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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Next, Han Li took out the centipede’s back shell out in front of the elder. This caused the elder’s expression to change, and he immediately picked up a small piece, carefully caressing it and identifying it.

  “This is the shell of an advanced grade one poisonous insect demonic beast; it truly is a very good tool-refining ingredient! Especially since the demonic beasts in the outside world are decreasing in number, encountering a poisonous insect demonic beast is an especially rare circumstance,” the elder said with a smile. The wrinkles on his face seemed to have smoothed out.

  The materials the other person possessed were all within his expectations. They weren’t junk metal or any kind of miscellaneous garbage; instead, they were actually the outer shell of a poisonous insect demonic beast! They were extremely good materials, highly suited for crafting armor or shield-like magic tools.

  According to his estimation, prior to being refined, these bug shells could forcefully receive an attack from a top-grade magic tool without any serious damage! If it were successfully refined, it naturally could effortlessly reach the ranks of a top-grade magic tool.

  The white-haired elder became happier the more he looked at it, and he happily picked up these pieces of shell, about to begin. However, he was stopped by Han Li!

  “Store owner, don’t be hasty! There are still some ingredients that I haven’t brought out yet!” Seeing the elder’s frazzled behavior, Han Li couldn’t help but knit his eyebrows together and wonder if he had found himself the wrong tool-refining master!

  Chapter 228: Puppet Cultivator

  “There’s more?” The elder first stared blankly, but then he immediately became even happier; he laughed giddily for quite some time.

  Although he didn’t know what sort of materials Han Li would pull out next, saving the best for last was a principle of common sense. His gaze towards Han Li was filled with even more expectation!

  Although Han Li was somewhat doubtful of this store owner’s tool-refining methods, he would be unable to find another tool-refining master that he trusted more for some time; thus, he could only somewhat hesitatingly place the Inky Flood Dragon’s raw materials onto the table.

  However, he had already decided in his heart that if this elder was unable to identify the origins of these materials, it would prove that the other person’s experience and methods would be problematic! If that time came, he would at most allow the elder to refine the hard shell in front of him.

  As for the high-quality materials from the Inky Flood Dragon, he would have to wait to find a superior tool-refining master!

  Since Han Li had made this plan, he naturally followed the elder’s expression and movements even more closely.

  In the end, when he saw the pile of materials that Han Li had taken out, the elder spat out his mouthful of clear tea onto the ground in front of him with a “puchi”.

  “This is a flood dragon’s hide…...even its horns, fangs…...these are its eyes! Heavens, could Senior have single-handedly killed an evil flood dragon?” The white-haired store owner was shocked out of his normal behavior; he gazed at the materials in front of him with disbelief, incessantly muttering to himself.

  No wonder this elder was so shocked! Demonic beasts like the flood dragon had already disappeared from nearby cultivation worlds for a long time. Even if there were some in hiding, this kind of evil flood dragon, which had seemingly evolved into a grade two demonic beast, was comparable to a cultivator beyond the Foundation Establishment stage.

  Apart from Core Formation cultivators, how could average Foundation Establishment cultivators possibly be its opponent!? Even if that many cultivators in Foundation Establishment took action together, the pile of flood dragon materials in front of him was too complete! It was practically as if Han Li had dismembered an entire flood dragon and directly carried it over.

  Could he have taken ownership of the complete corpse for himself, leaving nothing for the other cultivators? Or did this person have some terrifying method that allowed him to take care of this flood dragon on his own?

  The elder’s imagination began to run wild as he fumbled around with these materials.

  It was only now that a reverent attitude appeared in his heart towards Han Li!

  The fact that the store owner had been able to immediately recognize these materials was somewhat beyond Han Li’s expectations.

  He originally believed that even if the other person was able to recognize these items, it would perhaps still require a lot of time and energy for him to do so. But since the elder had so easily identified the materials, Han Li gained some more faith in him.

  “Store Owner Xu recognized them so quickly. This actually has assured me a lot. Then, Elder Xu, please begin refining!” Han Li politely said after thinking things over in his heart.

  “Okay! Okay! Senior please have faith; when I, Xu, was still an apprentice, I refined a flood dragon corpse once before with my father. My grasp of it will definitely not be small!” the elder replied, nodding his head repeatedly. He held one of the Inky Flood Dragon’s talons in his hand, unwilling to put it down!

  Seeing this scene, Han Li felt that it was somewhat comical.

  However, he also understood that this elder most likely was a person who was obsessed with refining tools. Otherwise, even if the materials were better, he would not have lost his self-control like this. In this way, however, Han Li felt even more at peace, since this meant that this person’s mastery of tool-refining should be pretty exceptional.

  Thus, the elder led Han Li to the rear courtyard, bringing the materials with him!

  ……

  After half a month, Han Li finally walked out of the store’s front door. He slowly left with a light smile on his face after turning around and gazing at the store.

  When he was outside of the market’s prohibited flying zone, Han Li lifted his hand, and a small, exquisite white boat shot out from his sleeve. It floated in front of him a few feet off the ground and began to gently shake.

