Han Yinshuang would answer a few questions.

In the silence, it took Han Lu a mere four hours to arrive at the Han Family Town in the Northern Dynasty at a leisurely pace.

Han Yinshuang found an opportunity to bring up the matter with Han Lu within ten days of receiving the message from her family.

Han Lu happened to have some free time, and since no disciples would be participating in the competition in the next few days, she rushed over without wasting any time.

Therefore, when Han Lu and Han Yinshuang arrived in Han Family Town, there were still two days before the three families held talks to compete for the ownership of the resources.

Han Lu's arrival delighted the key figures in the Han family.

The clan chief and the two elders bowed and greeted her, saying, "Greetings, Fairy Han."

Han Lu had no objection to this title.

In their view, Golden Core cultivators often cultivate for months or even half a year, making it difficult for others to even meet them.

It's uncertain whether Han Yinshuang will even be able to see Han Lu, let alone bring her savior in time, since she only shamelessly asks for help at the last minute.

Upon meeting the three clan elders, Han Lu immediately launched into a tirade.

"What? Why didn't you inform me earlier about such a significant event that we already knew was going to happen?" Han Lu asked, feigning concern for the family. "If I had happened to be in the wilderness or in seclusion and missed this event, wouldn't the Han family have suffered considerable losses over the next hundred years?"

"This..." Han Nian, the current patriarch of the Han family, who had only been in office for a year and a half, was quite surprised by Han Lu's attitude and was at a loss for words.

"My uncle told me that Fairy Han doesn't care about the family at all, and that I should try not to bother Fairy Han of the Southern Dynasty if I have any problems," Han Nian thought to himself. "Could it be that my uncle is mistaken?"

Chapter 1158

An elder standing nearby hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Fortunately, Han was not just a figurehead back then; he became the current head of the Han family because of his abilities, not because of blood ties.

Putting aside his doubts for the moment, Han Nian explained, "Fairy Han, there are other twists and turns to this. Let me tell you in detail."

Han Lu picked up the tea beside her, took a sip, and said, "Go ahead."

Han took a few breaths to organize his thoughts before replying.

“This event happens once every hundred years, it’s a tradition. Although I’ve only been the clan leader for less than two years, I know that we need to prepare for this event in advance.”

"Although the three families are competitors, they are relatively harmonious with each other. Every time they compete for resources, they only divide them into three roughly equal parts, and they have no intention of monopolizing 70% or even 80% of them."

"But this time is different from the past."

“A year ago, another spirit stone mine with about 300,000 spirit stones was discovered nearby by our three organizations’ exploration teams, which slightly imbalanced the prize pool for resources in this competition.”

At this point, Han Lu probably understood some of what Han meant back then.

The prize pool is unbalanced, with the winner able to occupy two mines and receive a large amount of spirit stones and materials each year. This has made the three major families less "friendly" than before, and greed has added a fiery element to the distribution of resources this time.

Originally, even without troubling Han Lu, ranking second wouldn't have been a big problem, but now the Han family wants to fight for it at this time.

However, this only explains why Han Lu was asked to come and help, but it doesn't explain why Han Yinshuang was only called to find her at the last moment.

Han continued, "However, just three months ago, the situation changed again."

"Besides the Venerable Guangbo who successfully advanced to the late stage of the Golden Core realm ten years ago, the Qian family has gained another cultivator who has just advanced to the Golden Core realm."

"Han Xianzi may not know that in the competition for resources, each of the three families has arranged for three cultivators to compete against each other in three rounds."

"In this way, the Qian family can send two Golden Core cultivators to fight, and with such a lineup, they can deal with the Han family and the Lu family, who only have one Golden Core cultivator each. In the end, winning the championship will be as easy as taking candy from a baby."

“Even so, getting second place is not unacceptable,” Han Dangnian said, revealing the real reason for inviting Han Lu. “Twenty days ago, the Qian family’s cultivator who had just advanced to the Golden Core Realm actually made a threatening statement, saying that he would monopolize 70% of the many resources, leaving only 30% for us and the Lu family to share.”

"In order to ensure that the cultivators in my family have enough resources for their daily cultivation over the next hundred years, I have no choice but to ask Fairy Han to help the Han family overcome this small difficulty."

In Han's view back then, as long as Han Lu took action, the word "difficulty" in his previous statement could be completely changed to "trouble," or even less than that.

Although the Han family has not used Han Lu's name to "swindle and deceive" over the years, they have always kept an eye on Han Lu's situation.

Although the Han family's higher-ups in the remote Han family town weren't entirely clear on Han Lu's current combat strength, they could still make a rough estimate.

Like Han Yinshuang, they did not believe that Guangbo Shangren, who had just advanced to the late stage of the Golden Core realm and had once been no match for Xuanfeng Daoren, would be a match for Han Lu and would be able to defeat Han Lu in a battle of magic.