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

by Translator: Johnchen

  If he could join forces with the hunting party and slay the sea beast, then that would naturally be the ideal outcome. After recovering the Spatial Cloud Crystal, he'd be able to head to the Thunder Continent, then return to the Tian Yuan Continent from there.

  If they failed to kill the beast, then he'd have to wait in this area for further opportunities to arise or to hunt down the sea beast again in the future.

  In any case, he was carrying a large quantity of spirit medicines, as well as that small vial, and they would be sufficient to support his cultivation for a long time.

  Having said that, though, it had been a long time since Han Li had left the territory of the human race, and he was wondering what state the human race was currently in.

  Had a battle with other foreign races broken out? Was Deep Heaven City still standing?

  He hadn't stayed in that city for long, but he certainly didn't want to see the human race being wiped out.

  In reality, the main reason why he wanted to return to the territory of the human race was because he was worried that Nangong Wan might ascend to the Spirit Realm soon.

  According to his estimations, it would take quite a bit more time before Nangong Wan could ascend to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, but he obviously couldn't reliably foresee the future.

  Perhaps Nangong Wan could've encountered some kind of miraculous opportunity that had taken her to the Deity Transformation Stage, and maybe she'd already ascended to the Spirit Realm.

  With his current cultivation base and abilities, he was powerful enough to protect Nangong Wan on his own in the human territories.

  Even for one as calm and steadfast as Han Li, he couldn't help but be struck by a sentimental feeling at the thought of his beloved wife.

  However, it only took him mere moments to cast aside that train of thought and refocus on the task at hand.

  Much to Han Li's surprise, this journey was quite a smooth one.

  He slew a few insolent demonic birds that dared to attack him along the way, but he didn't even encounter so much as a single sea beast. Thus, over a month later, he finally arrived in an unfamiliar region of the sea.

  As he sped through the air, his spiritual sense scoured the area down below.

  According to the map that he was consulting, he should have been close to the so-called Blue Lake Island. However, there were no islands to be seen in the nearby area.

  Han Li felt this to be rather strange, but his expression suddenly changed slightly after he flew ahead for several tens of kilometers further, and he abruptly changed directions while accelerating at the same time.

  Thus, he soon flew into a strange region of the sea.

  The weather there shifted in the blink of an eye, and it began to snow over the ocean. Countless white snowflakes were swept up by the gusts of frosty winds, striking one with a bone-chilling sensation.

  What was even more peculiar was that the ocean down below didn't show any signs of freezing despite the frosty weather. Instead, there seemed to be bursts of hot steam rising up from the surface of the ocean.

  The hot and cold air combined and intertwined in a peculiar phenomenon, creating a vast expanse of mist over the ocean.

  After flying for a while through the wind and snow, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion downward to draw a stream of seawater into his grasp, only to find that it was extremely hot.

  Han Li raised an eyebrow as he looked on at the mist in the distance, which was only growing denser as time passed, but he merely continued onward without any pause.

  As Han Li forged ahead, the wind and snow in the air above became even more frosty, but the sea was bubbling and churning as if it had reached a boiling point.

  However, Han Li merely ignored these peculiar scenes and continued to fly onward.

  After traveling for several tens of kilometers, the mist suddenly disappeared up ahead, and Han Li was greeted by the sight of a translucent island of ice.

  The snowstorm had already ceased here, but the air temperature only plummeted even further. The seawater here had also frozen to form a thin layer of ice, creating a stark contrast with the boiling seawater that Han Li had just witnessed not long ago.

  Han Li didn't take much time to ponder the issue before flying directly toward the icy island.

  From a distance, he could tell that this was quite a large island, one that was several times larger than Firecloud Island.

  This island was most likely the Blue Lake Island that had been annotated on the map.

  With Han Li's current speed, he was naturally able to reach the edge of the island in the blink of an eye.

  However, before he'd flown onto the island, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted up ahead from deep within the island.

  Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this menacing roar, and all of the blood within his body began to churn violently.

  Chapter 1554: Monstrous Moth

  A bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face as he drew to an abrupt halt. He then immediately made a hand seal, and golden light flashed from his body as he activated his Provenance True Devil Arts.

  Through doing so, he was able to forcibly repress his churning blood, but before his bodily condition had completely returned to normal, the skin on his back was suddenly struck by a scorching sensation, as if it were being directly baked over an open flame.

  Han Li's brows furrowed, and he immediately took off the upper half of his robes to reveal his upper body.

  He then raised a hand, and a ball of golden light shot forth before transforming into a shimmering golden mirror.

  The mirror revolved in the air before appearing above Han Li, and spiritual light flashed from its surface as it instantly revealed to Han Li the scenes currently unfolding on his back.

  From the image in the mirror, Han Li discovered that four extremely clear and vivid tattoo-like images had appeared on his back.

  There was a vibrant rainbow phoenix, a massive azure bird, a five-claws golden dragon, and a five-colored peacock.

  These were none other than the manifestations of the four true spirit bloods that Han Li had absorbed into his own body.

  At this moment, not only were these four images shimmering with spiritual light, they were moving around incessantly as if they'd sprung to life. If it weren't for the fact that the power of his Provenance True Devil Arts was repressing them, it appeared that the four true spirit bloods were preparing to fly out of his body.

  Han Li was naturally quite astonished to see this.

  He had already used the 12 Awakening Transformations to completely refine the four true spirit bloods, so how was this happening?

  Furthermore, all of this had been caused by nothing more than that thunderous roar.

  Han Li's mind was racing rapidly, yet before he had a chance to figure anything out, another resounding roar erupted in the distance. Brilliant light erupted from the true spirit images on his back, and they began to thrash around even more violently, as if they were attempting to find some avenue through which they could leave his body.

