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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Just as the room became silent and even somewhat grave, three people walked into the room one after another, instantly catching the attention of these old eccentrics.

  There was a large black-robed old man, a green-haired old man, and a cultivator with a sword on his back.

  Han Li’s expression remained calm, but he felt his heart began to thump. These three were the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South, the only late Nascent Soul-stage cultivators on the continent. They were all over a thousand years old. With a few exceptions, a majority of the people present managed to retain their calm like Han Li and waited for the three to begin speaking.

  Chapter 758: A Fatal Wager

  The three slowly walked towards the center of the hall and stood side by side. The large black-robed man with a sinister appearance spoke with a frigid tone, “You should all know who we are. There should be no need for introductions. This meeting will be presided by us three. Are there any objections?”

  Once he was finished, his body sudden emitted a huge spiritual pressure, enveloping the entire room. When the cultivators in the room felt these profound spiritual Qi fluctuations, their expressions changed one after another.

  Han Li felt a wave of astonishment from this person’s amazing power. From his icy, demonic aura, he should be the Old Devil Concord. This old devil’s appearance was different from what he had imagined. In fact, his appearance was more in line with a cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect.

  Unbeknownst to Han Li, each successive generation of the Harmonious Bond Sect grand elder was titled as the Old Devil Concord. Although the large black-robed man cultivated a devilish technique that had little relation to the Harmonious Bond Sect, he had no choice but to adopt the title.

  At that moment, the others sensed the fearsomeness of the large man. Although they felt somewhat ill at ease, none of them dared to foolishly challenge the authority of the three great cultivators. For a time, silence reigned in the entire room as if in tacit approval of Old Devil Concord’s previous words.

  The large black-robed man expressionlessly said, “Good, since there are no objections, there will be no need to speak any rubbish. To tell the truth, we do not have the time. This morning, the Moulan had sent an envoy delivering an official challenge of war. If we do not comply with their conditions, there will be a battle to death in seven days.”

  An uproar occurred within the hall. “A challenge of war? Seven days? What conditions?”

  The sword-bearing Daoist chuckled and calmly said, “Brother Yi’s words are correct. Everyone should first look over the Moulan’s challenge of war before we discuss a plan with how to deal with them. Although the war is coming earlier than we anticipated, with the abilities of everyone present, do we still have anything to fear from the Moulan?”

  Although his voice wasn’t very loud, it was clearly heard by everyone in the room, leaving a calming chill on their hearts. The other cultivators felt alarmed by this sensation, but their uproar immediately cased. Rather, there was somewhat who muttered, “Sure enough, Great Truth Sect’s Meditative Arts are the way to do it.”

  The middle-aged Daoist ignored those contemptuous words and took out a glistening red jade slip before casually tossing it to an old man across from him. He smiled and said, “This contains the Moulan’s challenge of war. How about Fellow Daoist take a look?”

  The old man was startled, but he soon swept his spiritual sense into the jade slip. With a sudden change of expression, he gloomily handed it over to the person at his side. As a result, that person’s expression also grew unsightly after curiously reading through it.

  As the war challenge was being passed through the various cultivators, Han Li shot an appraising glance at the sword-bearing, middle-aged Daoist and the azure-robed old man. The Daoist appeared to be about forty years of age but his skin was translucent and pure, and he had a face befitting of a scholar. He was the Righteous Dao Alliance’s Great Truth Sect’s Master Sunreach. As for the old man, he had a very ordinary appearance and plain clothes, revealing nothing particularly of note. But what caught Han Li’s attention was the old man’s long fingernails. They appeared exceptionally sharp and were a purple-black, occasionally shining with a faint black light. This person should be the Nine Nations Union’s Grand Elder Wei Wuya.

  When Wei Wuya sensed Han Li’s gaze, he turned to look at him with a trace of surprise before smiling at him. Han Li awkwardly returned the smile, and he couldn’t help but ponder whether or not he would still smile once he knew of what happened between him and Nangong Wan.

