The Long Journey to Immortality

Not only that, Han Lu felt as if she were not holding a stone, a gem, or an inanimate object, but rather a heart beating rhythmically.

She instinctively closed her eyes and focused all her attention on her hands, trying to communicate with the gem that might be connected to her bloodline.

After holding that position for a moment, Han Lu opened her eyes with a slight disappointment.

She shook her head and muttered to herself, "Does one have to recognize the Lord before there can be any further changes?"

Suppressing the urge to immediately claim ownership of the gem in the inner treasury, Han Lu tried to investigate and study the gem in her hand from a more realistic rather than mystical perspective.

"Injecting spiritual energy...no response."

"Try gripping it tightly... It feels no different from a regular gemstone."

"The color after contact... seems a bit darker than before, but I must be seeing things."

……

After much research, Han Lu found almost nothing.

The only evidence that gave her reason to believe that the gem was "perfect for her" was the resonance that came from her bloodline.

Feeling the ruby ​​pulsate like a heartbeat, Han Lu suddenly noticed Wen Erya appearing in her line of sight not far away, and an idea came to her mind.

Han Lu stepped forward and called out, "Senior sister, can you do me a small favor?"

Wen Erya temporarily shifted her gaze from the numerous magical artifacts on the storage shelf and looked at Han Lu, "Junior Sister, what's wrong?"

Han Lu showed the crimson gem in her hand to Wen Erya, "Senior sister, you have so many magical artifacts, you must be better at appraising them than I am. Why don't you help me take a look at this gem, what quality it is, and what supernatural powers it possesses?"

“No problem,” Wen Erya had indeed seen many magical artifacts and readily agreed to help Han Lu with this small favor she could do. “What, you’ve taken a fancy to this gem?”

"I just felt that it was destined for me," Han Lu said, half-jokingly, "but I was blind and couldn't tell the difference between real and fake, good and bad gems, so I asked my senior sister to help me take a look."

Wen Erya nodded slightly and took the gem from Han Lu's hand.

Wen Erya felt the faint warmth emanating from the gemstone in her hand and asked, "Oh, it's a piece of warm jade. Junior Sister, do you want to keep this warm jade by your side to see if it can resist the cold air on Cold Cicada Peak?"

Han Lu raised her eyebrows slightly, thinking to herself, "This gemstone is indeed problematic."

However, she only replied, "Senior sister, you guessed wrong. A little over a month ago, Master also gave me a piece of warm jade, but I didn't use it. In the end, I threw it into the cat's bed to warm it up."

Upon hearing this, Wen Erya simply nodded and continued to examine the gemstones in various ways.

Because it was a task entrusted to her by Han Lu, Wen Erya was exceptionally serious during the appraisal.

After a while of fussing, the gemstone was finally returned to Han Lu.

Wen Erya smiled slightly awkwardly, "Junior sister, I am incompetent and cannot distinguish what grade of magic tool this gemstone is, or what kind of supernatural power it possesses."

"Take it if you really like it."

"However, I suggest you look around some more. There are always more suitable magical artifacts for you here than this gem."

Looking at the red gem in Wen Erya's hand, Han Lu thanked her and then asked, "Senior sister, did you have any other special feelings when you held this gem?"

Wen Erya pursed her lips, pondered for a moment, and then shook her head. "No, it's not much different from ordinary rubies, except that the one you chose is larger and has a purer color."

Hearing this, Han Lu thanked her again and then took the gemstone back from Wen Erya's hand.

Feeling the cool gemstone pulsating slightly in my palm.

Then compare Wen Er Ya's experience with this gemstone.

Han Lu became increasingly convinced that this thing was of the highest quality to her and that she had to take it with her.

After a moment's hesitation, Han Lu took the wooden flute out of her storage bag and then put the gem into her storage bag.

In the time that followed, Han Lu continued searching the inner treasury for a superior weapon while keeping the wooden flute as a substitute.

Unfortunately, once they've fallen for each other, it's not so easy to separate.

The wooden flute in his hand was clearly only a high-grade magic tool.

However, Han Lu, who was holding it, couldn't help but find fault with other magical implements.

