“Okay, ask away!” Yu Zhitong promised immediately and demonstrated his understanding of the concept that ‘one must learn how to yield under pressure’.
Han Li did not immediately answer, but instead raised his head up to the ceiling in a contemplative matter as if he were thinking deeply about how he should phrase the question.
Seeing Han Li’s solemn face, Yu Zhitong couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear creep up within his heart as he himself wondered what kind of headache-inducing question Han Li would ask him.
“I want to know if there are any negative side effects from devouring Doctor Mo and a portion of your own soul because I currently feel a pain in my head almost as if it ‘s being filled to the point of exploding with information that I am unable to recognize,” said Han Li, finally mentioning the one worry he had since he had woken up.
After listening this question and realizing that Han Li was worried about such a small problem, Yu Zhitong immediately felt unease in his heart dissipate, and even his voice lightened up.
“Hehe! So you were worried about this. Well, little brother, you worry too much. In fact, you don’t need to put this matter at heart. If you really want to know, the information you feel stuffed into your brain will slowly disappear within a year or two, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“So what you are saying is that the things I swallowed are absolutely useless and that I am completely unable to hold onto them? I don’t trust you on this,” Han Li said coldly as he glared at the Yu Zhitong with traces of suspicion evident on his face.
“Saying that you can’t even hold onto a bit of it is not actually true, but what you can hold onto is indeed only a small portion of it,” Yu Zhitong quickly added onto his explanation out of fear that Han Li would misunderstand something.
“For example, you will be unable to touch the included memories, experiences, and emotions, and even if you did absorb them, there is a high chance that you will instantly become mentally crippled , your personality will develop split versions of itself, your consciousness will collapse, and your brain will ultimately burst, leading to your death.
“You have to understand that the soul is the most precious thing a person can possess, how can it be so easily combined with other things? It is true that you can absorb someone else’s soul and have it temporarily rest in your subconscious, but to make it your own is simply wishful thinking. Otherwise, if a simple body possession can allow you to absorb all of one’s memories, experiences, Qi techniques, then wouldn’t that cause the whole world to fall into chaos? If things were that simple, then who would honestly practice cultivation along with going out and exploring the different realms of this world when they could obtain all this through simply possessing someone else’s body.
”Once a soul has been consumed, the only thing that can be used is a little bit of the energy the devoured soul has left which could then be used to bolster one’s own reservoir of energy for a short amount of time. It’s due to the fact that this types of energy escapes the fastest, staying within the body for only a few days before it dissipated along with the devoured soul. Once it’s gone, you will be unable to use it.”
As Han Li continued to listen to Yu Zhitong’s explanation, he slowly put down the last strand of doubt he carried within his heart because he could tell from Yu Zhitong’s tone that he was not lying. After all, it became increasingly obvious that Yu Zhitong was seeking out a similar cooperation with Han Li similar to the one that he had with Mo Juren. He knew that Han Li was testing him, so he did not dare to lie.
When Yu Zhitong finished the last sentence of his explanation, he saw Han Li nod his head and couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief as he knew that Han Li believed him. At the same time that Yu Zhitong brighten up a bit, he asked hurriedly: “Little Brother Han, it seems like you are satisfied with the answer I provided, so don’t you think that now would be a good time to discuss our terms of cooperation?”
“Of course, being able to work with a cultivator is my utmost pleasure!” Han Li said in a sincere tone, flashing a big smile that revealed his white teeth that gleamed in the candlelight.
“Really?” Yu Zhitong asked excitedly in disbelief as he did not even have to try to persuade Han Li, who agreed all by himself.
“Of course” Han Li answered crisply.
Then he pulled something out of his clothes and said to Yu Zhitong in a familiar tone “Now that we are partners, you wouldn’t mind doing a small test for me before we discuss any further, right?”
“Test?” Yu Zhitong paused for a moment, before looking at the familiar looking cylindrical object in Han Li’s hand while a bad feeling crept back into his heart.
