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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Baleful Corpse Qi was said to be extremely difficult to manufacture, at minimum requiring the corpses of Core Formation cultivators along with other unknown conditions. When it took form, it was said to be everlasting, and was capable of absorbing elemental Qi and corrupting various magic treasures. As expected for one of the greatest abilities of the Ghost Dao, it was beyond difficult to deal with.

  However, he hadn’t heard of a Ghostfiend Thread before, but given that it was created from Baleful Corpse Qi, it was no wonder it was so troublesome. It seemed his Divine Devilbane Lightning was able to disperse it but not exterminate it entirely.

  As these thoughts flew through his mind, all three of the corpses simultaneously raised their hands and flicked their fingers, each releasing grey threads.

  The black-robed woman deeply gasped and unleashed the dharmic wheel from her hand, chanting a series of evocations. The wheel whirled in the air and shined with a seven-colored light, covering both Han Li and her in a barrier.

  ‘Seven-colored light, a Buddhist treasure?’ Han Li had already raised his hand with arcs of lightning sparking between them, but when he saw her take action, he paused with a trace of surprise. The threads then struck the seven-colored barrier but were all completely repelled.

  Han Li wasn’t astonished by the barrier’s effectiveness. Since Buddhist techniques were specialized in restraining the Ghost Dao, even something as vicious as Ghostfiend Threads shouldn’t be able to break through Buddhist light in an instant. But what surprised Han Li was the fact that a devilish sect elder even possessed a Buddhist treasure.

  The three hadn’t stopped their attack after seeing that their threads were repelled. Instead, their fingers stirred and countless grey threads began to take form in the air and weaved countless layers of threads on top of the seven-colored barrier, as if intending on thoroughly trapping the two within it.

  A cold glint flashed from Han Li’s eyes and he slapped his hands together, raising them to release two dense arcs of golden lightning at the barrier of light protecting them. As loud crackles sounded out, a net of lightning appeared on the surface of the barrier and instantly dissolved the grey threads.

  The three corpses didn’t seem to care when they saw this. They simply shot out more Ghostfiend Threads from their hands and restored the form of the grey Qi that had been scattered.

  “Fellow Daoist Chang, open it up!” With that said, thunder rang from Han Li’s back, revealing a pair of silver wings.

  She thought to persuade him otherwise, but after seeing the wings, she immediately uttered an incantation and created a fine opening in the barrier.

  His wings flapped and he disappeared in a flash of silver light.

  The three corpses suddenly stopped when they saw this and began to look around. Then, the light flashed once more meters behind them to reveal Han Li. The corpses instantly flicked their fingers in response and shot dozens of grey threads at him.

  Han Li didn’t remotely attempt to dodge, instead opening his mouth to spit out three golden streaks in the direction of each corpse.

  [1] Eight spoked wheel commonly associated with Buddhism.

  [2] Monarch Soul Divergence’s autobiography, and collection of techniques and secrets. He gave it to Han Li before he passed.

  Chapter 986: Silver-winged Nightfiend

  It was clear that Han Li’s golden light was far faster than the grey threads. In sharp gusts of wind, the three small golden swords pierced through the corpses’ abdomens.

  At nearly that same moment, the Ghostfiend Threads had arrived in front of Han Li and were about to strike him.

  However, Han Li let out a shout and a ring of seven-colored light suddenly appeared around him. When the threads touched it, they became disconnected from the world.

  When the black-robed woman saw this seven-colored light, she was stunned.

  Han Li then expressionlessly pointed at the three dried corpses in the distance.

  Three bolts of lightning escaped from the small swords, followed by loud pangs of thunder, each of them covering the three corpses in a net of lightning.

  Before the corpses could even let out a groan, the lightning turned them into clouds of black dust, continuing to tear at the dust clouds and prevent them from reforming, but it appeared that the corpses were undying in the face of the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

  Han Li frowned at the sight of this.

