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

by Translator: Johnchen

  "We have no choice in the matter anyway. The order was issued by the panel of elders; what are we going to do? Resist the orders?" the woman among them said in a resigned voice.

  "Obviously we can't resist the order, but we have to at least alert Senior Han to the perils of the swamp so he can treat the situation with more caution. If we really encounter those powerful beings from foreign races, we have to at least be prepared," Daoist Priest Ma said with a concerned stroke of his beard.

  Zhuo Chong was silent for a moment before saying, "There's no need to be overly concerned, everyone. The Floating Dawn Swamp is indeed quite a perilous place, but truly powerful beings from foreign races are still quite rare there. On top of that, due to how dangerous the swamp is, we'll receive a handsome reward for our efforts, and we'll be able to take a long rest after this patrol mission. As long as we can survive these next few years, we'll most likely be assigned to less dangerous areas thereafter. You've all heard what Senior Han said; go back and make preparations for our journey tomorrow."

  No one else had anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion, so they could only depart amid a rather gloomy atmosphere.

  At this moment, Han Li was seated with his legs crossed within the silent cultivation chamber, and there was faint golden light shimmering all over his body. He appeared to be in deep meditation, but there were golden halos flashing erratically behind his head, creating a rather bizarre sight to behold.

  A day passed by in the blink of an eye.

  When Han Li opened his eyes again and emerged from the silent cultivation chamber, Zhuo Chong and everyone else was already waiting there for him. All of them immediately rose to their feet and extended respectful salutes at the sight of Han Li.

  Han Li waved a hand before turning his gaze toward a beautiful female cultivator.

  This woman appeared to be in her twenties, and her pristine fair skin was almost translucent. Her eyes were shimmering like a pair of bright stars, and Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity when he looked at her, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

  A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon making this observation.

  "Senior Han, this is Fairy Xu; she's the direct lineal descendant of an ascended cultivator," Daoist Priest Ma introduced with a smile.

  Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he merely nodded with a calm expression.

  The female cultivator also seemed to have a rather cold and aloof personality, and she only extended a clipped greeting toward Han Li before falling silent.

  "If everyone's here, then let's set off."

  Han Li didn't delay any longer as he led everyone out of the hall, heading directly toward a teleportation stone hall nearby.

  This hall was guarded by another group of cultivators, and there was a golden ark situated within the hall, but there was no need to make use of that treasure seeing as the teleportation was only going to be over a relatively short distance.

  After handing over his identification badge for examination, their squad split up into groups of three or four to be teleported in separate bouts.

  Amid three successive flashes of white light, all 11 members of the squad were teleported out of Deep Heaven City and appeared in an unfamiliar place. After shaking off the rush of dizziness from teleportation, Han Li inspected his surroundings, and his brows furrowed slightly.

  They were situated within a small stone chamber with a one-way teleportation formation underfoot. There were all types runes carved into the walls, all of which were flickering and seemed to have been enshrouded under a restriction.

  Daoist Priest Ma and the other cultivators that had been teleported to this place in advance were waiting for them outside of the formation.

  Han Li made his way out of the teleportation formation in an unhurried manner before striding toward the door of the stone chamber. He then pulled out his azure jade pendant and waved it at the door.

  A burst of azure light immediately shot forth, and the runes on the door flickered before it was slowly opened, revealing a passageway leading upward that was around 10 feet wide.

  Han Li immediately shot forth into the passageway as a streak of azure light.

  His 10 subordinates also hurriedly unleashed their movement techniques in pursuit. Not long after the final person left the stone chamber, spiritual light flashed from the door, and it slowly sealed shut again. Meanwhile, Han Li had already emerged from the passageway and was standing in the air above a small mountain, surveying his surroundings from his vantage point up above.

  They were currently situated within a set of bleak and barren mountain ranges. Around 50 kilometers behind them, a vast expanse of white light could be seen, beyond which lay a massive city wall. Even from such a long distance away, everyone could still see the astonishing spiritual light flashing from the runes on the city wall.

  Han Li appraised the city wall for a long time with a contemplative look on his face.

  As far as he was aware, the wall of Deep Heaven City that was facing the primordial world had no gate. Any humans or demons wishing to access the city from this side had to do so through the teleportation formations within the city.

  With this arrangement, the restrictions placed on the city wall would prevent beings of foreign races from being able to infiltrate the city.

  However, Han Li wasn't interested in that. Instead, he turned his attention toward another direction.

  There, he was greeted by the sight of a string of lush mountains, all of different sizes. A scene of peacefulness and tranquility was portrayed, making it quite difficult to believe that the place was situated within the primordial world.

  According to the map, the so-called Floating Dawn Swamp was around 5,000 kilometers away from this place. Due to the special terrain there, cultivators' spiritual sense were impaired, which made it the perfect place for spies from foreign races to survey Deep Heaven City from afar.

  As such, Deep Heaven City had no choice but to deploy groups of cultivators to regularly patrol the area. However, all of the spies from the foreign races were quite powerful and were especially proficient in concealment techniques. As such, many humans regularly fell prey to these beings and perished within the swamp.

