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

by Translator: Johnchen

  But Han Li had just taken two steps when the color of his face dramatically changed; his figure flashed, and he disappeared into the air. Then, Han Li’s figure appeared again inside of the temple door, but it immediately disappeared again into the stone temple.

  At this time, a huge flock of Masked Moon Sect disciples suddenly appeared on some of the rocks of the basin to the side; the leader was the seemingly young fairy woman, who was actually a Martial Ancestor of the Masked Moon Sect.

  At this moment, the young woman gazed at the temple door where Han Li had disappeared with a trace of suspicion. She had felt that there was someone in this place, but now she saw that there was not a single person in sight. Could her instincts have been wrong?

  The young woman stood still, unwilling to believe any falsehoods. She gently closed her eyes and released her tremendous divine sense all at once. In the end, other than their group of people, she did not sense that there were any other cultivators nearby the basin area. However, when her divine sense swept over the stone temple, it was repelled outside by some kind of strength, causing the young woman to be shocked. However, she immediately began to rejoice, a trace of laughter hanging on her face.

  Upon first glance, she had already discovered that this stone temple had already had a restrictive technique cast on it by someone; this did not surprise her. Because the ten or so demonic beasts they had swept aside all had a restrictive technique cast on their secret acupuncture points, this could not amount to much! However, the restrictive technique here could not be penetrated even by her divine sense. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation; the superficial restrictive techniques from before simply could not compare!

  In a moment of excitement, the young fairy woman did not want to pursue the matter from before anymore. She trusted that even if there really were one or two disciples from other sects nearby peeping, they would definitely not be willing to create a disturbance with so many people from the Masked Moon Sect! Thus, she took the lead to walk towards the stone temple.

  Han Li, at this time, was standing in the large lobby of the stone temple, so anxious that he was spinning around frantically in circles!

  He had just been about to leave! Thus, he had first let out his divine sense to assess the situations in his surroundings and prepare to leave.

  However, he had never expected that just as he had released his divine sense, he would immediately sensed a huge group of cultivators so close to him. He was so surprised that all of the blood in his body almost congealed, and so he flashed into the stone temple without thinking. Regardless of which of the other six sects these people outside were from, if they saw him here, one would not need to think too much to know what his fate would be.

  In reality, if it weren’t for his energy expenditures being too high in these past two days, he completely could have used his extremely speedy movement techniques and unabashedly shake off these cultivators from his sleeve and leave. Unfortunately, based on his current condition, this kind of movement technique could not be used many more times; even if he wanted to run, he wouldn’t be able to run very far.

  Currently, he was safe, hiding inside the stone temple! However, he also had been blocked in by that group of cultivators, with no way of leaving anymore.

  Actually, this stone temple’s construction was too simple! After entering the temple door and walking through a serpentine, winding hallway, an empty, large lobby appeared in front of his eyes. The entire hollow, large lobby actually did not have even a single place for him to hide. Upon looking at the attitude of the flock of people outside, they definitely came for this stone temple. Wishing for those people not to come inside was purely a vain attempt!

  In actuality, to say that there definitely was no place for him to go was not entirely true.

  In front of Han Li’s eyes, in the center of the large lobby, was a black tunnel surrounded by jade railings. The tunnel entrance had a row of stairs, directly slanting into the ground from the entrance. It was also incessantly blowing out warm, humid air; it was truly difficult to imagine where this tunnel would lead one to.

  However, Han Li could also guess without thinking that the place this tunnel led to would definitely not be a nice place; it would definitely be extremely ruthless, which was why he had been hesitant to enter. However, there truly were no other places for him to hide in this large temple! This caused the cold sweat on Han Li’s forehead to gush out all at once with a “shua”.

  And a this time, the sound of chaotic footsteps came floating over from the temple entrance; it seemed that group of cultivators had already entered the stone temple and would enter this lobby in the time it takes to roll one’s eye.