  The black-robed woman rejoiced upon seeing him restrain them and happily put away her light barrier. She flew over and proposed, “These refined corpses had fused Baleful Corpse Qi with their own bodies. I fear we won’t be able to kill them. We’ll have to use restrictions to seal them for the time being.”

  “There is no need to waste such effort, it is unknown what strange abilities these ghosts have. Common restrictions might not be able to seal them. Rather, let’s just finish them off.”

  “Finish them off?”

  The black-robed woman wore an odd expression, and before she realized what he meant, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and a streak of black light flew out, circling once around him before revealing itself to be a small monkey, the Weeping Soul Beast.

  It was awakened by the smell of corpse Qi and immediately reveled in excitement. It let out a snort with its large nose without any command, releasing a hazy light that easily absorbed the clouds of dust from within the net of lightning and brought it into its mouth.

  After a few eager gulps, it held its hands on its stomach with satisfaction and joy.

  The black-robed woman was dumbstruck by these events.

  There were only a few spirit beasts in this world that were capable of devouring ghosts, but she had never heard of a small monkey capable of consuming such powerful ghosts. The closest thing that came to mind was the Jade-eyed Ape, but its appearance didn’t match in the slightest.

  As the black-robed woman mulled, Han Li was relieved to find that the Weeping Soul Beast wasn’t negatively affected by absorbing the three dried corpses.

  But rather than immediately withdrawing the beast, he beckoned to, promptly having it obediently jump on his shoulder.

  Han Li glanced at the black-robed woman and said, “Let’s go, perhaps Brother Fu has already finished capturing the Umbra Yin Horse.”

  Suppressing her curiosity towards the monkey, she smiled, “Most likely, that Corpse Wolf has already been injured by you and shouldn’t be able to run far.”

  Han Li returned the smile but before he could say anything, he felt his body tremble. The two of them exchanged bewildered glances, and each summoned a formation plate in their hands.

  Han Li took a deep breath and solemnly asked, “Fellow Daoist Yuan’s marker is gone. Fellow Daoist Chang, do you know what’s going on?”

  “My marker on Fellow Daoist Yuan is also gone. How could something have happened after only a short time separated!” The black-robed woman spoke with disbelief.

  “I’m not sure,” Han Li answered, “It is possible that the others encountered a formidable enemy, or that Fellow Daoist Yuan was careless and became trapped in a restriction.”

  “In that case, we must hurry. Their markers show them to be nearby,” the black-robed woman said with a trace of worry.

  Han Li indifferently nodded and the two set off in streaks of light.

  ...

  After flying for about five kilometers, they encountered a large spacious area filled with piles of ore refuse.

  The two then slowed down and carefully examined the area.

  After another three hundred meters, the piles disappeared and opened into a large room.

  The place had a huge spell formation that nearly covered it all and a giant bamboo tree growing at its center, reaching all the way to the top of the cave. There were also a dozen giant stone pillars intermittently placed, each with a pitch-black dried corpse chained to it, exactly the same as the three Han Li had seen before.

  But what shocked Han Li was a silhouette covered in green hair next to the bamboo. It
was sitting there absorbed in munching on a headless body. From its clothes, there was no doubt that was Cultivator Yuan’s corpse.

  Next to the monster was a huge figure, the Corpse Wolf they fought from before. The wolf was gnawing at something underneath its claw, Cultivator Yuan’s huge tortoise. It lacked an aura, clearly indicating it’s death.

  As for the Umbra Yin Horse, it was still perched on top of the Corpse Wolf’s head, unmoving.

  The black-robed woman’s face paled and she hurriedly glanced around before shouting in terror, “Senior Martial Brother Fu!”

  Han Li followed her gaze and saw two figures floating in midair, wrapped in cocoons spun from grey threads. It was clearly the Ghostfiend Threads they had seen previously.

  However, the density of the threads were far beyond what the dried corpses could produce.

  Thunderous explosions continuously sounded out from the two with traces of dazzling light occasionally escaping from within.

  It appeared that Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi still lived.

