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

by Translator: Johnchen

  “We don’t have any malicious intentions! As long as you are willing to make peace, we will swear an oath that we definitely will keep this matter a secret!” a significantly younger cultivator hurriedly vowed.

  “Hmph! Swearing an oath? I don’t believe in such trifles! You guys were stealthily following behind me for such a long time, yet you still say that you don’t have any malicious intentions? Could it be that you want to invite me to a meal? Besides, I am not a person from the State of Yuan Wu. Even if I did offend the cultivation world of your state, what can you do? Do you want to follow me back to the Thousand Bamboo School to demand justice? If that’s really the case, I, Mo, very much admire your sect’s elders’ boldness!”

  An extremely harsh voice came from within the forest. Upon hearing this voice, Han Li thought that it sounded very familiar!

  “It’s him?” Han Li quietly thought, somewhat surprised.

  Based on the sound of his voice, it was definitely the burly man who had bought the mechanical puppet beasts at the auction! Hearing their exchange, it was obvious that these cultivators had secretly followed this person right after the auction had ended. They probably wanted to use some dishonorable methods to discover the puppet beasts’ secrets! Who knew that this Thousand Bamboo School fellow became aware of their actions a long time ago and actually laid a trap for them, instantly trapping them here?

  “Everybody, we have no choice but to go all out against him. He has already made it clear that he wants to silence us!” The first cultivator to speak was not stupid; he immediately attempted to arouse the fighting spirit of the other cultivators, intending to fight to the death!

  “Do you even have the qualifications to go all out against me? Don’t talk about going all out if you can’t even win against my puppet beast army! I have toyed around enough with you people; it’s best if I hurry up and send you on your way!” The burly man’s tone was still just as harsh, but the killing intent in his words was undoubtedly revealed!

  Just as his words left his mouth, a loud, earth-shaking sound suddenly emerged from within the forest; then, booming, heavy footsteps came charging out of the forest, causing the cultivators inside the barrier and Han Li, who was in midair, to glance around wildly, not knowing exactly what had occurred!

  Although the footsteps were very heavy, they were very quick; in the blink of an eye, they had arrived in an area nearby the forest. Now, all of the people could see what was happening clearly! A roughly fifty- or sixty-foot-tall puppet tiger leapt out of the forest. The burly cultivator, still wearing a cloak, was naturally sitting on the head of the giant tiger.

  Upon seeing that the puppet tiger was so enormous, the few cultivators were all secretly shocked and couldn’t help but think of the huge column of light that they had seen earlier. It was likely that it had been shot by this beast!

  After it appeared, the burly man did not say anything superfluous and directly patted the tiger’s head.

  Instantly, the puppet tiger beneath him slowly opened its lower jaw; faint white light began to condense in its huge mouth! The other puppets that were attacking the barrier instantly stopped one by one, retreating a few steps in an orderly fashion!

  These cultivators obviously knew that the situation did not look good, so all of them reached out their hands and pressed them against the barrier; this was the only barrier that could save their lives! As for escaping the barrier and flying away, everybody had once harbored this idea but learned from the unfortunate cultivator’s mistake. Nobody dared to lightly make such a move!

  The huge column of white light appeared once again! This time, the domineering light column was actually forcefully blocked by the cooperative efforts of the few cultivators with the help of the barrier, temporarily creating a stalemate!

  Although Han Li was very high up in the sky, by virtue of his extraordinary eyesight, he could still clearly see that these cultivators did not appear happy even though they had successfully blocked the column of light. Instead, their faces became pale after pouring such large quantities of their spiritual energy into this barrier!

  However, Han Li believed that this destructive attack could not continue for long and would be over before long! The few cultivators inside the barrier also seemed to understand this principle, so they each continued to grit their teeth and bitterly hold on!

  As expected, the column of light was maintained for a brief moment before gradually thinning, then disappearing from the tiger’s mouth!

  Having received a new lease on life, the cultivators revealed joyful expressions as they finally retrieved the hands that they had placed on the barrier, letting out a big sigh.

  However, the burly man coldly laughed upon seeing this. He suddenly uncovered a secret panel on the tiger’s head, then flipped his hand and tossed a mid-grade fire attribute spirit stone into opening. Then, the originally extinguished white light in the tiger’s mouth began to shine again, causing the other cultivators to become completely dazed when they saw this scene!

  Han Li gnawed on his lips even more, speechless at the extravagant expense. One mid-grade spirit stone for an all-out attack! How was this a battle tactic? It was clearly using piles of spirit stones to forcefully bash these cultivators. It seemed like the Thousand Bamboo School in his faraway country was extremely rich and had huge stores of spirit stones!

  Just as Han Li’s imagination was running wild, the cultivators who were originally able to work together finally scattered under the extremely large threat facing them.

  This was because the magic power they had remaining was not very much; continuing to forcefully resist would only bring them an earlier death! Thus, it would be better for them to each rely on their own luck and escape individually!

  As expected, the burly man willed the huge tiger to attack two of the cultivators one after the other with the huge column of light. Their fates were almost the same as the first individual; their bodies were charred black, and their remains were truly too horrible to look at.

