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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Han Li then began to chant something, and scorching flames suddenly erupted from the ropes binding the Daoist priest's body. Bursts of crimson flames shot forth immediately thereafter, instantly reducing the body to a pile of ashes.

  However, almost at the exact same moment, the Daoist priest's Nascent Soul emerged from the flames within a ball of white light. It was holding a white scepter in its hands, and was desperately attempting to flee into the distance.

  However, it crashed headfirst into the golden lightning net, upon which it was rebounded amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps. Brilliant golden light then radiated forth as the golden net exploded violently, and the Nascent Soul was instantly reduced to nothingness amid the devastating explosion.

  Only then did Han Li exhale gently as he turned toward another direction with a cold light in his eyes.

  At this moment, the elderly man had already fled to over 400 feet away, and he had pulled out a pair of azure bowls from a storage pouch hanging from his waist. He hadn't even made up his mind about whether he wanted to attack Han Li yet, and the Daoist priest was already dead.

  The elderly man's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, and he felt as if his entire body had been plunged into a glacial pit.

  As Han Li swept his gaze toward the elderly man, the latter suddenly raised an arm, and a burst of azure light flashed as he used the sharp edge of one of his bowls to dismember one of his own arms.

  The amputated arm exploded amid a loud thump, and the resulting blood mist enshrouded the elderly man's entire body as a bloodcurdling shriek rang out!

  The blood around the elderly man's body transformed him into a faint crimson shadow, which hurtled rapidly into the distance. Following just a few flashes, the crimson shadow had already covered a distance of over 1,000 feet, and the speed of its movement was rather astonishing, even to Han Li.

  Han Li's eyes narrowed and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face. During that split-second delay, the crimson shadow completely disappeared into the distance.

  Han Li stroked his chin and shook his head as a slightly forlorn look appeared on his face.

  It appeared that this man had mastered a movement technique similar to the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique. In that case, Han Li was reluctant to expend the time and effort required to chase him down. His top priority was to get to Heavenly Star City as quickly as possible, after all.

  With that in mind, he turned his attention to the spirit bird, which was still trapped under the silver lotus flower conjured up by the Eight Spirit Ruler. He flicked a finger through the air, and a golden sword shot forth, instantly slicing the bird in half and putting an end to its life.

  This was a spirit beast that had been nurtured by the Daoist priest's blood from birth, so there was no way for it to be tamed by anyone else. As such, Han Li naturally wasn't going to let it live.

  After that, he transformed into a streak of azure light again as he flew directly toward Heavenly Star City.

  On this occasion, he was flying at full speed, and it only took him around 10 minutes to pass through the Heavenly Windfire Formation's restriction.

  Han Li's body faltered slightly as he broke through the formation, and he paused in his flight as he looked on at Heavenly Star City from afar.

  There in the distance, the city's gargantuan walls had been enshrouded under a dense barrier of faint blue light. In the air above the light barrier, there were large swaths of red and azure light striking down upon it relentlessly. As the lights of different colors intertwined with one another, earthshattering thunderclaps rang out incessantly. Upon seeing this, Han Li no longer hesitated any longer as he resumed his journey toward the Heavenly Star City.

  After just a few flashes, the azure streak of light had reached one of the city gates, but his progress was stalled by that blue light barrier.

  The Star Palace cultivator behind the light barrier had naturally also caught sight of Han Li, and a loud whistle rang out as a dozen or so Star Palace cultivators of different heights appeared above the city wall, all of whom were appraising Han Li with grave and bewildered expressions.

  The Starfall Coalition had set up the Heavenly Windfire Formation to prevent people from being able to escape from Heavenly Star City, yet Han Li had gone to all this trouble to break through the restriction and enter from the outside; that was simply inexplicable to them.

  Even though Han Li was still extremely far away from the city, he could clearly see the expressions on the faces of the Star Palace cultivators through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

  As such, he wasted no time with words, flipping over his palm, instead, to produce the Star Palace guest elder badge he had received from Wen Qing over a century ago. He raised his hand, and the badge slowly flew toward the light barrier, where it remained hovering in mid-air.

  The sight of this badge created quite a stir among the cultivators above the city gates. Several of the more powerful cultivators were appraising the badge with their brows furrowed tightly in confusion when one of them suddenly seemed to have come to an abrupt realization. An enlightened expression abruptly appeared on his face as he turned to his companions and said something.

  Expressions of surprise immediately appeared on the faces of the other cultivators, and one of them hurriedly pulled out a flag before waving it several times toward the blue light barrier.

  The light barrier swayed, and the badge flew into the barrier as a streak of yellow light. Following a few flashes, it emerged on the other side of the barrier as if it had passed through nothing but empty air.

  Han Li looked on with an aloof expression as he hovered before the light barrier.

  At this point, all of the cultivators above the city gates had seen the guest elder badge, and expressions of surprise and elation had appeared on all of their faces. One of them pointed at Han Li and said something before pulling a voice transmission talisman out from his storage pouch. He swept a hand through the air, and the talisman transformed into a streak of light as it flew into the city.

