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

by Translator: Johnchen

  At Han Li's current speed, he was able to cover a distance of around 2,000 feet in the blink of an eye. After just a few more flashes, he was going to completely disappear into the distance.

  Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief, thinking that he'd finally managed to escape this ordeal.

  However, right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!

  The black hole within the crimson formation contracted, following which a clump of crimson threads shot forth from within. The thread merely blurred before covering a distance of 2,000 feet, reaching Han Li at a speed that was greatly astounding to him.

  Before he had a chance to react, crimson light flashed before his eyes, and both he, as well as the Profound Heavenly Fruit, were swept up by the crimson threads.

  The crimson threads then flashed before surging back into the black hole just as quickly as they'd reached Han Li.

  In the instant that Han Li was swept into the black hole, an earthshattering boom erupted from the crimson formation up above, and blood clouds surged violently as arcs of crimson lightning appeared.

  A vast number of runes erupted out of the formation before the formation itself began to turn rather blurry and indistinct.

  Han Li felt extremely sluggish within the clump of crimson threads, and had lost the ability to fly. He opened his mouth to blast forth a flying sword, only for it to be repelled back in a completely ineffective manner.

  On this occasion, the flying swords were unable to sever the crimson threads even after activating their voidform ability.

  Right at this moment, the light in the surrounding area dimmed, and the sound of ghostly howls and eerie wails rang out.

  Immediately thereafter, a burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted, and Han Li's heart immediately sank upon making this observation.

  Chapter 1538: Emergence of the Spirit Sword

  He couldn't see what was happening outside the clump of crimson threads, but he knew that he had to have been drawn into the black hole. Otherwise, such a peculiar occurrence wouldn't have taken place.

  In his urgency, Han Li slapped a palm toward his own glabella.

  Black light flashed there, following which a black eyeball emerged.

  It was none other than the Law Destruction Eye that Han Li had cultivated arduously for many years.

  Seeing as ordinary attacks were completely ineffective against the crimson threads, he could only use this ability that specifically targeted restrictions.

  In his desperation, Han Li had made the right decision.

  A beam of black light that was as thick as a finger shot forth from within the Law Destruction Eye, puncturing the seemingly indestructible crimson threads with ease.

  The thin beam of light then swiped across to slice open a 10-feet-long opening in the clump of crimson threads.

  Han Li was initially quite surprised that his Law Destruction Eye had managed to sever the crimson threads so easily, following which an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

  He immediately flapped his wings without any hesitation, flying out through the opening created by the beam of black light in a flash.

  The spiritual light around him then flashed before Han Li appeared within the black hole while his wings continued to flap incessantly.

  This wasn't because he was unleashing some kind of movement technique. Instead, he required the Thunderstorm Wings' flight abilities just to stay aloft in the air.

  Otherwise, he was going to immediately plummet straight into the depths of the black hole.

  Ghostly howls erupted in the surrounding area, and countless crimson projections rushed toward him.

  Han Li's expression darkened as he rubbed his hands together, and a loud thunderclap erupted as countless arcs of golden lightning erupted from his hands.

  These arcs of lightning were all extremely thick, far more so than the Divine Devilbane Lightning that Han Li had used in the past.

  This was one of the additional unexpected benefits of employing the sword-planting method; not only had the newly refined flying swords completely absorbed the spiritual Qi within the Golden Lightning Bamboo, they had also absorbed the Divine Devilbane Lightning imbued within the bamboo.

  As a result, not only had his flying swords been refined to become pure wood-attribute swords, the Divine Devilbane Lightning they contained was far more plentiful and powerful than before.

  Hence, they naturally appeared to be a lot more unstoppable now when unleashed by Han Li.

  Following a burst of rumbling explosions, the vast expanse of golden lightning flashed and repelled all of the oncoming crimson projections. However, there were simply too many of them, and it seemed as if there were no end to these crimson shadows, which were pouncing toward Han Li in swarms without any fear for their own safety. Some of the more substantials ones were even able to open their mouths to blast forth putrid crimson threads than punctured through the net of Divine Devilbane Lightning, piercing right through to Han Li.

  However, all of these threads were kept at bay by the voidform sword Qi he'd unleashed.

  Streaks of azure light flashed through the air, shredding crimson threads into countless segments.

  At this moment, a rumbling sound rang out from within the crimson formation, and the spatial fluctuations erupting from within the black hole intensified even further.

  Han Li only had to look around to realize that he was facing some kind of unknown peril.

  His expression changed drastically as he flapped his wings, flashing over to the edge of the black hole in an attempt to escape.

  However, Han Li then stumbled back following a dull thump, as if he'd crashed into an invisible wall.

  He flapped his wings violently several times, and only then was he able to arrest his momentum with an enraged look on his face.

  Just as he had stabilized himself and was about to unleash another powerful ability to break this invisible barrier, a burst of enormous suction force suddenly erupted from deep within the black hole!

