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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Han Li continuously looked around as he flew, but came to a sudden stop as he looked forward and frowned. But his expression soon returned to normal and he continued flying forward, his speed unconsciously having slowed.

  After flying over three hundred meters, Han Li stopped and glanced into the distance. There was a white arc of light suspended in the air, that was about three meters long and in the shape of a crescent. The arc of light was completely still and lacked any aura.

  Han Li closely examined the light arc and he swept his hand against the air, sending a streak of azure sword Qi towards it.

  Azure light ruptured in an explosion. As soon as the azure Qi and the light arc contacted each other, the azure Qi immediately disappeared as if devoured by the light arc. In contrast, the light arc appeared completely untouched.

  Han Li nodded. It appeared this was a so-called spatial tear.

  If they were all as visible as this one, they should be easy to avoid, but the indistinct ones were troublesome to deal with. Since he had encountered a spatial tear promptly after arriving in the valley, it only illustrated how prevalent they were. If he weren't careful, he would be certain to suffer.

  Han Li felt a chill as he thought this and his body blurred. He flew a large arc around the spatial tear and continued on his way without paying it any further attention.

  Unbeknownst to Han Li, over fifty kilometers away a fat old man was staring at a foot-long arc of light. He muttered, “How very dangerous, to think that I teleported to the side of a spatial tear. If I had teleported thirty meters closer to it, I may have died. It appears I must take extra care. There must be innumerable spatial tears in Devilfall Valley.”

  The old man’s complexion had paled after noticing the tear, but he soon turned his attention to his surroundings. Confirming with his spiritual sense that there were no other dangers, he got his bearings and flew off.

  But just as he flew twenty meters away, an arc of white light suddenly appeared in his path. Before he could even scream, his body was split into two and filled the air with blood as both pieces fell to the ground. His face still wore an expression of disbelief.

  Just as soon as the spatial tear had lit up, it slowly faded away and vanished from sight. If anyone else were to come, they would have no way of knowing that it existed.

  In another area, three green-robed cultivators were flying back and forth around a pile of rubble. But regardless of the direction they flew, they were always blocked by a barrier of rainbow light when they reached a hundred meters out.

  A large man with a large blade scar on his face couldn’t help but shout, “This won’t work! We won’t be able to leave. Those Ghost Spirit Sect wretches actually teleported us into this restriction. When we get out, we will have a proper discussion with them.”

  A cultivator with high cheekbones stopped in the air and snorted. He coldly said, “Worry less. What does the Ghost Spirit Sect have to fear from a small sect like ours? Remember that from the start they said the teleportation was random and that if we were teleported into a spatial tear, we could only blame our luck. It is fortunate that although this restriction is powerful, it isn’t an offensive type. We should be able to slowly whittle away at it and escape.”

  The scarred man shook his head and said, “But as a result, the other treasures in the valley will have already been taken. With our cultivation, we will only be able to search the outer valley for treasures. It would only be suicide to search the inner valley. We had to spend the entirety of our wealth in order to buy those Devilfall Medallions.”

  After some hesitation, the high-cheeked cultivator said, “If that’s the case, then let’s destroy the restriction by force. Although it appears this restriction is somewhat profound, it is something located in the outer valley. It shouldn’t prove to be powerful beyond reach. Although we might lose a bit of our magic power, we’ll manage to get out.”

  The final member of their group, a tanned cultivator, paused in thought and eventually nodded. “Fine. Then so be it. Second Brother, you have an offensive-type magic treasure. We’ll have to rely on you. Both of us will be assisting to the side.”

  “It is best to leave this matter to me. With only a few blows, I’ll get rid of this wretched thing.” The large man was roused by these words and spat out a ball of yellow light. It was a small, finely cut stone block that was only an inch long.

  The large man formed a hand incantation and pointed at the block. Suddenly, the stone block surged through the air and grew to a meter in length.

  The other two then released a red and white streak of light, revealing them to be two sparkling flying swords.

  Chapter 809: Matters Unfolding

  “Go!” The loud man roared. The stone block revolved once in the air and struck the rainbow light barrier in a burst of light. The two swords transformed into streaks of light and followed after the stone block.

  As expected, the stone block magic treasure was exceptional. Before it even struck, it carried the faint sounds of a storm. Soon, a booming explosion sounded out, accompanied by a pulse of various colored light while the nearby earth swayed.

  When the other two saw the stone block’s might, they wore a hopeful smile, but their smiles soon froze on their faces. In the intertwining lights, the rainbow light suddenly grew brighter and suppressed the three magic treasures for a time before they were struck back with a clear ring sounding out from the rainbow light.

  In the three’s alarm, they hastily regained control of their magic treasures and glanced at each other with expressions of dismay. The ferocity of this restriction was far beyond what they had anticipated.

  The large man snorted, but just as he thought to say something further, the rainbow light surrounding them suddenly flashed and turned red. Before the three even realized what was going on, the restriction began to condense clouds of flame, suddenly raising the temperature within the area.

