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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Han Li continued weighing his options as he considered the danger of dealing with the Purple-lined Scorpions versus what there was to gain. After all, he would have to reveal his abilities to see through spatial tears in order to take the other path. As it was his most crucial ability for guiding him through the valley, he wouldn’t tell it to others unless it was absolutely necessary.

  While Han Li pondered with a lowered head, Lu Weiying stood in place with a gloomy expression, his fear betrayed from his eyes. Marquis Nanlong also glanced at the mountain with the Purple-lined Scorpions with a wavering expression.

  For a time, the three floated in place without knowing whether to advance or retreat.

  After a long silence, Han Li’s expression stirred and he lifted his head to reveal a slight smile. Although Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying appeared absentminded, they were closely paying attention to the actions of their companions and noticed Han Li’s movements.

  Marquis Nanlong immediately turned his head to look at Han Li and asked, “What? Could it be that Brother Han has a good idea?” A trace of hope could be heard from his tone.

  Lu Weiying also turned to look at Han Li with excitement. However, Han Li didn’t immediately reply. Instead, he grasped his storage pouch, taking out a small green bottle. He asked, “Have you two Fellow Daoists heard of the Ten Supreme Poisons?”

  Startled, Lu Weiying said, “The Ten Supreme Poisons? I heard that they possessed an inconceivable toxicity. Even if cultivators like us were to make contact with those poisons, we could come to an immediate end. I have heard that Wei Wuya mainly cultivates venomous techniques, allowing him to utilize one of the Ten Supreme Poisons, Corpse Venom. When other cultivators fight him, they dare not get too close to him or they risk perishing without warning.“

  Marquis Nanlong looked at the small bottle in Han Lil’s hand and quickly said, “However, I heard that a few of the Ten Supreme Poisons had other miraculous uses apart from their deadly applications. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han has one of these poisons?”

  Han Li raised the small bottle and explained, “It seems there is no need for me to say anything. As you’ve already guessed, this bottle contains one of the Ten Supreme Poisons, Jadedove. It is said that this poison is refined from the saliva of a demon bird with a jade beak.”

  “Brother Han means to say...” A trace of happiness appeared on Lu Weiying’s face.

  Han Li promptly answered, “The Purple-lined Scorpions may be durable, but so long as we use the poison to draw them away from the mountains, it will give us the opportunity to entirely avoid them.”

  “How can we draw them away with the poison? Oh, hehe. I forgot that Fellow Daoist was skilled in puppet techniques. Smearing a few puppets with the poison should be enough to attract the scorpions.” At that moment Marquis Nanlong smiled.

  Once that was said, Han Li’s expression remained unchanged as he mused, ‘Marquis Nanlong speaks of the matter quite easily and has pushed it completely onto me with only a few words. Especially since his Eternal Flight Orioles would do just as well. Last time, several of my puppets were destroyed in the fight against the huge python.’

  Although Han Li felt somewhat dissatisfied, he calmly nodded. Because this was but a small matter, he wasn’t willing to have a falling out over it. After all, they were still only halfway to their objective, and the poison was originally one of the treasures left behind by Master Cang Kun after all.

  With Han Li’s medicinal experience, he was able to recognize the poison with a single sniff and had immediately put it away. Now that he thought about it, it was quite possible that Master Cang Kun had left behind the poison in preparation to deal with the Purple-lined Scorpions.

  However, it seemed excessively affectionate and out of character for Master Cang Kun to scheme every step for his descendants to acquire treasure. Having recalled Master Cang Kun’s ruins, he remembered the portrait of the three-headed six-armed demon beast, feeling that there was something mysterious about it. Since Marquis Nanlong had previously said that he was a descendant of Master Cang Kun, he should know something of it.

  But regardless of whatever was amiss, Han Li was only concerned with acquiring the core of the Ancient Flame Toad. He wouldn’t involve himself in matters that didn’t concern him and risk attracting problems to himself.