  The suction force was so immense that Han Li was drawn back to the same place he had been situated at before almost without being able to offer any resistance, and he was quickly dragged beyond that point, pulling him further into the black hole.

  Han Li's expression changed drastically, and it wasn't difficult to imagine the shock surging through his heart.

  The crimson formation began to tremor even more violently, and the surface of the formation had already formed one massive blur and become quite transparent, as if it were going to disappear at any moment.

  Many things had happened during this time, but only the span of a few breaths had actually passed.

  Han Li was trapped by the suction force from the black hole, and in his desperation, he unleashed all of his abilities at once without any inhibitions in the hope that they would free him from his ordeal.

  All of a sudden, golden light, grey light, five-colored flames, golden arcs of lightning, and streaks of azure sword Qi erupted forth in unison.

  The power of so many abilities unleashed at once was obviously quite astounding.

  Balls of five-colored flames appeared around Han Li before completely inundating his body, and despite how powerful the suction force was, it still eased during that instant.

  Han Li was ecstatic, and he was just about to fly out of the black hole when an anguished wail erupted from the crimson shadows in the surrounding area. Immediately thereafter, a string of dull thumps rang out, and all of them exploded at once to form bursts of crimson light.

  These bursts of light then instantly disappeared without a trace into the depths of the black hole.

  Han Li immediately sensed his surroundings blur and warp, and a sense of deja vu welled up in his heart. His countless past experiences in teleportation alerted him to the fact that he was being teleported away once again.

  He didn't know where he was going to be teleported to, but it certainly wasn't going to be somewhere good.

  Thus, he
immediately blasted forth a pillar of black light from his Law Destruction Eye again, and the light quickly disappeared into the darkness.

  The blurry scenes around him congealed slightly before continuing to blur and warp.

  Han Li wore a thunderous expression as he blasted one beam of black light after another out of his glabella. At the same time, the golden projection above his head was swinging all six arms through the air, sending streaks of golden light flashing past in an attempt to cut off the teleportation.

  However, a loud buzzing sound rang out from within the cave, and all of the attacks disappeared in a flash, seemingly having not resulted in any effect.

  It was quite clear that this teleportation wasn't like anything he'd seen before as it was completely immune to the effects of these attacks.

  Han Li's heart sank, and he was struck by a sense of powerlessness for the first time. At the same time, a peculiar look appeared on his face.

  In his past experiences with teleportation, he should've been teleported away already right after his surroundings blurred, so why was this process taking so long?

  Just as Han Li was scrambling for answers, as well as a way to save himself, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the hand that was holding the Profound Heavenly Fruit, as if he'd just been pricked by a sharp needle.

  He immediately looked down in a startled manner to discover that even though he's activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to their maximal extent, a small hole had still been stabbed into his hand, and blood was flowing from the small puncture wound. An extremely sharp wooden spike had appeared on the Profound Heavenly Fruit, and it was stained with blood, so it had clearly been responsible for inflicting the injury.

  Han Li's body was even more resolute than the average treasure, and when activating his Provenance True Devil Arts, his hands were several times more robust than normal.

  As such, it was simply incredible that he was injured so easily by a small wooden spike. If he hadn't have seen it for himself, he would've found it very difficult to believe.

  A bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face, and before he had a chance to try and stop the bleeding, white light flashed from the Profound Heavenly Fruit before it began absorbing his blood essence. A crisp ringing sound then erupted from the fruit, piercing directly into the heavens.

  Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he tried to hurl the Profound Heavenly Fruit away as if he'd just been bitten by a snake. However, the fruit remained tightly glued to his palm, refusing to move so much as a single inch.

  Han Li's face immediately paled even further.

  He could feel his blood essence surging toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit at an alarming rate, and even though he was trying to arrest this trend with all his might, he was completely unable to do so.

  In the blink of an eye, he'd lost more than two-thirds of his blood essence before the fruit finally stopped leeching at him.

  Thankfully, Han Li's powerful body allowed him to handle such a massive loss of blood essence with minimal side effects. If a normal cultivator were to lose so much of their blood essence, they'd most likely be in an extremely feeble state. But then again, if a normal cultivator had been in Han Li's shoes, the Profound Heavenly Fruit most likely wouldn't be satisfied even if it sucked them dry.

  At this moment, the Profound Heavenly Fruit's skin had turned into a vibrant red color, and the green patterns on its surface squirmed before transforming into countless tiny profound runes.

  At the same time, countless specks of five-colored light appeared around Han Li's body, all of which flew toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit like moths to a flame.

  Green light flashed from one end of the Profound Heavenly Fruit, and a sword blade that was around a foot long suddenly shot forth.

  The blade of the sword as extremely bright and as smooth as a mirror. However, at the center of the blade was a straight line of strange green runes, of which there was a total of five.

  The Profound Heavenly Fruit just so happened to have become the hilt of this sword, so Han Li had become the sword's wielder.

  All of this had Han Li rather flabbergasted.

