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

by Translator: Johnchen

  As Han Li stared at the woman, he felt his gaze absorbed by her eyes and his sharp eyes became vacant.

  When the palace-robed woman saw this, her heart was overjoyed and she moved her arm to attack.

  But at that moment, Han Li’s blank face turned into a mocking sneer and blue light brightly shined from his eyes.

  A wave of dizziness overtook her sight and huge trembles shook her mind, causing her to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.

  “Grand bewitchment techniques! Y-you know them!” Even as powerful as the woman’s spiritual sense may be, she received backlash from Han Li’s spiritual eyes during a moment of carelessness, but she quickly recovered. But at that moment, she looked at Han Li as if she had seen a ghost.

  In her astonishment, Han Li gave her a mysterious smile and stood motionlessly in place.

  The woman quickly hid the shock on her face and couldn't help but look at Han Li with bewilderment.

  Even as arrogant as the woman may be, she realized that Han Li was by no means the simple body refiner that he appeared to be.

  The woman looked at the two Immortal Vanquishing and then turned to look at the helpless girl on the ground. With an icy voice, she said, “What are you thinking? We’ve found ourselves in a deadlock.”

  After a moment of thought, Han Li said, “If you let go of that girl, Fellow Daoist may leave.”

  “Impossible. Dai’er carries the direct bloodline of our Black Phoenix Clan. I must bring her back.” The woman rejected him immediately.

  When Han Li heard her resolute reply, his heart sank and he became silent.

  The young woman also kept silent and the two sides found themselves in a deadlock for a time.

  After several gusts of wind rustle past them, only silence filled the air.

  Still held by the purple-robed corpse, Dai’er broke the silence with her soft voice, “Uncle Han, please don’t fight with Auntie Xiao. I am following her because I want to.”

  When Han Li heard this, he frowned. As for the woman, she remained expressionless, unsurprised by her words.

  Alarmed, Han Li asked with a calm voice, “Dai’er, what are you saying? Do you know who she is?”

  “I know. Auntie Gu used a technique to teach me.” The girl raised her small face to reveal a determination that contrasted her age.

  As someone with great experience, Han Li found this odd and harshly shouted, “A technique? What did you do to her?”

  The woman brushed back some of her hair and indifferently said, “I didn’t do anything. I simply had the Black Phoenix Clan’s legacy pearl enter her body. A bit of information regarding the Black Phoenix Clan was passed down to her. Of course, there wasn’t enough time for her to digest it completely, but she clearly understands her identity as a half-demon.”

  When Han Li heard this, he suddenly came to a realization.

  Although he didn’t know the details, a so-called legacy pearl was a treasure refined to contain the experience, techniques, and even soul fragments of past generations.

  These items did exist in some capacity in the mortal realm. But the conditions for inheriting such a treasure was extremely demanding. If one wasn’t careful, they could perish. But even worse was that the inheritance often failed to completely impart its contents, passing only a tenth of its legacy.

  The Black Phoenix Clan’s legacy pearl must be wondrous in a way he didn’t understand to surpass the previously mentioned flaws.

  And when the girl fully absorbs the legacy pearl, she will no longer truly be herself.

  After a moment of silence, Han Li said to the girl, “Think carefully! If you enter the demon clans, you will need to forfeit your identity as a human. In the future, you won’t be able to see your family on this side again.”

  The girl shook her head and sadly said, “Apart from my grandfather, I have no family. Now that grandfather is like this, there is no point for me staying here any longer. I want to live together with my father.”

  “In that case, I won’t force you. Go with her.” Han Li sighed and turned around, walking away in large steps, but still holding the beads in his hand.

  When the woman saw how quickly Han Li ran off, the woman was startled. As for the girl, she bit her lips to say nothing else as she was still reluctant to part with him.

  Han Li appeared as if he was walking, but he traveled at an astonishing speed. In only a moment, he turned into a black dot on the horizon.

