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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Although their expressions were all tense, they acted with perfect discipline as if they had already experienced this many times.

  Han Li’s gaze turned in the direction of a very loud rumble coming from outside the stone wall. Although he could feel the tremors grow even more astonishing, nothing else had yet to happen.

  Han Li rubbed his chin and expectantly glanced around for moment. He then walked over to a tall building nearby and took advantage of the chaos to jump off a wall and easily climbed onto the stone building’s roof. From the top of the building, Han Li was able to see what was happening.

  In the distance, he saw that the stone and sand were violently scraping through the air on a bewildering black wind while a black frost spread across the ground in its wake. It appeared amazingly cold.

  This seemed to be the Yin wind that the lean man had spoken of previously. It truly wasn’t something that ordinary mortals could handle.

  However, as the Yin wind reached about three hundred meters from the village, it began to disappear, accompanied by heavy tremors as a large object dropped onto the ground. Although it was still a good distance away, an astonishing aura could be felt from it. Soon, a forty meter tall black figure emerged from the winds.

  When Han Li saw the black figure’s true appearance, he felt his blood turn cold.

  At first glance, the black figure appeared to be a gigantic grey ape, except that the beast had four eyes and a pair of wings emerging between its ribs. It carried a log of jet-black wood in one arm as it madly charged towards the village, while its four eyes were radiating with crimson light and emitted a powerful, bloodthirsty aura.

  After the beast’s true form was revealed, many people started to loudly shout, “It’s an Insidious Mauler! Quickly, send over the great shields!”

  In an instant, a large number of women, children, and elderly began to deliver shields of all kinds to the walls. But soon after, they began to flusteredly run away from the walls as the huge beast came within three hundred meters of the village. The tremors caused by the beast’s footsteps had left Han Li bewildered. It appeared as if the stone walls would be taken down by the tremors long before the beast even reached them.

  But in the next moment, huge tentacles were formed from several strands of dense violet fog and rigidly fastened onto the huge beast’s feet. As a result, the huge beast lost its footing and fell in front of the stone wall, causing everyone in the garrison to lose their balance for a moment from the resulting tremors.

  Han Li unconsciously turned his gaze to the tall platform with astonishment, and shockingly discovered that there were now four people sitting cross-legged on the platform. Their bodies were covered in a faint layer of purple Qi as if they were utilizing a technique.

  ‘This is umbra energy?’ Han Li’s heart stirred.

  In the following instant, an order was shouted, “Attack!”

  A large number of pikes and arrows were shot at the huge beast like rain, completely enveloping it.

  As Han Li watched this, his heart thumped with excitement.

  Chapter 582: The Umbra Realm

  Knowing that things were far from good, the huge beast loudly roared and released an icy Yin wind from its mouth.

  Not only were the incoming arrows all blown away by the Yin winds, but they were even covered in a layer of glossy black ice. They had all fallen to the ground without even touching the beast.

  As for the heavier pikes, although they managed to fall onto the huge beast’s body, the Yin wind had greatly reduced their power, and they were barely able to cause a few superficial wounds. All they had managed to achieve was to further enrage the huge beast.

  In its fury, the beast’s eyes began to flicker with crimson light. With a bang, its neck fur began to harden and grow erect, making for a sinister appearance.

  When Han Li saw this, his mind grew blank. The huge beast lowered its head and the erect hair instantly transformed into countless black streaks that shot at the stone wall.

  The wall’s garrison seemed to already know that this would happen. Although their faces appeared nervous, they shouted a rallying cry as they raised their shields to meet the attack.

  Sharp cracks sounded out as the black streaks struck the shields.

  Although the black streaks managed to deeply pierce into the shields, a majority of them managed to successfully block the attack. As for the few garrison members that were struck, they were immediately thrown off the wall by the force of the strike. It was unknown whether or not they had survived.

  The remaining garrison were too busy to look after the injured. Instead, another order to attack was shouted, and a rain of pikes and arrows immediately followed. But just like the previous time, the huge beast managed to knock most of the projectiles away with the Yin winds. However, it seemed the beast was only able to harden the hair on its neck, so although it continued to loudly shout in response to the attacks, it was only able to crawl forward as it struggled. It no longer had any methods to attack back. As for the tentacles formed from the purple mist, they continued to hold its legs firmly in place without a single moment of weakness.

  As the attacks continued for another six waves, the huge beast seemed to have eventually exhausted its Yin wind and couldn’t continue its resistance.

  From that moment, the arrows and pikes struck with increasingly greater frequency, piercing into the huge beast’s body.

  As this continued, the beast sustained minor injuries and its furious roars grew more spirited as it continuously pounded the huge black log into the ground, filling it with holes.

  As Han Li witnessed the beast’s immense strength and durability, he unconsciously became somewhat fearful of it.

  As if it were planned in advance, a squad of particularly burly and vigorous men quickly rushed onto the stone walls. Apart from the several twelve meter long pikes they held in their arms, they carried nothing else.

  These people each began to lift the pikes in a practiced motion as soon as they arrived on the walls and fiercely launched them in the huge beast’s direction.

