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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Soon after, a dozen golden sword-lights shot out from the barrier and spiraled around the newly formed pillar of wind, breaking it apart into black Qi. However, it immediately condensed back together in a spiral and reformed the tornado in the blink of an eye.

  He could only sullenly call out to Silvermoon and fly backwards.

  It seemed these wind pillars were truly nefarious. He wouldn’t even be safe if he burrowed underground.

  After the two carefully avoided several tornadoes, they arrived at the edge of the area, to find a dim grey barrier.

  As he had expected, he found some brief respite. The winds were far weaker here, much to their relief.

  However, the seriousness on his face had yet to disappear and he looked in the direction of the palace hall for a moment before a glint flashed from his eye. He shook his hand, and a foot-long golden blade cleaved through the grey wall.

  A crackle resulted from the impact along with a meter-deep slash into the wall, but in a twinkle of white light, the damage was mended as fast as it was dealt.

  The barrier didn’t appear very sturdy and was easily cut by his flying sword. But it was unknown how thick it was or if it was able to mend damage inexhaustably. If he couldn't break through in a single strike, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

  With that thought, Han Li began to move his arm and pressed it against his storage pouch.

  In a flash of light, the Triflame Fan appeared in his hand.

  As he carefully channeled spiritual power into it, the fan emitted a halo of tri-colored light.

  He took a deep breath, then gently waved it towards the wall with a single hand.

  A cloud of tri-colored flame rushed out from the fan and silently melted the wall, leaving a deep meter-wide hole.

  However, his expression was far from happy.

  Although the strike cut over thirty meters deep, the flames had been extinguished and the entirety of the damage had been mended just as fast as before.

  While he hadn’t made use of the full power of the Triflame Fan, the thickness of the wall caused him to pause.

  Despite the attack’s power, the strike had little effect. Even with a stronger ability, he doubted it would be able to break through the wall.

  The full power of the Triflame Fan would likely cause a great scene and attract the attention of those ancient monsters. And if that still didn’t break through the wall, he would find himself in a perilous situation.

  Furthermore, he suspected it contained other restrictions lying in wait. If he were to break through and other restrictions were to lash out, he might as well have died right now.

  With those considerations, Han Li relaxed his grip on the fan and his expression wavered.

  Having remained somewhat dazed after seeing Long Meng, Silvermoon finally collected herself and said, “This place isn’t so simple. It’d be best if Master didn’t take such risks!”

  Han Li smiled and moved to ask her something when his expression suddenly sank. He quickly turned around to face the raging winds and coldly said, “What are you doing sneaking around? Don’t blame me if I decide to attack.”

  With that said, he tightened his grasp on the Triflame Fan and a glowing light began to crawl across its surface.

  “Fellow Daoist Han, please wait. I know of your fan’s power and I don’t wish to receive such a strike without reason.” A man’s voice sounded out and two white silhouettes appeared from the raging yellow winds: Grand Immortal Xu and Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping.

  Han Li raised his brow and made no effort to conceal his surprise. But with an apathetic tone, he said, “Oh? You want me to believe that you didn’t come here with the intent of pursuing me?”

  With that said, he took a casual glance in the direction of the palace.

  Storms of wind and black tornados had gathered around there, but there were cracks of thunder that could be faintly heard amidst the howling wind. Golden flashes also occasionally broke through the yellow winds.

  It seemed the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation was as formidable as one would expect. Even under the relentless assault of the Black Wind Flag, it still managed to persevere. It was also unknown if the Eight Spirit Ruler would participated in the battle. But when he saw that the black-robed woman wasn’t looking in their direction, he felt somewhat more at ease and turned his attention back to the two in front of him.

  Having already anticipated his hostility, she opened a soundproofing barrier and calmly stated, “There is no need to be like this. We didn’t come here this time to find trouble, but to discuss a plan for survival.”

  “What’s your plan?” Han Li’s heart stirred, but his face remained blank.

  “Why ask a question you already know the answer to? That flag isn’t something that we would be able to compete with even if we all joined hands. Wouldn’t it be better for us to escape while they’re distracted?” Because time was short, Lin Yinping cut to the chase.

  Han Li narrowed his eyes, “So you don’t intend on acquiring that Divine Spirit Treasure?”

  “You must be joking.” Grand Immortal Xu firmly stated, “What’s the worth of a treasure if you don’t have a body to use it? The Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor has been trapped in the pagoda for countless years and it should be weakened from captivity. Our Nascent Souls will be the ideal treat for restoring its strength. With only a casual attack, she will capture us without fail.”

  “Then what do you suggest?” Han Li had a faint guess on what they were going to say.

  Grand Immortal Xu bluntly said, “We will join hands, of course, and ambush the Elder Devil guarding the teleportation formation. Then we will make our escape.”

  “With just us?” Han Li scoffed, “Do you know how fearsome that two-headed Elder Devil is?”

  Lin Yinping smiled in surprise and asked, “Could it be that we won’t be enough to take the devil down?”

  Stroking the fan in his hand, Han Li slowly said, “In the past, three grand cultivators and a dozen more Nascent Soul cultivators pursued it, and it still managed to escape. Are you still confident after hearing that?”

