The Long Journey to Immortality

With a slight chuckle to herself, Han Lu activated the array flags, repeating her previous tactic.

This time, perhaps Jieyun was wiser, and did not fall for Han Lu's scheme again.

Although the lightning bolts that descended were slightly off course, they still ultimately headed towards where Han Lu was.

This time, although the lightning did not harm Han Lu, it completely broke through the protective formation she had set up.

The protective array, which had been set up at great expense, was breached when the second bolt of heavenly lightning struck, which was slightly unexpected by Han Lu.

However, since she had already taken the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Vault, she wasn't short of resources, so she didn't feel bad about spending the money.

“It does have some power,” Han Lu thought to herself, her expression unchanged. “It is still worthy of the identity of a Heavenly Tribulation.”

Perhaps because the heavenly tribulation had been weakened, the first two bolts of heavenly lightning unleashed by the tribulation clouds above Han Lu's head were not a test, but rather truly possessed some power.

When it gathered its strength again, this time, the tribulation clouds made Han Lu wait a full hundred breaths before reacting.

Seemingly aware of Han Lu's power, this time Jieyun even used nearly 30% of its spiritual energy to condense heavenly lightning to kill Han Lu.

Sensing the power of the heavenly lightning brewing within the tribulation clouds, Han Lu's expression finally changed slightly.

It was excitement, not fear.

Han Lu was overjoyed, "It's finally here."

The third lightning tribulation was wood-colored, belonging to the wood element of heavenly tribulation.

Seeing this, Han Lu planned to use the metal element of the Thunder-Slaying Array Flag to restrain and weaken it, following the principle of mutual restraint among the five elements.

Immediately afterwards, she planned to directly use her golden core to transform into a sword pellet and spiritual sword for a head-on confrontation.

Allowing the Golden Core to suffer a slight lightning strike is the key to transcending the tribulation.

Heavenly tribulations are like midwives who help with childbirth.

If a midwife can't touch the baby, how can she help a cultivator break through the Golden Core and give birth to a Nascent Soul?

However, the intensity of the assisted delivery needs to be controlled and managed.

If controlled well, it can give birth to a nascent soul; if controlled poorly, it can lead to destruction and death.

Based on her intuition and knowledge of cultivation, Han Lu judged that now was an excellent opportunity to subject the Golden Core to a tribulation of lightning.

Chapter 1180

The sword pellet spirit sword was drawn again in full view of everyone. Many spectators who had never seen Han Lu fight realized that the spirit sword that appeared first was actually Han Lu's golden core.

"I have never seen a technique that uses a golden core as a spiritual sword. What kind of strange and powerful Taoist method does Fairy Zhenfeng cultivate?"

This behavior goes beyond most cultivators' conventional understanding of cultivation techniques, so they will naturally be full of questions and unable to understand this act of "bumping into a knife with one's weakness".

However, this did not prevent Han Lu from using her own ideas to unleash the sword pellet spirit sword and meet the heavenly lightning.

The lightning-summoning array flags, modeled after those set up by senior Wang Han, proved quite effective in the face of the heavenly tribulation.

Under Han Lu's command, several metal-elemental array flags attacked from both sides, weakening the heavenly lightning, which had not yet landed, to 60% of its original strength in just a short time.

Subsequently, the following spirit sword easily withstood the thunder and overwhelming power of the tribulation clouds, and plunged straight into the center of the heavenly lightning.

Han Lu skillfully used word techniques to make the spirit sword pierce the weakness of the heavenly thunder.

As if struck at a weak point, the seemingly invincible heavenly lightning was cut in two from the bottom up by a spirit sword that was only 1.5 meters long, just like cutting paper.

The lightning bolt, now severed in two, seemed to have lost its soul; not only was its power greatly reduced, but it also completely lost its aim.

The lightning bolts, which split into two, fell from the sky and struck two forested areas outside the lake.

Two more deep craters appeared, and the lightning strike also caused a fire.

Feeling good, Han Lu didn't conserve her still abundant spiritual power and casually summoned a heavy rain to extinguish the wildfire that had started because of her, so as to prevent the island from being severely damaged by her arrival and causing the animals living there to be displaced.

Han Lu's effortless performance drew praise from the observing cultivators.

"As expected of the True Phoenix Fairy..."

"This is just using the spirit sword to deal with things easily; this is before even using the true spirit's methods."

"It seems that Fairy Zhenfeng will definitely have no problem successfully passing her tribulation."

……

Han Lu beckoned, summoning the spirit sword back to her side. Taking advantage of the gap in the tribulation clouds where a bolt of heavenly lightning was gathering, she checked what changes had occurred to the golden core spirit sword after being baptized by the lightning tribulation.

"Wow," Han Lu exclaimed in surprise, looking at the spirit sword beside her and feeling the connection between her golden core and herself. "It actually has such an effect?"

The surface of Han Lu's golden pill looked like meat that had been roasted by flames, with a caramelized layer.

At this moment, a thin silver shell appeared on the surface of the Golden Core Spirit Sword.

This layer of shell made the already golden spirit sword even more dazzling.

Besides being beautiful, Han Lu could feel that this layer of silver armor further enhanced the quality of her sword pellet.

"If the sword pellet were to undergo a few more strikes of heavenly lightning, wouldn't it truly elevate this object to the rank of a spiritual treasure?"

As Han Lu was lost in thought, she felt a pulse similar to a heartbeat emanating from the sword pellet.

Han Lu was overjoyed upon seeing this.

