A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248

by Translator: Johnchen

  Han Li heard the Buddhist monk’s reply and laughed dryly, “How is that possible? I admire focused people the most.”

  Hearing Han Li say that, the small Buddhist monk laughed and leisurely said. “Daoist Priest Qing Wen and the others are currently waiting for Almsgiver Han at the second floor. They instructed me to immediately tell you to go up once I saw you. It seems like they are looking for Almsgiver for some matters.”

  (TL: ?? Almsgiver or benefactor is a traditional way buddhist monks address others.)

  Han Li became somewhat gloomy when he heard this.

  Really! Even though there were people looking for Han Li, this small Buddhist monk not only failed to immediately tell Han Li, he was still so slow and long-winded. In the future, it would be better to be further away from the same type of people as the small Buddhist monk. The further the better!

  Han Li silently cursed in his heart, but his face remained unchanged as he nodded his head. He walked towards nearby stairs in the hall and headed up to the second floor.

  Upon entering the second floor, Han Li saw the two brothers Hei Mu and Hei Jin talking at the stairway entrance. Once they saw Han Li coming up, they quickly stopped their conversation and welcomed Han Li.

  “Brother Han, Daoist Priest Qing Wen is currently waiting for you in the house. Follow both of us brothers to go over there!” Han Li’s expression was calm, and he did not utter a single word. He followed the two brothers around seven to eight turns along the corridor and entered a house.

  There were many people in the house. Apart from the Buddhist monk, everyone else was here. There were even two strangers that Han Li did not recognise.

  One of them was a 16 to 17 year-old youth, and the other was a 21 to 22 year-old fatty with fair skin. It seemed that these two were the rascals that even caused a headache for Daoist Priest Qing Wen.

  “Brother Han is here! Quickly sit!” Daoist Priest Qing Wen said to Han Li as he very politely pointed to a chair beside him.

  Han Li nodded and sat there.

  “These two people are Yunmen Ravine’s Wu Jiuzhi and Shitou Valley’s Huang Xiaotian,” Qing Wen pointed to the youth and fatty separately and introduced them to Han Li.

  (TL: ?? (Jiuzhi) means nine fingers. ?? (Xiaotian) means filial piety, sky/heaven)

  Chapter 133: Thieving Skills

  “Aiya! I am Wu Jiuzhi. As soon as I saw Brother, I felt particularly familiar. Could it be we were brought together by the karma between our previous incarnations? Come! Let us later drink some wine and become sworn brothers!”

  As soon as Daoist Priest Qing Wen had finished speaking, this happily smiling chap suddenly scurried over and threw himself in front of Han Li. He extended a hand to firmly grasp Han Li’s arm and then said these words with a face of deep emotion.

  Han Li was initially startled, but soon after he softly smiled.

  “It’s not that we can’t be brothers, but can you not touch my body so casually with your hand? My tastes are quite ordinary; I don't have even the slightest interests in beautiful, young men!”

  Han Li mockingly said with a slight smile. An arm was suddenly raised into the air and turned over by Han Li; it was grabbed by the wrist as quick as lightning. This wrist had already been secretly extended halfway into Han Li’s front jacket.

  “Cough, cough! This is truly strange. How did my hand run off into Brother’s bosom? It was definitely impatient to greet Brother Han once I saw him!” The youth separated from Han Li on the spot. First he blushed with a surprised complexion, but after a few dry coughs and a few murmurs, he slowly withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened.

  Han Li did not have any intention of holding back the youth’s wrist. When the youth used force, Han Li had voluntarily let go.

  At this time, Han Li had actually grew quite an interest toward this Wu Jiuzhi. He was obviously a cultivator but he uses the thieving skills of a person from Jiang Hu. This pickpocketing of his was truly quite interesting.

  However, his technique was quite excellently practiced. Were it not Han Li but another cultivator, they would perhaps be truly unaware of his dirty trick. Surely quite a few people in this room had already suffered from his antics!

  Just as Han Li thought this, he heard Hu Pinggu’s schadenfreude-laced voice.

