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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Bai Yaoyi paused for a moment before letting out a chuckle and dropping the subject.

  “The mysteries behind this area have nothing to do with us. Since there are no other things here, let’s leave,” she raised her hand and took the blue flying sword into it before placing it in her storage pouch.

  Han Li nodded and the two began to leave. But just as they approached the entrance, Han Li suddenly felt a strange, uneasy sensation. He couldn’t help but stop and turn to look at the chained dried corpse.

  “What, is there something amiss?” Bai Yaoyi asked with a trace of confusion.

  Han Li didn’t immediately reply. Instead, his gaze flickered and he pointed in the distance.

  A muffled sound of thunder rang out and golden light flashed from his fingertips, striking the dried corpse on the stone pillar with an arc of thin lightning.

  Chapter 982: Unbroken Cinque Devils

  As Bai Yaoyi watched with surprise, golden lightning suddenly struck the grey corpse, turning it into a pile of white ash in a flare.

  Han Li frowned in silence for a spell before calmly saying, “Let’s go. It seems I was being too paranoid.” He then strode off with large steps.

  Bai Yaoyi followed him with an unconcerned smile. Shortly after, the two continued on their way through another passage.

  When the two were far away, a purple light overwhelmed the black Yin winds blowing nearby, producing a inky silhouette from underneath the stone pillar in the cavern. The silhouette was jet-black and had vague features as if it were completely made from shadow. All it presented was a pair of glowing green eyes.

  It glanced at the remnants of the Calamity Ape at the entrance and turned to look at the ashes of the dried corpse before pouncing off the ground and producing an astonishing scene. It blurred and summoned every speck of the corpse’s ash into its body, to then let out a soft cry and releasing black Qi that completely wrapped around its body.

  The Qi coiled and blew away to reveal an exact imitation of the corpse that had been destroyed.

  It didn’t remain still or lifeless. Instead, it approached the entrance of the cavern and blew out a Yin wind to sweep up the remains of the ape.

  In the black wind, the ice thawed at a visible rate, and the remains fused together to form an intact Calamity Ape.

  The beast snarled before immediately lying down at the dried corpse’s feet, resembling the behavior of a dog. The corpse then extended its black claws and stroked the beast’s head before staring into the passage out of the cavern, as if lost in thought.

  ...

  Thunderous explosions and screams of agony echoed from a manor on the top of a giant mountain in Nanjiang. There were nearly a hundred black-robed cultivators attacking a faint yellow barrier with their magic treasures and tools. The barrier of light covered most of the manor and protected a dozen yellow-robed cultivators, each waving various-colored spell flags with their utmost effort in an attempt to strengthen their only defense. Because their numbers were so few, the barrier still swayed before their terror-struck eyes.

  A kilometer in the sky above, there was a middle-aged cultivator with an imposing appearance. He wore yellow robes and his complexion was completely pale.

  There were five white smoke-like figures that surrounded him in a circle.

  “Sect Brother, will you not release the He Clan? I have met the Ghost Sect Master several times. So long as you agree to stay your hand, I am willing to have the clan withdraw from the cultivation world and never to appear again. Furthermore, this is Nanjiang. If you act to imprudently, you will provoke trouble.” Although the middle-aged cultivator knew that matters were bad, he still held on to a trace of hope.

  A mysterious voice intermittently sounded out from every direction, “Your He Clan has already agreed to submit to our Yin Sifting Sect, but when the time came, you betrayed us. Do you think we’re a joke? Don’t think that we wouldn’t be able to find you just because you moved to Nanjiang. For our sect’s reputation, we will have to make your clan disappear. And your severed head will be useful in properly bringing our other subordinates into line. Will you end yourself, or have me personally settle this? If I use my Unbroken Cinque Devils, there won’t even be a skeleton left behind.”

  When he heard this, the yellow-robed cultivator’s heart sank.

  Then, a worldshaking explosion sounded out from below and the yellow-robed cultivator quickly looked down in great alarm. He saw that the barrier protecting the manner had shattered into fading specks of light.