  He then produced a treasure that resembled a formation plate, and pointed his finger at it a few times before asking, "Is that you, Senior Han? Please forgive us for our insolence; as you can see, we're in a time of crisis here, and none of us have ever met you in person before, so we can't allow you into the city. However, I've already sent a voice transmission talisman to our palace master, and she'll arrive here shortly."

  The man's words completely disregarded the blue light barrier and traveled directly into Han Li's ears.

  Han Li raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, but he merely nodded in response and waited with his hands clasped behind his back.

  Not long after that, three streaks of light flew out rapidly from within the city before stopping atop the city gates.

  The trio was comprised of two men and a woman, and the woman was standing at the center, indicating that she was the leader of the group. The woman was extremely gorgeous, and her facial features struck Han Li with a sense of familiarity.

  It was none other than Ling Yuling after reverting back to her female appearance.

  Accompanying her were a yellow-robed man who appeared to be in his thirties, as well as an elderly man with a head of white hair and a white beard. The three of them all had their eyes trained firmly on Han Li. The cultivators guarding the city gates all stood off to the side with respectful expressions, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

  An elated expression illuminated Ling Yuling's beautiful features as she commanded, "It really is Fellow Daoist Han! I thought that he wouldn't be able to get here! Hurry up and let Brother Han into the city!"

  "Palace Master, is that a good idea? Is that man really reliable? We'd be in big trouble if he turned out to be a Starfall Coalition cultivator in disguise," the yellow-robed cultivator dissuaded with a hesitant look on his face.

  Ling Yuling shook her head firmly, and replied, "Don't worry, this guest elder badge is completely unique in this world, so there's
no mistaking it. Furthermore, with his extraordinary powers, there's no one in the Scattered Star Seas who would be able to take the badge from him."

  Upon hearing this, the yellow-robed cultivator could only nod in silence.

  Thus, the cultivators guarding the city gates immediately sprang into action. All of them summoned either a formation flag or a formation plate before tossing them into the air in unison. Lights of various different colors appeared before the formation tools disappearing into the light barrier in front of the city gates.

  Chapter 1209: Battle at the Star Palace (5)

  The brightness of the blue light barrier immediately increased, following which a circular passageway around 10 feet in diameter appeared.

  Han Li briefly examined the passageway that had opened up in front of him before flying into it as a streak of azure light, appeared on the other side in the blink of an eye.

  The light barrier shuddered again, and the passageway disappeared.

  Ling Yuling turned to Han Li with an elated smile on her face as she said, "Fellow Daoist Han, you're finally here."

  "I made a promise to your parents, so I certainly couldn't ignore your request for help in your time of need," Han Li replied with a smile.

  "I'm extremely grateful for your assistance, Brother Han. With you here, there's no need for us to fear those Starfall Coalition clowns. This is not the place to talk; come with me to the sacred mountain, Fellow Daoist Han. Elder Sun, inform all of the elders who aren't currently on duty to gather at the sacred palace; I have important matters to discuss with them." Ling Yuling extended an invitation to Han Li before issuing some instructions to the yellow-robed cultivator beside her.

  "Yes, Palace Master!"

  The yellow-robed cultivator was an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, and as soon as Han Li had passed through the light barrier, he had tried to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base using his spiritual sense. What he discovered was that Han Li's cultivation base was completely unfathomable to him, and a hint of awe and veneration intermingled with shock appeared on his face. After hearing Ling Yuling's orders, he immediate cupped his fist in a salute before pulling out a stack of voice transmission talisman to inform the Star Palace elders of the palace master's instructions.

  At this moment, Han Li turned toward the white-haired elderly man, and said, "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Zhao; you're looking quite well. Not only that, but your cultivation base has also improved drastically. I must congratulate you."

  The elderly man was none other than the very same Elder Zhao who had approached Han Li with that dual cultivation proposal on Silver Shark Island. It had been more than a century since Han Li had last seen him, and he had reached the mid-Nascent Soul Stage as well, just as Ling Yuling had.

  However, a wry smile appeared on Elder Zhao's face upon hearing this, indicating that there were some hidden circumstances involved behind his breakthrough. "Hehe, I wouldn't have been able to take this step by myself. It's all thanks to the two former palace masters that I was able to take another strike in my cultivation base."

  "Oh, I see." A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face after hearing this.

  "So you and Elder Zhao are old acquaintances as well; I'm glad to see that. Let's head to the sacred palace first, and we'll continue our conversation there," Ling Yuling suggested with a smile.

  Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and he nodded in response.

  Thus, the group rose into the air and flew toward the sacred mountain at the center of Heavenly Star City.

  Under the guidance of Ling Yuling and the others, Han Li flew directly toward the highest level of the sacred mountain before descending in front of what appeared to be a very nondescript bluestone palace.

  Han Li appraised the stone palace with a hint of surprise on his face.

  "Do you find our sacred palace to be too mundane, Brother Han?" Ling Yuling turned to Han Li with a dainty smile.

  "It's indeed not what I was expecting." Han Li made no effort to deny this.

