"You're a brave one! It's been several hundred years since I've met someone who dared to talk to me like this despite having an inferior cultivation base. In that case, we won't have to hold back in the battle for the Spirit Land in three days," the man said in a menacing voice.
"I'll be sure to take everything you throw at me when the time comes. I'll be taking my leave now." In response, Han Li gave a nonchalant reply before extended a slight bow toward the purple-robed man and departing from the second floor.
The man with the sharp brows looked on at Han Li's departing figure with a dark expression.
...
Not long after that, the fatso and the man with sharp brows appeared in the air high above the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, and the two of them were discussing something through voice transmission.
"Brother Xian, what use do you have for that Spirit Land that you're fighting for? You couldn't disclose this information in there, but you can tell me now, right?" the fatso asked with a benevolent smile.
"I spoke the truth earlier; it is indeed to cultivate a type of secret technique that necessitates a switch of cave abodes. Otherwise, why would I go out of my way to find someplace with such sparse spiritual Qi?" the man with sharp brows replied with a faint sigh.
The fatso chuckled with a disbelieving expression.
The man with sharp brows was quite resigned to see this, and he put on an expression that said "I can't do anything if you don't believe me".
"So be it. Regardless of what objective you have, there must be some circumstances involved that make you unwilling to disclose your goals. Are you really planning not to hold back in the battle against that Han brat?" The fatso suddenly changed the subject.
"Why do you ask? Could it be that you have some ties with him, Fellow Daoist Jin?" The man with sharp brows was rather displeased to hear this question.
"How could I share any ties with him? I just wanted to tell you that he's a cultivator who's only recently ascended to Deep Heaven City," the fatso cautioned.
"A recently ascended cultivator? So what? A new cultivator will ascend to our Deep Heaven City once every two or three years. Do you think I'll lose to an early-Deity Transformation cultivator, Brother Jin? I was wondering why this man dared to be so arrogant; he must've dominated whatever lower realm he came from, and he's taken that cocky demeanor all the way here to the Spirit Realm." The man with sharp brows gave a cold chuckle in response.
"Haha, this man's cultivation base is naturally not noteworthy at all. With your powers, even I wouldn't dare to say that I can defeat you. No matter how powerful an early-Deity Transformation cultivator is, there's no way that he'd be a match for you. However, the ascended cultivators in the city always like to look after one another, so just teach him a lesson and don't actually kill him. Otherwise, even with Senior Ming as a backer, things could become quite troublesome for you if those guys become aware that you killed one of them," the fatso cautioned in a meaningful and heartfelt manner.
"This man has been far too arrogant, so I'll naturally be teaching him a good lesson. As for whether I'll actually be taking his life, we'll see when the battle comes." A cold light flashed through the man's eyes.
"Alright, in that case, I have nothing else to say. In three days, I also have to go and fight those four guys. I don't even know if I'm going to be able to win my own battle." A concerned look appeared on the fatso's face.
"You're being far too modest if you say that, Brother Jin. I heard that Brother Jin recently obtained a primordial treasure that possesses incredible abilities, and it's no less powerful than a spirit treasure." A peculiar smile appeared on the man's face.
The fatso's expression changed upon hearing this before he quickly recomposed himself.
"I didn't think that you’d heard about that already, Brother Weng. Indeed, I did obtain a rather powerful treasure recently, but to say that it's as powerful as a spirit treasure is a bold exaggeration. It simply has some protective properties." The fatso waved his hands in response.
"Oh really?" A hint of a smile appeared on the man's face.
After that, the two of them conversed for a while longer, each of them harboring their own ulterior motives, before the fatso departed as a streak of red light.
The man with the Weng surname looked on with a dark expression and harrumphed coldly.
"Hmph, he's trying to anger me and make me strike up a vendetta against those ascended cultivators. What a devious plan!"
"That man knows a lot about you and is already beginning to suspect you, so you should be more careful from now on. He's not anything to worry about, but his grandfather is someone whom even I'd rather not face." Another man's voice suddenly sounded above him.
Spiritual light then flashed there, and a green jade-like wyrm that was around a foot in length appeared.
The man immediately extended a respectful bow toward the green wyrm as he said, "Don't worry, Master. As soon as I obtain the Spirit Land, I'll completely seal it off immediately. Unless that fatso knows anything concrete, he won't be able to do anything."
"I trust that you'll do a good job. This is quite an important matter and if it weren't for the fact that I'm at a critical juncture in refining my spirit treasure, I definitely wouldn't just be deploying an avatar here. I hope you won't disappoint me." The wyrm nodded in response.
"I'll be sure not to disappoint you, Master," the man vowed before a hesitant look appeared on his face.
"But Master, are we sure that the information we have is accurate? The spiritual Qi there really is quite sparse; it doesn't appear possible that that man would've passed away there."
