Xiao Hong nodded, “That is good. We’ll take ten days turns keeping watch while the others can do as they wish on the boat. Everyone should select their rooms first.”
The others raised no objections and found a satisfactory room on the boat.
Since it was their place to rest and meditate, they placed down other restrictions in the room to protect them from prying eyes.
Then after a short discussion, the watch rotation was decided.
As it so happened, Han Li was the last position in the rotation. That gave him forty days before he had to keep watch.
With all of that arranged, Han Li didn’t chat more with the others and headed into his room instead.
The others had done the same, apart from Long Dong, who held the first watch.
With Long Dong alone on board, his lips twitched and he made his way to the front of the boat. He flipped his hand and produced a green mat.
He then sat down on it cross-legged.
The blood marked youth quietly muttered, “Half a year... I look forward to the day that arrives.” Then, he slowly closed his eyes and wore an odd smile on his face.
In a room ten meters wide, Xiao Hong and the white-browed youth took a seat across from each other.
“What? You’re saying that young girl Ye Ying possesses Heavenly Phoenix Blood and is a disciple of the True Spirit Noble Clan?” The youth said with an astonished face.
Xiao Hong solemnly said, “Why is Fellow Daoist Li so surprised. Your Dark Falcon Clan is also a rare species of bird. You must’ve felt something. As for our Black Phoenix Clan, although we are a side branch of the phoenix clan, the purity of our heavenly phoenix blood is far greater than what that girl possesses. But there is no doubt about the presence of phoenix blood in her body.”
The white-browed sighed and wore an odd expression, “So it was like that! When I first saw that girl, I felt ill at ease, like there was a slight sensation of fear, so I was somewhat at a loss when we entered the forest. So why did Fairy Xiao tell me this?”
“It’s just that if the girl has other true spirit blood on her, it would’ve been fine. But she has the Heavenly Phoenix Blood of the myriad bird king. Brother Li should understand what this means.” Xiao Hong sweetly smiled, but her eyes were ice cold.
The white-browed youth grew silent for a moment before letting out a cold laugh. “Of course I understand. But don’t forget how important the elders told us to treat this mission. If we let personal matters get in the way of the clan’s mission, then our lives are forfeit, regardless if we managed to acquire Heavenly Phoenix Blood.”
Xiao Hong chuckled, “When did I say I wanted to attack her before the mission was over. We’ll have to first make sure that the mission is completed. Then we’ll strike.”
“Strike after the mission is over? Oh, if it doesn’t affect the mission, that’ll be possible. But will the other two help her? Even if we take back the True Phoenix Blood, how will we divide it? The blood can’t be evenly divided.” The white-browed youth blinked and he shook his head.
Xiao Hong gritted her teeth and said, “The Heavenly Phoenix Blood is useful to us both, but its effects are more pronounced on those from the Black Phoenix Clan. How about this? If Brother Li helped me acquire the spirit blood, I am willing to reward him with three black flame pills. As for the other two, I have a plan to deal with them. Furthermore, the Black Leaves Forest wasn’t a safe area to begin with. They might not safely return.”
“Three Black Flame Pills? You aren’t joking?” The white-browed youth said with delight.
Xiao Hong wryly smiled and said, “I have some status in the Black Phoenix Clan. Although the pills are considered priceless, after many years, I’ve managed to accumulate enough ingredients for three. I planned on using them to enter Spatial Tempering stage.”
After a moment of thought, the youth frowned and said, “So it was like that. I’ll lend you a hand after the mission is over. However, the blood won’t be easy to take. Especially true blood from the true spirit noble clans. It will be difficult to acquire after they fused it into their human bodies.”
“Don’t worry, the Black Phoenix Clan have a particular method of extracting true blood. It had been well researched. I have an eighty percent chance at the very least.”
When the white-browed youth heard this, he nodded, “Since you are so confident, then fine.”
...
In the other room, the young white-robed woman Ye Ying clasped her hands with an incantation gesture. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed. There was a meter-wide azure halo slowly floating behind her head.
Upon closer inspection, the halo was perfectly round with foot-tall white flames flickered from its edges. There was also a hollow silhouette meditating at its center.
From its appearance through its radiance, it appeared similar to the woman, but was several times smaller. Its eyes were shut and its hand was held in an incantation gesture.
At an unknown time, the young woman’s mouth began to stir and an indistinct smile appeared on her face. At nearly the same time, the image in the halo wore a similar expression.
...
As Han Li paced in the secluded room, he wore an expressionless face and his eyes flickered as if he were lost in thought.
In the corner of the room, there were two small objects on the jade table.
There was a kitten sized leopard with its four legs lazily stretched out on the table next to the items.
Sitting on the small leopard’s head was a monkey only several inches tall. Black light lit up from its fur and it looked at Han Li with intelligent eyes.
Han Li suddenly stopped pacing and he flipped his hand to produce a white jade slip and a small bottle.
The bottle was simply decorated and had three ancient characters engraved on it. Under closer inspection, the words read Earth Cleansing Pill.
Han Li stroked the bottle with a finger and then sighed. In a flash of light, the bottle disappeared. All that remained was a jade slip.