  These powerful shots tore through the air, leaving Han Li surprised by the wind they produced.

  Each of these men had to possess powerful inner strength to be able to toss the pikes with such ease, while having each pike sail through the skies with immense speed and power.

  In the following instant, bowl-sized splatters of blood began to appear all over the beast’s body. All of the strikes were to great effect, nailing the beast to the ground. The beast’s original ferocity had completely disappeared without a trace.

  Huge cheers erupted from the walls with everyone wearing a face of relief. The purple coils of smoke then disappeared without a trace.

  A group of people then excitedly rushed towards the wooden gate with blades in their hands, intending on finishing off the beast. As for the others, they had already started to tend to the wounded.

  But before the wooden gate fully opened, the crestfallen beast suddenly roared with a final burst of strength and waved its arm, thrusting the huge thirty-meter-long log into the sky. It carried an astonishing pressure as it directly flew in the direction of the village.

  Seeing that the huge beast was on the verge of dying, a few of the villagers had happily rushed out. However, they cried out in shock as they saw the log flying in their direction. But in the following instant, a silhouette had blurred before them and directly shot towards the huge log in the air. With a roar, the person fiercely struck at the center of the log with both his arms.

  With a loud crack, the black log flew off in another direction, falling in an area without people.

  This person then lightly landed on the ground in a relaxed and confident manner. He was the middle-aged man from earlier with a harsh expression and pale face.

  The villagers that had been saved greatly sighed in relief and immediately spoke to their savior, repeatedly thanking him. However, the pale man merely waved at them with an indifferent expression befo
re returning back to his original position.

  A trace of astonishment then flickered within Han Li’s eyes. After the pale man had rescued these people, he had carelessly shot a cold glance in his direction. Although Han Li didn’t know what he meant by it, it clearly wasn’t positive by any means.

  Han Li frowned and just as he pondered what the man had meant by it, the wooden gate opened and several tens of robust men charged out of the village to finish off the huge beast.

  However, it didn’t end after the beast was dead. With their long blades, they cleaved open the beast’s skull and fumbled around within the blood and gore until they took out green, thumb-sized gem. The group cheered after they found it, and those that were watching cheered along with them.

  Han Li blinked, suddenly feeling that the green gem seemed somewhat familiar. After lowering his head for a moment of thought, he suddenly recalled what it was.

  During his trip to Heavenvoid Hall, he had encountered many similar green gems in the wreckage of the puppets. Could they be the same material?

  After watching for just a moment more, Han Li wordlessly leapt off the stone building.

  The plump old man and the other elders had already returned to the hall, and Han Li still had a bellyful of questions he wanted to ask them.

  When Mei Ning saw Han Li returning to the hall, she followed him in with a lowered head. After witnessing the previous battle, she realized the dangers of this place and became worried.

  When Han Li entered the hall, the elders had already returned to their seats.

  When the plump old man saw Han Li enter, he smiled and thought to say something when a tall, robust man quickly entered with the green gem in his hand.

  The robust man placed the gem on the table in front of the elders and respectfully said, “Great Elders, this is the Insidious Mauler’s umbra beast gem. Please take a look at it.”

  The old man glanced at the gem and happily said, “We’ve put you all through quite a bit of trouble. Before this, we sent you all out to take advantage of the eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi and you succeeded in bringing back fish. In a moment, we will bestow you all with great rewards.”

  “Many thanks, Elders!” The robust man wore an expression of delighted surprise and withdrew from the hall with an expression of satisfaction.

  Han Li stood to the side and watched all this with a detached expression.

  “The strange beast that you two witnessed was an umbra beast known as the Insidious Mauler. It must’ve been quite a shock to you two! Although the Umbra Realm spans only about a hundred kilometers, there are demon beasts, humans, and all sorts of umbra beasts within.”

  With slight astonishment, Han Li asked, “There are demon beasts here?”

  The old man bitterly smiled and paused for a moment before answering, “Of course. Whenever there’s a tear in space, both cultivators and demon beasts are brought here all the same.”

  “The demon beasts here aren’t able to use their demon arts, but they’ve all developed their bodies with great effort and have incredible power. They aren’t an existence that humans or umbra beasts can provoke. Fortunately, they only guard a few specific areas and feast on umbra beasts. They don’t pose much of a threat to us humans since they are unlikely to emerge; umbra beasts, however, are different. They are born from the umbra Qi of this place and are innately fond of devouring human flesh. Every so often, powerful umbra beasts will come knocking at human villages. Although a majority of villages are capable of repelling them, smaller villages are occasionally defeated and completely wiped out. Conversely, the umbra beasts are endless and another Insidious Mauler will condense and reemerge into the Umbra Realm soon enough.”

  After a moment of silence, Han Li slowly asked, “From what you’ve said, it seems that this isn’t the only human village. There are others?”