"Of course we're not completely sure, but with that person's identity, we have to give it a try even if there's only the slightest sliver of a chance. If it's true, then we'll be able to obtain that person's treasures and cultivation arts. In that case, not only would I not have to worry about my upcoming tribulation transcendence, it's quite possible that you'll be able to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage as well. Hence, defeat is not an option for you in three days. If the opponent does indeed prove to be quite troublesome, then there's no need for you to hold back; just kill him on the spot. The aftermath may be a little troublesome, but it's nothing compared to that person's treasures and cultivation arts." The wyrm's voice suddenly cooled significantly.
The man's heart jolted upon hearing this, but he immediately replied, "I understand, Master."
"All ascended cultivators have different tricks up their sleeves, so make sure you don't get complacent. Even though this man is only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage, I'll lend you my Thousand Soul Bell just in case. You'll have three days to refine it, and that should be enough for you to temporarily use the treasure. With that treasure, your victory will be assured." The wyrm opened its mouth after a brief period of contemplation, following which a ball of Yin Qi was expelled from within its body. A black bell that was around an inch in size was enshrouded within the Yin Qi, and there were countless runes visible on the surface of the bell.
The man was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly extended words of gratitude toward the wyrm. He then rustled his sleeve, and a burst of blue light shot forth to accept the bell.
After that, the wyrm gave him a few more instructions before disappearing up his other sleeve.
Only then did the man turn around and fly toward another direction as a streak of blue light.
Han Li was naturally oblivious toward these exchanges, and nor could he have imagined that someone really did intend to kill him.
After departing from the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, he didn't immediately return to the Flying Spirit Palace. Instead, he flew for over half a day according to the annotations on the map, finally settling in the air before looking down at the city in the distance with his brows furrowed in contemplation.
Come to think of it, it was more accurate to call this place the State of Tian Yuan rather than Deep Heaven City. The area governed by this city was comparable to a
small state in the human world.
However, the Deep Heaven City wasn't actually all that vast in a strict sense; it was only several tens of thousands of square kilometers in area, and had been sealed off by massive city gates. The city itself was trapezoid in shape with city gates on the front and rear, while the thick mist from massive immortal formations obscured the remaining two sides. Even True Spirit level beings wouldn't be able to barge their way through the mist. The wall that facing the primordial world was the narrowest one at less than 100 kilometers in length, yet the watchtowers that had runes carved into them stretched for several tens of thousands of feet into the sky, striking the onlooker with a sense of awe and fear.
Outside this massive wall, there was a large number of human and demons patrols guarding this area day and night, and all types of restriction formations were also constantly activated.
Within the city wall, there was an army of over 1,000,000 humans and demons that was permanently situated in the city.
Such meticulous defensive measures ensured that Deep Heaven City had never been successfully invaded by foreign races ever since the day of its founding.
In comparison, the city wall on the other side was nowhere near as imposing and well-guarded. However, it stretched for over 500 kilometers, and there were many humans and demons who would access it to enter and exit the three regions and seven territories. Most of these beings were planning to go on adventures in the primordial world while the rest were coming to buy and sell things in Deep Heaven City. As such, the city was an extremely lively and bustling place.
After exiting the boundaries of Deep Heaven City, there was a vast stretch of mountain ranges and the occasional small mortal settlement. However, there was definitely no second cultivator city.
On one hand, these mortal settlements provided some essential supplies for Deep Heaven City and on the other hand, they provided a constant supply of low-grade cultivators and body refinement warriors. Of course, in the areas that had been assigned to the demon race, there were also countless beasts and low-grade demon beasts, thereby providing replenishments to the demons in the city.
The humans and demons were forced to join forces and guard Deep Heaven City together here in this Spirit Realm, but the inevitable truth was that the two races did not see eye to eye. As such, in order to prevent interracial conflict, the entire city was split in half using a massive light barrier, with each race governing one half of the city.
As for the area outside the city, there was also an unnamed no-man's-land acting as the border while each race governed half of that land.
The only place where humans and demons could coexist was the elder tower at the center of the city.
Not only was this tower several times thicker than other massive towers, it was also where the most powerful beings in the city were gathered. Among them, there were a dozen or so Body Integration Stage elders from both races who made decisions on important matters.
As such, this tower appeared extremely mysterious in the eyes of the city's residents.
Chapter 1322: Leopard Kirin Beast
The place that Han Li was situated at was over 10 kilometers away from the elder tower. He looked at the massive azure stone tower that extended all the way up into the clouds, and his eyes were flashing with a contemplative light.
According to his knowledge, there was always at least one Body Integration Stage elder each from the human and demon races that were stationed at the tower, and that was a rather disheartening notion to Han Li.
Back in the human world, all Deity Transformation cultivators were extremely mysterious and it was very difficult to encounter one. However, here in Deep Heaven City, he was so close to even Body Integration cultivators, and he could ask them for guidance in the future.
It appeared that prior to cleansing himself of the aura of an alternate realm, this was a good place to stay.