In the end, after wandering around the inner treasury for nearly half an hour, Han Lu was still there, holding the wooden flute, looking for a better horse while riding a donkey.

"Fine, let's leave it at that."

Han Lu was already satisfied with finding the gem that was most likely related to the True Spirit Bloodline. The wooden flute in her hand was already quite good, and with little time left, Han Lu stopped lingering in the inner treasury.

After taking one last look at the treasure trove filled with magical artifacts, he reluctantly stuffed the wooden flute into the storage bag given to him by the academy, triggered the restriction, and teleported away.

After another unpleasant teleportation experience, Han Lu staggered out of the inner warehouse.

At this moment, only Wen Erya and the Seven Flower Fairy, who was in charge of the treasure selection meeting, were waiting for Han Lu outside the inner treasury of the Five Elements Mountain Academy.

Upon seeing the Seven Flower Fairy, Han Lu offered her two magical treasures selected from the inner treasury, hoping that the Seven Flower Fairy, a Golden Core cultivator in charge of the academy, would help her answer her questions and explain the origins and uses of the magical treasures, just as she had helped the champions who had left the inner treasury before.

Although the Seven Flower Fairy was a Golden Core cultivator, she was not a member of the Inner Treasury and therefore did not know the information about all the magical treasures in the Inner Treasury.

Having done some research beforehand, the Seven Flower Fairy only told Han Lu that the ruby ​​had been stored in the inner treasury of the Five Elements Mountain Academy for thousands of years, and that she couldn't say or remember where it came from.

However, it was the wooden flute that led to a few more words between the Seven Flower Fairy and Han Lu.

"This wooden flute is made from the dead wood of a 500-year-old paulownia tree."

"It must have been stained with phoenix blood, which is why it gained a trace of spirituality and was refined into a top-grade magic tool."

"I don't know the specific supernatural powers, but the magical treasures and supernatural powers of the Xiao type are often similar."

“Perfect timing, I also possess a similar wooden flute artifact, and I have a musical score in my possession.”

"Han Lu, I'll give you this sheet music here. Practice it diligently when you get back, and you should be able to unleash the full power of this magic weapon."

Upon hearing this, Han Lu took the sheet music, flipped through a few pages, and was overjoyed.

Although there are differences between different musical instruments and magical artifacts, even if one simply applies them, the content and insights in this musical score are still better than what Han Lu, a tone-deaf person, could learn by studying a wooden flute for a year.

After watching Han Lu and Wen Erya, the two best friends, leave together, the Seven Flower Fairy then sent out a paper sword to inform the three sect leaders that the treasure selection event had been concluded.

The long, drawn-out sound of the bell rang out in the Five Elements Mountain Courtyard.

The tolling of the bell not only announced the end of the Qi Refining disciples' competition, but also reminded the nearly one thousand Foundation Establishment disciples who were cultivating within the sect that it was time for them to take the stage.

Chapter 117 After the Grand Competition

The competition has come to an end, but Han Lu's cultivation life is even busier than when she was preparing for the competition.

In addition to her daily practice, Han Lu has two more tasks.

The first thing is to learn how to play the xiao (vertical bamboo flute).

Secondly, we need to study the purpose of that red gemstone.

Learning to play the xiao (vertical flute) is quite easy.

The Seven Flower Fairy has already given the musical score to Han Lu, so she no longer needs to spend too much time studying the magical artifact. She only needs to learn and master the instrument like an ordinary mortal.

With Princess Wen Er Ya, born into royalty, by Han Lu's side, learning a musical instrument and gaining a basic understanding of music would naturally be easy.

Having grown up in the palace since childhood, Wen Erya spent a lot of time and effort on music, chess, calligraphy, and painting before she knew whether she possessed the talent for cultivation.

Wen Erya possesses exceptional talent in cultivation and is also quite accomplished in the arts.

Among them, the xiao (vertical flute) is one of the instruments that Wen Erya is most skilled at.

Although he became somewhat complacent in music due to his cultivation in the years that followed, and only achieved a superficial understanding of it.