  Chapter 230: Trap

  Two cultivators flew off into the distance to escape. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the sky. The burly man sat astride the tiger and coldly looked at them as they departed. It seemed he didn’t want to pursue them at all!

  Hiding in the clouds, Han Li felt a bit bewildered. A moment ago, it seemed this person was vicious and merciless. There was no way he would let them off so easily, unless…...could he have something up his sleeve?

  As Han Li was casually making a few guesses, he suddenly heard the ice cold voice of the burly man. “Your esteemed self, you’ve been watching this scene for quite a long time. Are you waiting for an opportunity to dispose of this elderly man?”

  When Han Li heard this, he was greatly startled.

  “Could it be that although I was hiding at such a high altitude, he was still able to see me?”

  With this thought, Han Li couldn’t help but gulp. He felt his heart beating in his throat.

  After witnessing the ferocity of these mechanical puppets, Han Li did not wish to suffer the same fate as the other cultivators and become a target of the huge tiger’s attacks.

  The speed of that transcendent light beam was far too fast, and its might was frightening! According to Han Li’s estimates, if he were to directly face it, apart from fleeing with the utmost speed on his Divine Wind Boat, he would truly have no other method to safely escape the light beam attack.

  After slight consideration, Han Li couldn’t help but want to escape far away through the sky and avoid provoking fatal disaster! But after he took a look at the burly man’s actions, all thoughts of this immediately disappeared.

  That was because the direction the puppets pointed their weapons was not toward him in the sky. Instead, they were pointed toward a small mound of earth not far away.

  Han Li was so startled he nearly bit his own tongue!

  There was actually a third person here, yet Han Li hadn’t noticed him in the slightest.

&nb
sp; Crash. The sound of earth shifting drifted over from the small earth mound. A single eccentric wearing a gray hood on his head emerged, standing opposite of the burly man.

  “So it really was you!”

  “Who in the world are you? It seems as if you know a bit about the secrets of this mechanical puppet!”

  The burly man looked at him with a bone-chilling glare, viciously staring at this eccentric.

  “Huang Long, I haven’t seen you for so many years. It seems your fiery temperament hasn’t changed!” After a moment of silence from the hooded eccentric, he said a few words that caused the burly man and Han Li to feel great amazement.

  “How do you know who I am! Are you an acquaintance of this one named Huang!”

  Having heard the other party speak out his name, the burly man could not help but reveal an expression of shock. However, since his identity was already exposed, his disguise was worthless. He then bluntly tore off his cloak and threw it to the floor.

  A fierce-looking man with a short sallow hair was revealed.

  “You’ve properly abandoned being your Thousand Bamboo School’s Great Protector; now you are five thousand kilometers away doing what? Could it be because you wanted to conceal the half-complete Great Development Technique in your puppet beast?” The eccentric ignored the burly man’s actions and asked this leisurely.

  “You’re still not revealing your identity? Don’t blame me for being impolite!” Having heard the other party attack his greatest secrets, Huang Long’s expression changed as he hastily berated back with a stern voice.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? I, the one who originally taught you the first layer chant of the Great Development Technique in secret?

  After a moment of hesitation, the eccentric eventually divulged this, causing the other party’s face to greatly change. Huan Long stepped back several times.

  “You’re Senior Martial Brother Lin?... Impossible. Senior Martial Brother Lin passed away many years ago. You dare to play with me!? I will take your life!” After a moment of shock, he immediately yelled back furiously. Then with a vicious appearance, he waved his hand. The hundreds of puppets immediately stepped forward to surround the eccentric from afar.

  “It seems that Junior Martial Brother Huang still hasn’t forgotten his feelings from old times. This makes Brother very happy!” The eccentric’s eyes suddenly grew soft, and he tore off the hood on his head, revealing his true identity.

  “Senior Martial Brother Lin!”

  “Martial Uncle Lin!”

  The large man and Han Li, who had been paying attention this entire time, nearly shouted at the same time. However, while the large man actually shouted out loud, Han Li mere cried out in his mind.

  This eccentric was the old man named Lin who liked carving. Han Li had seen him in that stone room the day he entered Yellow Maple Valley. Because the small monkey he was carving at the time was extremely adorable and lifelike, the old man had left a deep impression on Han Li, so Han Li was thus able to recognize his present appearance.

  “It truly is Senior Brother Lin. Why does Senior Brother have such an aged appearance? Furthermore, you haven’t already...” Although the large man yelled this, he still went through a moment of disbelief before grabbing the Senior Martial Brother Lin in front of him with both hands, wearing an expression of great emotion.

  “Hehe! Junior Martial Brother Huang, this brother only faked his death that day. That death was only... What are you doing!”

  Han Li’s Martial Uncle Lin was saying this with a smile, but his expression immediately changed. He suddenly shook off the hands of this Junior Martial Brother Huang with fright. Two deep wounds as thin as chopsticks appeared on his wrists. Black blood freely bled from the wounds; there was clearly poison within them.