  The young woman glared at Han Li with resentment for a long while before eventually deciding not to attack. Then with an unsightly expression, she looked at the girl below and said, “Dai’er, let’s go. If that person informs high-grade cultivators about our presence, it will be troublesome.”

  An odd expression contrasting Dai’er’s young age appeared on her face and she softly said,

  “He won’t do such a thing.”

  The woman shook her head, “No human can be trusted. Let’s go.” With that said, the woman reached out for Dai’er and summoned her into the air.

  With the girl at her side, she commanded the purple-robed corpse to form an incantation gesture and it promptly combusted into black flame and turned to ash. A moment later, the black flame condensed into a ball and was absorbed into the woman’s body.

  The woman raised her hand and a scarf appeared above her head.

  It wrapped around them, flashing with black light until the two disappeared into a trail of smoke.

  Two days later, in the human camp fifty kilometers away, several streaks of light flew out on their magic tools.

  They were the Gold Jade Sect cultivators and Han Li.

  They traveled together and would not be returning. But oddly enough Mistress Fang, Zhang Kui, and the others in the Heavenly East Enterprise turned a blind eye to this and made no further mention of Han Li.

  It was as if Deputy Leader Han was never a part of the Heavenly East Enterprise.

  Chapter 1292: Yu Yang City

  Forty years is enough time for a soft baby to turn into a strong man, and for a child with spirit roots to become a low or mid-grade cultivator. But in the scope of an ancient city that existed for over a million years, it may as well happen over the blink of an eye.

  When the three human territories were formed, Yu Yang City was the first founded in the Heavenly Origin Region.

  Although it was only a medium-grade city and the city lords had no plan for expansion, it repelled every beast torrent easily. Never once did it encounter great danger.

  This was because Yu Yang City was one of the most populated cities with body refiners. It carried this reputation throughout the Heavenly Origin City.

  It was said that the current Heavenly Origin Sage had cultivated the body refinement technique to perfection in the city, leaving behind a grand history there.

  The city housed countless body refinement sects and schools. High-grade body refiners rare in other areas were present in the city in large numbers. At the heart of the city, there was even a ‘sacred tower’ that stored the collections and experiences of body refinement sects. The collection was so expansive and detailed that it was renowned as one of the best in the region.

  With such things located in the city, it attracted more low and mid-grade body refiners each year. Against such a formidable fighting force, a trifling beast torrent posed no threat.

  Apart from this, Yu Yang City had a reputation for creating spirit tools on par with Heavenly Origin City. Each year a large number of spirit tools were refined there and purchased by merchants and body refiners alike.

  Several auction houses greatly profited in selling rare spirit tools.

  These auction houses more or less held a large number of spirit tool master smiths.

  The so-called spirit tool masters were akin to pill refinement masters and spell formation masters as a master of their craft.

  However, these people were peculiar where they needed to refine body refinement techniques to a certain extent and acquire some understanding of spe
ll formations as well. Furthermore, they also required a naturally powerful spiritual sense.

  With these conditions, one can become a spirit tool master. Those who wish to become one would need immense amounts of practice in addition to their natural talents.

  The spirit tool masters held by the auction houses were all excellent and produced spirit tools with great power and inconceivable abilities.

  Of course, these spirit tools were also meticulously forged. It commonly took several months to refine one, and when their extraordinary abilities were displayed in an auction house, they were sold at sky-high prices.

  The Long Xing Auction House was one of the largest in Yu Yang City. They abruptly emerged and created a reputation that rivaled long-established auction houses.

  The master of this auction house quickly became someone of considerable status in the city.

  But one day in the Long Xing Auction House, a fat man wearing extravagant robes was pacing back and forth in the main hall.

  He occasionally looked in the direction of the entrance with worry.

  Another moment later, the fat man came to stop and loudly yelled, “Feng Er! Go take another look outside and see if Grandmaster Han has arrived.”

  “Yes, milord!”