  This was why it was regarded as one of the most dangerous areas to be assigned for patrol duties, and all cultivators on patrol duty prayed that they weren't assigned to this accursed place.

  However, Han Li had been deployed to this area, so he had to take extra care during the next few years.

  With that in mind, he glanced at the group of cultivators behind him as he instructed, "Let's go."

  Thus, their squad of 11 flew into the distance as streaks of light.

  A distance of just over 5,000 kilometers was certainly not difficult to cover for a group of cultivators at or above the Nascent Soul Stage. As such, it didn't take long before Han Li caught sight of their destination in the distance.

  A turbulent green light appeared in his field of vision first.

  After drawing closer, Han Li managed to identify that this was not some green line; it was instead a vast expanse of murky mist.

  He slowed down slightly as he flipped over a hand, upon which a special formation plate appeared over his palm.

  Han Li pointed a finger at the formation plate, and a layer of red light immediately lit up over its surface. At this moment, all of the cultivators behind him also brought out identical formation plates and did the same thing.

  These formation plates were known as Foreign Spirit Plates, and were treasures assigned to all cultivators from Deep Heaven City on patrol duty. The treasure could allow them to detect the presence of beings from foreign races within a certain distance.

  The limitation of this plate was that its detection effect was only applicable toward a single direction, but with so many plates summoned at once, all of which were focusing on different directions, they proved to be quite useful.

  Thus, Han Li and his group carried the form
ation plates in their hands as they slowed down and carefully ventured into the mist.

  Soon, all of them had disappeared.

  Chapter 1331: Giant Beast and an Eccentric

  The Floating Dawn Swamp was worthy of its ominous reputation.

  For some unknown reason, when they entered the swamp, Han Li’s spiritual sense couldn't spread past three hundred meters away. There wasn’t much one could do to protect themselves from the illusory fog.

  But what was most troublesome was the strange ‘Sharp Worms” lurking in the dripping sludge.

  These worms had centipede-like limbs and body, but countless slender sharp mouths lined its body, all capable of spitting venom that can corrode magic treasures and devour a cultivator’s protective light.

  If it were only one or two, they wouldn’t have caught their attention, but these types traveled in groups. Ever since they entered the swamp sludge, tens of worms would simultaneously emerge, all of them about three-meters-long and capable of flight.

  Naturally, each time a group of them were disturbed, the squad would scramble to respond.

  If they weren’t given a patrol assignment, they would’ve simply flown over the swamp so they didn’t have to deal with the sharp worms.

  As a patrol squad, they needed to examine traces of foreign tribes which was impossible to do if they flew high in the air. They were only able to fly at low altitudes.

  As such, worm attacks became commonplace but there wasn’t anything that could be done to prevent them.

  There was even one time when they disturbed a huge number of worms, provoking over four hundred worms from the swamp.

  If it weren’t for Han Li’s Divine Essensefused Light, they would’ve swarmed the squad and inflict heavy losses. Instead, the light suspended the worms in midair where they were incinerated by spirit fire.

  Initially, they had doubts about Han Li’s abilities since they hadn’t seen him use them prior, but now, they felt far more at ease.

  Of course, the Floating Dawn Swamp had other dangers than just the worms.

  There were the ancient Silverhead Beasts that were fond of concealing themselves in the dense jungle. They were able to separate their heads from their body and have their various body parts split, launching different attacks. Han Li found them difficult to deal with.

  Fortunately, the beasts’ movements were slow and the area was difficult to traverse. So long as the squad flew out of their range, the beasts couldn't pursue them.

  As such, they weren’t nearly as dangerous as the sharp worms.

  But soon, Han Li and the others came to have a deep understanding as to why the Floating Dawn Swamp was the named the grade one patrolled area.

  They had to maintain a heightened level of vigilance nearly the whole time. If they weren’t careful, they could suffer injury.

  Under these circumstances, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. The squad maintained their vigilance, but they didn’t discover any traces of foreign tribes, much to the relief of those in the squad.

  The tense atmosphere in the squad eventually eased up.

  One day, a group of cultivators in the squad were holding the Foreign Spirit plates in their hand while flying for most of the day. Even high-grade cultivators couldn't help but tire from this. After all, one needed to remain vigilant on patrol and would cause much strain on their mind.

  At that moment, they arrived in front of a clear pond three hundred meters wide. There was a small pile of rocks at the pond side with a row of slender green bamboo growing from it. It was a refreshing scene one would find in a painting.

  Their spirits were roused.

  The large green-eyed man exchanged a glance with the others and he drew close to Han Li. He respectfully said, “Senior Han, this place seems quite good. How about we rest for a moment before we continue the patrol.”

  “That’s fine, but be careful. First, take a look if there is anything strange,” Han Li calmly said.

  On their assignment, Han Li rarely gave orders and was welcoming of the squad’s proposals.

  This caused the distance between Han Li and the squad to unconsciously become closer.

  “Of course!” The green-eyed man said with a smile. He then waved to the others behind him.