“That correct. More specifically, a poison test”
Han Li uttered these words as he lifted up the cylinder-shaped object before moving his thumb a little, which then caused some black liquid carrying a rancid smell to shoot out straight towards its target.
“Ah!”
Yu Zhitong emitted a sharp and painful scream as the black liquid covered the whole green globe of light. The green globe dimmed significantly, showing that the injury he had received was not light.
“You, you dare attack me, to poison me…” Yu Zhitong screamed hoarsely, still in disbelief as he was unable to accept the event that just transpired.
Han Li did not pay attention to Yu Zhitong’s angry shouts and instead reached for the dagger located on his belt just above his abdomen. He then swiftly unsheathed it with a “shua,” revealing a shiny blade.
The dagger was one of those rarely seen “jade daggers,” which had blades that were incomparably flexible. The dagger in question was as wide as a knuckle and about half a meter long.
Han Li only obtained this double-edged dagger by paying larges amounts of money in order to get the blacksmith to custom-make it according to Han Li’s specifications. Since Han Li did not specialize in weapons, he did not have an opportunity to bring out this dagger during the struggle with Doctor Mo, but it seemed like the time has come for him to use it.
Previously, Han Li had kept this weapon hidden on his body and almost didn’t have an opportunity to use it. His face darkened and his original smile disappeared by half the thought of almost not being able to use the dagger that he paid a large amount of money to obtain.
He looked at the trembling ball of light with apathy and, without saying word, took a flying step forward as he savagely hacked at the green globe as if he were chopping a block of wood.
Chapter 61: Destroying the Spirit
Yu Zhitong’s soul was stuck in the corner of the room, and just like a fly trapped in a sealed house, it could only randomly smash against the walls. Every time it thought it could escape, the dark liquid would force it back to its corner, causing it to be constantly weakened.
Even though his soul grew weaker because of Han Li’s repeated attempts at trying to cut him with his dagger, what really made him despair was the mysterious black liquid that was corroding his soul.
Since the moment the black liquid touched his soul, Yu Zhitong had felt his life essence trickle away, feeble and powerless. It also tore away at the little magic power he had left, which was even deadlier. This prevented Yu Zhitong from performing magic, causing his casted magic techniques to fail repeatedly. It was as if he were completely restricted.
“Why are you trying to kill me? Why…?”
Faced with Han Li’s ruthless attacks, the ball of light that was Yu Zhitong released a howl filled with anguish, but Han Li did not care about Yu Zhitong’s unwillingness to die.
Not long after, Yu Zhitong became quieter as he gradually weakened until he was finally unable to emit a sound or show a hint of movement.
Seeing Yu Zhitong’s stillness, Han Li did not immediately stop his attack. Instead, he continued to observe the ball of light, which had dimmed until it resembled the weak flame of a candle.
After a while, Han Li gave a cold answer:
“I would never believe you, a person so
despicable that you would easily and willingly swear a poisonous oath that condemned your family and ancestors to a gruesome death under Heaven’s wrath. If I did work with you, then I would following Doctor Mo to his death.”
With a chilling glare, he gave Yu Zhitong’s flickering soul one last glance before turning around, and without hesitation, he swiftly pushed open the heavy door.
With the door thrown open, a few sharp rays of sunlight shot inside and landed on the globe of light. Upon contact with the the dying soul, the sunlight burned Yu Zhitong’s last remaining soul force, causing it to turn into a curl of smoke that promptly disappeared into the air with a “Pu!”
With this, the last of trace of Yu Zhitong was cleanly wiped away from this world by Han Li.
To say that Han Li knew that Yu Zhitong feared the light was not exactly true. He first thought of this idea when he recalled how Mo Juren, upon entering the room, quickly blew out several candles. If he did not remember this event then he would still be hacking at the globe of light to no avail, causing an immeasurable worry to arise in his heart.
Although Han Li had eliminated Yu Zhitong’s life essence with ease, he had prepared an extra tube of Seven Poison Water in advance in case his plan didn’t work.
