The Long Journey to Immortality

Han Lu would often leave two to three days' worth of food in front of A Xiao's cat bed and food bowl, letting him take care of his own food.

"It seems I've only been gone for less than two hours."

Han Lu touched her slightly disheveled long hair and let out a long sigh of relief.

She didn't want a story similar to "Rotten Chessboard" to happen to her.

"In this light, going to the ancient cultivation era with Moon Pearl would be entirely beneficial."

Thinking of this, Han Lu looked forward to the full moon night of the following month even more.

"I hope the next part of the story will pick up where the previous one left off, and that we won't forget about Feng Jiao's cultivation."

Pray again.

After having breakfast at the canteen, Han Lu, unable to participate in the major cultivation, left the crowd and returned to her small courtyard.

Close the door and place the Moon Pearl on the table.

She gazed at the bright pearl, pen in one hand, recalling the events of those two hours, recording them in writing for analysis and memorization.

After filling two pages with writing, Han Lu rested her chin on her hand, put down her pen, picked up the Moon Pearl, and played with it while pondering.

"I was living in the middle of the ancient cultivation era, when the human race was slowly rising, but ancient cultivators like Senior Wang Han had not yet advanced to the Nascent Soul stage..."

"And the Phoenix Clan, due to internal conflicts, has already split into nine clans..."

"Ten thousand years ago, the primitive world was on the verge of chaos."

As a cultivator, Han Lu has a good memory, so recalling the story and recording it is not difficult for her.

The difficulty lies in analyzing this information and summarizing what benefits she might gain from the "Moon Pearl World".

After a moment of contemplation, she muttered to herself, "If there is any benefit to be gained from this Moon Pearl world, which is more like an illusion and a memory, it must be the True Phoenix Manual that Feng Jiao is currently holding."

"The simplest way to get this benefit is to secretly watch Feng Jiao read a book and memorize the contents."

"but……"

After a period of calm reflection, Han Lu was no longer as excited about the matter as she had been when she first saw the True Phoenix Manual.

"But in the end, Feng Jiao is a phoenix spirit in human form, with true spirit blood flowing through her veins."

"As for me, I am just a human cultivator with true spiritual bloodline. We are worlds apart."

"Would this True Phoenix Manual, specially prepared for true spirits, really be useful to me?"

"Maybe it won't be of any use at all."

Although Han Lu and Feng Jiao look very similar, their physical conditions are completely different.

It's perfectly normal that the cultivation techniques prepared for true spirits are not applicable to Han Lu, a human cultivator.

However, thinking is one thing, analyzing is another, and doing is yet another.

Han Lu was certain she would regret it if she analyzed the air to the extreme but never actually tried it.

After all, such an opportunity spanning 100,000 years is not something that can be found casually.

Han Lu didn't think she had the ability to find the precious book "True Phoenix Manual" in the modern era and make an attempt with a very slim chance of success.

"As for the others..." Han Lu murmured, "I'm a bit hesitant. Perhaps we can find one or two ancient relics from the cultivation era and go inside to search for treasures?"

This matter is somewhat unreliable. Given Feng Jiao's current cultivation level, which is only at the age of 18, Han Lu doesn't think that this young lady of the Illusionary Phoenix Clan has any chance of getting involved in this kind of story.

Han Lu was not clear about the operating rules of the entire Moon Pearl World, but her intuition told her that she could most likely only follow the Moon Pearl and its owner, Feng Jiao, on their travels in the ancient cultivation era, experiencing that thrilling history.

"Why not try it next time? Being able to move freely in that world and travel around would make it easier to find opportunities than staying by Feng Jiao's side all the time."

Just do it if you have an idea.

Let's set aside studying the existing information for now and look for opportunities.

Han Lu took another piece of white paper and wrote down her whimsical ideas, thinking she would try them one by one on her next "time travel".

"Let's see if we can travel through someone else's body."

"Let's see if we can get through the wall."