  “Boy Wu, have you met your match? Brother Han actually caught you at the scene. Are you going to continue boasting that your thieving skills are top notch with these petty thefts of yours?”

  “What about it? This young master is satisfied. You want me to steal from you one more time? What haven’t I stolen? You don’t have anything of the slightest value from head to toe. What have you come to Great South Meeting for?” Wu Jiuzhi harshly said, curling his lip.

  “What did you say, brat!? Did I not yet settle your debt the last time you stole from me?” Hu Pinggu suddenly jumped from her chair with an ashen complexion.

  In addition, her fully bearded husband, though he did not say anything, had his hand on the broadsword behind his back with eyes glaring at the youth. Han Li would later find out this Xiong Dali was actually a mute and therefore relied on his wife for all his affairs.

  “Enough! We are all cultivators and should remain amiable. You two back down. Do not argue again.” When Daoist Priest Qing Wen saw this, he wrinkled his brow. However, after the words of conciliations were said, he solemnly said toward Jiuzhi, “Brother Wu, I know your thefts are only for fun, but you must return the objects to their owner every time. You mustn’t have malicious intention. However, if you continue to do this, you will provoke disaster sooner or later. Not all of your victims will be easy to deal with. If you were to offend somebody from a cultivator clan, it wouldn’t be that we wouldn’t want to help but rathe that we simply couldn’t. That is why you shouldn’t pull these kinds of pranks anymore!”

  When the youngster heard Daoist Priest Qing Wen’s heartfelt words, he could not help but feel embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and sincerely mentioned, “Actually on the journey to the Great South Valley, I accidentally obtained these thieving skills. But because I found it amusing, I could not help but practice it subconsciously on everyone. However, since this Brother Han could defeat this little brother, others at the great assembly should be much more difficult to deal with. That’s why everyone should feel relieved since this little brother will not play with his life and will not use his stealing skills at the great assembly.”

  When the Daoist priest heard the youngster’s words, his face showed an overjoyed expression.

  “Brother Wu’s talent is quite outstanding. At this age, he’s already trained to the great circle of eighth layer. He is the true genius among us cultivators. It’s better that he behaves himself this way.”

  “This Little Brother will not let down Daoist Priest Qing Wen’s expectations. I request that everyone will better take care of me in the future!” Wu Jiuzhi gave a deep salute to everyone individually. After doing so, the hatred towards him was resolved.

  Although Hu Pinggu face still had a somewhat angry expression, her complexion was much better than before. It seemed she had reluctantly accepted his goodwill.

  Daoist Priest Qing Wen turned his head over and said to Han Li with a smile, “I didn’t think that Brother Han who had just joined us would immediately perform such a great service. This humble Daoist wishes to thank you!”

  Han Li faintly smiled and declined with a soft voice, “ What does this have to do with me? This matter was completely handled by Daoist Priest!”

  The Daoist priest shook his head with a smile and spoke no further. However, at this moment, the drone of an indistinct voice sounded out.

  “Daoist Priest, for what did you call us all over? Why doesn’t this Buddhist monk join in?”

  It turned out to be the fair skinned fatty had uttered these words.

  However, this man was actually qualified to speak to Qing Wen in this manner.

  Han Li have been long aware that among them, the fatty had the grea
test magic power, deeper than that of Qing Wen. That was why no one dare to mock the fatty’s coarse words. Even that Wu Jiuzhi had a deadpan appearance and didn’t show the slightest bit of difference.

  ‘It seems this world of cultivators is just about the same as the secular Jiang Hu. Only those possessing strength will be respected!’ Han Li thought as he saw this jeer.

  “Hehe! Brother Huang is quite an impatient person! Very well, this humble Daoist will reveal the reason why he has called all of you here.” Qing Wen waved his horsetail whisk and said without the slightest trace of anger.

  “The Great South Meeting has already passed half of its duration. It will be concluded in ten days. Shouldn’t everyone conclude their business? If you want to setup a vendor’s stall, then it would be best if we do it together. That is why I sought to discuss this with everyone. As for Master Ku Sang, he already finished exchanging the items he brought. Therefore he needn’t again participate in this discussion.”

