Han Li was quite relieved that this was the case, but he had still been on high alert for the past three days. Violet Spirit didn't dare to stray far away from Han Li, either, and he certainly wasn't going to complain about having such an exquisite beauty by his side.
Following the conclusion of the ceremony, Han Li immediately bade farewell to Xiang Zhili and the others, departing from the Devil Palace and the Devil Cliff Mountain with Violet Spirit before both of them seemingly disappeared off the face of this world.
Three months later, on the summit of a nameless scenic mountain, an azure-robed young man was standing peacefully on a huge rock, casting his gaze out toward the distance.
This young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had departed from the Devil Cliff Mountain several months ago.
At this moment, his expression was quite calm, but there was a hint of internal turmoil in his eyes.
He suddenly raised his hands and silently stared at them for a while.
Just a day ago, his hands had been roaming over Violet Spirit's scorching porcelain-like skin, and just the memory of that wonderful experience was making his blood boil. However, Violet Spirit had since departed, leaving him alone on this mountain.
After Han Li and Violet Spirit had left the Heavenly Devil Sect, the two of them had settled on this mountain and began exchanging their respective experiences since they had last parted.
There had always been a hint of mutual attraction between the two, and after living together in an intimate manner for several months, they were finally unable to hold back their impulsive urges and lost themselves in each other's bodies.
However, after the event, Violet Spirit made her thoughts very clear to Han Li. He already had a Dao Companion, and she was unwilling to settle for becoming anyone's concubine, so their paths were destined to diverge. However, she would never love any man aside from Han Li, so she won't ever find a Dao Companion of her own. Instead, she was planning to dedicate herself wholeheartedly to cultivation as well as her pursuit of the Great Dao.
After expressing these intentions to Han Li, Violet Spirit left with a calm expression.
Han Li was naturally powerful enough to force her to stay, but he could see the determination in her heart, so he chose to let her leave.
Now, as he stood on the summit of this mountain, reminiscing about the past three months he had spent here with Violet Spirit, he was struck by a sense of dejection and a faint throbbing pain in his heart.
He knew that these were signs indicating instability in his state of mind, but he didn't rectify this right away, choosing to bask in this complex emotion instead.
After a long while, the sense of loss and conflict slowly disappeared from Han Li's eyes as his pupils regained their clarity.
"I guess it simply wasn't meant to be," Han Li murmured to himself.
He then transformed into a streak of azure light and rose into the air, disappearing into the distant sky in the blink of an eye.
The Fiery Hell was one of the seven restricted areas of the Great Jin located in the southeastern region of the Great Jin, and it had existed since ancient times.
This was a land of flames comparable in size to half of an entire state, and there were no other colors to be seen there other than black and red. There were also countless volcanos of differents sizes spread over this vast land that spanned innumerable kilometers.
Some of these volcanoes were over 100,000 feet tall, while others were only just over 1,000 feet tall, resembling small hills rather than the volcanoes that they were.
Some of these volcanos were very much active with scorching red lava bubbling within their craters, while some had gone completely dark and extinct. There were also some that were in the process of eruption, rumbling incessantly as scorching lava spewed into their air from their respective craters.
The air above this land was always obscured by a thick layer of blackish-red fiery clouds, and the ground around these volcanoes was completely black from the immeasurably deep layers of soot that had gathered over time. At low altitudes, the air was entirely filled with the acrid scent of sulfur, and the air temperature here was far more scorching than in the rest of the world.
However, many cultivators would often appear in this lethal land that was uninhabitable for mortals. Some of them occasionally descend from the sky and pick up some things from the ground, while others burrowed straight into the craters of certain volcanoes.
Those who dared to enter the volcanoes were naturally all powerful cultivators of a higher grade.
The Fiery Hell was undoubtedly a perilous place, but it was also a region that was abundant in all types of fire-attribute materials. The true restricted area wasn't actually the entire Fiery Hell. Instead, it was merely referring to a vast stretch of mountain ranges at the center of the Fiery Hell.
In that place, the entire region was enshrouded under a thick red mist that stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers. That vast expanse of red mist was the true restricted realm, and very few cultivators emerged alive after entering this restricted area.
As such, there usually weren't any cultivators that could be sighted around that area.
However, on this day, a streak of azure light could suddenly be seen hurtling toward a certain border of the fiery mist, reaching a distance of just over 1,000 feet away from the crimson mist in the blink of an eye.
The azure light receded, and a young male cultivator was revealed.
This man was none other than Han Li, who had rectified his state of mind and finally arrived here after several months of traveling.
As soon as he appeared, he scanned his gaze throughout his surroundings before turning his attention to the sea of fiery mist.
This vast expanse of red mist was quite different from the mist that Han Li had seen in the past. Not only was its enormity downright staggering, it was completely still without detectable swaying nor discernible noises coming from within.
Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the crimson mist for a while. All of a sudden, azure light flashed around his body again as he plunged headfirst into the sea of mist.