Compared to the Five Poison Water, which Mo Juren took away from him, this second tube contained extra ingredients that greatly increased its potency. One of the added materials was the Flowered Mushroom which was extremely deadly to normal mortals and even more effective against immortal cultivators. The effect of its potency could be seen in how Yu Zhitong was unable to use magic, allowing his soul to be easily destroyed.
This was the reason why Han Li splashed some Seven Poison Water on Yu Zhitong’s soul. From his research of a variety of legends, there was a visible trend that ghosts, monsters, demons, and the like are afraid of chicken blood, black dog blood, and other similar bodily fluids, so in this case, Han Li treated Yu Zhitong as a ghost.
By guessing randomly and through pure coincidence did Han Li manage to kill Yu Zhitong, if Yu Zhitong knew that his death was based on speculation, he would have died again from vomiting.
Han Li was not clear about all the effects of his Seven Water Poison but he was certain that when he opened the door, Yu Zhitong would die without fail, and it was only with this fact reassuring him that he acted so mercilessly and ruthlessly.
Now he was finally free and did not have to live a life of constant worry about a knife placed at his throat nor did he have to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice.
Han Li calmly strode back to the center of the stone room where he stayed for a moment before he suddenly jumped up a good three meters and opened his mouth to shout out his heart’s joys. After he finished releasing his pent up emotions, he finally returned back to the childish nature of a 16 year-old.
“I’m finally free!”
“I’m finally free!”
“I’m..” Han Li’s voice was suddenly cut short almost as if a knife had swiftly descended on him when he saw the giant man standing in the doorway to the stone room. It was the giant man who Mo Juren referred to as “Iron Slave”.
Han Li’s face immediately became ugly and unsightly as he stared at the giant figure in front of him. He suddenly felt his shoulders ache as he realized that he had committed a huge mistake, he had forgotten about the giant man’s existence, and therefore forgot to ask Yu Zhitong about the Mo Juren’s and the giant man’s relationship along with his weakness.
The only consolation Han Li had was the fact that the giant man did not show any interest in the stone room and continued to wander around the premise of the door, still following Mo Juren’s final command without throwing a single glance into the open room.
Han Li couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrow as he thought that the Iron Slave was the hardest type of person to deal with since it did not listen to reason or persuasion and would only follow orders given by its master. The other problem was that if Han Li couldn’t defeat him in battle and the only thing that stood a chance of winning was the poison he concocted. However the cylinder that once held the poison now lay empty on the floor.
This thought caused Han Li to pace back and forth in the stone room, scrambling to think of a plan to deal with the Iron Slave, but after a lot of thinking, his mind was in a mess and he still did not have a plan.
Inadvertently, Han Li’s gaze fell upon Mo Juren’s dead body.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
“Maybe I can find something on his body that can be used to restrain the Iron Slave,” Han Li immediately thought.
He quickly glanced outside and saw that the Iron Slave was still pacing back and forth with no signs of tiredness or an intent to go near the stone room.
Seeing this, Han Li calmed down a bit as he quickly walked up to Mo Juren’s body and shamelessly stretched out both of Doctor Mo’s arms to begin carefully examining every inch of his dead corpse.
Chapter 62: Deal
Han Li removed all kinds of weird oddities one by one from Mo Juren’s body. Some were items that he recognized while others were foreign to him. He sorted these objects in two piles that he placed next to him.
While sorting out all the objects, Han Li had a fair share of surprises, causing him to exclaim a few times. The amount of objects Mo Juren carried on his self was not small, and some were even dangerous and life threatening objects.
A tube of some mysterious poison
A bag of sand dipped in lethal snake venom.
Ten or so incredibly sharp boomerangs.
As the number of items on the floor increased, the more panicked and unsettled Han Li became. He realized how lucky he had been when battling against Mo Juren. If the other had not wanted to capture him alive, Han Li would have most likely died.
