The Long Journey to Immortality

Han Lu, who tended to use intelligence rather than spiritual power to defeat her enemies along the way, was still looked down upon.

After all, abundant spiritual power and powerful magic are more likely to leave a lasting impression.

A flash of brilliance or a stroke of genius in battle will only leave mediocre people bewildered, who will think it's just luck or chance.

Perhaps only Piaomiaozi, Wen Erya, Zhan Yujun, and other cultivators who had fought against Han Lu before would believe that Han Lu would definitely win first place at the second level of Qi Refining.

Similarly, in the highest-level competition of the tenth level of Qi Refining, the outcome remains unpredictable.

Even a Golden Core cultivator who had watched the competition all day dared not guarantee which of the four genius cultivators, whose strengths were roughly equal, would ultimately win the crown.

Just as the Golden Core cultivators were chatting happily, five streaks of light flew into the council hall.

The three Golden Core sect leaders arrived late.

The other two streaks of light were Venerable Qingyang and Layman Wanghan, a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Jitian Palace who had just joined the Zhengyi Sect.

Upon seeing the arrival of the three sect leaders, the Golden Core elders all stood up to greet them.

Only a few senior Golden Core elders recognized Venerable Qingyang's identity and took the initiative to pay their respects.

As for the completely unfamiliar face, Layman Wanghan, the Golden Core elders did not take the initiative to inquire about his identity.

Some of the quick-thinking Golden Core elders had already guessed that the small meeting that evening was most likely related to this unfamiliar cultivator.

The five people took their seats, and Layman Wanghan sat down in the seat next to Venerable Qingyang in a very generous manner.

After the council hall quieted down for a while, Daoist Yunmin spoke.

"Everyone, let me introduce you. This is a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Great Yu Dynasty in the far west, the Hermit Wang Han."

"For certain reasons, Layman Wanghan decided to join the Zhengyi Sect and contribute his own strength to our Zhengyi Sect."

The entrance ceremony was planned well in advance.

After Daoist Yunmin finished his introduction, Layman Wanghan stood up and greeted the Golden Core elders.

"Everyone, thanks to Venerable Qingyang's high regard, I, Wang Han, was able to join the Zhengyi Sect."

"I hope that in the future, we can work together to create a bright future for the Zhengyi Sect and make a contribution to the Zhengyi Sect standing at the pinnacle of the cultivation world in the Central Plains."

The Golden Core elders clapped in response to show their welcome.

But in reality, the vast majority of Golden Core elders are still in a state of confusion.

Some people are ignorant and do not know what the Jitian Palace is or what the Dayu Dynasty is.

Another group of people were puzzled as to how a Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly appeared, and how this Nascent Soul cultivator was discovered and recruited by the Qingyang Supreme Elder of the sect.

Several Golden Core elders with vivid imaginations subconsciously connected the icy chill with the two streaks of light that had streaked across the sky above the arena during the day.

But in this situation, with the sect's higher-ups having already decided to accept Wang Han, they dared not ask or speak.

Thus, by concealing some of Wang Han Jushi's "dark history," this Nascent Soul cultivator from the distant West became the sixth Nascent Soul cultivator in the Zhengyi Sect.

Immediately afterwards, using the matter of Layman Wanghan as an excuse, Daoist Yunmin told everyone about the teleportation portal that had inexplicably appeared in the Central Plains.

Under the arrangement of Daoist Yunmin, Wang Han Jushi, a former cultivator of Tianji Palace, played a role for the first time in Zhengyi Sect, using the knowledge and memories in his mind to "popularize" the cultivation environment of Dayu Dynasty to the Golden Core cultivators.

“The cultivation environment in the Great Yu Dynasty is intense but not harsh.”

"The Great Yu Dynasty, with its vast land, abundant resources, and large population, has at least forty Nascent Soul cultivators active in the cultivation world, and its cultivation resources are at least five times that of the Central Plains."

"The Heavenly Palace, where I once served, was the largest sect in the Great Yu Dynasty, with a hundred Golden Core cultivators and sixteen Nascent Soul cultivators within its ranks."

……

After Layman Wanghan explained the general situation of the Great Yu Dynasty and the Heavenly Pole Palace, Venerable Qingyang, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

"Although we can tell from Fellow Daoist Wang Han's words that the Heavenly Palace or the Great Yu Dynasty has no desire to invade the Central Plains, the teleportation gate that appeared in the Central Plains region because of the ancient cultivation secret realm is still a hidden danger."

"This afternoon, I went to Xuan Yang Valley and made an appointment with the fellow Daoists there to go to the teleportation gate again tomorrow morning to check and confirm the specific situation."

"The fellow Daoists of the Seven Mountains Alliance will also be there at that time."

"The three parties should discuss a solution."

"Either destroy it directly, or use magic arrays or restrictions to partially seal it off."

"In case the portal cannot be destroyed, we may arrange for a few of the elders to go on a long journey and stay there for two years, just in case."

"The matter of the ancient cultivation secret realm is of great importance. We must not let the human cultivators of the Great Yu Dynasty take a share of it."

All of this had been decided long ago. Gathering the elders together at this time was merely a simple deployment, arrangement, and notification process, without any intention of discussion.

Although the elders have cultivated to the Golden Core stage and hold the title of elder, in a large sect like the Zhengyi Sect, they can only follow the overall situation and have no room for independent action.

After finishing his two matters, Venerable Qingyang symbolically inquired about the progress of the Grand Competition.

