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

by Translator: Johnchen

  His expression remained calm, but he was feeling grave internally.

  If it weren't for the Blood Moon Spirit Seeking Technique that he had mastered from the Great Development Treasure Scriptures, it really would've been very difficult for him to find Mu Peiling's trio. This second Nascent Soul knew him extremely well, so he definitely couldn't allow it to remain on the loose. Otherwise, it would surely come back to bite him someday.

  With that in mind, after hearing Liu Yu's description, he immediately instructed, "The three of you, leave this place right away and return to the sect. Seeing as this second Nascent Soul has already returned to the Heavenly South Region, I'm definitely going to have to capture it. I have to search carefully through this inner valley, and it's best if I did that alone."

  "Martial Uncle Han, that Nascent Soul's cultivation base is not inferior to yours. You should recruit some more assistance before you attempt to capture it. Otherwise... Huh? Martial Uncle Han, your cultivation base..." Song Yu had unconsciously swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li, and her expression immediately changed drastically

  Upon hearing Song Yu's startled voice, Mu Peiling and Liu Yu also assessed Han Li's cultivation base with their spiritual sense, upon which they were also naturally given a massive surprise.

  Only after a long while did Mu Peiling manage to somewhat recover from her shock, and she asked with an incredulous expression, "My Lord, you're already a great cultivator now?"

  "I forgot that the three of you aren't yet aware of this. My great cultivator celebratory ceremony was held half a year ago, and I'm already the grand elder of the sect now, so taking care of a mid-Nascent Soul second Nascent Soul won't be an issue for me," Han Li explained with a faint smile.

  The three women were naturally ecstatic upon hearing this, and they immediately offered their congratulatory words.

  Han Li accepted their congratulations with a smile before urging them to leave again.

  On this occasion, neither of the three female cultivators had any objections. After extending a final curtsey to Han Li, all three of them were on their way.

  A short while later, three streaks of light shot forth from within the lava lake and departed from the inner valley.

  Meanwhile, Han Li remained within the cave and decided to wait here for a few days.

  This was such an obscure location, so if the second Nascent Soul was only temporarily away to do something, it would definitely return soon. Otherwise, it had to be residing elsewhere within the valley or had left the Devilfall Valley altogether.

  In the end, Han Li waited in the cave for seven days, but the Wood Spirit Nascent didn't return.

  Thus, he decided to conclude this waiting game and left the cave. He then released all of the tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles in his spirit beast pouch to scour through the entirety of the inner valley.

  He was unable to find the second Nascent Soul through his efforts, yet he was able to discover many ancient treasures left behind by cultivators of the distant past.

  Even though these treasures were completely useless to him and couldn't even compare to a spirit treasure replica like his Triflame Fan, they would still be considered to be very rare in a place like the Heavenly South Region.

  However, Han Li couldn't bring himself to feel any joy over these discoveries. He had discovered traces of the second Nascent Soul's activity during this process, and many of the cave abodes left behind by ancient cultivators were already completely empty, having clearly been looted recently.

  Han Li could now confirm that the second Nascent Soul had most likely departed from the inner valley with those treasures.

  This was quite a troublesome prospect for him.

  However, upon careful contemplation, he discovered that the second Nascent Soul wasn't actually completely untraceable.

  The second Nascent Soul's ultimate objective was to devour his soul and take over his body, so it would clearly be fixated on improving its cultivation base until it became more powerful than Han Li.

  According to the descriptions provided by the three women, after possessing the Sovereign Devil Corpse, the second Nascent Soul had been specializing in cultivating the Profound Yin Arts. If it wanted to cultivate the Profound Yin Devilish Qi to its maximal extent, it could use a shortcut like performing a blood sacrifice to drastically improve its cultivation base.

  However, this method was not without its side-effects. In most cases, anyone who dabbled in such sinister secret techniques would experience the progression in their cultivation base tapering off following this initial spurt, then find them unable to progress altogether.

  As such, the method described in the Profound Yin Arts during which one injected devilish Qi into their body to enhance cultivation progress was the best option for the second Nascent Soul. Using such a method to forcibly inject devilish Qi into one's body could allow a devil cultivator to break through bottlenecks in an extremely short time, thereby significantly enhancing their cultivation base.

  However, this method also had accompanying repercussions. At best, the cultivator’s body and appearance would be altered by the devilish Qi through a process known as devilfication, and at worst, one could completely lose their sanity and be reduced to a half-human, half-devil abomination of a creature. As such, this was an extremely perilous method to employ for normal cultivators.

  However, this risk didn't apply to the second Nascent Soul.

  It had possessed a devil corpse and it knew the cultivation method stipulated in the Great Development Technique, thereby allowing it to be able to much more effectively resist the repercussions that employing the method may have on its sanity Thus, the risk involved was significantly minimized.