  The last of the color on his face had completely disappeared.

  The Yin Sifting Sect cultivators surrounding the manor began to cheer and a glow filled the air, fully suppressing those inside.

  “You dare...” Without another thought, the yellow-robed cultivator slapped his storage pouch and released a ten-meter-long yellow python down towards the ground.

  “There is no need for you to interfere with our junior’s affairs. How about you show me the power of your Heaven-mixed Brick instead?” After this mysterious voice spoke, one of the white silhouettes surrounding the yellow-robed cultivator began to stir and quickly pursued the python with near-instantaneous speed.

  An ominous glint flashed from the yellow python’s eyes and it widely opened its mouth, moving to swallow the white silhouette.

  The figure silently trembled and transformed into a pure-white, three-meter-tall skull. In the python’s alarm, it attempted to stop, but it was already too late.

  The skull cackled in cacophony and shot out a thread from its mouth, quickly and firmly restraining the python’s head.

  Terror-struck, it struggled with all its might and swung its tail like a mace, quickly smashing it against the skull, but it hadn’t done the slightest damage. In response, grey light flashed from the skull’s mouth and traveled along the thread.

  An inconceivable event followed.

  The grey light spread across the python’s body and turned its body dim and shriveled. In the blink of an eye, the python’s flesh had completely disappeared, leaving only bone behind.

  However, the skull didn’t stop there. It shook the white thread and took the remains of the python into its mouth before chewing in a crunchy galore.

  After seeing the death of the python he nurtured for some many years, a trace of resentment was betrayed from his face. He then looked at the white silhouettes that still surrounded him and slapped the back of his head, spitting out a sparkling yellow brick that was several inches large.

  He formed an incantation gesture and pointed to the brick with heavy bearing.

  The brick flew a circle in the air and massively increased in size as it glowed. In the time of a single breath, it grew to the size of thirty meters above his head. It shined with dazzling light and had talisman characters wandering across its surface, releasing a truly astonishing pressure.

  The concealed cultivator sighed and asked, “This is the Heaven-mixed Brick? I am somewhat disappointed; it doesn’t live up to its reputation. It seems I’ll just simply have my cinque devils deal with you.”

  Just after this was said, the five figures stirred and slowly floated towards the yellow-robed cultivator.

  The man paid no heed to the disdainful words and swept his gaze past the silhouettes before letting out a resounding roar, causing the brick above him to spin in the air. With the brick’s mass, it created a tornado in an instant, concealing the cultivator within it.

  However, the white silhouettes ignored this and shot into the tornado without another thought.

  “You’re courting death!” Countless streaks of yellow light shot out from the wind, revealing themselves to be foot-long bricks. In sounds of rolling booms, the white silhouettes were pelted by the lights.

  During this display, a yellow streak shot out from the tornado and rushed across the sky, travelling over sixty meters in an instant.

  Then, a bone-chilling snort sounded out followed by several pops. The four white silhouettes shot after him before
later disappearing in a blur.

  A fluctuation suddenly appeared in front of the yellow cultivator, and the four white silhouettes appeared in a flash of silver light. They then silently charged towards the cultivator.

  Greatly alarmed, he came to a sudden stop and hastily formed an incantation, suddenly commanding a ten-meter-large brick to smash them, but the silhouettes blurred and phased through the brick as if it weren’t there, arriving in front of him in the blink of an eye.

  The lone cultivator was thrown into a panic, and he hastily waved his hand, releasing a shining blue pendant that he had prepared beforehand.

  The trinket blurred and discharged a glowing blue mist, stopping all of the white silhouettes in their tracks.

  However, the man wasn’t relieved in the slightest as the white silhouettes began to roar in strange laughter, dispersing a blue mist around them. He inwardly cursed when he saw this and hastily covered himself in light as he prepared to flee.

  But before he could take off, white Qi phased in front of him and the white silhouettes passed through his protective light without resistance and disappeared into his body.