  As Han Li came to this conclusion, his hands continued to move. With a casual slap of his storage pouch, he summoned five streaks of light from his storage pouch, revealing themselves to be huge ape puppets.

  Han Li promptly took out several small jade bottles and poured a drop of the Jadedove poison into each of them before properly sealing the bottles. He then gave them to the ape puppets to tightly grasp.

  Then under the guidance of Marquis Nanlong, Han Li ordered his huge ape puppets to silently make their way to the left mountaintop.

  After they made it part of the way, Han Li turned to his party and said, “Let us set out too. We can’t be too far away from the puppets. When the puppets attract the scorpions, we’ll have to move as quickly as possible across the mountain or we may miss our chance.”

  Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying raised no objections and closely followed after the ape puppets alongside him.

  Soon, the ape puppets arrived at the mountain peak with Han Li and the others a couple kilometers away in concealment. At that moment, the puppets used the entirety of their strength to crush the small bottles in their hands.

  Suddenly, a putrid smell immediately spread through the mountain and the ape puppets flew off to one side of the mountain.

  Chapter 818: Lava

  Although Han Li’s plan seemed reasonable, it wasn’t guaranteed that the poison would have any effect. As a matter of fact, Han Li wasn’t completely certain of the poison itself. After all, everything he knew of the Ten Supreme Poisons was from records. He hadn’t personally experienced them.

  A moment later, any doubts the three cultivators possessed were completely banished. When the huge ape puppets had flown a hundred meters, the previously still mountain was filled with bewildered screams.

  As soon as Han Li heard them, he suddenly felt the Qi and blood in his body roil while his minded cloud over; he nearly fell from the sky. In his alarm, he hastily circulated the entirety of the spiritual Qi in his body and stopped himself from falling. He then turned his head to look at his party members with his Brightsight Eyes. They weren’t in any better shape and their bodies also shook several times before they managed to recover.

  Han Li frowned, overwhelmed with shock. That strange scream attack hadn’t targeted his spiritual sense but the Qi that the body possessed. Despite how powerful his spiritual sense was, it had no method of blocking this scream attack. It came as a surprise to him that the Purple-lined Scorpions possessed this innate ability. It was clear to see that the records didn’t describe everything.

  As Han Li was mulling over what had happened, he saw ten or so purple-black streaks shoot out from the mountain and chase after the huge ape puppets in a blur. In that moment, Han Li hastily ordered the puppets to fly at their greatest speed and tear through the sky in streaks of white light.

  Although it was only for an instant, Han Li was able to roughly see the purple-black streaks. In addition to their astonishing three-meter-long bodies, they had a pair of transparent wings and a purple-black carapace that shined with light. Aside from their size and wings, they appeared completely the same as an ordinary scorpion.

  The scorpion at the very front of the swarm was twice as large as the others, appearing to be their leader. With the dreadful appearance of yellow mist trailing from its mouth, Han Li couldn’t help but stare at it.

  The huge apes were clearly slower than the purple insects, but they had a head start. They drew the Purple-lined Scorpions away for the time being and soon became black dots in the distance.

  Soon, Han Li loudly shouted, “Go! Some of the puppets have already been caught in restrictions. They will be overtaken soon.” As soon as that
was said, Han Li ceased concealing himself and shot forward, streaking through the air. His other two party members immediately set out after him, making their way to the mountaintop.

  All three knew that if they didn’t rush past the mountain in this instant, it would be extremely troublesome given the speed of the Purple-lined Scorpions. Fortunately, they all moved quickly. Even without using the Thunderstorm Wings, Han Li was able to fly towards the mountain in the blink of an eye with his deeper cultivation.

  At that moment, he felt the connections to his ape puppets disappear one by one. Dread filling his heart, Han Li sped past the scorpions’ nest.

  When the cultivators made it to the other side of the mountain, they felt a wave of relief.

  Marquis Nanlong smiled and said, “Fortunately, thanks to Brother Han’s Jadedove Poison and his puppets, we were able to make it past that trial. It would’ve been quite a hassle otherwise.”