  In only a short moment, one of three mid-Nascent Soul cultivators were killed with two of them trapped. Han Li managed to maintain a calm appearance in spite of this but he was thoroughly aghast.

  As for the black-robed woman, she was worried for Old Man Fu, but knew this wasn’t the time to save him. She shook her sleeve and summoned the dharmic wheel into her hand before turning her attention elsewhere.

  Meanwhile, the green-furred monster hadn’t paid any attention to them and was focused on eating with a lowered head.

  Strange cracking sounds came from the monster as it tore off the arm of Cultivator Yuan’s corpse and quickly ravaged it.

  When Han Li caught sight of the mutilated body, he narrowed his eyes as blue light shined from them.

  Then the Weeping Soul Beast on his shoulder let out a high-pitched cry, and the fur on its back stood straight. It glared at the green-furred monster, assuming a position to attack.

  But from the Weeping Soul Pearl within his body, Han Li could sense that that the monkey mostly felt fear as if it had encountered its nemesis.

  The monster heard the Weeping Soul Beast’s scream and its feasting came to a sudden halt. It flung away the corpse in its hand and flew sixty meters towards the two cultivators before landing on the ground.

  Han Li’s and the black-robed woman’s face warped upon sensing its powerful aura.

  The green-furred monster simply stood in place as it watched them.

  At that moment, Han Li was finally able to clearly see the monster’s appearance. Its face appeared very much like that of a monkey, with blood brimming in its mouth and razor fangs several inches long. Its eyes sparkled with sharp silver and lacked irises, making for a rather odd appearance.

  But what especially caught Han Li’s eye were the two protrusions from its back wrapped with flesh.

  The green-furred monster swept its gaze past the cultivators with indifference and locked eyes on the Weeping Soul Beast perched on Han Li’s shoulder. Then its face revealed an odd expression resembling bewilderment.

  When the Weeping Soul Beast met the green monster’s gaze, it leaped ten meters in front of Han Li and pounded its chest with all its might, causing black light to surge all around it.

  In the blink of an eye, it grew thirty meters tall to become a vicious ape that had the image of a malevolent crimson ghost on its back that appeared to move with life.

  The green-furred monster seemed to sense something from the Weeping Soul Beast’s transformation and hastily took several steps back. At that same time, the bags of flesh protruding his back trembled and tore apart, revealing two three-meter-long wings that shined a dazzling silver.

  “Silver-winged Nightfiend!”

  The black-robed woman shouted out its name with a faceful of terror and his complexion paled.

  In the mortal world, Silver-winged Nightfiends were refined corpses that were capable of flight and were seconded only by Gold-clad Lunar Corpses. They were a fearsome existence that were said to be superior to even late-Nascent Soul cultivators.

  Not only were they a natural prodigy of wind and earth-attributed movement techniques, it was nearly invulnerable, incredibly strong, and quite skilled in illusion and bewitchment.

  As these thoughts quickly flashed from Han Li’s mind, he tightly pursed his lips.

  Light flashed from the beast’s wings, and its fear of the Weeping Soul Beast immediately disappeared. It loudly uttered, “I didn’t expect more would come to find me. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had...fresh meat. You will all make quite a meal.”

  These words were spoken as clearly as a human’s voice.

  Chapter 987: Silver Eye Bewitchment

  Han Li’s mouth twitched upon hearing this and he quietly raised his hands without another thought.

  Two small swords flashed forward and moved to strike the grey cocoons suspended in the air.

  Knowing that this monster would prove troublesome, he planned on freeing the other two to combine their strength and increase their odds of victory.

  The Silver-winged Nightfiend simply sneered in the face of his efforts..

  Its argent eyes glowed, and a large grey hand appeared in front of the two cocoons and quickly detained the two golden swords before Han Li could react.

  Although he was alarmed, he still kept calm and commanded his swords to erupt with golden lightning. Thunder rang out and they broke free from the grey hand’s confinement in a flash of golden light.