  Back when the second Nascent Soul had left him, it was still only at the early-Nascent Soul Stage, yet it had already progressed to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage in such a short time. Unless it had stumbled upon some other miraculous opportunity, it may have already employed this method. This Devilfall Valley was the place where the ancient devil had emerged from countless years ago, so it wouldn't be a surprise at all if some places had residual devilish Qi.

  Han Li sat and meditated on the summit of a certain mountain for a day and a night, constantly considering the second Nascent Soul's situation and attempting to predict its next step. In the end, he really was able to strike the nail on the head...

  "The Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss!"

  Han Li abruptly opened his eyes as he murmured to himself in a cold voice.

  Azure light then erupted over his body as he shot forth into the distance.

  Two days later, Han Li had already departed from the Devilfall Valley and was heading toward the Seven Spirit Islands at an incredible speed.

  According to the Profound Yin Arts, it would take around a year to complete the elementary stage of the process during which one injected devilish Qi into their body. He didn't want to get there too late and have the second Nascent Soul escape in advance.

  Almost at the exact same time, the black-robed figure within the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss realized that Han Li may have predicted its whereabouts. However, it was at a crucial juncture in its cultivation and was unable to leave the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss.

  Furthermore, due to the fact that the Nascent Soul was afraid of its location being leaked, it had concealed itself throughout the entire journey from the Devilfall Valley to the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss, interacting with no cultivators along the way.

  As such, it had missed out on hearing an extremely important piece of information, and was still unaware of the fact that Han Li had reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

  It was no surprise that the Nascent Soul had neglected to consider this possibility. After all, even Han Li himself had thought that it would take him at least 200 to 300 years to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage when he had traveled to the Great Jin.

  The second Nascent Soul had clearly failed to predict that Han Li would suddenly miraculously advance to
the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

  As such, it was still calculating Han Li's speed based on what it would expect from a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

  According to its estimations, even if Han Li managed to immediately identify that it was in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss, it would still take him two months to get to this place. Meanwhile, it was already at the final stage of injecting devilish Qi into its body, and it would only take just over a month for it to complete the process.

  As such, the Nascent Soul was feeling very uneasy, but it still decided to take a risk and remain in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss.

  After all, if it were to fail on this occasion, it would be extremely difficult for it to return to the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss now that Han Li was aware of its plan.

  Thus, the Nascent Soul had arrived at its final decision.

  It was going to remain in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss for one and a half months. By that point, regardless of whether it had succeeded or not, it was going to immediately depart from the abyss.

  With half a month as a buffer, it would ensure that it would escape before Han Li's arrival.

  With that in mind, the Nascent Soul managed to calm itself down and continued to absorb devilish Qi into its body.

  However, after reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage, Han Li was capable of traveling more than twice as fast as he did back at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, thereby completing a journey that should've taken more than two months in just a month.

  He had arrived at the Seven Spirit Islands.

  In the past, Wei Wuya and the others had gifted him with one of these seven islands, Spirit Turtle Island, for his efforts in suppressing the devilish Qi, and he had passed the island directly onto the sect.

  As such, there should be Drifting Cloud Sect disciples based on that island.

  With that in mind, Han Li was no longer in a hurry to reach the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss. Instead, he headed straight for Spirit Turtle Island.

  A streak of azure light flashed through the air, and he descended on a small mountain on the island.

  He sat down with his legs crossed on a massive rock before releasing his immensely powerful spiritual sense.

  The island, which was several hundred kilometers in size, was instantly entirely scanned through by his spiritual sense and at the same time, he had discovered two cultivator settlements.

  Han Li's lips twitched and he said something in an extremely quiet voice before remaining expressionlessly on the spot.

  Meanwhile, there were two locations on Spirit Turtle Island that had been cast into a complete frenzy.

  A short while later, two groups of cultivators shot forth from two different directions directly toward the mountain that Han Li was resting on.

  Han Li showed no intention of getting up, and merely looked up indifferently at these cultivators.

  All of a sudden, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. At this moment, the two groups of cultivators had already reached the air above the mountain, and after identifying Han Li, all of them hurriedly descended from above.

  We pay our respects to Grand Elder Han!"

  All of the cultivators stepped forward and extended respectful bows. The two people leading the respective groups were both Core Formation cultivators, one of which was a yellow-robed man with small eyes and thick eyebrows, while the other was a woman who appeared to be just over 30 years of age. The dozen or so cultivators accompanying them were all also at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

  "So it really is you! Long time no see; it seems like you're also reached the Core Formation Stage." Han Li suddenly turned to the yellow-robed cultivator with a smile.

  Chapter 1186: Entering the Abyss

  The yellow-robed man's face immediately paled after Han Li identified him, and he stuttered unsteadily, “I wasn't aware of your true identity during our previous encounter, so please forgive me if I offended you in any way, Grand Elder Han!"

  The Core Formation Stage woman was quite surprised to see this.

  This Senior Martial Brother Kui of hers was normally a very smooth talker, so why was it that he had been reduced to such a stuttering mess?

