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

by Translator: Johnchen

  As for the opening the Ye Clan forcefully split open, they had yet to find it.

  But even so, all of the cultivators in the area were extremely excited and sent voice transmission talismans to each of their own clans and sects. There were even those that flew throughout the night to report the matter in person.

  Currently, a majority of the cultivators present were at Foundation Establishment stage with sparsely few Qi Condensation and Core Formation cultivators amongst them. Most of them were also vagrants that had unintentionally discovered the pillars of light and rushed over, but a few of them were scouts sent by various powers to investigate.

  There were currently no Nascent Soul cultivators.

  This was no surprise. The small lake originally belonged to a desolate area with nothing of note nearby. With no large clans or sect present, there was no reason for a Nascent Soul cultivator to be there.

  Even the Sacred Poison Sect, who immediately rushed over at first news of this event, was still two days away.

  However, when it was discovered that there was a giant seal underground, the more experienced vagrant cultivators all made the decision to wisely depart despite their reluctance. While the seal may reap amazing profits, but the ensuing battle of high grade cultivators that would ensue over them wasn’t something they could participate in. If they continued to stay and the area became a battleground for high-grade cultivators, it would end in disaster.

  Of course, there were many younger, more spirited low-grade cultivators rather unwilling to depart. Not only did they want to see what laid beneath, they also had a small hope of being lucky. Their cultivation wasn’t high, but if the opportunity arose, they could achieve grand rewards. It was a gamble they were willing to take.

  As such, all sorts of characters gathered there, carrying their own designs and thoughts.

  ...

  In the cave at the heart of a giant mountain, Han Li and Bai Yaoyi were sitting cross-legged, staring at Old Man Fu with complete focus.

  Though in reality, they were staring at the sparkling golden cauldron in front of him. It was a meter tall and slowly revolved above the ground.

  Old Man Fu spat out thin strands of green Nascent Flame and held his hands in an unknown gesture, occasionally striking at the cauldron with spell seals. With each strike, more of the green flames surrounding the cauldron turned into rainbow light, making for a gorgeous display.

  Medicinal scents were already bleeding from the cauldron. The aroma was rich and pleasant.

  His face grew solemn and his strikes turned fervent. It was clear that he was in a crucial moment of pill refinement.

  Han Li observed with a calm expression, contrary to the nervousness in his heart.

  Old Man Fu had successively tossed in the Umbra Yin Horse and other rare materials into the cauldron over the past few days. This was their one shot. A second chance would be near impossible, as some ingredients simply couldn't be found again.

  Although Old Man Fu was confident in his refinement of the Nascent Cultivating Pill, Han Li felt apprehensive and concerned as he watched.

  Bai Yaoyi wasn’t faring much better, as her eyes glistening with a burning fervor.

  Then, the cauldron came to a sudden stop. Hums droned out from it and the medicinal scent grew even denser.

  Old Man Fu’s eyes lit up, and his past actions all came to a stop. He then flipped his hand to produce a vermillion gourd that was only five inches tall.

  With his other hand, he flicked his finger, sending a speck of white light to strike the lid of the cauldron.

  The lid trembled before sliding off.

  With the hums coming to a stop, five fist-sized balls of white light shot out with a thumb-sized green pill floating at their center. The pills themselves glowed a glistening emerald.

  These wisps circled once above the cauldron before scattering towards different locations.

  Old Man Fu was already prepared, and hastily shook the gourd to release a mist from it. Then in a flash, the balls of light were sucked inside.

  The old man let out a long sigh and smiled, “Alright! It’s a success!”

  Bai Yaoyi shot up and happily said, “Thank you for your trouble, Brother Fu. I didn’t expect that you’d be able to refine five. Originally, I feared that the number of pills would fall short.” Her face had a rosy complexion, adding much to her charm.

  “When I gathered together the materials, I had enough to refine about five or six pills. Why else would I invite five fellow Daoists to assist me? It is a pity that my Junior Martial Sister and Fellow Daoist Yuan hadn’t survived.” The old man’s smile then disappeared.