  “What’s going on? Wasn’t this restriction not supposed to be an offensive-type?” The scarred-large man shouted in alarm, but the other two weren’t able to answer him. The fiery clouds above them had already begun to press down on them.

  In that moment, the hooded member amongst the three began to summon magic treasures all around his body in an attempt to protect himself. He also slapped several talismans on his body, forming various colored barriers twinkling around him.

  The fiery clouds then engulfed the three. Soon, three miserable screams were heard, only for silence to follow shortly afterwards.

  A moment later, the fire cloud disappeared and the light barrier turned back to normal. There was no one amongst the rubble, only three magic treasures shining with greatly dimmed radiance.

  While there weren’t many cultivators that had encountered such misfortune when they first entered Devilfall Valley, over half of them that did had died. Whenever one encountered misfortune in the valley, they immediately feared for their life. There was even a Nascent Soul Elder of a mid-grade sect that perished as a result of a spatial tear in a moment of carelessness.

  Ignorant of what had happened to the various other cultivators, Han Li was treading with great care regardless. But at that moment, he encountered a pleasant surprise.

  Standing in the air above a wasteland with his hands behind his back, Han Li was glancing below him with eyes that brilliantly flickered with blue light. If someone were to see the blue light shining from his eyes, they would think of him as demonic, not that Han Li would pay them any heed.

  It appeared as if there was nothing in front of him. He found nothing with his spiritual sense either, but with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li was able to spot a meter-long arc of light. It was about forty meters ahead of him and shined with a faint light.

  Han Li took a deep breath and the blue light in his eyes slightly weakened as his expression wavered. He was now completely certain that the Brightspirit Eyes were able to see spatial tears that his spiritual sense wasn’t able to detect.

  This pleasan
t surprise justified the large quantity of green liquid he had used to create the Brightsight Spirit Water over the years. As a result, he was now able to cleanly avoid the most common danger in Devilfall Valley. The sole problem was that he could only detect spatial tears when using the ability to its fullest extent. He would overlook a spatial tear if he were even slightly careless.

  As for the magic power consumption of the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, it wasn’t much to speak of. However, it would be troublesome if Marquis Nanlong noticed something strange about his eyes after he met up with him. Han Li didn’t wish for others to know about this ability.

  Han Li lowered his head in thought, and something soon came to mind. He slapped his storage pouch and he took out a cloak that sparkled with azure light. This cloak wasn’t ordinary clothing; it was a top grade magic tool that Han Li had acquired in the war.

  This item had no other function than to conceal one’s face, preventing any others from looking at one's true appearance. Of course, this effect didn’t need a continuous supply of magic power and it wouldn’t work against those with a far higher cultivation than him. Apart from the Moulan Divine Sage and Wei Wuya, there shouldn’t be anyone that was capable of seeing through it.

  After properly wearing the cloak, Han Li took another glance at the indistinct spatial tear and flew past it in a streak of azure light.

  ...

  In a dense forest with trees reaching into the sky, there was a tall woman with a common appearance that was currently flying around the forest at a low altitude. While her face wasn’t particularly special, her eyes were exceptionally bright and clear. She occasionally glanced around as if looking for something.

  After a short time, the woman eventually passed through the forest and arrived at the other end. She came to a sudden stop with an expression of surprise.

  “It seems this isn’t the place. The signs left behind by the Ghost Spirit Sect Elder aren’t here. It should be in another place. But to have me find the Spirit Kindle Fruit and wait for him, does he have other goals inside Devilfall Valley?” The woman then raised her head and glanced towards the yellow sky. Her eyes seemed vacant as if she were absorbed in her thoughts.

  Suddenly, her expression stirred and she shot back into the forest in a blur. She concealed her presence with several techniques, hid below a huge tree, and then remained completely still.

  She saw three different colored streaks of light flying across the distance. Their speed wasn’t fast, but it was clear that there were three old men travelling together.

  In an instant, the three streaks of light arrived above the forest. The silver-haired old man amongst them sensed something and glanced down toward the woman’s hiding spot.

  “What? Has Brother Cheng discovered something?” A purple-robed old man with a wrinkled face asked.

  The silver-haired old man replied, “Its nothing. There’s just a Core Formation woman hidden down below in the forest. It seems she doesn’t wish to meet anybody.”

  The purple-robed old man couldn’t help but excitedly ask, “Since this woman is being so careful, could it be there are some treasures hidden inside?”

  The third old man whose face was covered with azure Qi calmly said, “Brother Lin must be dreaming. This forest has no trace of a restriction, and there is only a Core Formation cultivator below us and it’s a woman at that! Given how dangerous Devilfall Valley is, it is only natural for her to avoid us. Let’s not involve ourselves and continue our search for treasure. We had best look for the treasures in the outer valley quickly or we will have to head into the valley’s depths.”

  The retort hadn’t angered the purple-robed old man. Instead, he smiled and agreed, “Brother Ou’s words hold reason. We don’t need to pay any attention to the female cultivator. We can travel faster through this wretched place but we still cannot use our full speed. We won’t be able to search through such a large area in a short amount of time. We can’t waste our time.” The silver-haired old man also nodded and they flew past the dense forest.

