Page 749

Yuan Daoren smiled awkwardly and said, "We didn't expect the Venerable One to return to the sect so quickly. That special envoy was invited to visit the Jitian Palace."

"I'll probably be back in about twenty days."

Han Lu nodded slightly, indicating her understanding. "Alright, then I'll take this opportunity to catch up with my friends and disciples, and also see what changes have occurred in the sect over the past thirty years."

When the sect was mentioned, Daoist Yuan smiled.

Clearly, this successor, handpicked by Xianyu Ji, had a high opinion of his work within the sect over the years.

“I had someone clean up your house the day before yesterday, and you can move in anytime,” Yuan Daoren had already arranged everything. “As for what else you need, just send me the paper sword, and I will arrange it for you as soon as possible.”

Since Han Lu had finally returned to the sect, Daoist Yuan had already decided to provide excellent service so that Han Lu wouldn't feel like she was coming home and develop a rift with the sect.

Of course, Han Lu is not as easy to "lose loyalty" as Yuan Daoren feared.

After happily accepting Yuan Daoren's kindness, Han Lu inquired a few more times about the recent situations of Wen Erya, Nian Haoge, and Qiu Peng before leaving.

As Yuan Daoren said, Han Lu's old house on Hanchan Peak had been kept empty for her, and nearly ten servants had already spent two days cleaning it until it was spotless.

After spending some time replanting some of the flowers and plants that had been transplanted back to Sanfeng Forest in the now empty courtyard as decoration, Han Lu then walked on, intending to visit a few old friends and meet with her disciples again.

The first person I visited was Wen Er Ya.

Wen Erya and Xiao Ran's remaining child is named Xiao Min.

The child inherited his parents' outstanding talent for cultivation and has been entrusted with Qiu Peng's early education. At the age of thirteen, he has already achieved the second level of Qi Refining.

One can envision a future where all three Golden Core cultivators from the Wen Er Ya family gather together.

Among Han Lu's disciples, Nian Haoge and Kong Du had the smoothest lives.

Kong Du successfully formed a third-grade Golden Core and became a Golden Core elder in the sect, fulfilling his wish.

Nian Haoge only managed to catch a glimpse of Han Lu's back five years ago.

At the age of 169, he achieved the late stage of the Golden Core realm. If it weren't for Han Lu's achievement, this would be a record that no one could catch up with in ten thousand years.

Besides her own disciples, Han Lu also unexpectedly met Han Lei, who had been introduced to the Zhengyi Sect from the Han family of the Northern Dynasty.

Thirty-five years have passed, and with Han Lu's help, Han Lei, who has awakened his Dharma body, is cultivating at an astonishing pace.

It took him a year and a half to establish his foundation, five years to reach the middle stage of foundation establishment, and another twenty-three years to advance to the late stage of foundation establishment.

If nothing unexpected happens, in another twenty or thirty years, the Han family will have another Golden Core cultivator at the upper level of the Core Formation stage.

The world doesn't cease to function properly without Han Lu.

During the more than thirty years that Han Lu was away from the Central Plains, her friends and disciples went through their daily lives and spiritual practice very smoothly.

Han Lu was overjoyed to hear about these good things.

Chapter 1213

After meeting her close friends and disciples, Han Lu also visited familiar fellow disciples and elders.

She had conversations with Xianyu Ji, Qingxu Daoist, and Xuanchengzi, but Han Lu was unable to meet Yunmin Daoist because he was traveling outside and about to advance to the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

Han Lu also had troubles with Senior Zhen.

When Han Lu met with Senior Zhen, she brought up the incident thirty years ago when Fairy Piao asked her for blood.

"It is said to be used to deceive the will of Heaven," Han Lu recalled what Fairy Piao had told her at the time. "I wonder if Senior Zhen can guess what important matter Senior Piao is busy with."