  Just as he pondered this, Long Han had already finished looking through the jade slip and he passed it to Han Li with an unsightly expression. He grew quite curious having seen many people react the same way, and promptly delved his spiritual sense into the jade slip. A short moment later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense with a frown and silently handed it over to another cultivator.

  Not long after, everyone in the room read through the jade slip, each of them wearing an unsightly expression. Some of them even followed with a cold snort once they were done reading.

  The Great Truth Sect’s Master Sunreach asked with a mysterious smile, “Having read through the war challenge, what does everyone think?”

  A green-robed man wearing a sinister expression coldly said, “They are rather arrogant to have us give them half of the Heavenly South Continent. Do they believe victory is already certain?”

  A plump old man wore a sly expression and said, “That’s right. Who was it that said we could end hostilities by merely ceding a few lands? They clearly don’t understand that Moulan are merely hungering vultures. Perhaps we do not need to fight a decisive battle. If we stall them, they may slowly submit to attrition.”

  A large tan man sitting at the plump old man’s side angrily said, “Fellow Daoist Lu, what do you mean by that? Is it because your Thousand Illusions Sect is deep within the Heavenly south that you don’t care whether the rest of our sects live? A war of attrition might mean little to your sect, but how about ours?”

  Without any fear of the large tan man, the pump old man indifferently said, “I was considering others when I said it. Any fallen sects can re-establish themselves, but lives can’t be easily replaced.”

  Anther person coldly said, “Humph! You speak of the matter quite simply. If our countries were abandoned, for what reason would we block the Moulan armies on behalf of your Devil Dao sects? We should simply move all of our sects into your State of Tianluo; that way, nobody will die.”

  “You...”

  “That’s enough. We’ve already come to a conclusion of the matter of a war of attrition and we won’t discuss it further. Now we must discuss how to deal with the armies of the Moulan spell warriors, not fight amongst each other.” The black-robed cultivator grew sullen having heard this and rebuked them.

  When the three heard Devil Concord, they all wanted object, but they obediently obeyed and kept silent. In the cultivation world, strength spoke the loudest.

  Master Sunreach solemnly added, “In truth, it isn’t necessary for you three to discuss the matter. We’ve already come to a decision. With the momentum of the Moulan armies and interference from outsiders, a war of attrition is impossible. If we do not gather together a majority of the Heavenly South’s power, we will be incapable of defending against the Moulan’s attack. If only a single country’s forces were to meet them, it would result in immediate defeat. Then when they are finished, they will most likely move on to the next of us. As a result, we must scatter the ranks of the Moulan in battle. We cannot rely on chance.”

  A quick series of whispers interrupted the silence, only for it to quickly return.

  Soon, the Controlling Spirit Sect’s Dongmen Tu shifted his gaze and asked, “Why not have the Moulan to reveal whatever tricks are first up their sleeve? Why must we first risk having a wagered battle, and with such a heavy stake as well? There are materials that even we cannot put up on wager. Isn’t there even more to be
said about the destitute Moulan?”

  Another cultivator then explained, “We know of this well. The Moulan Plains may be truly , impoverished, but what they lack in common resources such as spirit stone mines, they are compensated by the rare materials located there. There are even a few rare materials that they possess in greater quantities than we do.”

  Wearing a pensive expression, Dongmen Tu slowly said, “So it was like that. However, why is it that they are so confident of victory in this wagered battle. In addition to the late Nascent Soul cultivators, there are other cultivators that may join in this wagered as well. Up to ten wagered battles, all to the death. Could it be that they believe that we will simply abide by these terms?”

  Given the cunning of the characters in the room, they all knew the Moulan put forward this risky battle with some scheme or trick in mind. They couldn’t help but ponder with unease.

  Han Li was also puzzled by this. The war challenge clearly stated that the proposed battle will have both sides send their own forces and make no use of any dirty handed methods. Instead, the cultivators that battle will be able to directly wager their rare materials in battle, and the winner could directly seize the loser’s storage pouch.