  It was clear that the he and the black-robed woman had a deep relationship. Although death was common sight amongst cultivators, the joy of success in creating the medicine pills wasn’t able to overcome such a loss.

  When Bai Yaoyi heard him, her smile disappeared as well and she let out a sigh.

  Unlike the others, Han Li’s expression remained unchanged, but he did keep silent.

  Then, the old man’s sadness quickly faded and he said, “Fellow Daoist Bai, do you have a wood-attributed container? You shouldn’t use any common ones for the pill or it will lose its medicinal potency. Also, the pill will require half a year of seclusion to properly consume, or its effects will be less than expected.”

  “Of course I do. And naturally, I wouldn’t immediately take something this precious.” Bai Yaoyi sweetly smiled and with a flip of her hand, she summoned a yellow wooden case.

  The old man nodded and silently flicked the bottom of the gourd. Then red mist whirled out from it and released a ball of white light in Bai Yaoyi’s direction.

  She caught it with her free hand and quickly placed it within the box.

  After she closely examined the pill and clearly sensed its astonishing spiritual power, she put it away with unconcealed joy. Then, she repeatedly thanked him.

  Old Man Fu smiled and he slapped the storage pouch at his waist to produce a green wooden box.

  He then exacted a pill from the gourd in a similar fashion and put it away. Then after letting out a few dry laughs, he raised his hand and tossed the gourd in Han Li’s direction.

  He caught the gourd unconsciously, but his face betrayed surprise. He frowned and slowly asked, “What is the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist? I only asked for two Nascent Cultivating Pills!”

  With a stern face, the old man said, “I am not an excessively greedy man. It is only by luck and your strength that I was able to both escape death and create these pills. Now that my Junior Martial Sister has perished, I only have need for one. If Brother Han finds it acceptable, he may take the last three.”

  Han Li looked at the gourd in his hand and turned his eyes to the old man. He couldn't help but smile.

  He could vaguely guess what the old man intended. It seemed the Nine Serenities Sect Elder believed that his value had greatly reduced now that the pills were finished and that Han Li would suddenly turn hostile. As such, he had surrendered an additional pill.

  On one hand, he was clearly showing his goodwill, and on the other, he was giving Han Li less reason to kill him. So long as he wasn’t a ruthless sort, he most likely wouldn’t harbor any further malicious intent.

  Since Han Li was being presented with such a valuable gift, he could hardly refuse. And if he did, he would likely cause a misunderstanding.

  “In that case, I will graciously accept your offer.” Without further hesitation, light flashed from his hand and the gourd disappeared.

  The old man chuckled and relaxed, “There is no need to be so modest, Brother Han. It is something well deserved.”

  Of course, Bai Yaoyi came to understand what was happening and she smiled in silence.

  With this, the tension eased in the group.

  “Since the pills are finished, we should look for a way out. Let’s look toward the base of the mountain. Perhaps we’ll find something there,” Old Man Fu proposed.

  Once spoken,
the entire cave faintly shook, followed by the sounds of a muffled rumbling. It sounded out from all around them and without end.

  The three looked at each other with dismay.

  Bai Yaoyi bit her lip and spoke with an astonished tone, “There are others on this mountain?”

  “Maybe, but it might be the doing of the Silver-winged Nightfiend as well!” The old man shook his head and a trace of resentment appeared. He had been reminded of his Junior Martial Sister’s death.

  After a moment of silence, Han Li indifferently said, “Regardless, let’s be careful on the way out. With our combined might, we shouldn’t have anything to fear.”

  Then with a wave of his sleeve, azure mist spread out.

  The radiant haze swept across the cave, dissolving all the restrictions and sweeping them up in one swoop. In the blink of an eye, the flags and plates returned to Han Li’s sleeve and disappeared.

  “Let’s go! We’ll speak further after we leave!”