The Taoist priest's expression changed slightly, clearly indicating that he had several answers in mind, but when answering Han Lu's question, he still said, "I can't guess either," and "Anyway, it's something very important."

Having no intention of invading others' privacy, the two only touched on the issue briefly and continued to talk more about their own stories.

As usual, they chatted while fishing. In the little world of the senior, Han Lu felt that time flew by.

Finally, before Han Lu left, Senior Zhen extended an invitation to her.

"Han Lu, I plan to ascend to the Spirit Realm within a hundred years. I hope you can come and see me off then."

Han Lu was quite surprised, "Senior Zhen, in the small world, couldn't you stay in the human world for at least two hundred years? Why did you leave early?"

The True Taoist replied, "My change of mind is somewhat related to you."

Although Han Lu roughly guessed what the True Daoist meant, she pretended not to know in order to avoid arrogance and embarrassment, and asked another question, "Senior True Daoist, what do you mean by this?"

The True Daoist's gaze fell on the end of the willow twig in his hand. As if talking to himself, he said in a slightly softer voice than usual, "I believe you should have noticed something when you returned to the sect this time."

"Often, we are not as important as we imagine."

"Without us, the people and things we want to protect and care about might not necessarily be living in hardship."

“In the past, I thought of myself as too important, as if without me, the Zhengyi Sect would be in danger of dying.”

"Now it seems that new talents emerge in every generation. Even without me, you and many other young talents cultivating in the sect will inherit my will and fight to protect the glory of the sect."

The True Daoist paused, then gently shook the willow branch in his hand, causing ripples in the lake before continuing, "It was only after you advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm that I began to think about this. For the past thirty years, I have spent fragmented time pondering this issue, trying to use your example to dispel the concerns that never existed, to help me overcome my fear of the unknown, and to bravely and proactively take the final step."

The True Daoist had already told Han Lu about the fear that cultivators at the Nascent Soul Realm had of the Spirit Realm.

“When I saw you again today and heard what you said to me earlier, I finally made up my mind,” the Taoist Master said, shaking his willow branch and catching a red crucian carp. “Now I can say that I am in a good mood, and I even have a bit more expectation for the spirit world that I used to be afraid of.”

"Perhaps after hiding in this little world for so long, his blood, which had long since cooled, is now yearning to boil again."

The Taoist Master let out a hearty laugh, and his demeanor did indeed seem somewhat different from before.

"I am honored to be able to help Senior Zhen solve his problem." Since Senior Zhen had always helped her, Han Lu was indeed happy to be able to repay this senior who had always taken care of her.

The words of the senior did offer Han Lu some inspiration.

After leaving Senior Zhen's small world, Han Lu couldn't help but reflect on her relationships with her friends, disciples, and sect.

With himself and his family by his side, he felt less and less burdened by living in the wild Sanfeng Forest.

After staying at Zhengyi Gate for three days, Han Lu set off for the Northern Dynasty.

I'll go to the Han family and see what the ideal city she asked Han to build and manage back then looks like now.

Whether the expected goals have been achieved, whether it has the ability to generate its own revenue, whether it still needs her, the initiator, to invest money, and whether there are reasons to continue operating and trying.

In less than half an hour, Han Lu arrived at Datong City, located on the banks of the Yuanshui River.

The city is named Datong, after the "Datong society" that Wenqing and Hanlu talked about back then.

Quietly landing on the outskirts of the city, Han Lu switched to walking, trying to understand from the lowest level whether the city was developing in the way she envisioned.

More than 30 years have passed, and the city has long been fully built.

The inner city plus the outer city was large enough to accommodate at least 300,000 people to live and work there.

If we include the farmland in the suburbs and the three naturally formed settlements.

There are approximately 400,000 ordinary people living within the Datong City area, relying on Datong City for their lives, work, and reproduction.

Before even entering the city, Han Lu noticed the bustling docks outside the city.

The docks located beside the source of the river outside the city are as busy as Han Lu had imagined back then.