  “This Elder Devil was the one that escaped from your Heavenly South?” Grand Immortal Xu spoke with alarm.

  “That’s correct.”

  Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping exchanged a glance before sharing a trace of hesitation.

  “Then we will join in. That should be enough to push that devil back.” A cold voice suddenly spoke from above them and the three’s expressions vastly changed. Then, two flashes lit up from the yellow winds to reveal the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk.

  The two demon’s spiritual light wrapped around them, completely protecting them from the harmful winds. Their wind movement abilities allowed them to move as smoothly as a fish in the water through this raging storm..

  “So it's you. That means you wish to join?” After clearly seeing them, Han Li regained his calm.

  The nightfiend bluntly said, “Of course! We may not be of the same race, but the Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor won’t care about that. It will be disastrous if we do not escape!”

  “Good, with your assistance, we should be completely safe. There is no time to lose. Let’s set off! Who knows how much time the spell formation and the Eight Spirit Ruler will buy us.” Grand Immortal Xu then turned his head to look at Han Li with grimace. The two demons had done the same.

  It was clear their alliance would only succeed with Han Li’s agreement.

  He silently bit his lip as he pondered, and eventually nodded. The two demons then took the opportunity to land at their side.

  Having come to a decision, Han Li no longer hesitated and immediately held his hands in an incantation gesture. Then, Gui Ling’s Life-soul Tile began to tremble within him before shining with weak light.

  A short moment later, a bright yellow light flashed at his side and Gui Ling emerged from the ground.

  Chapter 1045: Ambush

  When Gui Ling appeared, she wasn’t s
urprised in the slightest when she saw the humans and demons gathered together, but when she glanced at Han Li, her lips moved to send him a voice transmission.

  A trace of surprise was betrayed from Han Li’s initially calm face.

  When Lin Yinping saw his expression, she asked, “What, has Fellow Daoist Gui discovered something?”

  “It’s nothing,” Han Li said with regained calm, “It’s just that the two Fellow Daoists from the Immortal Form Sect had the same thoughts as me. They wanted to find a way out from below.”

  “Oh, is that so?” Lin Yinping spoke with a mysterious smile. It was clear she hadn’t believed him, but he didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

  Although the others were also suspicious of him, they prioritized their shoddy alliance and didn’t pursue the matter.

  They then began to discuss their plan of action.

  As they were all rich with battle experience, the discussion was brief so they quickly took action. Their bodies glowed with light before disappearing from sight.

  Han Li nodded at Gui Ling and she burrowed into the earth once again.

  He gave Silvermoon a command and she flew back into his sleeve in the form of a small fox.

  Han Li gazed at the black teleportation formation and stroked his chin before slapping his storage pouch. In a flash of silver light, a silhouette appeared in front of him: the human-like puppet.

  He flicked his hand at it. Silver light wrapped around the puppet's body before it faded to an unremarkable yellow. Afterwards, the puppet’s eyes brightly shined purple and disappeared into nothingness.

  This battle would be critical, with mortal consequences. He couldn't afford to spare any strength.

  With the puppet at his side, he would feel more at ease.

  Given the puppet's superb concealment techniques, the Elder Devil likely wouldn’t discover it before it’s too late. But the black-robed woman on the other hand was a devil whose abilities he had yet to fully witness.

  As he tightly held the Triflame Fan in one hand, he formed an incantation with the other, summoning the Thunderstorm Wings from his back. He disappeared in a flash of silver light shortly after.

  At the other side of the perimeter, there lay the teleportation formation floating in the air that was now covered in a barrier of grey light. The two-headed Elder Devil was floating above it with his arms casually hanging behind his back.

  One of its heads was staring in the direction of the palace with a focused gaze. The other was vigilantly looking around.

  His four arms were holding onto a pair of violet rings, a blue halberd, and a scarlet brick.

  Although the vicious winds of the Black Wind Flag was relentless, they didn’t seem to have much of an effect on him. A strange look appeared on the face of the head looking in the direction of the palace.

  A ray of golden light suddenly flashed from the center and cleaved away a portion of the dense mist with tremendous power. The whistling of the wind came to an abrupt halt.

  The Elder Devil raised his brow at the sight and felt some hesitation about standing around. He wanted to offer his support, but he felt greatly conflicted.

  However, he soon felt at ease.

  The astonishing golden light flashing in the distance had been swept away by a wild tornado that spanned over thirty meters. It was like a dragon of black wind, whipping across the air in an instant. It even distorted the nearby space as if the world itself was twisting to its will.

  The Elder Devil could only briefly take a breath of relief, as its other head widely opened its eyes and waved one of its hands forward.

  A red streak of light tore through the air and transformed into a ten-meter-wide brick that fiercely smashed down upon him.

  But before it landed, a scarlet flame blazed from the top of it and several vicious fire serpents leapt forward with fangs bared.

  A cold snort sounded out, “To think you’d be so vigilant.” Two silhouettes then appeared from the fierce winds.

  One of these figures casually raised their hand and a blue streak was released, expanding into a three-meter tall jade umbrella.