  Without the time to react, he suddenly felt his Nascent Soul tense and his body grow hot as if his blood was boiling. This was the last sensation he would feel in this world.

  Had any others been nearby, they would’ve seen the flesh of the yellow-robed cultivator quickly shrivel away into a dry husk. As for the Nascent Soul, it had been cleanly devoured by the white silhouettes when they entered his body. They soon flew out and turned into skulls, ferociously crunching portions of his body as a meal.

  The other white silhouette had eventually flown back and five figures were standing side by side.

  The manor down below was completely silent and a black-robed old man flew up.

  He arrived in front of the white silhouettes and respectfully saluted them, “I pay my respects to the great elder! The He Clan’s seventy-two cultivators are all dead. They leave behind three hundred mortals, I await your decision.”

  “Kill them all,” a voice curtly spoke.

  “It will be done,” the old man then quickly withdrew.

  The mysterious voice sullenly commanded, “Wait, Elder Ge had previously mentioned that the cultivator who killed our sect’s fourth elder and seized the Ghost Sifting Banner is possibly in Nanjiang. Since this matter is dealt with, all cultivators are to investigate this person’s whereabouts. I will be keeping watch here for a year. If there are any traces of him, I will set off. How could I allow our sect’s signature treasure to fall into an outsider’s hand?”

  The old man’s expression froze and then he respectfully replied, “Yes, Martial Nephew will carry out your orders.” Afterwards, he flew down in a black streak.

  “Since he was able to kill my Fourth Junior Martial Brother who wielded the Ghost Sifting Flag and escape pursuit of the Endless Sky Temple, he should prove more difficult than exterminating the meager He Clan.” The voice muttered to themself with a trace of interest.

  Chapter 983: Black Crystals

  Nearly a month later at the bottom of the Yin Yang Cave, Han Li stood in a giant wind cavern and held his hands in an incantation gesture. A dozen golden swords were revolving around him, shredding the countless moths flooding him into thin lines of black Qi.

  The moths were several inches long and completely black. With each flap of their wings, they released thin blades of wind towards him, but they were all easily blocked by the golden light.

  But with each fallen moth, two came to take its place. Han Li grew sullen with annoyance. He tossed a spirit beast pouch from his waist and summoned a swarm of sparkling golden beetles into the air.

  When the black moths met the Gold Devouring Beetles, they suddenly began to shrink back as more of their numbers fell to the ground. When he saw this, he withdrew a majority of his flying swords and stepped into the depths of the cavern.

  The Yin winds here were blowing with far greater frequency and blocked his more powerful spiritual sense from seeing even ten meters ahead. At the very least, he didn’t have to worry about being harassed by the moths.

  After walking to the approximate center, his eyes shined with blue light, allowing him to see the nearby surroundings with clarity. But when he looked in a certain direction, he couldn’t help but gasp.

  He walked sixty meters before tossing out a moonlight stone and carrying it in the air with a mist of azure light, illuminating ten meters around him.

  Underneath the white light, a skull-sized black crystal was half embedded in the wall.

  But what was astonishing was that the gem was flickering with a haunting light and would release black moths without end, swarming towards Han Li and the dazzling moonlight stone in a mad rush. However, the Gold Devouring Beetles had intercepted them midway, but when each moth was killed, they simply faded away as if they never existed.

  “This is the third one, but it is able to use the nearby Yin Qi to create Dark Yin Moths. How peculiar,” Han Li muttered.

  When Han Li took a closer look, he saw the black crystal release a flare of black light. A pop sounded out, followed by the appearance of a meter-wide moth. It fiercely glared at Han Li with crimson eyes.

  Han Li raised his brow at the sight and flicked his finger, releasing a bolt of golden lightning and dispersing the moth in an instant. Although it was certain to have a few peculiar abilities, the Divine Devilbane Lightning was its natural nemesis.

  Then, he reached out for the crystal without any hesitation, and a large hand of sparkling blue light appeared in front of him. With a bang, the crystal was taken out from the wall.

  In the instant the crystal was grasped, the surrounding Yin winds were decreased by over half. All the moths had turned into black Qi in a bright flash and blew away in the wind.