As soon as he entered the fiery mist, astonishing explosions began to erupt along the protective azure light around his body as it came into contact with the red mist.
Red and azure light intertwined with one another, and the explosions became more and more frequent and violently.
Han Li was slightly startled by this development and after flying for over 1,000 feet, his brows furrowed as he abruptly patted a storage pouch hanging from his waist.
Red light flashed and a dozen or so streaks of crimson light shot forth, transforming into a series of glittering and translucent round pillars.
Each of these pillars was around a foot in length and was shimmering with red light with life-like crimson wyrm carvings engraved onto their surfaces.
These were none other than the treasures that Han Li had refined from the fire dragon pillars he had sourced from the Kunwu Mountains.
Han Li began to chant something as he pointed a finger at those red pillars.
The pillars revolved in the air before hurtling forth, stopping around 10 feet away from Han Li.
Red light flashed and the crimson wyrms carved onto the surfaces of these pillars opened their mouths in unison, blasting out bursts of crimson light which combined to form a barrier around Han Li's body.
After coming into contact with this red barrier, the fiery mist around him immediately ceased their explosions, and Han Li was able to glide through it like a hot knife through butter.
A satisfied look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he was immediately able to increase his speed by severalfold.
Here in this sea of fiery mist, one's spiritual sense was severely restricted, and even with Han Li's immensely powerful spiritual sense, he was only able to detect the situation within a small area around him.
If any other late-Nascent Soul cultivators were in his s
hoes, they wouldn't most likely be even more inept. As expected, it was a wise decision for him to come here only after reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage.
Han Li was naturally here to source Puresun Flame Essence that he could use to refine the Returning Sun Water.
After using a soul search technique on Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul in the North Night Palace, he had gleaned some information, telling him that a wisp of Puresun Flame Essence could be found in this Fiery Hell restricted area. However, the Puresun Flame Essence was hidden in an extremely perilous location, so Han Li wasn't in a hurry to search for it. Only after reaching the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage was he confident enough to come searching for it.
After all, the Returning Sun Water was an extraordinary medicine that was of the utmost importance to him. He had given Hu Qinglei several drops of Glacial Quintessence in exchange for Violet Spirit's freedom, but he still had sufficient Glacial Quintessence to refine five or six portions of Returning Sun Water.
Of course, he would only be able to refine this medicine if he could find the Puresun Flame Essence, and that would surely be an extremely arduous task. Otherwise, Master Arctic Dragon was also a great cultivator himself, so he would've come here to secure the Puresun Flame Essence long ago.
Han Li already possessed the Greatyin True Flame, so it certainly wouldn't be impossible for him to obtain the Puresun Flame Essence. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the risk to come to this place.
This vast expanse of fiery mist one of the seven restricted areas of Great Jin, so it was naturally an extremely perilous place. Furthermore, there were also many unimaginably powerful fire-attribute demon beasts inhabiting the mountains down below, among which there was apparently no lack of sixth and seventh grade demons beasts. Even the average Nascent Soul cultivator would very likely be killed if they were to be surrounded by a dozen or so of these beasts.
On top of that, the most dangerous things within this red sea of mist weren’t even the demon beasts...
Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, he seemed to have suddenly sensed something, and a cold light flashed through his eyes as he flicked a finger to the side.
Golden light flashed as a burst of sword Qi disappeared into the red mist.
Chapter 1248: Formation Spell, Sacrificial Altar, Giant Cauldron
A peculiar cry abruptly rang out. A dark shadow stumbled out of the mist, revealing itself to be a red demon beast several feet in length with a pair of blue eyes and a purple comb on its head. However, there was blood splattered all over one of its wings, and even more blood was gushing violently out of a fist-sized puncture wound.
However, this beast was extremely aggressive, and it threw itself at Han Li despite its injuries.
That didn't come as any surprise to Han Li. After all, fire-attribute demon beasts were commonly much more ferocious and violent than other demon beasts.
Han Li heaved a faint sight before casually flicking five of his fingers.
Five red threads short forth, puncturing several regions of the demon beast body before winding themselves around the bird and tightening violently.
Brilliant red light flashed as the demon beast was chopped into several sections.
Its body had been severed by none other than Han Li's Fire Spirit Threads! In the face of weaker opponents like this fiery bird, the might of the Fire Spirit Threads was very apparent.
Han Li waved a hand through the air and the red threads flew back toward him before disappearing into his palm.
As he continued deeper into the sea of mist, more and more demon beasts began to appear with increasing regularity. Before he knew it, he had slain more than 10 demon beasts.
On one occasion, he was attacked by five or six fire apes at once, each of which was around 10 feet tall. A normal early-Nascent Soul cultivator would've been in some trouble had they been faced with that situation, but Han Li was naturally able to handle the situation with aplomb.
He merely opened his mouth to blast forths swords that were several inches in length, and the fire apes were easily slain.