  ‘So it was like that. I should indeed exchange some items for a few spirit stones and buy a few other items!’ The people in the room started to whisper.

  After a lively discussion, everyone except Han Li expressed interest in setting up a street vendor’s stall the next day.

  “Brother Han does not wish to participate?” Wu Jiuzhi asked, somewhat amazed.

  The others also looked toward Han Li with doubt.

  “I initially only brought a few items with me. Last night, I happened to meet a few appropriate customers and already finished exchanging everything! That is why I don’t plan to participate with you.” With a calm look, Han Li indifferently explained.

  “So it’s like that! You really don’t need to be bothered with us! Brother Han is truly fortunate to have finished exchanging his items after just arriving.” Hu Pinggu mentioned somewhat enviously.

  The others also shot Han Li an envious “You are truly lucky” look.

  After Han Li heard this, he smiled and spoke no further.

  Daoist Priest Qing Wen saw that business discussions were finished. He happily stood and said, “We should all rest well tonight and wake up spirited tomorrow. I hope you will all earn good profits!”

  Once everyone heard this, they also stood and smiled, preparing to leave.

  At this time, Daoist Priest Qing Wen seemed to have remembered something. His expression suddenly turned serious, and he said to everyone, “By the way, after the Great South Meeting finishes, everyone shouldn’t depart by themselves! I heard that after the past few Great South Meetings ended, a few rogue cultivators such as ourselves disappeared without a trace. It would be better to be a bit more careful! It can be assumed that who is involved would not miss the opportunity to attend the Great Tian Wutai Immortal Ascension Assembly! Everyone should stay together to enhance their safety!”

  After everyone heard the Daoist priest say rogue cultivators had gone missing, the Hei Brothers and Hu Pinggu’ faces paled. Rogue cultivators Hong Lian and Wu Jiuzhi were bewildered. Fatty Huang Xiaotian coldly snorted with a gloomy expression.

  “Right. Us brothers approve of Daoist Priest Qing Wen’s words. It would be better to stay together as a group.”

  “As a married couple, we do not disagree!”

  Both the Hei Brothers and Hu Pinggu with her husband agreed. It seemed they were greatly fearful toward this matter.

  Chapter 134: Great Immortal Ascension Assembly

  “Now is not the time to talk about some Immortal Ascension Assembly. The topic we should be discussing right now is regarding the issue of our fellow cultivators going missing.” Hu Pinggu said somewhat resentfully towards the youth.

  “It’s not a problem. Give Brother Wu a proper explanation. Maybe there are others who are unclear of the details about the Immortal Ascension Assembly.” Daoist Priest Qing Wen said with a smile, but Han Li felt that he was intentionally looking at Han Li.

  Han LI’s heart trembled with fear, could it be that Daoist Priest Qing Wen saw through something? Han Li already tried his best to hide characteristics of a new Immortal cultivator and even go as far as to avoid touching certain people. But nowadays, it seemed that it was still unable to be conceal from these certain people’s eyes. This Daoist Priest Qing Wen’s eyes were definitely really fierce.

  “Since Daoist Priest Qing Wen said it like that, then I better explain it properly to Brother Wu!” Seeing this, Hei Mu’s spirits were lifted, and he looked like he had a lot to say.

  So everyone returned to their original seats once again, except for Fatty Huang Xiaotian.

  “I already know about the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly. I will return to rest first, you guys go ahead.”

  Fatty said with a cold expression. He did not wait for anyone else to speak and left the house, leaving behind a house full of people looking at each other in dismay.

  “Everyone, don’t take offense. Brother Huang’s cultivation art is a bit weird, and he is relatively addicted to sleep. It is not that he intentionally treats people coldy!” Qing Wen, with irreproachable manners, hurriedly exonerated Huang Xiaotian on his behalf.

  The majority of the people in the room who heard this all laughed bitterly. Take offense? Who dared to take offense? That person was a powerful man who had more magic power than the Daoist priest!

