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

by Translator: Johnchen

  When Han Li heard Senior Zhu mention his own name, his expression stirred and he swept his gaze past the hall, finding that many were looking in his direction.

  There was also a woman wearing silver-white robes that appeared in her twenties. She possessed a dainty appearance and looked at Han Li with a warm smile.

  Han Li unconsciously returned the smile and curiously thought, ‘Could it be she is Fairy Xiao? She also cultivates an ability that can restrain the Shadow Insects?”

  Follow that, other cultivators would occasionally ask a question.

  Fairy Zhu answered all of the questions with a friendly tone, satisfying all the cultivators present.

  However, Han Li took notice that the beautiful woman at his side rarely said a word from the very start. She merely stood there with a smile.

  Han Li found this odd.

  He recalled that when they invited him to this meeting, only the handsome youth seemed to speak. She hadn’t spoken at all.

  Could it be that the woman is a high-ranking Buddhist and practices that strange technique that requires a vow of silence? Otherwise, if she were deaf or mute, how would she be able to cultivate to this stage?

  Han Li inwardly pondered.

  After two hours passed, there were no other questions and Senior Zhu began to divide them.

  It stood to mention that apart from Han Li and Fairy Xiao, there were actually many cultivators among them that practiced a rare lightning technique, allowing them to use the Profound Heavenly Lightning Flags and form a ring lightning formation.

  All of those present were ascended cultivators or the descendants of ascended cultivators. None of them had been born naturalized with this world.

  Therefore, although their numbers were many, they didn’t care much about how they were divided.

  When they were all given an assignment, Senior Zhu didn’t have an intention of delay and promptly gave a command, ordering the twenty-some people to depart. They all flew west.

  After three entire days of flight, the party eventually arrived in front of a huge lake.

  With a single glance, they saw a dense and salty mist from the lake, giving it a mysterious presence.

  Many of the cultivators couldn't help but frown at the sight.

  Normally, most cultivators were unwilling to enter strange areas in the wilderness like this one as it was unknown what lurked in the mist and the lake. If they were ambushed, it would be a brush with death.

  Without need for a warning, everyone slowed their speed and stopped in front of the mist.

  Chapter 1395: Sandalwood Crane Incense and Black Blood Ants

  The silver-haired Spatial Tempering youth, Senior Zhu, loudly announced from the front, “Fellow Daoists, be careful. There is an unknown demon bird in the mist, but fortunately, they aren’t very strong. So long as you are careful of the acid they spit, it shouldn’t be fine. As for the mist itself, let me and my wife deal with it.”

  Afterwards, the others waited as the silver-haired youth opened his mouth and spat out a long white jade bottle. It spun in the air and had its mouth pointed at the white mist.

  The youth formed a hand gesture with both his hands and muttered an incantation, causing the jade bottle to brightly light up.

  A muffled crackle sounded, followed by the bottle releasing an azure wind.

  When the wind flew out, it only carried a faint azure light, but after it traveled ten meters, it blew into a raging gale. Then in the blink of an eye, it turned into a violent tornado.

  The mist on the surface of the lake violently roiled as it split apart.

  A clear path opened in the mist.

  “We go!”

  With Senior Zhu’s command, he and his wife took the initiative to first fly through the path. The jade bottle he earlier released began to circle above his head and continued to release violent gales.

  When the others saw this, they felt a sense of relief and followed after them.

  As Senior Zhu had mentioned, after they entered five kilometers in, meter-long white birds with flat beaks and dark-green claws began to appear from the surrounding mist.

  The birds were clearly targeting the cultivators. As soon as they emerged from the mist, they opened their mouths and released black ice arrows.

  With several shouts, the cultivators released their magic treasures, summoning formations of swords or several ancient shields.

  When the black ice arrows struck, they immediately turned into black smoke. It left dense and numerous holes in the treasures where they struck.

  The masters of the magic treasure revealed shock when they saw this. One of them immediately shouted, “Quickly kill them. Their acid can corrode our treasures!”

  The others felt their hearts tremble when they heard this and immediately displayed their various techniques. Streaks of swift light and waves of mist moved in the direction of the demon birds.

  Under the wave of attacks, the demon birds turned into balls of gore and blood, instantly dying in their entirety.

  When the others saw this, they felt relief.

  The birds had been truly weak.

  A quarter-hour later, several strange cries sounded from the mist. Suddenly, another flock of white birds flew out from the mist and pelted the cultivators with black ice arrows.

  Startled, the cultivators flusteredly released their treasures and blocked the attacks before exterminating the birds once more.

  When the last of the birds turned into a bloody pulp, many bird silhouettes began to appear from the mist.

  The cultivators became restless when they saw this and many of them wore expressions of unease.

  Han Li frowned and he swept his spiritual sense through the mist. Bird cries began to sound out from the mist surrounding them from every direction, including from above and below them. There were too many to keep track of.

  Although Han Li had encountered many dangers, even this caused him to feel a chill on his back.