  A young man hastily acknowledged his order and ran off, his footsteps quickly becoming faint.

  The fat man paced for a moment more. Then, he seemed to tire and sat down, the chain creeping from his weight.

  The fat man didn’t fear that that chair would collapse. Rather, he simply took a teapot from the table and poured himself a few cups in an easy manner.

  “Could it be Brother Fan’s temper is a result of illness?” A clear voice sounded from the direction of the door, followed by the owner’s appearance.

  When the fat man saw the newly arrived man, he immediately stood up, and the rolls of fat underneath his chin shook from his laughter, “Brother Han, you’ve finally arrived. Feng Er, that idiot didn’t inform me of your arrival.”

  “Don’t blame him, I had him keep watch outside.”

  The person who arrived appeared to be a common middle-aged man. He had creases on his brow and long black facial hair. As he carried a long bundle in his arms, he looked at the fat man with a mysterious smile.

  It appeared the two were quite familiar with one another.

  “Haha, although I know Brother Han never missed an appointment, this matter is quite important. This is related to my efforts in the city for the last several tens of years, so I was quite worried. This is the item that Brother Han personally forged?” The fat man looked at the middle-aged man’s bundle with excitement.

  “That’s right. Old Brother Fan should take a look at it. The middle-aged man smiled and handed over the bundle. Then he took a seat at a nearby chair.

  The old fat man took the long bundle and began to quickly tear off the cover, revealing a meter-long sword covered in a faint golden sheath. The sword was embedded with three spirit stones of various colors. At a glance, one could tell it was an unordinary spirit tool.

  When the fat man saw this, he grasped the sword handle carefully and slowly took it out of the sheath.

  A ring akin to the dragon’s cry sounded and a ball of golden light appeared before the fat man. It turned into a small golden wyrm that twirled in front of him.

  The fat man glanced at the light and shook the sword sheath. As soon as the wyrm vanished, a glistening golden sword with a wyrm pattern appeared in his hand.

  “Marvelous, marvelous! This is the sole top-grade spirit tool that emerged within Yu Yang City within the last hundred years. It possesses the inconceivable ability to take another form. Hehe, with this word, the others won’t dare to compete with me. Big Brother Han, you’ve helped this little brother tremendously.” The fat man sheathed the sword and broke out into bellowing laughter.

  The middle-aged man sipped on the tea, revealing not a trace of excitement, “It was nothing. I was only able to refine the spirit tool because of the materials you’ve supplied me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to refine it no matter the skill.”

  “Hehe, that is so, Big Brother! Those with empty reputations can’t hope to compare with you,” The fat man laughed.

  “There is no need to flatter me. That sword is the last spirit tool I’ll make for you. In a moment, I will depart from the city. I reckon I won’t return.” The middle-aged man spoke with a smile.

  The fat man woke up from his glee and hastily said, “Big Brother, what are you saying? Why do you want to leave the city? Could it be the subordinates I’ve assigned to you? Give the word and I will immediately cut them off and assign you better ones.”

  The middle-aged man slowly said, “In the past, I made an error in my cultivation and you happened to pass by and lend me a hand. I was also unable to safely break through my bottleneck at the time. Now that several decades have passed and I forged all these spirit tools for you while hiding my identity, I have fully paid back your kindness. Now, the Long Xing Auction House has become one of the largest in the city. After you present that sword to the city lord, I’m sure it will be the largest for sure. I wasn’t able to fully teach my techniques to the apprentices you gave to me, but they know enough to continue your auction house. You should know I fully intend to cultivating body refinement techniques. Forging spirit tools was something I only did in passing. I won’t gain anything else from staying here.”

  “Could it be Brother Han’s cultivation has reached another bottleneck?” When the fat man’s heart jumped when he heard Han Li’s final sentence.

  The middle-aged man simply replied with a silent smile.

  The fat man was stunned.

  While others might now know of this person’s formidable power, the fat man clearly understood it.