  Han Li looked at Marquis Nanlong and calmly said, “It was nothing. It was only a matter of chance.” Han Li skirted over the matter, knowing that the Jadedove Poison was originally something that Master Cang Kun had left behind.

  Lu Weiying also complimented Han Li for easily resolving the matter. Han Li smiled and muttered a few words in response before heading on their way.

  After continuing on for half a day without anything else happening, the temperature in the air began to rise.

  The mountain ridge also became verdant as they continued forward, a stark contrast to the barren land that had surrounded them before.

  Eventually, they arrived at a point where even the mountain rocks had become a fire-red color. A few of the nearby mountains even had cracks glowing with lava scattered across them that released burning air and grey ash like a prison of scorching earth.

  Han Li and Lu Weiying revealed surprise upon seeing this, but Marquis Nanlong remained calm as he knew that they hadn’t deviated from the path.

  Not long after, the three arrived at a huge red mountain that was over ten kilometers tall. Most of the mountain was covered in glowing red clouds and was surrounded by much smaller mountains, making it appear far more prominent.

  When Marquis Nanlong saw the mountain, he stopped flying and the light surrounding him vanished. Han Li and the old man glanced at each other with excitement, knowing that they had arrived.

  Marquis Nanlong let out a long sigh and he turned around, saying, “Fellow Daoists, there is a cave below the mountain, which is the nest of the Ancient Flame Toad and where the ancient cultivator remains reside. It is said that the creature is powerful. Let’s talk about how we should deal with it.”

  “Below the mountain?” Han Li raised his brow when he heard this and he soon spread out his spiritual sense. As expected, there was a huge fire-red cave inside the mountain that occasionally released waves of burning winds. Fearing that any further prying would alert the flame toad within, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense.

  Lu Weiying quickly said, “What is there to discuss? Fellow Daoist Han will take charge with his ice attribute techniques and we will provide support in slaying the flame toad.”

  “Brother Lu, this matter isn’t so simple. According to Cang Kun’s records, the Ancient Flame Toad’s nest is half submerged in lava. The beast will be able to flee into the lava when it is injured and quickly recover. Additionally, we will not have the advantage in that environment. Our best plan of action would be to place down a spell formation and draw the toad out of its nest. I have prepared an ice-attribute spell formation precisely for this reason.”

  Lu Weiying raised no objections after hearing the Marquis and Han Li didn’t find anything amiss about it either. With their plan of attack decided, they began to make preparations. In addition to Marquis Nanlong’s formation, Han Li also placed down his own spell formations to deal with any unexpected occurrences.

  With that done, the cultivators concealed themselves as they waited for Han Li to lure the flame toad out of its cave.

  Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took out his remaining white wolf puppet. He then sat down near the edge of the spell formation and sent the puppet into the mountain cave.

  Chapter 819: Lure

  Controlling the puppet with a trace of his spiritual sense, Han Li was able to clearly see the entirety of the cave’s interior.

  There was a natural made tunnel that was about thirty meters long ahead of the wolf puppet. The stone walls were black and red and there were occasional threads of flame that leaked through cracks, causing the nearby air to be warped by heat. Han Li was convinced that if weaker cultivators were to enter the passage, they wouldn’t be able to defend against the heat and would shortly lose consciousness.

  Since the white wolf was a mechanical puppet, the problem didn’t apply to it. Not long after, it arrived in an underground world of red.

  The area was a kilometer wide, but a majority of it was submerged in boiling lava. The sound of the it splattering inspired a fear of being boiled alive.

  Surrounding the lake was glowing scarlet ground that was covered in sparse greenery. The plants came as a surprise, but it was clear to see that it was a rare type of spirit grass. However, the white wolf puppet showed no interest in the spirit grass and focused on a protrusion in the lava.

  The monster was currently lying on its back and was loudly breathing in its sleep. Its body was ten meters wide, nearly twenty meters long. With the addition of its glowing fire-red body, it possessed an unordinary aura. Occasionally when the beast breathed, it would release a cloud of red mist around itself.