The jade slip was something that was given to him by several mysterious cultivators before he left Deep Heaven City.
Han Li fiddled with the jade slip for a while before placing it against his forehead.
The jade slip continued a huge map, but it seemed to be mostly incomplete. The map’s lacking areas were shining with faint golden light.
Although he looked through it continuously, Han Li couldn't help but continue as if he was trying to find something inside it.
...
Countless kilometers away from Deep Heaven City, there was a hidden underground room where a monk and a Daoist sat across from each other next to a stone table.
The Daoist appeared over forty years old. He had big eyes, thick eyebrows, and faintly golden skin.
The monk appeared old and had a white beard that was a half-foot long. Wrinkles littered his face and his eyes were thin lines as if he couldn't open them.
“It is about time for them to meet together and head on their way.” The old man said weakly.
“Yes, but there is something that eludes me. Why did Brother Jin Yue suddenly changed from his original plan after he left seclusion? Why did you send those Juniors to a foreign land?
Those people were supposed to be the most outstanding of the newly ascended cultivators. You should clearly understand that the mission to receive intelligence from the foreign land may seem simple, but it is truly dangerous. The demon clans would send equivalent people, but in truth, they seem to have other plans.” The Daoist priest spoke with a puzzled face.
“The various races have become restless. You should know this.” The old monk said.
When the Daoist Priest heard the old monk, his heart trembled and he wore a solemn expression. “Of course. But there is a newly appeared profound heavenly treasure that is listed on the chaotic myriad spirit roll. Furthermore, it is a profound heavenly treasure that ranks in the top three. The Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword!”
Chapter 1
360: Purple Shadow
The old monk muttered, “That’s right. Originally, it should’ve been tens of thousands more years before another attack. There is even a possibility of another hundred race war erupting as a result of this.”
The Daoist priest spoke with confusion. “Why is Brother Jin Yue speaking in circles? This information is obvious. How is this related to what we were talking about? Aren’t the various races fearful of being drawn into this war?”
The old man slowly said, “Fear being drawn in? Hehe, now that this matter has appeared, what race can't? In accordance to the appearance of past profound heavenly treasures, it will provoke a storm of blood before it can be formed. The race that will acquire this treasure in the end can consecrate it to attract a True Spirit-grade existence to protect their clan and turn it into the strongest tribe in the spirit realm. These True Spirit-grade existences are superior to Immortals from the True Immortal Realm. Of course, before a powerful True Spirit appears, the tribe in question will have to protect it. Otherwise, it will only be seized away by others. If the race that acquires this treasure is weak, they may even offer the treasures to a stronger tribe in a request for protection or abandon it in a wild area to prevent the extermination of their own clan.”
The Daoist priest didn’t understand the monk, but he didn’t interrupt him.
The monk paused, and then continued, “It is reasonable to say that with our strength, it is difficult to predict which tribe will receive the Profound Heavenly Treasure. However, the demons have a Body Integration cultivator that has some prophetic abilities. Because they are aware they have no chance of surviving their next tribulation, they activated their potential and used their life’s magic power to divine the whereabouts of the next treasure. As a result, it was shown the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword will appear in the northwest portion of what is known to humans as the Tian Yuan Continent. Although the Tian Yuan Continent is the smallest of the three, it has far more races than the other continents. The so-called north-west corner consists of humans, demons, spirit tribe, wood tribe, nightfiend tribe, shadow tribe, and six other races. In other words, the newly appeared Profound Heavenly Treasure can appear in human lands. As of current, only humans and demons are aware of this situation, but it won’t be hidden for long. After all, there are certain to be spies from the other races in our ranks. There are no walls where air doesn’t pass through. If the other foreign races were to discover this, you should realize what will happen.”
When the monk finished, he wore a wry smile.
“What? It was like that? In that case, if we aren’t careful, it is possible that we will be exterminated.” The Daoist Priest’s face turned pale.
The monk sighed, “According to ancient legends, when a great number of powerful beings are exterminated in an area, a mysterious blood offering technique can be employed, forcibly calling down a profound heavenly treasure. Those powerful tribes don’t care about exterminating humans or demons. They are only using us as a blood offering. In the last hundred race war, the fourth ranked Heavenform Shield caused turmoil for myriads of years. They swept in most of the tribes on the continents and exterminated the weaker ones in a massacre. So regardless of which tribe acquires the treasure, we will have to launch a war to evade our fate as a blood offering and have other tribes take that place."
“So it was like that... so you had the newly ascended cultivators leave the city to a foreign land...” The Daoist Priest suddenly realized something.
The monk solemnly said, “Profound Heavenly Treasures are heaven-defying treasures able to reverse the realm’s laws. But they might not all come from the spirit realm, and could be brought up from a lower realm. Although the possibility of this is extremely slim, there have been suspicious ascended cultivators in the last hundred years. They’ve all been released from Deep Heaven City on the most dangerous missions to the foreign tribes. Regardless of whether they succeed in their mission, they will eventually discover in a short time that they will not be able to return to Deep Heaven City. Of course, there are also a few suspicious cultivators from natives that were also moved out from Deep Heaven City or were forcefully exiled to the wilderness for whatever reason. Apart from these people, there are also a few with astonishing potential and aptitude that were also sent to the wilderness. This way, if they truly carry the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, we are effectively moving them away from the source of calamity. If we happen to be defeated in the war, these people will be able to continue the lineage of humans and demons and have them flourish once more.”
