A moment later in the sky above the dense forest, the speck of light flickered and began to fly downwards. As Han Li descended after it, a glint shined within his eyes. When it arrived at the ground, the speck of light spun around a gigantic tree before disappearing into its trunk.
When Han Li saw this, he landed in front of the tree and the light around him faded away. He quickly sized up the tree before pressing his hand against it.
With a muffled bang, green light flashed from where he pressed his palm and an azure talisman floated from the tree. He swiftly grabbed the talisman between his finger and glanced at it with a smile before tossing it into the air.
Woosh. The talisman set itself on fire before streaking into the sky in a fiery red line.
This time, Han Li stood still for a moment and sat cross-legged on the ground before closing his eyes and restoring the magic power he had consumed on his way here.
Not long after, the streak of red light dropped down at an unremarkable corner of the forest. Then another streak of light emerged into the sky and flew towards Han Li’s location.
Before the streak of light arrived, Han Li slowly opened his eyes and watched as it approached.
The streak of light soon arrived. It flew once around Han Li as if verifying his identity and then swooped down. As soon as the streak touched the ground, the light instantly disappeared to reveal a white-robed woman who possessed an otherworldly beauty.
Han Li calmly looked at her and said, “Lady Violet Spirit! You arrived quite quickly!”
“Quickly? I’ve already been waiting here for several days. During that time, seven groups of cultivators have searched through this forest, and I grew more nervous each time it happened. I would’ve left soon if Brother Han didn’t arrive.” Violet Spirit’s pleasant voice seemed to contain a bit of annoyance as she walked towards him with graceful steps.
Han Li smiled and looked at Violet Spirit’s flawless face before continuing, “Lady Violet Spirit revealing her true appearance has come as a surprise to me. I had believed that it was easy for you to conceal.”
Violet Spirit pursed her lips and sweetly said, “When I entered the valley, I had used a treasure to conceal my true appearance. However, there seems to be a restriction in the valley that has rendered it ineffective. Without it to conceal my true appearance, I have no choice to but wear it. What? Could it be that my uncouth appearance is below Brother Han’s notice?”
“Fairy Violet Spirit must be joking.” With a wry chuckle, his expression suddenly became solemn as he said, “That’s enough joking around. Was this the first place you found that was marked?”
Violet Spirit withdrew her smile and answered, “That’s right. It should be genuine since the original mark was destroyed by the Ghost Spirit Sect. However, finding it should prove to be no problem.”
When Han Li heard her mention the Ghost Spirit Sect, he raised his brow and coldly smiled. “Since that’s the case, let’s just follow the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples. It should save us quite a bit of time.”
“As Brother Han commands! A month ago, I placed a tracker unique to the Exquisite Sound Sect onto the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple who gave me the information. The tracker isn’t something created from magic power but by a fragrance undetectable to others. While the range of this fragrance isn’t large and it disappears after two months, it should still be enough to track down the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple that I placed it on.”
“I will have to trouble Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit to lead the way. First, we will track down the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple and rush past the marks they placed before. This way, the Spirit Kindle Fruit will be ours.” Han Li nodded and then slowly stood up.
A silver-tailed squirrel suddenly shot out from the dense forest and flew into the sky. It then sniffed the air before flying off in a certain direction.
Soon after, two streaks of light flew in a circle before closely flying after it.
Chapter 829: Portrait
As Han Li followed after the flying squirrel tracking the Ghost Spirit Sect Elder Zhong, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master’s party had passed through a huge mountain and arrived at a basin.
The basin was dim and damp with various sized puddles on the ground that made it miserable for the party of cultivators to walk through. Although they were able to use a few minor spell techniques to ward off the mud and dirty water, their speed was massively reduced.