"Let's try to see if we can use magic to cultivate. The spiritual energy was abundant in the ancient times. If we could cultivate there for two hours, it would definitely be a great opportunity."

"Let's try again to get away from Feng Jiao and Yue Mingzhu, and go somewhere else."

……

After writing another page and a half, Han Lu finally stopped writing.

Looking at the gemstones on the table and the three and a half pages filled with writing, Han Lu had a better understanding of the situation.

"I don't know if it will help, but at least it's some consolation."

"Go back and check the history of the ancient cultivation era, it might be helpful."

With that in mind, Han Lu put the matter of the Moon Pearl aside once again.

After all, there's still a whole month until the next full moon. If Han Lu spends the entire month worrying about this, she estimates her head will be spinning.

[Author's Note] I really enjoy writing these kinds of chapters. After writing them, fewer people ask strange questions in the comments section.

Chapter 123 The Meeting About the Teleportation Gate

While Han Lu was still troubled by the "Moon Pearl World" matter, cultivators from the three major sects gathered together once again on the Central Plains for a major event.

The long-term stability of the cultivation world has made the three major sects in the Central Plains particularly fond of a peaceful environment.

Both the Zhengyi Sect and the Seven Mountains Alliance are thinking of going further and breaking the Xuan Yang Valley's position in the central and distant regions, but they are not thinking of challenging it by launching a war among cultivators.

Although Xuan Yang Valley tried its best to maintain its leading advantage, it would not resort to extreme measures that would escalate the conflict and cause the Central Plains cultivation world, which had finally been stable for thousands of years, to be thrown into turmoil again.

Therefore, regarding the matter of the ancient cultivation secret realm, all three parties chose to compromise and cooperate.

As for how to deal with the teleportation gate that connects the Central Plains and the Great Yu Dynasty, the three parties naturally need to get together and discuss it carefully to come up with a mutually agreed-upon plan.

Compared to the matter of the ancient cultivation secret realm, the three major sects believe that this teleportation gate deserves more detailed discussion.

After all, the ancient cultivation secret realm was just a matter of three families plus the Western Regions and the Southern Barbarians dividing the treasures. No matter how big the commotion was, it was just an internal dispute over the spoils, and they could resolve it properly with a little understanding among themselves.

However, the portal brought a major hidden danger to the Central Plains region.

The Great Yu Dynasty was not like the barbarians or the Western Regions, those worthless scoundrels.

The strength of the Great Yu Dynasty far surpasses that of the Central Plains. If the other side wants to use this as an excuse to invade, no matter how much the three major sects in the Central Plains talk, they will not be able to resolve this matter peacefully.

However, because three ostracized cultivators from the Great Yu Dynasty, including Wang Han, voluntarily surrendered, the three parties had a far greater grasp of the teleportation portal information than the mysterious ancient cultivation realm before the discussion.

Unfortunately, all three were "traitors," otherwise, it would have been much simpler to conduct discussions based on the three of them, and it would have been easier to reach a consensus.

After all, although cultivators are generally straightforward and don't like to use schemes, the leaders of the three major sects couldn't guarantee that the three people sent to the Central Plains weren't part of the Great Yu Dynasty's feint, or that the teleportation portal wasn't deliberately revealed by the Great Yu Dynasty through the three people's words and movements.

The mix of truth and deception has only made things more complicated.

Fortunately, from a certain perspective, this matter only concerns the Central Plains. It's always easier to discuss things behind closed doors than to reason with the barbarians and Western Region cultivators from different cultural backgrounds.

A month after the Zhengyi Sect Grand Competition ended, the three major sects, along with their numerous smaller sects, gathered once again to discuss the "Great Yu Dynasty."

At the same time, the three major sects also intend to take this opportunity to make a public announcement about the ancient cultivation secret realm, sharing some benefits with the smaller sects to avoid damaging their reputation and attracting criticism.

