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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Han Li lightly sighed, no longer willing to waste any more time or green liquid on the grass. He thought to instead fully focus his resources and time on creating more Spirit Feed Pills for his two Bloodjade spiders.

  But just as he thought this, the silver sphere of beetles suddenly broke apart.

  The eyes of the several hundreds Gold Devouring Beetles flickered with red light as they flocked towards the strangely scented Rainbow Skirt Grass. After devouring it in an instant, they continuously let out a low hum as if they were irritated.

  Han Li was somewhat stunned by this scene but immediately revealed slight joy. It seemed that his experiments could continue.

  Han Li left the insect room in a great mood and ordered Crooked soul to periodically throw in a similar amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass. He wanted to see what effect his Rainbow Skirt Grass would have on demon beasts so that he may lay to rest some of the doubts he carried.

  Not long after, Han Li brought all of his medicine pills with him into his hidden room and sealed it off, intent on staying until either he succeeded or died trying.

  Han Li had already fully prepared himself, and in order to maintain his focus he had decided he wouldn’t take a single step outside of his hidden room until he fully restored his cultivation. As for the rest of the matters in his cave residence, since he could will his clone, Crooked Soul, to take care of them, he had little worry.

  Han Li took a pill out of a bottle and swallowed it before closing his eyes, entering a state of oblivious cultivation.

  In the following days, apart from ordering Crooked Soul to tend to the matters outside of his room, he was completely focused on refining his Qi.

  As time passed, Han Li’s mind eventually felt no desire. Whenever he felt that his body’s Spiritual Qi was lacking, he casually swallowed a medicine pill and entered meditation once more.

  Years upon years of monotonous cultivation had passed, fueled by Han Li’s intense desire to reach Core Formation.

  Ten years passed in the blink of an eye and the hidden room’s door still showed not a single sign of movement!

  Twenty years passed by and still the room’s door remained shut!

  Thirty years...

  Time continued to flow with countless suns and moons scurrying past the sky.

  On a day during the sixtieth year, a black cloud suddenly appeared above Han Li’s cave residence. The weather suddenly underwent a huge change, causing his silver beetles to wildly scatter inside their room.

  At nearly the same time, threads of Spiritual Qi from the nearby hundred kilometers frantically amassed towards Han Li’s cave residence, creating a huge vortex of Spiritual Qi that could be seen with the naked eye.

  This scene alarmed the nearby cultivators. Regardless of whether they were passing by or a resident that lived nearby, they all stopped or left their cave residences, glancing at the scene with amazement.

  “Core Formation! Someone has undergone Core Formation!” Many cultivators gazed at this scene and muttered to themselves, each with their own unique expression.

  While there were those that were envious and confused, there were even more that revealed gazes of admiration.

  At the same time, the cultivators at the island that were at Core Formation or higher noticed that the Spiritual Qi on Heavenly Star Island had undergone a strange change despite not having seen the phenomenon in the sky. They investigated by having their powerful spiritual senses leave their residences.

  As they gazed towards Han Li’s cave residence, there were a few among them that were expressionless or excited. Some of them had even frowned.

  Chapter 398: Core Formation and Magic Treasures

  (TL: Sword Shadow Splitting Light Technique -> Swordshadow Phantasm Technique, Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword -> Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword)

  The door to the secret room inside the cave residence had finally opened.

  A silhouette slowly walked out of the room with their face covered by long, disheveled hair.

  A yellow light then flashed to their side, revealing Crooked Soul with a stiff expression.

  “Hehe, Core Formation! I’ve finally obtained Core Formation!” After looking at the exterior of the secret room and Crooked Soul, he heartily laughed towards the sky in awe-inspiring roars.

  The gaps through the long, disheveled hair revealed the face of Han Li, who had undergone sixty years of secluded cultivation. However, his eyes revealed a refined spirit, and his every movement contained a vast pressure as if he had become a different person entirely.

  After he finished laughing, Han Li looked at the scene outside of the hidden room with a sense of unfamiliarity. After ignoring the world for sixty years, he felt a great sense of change despite everything having remained the same. It was as if everything that had happened was but a distant matter.

  Han Li didn’t stay still for long. Using his vague memories, he went back to his bedroom.

  After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li left his bedroom with a beaming smile. He had restored his original attire and appearance, that of a youth about twenty years of age.

  Now wearing a cold expression, he calmly walked towards the insect room.

  The Gold Devouring Insects in the room had undergone a massive change over the years. Not only had their numbers reached a frightening several tens of thousands, but their originally silver shells began to reveal spots of gold, causing them to appear even more sinister and savage than before.

  Han Li didn’t reveal the slightest amazement. He had found out about this many years ago from his clone, Crooked Soul. The only change was that now he was able to see this with his own eyes.

  Han Li hadn’t expected that his original flash of insight to test the Rainbow Skirt Grass on his Gold Devouring Beetles would unexpectedly resolve the problem of their breeding.