  Han Li didn’t appear particularly surprised by this and instead mulled over the two smaller crystals he found earlier in other wind caverns. These strange crystals caused Han Li to click his tongue in amazement, but he decided to leave the matter for later.

  After his first return to Old Man Fu for another application of the Dark Violet Pearl’s protective light, he split up with Bai Yaoyi. Now that she wasn’t following him, Han Li made full use of his abilities.

  Over the last few days, while he slowly headed deeper into the cave, he was several times faster than the others. He also came across high-grade ghosts with greater frequency, but his flying swords and golden lightning made short work of them. He hadn’t needed to use the Weeping Soul Beast even once.

  It was starting to make sense why high-grade cultivators hadn’t explored the Yin Yang Cave. Deeper inside, he had found little, apart from a few abandoned magic tools and inferior ore veins.

  But several days ago when he pursued a ghost, he unintentionally entered a small wind cavern. He initially had little interest in exploring it as the Umbra Yin Horse they were looking for shouldn’t be able to survive in a place with fierce Yin Winds. In addition, the frequent Yin winds in the cave would force him to consume even greater amounts of magic, even with the protection of the Dark Violet Pearl’s light. As such, it would prove quite difficult of him to tread deeper inside, but after he discovered the first black crystal, he became interested in exploring deeper. With the Divine Devilbane Lightning protecting him and the Myriad Spirit Milk to replenish his magic power, he also had little to fear.

  Han Li hadn’t seen these black crystals before in any records. Although they resembled Devil Essence Diamonds at first glance, they were completely different.

  They weren’t nearly as hard as Devil Essence Diamonds and didn’t contain devilish essence either. They appeared to be strange wind-attribute gems that were condensed inside these caverns for countless years, but they also contained large quantities of Yin Qi.

  When Han Li searched through tens of wind caverns, he only managed to find three of them. The first two he found were the size of a fist, but the third and most recent one he found was the size of a
skull and could produce ghosts.

  After examining the gem for a long while and finding that it hadn’t made the slightest reaction, he stuck several restriction talismans on it before placing it in a large jade box and into his storage pouch.

  After a cursory search through the large wind cavern to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, he withdrew to the passage where he came.

  He traveled another kilometer and was searching through another small cavern, eventually finding that the tunnel became increasingly narrow. In the end, he was met with a wall of ice.

  Han Li sighed but still continued forward. He raised his hand and released a streak of azure light, sinking deep into the icy wall. He didn’t stop there, and pressed his hand against it and swept his spiritual sense through.

  After finding no mechanisms or restrictions, he turned around and moved back without another thought. He was several times faster on the way back than when he was exploring forward.

  Although he didn’t know the exact shape of the Yin Yang Cave, they should be close to the heart of the cave given the variety of ghosts they’ve encountered. However, none of them had yet to discover any trace of the Umbra Yin Horse, much to Han Li’s impatience.

  Since he had hurried to refine the Triflame Fan in preparation for this trip, he didn’t want to return empty-handed.

  It was an extremely difficult affair for a Nascent Soul cultivator to breakthrough to a later stage. All cultivators who ascended to mid-Nascent Soul stage in the Heavenly South were blessed geniuses, and of these talents, only three were able to break through to late-Nascent Soul stage. And although there were more late-Nascent Soul cultivators in the Great Jin, they were still rarely seen.

  As a result, Han Li had considered using the Copulation Essence Arts with Mu Peiling to break through the bottleneck to late-Nascent Soul stage, but it wasn’t a guarantee. Now that the Nascent Cultivating Pill appeared before him, he couldn’t allow the opportunity to pass him by.

  If they truly couldn’t find the Umbra Yin Horse, he would have to see if he could acquire the medical formula of the Nascent Cultivating Pill from Old Man Fu. Although his chances were slim, if he could acquire the formula, he could try looking the Umbra Yin Horse elsewhere. After all, there were many places in the world where Yin Qi naturally gathered.