“There is no need to go through so much trouble. If we investigate whether or not these people truly possessed a Profound Heavenly treasure, we can...” The Daoist priest trailed.
The monk explained, “We can search through the entirety of their spiritual sense with mind-controlling techniques, but what advantage is there if we find out that the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword is on our hands? It is only a source of trouble. Are you able to guarantee that no one from the panel of elders is actually a foreign being taking their form? If this is leaked, not only will our human clan become a target in a short time, even the demon clan may break their alliance with us for self-preservation. Humans will truly be exterminated in that case.
“We aren’t some powerful race. We can’t hold the treasure until a True Spirit-grade existence comes knocking on our door. Even if we present the treasure to a stronger tribe for protection, I reckon the shadow race and the others won’t let this chance pass them by. Instead of feigning ignorance, it’d be best we deal with the coming war. If we don’t have the certainty of which race possesses the Profound Heavenly Treasure, it will most likely be the Wood Tribe and the shadow tribe that attacks us. With the humans and demons manning Deep Heaven City, we will most be able to block them. The spirit tribe and the nightfiend tribe will join in the war with fierce vigor after finding out this information. At worst, great injuries will befall the various tribes and we’ll fulfill the blood offering requirement to call upon the Profound Heavenly Treasure. Regardless of who the treasure originally belongs to, so long as the treasure is summoned, we will have survived this calamity. But to prevent those powerful tribes from finding us, we must first achieve victory. I reckon that this battle will be different from the hundred year long city sieges. I reckon that this war will have an outcome in several years that is far more wretched.
“Hehe, the other tribes controlling them most likely think the same. Otherwise, the other tribes would’ve looked carefully for the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword. They are all preparing for the war,” The old monk finally finished.
After the Daoist priest heard this, he remained in place for a long while. Then he unhappily asked, “When did you find this information? Last time, I wasn’t told about this. Could it be that the panel of elders have hidden this from me?”
“It's quite simple. We only did this after we found out there was something wrong with your identity. I don’t know if I should continue to address you as Lei Luo or as elder purple shadow.”
“What purple shadow? What does Grandmaster Jin Yue mean?” The Daoist Priest asked with a frown.
“Hehe, its about time. Let’s start.” The old monk ignored the Daoist priest and swept his gaze to an exquisite incense burner in the corner of the room. The stick of incense was burned halfway.
“It’s about time? Don’t tell me, the incense...” A purple light flashed from the Daoist Priest Eyes and his face vastly changed. At nearly the same time, a purple shadow shot out from the Daoist Priest’s body and pounced at the old monk.
The monk remained still in his seat and he swept his sleeve.
A bang sounded and golden light flashed. Series of Buddhist texts floated in the air.
The purple shadow struck the wall as if receiving a strike of immense force. Soon after, his body violently trembled and turned into a ball, incapable of any further action.
At that moment, the wall flashed with azure light and an a
zure jade bowl suddenly appeared. It flipped out and spat out an azure mist, instantly taking in the purple shadow into it.
“Not bad, the Four Spirit Incense is worthy of its reputation in restraining the Shadow Tribe. It even restrains a purple shadow.” White light flashed from the wall to reveal a middle-aged scholar. He wore white robes and had a relaxed expression.
“Brother Tian Yuan! Many thanks for your spirit incense. It would’ve been difficult to deal with this evil creature otherwise.” The monk looked at the scholar and stood up, saluting him.
“Grandmaster Jin Yue praises me too greatly. It just happened to cultivate a new ability that allowed me to take notice that Lei Luo was possessed. It is a pity that a genius of Lei Luo’s talents had met his end.” The scholar glanced at the Daoist priest’s body and sighed.
The life from the possessed body soon faded and its flesh became shriveled.
The monk softly chanted with a trace of anguish on his face. Soon after, he flicked his finger and a golden flame shot from his finger.
Suddenly, the body turned to nothing in the golden flames.
“According to common convention, although the purple shadow is of equivalent strength to a Body Integration cultivator, with Lei Luo’s abilities, it shouldn't have been easy for him to be possessed. It seemed my old friend was plotted against when he last journeyed into the wilderness a hundred years ago. The purple shadow was extremely devious and kept his cover for many years when he returned to the city. Were it not for the Holy Sovereign's keen senses, I fear that we would still be tricked. The evil creature thought to gather together all the ascended cultivators and send them to their doom under the guise of protection.”
The middle-aged man that appeared was the renowned master of Heavenly Origin City, Holy Sovereign Tian Yuan.
The Sovereign gracefully smiled and said, “However, over the past years, my old friends favor the native cultivators a bit too much. It is no wonder ascended cultivators have become resentful.”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 759