  While he was in seclusion, Crooked Soul continuously fed the Gold Devouring Beetles stalks of Rainbow Skirt Grass with their leaves uncurled. These beetles became increasingly violent after eating the herbs. After four years of consumption, the Gold Devouring Beetles had undergone a transformation.

  One day after they finished eating the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the beetles began to fight and cannibalize each other. A few days later, the original several hundred had been reduced to a mere dozen. However, the surviving beetles were now docile and more beautiful.

  Soon after, the cannibal beetles began to lay eggs. They all slowly died after having laid about a hundred eggs each, leaving Han Li with over a thousand insect eggs.

  The eggs hatched about a year later, and Crooked Soul continued to feed them the ripened Rainbow Skirt Grass, causing them to cannibalize one another and lay their eggs once more.

  After several repetitions, the number of Gold Devouring Beetles started to frantically increase.

  Were it not for the fact that the amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass he could mature was limited, he would’ve had the beetles cannibalize themselves much more often and ceaselessly increase their numbers.

  But what was most surprising was how the offspring of the cannibal beetles became both stronger and more violent with each increasing generation. In addition, their silver shells began to show gold spots at an increasing frequency.

  This made Han Li wonder if their grade would increase after their shells turned completely golden.

  Standing outside the insect room, Han Li stared at the Gold Devouring Beetles with a spirited gaze for half a day in silence. He clearly understood that this method of breeding the Gold Devouring Beetles was definitely not the orthodox method used by the beast controlling cultivators of ancient times.

  This was because he was certain that his small mysterious bottle was unique in its effect of accelerated maturation. This method may perhaps be even better than the one used by his predecessors.

  Han Li faintly smiled as he thought this. He then moved to the other insect room closeby that housed his two Bloodjade spiders.

  Although Han Li had only instructed Crooked Soul to u
se a small portion of the green liquid produced to refine Spirit Feed Pills for the spiders, the amount of pills consumed over this long period of time had allowed the Bloodjade spiders to ascend by several grades. Now, they were peak grade four demon beasts.

  They were currently exactly the same as the white spider he had fought in the underground cave. Their bodies were as translucent as jade, making for a beautiful sight.

  The two spiders had clearly been made aware of Han Li’s arrival through the connection they had with Han Li’s mind. They immediately pounced towards the stone door, wishing to intimately play with Han Li.

  Joyful, Han Li promptly opened the stone door, allowing the two Bloodjade spiders to pounce at him. Afterwards, they started to climb circles all around Han LI’s body.

  Han Li caressed the backs of the two demon beasts for a moment while gazing in wonder at their sparkling, crystalline bodies. He then stored them in his spirit beast pouch before turning around and leaving their insect room.

  As for the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li still had little intention of using them. He planned to first have them reproduce through a few more generations until their shells turned fully gold before putting them to use as his hidden ace.

  Next, Han Li walked through his cave residence before returning to his bedroom in high spirits. After lying down on his bed, Han Li thought about his Core Formation in the hidden room.

  Being able to so quickly achieve Core Formation greatly went against Han Li’s expectations. He didn’t cultivate to the third revolution of the Three Essence Revolutions Technique. Instead, he spent an entire thirty years to cultivate to the second revolution.

  By relying on medicine pills to cultivate the Three Essence Revolutions Technique, his cultivation speed was far quicker than he had anticipated. He originally believed that completing the third revolution of cultivation was certain to be strenuous to the point of impossibility; it would consume far too many years of his lifespan to succeed. But by completing his second revolution in a mere thirty years, he had more than enough lifespan left to cultivate through the third revolution.

  But after some thought, Han Li decided to not place all his hopes of Core Formation on the Three Essence Revolutions technique.

  After all, this cultivation art was merely theorized and had never been tested! It was said that completing the third revolution would only allow a fifty percent chance of success in Core Formation. To put it into other words, even if he completed all three revolutions, he still had a fifty-percent chance of failing.

  This caused him deep worry at heart, and he couldn’t help but pick a more flamboyant method to increase his chances of Core Formation.

  Han Li’s reasoning at the time had been: ‘Regardless of whether or not he was lying, there is no harm in cultivating it!’

  As expected, the third layer of the Great Development Technique took far more time to cultivate than the second layer. It took Han Li about twenty years before painstakingly making a breakthrough and succeeding. As for the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique, Han Li had no thoughts to cultivate to it. At the time, he simply didn’t have the time to spare for it.

  Afterwards, Han Li took all sorts of supplementary spiritual medicines and began his next several year long attempt at Core Formation.

  To tell the truth, Han Li didn't hold much confidence in Core Formation with his second revolution, given his crushing failure during his first attempt of Core Formation at his first revolution. He merely held the notion of only spending a few years just to give it a try. But while Crooked Soul’s Core Formation only took four years, Han Li’s unexpected success had occurred in five years due to his poor aptitude.

  Although he had sensed the Heaven-Earth Spiritual Qi in his body run frantic, Han Li felt like it was a dream when a thumb-sized four-colored pearl formed after his body’s true essence made desperate rotations in his Dantian.