Reputation is something that not only Xuan Yang Valley, the leader of the Central Plains, cares about, but also Zheng Yi Sect and Qi Yue Alliance care about.

With many guests in attendance, the meeting was a grand affair.

It was more of a celebration than a meeting.

In addition to the regular meeting content, a market was also set up at the meeting location to facilitate the trading of materials and resources among high-level cultivators with late-stage Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivation levels.

An auction was also arranged, but only Golden Core cultivators were allowed to enter.

There was even a fighting arena, with cultivators from the three major sects acting as witnesses, to resolve the grudges that rival sects had accumulated over time through magical duels.

Only after all the monks who participated in the meeting had gained something from this grand event were the topic of the teleportation portal brought up again.

Finally, after several twists and turns, a total of twenty-one Golden Core cultivators, including the leaders and deputy leaders of Xuan Yang Valley, Zheng Yi Sect, and Qi Yue Alliance, sat down at the conference table to discuss important matters.

Everyone took their positions, and under the chairmanship of Master Long of Xuan Yang Valley, the meeting officially began regarding how to handle the teleportation portal to the Great Yu Dynasty.

Before the meeting, the leaders of the three major sects had actually communicated privately, but their final opinions differed.

Master Long and Daoist Yunmin suggested trying to destroy the portal to completely eliminate the possibility of invasion from the Great Yu Dynasty.

After all, if the Great Yu Dynasty wanted to reach the Central Plains, it either had to take the sea route or traverse the wilderness and the Western Regions.

Without a portal, any potential invasion would not occur.

However, Situ Meng, the leader of the Seven Mountains Alliance, held a different opinion.

He waited at the conference table until Master Long finished speaking and the Golden Core cultivators began to discuss the matter before he spoke up to express his own thoughts.

"Everyone, I am probably the Golden Core cultivator who has had the most contact with cultivators from other regions among all the cultivators here."

“I don’t think it’s necessary to destroy this portal. In fact, we could try to communicate and exchange ideas with the Great Yu Dynasty.”

This statement terrified the cultivators who supported Master Long's theories.

Leader Situ had anticipated the reactions of the crowd. He explained, using the relationship between the Seven Mountains Alliance and the Western Regions as an example, "In the past twenty years, our Seven Mountains Alliance has changed its previous attitude of absolute hostility towards the Western Regions and has tried to take the initiative to make contact with them."

"In fact, there has been almost no friction between the Western Regions and the Central Plains in the past twenty years. Instead, the trade and exchange of goods between them has brought a lot of materials and resources that are relatively rare in the Central Plains to the warehouses of my Seven Mountains Alliance."

"Similarly, the Great Yu Dynasty is not a monster. It is just a teleportation portal and it cannot cause any big waves in the Central Plains. However, it can serve as a window for communication between the two sides and contribute to the further progress of the cultivation civilization in the Central Plains."

In stark contrast to his fiery demeanor during the last negotiation, Sect Master Situ spoke eloquently, causing many cultivators sitting at the negotiating table to fall into deep thought.

Both sides had valid points, so naturally, when it was Yunmin Daoist's turn to speak, he posed this difficult question to the other cultivators present.

"My opinion is similar to that of Valley Master Long, but what Alliance Leader Situ said also makes a lot of sense. What do you all think?"

Daoist Yunmin wanted to continue standing on the same side as the Seven Mountains Alliance, but he was also afraid of the strength of the Great Yu Dynasty and dared not be careless. Therefore, he could only appear as a nice guy and act as a middleman.

Most of the leaders and sect masters of the small sects sitting at the conference table were self-aware enough to know that sitting at the conference table was an affirmation of their sect's status in the Central Plains.

We're too busy thanking you to even offer any advice or criticism.

As for offering opinions, one must follow the lead of the local leaders before expressing their views.

If one's opinion is contrary to that of the leader, one should remain silent; if one's opinion is the same as that of the leader, one should agree quietly.

In the end, it was still the leaders of the three major factions who put on a show at the conference table.