  Explosions sounded out. The icy mist covering the umbrella’s surface blocked the fire brick.

  Blue light and scarlet flame clashed against one another for a time. Although the fire serpents were vicious and intense, they were subdued by the umbrella’s ice attribute and were helpless.

  The two figures belonged to Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping. They coldly leered at the Elder Devil while floating motionlessly in the air.

  The devil’s two heads shifted and simultaneously watched the two down below.

  “I recognize you. You should be cultivators from the Soaring Sky Plains. It is a pity you can’t be buried there!” One of the heads spoke with a deafening voice and a smirk.

  Grand Immortal Xu wordlessly slapped this storage pouch.

  Phoenix cries echoed and light wildly flashed, summoning a rainbow peacock in front of them. It rolled out its wings and spread out its feathers as soon as it appeared.

  Its presence made for an amazing sight. Rainbow light cascaded from its body and kept the vicious winds around them at bay.

  “A Keen Spirit Peacock!” the Elder Devil shouted, “You actually have a bird from antiquity. Hmph, but its skills are far too shallow. Were it older, I might actually be afraid.”

  “Is that so? Then let’s have you first test the viciousness of its rainbow light.” Grand Immortal Xu then let out a whistle and the peacock raised its head before spanning its wings. Brilliant radiance surged out.

  The Elder Devil coldly snorted. He clapped together the two hands holding the purple rings and to produce a deafening drone that dazed one’s spiritual sense.

  Soon after, the two rings shot out and blurred, leaving behind copies of itself in its wake and filling the nearby air with tension. The devil then held a hand in an incantation gesture and covered its body in black devilish Qi, as if preparing for an attack.

  In response, Grand Immortal Xu and Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping each summoned a magic treasure of their own and raised their hand. A ball of azure light smashed down, and a scarf with an embroidered silver silkworm released countless silver strings.

  At that same moment, purple and azure mist emerged from the wind and silently arrived above the Elder Devil. The movements lacked any presence, a clear showing of superb concealment techniques.

  The purple rings illusion and the rainbow light collided, producing dazzling embers across the air. Several pythons condensed from the devilish Qi in a instant, launching forward as a counterattack.

  Meanwhile, a blinding light suddenly erupted from the azure and purple mist, and two silhouettes suddenly leapt down, arriving right above the devil with two sharp talons and a cloud of grey threads. At nearly the same instant, the magic treasures that Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping released were just about to arrive in front of the Elder Devil. The timing of the attacks had practiced precision.

  Such an ambush had come as a shock to the Elder Devil, but he soon regained his calm and mentally commanded one of the black pythons condensed from devilish Qi to coil around him. Then, he raised both heads to look at the incoming attack of the Endless Sky cultivators, the dense barrage of argent strings and the ball of azure light. In a burst like a dark blaze, a streak of black light flashed away.

  But just as his attention was focused on the incoming attacks, golden light flashed at the side of the formation covering the teleporter. Thunder rang as a huge sword shot out from the underground.

  At such a fast speed, the Elder Devil could only sense the huge sword as it arrived before him. In the brief moment he saw it, he noticed purple flames and golden lightning roaming across its surface.

  “YOU!” the Elder Devil instantly recognized the sword, but due to the overbearing speed of the sword and the other attacks tying him down, he was left with no choice but to confront it. He hurriedly waved his four arms, tearing through space itself as he released a net of
crystalline claw streaks towards the weapon.

  Of course, it wasn’t possible for him to truly block the strike in his given time.

  With immense ease, the huge sword shred through the claw streaks in an instant.

  In the mere moment this delay bought the devil, he created a layer of black devilish around him. A series of explosions boomed, and a huge ball of light erupted in front of the Elder Devil’s body, producing a blinding radiance.

  Silver lightning then flashed from the surface of the ground, followed by Han Li’s emergence. He raised his head to examine the air and frowned.

  Although the huge sword had struck, it didn’t actually cut through the devil’s body. It was as if the attack had casually slid past the devil.

  Just as Han Li was bewildered by this, something within the blinding radiance in the air began to stir. In a gust of piercing wind, a black figure shot down towards Han Li, blurring away from sight before appearing right on top of him.

  “Drop dead!” A thunderous roar shouted out and a huge pitch-black blade cleaved down upon him with lightning speed.

  Although Han Li was alarmed, he had the Thunderstorm Wings already prepared. He disappeared without a trace and the black saber missed its mark.

  A muffled echo sounded out and a meter-deep cut appeared in the ground.

  Thunder rang sixty meters away and Han Li reappeared, staring at where he originally stood.

  This huge deadly figure was the Elder Devil.

  But at that moment, he was clearly cut into a sorry figure. One of his arms had been reduced to a stump and there was a fist-sized hole in his shoulder. He also carried several thick claw marks on his stomach as if they attempted to disembowel him.

  With their combined alliance, the devil was unable to block all of the attacks and suffered.

  Seeing that Han Li had escaped from him, a malevolent glint appeared in his eyes and he fiercely leered at Han Li.

  In a flash of light, he pulled his hands apart and his huge saber ripped in two, releasing slightly smaller glowing blades that let out a shrieking pierce as they whistled.