Regardless of their currently discomfort, none of them complained. When they had climbed over the huge mountain, they managed to survey everything that laid in the distance and caught sight of the huge altar located at the center of the basin. This was the first time that they had seen an intact building since they had entered Devilfall Valley. Based solely on that fact, it was needless to say that the place was unordinary; it was also likely that it had something to do with the Spirit Ether Garden. As a result, Wei Wuya and the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators trudged on with burning anticipation despite their slowed steps.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t thought of floating above the ground, but that they had nearly been struck by a bolt of crimson lightning when they tried. It seemed that the closer they were to the center of the basin, the more ferocious the restrictions became, eliminating any inclination of theirs to further test the restrictions.
After walking through the mire for half a day, the party of cultivators eventually arrived near the altar with only shrubbery in their way. The alter appeared giant even at a distance.
The altar was carved out of white mountain stone and stacked with huge steppes. It was absolutely towering, reaching over a kilometer into the sky. It was a truly grand and imposing structure. But given its vast height and the distance from them, they were still unable to clearly see its base.
Although Wei Wuya was treading through the murky water, his entire body emitted a faint green light that allowed him to slip through it in a smooth manner. He calmly said, “It should only take four hours at most before we arrive. Sect Master Wang, I am quite curious about the Spirit Ether Graden now that we are so close to it.”
Wang Tiansheng faintly smiled and casually said, “Brother Wei, be at ease. When the time comes, I will be certain to tell you everything.”
Wei Wuya nodded and was about to ask something further when a green light suddenly flashed from the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple walking at the very front. The disciple tumbled back before his head rolled off his body, followed by his chest, landing in the murky waters with a splash.
“Spatial tear!” When Wang Tiansheng heard this, his expression vastly changed. Wei Wuya and Wang Tiangu also wore solemn expressions at the.
Although Wei Wuya and Wang Tiangu didn’t know what Wang Tiansheng was plotting, their path had gone smoothly before this and they had grown relaxed and careless. Now that a spatial tear had appeared before them, they couldn’t help but feel their hearts tremble.
When the other three Ghost Spirit Sect disciples saw this, their faces paled, and the entire party came to a stop.
Wang Tiansheng looked at the corpse of the disciple killed by the spatial tear and his expression wavered.
During that moment, Wei Wuya closed his eyes and swept his spiritual sense around him before opening them once more. He expressionlessly shook his head and said, “This won’t do. The spatial tears aren’t large enough to be sensed with spiritual sense.”
When Wang Tiangu heard this, he flicked his fingers several times, launching five fireballs in succession. Three of the fireballs disappeared without a trace while the other two exploded upon contacting the ground, leaving two large holes behind.
Wang Tiangu said with a relaxed tone, “The spatial tear is very small and is only somewhat slanted. We’ll be able to walk around it.”
With a gloomy tone, Wang Tiansheng muttered, “Although this spatial tear is small, who knows how many we will encounter the rest of the way? We don’t have many lives to spare. According to what I know, there shouldn’t even be any spatial tears blocking our way. Cou
ld it be that that person has hidden something?”
Wei Wuya’s expression stirred when he heard this, but he said nothing. As for Wang Tiangu, he glanced at the altar in the distance before looking back at the corpse lying on the ground, appearing somewhat confused.
“Then what should we do, Sect Master?”
Wang Tiansheng tensely frowned and he glanced at the sky without immediately replying. After a moment of silence, he let out a long sigh and said, “Originally, I planned on waiting until we arrived at the altar before saying anything, but I no longer have a choice. I will tell you everything.”
When Wei Wuya and the others heard this, they glanced at each other with dismay.
Wang Tiansheng waved his sleeve in a flourish of silver light, summoning a plain scroll into his hand. The scroll was a meter long and shined with silver light.
“That is...” Wang Tiangu couldn’t help but cry out at the sight of the scroll.
Wang Tiansheng looked at Wang Tiangu and chuckled, “Of course you know what this is. You personally gave it to me, after all. Everything I know about the Spirit Ether Garden is from this scroll.”
When Wang Tiangu heard this, he was stunned. The scroll was the portrait of Master Cang Kun that had been inside his hidden lair in the Moulan Plains.
