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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Before Han Li could speak, the scholar and the large man couldn’t help but cry out in alarm upon seeing Han Li’s appearance. The scholarly man soon thought of something and his expression grew sullen.

  After the large man recovered from his alarm, he also came to a realization and wore an ill expression.

  “You recognize me?” Han Li asked with a frown. He glanced at the two and found that the two seemed faintly familiar. However, he left the matter alone with a wry smile in his heart.

  The scholarly man stared at Han Li and deliberately said word by word, “Your esteemed self asks despite knowing the answer? Your appearance resembles that of our Han Clan’s Fourth Great Uncle. Why wouldn’t I recognize you?”

  ‘Fourth Great Uncle?’ When Han Li heard this, he wore a mysterious smile. Since he was the fourth eldest amongst his siblings, it was naturally referring to him. However, it was unclear how they would know of his current appearance since he hadn’t met face to face with any of his relatives ever since he left when he was small.

  Han Li smiled and said, “Oh? When did I say that I was like your Fourth Great Uncle? Couldn’t this just be my natural appearance?”

  The scholarly man quickly grew angry and he coldy said, “There are many similar faces in this world, but not only does your face bear a striking resemblance, here you are in the Han Clan’s ancestral hall. What else does that leave for your esteemed self?”

  Han Li’s expression relaxed and he said with an impressed tone, “Your reply is spot on! You are worthy of being an official of the royal court. The Han Clan’s current prosperity is undoubtedly a result of the later generations’ efforts!”

  A harsh expression flickered over the man’s face and he angrily said, “What? Does your esteemed self truly plan on pretending to be my ancestor?”

  “Pretend? Why would I want to do that? How about you mention how you know of my appearance? I seem to recall that ever since I left home, my family had never seen my appearance. Could it be the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect drew a portrait for you?” Han Li’s gaze then dropped onto the large man with thick facial hair. He narrowed his eyes, eventually realizing why he found the man to be familiar. “Hm? Your surname is Li. Could you be related to Li Feiyu?”

  The large man revealed furious alarm, “You... how do you know the name of my clan ancestor? It turns out you know quite a bit about my Li Clan!”

  When Han Li heard this, he nonchalantly smiled.

  The scholarly man was alarmed upon hearing the words ‘Seven Mysteries Sect’ and ‘Li Feiyu’. He bewilderedly said, “Since your esteemed self repeatedly claims that you are my ancestor’s younger brother, you must certainly know that our Han Clan’s great uncle has disappeared. But now your esteemed self has shown up two hundred years later, but I fail to see any indication of your great age.”

  The scholarly man had only recently found out about the Han and Li Clan’s history from a letter. Could it be that this person had also seen this letter?

  With that thought, the scholarly man couldn’t help but look at the table with the memorial tablets. The letter was hidden somewhere between them.

  Seeing that the scholarly man’s gaze grew odd, he swept past the memorial tablets with his spiritual sense and discovered the letter hidden within.

  Han Li raised his hand without any reservations and beckoned towards the table.

  The two men were dumbstruck by what happened next. Light flashed from the table and a yellow booklet enveloped in a mist of azure light flew out from the table towards Han Li.

  Han Li grabbed the booklet and the light scattered with a faint shake of his hand. He then casually flipped through it.

  As the scholarly man had long since been part of the bureaucracy, he was long accustomed to keeping his calm in the face of astonishing events. However, he couldn’t help but dryly swallow in a panic as he glanced at the large man. The large man wasn’t faring much better, but his expression grew odd as if it contained both happiness and fear.

  While the scholar still felt confused, the large man cupped his hands and deeply bowed towards Han Li as he hesitantly said, “Might I ask if your esteemed self is an Immortal cultivator of legend? As an Immortal, you are unlikely to trifle with the affairs of us mortals. Would Senior happen to have any keepsakes to verify his identity? After all, this matter is rather significant. My Esteemed Brother Han and I cannot easily believe others based solely on words.”