  What was particularly suspicious was that the war challenge also stated that these ten wagered matches must be held simultaneously, and any cultivators that are defeated will be incapable of running; they will die on stage. For this reason, the wagered battles will be held in a sealed spatial barrier. This barrier will be guarded by people on both sides, preventing either side from tampering with the battle.

  “However, regardless of any tricks the Moulan may hold, this will prove to be a great opportunity for us. If we are able to kill a few high grade spell warriors before our armies fight, it will be of great benefit to us.”

  “Humph. I fear the Moulan holds the same intentions as you do.” The hesitantly spoken statement was immediately rebuked.

  Old Man Kuang of the Sailing Boundaries Study disdainfully said, “What is there to think about. If the Moulan wishes to hold a wagered battle, we don’t need to accept. In seven days, we will lay out our own arrangements. As a result, their plans will result in nothing.”

  Master Sunreach sighed and helplessly said, “Unfortunately, while Brother Kuang’s words are reasonable, we are required to participate in this wagered battle, and we must win.”

  Old Man Kuang frowned and discontentedly said, “What? What does Master Sunreach mean? We cannot allow ourselves to be led by the nose by the Moulan!”

  Many of the other eccentrics in the room nodded in agreement.

  Chapter 759: A Lure

  Master Sunreach sullenly said, “We are well aware that there is something suspicious about this, but the Moulan had captured many cultivators on their warpath, a majority of them being Nine Nations Union cultivators. And in the process of providing assistance, many of sect disciples have also been captured. The envoy stated that they have about a thousand captives in total.”

  In his alarm, Old Man Kuang immediately asked, “What did they say? Are they going to execute the captives if we do not agree to their conditions? Are the Moulan not afraid of our retaliation?”

  Master Sunreach quickly replied, “The envoy didn’t state as such. However, he did speak of a chance to rescue these cultivators. In addition to the materials that were wagered for each of the ten wagered battles, each battle will wager the freedom of a hundred captive cultivators.”

  The eccentrics in the hall looked at each other in dismay. A thousand cultivators aren’t particularly many and they will most likely be low grade cultivators. There wasn’t a need to save them, but if someone were to propose to abandon them, they would become the butt of criticism.

  While these cultivators didn’t personally care about these captives, they were the representatives of various sects and clans of all sizes. There were particularly many cultivators that were captured in an attempt to slow down the Moulan armies. If they didn’t rescue them, the morale of their forces would plummet, and the low grade cultivators were feel particularly disappointed and few of them would fight with all of their strength. The other cultivators inwardly swore at the Moulan for their cunning.

  Long Han agreed with a sigh, “Who would thought these grassland savages would be able to act so cleverly. They hardly used any strategy in their previous invasions, but now they act with complete guile. We can’t help but feel somewhat uneasy at this sudden change.”

  Master Sunreach swept his gaze across the room and solemnly said, “It seems that everyone realizes that this battle is something that we cannot refuse. Regardless of what they are planning, we must defeat the spell warriors in this battle, else it will strike at our morale. Moreover, this wagered battle seems to lack any tricks. They most likely hold other intentions. As a result, you Fellow Daoists need not worry about suffering any unexpected mishaps. If you have any doubts, we’ll personally put a stop to these battles. Of course, since this is a battle to the death, we will not force anyone to join.”

  ‘This is voluntary?’ When the eccentrics heard this, they coldly smiled and their eyes glinted as they remained silent.

  Nobody was so foolish to accept. Even if there was nothing suspicious about these wagered battles, there were none wished to fight to the death. After all, one had to strenuously cultivate for several hundreds of years in order to reach this current stage of cultivation. They wouldn’t easily expose oneself to danger.