Wang Tiansheng tossed the scroll out and suspended it in the air in a ball of light. He then formed an incantation gesture and pointed at the scroll. With a crackle, the scroll quickly unfolded, revealing the portrait of a scholarly man wearing Confucian robes with a sword on his back as he looked to the sky at the rear of the portrait.
Wang Tiangu and the others widely opened their eyes as they stared at the portrait. But after a while, none of them were able to sense anything from it. But when Wei Wuya swept his spiritual sense past the portrait, his expression stirred and a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.
Wang Tiansheng stirred upon seeing Wei Wuya’s change in expression and he said, “As expected of a late Nascent Soul cultivator. Fellow Daoist Wei was able to discover the mystery quite quickly. I was only able to find the peculiarity of the scroll because I had cultivated a certain secret technique.”
“It’s nothing special. It’s like a spatial pocket magic tool that I had seen a long time ago. If Fellow Daoist Wang hadn’t mentioned it to me, I wouldn’t have been able to easily discover it.” Wei Wuya responded with an odd expression.
Wang Tiansheng smiled and asked no further. He then raised his hand and released a black spell seal from his sleeve, striking at the scroll. He then coldly snorted and said, “Are you not going to come out? Do you want me to use devilfire to force you out?”
The others were alarmed to hear this and felt somewhat baffled. Wei Wuya also raised his brow in surprise and his face betrayed a trace of bewilderment.
Afterwards, an inconceivable event occurred. A man’s voice clearly left the scroll, “Isn’t this earlier than we had agreed? Why would you summon me before you arrived? Now that you’ve called out to me in front of so many people, do you want to call off our deal?”
Silver light shined from the scroll, and the scholarly man in the portrait suddenly turned around to reveal the face of a middle-aged man with long facial hair. However, he appeared quite displeased.
Not only were the remaining Ghost Spirit Sect disciples astonished by the scene, but Wang Tiangu’s jaw dropped as well with an expression of astonishment. As for Wei Wuya, he only revealed his shock for a short moment before calming down. He then stared at the portrait with a pensive expression.
Wang Tiansheng snorted, “Didn’t I repeatedly ask you if the route you gave me was completely safe? There was an invisible spatial tear here that slew my sect disciple.”
“When I walked this path, it was completely safe. How could there be a problem now?” The portrait’s lips moved to rebuke him.
“Then explain this.” The Ghost Spirit Sect Master sullenly glanced at the disciple's corpse that laid near the invisible spatial tear.
The portrait paused for a moment and muttered to himself before fading away from sight. Then in a flicker of light, an azure screen of light appeared in front of them.
Soon after, a sphere of green light shot out from the curtain of light and transformed into a silhouette of the scholarly man from the portrait. His body appeared incorporeal as if he were made entirely of light. The light was so faint that it was almost as if the image could be blown away with a single breath.
Wang Tiangu’s mouth dried and he uttered with shock, “How should I address you? Could it be you are truly Master Cang Kun? How were you able to maintain your soul past your lifespan and exist until now?”
“The time I can emerge from the scroll is limited. If you have any questions, ask your sect master. I will be taking a look at the spatial tear.” The scholarly man didn’t pay any attention to Wang Tiangu’s shock and looked in the direction of the spatial tear. He faintly frowned and spat out a ball of grey light from his mouth.
With a bang, the ball of grey light was consumed by the spatial tear. The scholarly man appeared baffled at the sight of this.
“How strange!” The scholarly man’s surprise soon disappeared and he calmly said, “In the past, there were no spatial tears here. It seems to be a rare newly formed tear. You don’t need to be too worried about it as it is merely a matter of coincidence. I will be returning now.”
Woosh. His figure disappeared and the ball of green light flew back into the scroll as if unwilling to spend any more time outside than absolutely necessary.
Chapter 830: Thousand Strands of Spiritual Sense
The scholarly man’s silhouette disappeared in the blink of an eye, much to the astonishment of everyone nearby.