However, after forging ahead for a while longer, he finally encountered the first true stumbling block on his journey.
In the air several hundred feet away from him, there was a shimmering red ball of light around 10 feet in size that was constantly transforming. It took on the form of a tiger, then a wolf, transitioning between different demon beast forms as if it didn't have a set form of its own.
Han Li looked on with a cold expression before abruptly raising a hand, sending several streaks of golden sword Qi flying toward it.
Golden light flashed past, easily slicing this creature into several pieces, but the segmented red light merely converged once again to revert back to its original form with no issues whatsoever.
Han Li's brows furrowed as he made a hand seal. He then abruptly opened his mouth to eject a pilar of purple light, puncturing the ball of light in the blink of an eye to create a hole with a diameter comparable to that of a large bowl.
This was a new secret technique that Han Li had mastered after reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage. It involved compressing the Purple Apex Flames that he had refined, then blasting it out of his mouth using his immense spiritual power.
As one could imagine, the resulting attack was very fearsome.
Even though the ball of light was still able to regenerate itself, it took a lot longer to do so than on the previous occasion.
"It's just as the rumors say; this Malicious Fire Spirit really is a little troublesome to deal with. Even my glacial flame, which is supposed to hold an attribute advantage over it, isn't very effective. No wonder Master Arctic Dragon's memories suggested that he was quite wary of this creature," Han Li murmured to himself.
Right at this moment, the red ball of light took on the form of a crimson devilish ghost and rushed toward Han Li with red flames erupting from its mouth.
Han Li adopted a serious expression as he waved a hand through the air. A massive azure hand immediately appeared above the devilish ghost's head, crashing down like lightning before grabbing the ghost firmly between its five fingers.
Red light flashed as the fingers of the azure hand tightened, crushing the entire body of the devilish ghost. However, the red light converged and regenerated itself again in the next instant.
A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face as he patted his storage pouch, seemingly preparing to summon some kind of treasure. However, right at this moment, a crisp cry suddenly rang out from within his body. Crimson light then flashed on his shoulder as a tiny little crimson bird that was only around several inches in size materialized out of thin air.
Han Li faltered slightly at the sight of this bird.
This bird was none other than the spirit beast manifested from the Greatyin True Flame.
A surprised look appeared on Han Li's face. Before he could ascertain why this Fire Raven had appeared of its own accord, the latter suddenly spread open its wings and hurtled directly toward the ball of red light.
Along the way, the Fire Raven swelled drastically in size, expanding to several feet in a few flashes as it opened its beak to peck the ball of light.
To Han L's surprise, the bird was able to peck a chunk out of the ball of light's insubstantial body.
Following just a few more pecks, a large hole had appeared in the ball of light, and it was no longer able to regenerate as it once could.
However, this Malicious Fire Spirit didn't appear to be very intelligent and nor did it seem to have any sense of pain. Instead of trying to flee the scene, it was merely transitioning into different forms over and over again in an attempt to better combat the Fire Raven.
The Fire Raven had the Malicious Fire Spirit's body grasped tightly between its talons, continuing to peck at it viciously regardless of what form it adopted. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the ball of light had almost been reduced to half of its original size.
Han Li chuckled
upon seeing this.
Never did he think that the Greatyin Fire Raven would be the bane of the Malicious Fire Spirits here.
In that case, he would be spared of a lot of trouble.
Thus, Han Li looked on with a relaxed expression. It didn't take long for the Greatyin Fire Raven to completely devour the ball of light.
It then let loose a long cry before returning to its perch on Han Li's shoulder, where it began to organize its feathers, seemingly unwilling to return to Han Li's body right away.
There was no way that there was only one Malicious Fire Spirt in this sea of mist, so Han Li naturally wasn't going to force the bird back into his body. Thus, he continued onward in his journey.
The mountain ranges enshrouded under this sea of mist were truly massive beyond belief. Han Li's spiritual sense was restricted, so he didn't dare to fly too quickly, and it took him three full days before he finally arrived at his destination; a massive extinct volcano.
Along the way, he had slain at least 70 to 80 demon beasts of all stages, if not over 100. There were even some that had reached the pinnacle of the seventh grade and were only a step away from the eighth grade. Eighth grade metamorphosis stage demon beasts would go on to attain intelligence, so they would depart from the Fiery Hell to find a more suitable place to cultivate.
As for Malicious Fire Spirits, Han Li only encountered two in total on the way here. Both of them were devoured by the Greatyin Fire Raven, so they didn't cause him much trouble at all.
However, as they were passing through a fiery lake along the way, Han Li was forced to slow down significantly. The fiery lake was capable of blasting crimson pillars of fire into the air without any warning, and those pillars of fire were quite powerful.
Han Li wasn't fearful of these flames, but he naturally didn't want to unnecessarily waste his magic power.
As such, he exercised a policy of caution and slowly flew over this area.
At this moment, Han Li was already standing on the rim of the extinct volcano, casting his gaze up ahead with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 691