  Han Li also remained silent. Although he didn’t mind exerting a bit of strength to fight in the war, he didn’t wish to brave any unnecessary risks. In that last battle at the Yellow Dragon Mountains, he had nearly lost his life; he didn’t wish to relive the experience.

  Old Devil Concord grew sullen at everyone’s silence and coldly snorted. The bone-chilling sound caused the seated cultivators to feel a chill down their back. However, these cultivators still decided to remain silent.

  Master Sunreach shook his head at the sight and also revealed a trace of helplessness. Wei Wuya also narrowed his eyes and said not a word.

  Master Sunreach didn’t allow this awkward silence to continue and said, “Before we arrived, we had a bit of a discussion. Since these wagered battles will prove dangerous, we have decided that any of the spoils gained from these battles will belong solely to the victor. Doesn’t this somewhat make up for the danger?

  To the best of my knowledge, you Fellow Daoists should be lacking some rare materials, materials that you’ve been unable to find. We have some in our collection that we are able to persuade you with.” Once this was said, his gaze swept past the room once more and his gaze stopped upon Han Li.

  Han Li felt his heart tremble and he felt somewhat puzzled. The other cultivators in the room felt the same. Although the sword-bearing Daoist had mentioned some alluring conditions, much to the temptations to those present, none took the initiative to step forward and participate in the wagered battle.

  But at that moment, Wei Wuya suddenly turned his head towards Daoist Shattered Soul and began to send him a voice transmission. The despondent Daoist Shattered Soul suddenly sat straight and wore an expression of delight. He then began to silently move his lips and converse with Wei Wuya through voice transmission.

  A short moment later, Daoist Shattered Soul’s expression wavered with hesitation. At that same moment, Devil Concord began to send a voice transmission.

  Devil Cloudpart appeared completely aloof since he had entered the hall, but when he heard his sect’s grand elder’s voice transmission, he immediately frowned with a gloomy expression. It was unknown what was said to him.

  After a moment of thought, Daoist Shattered Soul eventually said, “Fine. So long as you uphold what was agreed. I don’t mind braving danger just this once.” When the others heard this, they were absolutely stunned.

  Then, Devil Cloudpart said, “Since Fellow Daoist Shattered Soul is participating, I will go as well. It would be truly unfortunate if these rare materials were lost t
o me.” The old devil coldly smiled, but a trace of anger could faintly be seen from his face.

  The other cultivators glanced at each other. Although they didn’t say anything, they were deeply startled. Regardless of what had convinced the two, it caused all the others to feel ill at ease.

  As expected, the three great cultivators each began to send voice transmissions to cultivators in the hall one after another. Most of these cultivators would happily or worriedly agree to fight in the wagered in the battle. There were only two that coldly shook their head and refused.

  When Han Li saw this, various thoughts began to swirl through his mind. But at that moment, Master Sunreach’s voice had reached his ear. “Fellow Daoist Han, I heard that you were currently searching for a large quantity of Auric Essence. Is this true?”

  When Han Li heard this, he felt his heart pound. It was no surprise that he knew of this. His request of the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s search for auric essence wasn’t a secret affair.

  After calming his heart, Han Li said, “That’s right. I require some Auric Essence in order to refine my magic treasure. Could if be that Fellow Daoist Sunreach has a large amount of it?”

  Master Sunreach chuckled with a grin. “Fellow Daoist Han guessed correctly. Fellow Daoist Wei and I have each acquired a large chunk of Auric Essence. Its quantity should be enough for Fellow Daoist to use. Are you interested?”

  After pondering to himself for a moment, he non-committedly replied, “I would like to first see if the Auric Essence is to my satisfaction before I consider fighting.”

  Master Sunreach agreed with a smile. In such a brief amount of time, five cultivators had agreed to fight. They were all like Han Li. It was only after some thought that they readily agreed. But even as hesitant as they were, their responses were to Master Sunreach’s satisfaction. He then promptly ceased his voice transmissions and began to make arrangements with how the Moulan armies should be dealt with.