After wiping away the cold sweat from his face, Han Li laughed mockingly to himself: “Me, a living man, is afraid of a dead man’s possessions”.
After removing all the items from Mo Juren’s body he started to carefully sift through all the suspicious looking items.
“This small bottle is so foul-smelling, but it must be some kind of antidote, so it should be okay.”
“This weird looking weapon looks oddly similar to a wheel, and even though I don’t know what it’s used for, it shouldn’t be related to the Iron Slave, so I’ll first put it to the side.”
“As for this spice bag…”
Han Li continued to fiddle and inspect each item while talking aloud to himself, making it seem as if he was in high spirits when suddenly he found himself holding a small bag.
WIthin his hands was a normal looking spice bag that, under normal circumstances, would not catch the eyes of others. However, Han Li knew that since it was on Mo Juren’s body, it would not be anything but simple.
Han Li weighed the small spice bag in his hands in hopes of gaining insight on its contents but he only noticed that the bag was exceedingly light and could not possibly contain anything heavy. After weighing it for a second time, he felt that that there might be a paper-like object, or something similar, hidden within the small bag.
Han Li prepared himself mentally before opening the bag, and just as he expected, he saw several sheets of paper tucked inside.
He glanced at the paper and noticed that it was written in Mo Juren’s handwriting, which caused a heavy feeling to weigh down his heart. After briefly skimming the paper, he did a double take as he re-read the note and realized that it was Mo Juren’s personal will.
Han Li felt bewildered, and due to his curiosity, he carefully read the contents on the few pieces of paper.
After he finished reading, Han Li lifted his head upward and stared for a long time before releasing a heavy sigh. Furrowing his brows, he felt an extremely heavy weight descend over his heart.
With his hands clasped together on the back of his head, he looked like an old man as he paced aimlessly. He would first walk two steps then stop and ponder upon something. After realizing he couldn’t fully g
rasp his thought, he would continue to pace a few steps before stopping once again to think.
Just like this, Han Li continued to pace around, mimicking a donkey circling around Mo Juren’s body. His face became unsettled; one moment it was bright red, and the next it would turn white, showing the raging emotions he felt within himself, unable to be pacified.
If Li Feiyu saw Han Li’s unstable mindset, he would probably mock him with loud ridicule.
The reason for Han Li’s change was Mo Juren’s will, which left behind some extremely terrible news that left him with one of two difficult choices. Within the antidote for Insect Corpse Pill that Mo Juren had previously given him was a rare type of poison that could only be removed by his family’s Precious Warm Yang Jade. Apart from this treasure, even legendary antidotes could not save him.
Written on the few sheets of paper, Mu Juren’s will clearly stated that the poison he used on Han Li was for the worse case scenario that Mo Juren would die from failing to possess Han Li. So, in preparation of any unsettled business he might have after his death, he decided to include one final, simple exchange with Han Li in his will, allowing Han Li and the deceased doctor to benefit greatly. Mo Juren would be able to take care of any unsettled business while Han Li would be able to gain a large amount of wealth and an indescribable amount of benefits.
As for whether Yu Zhitong would be the last one alive, Mo Juren did not give it a second thought. He only briefly mentioned him in his will, saying that Yu Zhitong was weak by nature and afraid of death, and although he was a bit smart, that was the extent of his current capabilities. Mo Juren also mentioned that even though Yu Zhitong was an immortal cultivator, he would never become anything great, and for this reason he was quickly disregarded as being the last person alive.
Once Han Li saw this, he laughed bitterly in his heart at how Mo Juren did not predict that in the end, he would fall into the trap of the innocent looking Yu Zhitong. If Han Li had not hid his real Eternal Spring Arts cultivation level, he would most likely have ended up like Mo Juren, allowing Yu Zhitong to receive all the benefits. Of course, Mo Juren had also planned to achieve his fantasies of becoming an immortal cultivator by taking over Han Li’s body. It seemed like no matter what kind of cultivator one became, one must not underestimate others.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 31