  ‘This must be the Ancient Flame Toad!’ Han Li was able to clearly see the beast and carefully examined it for a long while. Afterwards, he turned his attention towards the stone platform jutting from the Lava Lake.

  The stone platform appeared ancient. Although the platform’s surroundings were caved with many decorative designs and talisman characters, its four corners were already worn down. At the center of the platform, were the remains of a green-robed cultivator, haphazardly lying down.

  The robes were simple but had a strange style. At a glance, one could tell they weren’t clothes from a modern cultivator. Additionally, despite the years that had passed, the gown still appeared new as it glowed with a faint green light. The remains inside the robes had long rotted away, only revealing translucent bones as clear as crystal.

  Having closely examined the remains, Han Li glanced at the Ancient Flame Toad before withdrawing his strand of spiritual sense from the puppet and having the spiritual sense sneak towards the remains.

  He decided to first take a look at whether or not the body possessed any treasures. At first glance, he wasn’t able to discover the existence or any treasures or a storage pouch on the body, much to his worry. However, it was possible the treasures were hidden near the stone platform or were perhaps hidden inside the green robes.

  The strand of spiritual sense arrived above the remains, but when it sank down to them, a change occurred. The green robes brightly shone and created a barrier of green light around it, repelling the strand of spiritual sense and causing a wave of odd spiritual Qi fluctuations nearby.

  The sleeping Ancient Flame Toad seemed to detect this and quickly opened its eyes, glancing around to find the white wolf puppet at the cave’s entrance.

  ‘Not good!’ Han Li shouted in his mind. The strand of spiritual sense immediately returned to the wolf puppet and the puppet hastily turned around and fled in a streak of white light.

  At that same time, the round flame toad flipped over and leaped into the air before landing on a huge rock in a crouched position. It glanced at the white wolf’s afterimage and furiously croaked. Soon after, it pounced off the rock and chased after the puppet while enveloped in a red mist.

  “The Ancient Flame Toad is on its way. Be on guard.” Hidden near the spell formation, Han Li’s lips moved as he sent a voice transmission to his two party members. Their faces froze as they glanced at the mountain from a distance.

  A
white streak shot out from within and directly flew towards the party of cultivators. A moment later, a ball wrapped in red mist flew out from the cave, closely chasing after it. Its speed was just as fast as an early Nascent Soul cultivator.

  Han Li’s expression stirred at the sight of this. Fortunately, the white wolf puppet was specialized in speed, otherwise it might not have been able to lure it out.

  With that thought, Han Li willed the wolf puppet to rush at full power without regard to the puppet’s integrity. Afterwards, he flipped his hand to summon a ball of blue flame into his palm.

  When the other two cultivators saw this, they prepared their magic treasures with serious expressions as they quietly waited next to the spell formations.

  While the distance between the cultivators and the huge mountain appeared great, the white streak and the ball of fire-red mist crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. A stern expression then appeared on Han Li’s face as the blue flame in his palm roiled, growing larger.

  But when the white streak arrived near the spell formation and was just about to rush inside, the flame toad seemed to grow impatient. It loudly croaked and spat out a scarlet fireball while it was still over a hundred meters away.

  When the fireball left its mouth, it wasn’t even the size of a head, but when it reached ten meters out, it suddenly expanded to a gigantic size and overtook the white wolf puppet in a storm of raging flames. Soon, the puppet released a muffled explosion from within the flames.

  The flames traveled incredibly quickly and not even a single trace of the puppet remained behind.

  Han Li was shaken by the sight of this. The toad’s demonic flames were at least an entire level beyond a cultivator’s Nascent Flame. He grew doubtful about whether or not his Celestial Ice Flames would be able to restrain it, but he wasn’t too worried. After all, he still had two even more ferocious methods to slay the beast: the Purple Apex Flames and the Aureate Sword Formation.

  Not to mention that he would be able to slay the beast if he released all the Core Formation grade puppets he possessed, but in doing so, he would take a massive loss. The puppets would likely prove far more useful in other situations.