  “It seems Senior Martial Brother Lin’s mind has spoiled during these many years of hiding. How could you be this careless and let your Junior Martial Brother injure your wrists? Tsk tsk! That was Black Thread Venom that I acquired from the Venomous Poison Sect with quite some difficulty. I’m afraid that it is quite hard to get rid of! This is Senior Martial Brother’s fault. Since you’re feigned your death, how could you want to form a relation with your previous subordinate and futilely try to steal the second half of the Great Development Technique? The current School Master Jin is very unhappy, so he sent this Junior Martial Brother to come and clear the weeds!” Huang Long coldly chuckled several times before mocking him.

  “Good! Good! Truly my good Junior Martial Brother is passionate toward me!”

  After a short moment of fury, Senior Martial Brother Lin quickly regained his calm. He hastily moved his hands as fast as the wind, forcing some of the poisonous blood out. He then took out a green jade bottle and poured all of the yellow medicine powder it contained down his throat. Rigidly staring at the large, yellow-haired man, he said with an ice-cold expression, “It seems the information that my good subordinate gave me was all false! The second half of the Great Development Technique simply does not reside within the puppet beast. This was all a trap to lure me in! But what baffles me is how the secret shop managed to cooperate with you in this manner.”

  “Money moves people’s hearts. This proverb from the mortal world applies to the cultivation world all the same! So long as the school pays enough, nothing is impossible!” Huang Long said with a slanted mouth.

  Then he turned his head, and yelled off to the forest at the side, “Come out! Everyone come and see the handsome and confident School Master Lin’s only son, the great Martial Brother Lin!”

  “Hehe! Little Sister has heard of Senior Martial Brother Lin’s reputation for a long time. It is a pity that she had entered the sect late and didn’t get the chance to see your face!”

  “Humph! What Senior Martial Brother Lin? I only see the corpse of an old dog!”

  The voice of a dainty woman and the coarse voice of a jealous man came from the woods. A man and a woman then walked out side by side.

  “Let me introduce Senior Martial Brother to these two. They are new Great Protectors of the school‒—”

  Huang Long was currently thinking of willfully teasing him for a moment; this Senior Martial Brother Lin had pressured him from above during those past years. However, without even finishing his sentence, he already knew he had fallen into Senior Martial Brother Lin’s trap. Senior Martial Brother Lin’s figure suddenly whirled as he disorderly waved his hands without stopping. Black specks radiated in a large area, shooting out from his body in all directions.

  Then, the countless radiant specks on the floor immediately flickered without end. One by one, small and fully-armed puppet soldiers emerged and grew in size. There were more than two hundred in the vicinity; it was an extremely marvelous sight.

  “Be careful, this fellow has reached the third layer of the Great Development Technique and is able to control these many puppets! We must all tangle him down by any means or else he will escape. So long as the poison in his body flares up, even with his heavenly skill, he can only wait to be captured.” After Huang Long said this, he ordered his subordinates to attack.

  After the man and woman glanced at each other, they also released two hundred puppets and began to attack.

  Suddenly, a new wave of puppet attacks was launched. All kinds of light arrows and beams were shot out endlessly. At the same time, there were many armed puppet soldiers and puppet beasts tangled in combat! This scene caused Han Li, who was viewing this from above, to be dumbstruck.

  Although he couldn’t see clearly what had happened towards the end, he was able to vaguely make out about seventy to eighty percent.

  That Senior Martial Brother Lin whom he had met before formally entering the sect actually originated from the Thousand Bamboo School. Furthermore, he was the child of a school master! But it was clear he had already lost his influence when he chose to conceal himself at Yellow Maple Valley until now! But because he sought to acquire this Great Development Technique, Martial Uncle Lin
had become the subject of the new school master’s wrath. Members of his former sect were sent to thoroughly exterminate him.

  When Han Li clearly understood this relationship, he could not help but sigh.

  Then he looked at the frenzy below. He knew that this wasn’t something an initial stage Foundation Establishment cultivator could opportunistically stick his hand into, but rather something he should escape from as best as he could out of fear that he could get himself caught up in it.

  Clearly understanding his own interests, Han Li immediately put away the Azurefire Miasma, and moved his Divine Wind Boat with the greatest speed, immediately turning into a rainbow streak that cut through the sky.

  Han Li’s extremely large movements were naturally noticed by the four below, causing them to grow greatly frightened; they could not help but slow down their fighting.

  None of them expected that someone had actually been eavesdropping on their conversation all along. It seemed that the person who had heard their secret wasn’t weak, but after seeing Han Li tactfully flee into the distance without intending to help anyone, the four looked at each other and wordlessly agreed to continue their battle.

  Chapter 231: Disaster Knocking on the Door

  Flying as fast as he could, Han Li returned to his Immortal’s cave after a short while.

  Without doing anything further, he took out the formation establishment jade slip that Qi Yunxiao had given him and immersed his consciousness into it, carefully reading the method of using the formation establishment magic tools.

  Han Li decided to push his previous plans to the side and first set up the great formation around his Immortal’s cave. After all, those cultivators were fighting not too far away; he did not feel safe!

  The setup of the Five Elements Reversal Formation was quite simple.

  After precisely inserting the formation flags and burying the formation plates, he was required to place down several small-scale magic formations with spirit stones outside of the formation center to provide the large formation with sufficient spiritual power.