  Ten years ago, he came across danger and this good friend of his saved him. In a single breath, he killed a dozen low-grade body refiners that invaded his mansion. He displayed fearsome cultivation that was no weaker than a high-grade body refiner. Now that he has encountered another bottleneck, his cultivation will greatly progress after he breaks through it. At that moment, Brother Han’s cultivation will reach an inconceivable stage.

  “Old Brother Fan, it is good that you know. I must thank you for keeping quiet about me and purchasing large quantities of techniques and medicine pills on my behalf. However, we must now part. I can only bid you farewell!” With that said, the middle-aged man stood up and saluted him, walking out without turning back.

  The fat man’s lips quivered, but eventually, he couldn't come up with any words to convince him to stay. He could only watch the middle-aged man walk away with a dim face.

  When the fat man saved Brother Han, it was the biggest turning point in his life. With all his power, Brother Han supported the nameless merchant until he became one of the leading figures in Yu Yang City. But now that Brother Han felt that he paid back his kindness in full, he walked away without any hesitation.

  Naturally, he couldn't tell him to stay.

  Outside the Long Xing Auction House, the middle-aged man saddled on a deer-like mount and made his way to the city exit.

  Several hours later, the middle-aged man appeared on a cliff many kilometers away from the city. He looked at the tremendous city in the distance and leaped off the deer, sweeping his sleeve past his face.

  An inconceivable event occurred.

  After his sleeve fell, his facial hair disappeared and his middle-aged face turned young, turning into a youth that appeared to be in his late teens.

  He was Han Li, who was last seen with the Gold Jade Sect Cultivators to seize the treasure.

  Han Li indifferently glanced at the city walls from a distance and he suddenly turned around. Leaving behind the deer, the strode in the distance.

  Not long after, he turned into a black dot on the horizon and disappeared into the wilderness.

  Chapter 1293: Winged Scorpions

  Yu Yang City was quite a distance away from An Yuan C
ity.

  But with the speed of flight on foot, Han Li only needed a year before he arrived near the ruins of An Yuan City.

  The journey was quite dangerous, and he even went out of his way to travel through inhabited areas, but the distance between cities was truly far.

  Along the way, he had no choice but to kill many wild beasts and a few low-grade demon beasts as well.

  Of course, this was because he was travelling alone in the wilderness.

  If he were travelling in a group, a few low-grade demon beasts wouldn’t dare to attack him.

  Although it had been many years since he had been to the ruins of An Yuan City, it hadn’t changed by much.

  He couldn't see the end to its ruined walls, but it was covered in layers of dust.

  Han Li stood in place for a long while as his mind wandered.

  He already cultivated the Vajra Arts to the peak of the seventh layer. So long as he breaks through this bottleneck, his cultivation will reach grand completion.

  To tell the truth, the speed of his cultivation was far faster than he anticipated.

  Since the spirit realm’s spiritual Qi was far greater than that of the mortal realm, it was already an ideal place for cultivation and with his body altered by many medicines and odd fruits, his body’s potential was at the peak of humankind.

  In the past when he left An Yuan City with the Gold Jade Sect cultivators, they entered a demon beast nest. With his abilities, they were able to easily acquire the medicinal plant they were looking for.

  In their joy, the cultivators gave Han Li a document guaranteeing his entrance to the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond. After they took back the jade medallions they entrusted to Han Li, they happily returned to their sect.

  After they split up, he didn’t return the Mistress Fang or the Heavenly East Enterprise as he felt he had become too prominent. Instead, he chose to sneak into other human cities.

  Furthermore, the blood curse contract had no effect on him.

  His objective was Yu Yang City, one of the closer cities and a holy land for body refiners, as it would prove very useful to his cultivation. As for the short sword that was given to Han Li by the corpse puppet of the city lord, Han Li didn’t trust it at all; he immediately destroyed it after his encounter with the demon cultivator.