  "It does indeed look quite ordinary, but all of our past palace masters have cultivated here before, so it was preserved and is regarded as one of the most important places in our Star Palace. We normally wouldn't let outsiders set foot into this palace, but you came from afar to help us in our time of need, so you're naturally exempt from this rule, Brother Han," Ling Yuling explained with a smile.

  "The palace itself does look quite mundane, but there's a remarkable abundance of spiritual Qi in the surrounding area, so it's an exceptional place to cultivate in. I doubt there would be many islands on the Inner Star Seas that could provide a cultivation environment comparable to this one." Han Li nodded in response.

  Ling Yuling's smile widened upon hearing this, and she immediately led Han Li toward the gates of the stone palace.

  The dozen or so Star Palace disciples guarding the gate hurriedly extended respectful bows toward their group, and all of them wore rather curious expressions at the sight of Han Li.

  Ling Yuling naturally wasn't going to waste time providing an explanation to these guards as she led Han Li into the palace. Their group filed into a short corridor before arriving in an antiquated hall, where all of them took a seat.

  "Brother Han, you must've learned about our Star Palace's situation on your way here, right?" Ling Yuling cut straight to the point.

  "Of course. It appears that the Star Palace is in a rather perilous situation," Han Li replied calmly.

  "Then I suppose you're also aware of the fact that our Star Palace had initially gained the upper hand, and we've only been plunged into this situation because that Wan Tianming suddenly reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Only after he became a great cultivator did the Starfall Coalition manage to turn the tables, so he is the key in this battle. Brother Han, as long as you can hold off that man, I'm confident that our Star Palace would be able to destroy the Starfall Coalition again!" A cold look appeared in Ling Yuling's eyes as she spoke.

  "So you want me to fight that Sect Master Wan?" Han Li asked.

  Ling Yuling faltered slightly, and a hesitant look appeared on her face as she asked, "Are you unhappy with that arrangement, Brother Han?"

  Han Li raised an eyebrow, and replied, "It's not that; I just think there seems to be a misunderstanding here, Fairy Ling."

  "A misunderstanding? Could it be that you're not here to help me, Brother Han?" Ling Yuling's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

  "Of course I'm here to help you, it's just that..." Han Li was just about to explain when his words came to a halt, and he suddenly turned toward the entrance of the hall.

  Ling Yuling naturally also cast her gaze toward the same direction.

  Moments later, three cultivators strode into palace, one of which was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, while the other two were at the early-Nascent Soul Stage.

  The mid-Nascent Soul cultivator was a purple-robed man with a pockmarked face. After entering the hall, he refrained from extending a salute toward Ling Yuling, and instead turned toward Han Li with an unfriendly expression, giving off a rather uncouth and antagonistic demeanor.

  However, his pupils immediately contracted as he swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, and his expression became quite strained.

  At this moment, Ling Yuling smiled, and said, "Elder Ma, I didn't think you'd get here so quickly. Have a seat. When all of the other elders get here as well, I'll introduce to everyone an esteemed guest of our Star Palace!"

  "Indeed, I can sense that this fellow Daoist possesses an unfathomable cultivation base, so a warm welcome is very much necessary." The purple-robed man quickly composed himself before giving Han Li a forced smile and taking a seat. After assessing Han Li's cultivation base, he was clearly a lot more subdued than he was just a second ago.

  The other two Star Palace elders were naturally unable to identify Han Li's cultivation base, but the purple-robed man's reaction told them everything they needed to know. As such, they exchanged an astonishe
d glance with one another before cupping their fists in a salute toward Ling Yuling and also taking a seat.

  However, in response to this, Ling Yuling merely tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear as a cold light flashed through her eyes.

  Han Li was observing all of these minor details, and a hint of a smile appeared on her face.

  It was quite clear that this Elder Ma wasn't content to serve this new master of the Star Palace, and Ling Yuling was using him to intimidate these elders and keep them in check. Han Li was feeling both rather amused and a little speechless.

  However, Ling Yuling was an old acquaintance of his, so he didn't take this to heart. After all, what she was doing wasn't causing harm to him in any way.

  Following the arrival of Elder Ma's trio, the rest of the Star Palace elders also began to arrive at the sacred palace one after the other. All of them were immediately given quite a surprise by the sight of the unfamiliar great cultivator present among their ranks.

  Even though none of these Nascent Soul Stage elders could ascertain Han Li's true cultivation base, all of them turned to Elder Ma as a litmus test for Han Li's power, and all of them were quite stunned by what they saw.

  Before long, over 20 Star Palace elders had gathered in the hall. Aside from three mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, Elder Zhao, Elder Ma, and Ling Yuling, all of the rest were at the early-Nascent Soul Stage.

  Ling Yuling slowly rose to her feet and pointed at Han Li with a smile as she announced, "Seeing as everyone's here, let me introduce to you all an esteemed guest. This is the guest elder appointed by the former palace masters, Han Li!"

  All of the elders present had naturally heard of Han Li before, and Ling Yuling's announcement created quite a stir among them, to the extent that one of them couldn't help but exclaim, "Han Li?!"Han Li turned toward the Star Palace elder who had spoken to find that it was a benevolent-looking white-robed elderly man.