  The scholarly man was stunned upon hearing the large man but the legends soon came to mind and he felt his blood run cold. He began to look at Han Li with an expression of awe.

  “Oh! I didn’t expect for you to know of Immortal cultivators! Impressive! From the record, it seems that you truly are Li Feiyu’s descendant. Truly inconceivable for Li Feiyu’s children to form a bond with my Han Clan! As for regards to keepsakes, I can’t recall having any. At the time, I was in complete pursuit of the Dao and departed from my homeland in a hurry. I even left without bidding goodbye to Brother Li. I merely left behind a slip of paper for him and a few bottles of medicine pills.” Han Li casually said.

  The large man surnamed Li spoke with slight astonishment, “Medicine pills? Were the bottles that we enshrined at our sect’s shrine left behind by Senior?”

  Han Li sighed and dimly said, “Long ago, your ancestor used Essence Extraction Pills without any hesitation in order to excel in martial arts. Even with the medicines I left behind, I fear he wouldn’t have been able to live to an old age.”

  After a moment of hesitation, the large man carefully said, “I don’t know of this matter. However, my father still lives and perhaps he might know something of the deceased ancestor. After all, these secret matters are only known by each generation’s clan lord. If Senior will allow it, I will quickly send word to inquire whether or not these words are true.”

  At that moment, he was already mostly convinced. The Li Clan’s establishing ancestor had met with an untimely death at an early age.

  Han Li waved his arm and spoke with a tone of melancholy, “There is no need. I didn’t come back to make a disturbance. I merely wished to free my mind of mortal worries. Now that I see both the Han Clan and the descendants of my dear friend are doing well, I am well at ease.”

  Having heard this, the large man instead became nervous and began to wildly signal to the scholarly man with his eyes. He clearly knew what it meant to the Han and Li Clans to have an Immortal cultivator ancestor.

  The scholarly man naturally knew far better of what there was to gain or lose from this. After pondering for a moment, he respectfully said, “If your esteemed self is truly my great uncle, I have a method of immediately verifying your identity. Our Han Clan Shine contains a few possessions of our ancestors from the past. If Senior is able to identify these items, Junior will naturally be convinced of your background. Only the Han Clan Master from each generation is qualified to personally care for them, and they are incapable of being identify by others.”

  “Past possessions? Let’s take a look at them. It’s only that I left home at a rather early age so I may not be able to identify them.” Han Li indifferently said. If it wasn't too troublesome, he definitely wouldn’t refuse to be recognized by the descendants of the Han Clan.

  “Please be at ease Senior. These items were left behind as keepsakes from their times of poverty, so Senior should be able to recognize them. I will bring them now.” After bowing to Han Li, the scholar descended from the second floor.

  After a bit of clamor from down below, the scholarly man shortly walked back up with a tray covered by red cloth. He then respectfully presented it to Han Li.

  Han Li took the plate and removed the red cloth, revealing the worn items before him.

  Han Li spoke with pleasant surprise, “Oh! So it turned to out to be these items. I didn’t expect to see them again in this lifetime.”

  “Senior recognizes these items?” The scholar cautiously asked with a nervous expression.

  “I know a major
ity of these items, but there were three that were acquired after I left home. I don’t know who they belong to. The slingshot and small bow belonged to my second elder brother Han Tie. He enjoyed playing with them when he was small. The wooden hairpin was my mother’s most cherished possession. The tobacco pipe was...” Han Li picked up each of these items and spoke as if he were rather familiar with them.

  After hearing Han Li examine half of them, the scholar felt there was no longer any doubt.

  Without waiting for Han Li to finish, he immediately dragged the large man forward and they deeply saluted to Han Li.

  “This unfilial descendant Han Tianxiao recognizes Fourth Great Uncle. I sincerely wish that Great Uncle will forgive my unfilial actions from before.” With that said, the scholar didn’t dare to meet Han Li’s gaze and wore an expression of embarrassment.

  The large man mirrored the solemn and respectful display.

