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

by Translator: Johnchen

Han Li took these two pages, one on the left and one on the right, weighing them individually in each hand. He judged that the silver page was slightly heavier. It seemed as if his speculation that the golden page was somewhat thinner was not incorrect; their thickness was truly different.

  Han Li tilted his head and thought for a moment. Suddenly, he took only the silver page and raised it to his eye, carefully scrutinizing the strange patterns on it and stroking it with his hand incessantly.

  At this time, his eyes twinkled indefinitely as if there was a very difficult problem ahead of him that he could not make a decision about.

  However, an unwavering expression still appeared on Han Li’s face.

  He suddenly placed the page between his two hands, then he gently rubbed his hands together. Instantly, the silver page was enveloped in a fierce flame, casting a red glow onto Han Li’s face. However, he did not care at all, instead staring at the page in the flames without blinking. At this time, the surface of the page was beginning to melt due to high temperatures,

  Suddenly, Han Li’s expression changed, and then an expression of joy surfaced on his face because the silver page, now with its surface layer melted, actually revealed a golden light — sure enough, the page contained a secret.

  Seeing this situation, Han Li carefully controlled the flames, not allowing the golden layer to also be damaged. However, Han Li clearly was overly worried; the newly-revealed golden page seemingly didn’t fear being roasted by the fierce flames and didn’t warp at all.

  When a brand-new golden page was completely revealed, Han Li waved his hand, and the flames immediately disappeared. Then, he began to read the newly-obtained page, his heart beating like crazy.

  He only read the first few words before he froze, stunned. His expression instantly became extremely unsightly.

  That was because this page was actually a manual written to teach people how to control flying swords and was specifically geared towards those who cultivate sword arts; although it appeared to be extremely remarkable, it was something that Han Li simply did not need.

  It seemed as if that bare-footed man from the Giant Sword Sect had cultivated the page’s contents. However, though these techniques may have been considered treasures to Qi Condensation disciples, to Han Li, who had reached the ‘Great Success’ stage of Foundation Establishment, they were only average and simply had no way of piquing his interest.

  Han Li was still unwilling to give up!

  He closely examined it one more time, even going so far as to use the fierce flames to burn it again, but he made no further discoveries.

  The more Han Li looked at this golden page, the more he felt resentful. He had busied himself with this for the greater half of the day!

  Having wasted so much time, he actually obtained such a useless item. How could he not feel extremely depressed? Han Li was especially provoked upon seeing the two words “Sword Art” because he had already cultivated an Azure Essence Sword Art; could it be that he would have to cultivate yet another sword art?

  The gloomy-faced Han Li suddenly grabbed the page and threw it into midair. Immediately afterward, he used his right hand and pointed, shooting out an azure sword edge as wide as a bowl, directly hitting the page. Han Li decided to completely destroy this thing, lest he become angry just from looking at it.

  Woosh. The explosion that Han Li had expected did not appear. Instead, the azure swordstreak, disappeared into page upon contact as if it had been absorbed.

  “This is......” Han Li was very shocked, but immediately after, his heart stirred with anticipation.

  Chapter 241: Three Essence Revolutions Technique

  He raised his hand and cast a “Floating Technique” on the golden page that had fallen in his hand, causing it to float many feet in the air, acting as a target. He then began to use small bursts of Azure Essence sword streaks to attack it bit by bit, eagerly gazing at the page which seemed to absorb all of the sword streaks like a bottomless pit.

  While doing this, Han Li had also tried to shoot an ice arrow towards it to see if that magic spell could also be absorbed. In the end, one arrow caused the page to go flying, ending Han Li's experiences with a fright. Instead, he obediently continued to shoot sword streaks into it.

  Han Li’s Azure Essence sword streaks of the fourth layer should've been quite powerful, but the page had yet to respond as he was on the edge of exhaustion. Han Li bitterly complained as a result.

  He truly did not know whether or not all his hard work would go to waste if he didn’t satisfy this page’s absorption of sword streaks all in one go!

  Just as Han Li was conflicted about whether to proceed or stop, the page finally began to change, and the golden light on the page’s surface exploded out. The page was no longer able to absorb the sword streaks; instead, it began to reflect them, carving quite a few holes in the walls of the cave.

  Han Li repressed the excitement in his heart, and he watched the page’s transformation without blinking at all.

  The light on the page slowly began to retreat and converged into words of light as large as ants. The page soon became densely dotted with golden light, like the stars in the sky, causing Han Li to feel great shock!

  Then, with a “patter”, the floating spell suddenly lost its effectiveness, and the golden page fell straight to the ground. Han Li, still in shock, instinctively and immediately stretched out and grabbed the golden page.

  But just when Han Li’s fingers made contact with this item, it was as if the words of light had found an outlet and rushed in through that hand, fiercely channeling themselves throughout his entire body.

  Han Li was greatly shocked, and the color drained from his face! He hurriedly wanted to toss aside the page, but the page forcibly stuck itself onto Han Li’s hand as if it were alive. Han Li was unable to shake it off despite his best efforts.