  Seeing this, Han Li seeing this, bitterly sighed in his heart; then, gritting his teeth, he lightly jumped over the railings and slipped into the tunnel.

  After entering the tunnel, Han Li’s surroundings were pitch black. He used his hand to reach into his storage pouch and retrieve the moonlight stone, and only then did his surroundings light up.

  The entire tunnel could not be considered to be large. It was entirely built out of azure stone and could allow one person to barely pass through it. Han Li touched the stone wall in passing; it was somewhat damp and slippery.

  He did not dare to tarry at all, fearful that the people behind him would catch up to him. Thus, he walked downwards carefully.

  After following the stone steps underneath his feet one by one for a few hundred steps, the originally narrow tunnel slowly began to widen, and it could already fit two people side-by-side with no issues. However, the humid wind blowing from in front of him became increasingly hot, causing Han Li to sweat profusely; he had long been drenched with sweat from head to toe.

  After walking down close to another hundred steps, Han Li estimated he was already roughly a hundred or more steps below the earth’s surface. The azure tunnel finally disappeared. When he walked out of the tunnel’s entrance, what appeared before his eyes was actually a strange swampy world.

  This underground world was only three hundred meters or so high, but its circumference reached the length of a few kilometers; with a glance, sludge emitting black water bubbles was everywhere. That hot, humid wind was being generated in the air above the swamp, speedily flowing through the tunnel behind Han Li; then, it would bring back in more clean air from outside the tunnel, thus actually forming an equilibrium of flow rate.

  All around the swamp were these tall, large mounds of black dirt; at the other end of the swamp grew a few tens of differently colored strange spiritual herbs. The few kinds of spiritual medicines that Han Li required were also in this group, and their quantities were truly not low either.

  However, all of this was not as attractive of Han Li’s attention as a small white jade pavilion in the middle of the swamp. This was because a golden, huge chest, roughly ten to twenty meters long and five meters wide, was floating in midair in the pavilion. Its lid was tightly shut, and its body had faint golden light flowing around it; one glance and one could tell it was definitely not a common object.

  Han Li only glanced at it a few times before immediately shifting his gaze; this wasn’t because Han Li was not moved by the treasures inside of this golden chest, but rather because a huge group of malicious people were about to arrive. It would be best to quickly find a hiding place, since this was the truly pressing matter! Otherwise, his small life would be lost; what use would the treasures be to him!

  Han Li’s figure swayed a bit, and he slipped over to a random dirt mound far away from the tunnel entrance; then, he restrained his Qi in one breath utilizing a full-strength concealing technique. Next, he lay on top of the dirt mound unmoving; after hiding his appearance, Han Li was already beginning to blend into one entity with the black dirt. Gazing at it from afar, one would not be able to easily discover his traces.

  Han Li had not prepared all of this for too long before the young fairy woman’s figure appeared on the stairs at the tunnel entrance.<
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  As soon as she appeared, she indifferently assessed the circumstances in this area; when she saw the huge golden chest in the white jade pavilion, her previously expressionless face finally began to be emotionally moved, and her eyes gradually revealed a fiery passion. Although she had heard disciples from her sect describing the golden chest here, she was much more astonished upon seeing it up close and in person.

  The young woman walked down the steps, neatly standing in front of the swamp; the male and female disciples of the Masked Moon Sect following closely behind her all clambered and surged forth in an instant, forming a straight line behind the young woman.

  In a place not too far away from where he had clearly seen all of this, he could not help but quietly grow apprehensive. At the same time, his curiosity was greatly aroused regarding that leading young woman’s identity.

  “Is this where the Black Scaly Python is hidden?” The young woman’s voice delicately sounded out, yet it was filled with an unspeakable dignity.