  Chapter 663: Gold Devouring Spirit Sword

  When the two acknowledged Han Li, he felt an indescribable feeling well up inside him. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, “On the year I left the village to pursue the Dao, I didn’t expect for the Han Clan to become such an influential clan. It seems the saying is true. The affairs of the world are truly hard to predict! Stand up, you two. With the many years I haven’t returned home, I can be considered a complete stranger to the Han Clan. There is no need to be so polite.”

  The middle-aged scholar stood up and spoke with great reverence, “Great Uncle’s words are untrue. Had we unfilial descendants known that you were still alive, we would’ve certainly sent men to fulfill our filial duties.”

  Han Li waved his arm and calmly said, “Filial duties! There is no need. I’ve come only to take a look. I won’t be staying long. As a pursuer of Immortality, it is better for me to have fewer ties to the mortal world.”

  The scholar spoke with alarm, “Great Uncle, you are leaving so soon? Will you not stay awhile and take a look at the other Han Clan juniors in the castle?”

  Han Li sighed and regretfully said, “When I arrived, I flew over the Han Clan Castle and swept my spiritual sense past everyone inside. Unfortunately, while there are many Han Clan members none of them possess any spiritual roots. They have no fate with me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind taking one or two clan descendants along with me on the path of cultivation.”

  A trace of disappointment appeared on the scholar’s face as he bitterly smiled, “It seems despite our clan’s prosperity, none have the fate to follow Great Uncle on the path of Immortality.”

  Han Li shook his head and said, “Only those who possess spiritual roots may become Immortal cultivators. Such a person might not even appear once among ten thousand. For the several hundred Han Clan members to possess no spiritual roots is to be expected. Besides, from the way I see it, it would still be better for the Li and Han Clan to remain out of the cultivation world. As of current, the cultivation world is chaotic where even entire clan exterminations are possible. It would be terrible if the Han Clan were to be implicated.”

  The scholar was initially surprised and sincerely replied, “This one acknowledges all Fourth Great Uncle has said.”

  Han Li’s gaze then turned to the large man with thick facial hair, “Which generation of Li Feiyu’s descendants are you? What’s your name?”

  The large man hurriedly bowed his head and replied, “Junior is Li Feng. I am an eleventh generation descendant of Li Feiyu. I pay my respects to Great Uncle Han.”

  “Given the close relationship I had with Lei Feiyu back then, I find it acceptable for you to call me ‘Great Uncle’. You were rather protective of Tianxiao just now. It seems in these past years the Li Clan has shown our Han Clan much consideration. As the younger brother of the Han Clan Ancestor, I naturally won’t treat you unfairly. Here are some medicine pills, they will be of great use to martial artists. They will be able to save your Li Clan youth much effort in their cultivation of inner strength. Accept them for the time being.” Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took eight various colored bottles into his hands before offering them to the large man.

  The large man was overjoyed and hastily accepted the small bottles with repeated thanks. Although Jianghu Martial Artists cultivated inner strength and it wasn’t as drawn out as cultivation spiritual power, they spent much of their youth in dedication to this pursuit. With these medicine pills, a large number of experts would emerge from the Li Clan.

  The middle-aged scholar felt happy for his good friend, but his gaze towards Han Li unconsciously revealed a slight hint of expectation as well.

  When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled and calmly took a spirit beast pouch off from his waist and lightly slapped it. A short moment later, over a thousand black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles were released and formed a dazzling three-meter-wide cloud of black, silver and gold. It appeared almost as if specks of sunlight had appeared before them.

  The scholar and the large man were left completely amazed.

  Without any further words, he pointed to the insect swarm above him and had them concentrate into a tri-colored sword. Han Li then extended his arm and had the sword fall into his hand with a buzz.

  This strange scene left the two at an even greater loss for words.

  Han Li caressed the sword while his expression wavered for a long while. Then with a sigh, he spat an azure mist onto the sword. In a flash of azure light, a simple green scabbard appeared on the sword’s blade. Han Li then horizontally held the sword in front of him with both his hands and took out a piece of fine, polished jade.

