The old man saw that Han Li remained speechless after he finished speaking. He couldn’t help but feel anxious, so he flusteredly said, “I actually have an idea. Perhaps Junior Martial Disciple has heard these words before, but this idea will absolutely ensure that everyone survives safely through the trip!”
The old man put up a profoundly mysterious expression and squeezed the wrinkles on his forehead for a moment; Han Li found his appearance to be quite humorous.
The yellow-haired youngster next to him seemed to greatly admire this old schemer. Although he didn’t say anything, he exposed an expectant expression towards the old man.
Since he absolutely wasn’t going to join their alliance, Han Li was unwilling to be tangled any further and bluntly rejected, “I am sorry. My humble self is not accustomed to working with others. I also do not intend to do so this time as well. If Senior Martial Brother wishes to join hands with others, then it would best to look for other Junior Martial Brothers!”
Han Li spoke very straightforwardly and incisively.
Han Li knew that only by clearly showing that he wasn’t an inexperienced novice would he able to make the other party give up and not continue to tangle with him. Otherwise, if this Senior Martial Brother Xiang felt there was the slightest chance to convince his fellow sect member, he would mostly likely continue to pester him. Han Li did not want to be bothered by this person.
When Old Man Xiang heard this, he realized he sought the wrong target. Although the person before him seemed quite young, his words were practiced and careful. He was clearly an experienced person who had passed through trials and hardships. The old man spoke no more rubbish and took his leave with a slightly angry appearance.
Han Li saw them head in the direction of another disciple who was currently meditating on top of a rock.
Han Li faintly smiled and turned his body back, continuing to observe the several noteworthy fellow sect members. However, this time he saw “Junior Martial Sister Chen” and a woman of a common appearance standing next to her. There were a few talented and handsome men faintly gathering nearby.
The corner of Han Li’s mouth moved several times. Although he did not know why, he felt unfavorably towards those few men. He finally decided that what was out of sight was out of mind, and looked for an uninhabited area to close his eyes and rest..
Like that, the next morning had arrived. All of the disciples arrived at the mountain peak once more and stood in orderly rows, waiting for the arrival of the other Immortal sects.
After waiting for several hours, they had yet to see a single person, causing Han Li to inwardly rain endless curses. He almost suspected that the other sects were doing this deliberately as to consume the physical strength of everyone from Yellow Maple Valley.
However, what caused Han Li to feel even more distraught was that, as chance had it, “Junior Martial Sister Chen” had been assigned to stand to his right. With the familiar scent of her body occasionally entering his nostrils, his imagination was somewhat let loose as if he was returning to that extremely alluring night.
In order to cover up the oddities from his face, with no better option left, Han Li lowered his head and feigned the appearance of great unease. However, his heart was filled with great and unending complaints. She was a pretty woman, but could her beauty go as far as for him to lose his self control?
However, this Martial Ancestor Li whom Han Li greatly admired stood at the very front. He stood with his face to the sky and was able to stand in such a manner for an unexpectedly long amount of time. It was unknown whether or not he went on a mental journey or if he was pondering about something!
Suddenly, Han Li felt a disturbance in his surroundings. It seemed that something happened!
He could not help but raise his head.
His fellow sect members all looked up toward the sky without exception and looked toward the horizon. Han Li also followed their gazes.
He saw that there were several star-like twinkling streaks of light in the deep blue sky, gradually growing larger. A short moment later, a series of black dots also appeared.
Underneath the black dots, the silver lights flashed; it seemed the black dots were riding the streaks of starlight across the sky.
Seeing this marvel, everyone became even more restless.
“Quiet! What kind of children are you? This is the Clear Void Sect’s flying magic tool, the Rainbow Snowsilk. Do not make a fuss and lose face for our Yellow Maple Valley.” A short and stout middle-aged steward turned his head to give several reprimanding words with a dark complexion.
Those words were quite effective. The restlessness was immediately settled, and after that, there were only occasional whispers.
At this moment, the black dots already became clear. Each of them was a cultivator wearing gray Daoist robes. The majority of them were true Daoist Priests, each holding a horsetail whisk with their hair tied up into a bun. However, those who did not wear Daoist robes appeared to be mortals, as if they were sheltered children who had yet to leave home.
Han Li and the others clearly saw that the stars beneath their feet were actually a stiff white rainbow bridge covered with dazzling specks of silver white light. It was unknown how the specks of light were embedded within the object.
As Han Li carefully watched the scene, the white rainbow bridge carrying the Clear Void Sect’s members descended onto the mountain and landed across from the members of Yellow Maple Valley.
Their leader, a middle-aged Daoist Priest, lightly moved his hand, and the white light flashed. The Rainbow Snowsilk’s rainbow bridges disappeared, and in his hand appeared a brocade object.
“I didn’t think that Benefactor Li would be leading this time. This humble Daoist Fu Yunzi greets you!” This Daoist Priest walked several steps to the front of Martial Ancestor Li and spoke with radiant happiness. From his tone, it seemed they were acquaintances.
“Humph! If this old facetious Daoist could come, then why couldn’t I come?” Martial Ancestor Li bluntly said with both hands behind his back.