  When the woman saw that they left, she carefully walked out of the forest and glanced in the direction that they flew off in. Violet Spirit muttered to herself, “That silver-haired old man should be Brother Han’s Senior Martial Brother. I didn’t expect to find him here. Fortunately, it was only a false alarm.”

  She and Han Li had agreed that she would first seek out traces related of the Spirit Kindle Fruit in the outer valley. Afterwards, they would meet up and search for the Spirit Kindle Fruit together. Violet Spirit had originally agreed to this condition with delight, but had felt somewhat puzzled by Han Li’s condition. However, she knew that his other affairs had nothing to do with her and as such, she didn’t ask too much about the matter.

  As of current, she hadn’t found her target in the forest. She hesitated for a moment before rushing in the direction the three old men had taken.

  In another forest of Devilfall Valley, there were six black-robed Ghost Sect Disciples that were searching through it. Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan were among them. In the forest above, there was a pale old man floating motionlessly in the air. As for the Ghost Spirit Sect Master Wang Tiangu and the other Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, they were nowhere to be seen.

  Suddenly, a cry of alarm echoed through a certain portion of the forest. Soon after, a disciple’s cheery voice arrived at the old man’s ear, “I’ve found it. It’s here!” The old man’s expression stirred and he flew over in a streak of black light.

  When the others heard this, they all rushed towards him.

  “Where?” The old man coldly asked as he stood in the air above the disciple, glancing around.

  The disciple pointed to one of the trees and respectfully said, “Elder Zhong, it’s here.”

  Elder Zhong’s gaze followed the disciple’s finger and he raised his brow. The large tree appeared rather peculiar. Not only did its roots divide into two, but a thick branch extended to either side of it. The tree appeared almost like a huge person.

  The old man nodded and said with a stiff face, “Not bad. This tree could be the one, and if it actually is, we will heavily reward you when we leave the valley.” When the disciple heard this, he hastily replied with delighted thanks.

  Elder Zhong slowly descended and flew twice around the huge tree and then stopped at its side. He stared at it for a moment more and grasped his fingers towards the tree. A trace of black Yin Qi slowly flew out from the tree and shot into his hands.

  Elder Zhong smiled and commanded, “It is truly here. Call for the others to come.”

  As time passed by, the other cultivators in the valley became further scattered. Apart from a few that had a specific objective in mind, they all began to randomly search in hopes of finding treasure.

  But to the disappointment of a majority of the cultivators, only a few were lucky in their search around the outer valley. A majority were left without any gains. As a result, a most of them concluded that the rumors were false and all the true treasures in the valley laid deep in its depths. The more impatient and confident cultivators began to slowly make their way towards the valley’s center.

  As for Han Li, his first day in Devilfall Valley was quite calm. As he traveled, he wasted no time searching for treasures. There was nowhere that was safe. It was quite possible that anywhere he went was protected with restrictions, so he found it best to stay away.

  Although he flew at a slow speed, he gradually grew closer to the location he had agreed upon with Marquis Nanlong, and became aware of his location in the valley.

  Chapter 810: Into the Valley

  On the west side of Devilfall Valley, there was a small brown mountain with two men on top of it. A white-robed old man who had a kind face was sitting cross-legged, while the other was standing. He wore embroidered robes and a tall crown, and his facial hair dropped down to his chest. They were Marquis Nanlong and the Heavenpeak Sect Elder Lu Weiying.

  Marquis Nanlong held both of his hands behind his back as he stood twenty me
ters in front of Lu Weiying. He appeared to be aloofly looking into the distance, but a trace of worry appeared in his eyes.

  Lu Weiying sensed Marquis Nanlong’s worry and said, “Brother Nanlong, there is no need to be so worried. He could have teleported to an area farther away and will take more time to arrive. Did we not personally see him teleport through the spell formation?”

  Marquis Nanlong sighed and turned his head to the old man. With a helpless tone, he said, “Your words aren’t untrue. However, you should also know that the many dangers of Devilfall Valley aren’t easily dealt with, no matter how vast one’s abilities are. We need this person or our journey to Devilfall Valley will be a waste.”

  Lu Weiying opened his eyes and grumbled, “We do need the Yin Yang Ring in order to go through the Greatnorth Essence Lights, but is the Ancient Flame Toad truly that powerful? If it isn’t, we should’ve just taken the ring instead of bringing him along.”

  Marquis Nanlong frowned and said, “I hadn’t personally witnessed how powerful it was, but from Master Cang Kun’s records, it is said to be exceptionally fearsome. It is best that we find a cultivator with the ability to restrain the beast, or it will take too much effort and consume too much of our strength. I don’t want to leave myself open in a place as dangerous as this.”

  After a moment of consideration, Lu Weiying said, “Your words are reasonable. It seems you’ve grown more careful and wary after what happened in the Moulan Plains. But from the records I’ve read about the Ancient Flame Toad, it wasn’t well known in times of antiquity. It was even said that it shouldn’t be very hard to deal with, but since Master Cang Kun had vouched for its formidability, I reckon this beast should be a mutant variant.”