Several Golden Core elders who had interacted with Venerable Qingyang then began discussing the major competition taking place on Arena Number Nine and Arena Number Ten.

However, no one emphasized the name of any particular Qi Refining disciple.

There are still two years before the secret realm opens. Although a list of ten people has been finalized, all the Golden Core cultivators have risen from the Qi Refining stage. They know that the changes in low-level cultivators at the bottom can be earth-shattering in two years.

As for the future, there can only be a rough estimate, but no one can say for sure who will be one of the seven disciples who will eventually enter the secret realm.

Just like many of the Golden Core cultivators sitting here now, they are not the so-called "geniuses" in the sect.

And countless geniuses have fallen on the path to achieving the Golden Elixir.

[Author's Note] A new month has arrived. Do you have any monthly tickets or razor blades (a metaphor for criticism or sarcastic remarks)?

Chapter 108 The Final Four

The next day, in the morning, the final half-day of the Qi Refining cultivators' competition began on time.

Compared to the previous day, there were many more disciples who came to Five Elements Mountain Academy to watch the battle. Even many ordinary people who worked in the Zhengyi Sect came to Five Elements Mountain Academy to join in the excitement that only happens once every five years.

More people watched, fewer people fought.

The competition has reached the semi-final stage, and only three more matches are needed in each category to determine the final rankings.

Therefore, only half of the arena was used that morning.

The two levels of competition were merged and placed on a single ring.

Although Han Lu really wanted to get together with Wen Erya and witness each other's wonderful experience of defeating the last two opponents and winning the championship.

However, things didn't go as planned. She was assigned to share an arena with cultivators at the first level of Qi Refining.

Wen Erya, on the other hand, participated in the competition alongside cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Han Lu arrived at the arena early to wait, but the final match schedule was only posted after all the disciples who advanced to the top four had arrived at the arena.

This time, Han Lu encountered a cultivator from Beishan Academy.

Having noted down the opponent's name, Han Lu recalled the large amount of information she had taken down while reviewing the "Viewing Guide" last night, muttering to herself.

“Yu Chizhou is an inner disciple of Elder Xingjian of Beishan Academy.”

"When he entered the sect, he was only at the Daoist Child Realm. After cultivating in the sect for five months, he advanced to the second level of Qi Refining five days before the Grand Competition."

"Skilled in weapon manipulation, possessing a mid-grade fifth-rank spirit sword."

"I am not proficient in magic."

"Despite being only a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining, he possesses relatively rich combat experience."

……

"I predict they will ultimately advance to the finals."

The booklet also contains several descriptions of Yuchi Zhou's first round of competition.

As a strong contender for the championship, the monk who compiled the "Viewing Guide" devoted a lot of ink to Yuchi Zhou, with many words of praise and flattery.

Furthermore, the cultivator who wrote the book even predicted that Yuchi Zhou would advance to the Foundation Establishment stage within five years and achieve the Golden Core stage within twenty years, becoming the leading figure of the new generation of the Zhengyi Sect.

When Han Lu saw these words, she felt nauseous and inexplicably developed a sense of disgust towards Yu Chizhou.

She once suspected that the person who compiled the booklet came from Beishan Academy and was a friend of Yuchi Zhou.

But when Han Lu closed the booklet, she thought about it carefully.

It would be more reasonable for a big fan to say that the "viewing guide" was written by Yu Chizhou's enemy.

However, compared to the gossip-filled information in Han Lu's "viewing guides," Yu Chizhou's combat information is far more abundant.

Han Lu glanced subconsciously at Yu Chizhou, who was flipping through a booklet not far away, and smiled slightly.

In terms of intelligence alone, Han Lu already had the upper hand even before the war began.

Now, "flipping through the book" is actually just a way of reviewing.

Han Lu had already devised a general strategy to deal with each of the three potential opponents the night before.

There's no need to waste time and effort analyzing and thinking at this point.

All you need to do is take the medicine as prescribed, follow the battle plan on the stage, and do your best to execute it.

With ample preparation and formidable strength, Han Lu was confident that today's match would be much easier than the one against Su Wen the previous day.

Han Lu and Yu Chizhou's match was scheduled for the third game.

Before the two of them go on stage to fight, four cultivators at the first level of Qi Refining will show off their skills on the stage to compete for the two disciples who will advance to the finals.

The competition at the first level of Qi Refining can only be described as tedious.

The cultivators participating in the Qi Refining Level 1 competition were all disciples who had been practicing for less than a year.

If one is not born into a wealthy and powerful cultivation family, it is perfectly normal for their storage bag to contain no magical artifacts.

The difference between one spiritual vein and two spiritual veins is a full twofold. Naturally, the number and types of spells that can be used in the competition are also at least twice that of those at the second level of Qi Refining.

Often, after only a few rounds, the show comes to an end.

Standing below the stage, Han Lu felt even more fortunate that she had been given the opportunity to cultivate on Han Chan Peak through the academy's compensation plan, and that she had raised her cultivation to the second level of Qi Refining before the competition.

She didn't want to participate in such a boring and unchallenging competition, even if she could easily win the championship.

Despite the low level of skill involved, the Qi Refining Level 1 cultivators who went on stage still fought fiercely among themselves.

But in less than fifteen minutes, both matches ended, and it was Han Lu and Yu Chizhou's turn to take the stage.

When she entered the arena, Han Lu was unpretentious, simply leaping onto the stage as before, without making any cool or fancy entrance moves.