  Senior Zhu’s calm voice sounded from the front, “Everyone, don’t be scared! These birds are only launching probing attacks on us. When they see that a dozen waves of their attacks are ineffective, they will scatter.”

  When the others heard this, they began to activate their treasures and slaughtered any of the white birds that came to attack them.

  Thirteen waves of the birds attacked them in succession. Eventually, long sharp cries sounded from the flocking birds and they scattered, withdrawing from the mist around them.

  When the cultivators saw this, they felt relief and seized the opportunity to head forward.

  Half a day later, the mist cleared around them. Their surroundings lit up and they saw a huge mountain at the center of the lake. It was overwhelmingly large and seemed to reach out from the bottom of the lake.

  The portion of the mountain they could see was filled with green stone. Apart from the moss that grew on top of them, there were no other plants.

  After the group came to a stop, Senior Zhu clicked his tongue and said, “It is here! Hehe, we have to thank Fairy Ying and her comrades in finding this place.”

  The veiled woman chuckled and said, “We found this mountain unintentionally as we were pursuing a beast. This was only a fortunate encounter.”

  Senior Zhu laughed and spoke with excited eyes, “In truth, if one isn’t lucky, it would be difficult to find this secret land. Nevertheless, we came across a group of True Toads. If it were on the outside, It would’ve been likely found by others. Let us start.”

  The other cultivators nodded with a smile.

  “The True Toad Nest is located in a natural underground cave at the bottom of the mountain. We’ll act as we originally planned. We’ll first attract the Black Blood Ants and kill them. Everyone, be careful. Although the ants are a grade-eight demon beast, they are innately capable of breaking our defensive shields and light. Furthermore, they are incredibly venomous. If they bite us, immediately swallow an antidote or your life will be forfeit. Alright, everyone prepare your
selves. I will light the Sandalwood Crane Incense.” Following his quick warning, Senior Zhu flipped his hand and suddenly produced a palm-sized incense burner. He struck a half-foot-long stick of green incense.

  He flung the incense burner up where it slowly revolved in midair.

  Senior Zhu raised his hand and flicked his finger, igniting the incense with a flash of red light. The green incense stick then released a trail of azure stroke.

  When Han Li looked at the incense burner, an odd expression appeared on his face.

  ‘The Sandalwood Crane Incense looked unremarkable and it didn’t have much of a scent either? Was it truly effective against the Black Blood Ants?’ Han Li worriedly mused.

  At that moment, the cultivators began to separate and conceal themselves.

  Han Li was among them, flying three hundred meters up. Just as he was about to cast a technique, a white streak flickered and a slender silhouette appeared by his side.

  Han Li was stunned and looked at the silhouette. She was the dainty woman, Fairy Xiao.

  The woman was also surprised Han Li chose the same location. She soon smiled and politely said, “Brother Han, I have a Hundred Bewildering Lights Flag. It is rather marvelous at concealing a location. How about I use it to hide us both?”

  “Hehe, in that case, I’ll have to trouble you,” Han Li courteously replied.

  “It is only a slight effort. Brother Han is being too formal!” She faintly smiled and raised her hand, producing a small snow-white flag. It then spun a circle above them.

  The woman struck the flag with a spell seal and it blurred, suddenly producing a white mist. It brilliantly shined, covering them in a mist in the blink of an eye.

  A moment later, the mist vanished alongside Han Li and Lady Xiao.

  Han Li stood in his original location and raised his hand. Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he still wasn’t able to see it.

  With a tone of surprise, Han Li praised, “Your treasure is truly marvelous. It is much more powerful than ordinary concealment treasures.

  “Fellow Daoist Han must be joking. This Hundred Bewildering Lights Flag may be truly powerful in invisibility, but it isn’t capable of concealment from spiritual sense. It is only useful against creatures with weak spiritual sense like these insect beasts.”

  To his surprise, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the woman and immediately verified her words to be true. He lamented, feeling it was a pity.

  As his Brightsight Spirit Eyes couldn't see through the invisibility, it would be a formidable treasure if it could also hide from spiritual sense.

  At that moment, the others also hid and withdrew their aura.

  A moment later, apart from the small incense burner floating in the air, there was nothing else in sight.

  The Sandalwood Crane Incense was truly effective. In only the time it took to finish a meal, buzzing sounds came from the direction of the mountain. At an unknown cave at the center of the mountain, a group of large winged ants flew in their direction.

  The ants were each about half a foot long and were fanged. There was also a pair of green wings on their back. It appeared as if they were flying birds. They were truly startling.

  It was obvious the ants were heading for the incense burner. Eventually, they made their way from the mountain to the incense and were completely surrounded by the cultivators.

  Suddenly, the nearby space around the burner fluctuated. Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman appeared at nearly the same time and he shouted, “Attack!”

  Lights lit up in every direction and soon, several tens of treasures appeared, turning into mists of light as they swept at the ant swarm. Large scale attacks such as fireballs and lightning struck as well.