  The atmosphere in the room became somewhat awkward.

  “Brother Hei Mu, please continue!” Wu Jiuzhi broke the atmosphere as he urged on.

  Hei Mu heard it and laughed, then continued to talk about it.

  “When talking about Great Immortal Ascension Assembly, one must mention the Foundation Establishment Pill, the medicine pill that makes all the Qi Condensation stage cultivators go mad.…..”

  In order for a Qi Condensation cultivator were to enter Foundation Establishment and become a part of the true cultivating world, aside from cultivating their foundation cultivation techniques to the seventh layer, they still needed to consume the spirit medicine, “Foundation Establishment Pill”, which only major sects could manufacture. Only then would there be hope of breaking through the bottleneck of that realm and succeed into Foundation Establishment.

  This contributed to Foundation Establishment Pill’s famous name “Immortal Ascension Pill”, making those Immortal Cultivators go mad.

  Even in the Immortal cultivator major factions, the Foundation Establishment Pill was in critically short shortage.

  Because the Foundation Establishment Pill’s raw materials were extremely hard to find, even if all the cultivators’ sects throughout the entire state of Yue collaborated and acted together to provide materials and great effort every ten years, they could only hope to make a few new cauldron medicine pills, about one thousand measly pieces.

  But even if all these medicine pills were to be divided equally among every faction, there would be no way to satisfy their own needs. As a result, the Foundation Establishment Pill never appeared outside the world of cultivators.

  However, in the cultivating world of the entire state of Yue, there were still a lot of existing cultivators who practiced their foundation cultivation techniques until the seventh layer. These people were in urgent need of Foundation Establishment Pills to attempt to break through the bottleneck.

  Thus, on one hand, because of the shortage of Foundation Establishment Pills, the big sects had monopolized the medicine pill. On the other hand, there was an increasing number of rogue Immortal cultivators that were in need of Foundation Establishment Pills but could not find a single piece in the outside world. There were already conflicting views from both sides very early on. So much so that at one time, there was deep animosity from short-tempered minor Immortal cultivators towards these sects.

  Those from the major Immortal cultivator factions naturally became aware of the poor outlook of the situation, but they couldn’t do anything about it for the time being. After all, they didn’t have enough Foundation Establishment Pill for themselves, so how could they take out some and give them to outsiders!

/>   But in this whole world, there were no difficult problems that couldn’t be solved. Eventually in this crisis, there was an unknown genius from a sect who solved it.

  Unexpectedly, he thought an idea. Every time there were freshly manufactured Foundation Establishment Pills, major sects would pick out outstanding rogue cultivators from the outside world, allow them to join the major sects, and give them the Foundation Establishment Pill to consume.

  This way, the sects could stem the outflow of Foundation Establishment Pill, thereby preventing manure water from flowing to other fields. This also eliminated the dissatisfaction of minor Immortal cultivators. After all, to be able to join one of the major Immoral cultivator factions, how could these cultivators not be content? The factions could even pick out disciples who have outstanding aptitudes. It truly was a good situation that could satisfy everyone.

  (TL: ??????? lit: don’t let one’s own fertile water flow into others’ field , keep the valuables within the family )

  But the method of selection must be fair and strict to prevent any disputes caused by gossips. If not, there would be an opposite effect.

  Hence, the sects would choose their elites and use arena-style combat to let newcomers strive for the chance to enter their sects.

  Each of the Seven Great Sects would take ten disciples and ten pieces of Foundation Establishment Pills to award the final victors.

  Naturally, they would set an age limit. Anyone above forty years old would not be allowed to enter. Even though these people may have good aptitudes, their future prospects in cultivation would not be good.

  This was how the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly was born!

  The majority of the people who were able to obtain victory in the arena were those with profound magic power as well as talented individuals with aptitudes surpassing others, making those Immortal cultivator sects very pleased to obtain these excellent quality disciples.

  All the grievances of the other Immortal cultivators disappeared after the establishment of this Great Assembly. All their attention was focused on the once-in-a-decade opportunity to make a big break.