However, Wen Erya's bucket is very large. Even if it's only half full, it's more than enough to teach Han Lu, who is tone-deaf, and to be Han Lu's music teacher.

Unfortunately, Han Lu has plenty of cultivation and spiritual practice skills, but not much artistic talent.

Although she had Wen Erya, a renowned teacher who was willing to teach for free and provide meticulous guidance, Han Lu only barely reached the beginner level after studying for half a month and practicing diligently for a total of twenty hours every day.

Normally, I can manage to play a barely acceptable tune by looking at the sheet music, slowing down the tempo.

But to expect Han Lu to take the paulownia wood flute, step onto the arena, and fight with others using this magical tool is still a long way off.

However, this was at least some substantial progress, similar to opening up acupoints in cultivation techniques, giving Han Lu a sense of "you reap what you sow".

However, Han Lu was completely bogged down in her research on that red gemstone.

Following the method used to deal with ordinary magical artifacts, after leaving the Five Elements Mountain Academy with Wen Erya, Han Lu performed a blood oath ceremony in her own courtyard, injecting spiritual power into the gemstone in an attempt to refine it and make it her own.

However, it is clear that the red gemstone that resonates with Han Lu's bloodline is not an ordinary magical artifact.

It simply doesn't fall for these common tricks.

Over the course of half a month, Han Lu tried five times, but aside from making the red gem even redder with her blood, she failed to establish a deeper connection with it, let alone uncover its secrets.

Even so, Han Lu could still sense that this gem was different from other magical artifacts, and she believed that there must be a secret in this gem that was worth exploring.

Having gained nothing, Han Lu could only attribute the reason to her own wrong method or insufficient cultivation. She put the gem into a sachet that should have been filled with herbs and carried it with her, hoping for an opportunity to come.

Just as Han Lu was studying the two magical artifacts, the Foundation Establishment stage competition ended on time according to the well-prepared schedule.

As a disciple of Piaomiaozi, Han Lu paid some attention to the competition, which was basically unrelated to her.

She was also curious whether her senior brothers and sisters had achieved good results in the competition, while she and Wen Erya had earned a lot of face for Piaomiaozi.

Piaomiaozi had only formed his Golden Core twenty-one years ago, and only five of his disciples were at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Including his second senior sister Shui Bingxin, who had contact with Han Lu, only three of his senior brothers and sisters could be considered outstanding.

And the final results of these three senior brothers and sisters did not disappoint Piaomiaozi, who had high hopes for them.

Although none of the three won the championship at the early Foundation Establishment stage, they all made it into the top 64.

Meanwhile, Li Haoqiong, the senior brother whom Han Lu had once heard Shui Bingxin mention, won second place in the secret realm exploration competition, making Piaomiaozi stand out among the dozen or so Golden Core cultivators of Dongshan Academy once again.

The grand competition, held once every five years, has come to an end, but not everyone has received tangible benefits such as spirit stones.

In fact, nearly two thousand disciples of the Zhengyi Sect faced the predicament of being expelled from the sect due to their poor performance in the competition.

Some of them will be fortunate enough to remain within the sect, working as unofficial members of the Zhengyi Sect and continuing to be active in the cultivation world.

But the vast majority of people will eventually be eliminated and leave.

They might choose to find a small sect to continue their cultivation journey, walk the mortal world as a cultivator, or live a peaceful and stable life as a long-lived mortal.

The traces they left in the Zhengyi Sect will soon be erased, and the empty courtyard will be occupied by the new disciples who will arrive in a month.

This may be the most brutal moment in the cultivation world during this peaceful era.

Thanks to his effective teaching, Piaomiaozi's standing in the eyes of the Dongshan Academy's higher-ups, including Wuhu Jushi, rose considerably after the competition. This also gave Piaomiaozi the opportunity to mention to Wuhu Jushi that he had allocated a small portion of his meditation time in the Cold Cicada Peak to Han Lu.

Piaomiaozi's request did not ask for any additional resources from the mountain academy, and the Five Lakes Hermit, in a good mood, naturally had no intention of refusing Piaomiaozi's request.