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In Han Lu's opinion, the development of Datong City deserves a passing grade.

However, in the eyes of Wen Qing, who informed the Southern Dynasty and clearly understood how difficult it was to govern local issues, the development of Datong City over the past thirty years had exceeded her expectations and could definitely be rated as a high score of nine out of ten.

First, data was presented to showcase the outstanding achievements of Datong City over the years, and then these achievements were compared with those of cities of similar size in the Southern Dynasties.

After affirming that the residents of Datong City lived and worked in peace and contentment, Wen Qing then "stood on tiptoe" and "looked upwards," evaluating the gaps between the social atmosphere and other aspects of Datong City and her ideal "Datong society."

As for how to improve and progress, Wen Qing only mentioned it briefly and did not elaborate fully.

She couldn't answer these questions fully or guarantee the correctness of her answers, so she simply admitted her ignorance and demonstrated her abilities and wisdom in other areas.

Finally, Wen Qing analyzed the factors that enabled Datong City to succeed, attributing 30% of the success to herself, 50% to Han Lu's strong support, and the last 20% to the Han family's meticulous and patient management.

Hearing Wen Qing draw such a conclusion and seeing the statistics showing that the Han family had already profited from it, Han Lu was in a great mood.

Just as he was about to say a few more words to Wen Qing, the maid who had gone out of the palace to look for someone happened to bring the young man that Wen Qing valued to the study.

He was a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining, looking about seventeen or eighteen years old. Upon entering the room, he respectfully bowed and greeted Wen Qing, "Grandma Emperor, you wanted to see me?"

"Luo'er, come here, this is Venerable Zhenfeng, Senior Zhenfeng." Although Wen Qing was familiar with Han Lu, and Han Lu tacitly allowed her to call her by her given name, when introducing a junior to Han Lu, Wen Qing still respectfully addressed Han Lu as Venerable Zhenfeng.

Having heard Han Lu's Taoist name several times from his imperial grandmother, the young man named Wen Luo naturally knew Han Lu's identity.

He hurriedly bowed respectfully, saying "Greetings, senior," afraid of being disrespectful and leaving the slightest bad impression on Han Lu.

"At only twenty-one years old, you've already reached the fourth level of Qi Refining. In terms of talent, you're no less than some of the young people cultivating in the Zhengyi Sect," Han Lu asked casually. "Why have you given up on cultivation and instead want to inherit the emperor's throne and spend your whole life busy in the mortal world?"

Although Wen Luo is young, she had already thought about this issue.

He pondered for a moment, then composed himself and replied, "In response to Senior Zhenfeng, I was actually influenced by you, which is why I ultimately gave up cultivation."

Then, Wen Luo explained why she had such thoughts, "When I was young, I always dreamed of being able to cultivate to the Golden Core Realm and become a highly skilled cultivator."

"But after hearing the stories of many cultivators and starting my own cultivation under the guidance of my mentor, I realized that I probably didn't have such outstanding talent. Even with the resources of the royal family, being able to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage would be the luckiest of luck."

"Besides my pursuit of cultivation, another dream is to build the Southern Dynasty into a more prosperous one, so that my Wen family can continue for another thousand or ten thousand years, and the nation can prosper forever."

"Therefore, I took the initiative to ask my grandmother, the emperor, to teach me how to handle government affairs, hoping to have an opportunity to demonstrate my grand vision."

Upon hearing this, Wen Qing smiled and corrected, "It means to serve the people."

These words, coming from an emperor, sounded somewhat strange to Han Lu.

However, because Wen Qing and she are comrades, and considering what Queen Wen Qing has done over the years, Han Lu believes that Wen Qing's words "serve the people" are from the bottom of her heart.

However, Wen Luo clearly did not agree with this statement.

He paused for a moment before adding, "Yes, to serve the people."

There was no sincerity involved.

Although Wen Qing didn't like this undisguised approach, she didn't criticize her or impose her own ideas on Wen Luo.

She knew very well that it was simply because she was an outsider, not because Wen Luo's ideas were wrong.

She would be content as long as there was a diligent and benevolent ruler to govern the Southern Dynasty.

Warmth doesn't expect to bring about a top-down revolution in the world.