"As expected, only by subjecting the Golden Core to repeated bombardments and baptisms of heavenly lightning can the Nascent Soul break free and truly be born."

Han Lu's statement is both correct and incorrect.

If the Seven Kill Sword Technique, which uses the Golden Core as a spiritual sword, were to actually produce a Nascent Soul by shattering the sword pellet, it would be a huge money-losing business.

Back then, when Gu Xiu Fang Lin created his own cultivation method, he had no choice but to make a losing deal with "the truth of the Heavenly Dao." So after advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm, he had no choice but to use the black spirit sword that was now lying in Han Lu's storage bag as a magic weapon.

However, he considered many things for the successors of his lineage, and improved his self-created "Seven Kill Sword Technique". He found a way for Golden Core cultivators to preserve their Golden Core and use it as a sword pellet when they were undergoing tribulation to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Follow the instructions in the exercise.

After the spirit sword underwent its first tribulation, Han Lu silently began to circulate the Seven Kill Sword Technique.

She circulated her cultivation technique to assist the future nascent soul within the sword pellet, which was actually the golden core, in separating from her golden core in a gentler and more gradual manner.

As the cultivation technique was activated, countless holes seemed to appear on the surface of the sword pellet spirit sword.

These holes allow the nascent formation to "flow out," and also allow the spirit sword to gain more benefits when it undergoes the tribulation of lightning later.

The only downside is that it will affect the power of the sword pellet spirit sword for a short period of time, bringing a bit of uncertainty to the cultivator's tribulation.

However, this minor drawback is completely negligible for Han Lu, who has many tricks up her sleeve and is highly capable.

As she chanted the incantation, the spirit sword beside Han Lu shimmered with golden light.

In less than three breaths, Han Lu had completed the steps recorded in the cultivation technique.

"Repeat this five times, and you'll be done." Han Lu counted in her mind, reminding herself to continue looking for the right moment to use the spirit sword during the next tribulation.

The onlookers had no idea what Han Lu was doing; they assumed she was adjusting her breathing and recovering her spiritual energy.

"It seems that Fairy Zhenfeng's powerful sword strike consumed a lot of energy."

"That's true. Even a spirit sword made from a golden core would probably not be an easy task to cleave through a heavenly tribulation."

"The tribulation clouds in the sky seem to still have 70% of their power. Although Fairy Zhenfeng is powerful, it seems there are still variables in this matter."

……

Nian Haoge scoffed at the discussions among the surrounding cultivators.

Qiu Peng was unclear about the reason, but he noticed the change in Nian Haoge's expression, so he directly asked his senior sister via telepathy.

After learning the truth, Qiu Peng felt inexplicably sad.

Perhaps it was because he realized once again that he was not his master's most beloved disciple.

Another twenty breaths passed.

The tribulation cloud did not learn from its failure in the third tribulation, and this time it unleashed three bolts of wood-attribute heavenly lightning in one go.

Other cultivators would have been flustered by the tribulation clouds' display, but Han Lu did not take the three "weak" bolts of heavenly lightning that were falling before her seriously.

"Perfect timing for me to temper my sword."

He resorted to the same trick again, wielding a battle flag in one hand and a spirit sword in the other.

This time, the three bolts of lightning that fell were completely neutralized by Han Lu while they were still in the air. Not only did they not harm her in the slightest, but the island was also not damaged.

After the three bolts of heavenly lightning, the silver armor on the sword pellet spirit sword became three times thicker.

And that rhythm, like a heartbeat, became even stronger, giving one a feeling that it was about to burst forth.

Han Lu joked to herself, "I hope my nascent soul isn't born before the tribulation is over, and I directly advance to the nascent soul realm."

After the six tribulations of lightning, the tribulation clouds seemed to finally realize that the tribulation seeker on the ground was a tough nut to crack.

They switched back to their original method of concentrating their power on a single bolt of heavenly lightning. The Golden Core cultivator used the remaining 65% of spiritual power within the tribulation clouds to continue attacking Han Lu.

[Author's Note] I've reached the sage level where I don't even feel a daily fluctuation of 2000 in the fund's value.

Chapter 181 of the first phase

Amidst lightning and thunder, Han Lu, positioned beneath the tribulation clouds, exchanged several more blows with the heavenly tribulation.

Besides the spirit sword, several magical treasures and materials that were specifically sought out for the purpose of transcending tribulations also came in handy.

Han Lu has yet to use the carefree umbrella that brought misfortune to several elders of the Zhengyi Sect.

This wasn't because she was superstitious and thought that using this treasure would bring her bad luck.

They simply felt that the tribulation before them was not worth bringing out such a precious treasure.

That's a waste of talent, like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Every time the spirit sword appeared, Han Lu never forgot to use her cultivation technique to open its "spiritual aperture" and assist the nascent soul in the golden core to "give birth smoothly".

Having already activated the secret technique four times, Han Lu only needs one more time. Then, she will be able to witness her fully awakened nascent soul emerge from the sword pellet after the tribulation, while preserving the sword pellet.

He looked up and glanced at the calamity clouds.

"If there are a total of thirty-six heavenly lightning bolts, then there are still ten opportunities for my sword pellet spirit sword to be baptized by heavenly lightning, so there should be no problem."

Han Lu believed that she was a good person protected by the will of Heaven, and that the tribulation she was going to suffer was definitely not the kind of tribulation prepared for evil people, which would bring down at least forty-nine bolts of heavenly lightning.