  “Reporting to Martial Ancestor, that huge python is hidden inside of the swamp; it has previously swallowed ten or so disciples from various sects who had wanted to obtain the treasure chest. Its vicious reputation is widespread, and it has caused this place to become a forbidden area where disciples from the various sects no longer dare to come. However, this demonic beast truly is much stronger than regular top level demonic beasts; this one still hopes that Martial Ancestor takes special care!” a young woman replied respectfully, lowering her head.

  “Heng! Did you think that I would be unable to even deal with a grade one demonic beast?” The young woman’s delicate small face fell, and she adopted a ridiculous elderly air. However, this caused the expression of the white-clothed woman who had replied to drastically change, repeatedly saying “I do not dare!”

  “You can withdraw! Everyone, follow the original plan to act; no matter how powerful this Black Scaly Python is, it definitely isn’t the ‘Yin Yang Pulling Magic’s’ opponent! No matter how strong it is, it is still a grade one demonic beast!” the young woman said with an unquestionable tone, lifting the spirits of all the disciples behind her.

  Chapter 205: Watching the battle

  After giving orders to all of the disciples, the young woman turned around and looked at the swamp in front of her, using a faint voice to murmur to herself: “It seems like that object should be inside of this chest! The previous few locations were all a waste; all I got was some trash!”

  The young woman’s voice was inaudible; apart from herself, the other disciples could not hear anything at all. They were all extremely excited for the imminent, upcoming big battle.

  After the young woman’s orders had been passed down, the male and female disciples from the Masked Moon Sect immediately stood side-by-side with their Dao companions. They actually both reached out a hand very skillfully and held them together.

  Suddenly, the two overlapping hands individually emitted a blue and red strange brilliance; then, following down their arms, it spread to these disciples’ entire bodies, causing the six pairs of Masked Moon Sect disciples to be covered with light, red light shrouding the males’ bodies, blue light shooting off of the females, forming a strange blue-red criss-cross shape. Only three disciples remained, one male and two female, having already lost their Dao companions. They could only bring out some magic tools, merely making some basic preparations.

  Han Li lay on the mound of dirt. Although he had not heard the young woman murmuring to herself, he had exactly heard the female disciple in front call her “Martial Ancestor”. This instantly caused him to almost bite his tongue and injure it in a moment of surprise!

  “Martial Ancestor of the Masked Moon Sect”, what was this notion? Han Li was already no longer a rookie in the cultivation world, and he was very clear about this situation. That was a Core Formation cultivator expert who was of the same level as his sect’s Martial Ancestor Li! That this kind of an expert would actually appear in the forbidden area, which was restricted from cultivators of the Foundation Establishment stage and above, caused Han Li’s head to whirl!

  At this time, seeing that all of her sect’s disciples were properly prepared, the young woman began to take action contentedly!

  The young woman faintly open her dainty mouth and spat out her magic treasure, the Vermillion Bird Band. When this item came out from her mouth, it immediately whirled through the air as it traveled above the swamp and expanded to the same size as a small building.

  Next, the young woman beneath it formed hand incantations for a magic technique and pointed with her finger; a streak of red light shot from her hand to the ring. In an instant, the band’s color rapidly changed from pink to a fiery, blazing red.

  On top of the dirt mound, Han Li was stunned by what he saw. This kind of impact and strength…if one said that this wasn’t a magic treasure, one could beat him to death and he wouldn’t believe it.

  Since the young woman could control this magic treasure, her identity as a Core Formation cultivator was undoubtable. But how was she able to make her way into the forbidden area, and why was her magic power only at the peak of the Qi Condensation stage? These string of questions flew around in Han Li’s head, but he still had no way of answering them.

  The young woman had yet to take the next step when the swamp below began to show signs of movement. With a certain part of the swamp as the center, the nearby silt began to roil; in addition, the roiling area became greater and greater, and the waves higher and higher. It actually slowly formed into a huge protrusion, the sight of which was extremely shocking.

  A trace of doubt flitted across the young woman’s face when she saw this; based on her memories, the Black Scale Python had never seemed to be this imposing!