Even she didn't have such courage, let alone those younger generations who lack theoretical guidance, have no lofty ideals, but have vested interests.

Seeing this, Han Lu sighed inwardly and didn't say much.

Ignoring Wen Luo, Han Lu continued chatting with Wen Qing about mundane matters that concerned her, following her own pace.

Han Lu sat for less than half an hour before hurriedly leaving again.

[Author's Note] This is another hastily concluded chapter. Although the reason is regrettable, it is still complete. Thank you all for your company. See you again someday.

Chapter 1215 The Grand Finale

After a month of quiet cultivation at her sect, the special envoy from the Eastern World returned to the Central Plains as promised to meet with her.

Han Lu warmly received this special envoy from another world at her residence in Dongshan Courtyard.

The answer was similar to Han Lu's guess.

This special envoy from the Eastern Lands is also Huanfeng.

Its name is Feng Xing, a male phantom phoenix, and it is related by blood to Feng Ruyi, a phoenix that was previously sent to the Central Plains.

Feng Xing wanted to see Han Lu mainly for personal reasons.

Firstly, he wanted to find Feng Ruyi's tombstone to pay respects to the deceased phoenix, whom he had always called his elder sister.

Secondly, he wanted to find a place to settle down in the Central Plains, to see the Three Phoenix Forest, which Feng Ruyi called her "new home," and try to settle there and live with other phoenixes native to the wilderness.

Han Lu did not refuse these two small requests, and even told Feng Xing many stories about Feng Ruyi's life in Sanfeng Forest.

Of course, Han Lu learned these stories afterward.

The story itself isn't particularly interesting, but it has a unique flavor for Feng Xing, who came to the Central Plains in pursuit of Feng Ruyi.

Han Lu noticed the change in Feng Xing's expression and couldn't help but speculate that the relationship between Feng Xing and Feng Ruyi was probably not as simple as that between siblings.

"Could it be a relationship between an older woman and a younger man?" Han Lu boldly guessed.

While she could guess, Han Lu wouldn't be foolish enough to ask directly.

After comforting Fengxing with gentle words and stories about Feng Ruyi's life, Han Lu took the initiative to introduce Sanfenglin to Fengxing so that she could learn more about the place where she would live in the future.

Feng Xing listened very carefully and could tell that he genuinely wanted to live a good life with his people in the wilderness after completing the mission assigned to him in the Eastern Lands.

After discussing personal matters, Han Lu made no attempt to hide her intentions and asked Feng Xing about official business.

Although Feng Xing is an envoy, he is actually more like a megaphone, simply relaying messages.

He had no decision-making power whatsoever; his arrival was merely to establish a channel for communication and contact between the Eastern Lands and the Central Plains and other forces.

Therefore, even if Feng Xing wanted to answer some of Han Lu's questions, she couldn't give a coherent answer.

In the end, Han Lu only learned some things from Yuan Daoren through Feng Xing.

As expected, but still with a slight regret, Han Lu stopped "interrogating" Feng Xing and treated him as an ordinary member of the same clan, just like she treated Feng Ruyi.

"For the time being, you shall stay at Zhengyi Gate. After three days, you shall come with me to the wilderness."

Feng Xing nodded slightly and said, "I will follow the arrangements of Venerable Zhenfeng."

This answer also shows that Feng Xing has shed the distinction between his identity as a barbarian from the East and is simply addressing Han Lu according to his cultivation level.

Over the next three days, Han Lu made a special trip to Donghai to find another friend of hers.

After a short trip, Han Lu only stayed in the Central Plains for a month and a half before embarking on her journey home.

Although this experience made Han Lu feel somewhat uncomfortable, she felt as if she had left something behind.

"Perhaps I'll get used to it after a few trips," Han Lu comforted herself, leading the way and guiding the Phoenix Star, who had already transformed into a phoenix and was hurrying on its way in the distance.

Like Feng Xing and Feng Ruyi, they were accepted smoothly and became ordinary members among the many phantom phoenixes in the Three Phoenix Forest.

Over the next two hundred years, the cultivators of the Great Yu Dynasty and the Central Plains, whom the Eastern World called the Central Universe World, actively prepared for war while setting up a teleportation array capable of inter-world teleportation according to the "blueprint" brought by Feng Xing.