  However, as soon as the sword appeared, the crimson formation outside seemed to have received some kind of stimulus. Following an earth-shattering boom, the entire formation and the black hole at its center tremored violently before vanishing on the spot.

  At the same time, the blurry surroundings of the black hole disappeared, and Han Li was greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of crimson, following which he was struck by a rush of dizziness.

  In his astonishment, Han Li reflexively slashed the sword in his hand through the air without any direction.

  In a place countless kilometers away, a burst of blood Qi rose up into the air. There was a massive sacrificial altar in this place that was enshrouded under crimson mist, and a dozen or so humanoid figures were standing atop the altar. Beneath their feet was a huge formation that was flashing with faint crimson light, and upon closer inspection, one would discover that this formation was exactly identical to the one that had appeared above Han Li's head earlier.

  Beneath the sacrificial altar was a giant lake that was filled with crimson liquid. The lake stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions, and there were sets of skeletons of different sizes from different races floating on the surface of the lake, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

  "Impossible! Where did the Profound Heavenly Treasure go? I'd already sensed it and was summoning it back here!" one of the humanoid figures on the altar exclaimed with rage and incredulity.

  Chapter 1539: Escaping from the Ordeal

  "Perhaps you were mistaken and the newly appeared Profound Heavenly Treasure isn't actually in our Flying Spirit Race territory, Fellow Daoist Jian? In that case, it would be quite understandable that you were unable to summon the treasure using your blood sacrifice technique." A faint female voice also sounded from the altar in response.

  The one who had spoken was a middle-aged beauty wearing a white cloak with a pair of five-colored wings on her back, and her voice suggested that she was taking some pleasure from her companion's misfortune.

  "Mistress Bu! Brother Jian and I set up this summoning formation together, and both of us definitely sensed the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword through the power of our blood sacrifice, but something went wrong during the summoning process, and it suddenly disappeared. Could it be that this sword has already attained sentient will, and it sliced open space before hiding into a spatial rift?" another young man suddenly said.

  This young man had a single shimmering horn on his head, and he was none other than the Jiao Chi being that Han Li had seen on the massive island half a year ago.

  The one who had spoken first was naturally none other than that crimson-haired being from the Sea Monarch Race, and he currently wore a furious look on his face.

  "The two of you set up the formation, so only you two are aware of whether this Profound Heavenly Treasure truly exists; we've merely been deployed here to assist you," an elderly man with a pair of grey wings said in an indifferent voice.

  He was holding a cane with a dragon head carved onto its tip, and he was making no effort to hide the mockery in his words.

  As for the other winged Flying Spirit beings, none of them said anything, but they were also appraising the two foreign beings with steely looks in their eyes.

  The young man from the Jiao Chi race didn't respond to their words. Instead, he exchanged a glance with his companion, and their lips moved in a silent conversation as they transmitted their voices to one another.

  The expressions on the faces of the Flying Spirit beings present darkened even further upon seeing the lack of respect being displayed by these two foreign beings.

  Following their discussion, the horned young man wore a dark expression as he said, "Seeing as we failed on this occasion, we'll just have to hold another blood sacrifice. The blood Qi has yet to completely dissip
ate, so we should be able to achieve this. As long as the Profound Heavenly Treasure is still within your Flying Spirit Race territory, we'll definitely be able to summon it."

  "Hold another blood sacrifice? Do you think our magic power grows on trees? The blood sacrifice from earlier has exhausted most of our spiritual power. If we hold another one right away, it could very likely damage our cultivation bases!" the elderly man with the grey wings said in an enraged voice as he abruptly brought his cane down onto the altar, causing the entire structure to tremor amid a dull thump.

  "I'm well aware that I'm asking a lot from you, but I'm sure you'd prefer risking your cultivation bases rather than face the destruction of your entire race within half a year, right? If you weigh us down and cause us to lose the opportunity to obtain the Profound Heavenly Treasure, I'm not sure you'll be able to handle the consequences," the horned young man said in a nonchalant manner as he narrowed his eyes.

  An enraged expression appeared on the grey-winged man's face, and strode forward a few steps with a thunderous look in his eyes.

  However, right at this moment, a slight cough sounded from the crowd nearby, following which a husky voice rang out.

  "Peace, Brother Yao, Fellow Daoist Min is a representative of the Jiao Chi Race; we mustn't be rude to him." The one who had spoken was a hunch-backed humanoid figure enshrouded under a faint layer of white mist, making it impossible to glean his facial features.

  The grey-winged man’s expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately stepped back to his original spot before replying in a respectful voice, "You're right, Brother Xiong, please forgive me."

  The horned young man's expression also stiffened as he identified the one who was speaking, and he forced a smile onto his face as he asked, "Do you have something to say, Fellow Daoist Xiong?"

  "I do, indeed. We can overexert ourselves here and help you perform another blood sacrifice, but what if the second blood sacrifice also fails?" the hunch-backed figure chuckled before his voice cooled significantly.