“Hehe, within each sect, we’ve entered Core Formation the latest. If we didn’t do these errands, who would?” The Daoist Priest didn’t mind in the least, and he swung his horsetail whisk with a constant smile.
“This old facetious Daoist is wily and cunning. Last time, you brought suffering upon me. Don’t think you will get the chance to do so again!”
“What is Benefactor Li talking about? Recognizing lost bets is a right and proper matter. Who was possibly wronged?” The Daoist Priest laughed.
When Martial Ancestor Li heard this, a cold light flashed through his eyes. It seemed that he was about to be angry, but he immediately thought of something and stepped down with grandeur, unwillingly saying, “After that chunk of iron essence was refined into your great azure sword, its power greatly increased; This Li spent ten years purifying it but nonetheless had to cheaply give it away to this old facetious Daoist!”
His words contained great grievances. It was clear he felt much heartache over that iron essence.
“Hehe, so it turns out that the renowned Immortal Master Li actually cared so much about a mere piece of iron essence! Fine, this time I will produce another item, one definitely greater than that iron essence. If you win this bet, you will be able to make up for your previous loss.” The Daoist Priest said with a smile as he twirled his beard.
Chapter 176: Making a Bet
“No bet! Absolutely not! Do you think that I would do the same thing twice?” Martial Ancestor Li shook his head as if he were beating a drum and voiced his refusal.
“No bet? Benefactor Li’s standards are actually so high. Does the blood from the inner core of a demonic flood dragon not even enter his eyes?” The Daoist priest wore an astonished expression as if he couldn’t believe it.
However, when Han Li saw his expression, he felt it was very false.
“Blood from a flood dragon’s inner core?” Although Martial Ancestor Li originally intend
ed to absolutely refuse to be pulled into a relationship with the Daoist priest, when he heard the name of the item, his expression abruptly changed, and his words somewhat trembled.
“Yes! If Benefactor Li wants to know about this item, I shall explain. Thirty years ago, at the dangerous rapids of the State of Yuan Wu’s Coiling Dragon River, I paid a great price for this item so I could procure it for Benefactor!” The Daoist Priest calmly and leisurely said while eating up the other party’s expression.
“Impossible! How could the blood of a flood dragon be acquired, not to mention blood kept in its inner core. This is not something that can be said without thinking. Are you making fun of me?” Martial Ancestor Li sobered up from his excitement and exposed an appearance of doubt.
“Is this humble Daoist not a monk? I would not lie. Benefactor can take a look for himself.”
The Daoist Priest did not want to waste time explaining and merely flipped his hand, revealing a white sphere filled with wisps of blood. Martial Ancestor Li’s eyes widened, wishing he could rush over and grab it.
“If Benefactor’s Horned Silver Python were to consume this core and undergo secluded cultivation for ten to twenty years, in all likelihood it would leap from the middle stage of Foundation Establishment to the late stage. With another hundred years of bitter cultivation, it wouldn’t be impossible toenter Core Formation.” The Daoist Priest’s words were filled with enticement.
When Martial Ancestor Li heard these words, he coldly snorted and stiffened his face. It seemed he was unmoved, but his indefinite and flickering gaze exposed the restlessness of his heart.
“With such a rare wager, why is Benefactor hesitating for so long? Could it be you truly don’t think very highly of the strength of your valley’s disciples?” The Daoist Priest curled his lips, goading him to accept.
“To say the disciples of our Yellow Maple Valley are inferior to those of your Clear Void Sect is overcritical.” Martial Ancestor Li wore a displeased expression.
He swept his eyes past the party behind the Daoist Priest and immediately gained a rough estimate of the Clear Void Sect’s disciples. Their strength was about the same as that of the Yellow Maple Valley’s disciples.
“Fine, I will gamble! However, what treasure of mine would you have me wager?”
After a moment of consideration from Martial Ancestor Li, he felt that his odds of winning were fifty percent. With the addition of his extreme longing for that inner core, he eventually nodded and agreed. However, he still cautiously asked that question.
“Hehe, this humble Daoist isn’t interested in any of Benefactor’s other treasures. If he happens to luckily win, then he desires Benefactor to give this humble Daoist two equivalent chunks of iron essence twenty years from now. The essence of Benefactor Li’s True Fire is clear. It is quite famous among the Seven Great Sects. For you, this is surely a trivial matter!” The Daoist Priest said with squinted eyes and a smile. Even so, a faint trace of treachery was contained within his words.
“You want two equivalent chunks of iron essence?” Martial Ancestor Li’s complexion was unsightly and he almost jumped immediately after hearing these words.
“You old facetious Daoist, you plan to have me toil bitterly!”
“How is that? So long as you win, you aren’t required to. This is the inner core of a grade two demonic beast, equivalent to that of us initial Core Formation stage experts. It is absolutely worth the price.” The Daoist Priest said while shaking his head.
Martial Ancestor Li’s complexion grew uncertain. After a moment, he eventually extended his palm and coldly asked, “Are we following the same rules as last time? Which sect gathers the most spiritual medicines, followed by the quality, and lastly the number of people who leave the forbidden area alive!?”