The ships that came and went brought a large amount of products from other cities and villages into Datong City, while exporting products manufactured in Datong City, thus providing nourishment for this city, which was not yet fifty years old, to ensure its healthy growth.

Looking at the seven or eight merchant ships temporarily moored on the Yuanshui River outside the dock, Han Lu couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that my decision to build the city here with Wen Qing was absolutely right."

Seeing the positive developments as soon as she arrived made Han Lu even more hopeful about the situation in "Datong City".

However, it has proven difficult to make a great leap towards a "universal society" given the current levels of productivity, education, and morality.

Even in Datong City, where many independent cultivators and Han family cultivators provide assistance to ordinary people, this is still the case.

After wandering around Datong City for an hour, Han Lu realized that the social environment here was even worse than that of the Southern Dynasty's capital, and it was still a long way from the ideal society in her mind.

Although the vast majority of residents in the city can live and work in peace and contentment, there are still many shortcomings and flaws.

Even in such a short period of time, Han Lu discovered many instances of the strong bullying the weak within the city.

It could be an employer oppressing its employees, a big businessman oppressing a casual buyer, or an unemployed youth oppressing the elderly and children.

To this, she could only console herself with the saying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

"At least for now, things are moving in a positive direction."

Han Lu mentally rated the current state of Datong City as a 6 out of 10. She then found the current city lord of Datong City, Han Family, offered him some encouragement, presented him with a storage bag containing two thousand spirit stones, and left.

Regardless, she was very clear about one thing.

If she, a Nascent Soul cultivator, leaves too many traces and interferes too much in Datong City, then even if Datong City becomes the way she expects it in her eyes, it will definitely be false and unsustainable.

Chapter 1214

Monks may seek vague psychological comfort when their lifespan is nearing its end and their ideals have not yet been realized.

But for Han Lu, who has a bright future and lofty ambitions, the most important thing is to truly realize her expectations for an ideal society.

An empty shell or a mere facade is not enough to satisfy her.

Having roughly figured out the current situation in Datong City, Han Lu did not go to the Han family again.

With Xuanfeng Daoist and Han Yinshuang Fairy around, Han Lu was confident that the Han family could continue to prosper and grow stronger under their protection.

There's no need for someone like her, who's rarely in the Central Plains, to go and check up on things all the time.

After a moment's hesitation, Han Lu decided to go and visit Wen Qing.

While gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the city's situation, I also took the opportunity to bid farewell to this comrade who doesn't have many years left to live.

More than thirty years later, Han Lu met the gentle Empress again. At this time, she was old and frail, and looked no different from an ordinary person in his seventies or eighties.

However, as a cultivator with dedicated doctors and other cultivators to manage her health, Wen Qing remained energetic and able to handle most government affairs personally.

Han Lu's sudden visit delighted Wen Qing. Not only did she immediately dismiss the two ministers who were reporting on state affairs in front of her, but she also immediately sent palace servants out of the palace to invite a nephew-like young master of the Wen family into the palace.

She hoped to get this heir she favored to meet Han Lu, become acquainted with her, and incidentally let this "heir" show off his talents in front of Han Lu.

In this way, when Han Lu helps Wen Erya choose a new emperor for the Southern Dynasty after her death, it will be more likely that she will be able to legally and compliantly place this heir on the throne, just as she wishes.

Han Lu could understand the meaning of warmth at a glance.

However, she did not stop her, telling Wen Qing that she would not interfere in the matter, but simply let Empress Wen Qing do as she pleased, and then went on to discuss with Wen Qing some issues and matters that she cared about.

Just as Han Lu had guessed, from the day Datong City was confirmed to be established, Wen Qing arranged for intelligence personnel to conduct a comprehensive investigation and statistics on the situation in Datong City.

If we're talking about grasping the pulse and dynamics of the city, even the successive city lords sent by the Han family to Datong City probably couldn't match the accuracy of the information Wen Qing possessed.