  Han Li gazed at it lovingly for a moment before flicking his finger; an azure streak of magic power hit the boat. Instantly, the small boat slowly expanded in size. After a brief moment, it had become a small canoe that could fit several people.

  Han Li’s figure gently shook when he saw this scene, and he got on the boot. Then, in a flash of white light, Han Li disappeared along with the boat, appearing thirty feet or so in the air!

  “This Divine Wind Boat that was refined using the Inky Flood Dragon’s fins and tail is really an incredibly flying magic tool. Although it is far from being able to contain as many people as the Masked Moon Sect’s Heavenly Divine Moon Boat and has no defensive abilities, based on speed alone it should be a very rarely seen flying magic tool. In this way, I will never have to use the leaf-shaped magic tool that travels as slowly as a turtle!” Han Li said to himself as he stood on the bow of the ship; a trace of happiness was revealed on his face.

  Han Li suddenly sent his spiritual power into the small boat’s frame. In an explosion of bright white light, the Divine Wind Boat immediately became a streak of white and shot forwards. Its speed was extremely fast, more than enough to cause regular cultivators to stare, tongue-tied!

  Han Li sat at the front of the ship, gently closing his eyes and reveling in the sensation of speed that he had never before experienced.

  He reckoned that even if he were to fly at half the speed of the Divine Wind Boat, he could return to his cave in little more than an hour. Then, he would prepare to set up the weakened Five Elements Reversal Formation. Once he finished, he could cultivate in peace!

  Just as Han Li was thinking this, he suddenly felt a strong burst of Spiritual Qi flying speedily towards his Divine Wind Boat from a location below him! Although he didn’t know what was attacking him, based on the immense Spiritual Qi that he felt, if it were to hit the small boat, the outcome would be the destruction of the boat and his death!

  Han Li was both surprised and furious, and he abruptly op
ened his eyes wide! Then, the small boat below him suddenly doubled in speed, whizzing numerous tens of feet away.

  At the same time, a huge column of yellow light passed through the location where Han Li was just in a moment ago, flying into the distance without scattering. This caused Han Li’s expression to become gloomy!

  “Could there be people who knew I would pass through this place and set up an ambush for me ahead of time?” Han Li could not help but think this in his surprise and fury. Then, he immediately pulled out two azure-red dual-colored spheres, gently touching them together.

  A “peng” sounded out.

  Instantly, a surge of dense, azure-red fog simultaneously shot out of the two spheres, rapidly enveloping Han Li. In addition, it continued to expand; in the blink of an eye, it had become a huge azure-red cloud roughly a hundred feet in size. Han Li’s figure completely disappeared in the cloud of fog.

  With the protection of this azure-red cloud, Han Li slightly lowered his guard, coldly gazing at the earth below!

  When he saw clearly the circumstance below, Han Li’s jaw dropped wide open, and he had no way of closing it for quite some time. This was because there was a gang war going on below him!

  Four or five Foundation Establishment cultivators were at a disadvantage, confronting nearly a hundred enemies that had completely surrounded them. In addition, their opponents were all expressionless and spiritless; they were actually all tiger and leopard mechanical puppet beasts. There were even a few humanoid mechanical puppets, very similar to the one in Han Li’s storage pouch.

  Although the seemingly slow movements of the puppets made them seem easy to deal with, when one puppet was defeated or destroyed by these cultivators’ magic tools, a few more puppets would walk out of the nearby forest and reinforce them, causing the numbers of puppets surrounding them to be constant and unchanging.

  In addition, these puppets’ offensive abilities were very frightening!

  When these mechanical beasts occasionally opened their mouths, a huge column of light as big as a bowl, identical to the one that had almost hit Han Li, would shoot from their mouths. However, their columns of light were multicolored, representing their various attributes.

  It seemed as if Han Li had been accidentally shot at by them!

  As for those humanoid puppets, they were even stronger! There were puppet bowmen that were the same as the puppet bowman in Han Li’s possession. They directly shot out finger-wide multicolored light arrows from the long bow in their hands. Although their strength was not as great as the light columns shot by the mechanical beasts, they were superior because they formed an endless onslaught.

  If it weren’t for the fact that these cultivators had combined their efforts to set up a huge barrier, perhaps they would have long since died under the indiscriminate barrage of light arrows and columns.

  However, what gave them the greatest headache was still those spear and saber-wielding close-combat puppets. Not only were those puppets wearing heavy armor, the weapons in their hands all shone with light, indicating that they were all genuine low to mid-grade magic tools.

  Although there were only ten of them or so, they attacked incessantly after thoroughly surrounding the barrier. Under the onslaught, the barrier began to crumble, and its brightness fluctuated! If it wasn’t for the fact that there were two cultivators pressing their hands to the barrier and replenishing its magic power at all times, it would have most likely been broken through numerous times already.

  It wasn’t that the cultivators really couldn’t do anything about these puppets!

  They were, after all, Foundation Establishment cultivators; not only was their magic power very deep, the magic tools they possessed were also frighteningly powerful. In this small amount of time, thirty or forty puppets had already been demolished by their attacks.