  With light shining all around his body, he flew towards the exit in an azure streak.

  Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi exchanged a glance before hurriedly following after, not daring to delay in the slightest.

  Chapter 998: Stone Stele

  When Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi flew out from the long passageway, Han Li was already floating high in the air and was looking at the top of the valley wall, the source of the noise.

  Just then, the two discovered that the rumbling sounds were growing weaker. If it weren’t for their high cultivation, they hardly would’ve heard it.

  Soon, Old Man Fu frowned, “The sounds seem to be coming from over there, and its source is growing further away. If it weren’t for the restrictions sealing the space around here, the echoes wouldn’t be loud enough to hear.”

  Han Li turned to the two and proposed, “In that case, how about we go and take a look since we aren’t familiar with the area. It will be better than running into something unprepared. Of course, we’d best conceal ourselves, rather than letting someone else discover us first.”

  Naturally, they both raised no objections.

  The old man formed an incantation gesture and his body shined with green light. Afterwards, it turned dim as the he gradually faded into a faint green shadow.

  Bai Yaoyi raised her hand and a cold light shined from her finger, summoning a sparkling crystalline medallion. With it in hand, she began to utter a spell, and the medallion soon released a silver mist that gradually covered her before disappearing in a flash.

  Because the restrictions on the mountain greatly reduced their use of spiritual sense, stealth was their ideal choice. But using concealment techniques outside of these circumstances would prove far less effective against cultivators of similar grade.

  Having seen the two conceal themselves, Han Li smiled and followed suit. Without performing any visible actions, his body pulsed with light before completely erasing his aura.

  The two stood in front of Han Li but weren’t able to detect him in the slightest, much to their alarm.

  He then slapped a concealment talisman on his body with indifference, turning it completely translucent.

  “Let’s go!” Han Li let out a soft command and the three took to the air.

  In this mysterious foreign land, the three didn’t fly quickly in their search for the source of the rumbling, only at a speed similar to body lightening techniques.

  The three travelled together past the verdant landscape filled with that dense spiritual Qi. Each place they crossed seemed to be an ideal place for cultivation. If this mountain were to be exposed to the outside, countless clans would scramble to seize it.

  An hour later, though they hadn’t encountered anything, none of them wore joy on their faces.

  The journey had been completely lifeless. They hadn’t encountered any signs of life, which was only further cause for stifling trepidation.

  Bai Yaoyi hesitantly said, “Brother Han, do you feel it? The spiritual Qi here is amazing, but we’ve yet to see any spiritual plants. It’s all ordinary vegetation.”

  Han Li calmly replied, “I’ve also noticed it. As we head deeper, the spiritual Qi becomes even more abundant. It is the same as the spiritual mountains on the outside. I figured the original cultivators of this mountain grew their plants higher up to take advantage of that.”

  “The spiritual Qi can become even denser?” Bai Yaoyi spoke with amazement. She already considered the current spiritual Qi in the air to be ideal for cultivation.

  When Old Man Fu heard him, his heart stirred. “Brother Han, if the peak of the mountain is truly a holy ground for cultivation, we might not have to be in such a hurry to leave. Wouldn’t it be better to cultivate there for a time?”

  Han Li wryly chuckled, “Brother Fu can’t consider this place to be an ordinary spiritual mountain. Why else would the ancient cultivators abandon this place if they could safely cultivate in such abundant spiritual Qi? The restriction covering this entire mountain is also very odd. If I figure a way out, I won’t be staying.”

  Old Man Fu’s expression wavered for a moment before settling with a wry smile, “Brother Han’s words are quite reasonable. This truly is an improper place to cultivate. My excitement had clouded my judgement.”

  With a regretful tone, Bai Yaoyi said, “I don’t blame you, Brother Fu. I also possessed similar thoughts. After all, cultivating here could save us quite a bit of time.”

  Han Li smiled and thought to say something else when his expression suddenly dropped and he came to a sudden halt.