  However, seeing that the demonic beast’s appearance was imminent, the young woman did not dare to hesitate. Her two hands formed hand incantations for the Blue Flower magic technique, with her attention connected to the huge Vermillion Bird Band, which began to spin in the air. In a short amount of time, it became blurry because of how fast it was spinning; the hundreds of fireballs inside of it also became a red sea of fire in the time it takes to roll one’s eyes, actually dissolving into one entity.

  “Go!”

  The young woman spit out as her magic technique suddenly stabilized.

  All of a sudden, the round ring’s spinning stopped abruptly, and the encapsulated sea of flames thus suddenly became a thick, large fire cyclone pillar that aggressively shot out downwards, directly spurting towards the huge protrusion from the swamp.

  However, before the flame column had neared the swamp, a column of black, inky water as thick as a bowl’s opening shot out of the silt protrusion with a “puchi”, just in time to block the flames shooting towards it.

  Suddenly, the explosions filled the air, and a large ball of mist immediately rose up in pieces, causing the surroundings to be steaming with fog in the blink of an eye. Everything became blurry.

  “This isn’t the Black Scale Python!”

  The young woman’s originally somewhat doubtful expression, upon seeing the column of water that was as dark as ink, immediately changed as she spoke.

  As if replying to the young woman’s words, the sound of a wail came from the vast white fog; an extremely strange, piercing scream began to sound and pierce towards the sky. Then, with a “hula”, an extremely hot gust of wind began to blow, causing the surrounding white air to disappear with a roll, revealing the true colors of the demonic beast.

  A black, swarthy, snake-shaped demon covered with huge scales appeared before everyone’s eyes.

  This seemingly snake-like yet not a snake demonic beast’s bulk was not actually too big, only thirty to forty meters long; however, its entire body from head to toe was shrouded by a layer of faint black fog, appearing extremely demonic. In addition, its external appearance from head to tail was not much different from that of a regular black python. Of course, its black and shiny hug scales were an
exception.

  “Inky Flood Dragon!”

  The young woman, upon clearly seeing the demonic beast’s appearance, couldn’t help but cry out; her face revealed an apprehensive yet excited expression.

  However, the ten or so disciples standing behind her were somewhat puzzled. Wasn’t this the “Black Scaly Python”? Since when did it became some “Inky Flood Dragon”?

  The young woman couldn’t afford to explain clearly to all the disciples because the demonic beast floating numerous meters above the ground had already found the main culprit in disturbing its rest. The two small, green eyes on the side of its head flashed malevolently; it opened its mouth, and another black column of water leaped towards the people from the Masked Moon Sect.

  “Beast! You're looking to die!”

  The young woman knew very well the strength of the Inky Flood Dragon; although this demonic beast seemed as if it was young, she did not dare to be careless at all! She hurriedly controlled the Vermillion Bird Band, instantly releasing a red ring of light that suddenly flashed and blocked in front of the young woman. Then, a string of fireballs came flying out from within the ring, causing that black water to be stopped halfway to its destination.

  “Receive, Speed, Restrain, Arrest, Lock!”

  The young woman’s two hands formed a half-half contained a full-moon as she awe-inspiringly spit out these five words from her mouth.

  When these five words had just left her mouth, the Vermillion Bird Band began to jitter rapidly in midair; then, it began to emit a low ring, and disappeared into thin air. This caused the spiritually wise Inky Flood Dragon to blink its small eyes, staring blankly because of it.

  But the next instant, the ring actually directly appeared on the demonic beast’s forehead while humming. It took advantage of the demonic beast’s slowness to react and instantly sank down, then rapidly became much smaller. In the blink of an eye, the Vermillion Bird Band actually abruptly wrapped around the Inky Flood Dragon’s midsection, and then a fiery light rose up rapidly on the ring. Instantly, half of the demonic beast’s body was enveloped in the fierce flames.