  ‘I’m going to enter Core Formation Stage like this?’ He didn’t dare to believe it! Han Li hadn’t prepared himself in the least, nearly allowing this huge fortune, the still unstable golden core, to crumble. Frightened, he hurriedly concentrated on calming his heart so that he wouldn’t cause a great disturbance and undergo the great misfortune of returning to Foundation Establishment.

  Having recalled his brush with disaster, Han Li couldn’t help but raise the corner of his mouth, forming a trace of a faint smile.

  Han Li let out a deep breath before sitting up on his bed and then standing up.

  Although it had been a while since his Core Formation, he was currently unable to calm the increasing excitement in his heart and couldn’t stay still.

  Now that he had entered Core Formation, not only was he considered a senior expert in the cultivation world, but his lifespan had been increased to a frightening six hundred years. This increase in longevity would allow him to later cultivate with peace of mind.

  But most importantly, he was finally able to make use of his Core Flame. He could now polish and refine his own magic treasure.

  With regards to magic treasures, Han Li had two in his possession. The Immemorial Bowl had already been refined by Crooked Soul. As for the Green Brilliance Dagger, he would use it to protect himself for the time being.

  These swords were refined as a set. After refining them, his strength would massively increase, and he would be capable of sweeping away any cultivators of a similar rank. In addition, now that he had reached the seventh layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art, he could make use of the divine ability, “Swordshadow Phantasm Technique”. This caused him to excitedly look forward to his upcoming journey through the cultivation world as a Core Formation cultivator.

  He now wanted to hurriedly collect the materials for the magic treasure, Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, so that he could create this magic treasure and begin strengthening it with his Core Flame and primal soul.

  Chapter 399: Exquisite Sound Sect

  As Han Li was silently contemplating inside his bedroom, his expression suddenly changed and he walked out.

  During his many years of seclusion, the entrance of his residence had remained sealed. He saw that outside his cave residence’s restrictions, there were eight sound transmission talismans of various colors, knocking against his barriers like headless houseflies.

  Han Li looked at the scene with raised eyebrows for a moment before taking out his authority talisman and saying, “Receive!” The sound transmission talismans outside the barriers shot into his hand in response.

  Han Li stood still as he calmly looked through them.

  Half of the sound transmission talismans were from neighboring Core Formation cultivators wishing to offer their congratulations. The other half of the sound transmission talismans were invitations from organizations of varying sizes to take a position as a high ranking guest elder, using exceedingly rare treasures as payment. There was even one that offered two stunning maids as a recruitment gift right from the start.

  After looking through the details of their offers, Han Li inwardly rolled his eyes.

  He politely replied to the Core Formation cultivators offering their congratulations and gave a direct refusal to the many organizations. He didn’t believe that he could take it easy and be without worry now that he reached Core Formation. He still had to use a bit of time to consolidate his core. Furthermore, Han Li considered it advantageous to maintain a low profile.

  In the coming days, Han Li started to frequently pay a visit to the cave residences of nearby Core Formation cultivators and humbly asked them for advice regarding what should be done after achieving Core Formation.

  Because the topic at hand wasn’t some sort of secretive issue, these cultivators were happy to chat with him and give him a few pointers. Han Li ended up profiting quite a bit from these visits.

  However, a few cultivators felt very envious of how Han Li had managed to preserve his youthful appearance before achieving Core Formation. After all, apart from a miniscule group consisting of either geniuses with h
eavenly aptitude or those like Han Li who cultivate with the assistance of many spiritual medicines, most Core Formation cultivators had reached quite a considerable age by the time of their Core Formation.

  Although their lifespans had greatly increased after reaching Core Formation, they didn’t regain their youthful appearance. At most, they would appear less sickly or haggard as they grew older. Naturally, there were a few cultivators that practiced a cultivation art that had the wondrous effect of preserving one’s appearance and were also part of the group which preserved their youthful appearance after Core formation.

  Han Li happened to still have a few Face Setting Pills on hand. As he wasn’t particularly attached to them, he traded them with the Core Formation cultivators for a few rare items, much to everyone’s satisfaction.

  Although Han Li didn’t end up becoming close friends with any of them, they became familiar enough that he had an amiable relationship with them, capable of calling one another ‘Brother’ and ‘Fellow Daoist’.

  During this time, Han Li had also refined the Green Brilliance Dagger while searching for magic treasure and grade three puppet materials.

  There were many materials capable of refining magic treasures along with refinement techniques of almost every description. Apart from the power and efficacy, using top quality materials to refine a magic treasure would result in far superior power and an even greater upgrade potential than those refined using common materials. Additionally, even if the same materials were used, there will be great differences in both power and efficacy depending on the secret techniques used to refine them.

  Thus, apart from the common magic treasure refinement techniques known to everyone, the exceptional secret refinement techniques were kept hidden by sects and other great powers, not easily divulged to outsiders.