  His eyes flashed with blue light as he turned to the side.

  The other two were baffled by this sudden change of actions and followed his gaze.

  At a distance far away, there was a white mist coiling in the air. Since fog often formed throughout the mountain, the three hadn’t felt that it was strange.

  Han Li blinked and said, “Let’s take a look. There could be something that we could use.” Then, he changed directions towards distant object.

  The other two felt baffled, but they knew that he wouldn’t act without reason and followed after him.

  When they entered the fog, they came to a sudden stop.

  Within the white mist, there was a wide expanse of white stone steps stretched out to the top and bottom of the mountain without end. And at the side of these steps, there was a white stele thirty meters tall and ten meters wide.

  Han Li stood in front of it with his hands behind his back as he examined it.

  The old man dropped down onto the ground and curiously asked, “Has Brother Han discovered something?”

  With a grave expression, he sullenly replied, “Well, I finally know where this place is. Fellow Daoists, take a look!”

  “Yes!” With roused spirits, the two took several steps forward.

  Due to the two ancient golden characters elegantly inscribed at the very top, the conclusion was obvious.

  “Kunwu! Could this be the legendary Kunwu Mountain!?” Old Man Fu shouted out with alarm.

  As for Bai Yaoyi, she covered her mouth as she gasped with surprise.

  “That’s right. During ancient times, Kunwu Mountain was known as the Immortal Mountain, a holy land where ancient cultivators gathered together. The mountain’s size and spiritual Qi are deserving of its reputation. However, legends had it that those same cultivators had brought the mountain to the spirit world or sank it to the underworld! How could it be here?” Bai Yaoyi stared at the stone stele with complete disbelief.

  “Fellow Daoist Bai, legend and history are often far different. It seems the truth was that the mountain was sealed for some unknown reason. By a stroke of fate, we activated an ancient teleportation formation and arrived here.” With recovered vigor, Old Man Fu spiritedly said, “Given the mountain’s reputation, there are certain to be countless ancient cultivator dwellings here. If we look through a few of them, the rewards will surely be great.”

  Han Li shook his head and took a step forward before lightly stroking the
stele. “Perhaps, but since the mountain was sealed, they should’ve been prepared to leave. I don’t believe there will be much to find. On that thought, this stele must be a grand treasure. After countless years, it stayed erect and absorbed unfathomable amounts of spiritual Qi, despite being crudely refined.”

  “What? Is the stele a treasure?” the other two were startled and began to silently reexamine it.

  At a glance, it only appeared to be made from common stone. Although it did carry some spiritual Qi, it wasn’t suitable to create even the lowest grade magic tools.

  They couldn't help but look at Han Li with an odd expression.

  He faintly smiled. “It seems you two aren’t convinced, but I am completely certain.” Although his demeanor was calm, in truth, he was actually greatly puzzled as well.

  Even he wasn’t able to tell what was different about it. The only reason he said this was because the Armored Earth Dragon that was peacefully resting in his spirit beast pouch had violently stirred when he approached it.

  It cried out without end, indicating that the item was unordinary.

  Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li wasn’t able to see anything peculiar and grew quite skeptical.

  But due to his attitude of letting nothing slip him by, he was forced to speak a few profound words as a pretense. Then, his hand against the stele and covered it in azure radiance.

  The stone stele trembled and the light began to quickly shrink.

  When it shrunk to half its size, Han Li raised his brow and swept his hand, intending on raising the stele and putting it away into his storage pouch.

  When the stele rose a foot off the ground, it underwent a strange change.

  It suddenly began to hum and shine with rays of white light.

  Meanwhile, Han Li felt it sink as his control had completely disappeared. With a heavy boom, it fell back to its original spot and violently shook the nearby ground.

  The tremors left ringing in the trio’s ears and the stele’s surface began to slowly fracture from the bottom up.

  “This is...” Han Li’s expression stirred and he narrowed his eyes.