“Of course, it will be the same as before.”
The Daoist Priest was greatly happy and hastily extended his palm. He struck it against the other party’s, officializing the bet.
A sharp Pa! sound out.
Although the Daoist Priest struck his palm, he wasn’t happy in the least and was actually grieving.
The palm he struck was not Martial Ancestor Li’s, but rather a different, filthy hand. This hand strangely appeared between the two and was covered with grease and filth. Nobody knew when it had last been washed!
Two sects’ disciples who had been closely paying attention to the two Martial Ancestors’ dialogue were stunned by this ghostly scene.
“Senior Qiong!”
The Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li yelled at the same time with a green complexion.
“Who is a Senior? I don’t dare to be regarded as such. I am at Core Formation, much like yourselves. It’s just that I happened to enter it a few years earlier!” The lazy voice that came from between them was spoken by a queerly dressed man.
This person wore a blue garment with several patches and had short hair that was several inches long. He had an azure cloth bag at his waist that had been washed pale. Even though his bag made it seem like he was a person who loved cleanliness, his face was smothered with dark grease to the point where his true face could not be seen.
“A few years? More like several hundred!”
After clearly seeing the person’s appearance, Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest bitterly smiled. They both let out a regretful sigh, ‘It was this person as expected’. However, they didn’t dare to show the slightest disrespect.
Not only was this eccentric a step into the Nascent Soul stage, but his age alone was large enough to scare people. Furthermore, his self-created Incorporeal Evasion Technique had shaken the cultivation world and was well-known in the cultivation sects of nearby countries.
It was unknown whether it was because his death was imminent or if he was unable to enter Nascent Soul, but in the past hundred years, he had become more and more eccentric and became very fond of teasing other Core Formation experts. Nearly all of the tens of these high-level experts had been pranked to exhaustion.
However, there was nothing even his sect’s Great Martial Ancestors could do to him.
With regards to the deepness of his magic power, this person was number one among Core Formation Experts. As for background, he was a member of the strongest sect among the Seven Great Sects, the Masked Moon Sect. If one were to look for one of the sect’s Nascent Soul “Authorities” to lecture him, these “Authorities” were likely to ignore those people as they were unwilling to invite trouble over such trivial matters!
As it was, this person was among the higher powers in the cultivation world, known for being an evil tyrant and a hoodlum. Essentially, whoever saw him was subject to the whims of fate! They could only hope that his mood for the day was good, else suffering from his small tricks would be unavoidable!
When this “Senior” suddenly graced them with his presence, how could Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest not be startled and feel their stomachs grow restless!? These two people have already suffered from his torment!
“Since you’ve made a wager, just so that you’re not too lonely, count this rotten old man in as well!” This great Senior’s mood seemed to be quite good; however, his words caused the two to complain incessantly.
“Senior must be joking. How could the disciples of our sects compare to the Masked Moon Sect’s brilliant students? We would be certain to lose, so there is no need to gamble. We respectfully concede!” said the Daoist Priest with a forced smile.
Martial Ancestor Li closed his lips, but his face revealed an expression that showed he was a hundred and twenty percent in favor of those words.
When the exalted old man heard this, he coldly laughed several times and turned his eyes, strangely saying, “How could I take such an unfair advantage? Be at ease, so long as the performance of both your sects surpass my own, then that will count as my loss. Afterwards, you can then decide who won among yourselves.”
“Really?”
When the Daoist Priest heard this, he could not help
but let out a breath of relief. Although this person was moody and laughed or scolded as he desired, his words were certainly resolute and decisive, and he never turned his back on a promise. With that said, this wager could be regarded as fair, even giving the two a small advantage.
“I refined these three Incorporeal Needle treasure talismans at a whim, but I don’t have any juniors, so I will stake them in the gamble!” This Elder raised his hand, suddenly revealing three talismans with a seven-colored needle drawn on each one. He then put them away in an instant.
When Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest saw this, they were unable to conceal the alarm on their faces. They couldn’t help but look at each other and make out the greed in each other’s eyes.
Chapter 177: Righteous and Evil of the Cultivation World
This treasure was refined from the essence of the five metals and was meant to be integrated with this man’s creation, the Incorporeal Evasion Technique. It could arrive without a shadow and leave without a trace. As it could injure without form, it was truly difficult to deal with.
It was said that it would even give Nascent Soul experts a grand headache; it was one of the treasures this Senior relied on to oppress others.
Even if they obtained the Formless Needle treasure talisman, on the mere basis of its miraculous invisibility, it could be considered a wondrous life-saving treasure. At the very least, Core Formation experts would be unable to cope with this strange object.
“Good, this one will wager in accordance to this exalted Senior’s words!” After slight consideration, the Daoist Priest agreed after feeling that the terms were acceptable.
As for Martial Ancestor Li, with the thought of reaping huge benefits, he clenched his teeth and tacitly agreed.
Pa! Pa!
The three mutually struck their palms with each other, making their wager official.
“Senior, why have you come here? Could it be that the Masked Moon Sect’s group consists of only you?” Once the three separated, the Daoist Priest suddenly thought of something and asked this question.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 86