The successful opening of the teleportation array has made communication between the two worlds closer, and there are no longer many barriers.

The harmonious cultivation world of Zhongyu hopes to resolve the calamity, while the already tense cultivation world of Dongtu naturally does not want to suffer both natural disasters and man-made calamities from a war with Zhongyu.

When both sides share common interests, once the barriers are broken down, communication, exchange, and attempts at cooperation become a natural progression.

Ultimately, after another ten years of negotiations, the two worlds chose to adopt the method proposed by Feng You and Han Lu, attempting to repair the spatial rift caused by the world collision by relying on the "power of the Heavenly Dao" attracted when cultivators ascended to the Nascent Soul Realm, thereby preventing the leakage of spiritual energy and avoiding the deterioration of the cultivation environment in the human world.

When the plan was executed, each side sent five cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage, and the ten people at the point of collision ascended simultaneously.

As for which five Nascent Soul Realm cultivators each of the two worlds would send, that was left to be discussed and resolved internally by each world.

The cultivators in the Central Universe were unaware of the internal power struggles that took place in the Eastern World, but even though the relationships between the various parties in the Central Universe were relatively harmonious, they were still troubled by this matter for a while.

After several rounds of meetings involving both the Dragon and Phoenix clans, it was finally decided that the Great Yu Dynasty would send two people, the Central Plains would select two, and the Wilderness would send one. This was how the matter was properly arranged.

The calamity has been largely averted, but several forces in the Central Universe have not focused on preparing for war.

Regardless of how much spiritual energy is leaked, conflict is inevitable once the Central Universe World and the Eastern Earth World collide and merge in the future.

Only by accumulating more strength can we gain an advantageous position at that time.

Around the same time that the agreement was finalized, Han Lu, who had remained at the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm for a full 244 years, finally nurtured her Nascent Soul to a "plump and healthy" state, thus qualifying her to complete her spiritual root.

Such speed is already considered incredibly fast among Nascent Soul cultivators.

Back then, it took the True Taoist five hundred years to reach this point.

After advancing to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, Han Lu, who had already prepared four kinds of spiritual plants to replenish her spiritual roots, further increased her already fast cultivation speed to another level.

It was quite rhythmic; he completed one spiritual root in three years.

In just twelve years, Han Lu had perfected her five elements and advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, only one step away from the Divine Transformation stage.

To advance from the late Nascent Soul stage to the Divine Transformation stage, one needs a certain level of expertise and understanding in a particular principle of the universe. To reach the level where one is recognized by the will of Heaven and can be subject to heavenly tribulation, both hard work and talent are indispensable.

In addition, a bit of good fortune is needed to reach the Divine Transformation realm in the mortal world.

After advancing to the late Nascent Soul stage, Han Lu first spent ten years in the Three Phoenix Forest to consolidate her realm, and then embarked on a long journey with no end and no destination in sight.

She attempted to emulate Fang Han from the ancient cultivation era, transcending herself and comprehending the Great Dao through mortal travels.

Aside from Han Lu returning to Sanfenglin every fifty years to organize and share her experiences in the mortal world with her family, even Wen Erya didn't know where Han Lu had been in the mortal world all these years.

However, because of Han Lu's existence, many interesting stories have emerged in various places.

There was a low-level female cultivator who wielded a spirit sword and protected the area.

There was a female storyteller who never aged and had been telling stories in a teahouse for thirty or forty years.

There was a female teacher who ran a school and dedicated herself to educating and nurturing students.

……

After cultivating for over four hundred years, one day, while fishing in the East China Sea as a fisherman, Han Lu suddenly had an epiphany as he watched a red trout struggling in his net.

Immediately afterwards, countless dark clouds appeared over the clear sky.

Han Lu, who was usually seen as an excellent fisherman by the fishermen, suddenly regained the demeanor that a Nascent Soul cultivator should have, flying through the air and soaring into the clouds.

Feeling that she had accumulated profound knowledge and was also protected by divine will, Han Lu chose to undergo the tribulation as soon as she was able to.

Amidst the flashes of lightning and thunder, the fishermen, bewildered by what had happened, simply stared blankly at the sky.