  The transmission of the words of light was just too fast; in an instant, all of the words of light had crawled all over Han Li. Glistening words of light covered Han Li’s body from head to toe, appearing incomparably strange.

  Han Li was helpless and scared witless!

  Suddenly, the words of light appeared to have received a command and flocked toward his head. The countless words seeped into his brain in an instant, but because of the sudden rush, Han Li immediately held his head while screaming in pain.

  If the current circumstances continued for even a bit longer, Han Li’s brain would most likely violently burst. Fortunately, the pain only lasted a short moment before the words of light all finished entering his head. Han Li then weakly fell to the ground and was unable to move in the slightest.

  After no less than the quarter of an hour, Han Li regained some of his spirit and was finally barely able to stand. Although the pain inside his head had greatly alleviated, buzzing still lingered, and his nerves were stretched thin.

  Han Li hurriedly climbed into the stone bed, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing, allowing his mind to completely relax.

  Han Li meditated like that for three days and three nights. Not only did all feeling of discomfort disappear from his head, but he also figured out the reason behind the overflow of words of light.

  “Azure Essence Sword Art”! Furthermore, it was the complete magic art, all thirteen layers without any gaps or lost sections. It could even be cultivated all the way until the legendary Deity Transformation stage without question. These were the words that were brought forth from the words of light.

  Just as Han Li started to receive this information, he was faintly shocked but his face didn’t show a shred of happiness.

  This was because of the supplementary cultivation technique at the very end, the “Three Essence Revolutions Technique”. At first, this piqued Han Li’s interest, so he looked through it as he wished.

  After browsing the first few passages, he blankly stared for a moment. He believed that he had misunderstood, but after he read through that part several more times, he was convinced that he wa
s not mistaken, causing Han Li to enter a state of raging ecstasy.

  This “Three Essence Revolutions Technique” actually possessed the miraculous, heaven-shaking effect of evading the Core Formation stage bottleneck! This information seemed like a voice from the Heavens, causing Han Li to believe that it was a dream.

  Ever since he entered the world of cultivation, nearly every cultivator had talked about the problems of Core Formation. Everyone had sighed and shook their heads! All have said that breaking through to Core Formation was basically reliant on one’s luck. It was a matter completely decided by the Heavens! Naturally, those with excellent aptitude had already cultivated to the peak of Foundation Establishment and possessed the qualifications for Core Formation. In addition, those possessing heavenly spiritual roots naturally did not have any problems in this area.

  To be blunt, Han Li’s confidence in achieving Core Formation was almost nil! With great difficulty, he spent all his life trying to find a way, so at this point, he was truly reluctant to give up! But despite this, Han Li was unwilling to so passively renounce the pursuit of eternal life merely because it was difficult. Even as hopeless as it was, his thirst for Core Formation and his will to struggle only grew stronger!

  But now, a straight path to Core Formation appeared before him, allowing him to bypass the bottleneck. How could Han Li not be in ecstasy?

  But regardless of Han Li’s excitement, this cultivation art couldn’t be considered a shortcut. In fact, it was completely unverified.

  The expert who created this cultivation technique and the Azure Essence Sword Art had long since reached Core Formation when he created these techniques, which he based on an insane idea about Core Formation! He stated at the very end of the cultivation technique that even if one completely followed the cultivation technique and fulfilled all that was required, the odds of immediate formation of a core was only one half!

  However, this was enough for Han Li! Even if one were to say only one in ten instead of one in two odds, it would be enough for Han Li to pursue it without hesitation.

  But after Han Li’s moment of ecstasy, he carefully analyzed the cultivation technique, and what he found decimated his hopes. Even if Han Li were a person with strong aspirations, he could not help but appear to have taken a direct blow, his face increasingly pale.

  Those cultivating the Three Essence Revolutions Technique obviously needed to first cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art since this technique was originally founded on its basis. Although the Azure Essence Sword Art was extraordinarily difficult to practice, that was not the most important point. What caused Han Li’s face to become unsightly was due to the meaning behind the technique’s name. The individual must first cultivate to the sixth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art then disperse their sword art cultivation, after which they must cultivate all over again.

  According to its founder, only like this would someone be able to use the “Three Essence Revolutions Technique”. By repeating cultivating his magic power, his true essence would able to further compress and have his magic power become several times more pure. After doing this three times in succession and cultivating back to the peak of Foundation Establishment, he would be able to form a core in his Dantian with ease.

  According to this expert’s conjectures, a Gold Core was originally created by solidifying one’s true essence and condensing it. If the true essence was already solidified, forming a core would naturally be effortless!

  Even if Han Li felt that what this expert said was reasonable, he was truly hesitant to foolishly disperse his own cultivation.

  This wasn’t because Han Li was scared of the hardship of regaining his lost cultivation but rather because he wasn’t confident that he would be able to cultivate three times within his lifespan.

  Even if he had the assistance of the small mysterious bottle, this was a matter of extreme risk! After all, according to the expert’s plan, it would take longer and longer to cultivate as he would need to condense and compress his true essence more each time.