Han Li was hovering in mid-air with a contemplative look on his face. He naturally wasn't thinking about his battle against the man with the Weng surname; he had even faced Spatial Tempering cultivators in the past, so this wasn't a concern for him.
After inspecting the city for a while longer, Han Li flew back toward the Flying Spirit Palace as a streak of azure light.
After returning to his own room, Han Li immediately deactivated the restriction, and he only made his way into the secret chamber before sitting down with his legs crossed after verifying that nothing was amiss.
Even though he was rather confident in his ability to emerge victorious in the upcoming battle, he naturally wasn't going to make no preparations at all.
However, prior to that, he had a small matter to take care of.
Han Li rustled a sleeve and a petite little silver bracelet appeared in his other hand. The bracelet appeared to be extremely intricately-crafted, yet was extremely light, thereby suggesting that it was a hollow object.
This was none other than a spirit beast bracelet, which was similar in nature to the storage bracelets of the Spirit Realm. The space within the bracelet was split up into several compartments so different types of spirit insects and spirit beast could be stored in it at once.
Following his trip to the Setting Sun Tomb, Han Li had stored all of his spirit beasts into the bracelet, including his Gold Devouring Beetles and Weeping Soul Beast. As such, his spirit beast pouch was naturally in disuse now.
He swept a hand over the bracelet and a fist-sized ball of yellow light immediately emerged from within. The ball of light rapidly expanded before transforming into a little beast that was around a foot or so in size with its body tightly bound by azure ropes.
It was none other than the mutated Leopard Kirin Beast that had been captured by the Spirit Tribe beings in the Setting Sun Tomb.
After sifting through Shi Yan's memories, Han Li had learned that even though this little beast appeared to be no different from a normal leopard, it actually possessed traces of a Kirin's bloodline. Furthermore, it was a mutated Leopard Kirin Beast, so it already possessed Nascent Soul Stage power even though it hadn't yet reached full maturity.
After Han Li had recovered his magic power, he had naturally considered taming the beast. However, this beast was extremely feral and already possessed a certain degree of intelligence, and it appeared that it would rather die than submit to Han Li.
As such, Han Li had no choice but to put it into the spirit beast pouch to try and grind down its rough edges through captivity. After being detained for several decades, the little beast was finally at the end of its wits. A few days ago, the spirit beast had sent a signal to him from within the bracelet, expressing an urge to submit to Han Li.
However, Han Li was busy preparing for his tribulation transcendence as well as a string of other events, so he no time to take care of this matter.
He now had three days, within which he could tame this little beast.
As soon as the little beast appeared from the spirit beast pouch, it immediately began to whine at Han with a beseeching look in its green eyes. In conjunction with its petite little feline body, it was rather adorable.
"I'm going to place a restriction on your body now. If you accept the restrictions, I'll release you from your bindings, and I'll also give you some benefits. Otherwise, I'll lock you up for another century!" Han Li immediately delivered a cold threat.
The little beast wasn't a highly intelligent creature, but it had clearly understood Han Li's words. Its body shuddered as it considered the prospect of captivity for another century, and it could only nod its furry little head.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he flipped a hand over to produce a dozen or so thin silver needles.
He then raised his hand, and all of the silver needles disappeared into the little beast's body in a flash.
Immediately thereafter, Han Li brought out a vibrant red talisman. He opened his mouth to expel a ball of blood essence before pinching the talisman between his fingers and gently waving it through the air.
Han Li then began to chant something before patting the top of his own head. Azure light flashed and a Nascent Soul that was several inches in size appeared atop a miniature cauldron.
As soon as the Nascent Soul appeared, it opened its mouth to blast out a ball of green light.
As soon as the green light appeared, the blood mist surged toward it, and the two quickly combined to form a ball of green and red light.
The Nascent Soul then made a hand seal and cast several incantation seals into the ball of light.
All of a sudden, the ball of light began to surge and churn violently, transforming into a fist-sized ghostly head with a set of sinister facial features.
The Nascent Soul pointed toward the little beast, following which the ghostly head opened its mouth before burrowing itself into the little beast's head in a flash.
The little beast let loose a loud cry before falling unconscious to the ground with its eyes rolled over into the back of its head.
At the same time, a layer of green and red light began to flash erratically all over its body.
A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this and he made a grabbing motion toward the little beast.
A muffled thump rang out as the azure ropes around the little beast's body snapped into countless segments before disappearing.
Han Li then paid no further heed to the little beast as he began to close his eyes in meditation.
In the remaining time, Han Li remained in his secret chamber, and three days passed by in the blink of an eye. On the morning of the fourth day, a streak of light flashed through the restriction outside the door, flying toward the secret chamber within which Han Li was situated.
However, after flying into the door of the secret chamber, a layer of white light surfaced to repel the streak of light.
It then attempted to fly through the door again to avail, and it immediately began to emit a ringing sound.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 736