  Furthermore, it sounded as if he had been acquainted with the grand elder since a long time ago.

  The woman's heart was filled with confusion, but she didn't dare to ask any questions.

  A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face.

  "It's not your fault. I concealed my cultivation base back then for my own purposes, so I certainly don't plan to blame you for anything. However, I really am rather surprised that you were able to progress to the Core Formation Stage. How are your other martial brothers doing?"

  This yellow-robed cultivator was none other than Kui Huan, the Drifting Cloud Sect cultivator who had invited Han Li to hunt for Snowcloud Foxes with him many years ago. The aptitude of his spiritual roots was very average, yet he had managed to progress all the way from the Qi Condensation Stage to the Core Formation Stage. As such, Han Li was naturally quite surprised to see this.

  Han Li clearly recalled everything that had happened all those years ago, and a wry smile appeared on Kui Huan's face upon seeing this as he replied, "Senior Martial Brother Wang and the others weren't as lucky as I am; they were unable to even progress to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and passed away many years ago."

  "I see. Their aptitude was quite mediocre, so it's no surprise that they were unable to progress to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Looks like you encountered some brilliant opportunities, Martial Nephew Kui," Han Li sighed.

  "Over 100 years ago, I unintentionally consumed an unknown spirit herb, and my cultivation base progressed at a phenomenal rate thereafter," Kui Huan explained with a slightly sheepish smile.

  "Hehe, you're quite a lucky man, Martial Nephew Kui. However, I'm not here to catch up and reminisce about old times today; I have some questions to ask you all!" Han Li suddenly adopted a serious expression.

  "We'll be sure to tell you everything we know, Grand Elder Han," the woman replied obediently.

  Even if Han Li wasn't the grand elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect, he was still the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region, so he had to be treated with the utmost respect.

  "I just wanted as if any of you have noticed any abnormalities with the devilish abyss seal on the Seven Spirit Islands," Han Li inquired.

  The woman faltered momentarily before replying, "The seal? It seems to be fine. Our patrol teams from the seven islands guard the seal in shifts, and no abnormalities have been reported to us. What do you mean by this, Martial Uncle Han?"

  Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

  "The seal is guarded in shifts? Doesn't that mean you won't know if something's amiss when patrol teams from other islands are on duty?" Han asked with a dark expression.

  Kui Huan and the woman glanced at each other, and the former could only muster up his courage as he admitted, "Unless the other islands go to the trouble of reporting these matters to us, I'm afraid that this is indeed the case."

  However, to their surprise, Han Li wasn't enraged upon hearing this. Instead, a hint of light flashed through his eyes as he suddenly patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, producing a set of formation plates and formation flags of different colors.

  "Take 36 disciples with you and head to the entrance of the abyss straight away, then set up this Malevolent Heavenly Formation. I'm going to be making a trip to the abyss. If anything tries to come out, make sure to trap it with this formation. I don't expect you to kill it; just make sure it doesn't get away," Han Li instructed calmly.

  Kui Huan and the woman were very surprised to hear this, but they still immediately agreed.

  "There's no time to waste! Pick your disciples quickly, then set up the formation as soon as you can. I'm going ahead to the abyss first. Hehe, hopefully, this is just a false alarm." Han Li delivered a final set of instructions before tossing the formation tools toward the two Core Formati
on cultivators and rising into the air.

  Before the two of them had a chance to reply, azure light appeared over his body as he shot forth into the distance, heading directly for the seal on the devilish abyss.

  The woman and Kui Huan hurriedly bowed in his direction before immediately pulling out their voice transmission talismans, instructing all of the disciples on the island to immediately assemble.

  A short while later, 36 cultivators were picked out and the two Core Formation cultivators led them toward the abyss while carrying the formation tools.

  As this was an instruction from Han Li, they didn't dare to delay in the slightest.

  At this moment, Han Li had already reached the entrance of the abyss.

  The massive vortex of the past had now been reduced to only around 500 to 600 feet wide. Furthermore, there were a dozen or so massive stone pillars distributed around the vortex. The pillars were constructed from an unknown material that was like metal, but also like wood, and were able to float in a completely stationary manner in the surrounding seawater.

  Beams of white spiritual light were radiating from the stone pillars, creating a white light barrier that completely sealed the vortex within.

  Han Li hovered above the light barrier and examined it with narrowed eyes.

  There were seven or eight cultivators standing behind Han Li, one of which was a red-robed Core Formation cultivator, who asked tentatively, "Senior Han, as you can see, the seal is completely unscathed. Could it be that the information you received was perhaps incorrect? The cultivators from our seven islands have been constantly keeping an eye on this place, and we've never let our guards drop."

  The remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators were standing even further away, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

  "Hmph, I know at least half a dozen methods to infiltrate this seal without damaging it. It's not a difficult task to get past you guys," Han Li replied coldly without even turning his head.

  The red-robed cultivator could only give a wry smile in response.