  The great benefits of doing this were, without a doubt, extremely great. It would allow him to have true essence and magic power several times greater than that of common cultivators, but at the same time, he would certainly be required to spend more time than common cultivators.

  With a trifling two hundred years of life, would he be able to do all of this? Han Li truly did not know!

  After a moment of indecision, Han Li looked toward the golden page that he received from Li Huayuan. Only after an inspection of what it contained would he be able to come to a decision.

  As a result, an equivalent sword stream entered the gold page and was rewarded with an equivalent headache. Han Li experienced it once more, accepting the contents of the other gold page.

  “Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword!” This was what entered in Han Li’s mind.

  Han Li became extremely interested and patiently arranged the words of light before pouring through it.

  It turned out that inside the gold page were actually instructions for how to refine a Core Formation flying sword magic treasure called “Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword”. This wood attribute flying sword was actually quite similar to Han Li’s “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades” as it was refined as a set of magic treasures.

  At least twelve wood attribute flying swords were required to form a set. It was quite strange. Naturally, if he were able to collect enough materials and had enough true essence, he could theoretically refine thirty-six or even seventy-two as a set.

  Chapter 242: Making Talismans

  Han Li carefully put away for the two golden book pages and planned his future actions meticulously.

  Since he wanted to cultivate the Three Essence Revolutions Technique, the small mysterious bottle’s green liquid must be used to its full extent. Thus, he quickly gathered together the materials for the two ancient formulas. If it could be bought, it was bought; he let nothing slip away.

  With this said, apart from spiritual power, the green liquid also had other components, but they still remained a complete mystery to him. There was no way that Spiritual Qi by itself was able to miraculously mature plants.

  After entering Yellow Maple Valley, he had researched it several times. regardless of how diluted the spiritual liquid was, with just a tiny drop of green liquid mixed with water, all the animals that tasted it had similarly exploded. It wasn’t a matter of how diluted the green liquid was but rather its unknown components running rampant.

  After receiving several similar results, Han Li was forced to begrudgingly give up.

  But using the mysterious small bottle to simply refine pills was a bit narrow! Han Li felt that using its wondrous effects to mature plants had many more uses; to use it just for pills seemed wasteful.

  After a moment of consideration, Han Li felt that with Foundation Establishment battles, apart from magic tools and cultivation techniques, mid-grade or higher talismans were an absolute necessity. However, these mid-grade talismans were extremely expensive! A single talisman often cost several tens of spirit stones. Han Li could only shake his head repeatedly!

  A good number of these mid or higher grade Five Elements talismans had truly great power. They could take the place of incisive Daoist magics, capable of saving one’s life.

  If a magic technique’s grade was too high, then even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator were to use it, it would require no small amount of magic power and time. As such, purchasing a few of these talismans was essential as a life-preserving last resort.

  Thus, Han Li decided to refine talismans, actual mid-grade talismans.

  Because refining talismans required blank talisman paper refined from spirit herbs of a certain maturity, Han Li wanted to bring out the bottle and make full use of its wondrous effects.

  Naturally, high-grade talismans couldn’t be made with this method. Those required spirit hides of a few particular demonic beasts, and Han Li was currently not capable of acquiring such hides.


  As for the cinnabar used to refine talismans, there was no need to be picky since most of the supply was refined from the blood of a few spirit beast species, the majority being extracted from domesticated spirit beasts. It fundamentally wasn’t worth much.

  One had to be somewhat selective with the talisman brushes used to make talismans. However, Han Li already had the Golden Sincerity Brush, which should suit his needs.

  When Han Li thought of the Golden Sincerity Brush, he naturally thought of that young, easily embarrassed Han Yunzhi and couldn’t help but slightly smile. At this moment, she was probably at Spirit Beast Mountain!

  But in the blink of an eye, Han Li regained his focus and once again pondered about the feasibility and risks of refining talismans.

  He had the tools and an unending supply of materials. The fundamental problem of a talisman-refinement expert, having enough materials, was no problem for him. Currently, the only restriction he had was his cultivation of mid-grade and higher Daoist magics.

  Talisman-refinement experts must first be able to use a magic technique before refining it onto a talisman. Otherwise, there would be nothing to inscribe onto the talisman paper. After all, talismans were only a method of sealing a magic technique in advance.

  When he thought of having to cultivate mid-grade magic techniques, Han Li felt a pounding headache!

  He didn’t know whether it had to do with his spiritual roots, but when he practiced Daoist magics of the Five Elements, he felt that his talent was extremely lacking. Even after spending several times more effort and time than other cultivators, he wouldn’t make the slightest of gains and remained completely ignorant of the magic’s essence!

  However, after he entered Foundation Establishment, he was able to easily learn those few elementary magic techniques. Furthermore, he was proficient enough to perform most of them in the blink of an eye. But for mid-grade magic techniques, it was the same as before. He could only look up to the sky and sigh!

  Han Li knew that if he arduously cultivated a few mid-grade magic techniques, he would most likely be able to seal and imprint a few talismans. He had no extravagant hopes of being able to refine all of the mid-grade magic techniques he wished.