  Han Li gravely said, “This sword is something I refined from spirit beetles. It is capable of killing others of its own accord. I will be leaving it inside the clan shrine in case the Han Clan one day faces extermination. The Han Clan will be able to hide inside the shine and rely on this sword to escape calamity. However, you had best remember that this sword isn’t something that I personally control. Once the sword is drawn, anybody outside of the ancestral shrine that is within a five kilometer radius will be killed. As such, you must treat it with the utmost caution.

  This is a jade pendant that holds a sliver of my essence. Without it, the sword cannot be drawn. Leave the jade pendant in the care of the Han Clan’s later generation clan lords.”

  Having seen this inconceivable event occur before him, the scholar no longer held a trace of doubt towards Han Li. He hastily replied with delighted surprise, “This nephew will commit Great Uncle’s instructions to memory!”

  Han Li smiled in response, but he didn’t immediately hand over the sword and the jade pendant. Instead, he continued speaking with a solemn tone, “There is something else you must remember. Because the scabbard sealing the sword is made from spiritual Qi, the Gold Devouring Sword may only be drawn three times. The scabbard will thin with each use and disappear on the third. Afterwards, the sword will turn back into spirit beetles and disappear. I’m sure that giving the Han Clan three opportunities to escape calamity is a worthy gift as your ancestor’s younger brother. After all, there are no fortunes in this world that last eternally. In order to prevent the sword from being used for any evil intentions or opportunistic tricks, the sword will be incapable of leaving the ancestral shrine while it is sheathed. Else, it will disappear from existence. As such, I hope you will properly use this sword to allow the Han Clan to flourish for many years to come. Even if the Han Clan were to later return to their status as commoners, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”

  Once that was said, Han Li handed the sword and jade piece over to the scholar.

  The scholar repeatedly uttered his thanks and accepted the items with a bowed head. He carefully placed them at the center of the memorial table before returning to await further instructions from Han Li.

  Han Li was rather satisfied by the scholar’s deferential attitude. After some thought, he took out two faint yellow medicine pills and handed one to both the scholar and the large man. He smiled upon seeing their surprise and
said, “Those two items were left for the Han and Li clans. Since you two are also my juniors and have personally recognized me as your great uncle, it can be considered that you have some fate with me. I will also give you two a few benefits as well. While these two bottles of medicine pills have no effect on me, they will extend the lifespan of mortals who take them and strengthen their bodies. When you two take them, you will both live to at least a hundred years.”

  “Many thanks Fourth Great Uncle!”

  “Many thanks Great Uncle Han!”

  When the scholar and the large man heard this, they accepted the small bottles with repeated thanks. They both appeared pleased beyond expectation.

  Han Li nodded his head and took another look around. Then with a curious expression, he asked, “From how you two recognized me, it seems there should be a portrait of me left behind. If it is in the ancestral shrine, could you let me take a look at it and tell me who drew it?”

  The scholar immediately replied, “The portrait is actually on this floor. Please wait a moment.”

  He walked up to what seemed to be a common wall and gave it a push. With a creak and a thud, a portion of the wall flipped over to reveal six suspended silk portraits.

  Han Li stepped forward and examined the portraits with complete stillness. He saw the image of a smiling seventeen year old youth. It was a portrait of Han Li from long ago.

  The middle-aged scholar stood behind Han Li and gave an explanation with a soft voice, “It was said that this portrait was given to our Han Clan by the deceased Li Clan Ancestor. However, no one knows of its creator.”

  As if he hadn’t heard, Han Li’s gaze shifted several times and it fell on to a portrait of Han Li’s father wearing noble clothing. Although he appeared far more aged than when Han Li left the village, he appeared completely happy.

  A trace of sadness appeared on Han Li’s face. He then swept his gaze past each of the other portraits.

  The other portraits where all of white-haired old men. It took him quite some effort before he could match their appearances with his brothers as he remembered them. He felt a flood of emotions storm within his heart as he stood in place.