Wei Wuya paused and said, “Sect Master Wang, is that person truly Master Cang Kun? Since this person only has a little bit of essence remaining, he can’t pose much of a threat, regardless of how fearful he may have been in the past. Was he the one who told you about the Spirit Ether Garden?”
Wang Tiansheng’s face had relaxed when he heard that the spatial tear was something that had newly appeared. He then turned to Wei Wuya and said, “To start with, we can say that he both is Master Cang Kun and is not Master Cang Kun. And yes, everything we know about the Spirit Ether Garden came from him.”
“What do you mean? There is no need to keep it a mystery.” Wei Wuya said with an annoyed tone.
Wang Tiansheng indifferently explained, “Brother Wei misunderstands. The portrait soul you witnessed was the scattered soul of one of Master Cang Kun’s incarnations. When this incarnation probed into Devilfall Valley, it was destroyed by a restriction. As a result, Master Cang Kun used a soul nurturing technique to refine the soul fragment into a scroll magic tool for recovery. But now that the genuine Master Cang Kun died countless years ago, this soul incarnation has become independent. It isn’t strange to say that this soul incarnation has become a different person entirely.”
Wei Wuya expressed surprise when he heard this while Wang Tiangu pursed his lips and wryly chuckled. It wasn’t clear whether or not he was bitter about not having discovered the secret of the scroll or because of his previously excitement.
Wei Wuya nodded and coldly said, “It seems you’ve reached an agreement with that soul remnant and he’s told you about the Spirit Ether Garden. However, this has nothing to do with me. I only care about entering the garden. Now that I’ve reached this age, I only care about entering the Deity Transformation stage and ascending to the Spirit Realm.”
“Brother Wei is quite a sensible individual. This way is for the best. Alright, since the spatial tear was only an anomaly, let’s continue!” The Ghost Spirit Sect Master smiled and pointed to one of the disciples to continue leading the way.
The disciple paled when he saw this, but he continued onward nevertheless, avoiding the spatial tear in the way. Wei Wuya gradually quickened his steps and the other Ghost Spirit Sect disciples followed suit, making their way toward the huge altar in the distance.
...
Standing inside of a glacial area deeply layered in frost, Han Li raised his head toward the crimson light above him. He then faced Violet Spirit and said, “What’s going on? Your flying squirrel has gone mad.” Not far behind them, there was a two-hundred-meter wide ravine of ice. Han Li and Violet Spirit had passed through it to enter the valley depths.
Surrounding them now was a land of ice, snow, and the howls of bone-chilling winds. However, Han Li’s azure robes remained completely still as if unaffected by the frost.
“I don’t know. My flying squirrel was doing fine on the outside, but when it passed through the ravine, it suddenly went mad. Fortunately, I withdrew it quickly before something could happen. Even after it entered the Spirit Beast Pouch, it’s still completely frantic.” Violet Spirit frowned in complete confusion.
Han Li muttered to himself before suddenly slapping his storage pouch. A small group of Gold Devouring Beetles were released and they buzzed as they gathered in a small cloud above his head before remaining completely still. Then with a mental command, the small group of beetles immediately returned to his storage pouch with complete obedience.
Han Li stroked his chin and his gaze flickered as he slapped another storage pouch to summon a black streak of light. It revolved once above his head and then dropped down a meter in front of Han Li. The light faded away to reveal a small black monkey that was several inches tall, the Weeping Soul Beast.
It yawned and blinked, blankly staring at Han Li as if it had just woken up.
Han Li watched the beast for a long while before summoning a wave of azure light with a sweep of his sleeve. And in another flash of light, the Weeping Soul Beast disappeared from sight.
Han Li pondered to himself for a moment and turned to Violet Spirit. Having come to a decision, he said, “Since you’ve lost control of your flying squirrel, I have no choice but to rely on myself to track down the Ghost Spirit Sect. Fortunately, we aren’t too far away from them now that we’ve entered the valley depths. I will spread out my spiritual sense and look for any tracks they left behind. Guard me for the time being.”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 447