  However, no matter how strong the magic tools in their hands were, the number of puppets in the forest seemed to be inexhaustible. They continuously supplemented the existing number without stopping, and so the battle became one of attrition. The more these cultivators fought, the colder their hearts grew!

  Han Li, hiding in midair within the azure cloud, was also stunned by what he saw! It seemed as if in this span of time, nobody had yet discovered his existence; that column of light had been nothing but an accident!

  Finally, one cultivator ran out of patience. He suddenly added on numerous layers of protective spells onto his body. Then, waving a banner-shaped defensive magic tool, he directly escaped out of the large barrier, flying towards the sky. It seemed as if he wanted to flee from this area!

  Seeing this, the other few cultivators couldn’t help but break the silence and begin to curse him out.

  However, their curses had just left their mouths when a gigantic column of light tens of feet wide suddenly shot out from the forest. In a flash, it directly hit the cultivator in midair. He was immediately turned into a fireball, leaving him no time to even whimper before he fell to the ground. Whether he was alive or dead was a mystery.

  Chapter 229: Huge Tiger

  The curses of the few cultivators who were furious after their companion left them without saying anything had already disappeared. They gazed at each other, seeing a trace of dread in each others’ eyes.

  Just then, although they had been in an extremely disadvantageous position, they actually did not feel any worry in their hearts apart from a slight feeling of vexation. They all reckoned that even if they couldn’t kill off all these mechanical puppets, escaping through the air was still something that could be easily accomplished!

  But now, the escapee’s fate immediately shocked them out of their wishful dreams! He had so many protective spells on his body, and he was even wielding a defensive magic tool, but even so, he was actually unable to withstand that column of light in the slightest. How could this not frighten them?!

  In addition, the higher one’s cultivation base, the more one feared death! They had, with great difficulty, achieved a point where they could live slightly longer than regular people. There was also the possibility that they could live even longer, so how could they be willing to die so easily!

  However, that frighteningly thick column of light was simply too powerful!

  If it hadn’t been directed at the fleeing cultivator but rather at their protective barrier...these people really didn’t know if they could have received it.

  The more these cultivators thought about it, the more they panicked! They couldn’t help but begin to think about retreating.

  But now, even if they wanted to retreat, the opponent would not easily let them go now that he had the advantage! This caused them to be caught in a dilemma.

  Hiding in the clouds high above their heads, Han Li was also shocked by that domineering column of light to the point that his body emanated cold air! Now he was even more unwilling to rashly reveal himself.

  However, he was also not very willing to just leave this place in this manner.

  Thus, he could rely on the outstanding speed of the Divine Wind Boat to escape even after being discovered. Han Li continued to stay in midair, observing what transpired!

  However, the azure-red cloud of smoke that Han Li’s magic tool had transformed into was truly somewhat eye-catching if he left it floating in midair above the cultivators and puppets! Luckily, while Han Li had been in mid-flight, he had greatly increased the altitude of the small boat to a distance of about thousand feet.

  Thus, Han Li had yet to be discovered by the surrounded cultivators or the figure in the forest controlling the puppets.

  However, Han Li also knew that this method could not be carried on indefinitely, but if he were to retrieve the cloud of smoke, he would definitely be exposed in midair.

  Besides, the top-grade magic tool “Azurefire Miasma” that had been refined from a pair of flood dragon eyes could conceal Han Li’s figure, causing enemies to be unable to determine his exact location. In addition, the remaining blood of the Inky Flood Dragon’
s Dan had been incorporated in the dense, azure-red fog. This would cause the people who unwittingly came into contact with the cloud to feel dizzy and lightheaded, slowly being poisoned without even knowing!

  With such an incredible defensive and stealthy magic tool at hand, how could Han Li not choose to use it?

  In his desperation, Han Li suddenly saw a grey cloud floating in a nearby location above where he was hiding. He instantly rejoiced in his heart and slowly drew near to it. Finally, both him and the protective cloud around him entered the cloud.

  Now, any traces of Han Li had been completely covered up!

  Now that he didn’t have to worry about being discovered, he continued to watch the battle down on the ground with reassurance.

  Evidently, that supreme beam of light earlier had dispelled the self-confidence of these Foundation Establishment cultivators. Thus, although they were still attacking with their various magic tools and the fight appeared to be very intense, Han Li could see that the strength of their attacks was far weaker than they were originally.

  This was obviously because everyone had their own ulterior motives and appeared to be unwilling to resist the enemy together anymore.

  Just as Han Li was quietly shaking his head, an elderly cultivator within the barrier seemingly also became aware that something was wrong. He suddenly yelled loudly towards the forest, “Does Sir really want to continue the slaughter? We are all disciples from various sects of the State of Yuan Wu; if you kill us, you will have wronged the State of Yuan Wu’s entire cultivation world. Are you not afraid of incurring a fatal disaster?”

  “Hehe! Fatal disaster?”

  “If you had said so before I killed that cultivator who had wanted to fly away, perhaps I would have considered it. However, now that someone has already died, offending once is still an offense. It would be better to kill everybody off. Perhaps this way, no one will know of this matter!”