  However, a dense barrage of threads shot out from the cocoons, covering the swords once more, and the scattered portions of the large hand began to quickly reform.

  Han Li frowned and clenched his hands in a fist, released arcs of golden lightning from his body in a cataclysm of thunder. With a net of lightning dancing around him, he appeared like a god of lightning that had descended upon this world.

  The Silver-winged Nightfiend was originally staring at the Weeping Soul Beast, but after taking a glance at Han Li it couldn't help but reveal a trace of amazement on it's face.

  “How interesting,” the Silver-winged Nightfiend said with an emotionless tone, “To actually be able to break my Ghostfiend Threads... you must be the one who destroyed my doppelgangers.”

  “Indeed, and you are unexpectedly capable of human speech. You must be quite intelligent so you should know what’s in your best interest,” Han Li glanced at Cultivator Yuan’s remains and then pointed at the Umbra Yin Horse at the side before coldly stating, “If you hand over that Umbra Yin Horse and release my two comrades, we will immediately depart.”

  Then, the giant transformed Weeping Soul Beast snarled and a piercing crimson light shined out from the malevolent ghost image on its back.

  Without the slightest hesitation, the nightfiend answered, “You can have that little animal, and I might even consider allowing you and your comrades to leave.”

  “You’ll truly agree?” When the black-robed woman heard this, joy lit on her face. At the moment, her dharmic wheel was already summoned in the air and glowing with light.

  Han Li remained silent when he heard this.

  “I will agree to all these conditions, so long...” the nightfiend then pointed its fur-covered fingers at the Weeping Soul Beast and said, “As you leave that spirit beast behind.”

  The black-robed woman was greatly surprised to hear this.

  “In your dreams!” Han Li coldly smiled.

  “Then you can forget about leaving. I will feast on your flesh.” The nightfiend’s face warped with hostility and his fangs extended several times in size, followed by silver flaring from his eyes.

  “Be careful of its bewitchments!” Old Man Fu’s faint voice sounded out from one of the cocoons.

  However, his warning came too late.

  Although Han Li was using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he unconsciously closed them in the face of the blinding light.

  The black-robed woman was dazed and was forced her to close hers too. />
  “Not good!” In the instant his eyes closed, Han Li let out a cry of alarm.

  By the time the two opened their eyes, their surroundings had changed.

  All traces of the cavern had disappeared and were replaced by a grey haze. It was unknown where the Silver-winged Nightfiend was lingering.

  “A high grade bewitchment,” Han Li muttered.

  “We’ll only know after we test its strength,” the black-robed woman said with a raised brow.

  Worried about Old Man Fu’s weakened voice, she lost her patience and pointed to the dharmic wheel floating above her head.

  It glowed with brilliant light and several beams of rainbow light shot out, disappearing into the haze without effect.

  She grew more sullen and flung a spirit beast pouch from her waist before clasping her hands in an incantation.

  The bag trembled and released a group of winged serpents in a mist of scarlet light.

  The serpents were each about a foot-long, with a crest on their head. Their bodies were a slick and translucent red.

  As she muttered, she struck the serpents with several crimson spell seals.

  Suddenly, the serpents opened their mouths and wildly spouted out fire that condensed into a roiling sea of flames.

  Han Li hadn’t moved to assist her, rather taking this opportunity to observe with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

  In the instant a ten meter wave of flame took form, the grey haze above them suddenly rolled away like a gust of wind to be replaced with mist as black as pitch.

  Silver light flashed from the dark mist, followed by the appearance of two massive demonic eyes. They were three-meters-long and shined radiantly. It was unknown whether it was a transformation or illusion.

  A cacophonic cackle cleared, with the silver light bursting out from the huge eyes, striking the sea of flames.

  Both the raging inferno and the flying serpents had all disappeared upon contact as if they never existed.

  Han Li remained calm upon seeing this, but the black-robed woman released a red streak with an alarmed expression and repeatedly chopped at those piercing eyes in front of her.