  From the fierce barrage, it appeared the cultivators wanted to end the ant swarm in a single strike.

  With multiple huge explosions, the ants were submerged in rainbow light. Soon, waves of heat and cold swept out from the center of the barrage, forming an immense storm at the center of the explosions. The pressure of the winds even blew the cultivators a few steps back.

  When the light and winds faded, all the ants disappeared, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.

  Chapter 1396: Profound Whirlpool Beast

  The youthful Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman appeared satisfied by this result, not to mention the surrounding cultivators.

  Dealing with a trifling swarm of Black Blood Ants with their cultivation like slaying a chicken with a butcher’s knife. However, the smooth success of the first step of their plan was a good omen.

  Senior Zhu waved his hand at the incense burner, extinguishing the incense stick and having it return to him in yellow light. Then, it vanished with a flip of his hand. And in another flash of light, he summoned a set of flickering silver flags.

  Each of the flags was only several inches large. Purple talisman characters and a few lightning patterns appeared on the flags’ surface, giving them an air of mystery.

  “Without any threat from the Black Blood Ants, we will head into the True Toad Nest. Here is the set of Profound Heavenly Lightning Flags. Those assigned to the formation will come up and take a flag.” Senior Zhu glanced at the designated cultivators.

  The cultivators promptly exchanged a glance and immediately flew forward. The first to take a flag was Old Man Liu.

  “Alright, apart from Fellow Daoist Zhao and Fellow Daoist Xun who will stand on guard outside, the others will follow us inside.” The youth pointed out an old man and a middle-aged man, and he then flew into the mountain in streaks of light.

  The others didn’t hesitate and began to follow them in streaks of light.

  As for the old man and the middle-aged man that was told to stand guard outside, they exchanged a wry laugh. They then concealed themselves.

  The rest of the cultivators were following Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman into a natural cave inside the huge mountain.

  After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li and the others appeared in a moist underground passage.

  The passage was filled with stalactites dripping with water, leaving the ground exceptionally slippery. There was also an inch-tall moss that grew off the ground. It spread throughout the uneven rock in the passage.

  Fortunately, the passage was quite wide, allowing cultivators to slowly fly through it. It wasn’t so short that they would have to walk.

  Han Li occasionally looked around and saw a few unusual venomous insects flying through cracks in the cave. With a flick of his finger, he released a red thread into the cracks and turned them into ash.

  Beside him was Fairy Xiao.

  She appeared cautious. A layer of faint white light appeared all over her. Regardless of whatever venomous insect pounced on her, they dropped to the ground covered in crystal.

  It wasn’t only Han Li and Fairy Xiao that used small measures to deal with the insects, all the other cultivators were keeping the insects at bay as well.

  These insects were unremarkable, but none of them dared to get bitten.

  After all, countless strange things appeared in the wilderness. Even ordinary insects could possibly kill a high-grade cultivator with its poison.

  Such things had happened before.

  The cultivators still focused on moving quickly and rarely spoke. Eventually, they remained completely silent. Apart from occasionally exterminating a few insects, there were no other sounds.

  The passage wasn’t too dark. There would be an occasional light that lit off the wall. They resembled the moonlight stones that humans often used.

  With that, the party continued forward smoothly.

  A moment later, Han Li’s expression stirred and he took a deep glance at his squad ahead of him.

  Meanwhile, the Senior Zhu frowned at the very front of the group and the two Spatial Tempering cultivators came to a sudden stop.

  Senior Zhu informed the rest of the cultivators to halt.

  “Everyone, be careful. I sense two beasts in front of u
s. They have an aura close to Deity Transformation-stage and are blocking our way. It is possible there will be other insects nearby. It is inconvenient for me to use more of my spiritual sense to look for them. We will have to send people over to identify the insects with their own eyes. Be careful and don’t attack first.”

  Everyone was startled, but one person immediately stepped forward and said, “Have me take a look. I may not have other techniques, but I am quite confident in my evasion techniques. Will Senior Zhu entrust me with this?”

  Senior Zhu recognized the man and grinned. “Hehe, so it was Brother You. Your wind movement techniques are quite wondrous. You’re exactly who I was looking for.”

  The person who stepped forward was the old man wearing a bamboo hat.

  The old man chuckled and vanished from sight in a gust of wind.

  Indeed, his wind movement techniques were impressive.

  Silence filled the air. Many people thought of the insects blocking their path and couldn't help but feel excited.

  In the time it took to finish a meal, the old man reappeared with a gust where he originally stood. If no one was paying attention, they wouldn’t have noticed that the old man was there.

  The old man bowed to Senior Zhu, saying, “I am done. There are two Profound Whirlpool Beasts ahead of us. I fear it will be troublesome.”

  “Profound Whirlpool Beasts!” The cultivators became restless.

  Many of the cultivators revealed surprise. Even Senior Zhu couldn't help but frown.

  Han Li immediately recalled information related to the Profound Whirlpool Beasts.