  Two old men and the pair of women spread out quickly flying in the circle. With no reaction from the Foreign Spirit Plate, they landed next to the scattered rocks near the pond with relief.

  They couldn't stay too long, so they simply found a clean area for themselves to sit and rest.

  As a Deity Transformation cultivator and someone who cultivated the Great Development Arts, the patrol hadn’t taken much strain on his mind. He hadn’t joined them as a result, and simply took a leisurely stroll around the pond as he glanced around.

  The pond wasn’t very deep, but its water was very clear.

  Inside the water swam a finger-sized silver fish that appeared harmless.

  Han Li frowned when he saw this and unconsciously raised his head and turned to look at the dozen stalks of bamboo.

  A few winds seemed to be blowing nearby, but they didn’t cause much sound, adding to the serene atmosphere.

  The squad cultivators were sitting either at the edge of the water or next to the bamboo forest, all still.

  Han Li then turned his glance at the mirror-like surface of the water and muttered to himself for a moment. His eyes became narrow for just a moment. He slowly turned around and lifted his leg in the direction of the bamboo forest.

  But in that brief instant, Han Li flicked his fingers hidden inside his sleeves. Red lights flashed and ten red lines sank into the ground.

  This all occurred silently and without a trace.

  When Han Li slowly walked towards the bamboo forest, he stopped in front of it and looked at it with a calm gaze.

  This action seemed somewhat bizarre.

  The youth surnamed Yin and the woman surnamed Xu couldn't help but open their eyes when they detected this strange action and gave each other a strange glance.

  However, Han Li ignored them and his gaze soon became ice cold. He opened his mouth. A golden light shot out and chopped through the green forest in a crack of lightning.

  Then with a crack, a bowl-thick stalk of green bamboo was split through the middle.

  “Yi!” The youth surnamed Yin yelped in shock.

  Fairy Xu also looked with wide eyes.

  But before they could process what happened, an incomprehensible scene occurred.

  A fountain of dark green liquid spouted from the opening of the split bamboo, spreading an incredibly fishy smell in the air.

  What was even more astonishing was how the earth rumbled at nearly the same time. A painful roar shook the ground and the green bamboo trembled, turning into thick hair-like tentacles and fiercely striking at Han Li.

  As if he could allow such a simple attack to hit him. He disappeared in a blur and appeared above the water, coldly looking down at dancing tentacles that attacked him.

  The cultivators that were resting nearby were startled by this sudden change and soared into the air in panic. They even released several of their bladed weapons to strike the tentacles.

  When they saw that Han Li chopped off one of the tentacles, they unconsciously took the action lightly.

  However, they wholly didn’t expect for the tentacle to give a strange metallic clang upon impact, easily repelling the weapons.

  In the astonishment of the other cultivators, they also thought to attack when the grey stones at the side of the pond suddenly turned black. The scattered stones twisted together to form skull-sized black scales. They belonged to a huge ancient beast.

  The beast appeared round, but one wasn’t able to see its nose or mouth. However, there were thin tentacles on its back that were over thirty-meters long. It seemed to be lying hidden next to the pond. The bamboo was a transformation of its flesh.

  Cultivators seemed to have been resting on the surface of the beast. It had used some s
ort of unknown ability to conceal itself not only from their spiritual sense but also from their Foreign Spirit Plate.

  “Attack!” Han Li shouted from the air.

  The cultivators felt their hearts trembled and they immediately released their treasures. For a time, various-colored light shined in the air and engulfed the huge beast in a torrent.

  The ancient beast had no intention to flee. Rather, the tentacles on its back hurriedly danced, turning into a grey blurs of light, blocking the attacks on its body.

  Whenever a tentacle blocked an attack, a rumbling explosion sounded and it fiercely blocked the magic treasure. Regardless of where the treasure struck, they were bluntly repelled, preventing any attack from striking at its true body.

  The youth surnamed Ying coldly snorted, clapped his hands together, and raised them. A ball of red and yellow light appeared in each hand, suddenly releasing a hail of fist-sized lightning fireballs upon the beast’s face. As for Fairy Xu, a cold silver light glowed from her body and wildly flashed, producing countless ice-attributed balls of lightning.

  The two types of lightning flames seemed to merge and created astonishing momentum. A deafening boom resulted, creating blinding lightning, completely enveloping most of the beast.

  When the others saw this, they couldn't help but smile.

  At that moment, Han Li had yet to take action and was merely observing his subordinates’ attacks.

  “Hmph!” A bone-chilling snort sounded from the direction of the lightning fireballs.

  An otherworldly wind suddenly blew from underneath them.

  The wind was hazy and shook, circling itself a few times before stirring up a tornado. It completely swept up the lightning fireballs.

  A series of explosions could be heard within the tornado, resulting in both the tornado and lightning flames disappearing.

  Youth Ying and Fairy Xu were both greatly alarmed. The others also appeared deeply shocked.

  A strange person appeared on top of the huge beast.

  The person had green flesh of some unknown hide. It had no clothes, a bald head, and nostrils, but its eyes lacked any emotion.