  “Of course. Although there aren’t many, there’s about eight other villages scattered throughout the Umbra Realm. Food is scarce here so apart from a few pieces of fertile land, the rest is barren from the heavy umbra Qi. A majority of the umbra beasts possess poisonous flesh, and apart from some special varieties, we are incapable of consuming them. Although demon beasts are able to consume them, humans would perish upon eating them. As such, only useful people are allowed to live in villages. Anybody who is useless will be driven away and have their lives run their natural course!” The old man’s last words were spoken with an icy tone.

  Chapter 583: Stomach of the Rahu

  Han Li frowned and let out a long breath before asking, “Your esteemed self called this place the Umbra Realm. Does this place have any relation with the Netherworld from legend? Is there any way to restore the magic power that was restricted? Most importantly, I wish to return to the outside. I have no intention of staying here. Would your esteemed self happen to know of a way out?”

  The plump old man shook his head and sighed, “A majority of the humans in this world were born here, and most of humans that are brought here by the ghost mist end up devoured by umbra beasts. Only a small minority were lucky enough to reach a village. As for my own close friends and family, they are all on the outside. If it were so easy to return, why would us survivors from the outside world remain here and continue living day after day on the verge of crisis?

  “As for whether or not this place has anything to do with the Netherworld, who could possibly know? However, there is a senior that has stayed here far longer that I have, and he holds the belief that this area is a crevice between the human world and the Netherworld. As a result, there is a dense concentration of umbra Qi, but there are no excessively powerful umbra beasts that take form.

  “Additionally, there is a farfetched rumor being spread around by a few cultivators that believe this world has nothing to do with the Netherworld. These cultivators believe that this world is actually the stomach of a legendary devil beast, the Rahu. Legend says that the Rahu is capable of both devouring stars and tearing through space and that it is fond of concealing itself on the seafloor, only emerging to feed itself every so often. That is supposed to explain how the strange mist emerges from the sea and can link the two worlds together.”

  Han Li’s expression greatly changed when he heard this, “The Rahu? How could that be possible, it makes far less sense than the Netherworld. I don’t believe that this entire world is contained inside a devil beast.”

  The old man leisurely said, “That’s right. When I first heard of this, I was shocked as well. Although it is hard to swallow, there is still a possibility it’s true. If the tears in space appeared periodically, then one might expect that they all appear at the same place. However, this isn’t the case. Whenever new arrivals are sucked into the Umbra Realm, they all come from different areas in the seas that others haven’t heard of. For example, I came from a small island in the South Bay Province of the Great Court of Jin. As for the other cultivators, they’ve arrived from places such as the Five Dragon Seas, the Heavenly Sand Continent, and the Scattered Star Seas as well. Nobody recognizes where anybody else has come from, but here we are all the same.”

  “The Great Court of Jin? You’re a cultivator of the State of Jin?” A trace of astonishment flickered within Han Li’s eyes. When he was in the Heavenly South Region, he had heard much of the esteemed State of Jin.

  The old man’s eyes brightened, “Could it be that you also came from the Great Court of Jin?”

  Han Li shook his head and said, “No, but I have heard quite a bit about it. I know it to be an immensely large country, and I had always wanted to visit it but never had the opportunity.”

  The old man revealed a trace of disappointment and said, “So its like that! That is somewhat regretful. This old man truly wishes for an opportunity to return!”

  The old man then radiantly smiled and chuckled, “Fellow Daoist would’ve known what a true world of cultivation was had he visited our Great Jin. To the best of my knowledge, there is no other cultivator world that compares in scope or activity
of ours. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that the Great State of Jin is a sacred site for cultivators.”

  Han Li rubbed his nose but despite the bitter smile on his face, his heart stirred in response to the old man’s words.

  The old man smiled and chuckled, “This old man has strayed off topic. As for your previous question about whether or not there’s a method of restoring one’s magic power, I can only tell you should abandon your hopes while you remain in the Umbra Realm. In addition to umbra Qi, there’s also Spirit Extinguishing Qi in the air as well. It is periodically released from the depths by eruptions, spreading it throughout the sky. So long as cultivators are within its range, their magic power and abilities are completely sealed. It is quite fortunate that you were brought over here during an eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi.”

  Han Li suddenly felt gloomy upon hearing all of this. Were it not for the eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi, he wouldn’t have even been brought here by some trifling ghost mist.

  After a moment of silence, Han Li resentfully said, “Since we were able to enter, then there must be a way of leaving. I refuse to believe that there isn’t.”

  The old man twirled his beard and unhurriedly said, “Well, technically there is a way out, but it requires assistance.”

  A trace of joy appeared in Han Li’s mind and he hastily asked, “What is it?”

  As Mei Ning heard this her expression fluctuated with roused spirits.

  “It’s...” The old man revealed a hesitant expression.

  Han Li’s expression stirred and an odd emotion flickered within his eyes, “What? Could it be inconvenient for you to say?”

  The old man grimaced as he looked at the two. His eyes then narrowed and he said with a deep tone, “Please don’t misunderstand. There is no point in concealing it. Although I do want two more cultivators to join the village, I’m not making it deliberately difficult for you. I am merely afraid you two Fellow Daoists will impatiently rush out and throw your lives away.”