  Han Li harrumphed coldly as he made a hand seal, and golden light radiated from his body, following which the true spirit images immediately ceased moving.

  Han Li took a deep breath before waving a hand through the air, and the small golden mirror exploded with a dull thump, then dissipated into specks of golden light.

  Meanwhile, Han Li transformed into a streak of azure light and flew deeper into ice island, heading directly toward the direction where the thunderous roars had erupted from.

  These unsettling roars were able to disrupt the true spirit bloods that he'd already refined in his body, so he certainly couldn't leave this mystery unresolved.

  His decision to venture further into the island was also contributed to by the fact that he'd become vastly more powerful, to the extent that virtually no beings below the Body Integration Stage could pose a substantial threat to him.

  Back when he was still at the Deity
Transformation Stage, he would've most likely been a lot more hesitant.

  After just a few flashes, the streak of azure light disappeared into the distance.

  The roars didn't seem to have come from very far away, but even after traveling for over 20 kilometers, Han Li still hadn't reached the source of the commotion.

  Furthermore, this ice island itself was also rather strange. It seemed to have been enshrouded under some kind of natural magnetic field that significantly hampered one's spiritual sense, thereby limiting his detection radius to less than 10 kilometers.

  However, after flying onward for a short while longer, Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly as he drew to an abrupt halt.

  Moments later, spiritual light flashed in the sky up ahead, and seven or eight streaks of light of different colors came hurtling toward him.

  Han Li narrowed his eyes to try and get a better view of what was coming toward him, and the sight that he was greeted by sent a jolt running through his heart.

  The streaks of light flying in his direction consisted of a group of cultivators, all of whom were at around the Nascent Soul Stage. All of them wore extremely horrified expressions as they flew as quickly as they could, indicating that there seemed to be something extremely fearsome hunting them down.

  Han Li cast his gaze into the distance behind this group of fleeing cultivators, only to find nothing there.

  His brows furrowed, and he was just about to call out to these people when a thunderous roar erupted in the distance. One roar after another then rang out in a relentless sequence, and an astonishing turn of events unfolded.

  As the roars rang out in quick succession, the spiritual light around the bodies of the Nascent Soul cultivators flickered unsteadily, and their skin suddenly took on a vibrant red color.

  Immediately thereafter, several bloodcurdling cries sounded as these cultivators' physical bodies and souls all exploded into clouds of blood mist in unison, then dissipated into nothingness.

  A grim look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

  Right at this moment, spiritual light flashed once again up ahead, and two more streaks of light came hurtling toward him.

  Han Li focused his gaze on those two streaks of light, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

  Within one of those streaks of light was a woman in a palatial dress; it was none other than Qing Xiao.

  Her companion was a young woman in a black dress who was not inferior to her in the looks department. However, both of them also wore horrified expressions, and their skin had also become quite flushed amid the string of resounding roars. Fortunately for them, they were able to maintain the layers of spiritual light around their bodies, and they managed to stave off the fate of self-detonation that befell those who had come before them.

  This was clearly because both of these women were mid-Deity Transformation cultivators, and their superior cultivation bases compared to the others was the key for their survival.

  Even so, both of them had clearly been severely debilitated and were flying significantly slower than they would otherwise have been capable of.

  Han Li raised an eyebrow, and he was just about to fly over to them when his expression abruptly changed while his pupils contracted drastically.

  A murky grey shadow that was several thousand feet in size had appeared several kilometers behind the two women, and it was flying directly toward them.

  The string of thunderous roars was coming from none other than that gargantuan creature, and even though Han Li had activated his Provenance True Devil Arts, he could still feel the four true spirit bloods struggling to free themselves from his body.

  Even a cultivator of Han Li's powers was being adversely affected by these fearsome roars, so it was quite clear that the two women would be suffering to an even greater degree, seeing as they possessed far inferior cultivation bases compared to Han Li and were also a lot closer to the grey shadow in the distance.

  As the giant creature began to close in, the two women decelerated even further, and it was as if they were flying through an invisible restriction that was exerting an immense resistant force.

  As such, the massive grey shadow was able to quickly close the gap between itself and its prey, and the two women could only turn around to unleash a series of attacks.

  A large bow abruptly appeared in Qing Xiao's hands, and a bone arrow was shot forth. The arrow then split into countless arrows mid-flight, conjuring up a rain of arrows that fell like a torrential downpour.

  Meanwhile, her companion raised a hand, and several streaks of white light surged through the air, all of which transformed into white lightning wyrms that hurtled toward the grey shadow.

  The attacks unleashed by the two women rapidly approached the grey shadow, but before they could draw close to its massive body, a burst of invisible fluctuations suddenly swept forth, causing all of the arrows and lightning wyrms to self-detonate on the spot.

  The grey shadow took advantage of this opportunity to close in on the two women again, and after just a few flashes, it was only around half a kilometer away from them.

  Both women immediately turned deathly pale.

  With their cultivation bases, if that grey shadow were to draw any closer, they would also suffer the fate of self-detonation in the face of its devastating roars.

  In her panic, Qing Xiao finally caught sight of Han Li, and she immediately yelled, "Mr. Han, save us!" Qing Xiao was appraising Han Li as if she'd just found her savior, and her female companion faltered slightly upon seeing her expression.

  She then also hurriedly cast a glance at Han Li, just in time to witness a burst of piercing blue light flashing through his eyes.

  Han Li had activated his spirit eye ability, and he was staring intently at the grey shadow in the distance with a grave expression on his face.

  Through the use of his spirit eye ability, he was able to identify the massive creature as a flying moth-like monster.

  The creature's wingspan stretched for over 1,000 feet, and it had two heads, one on the top of its body while the other was situated on the underside of its body.

  Its upper head was similar to that of a furry lion with a pair of green eyes, and that head was the one responsible for letting loose those thunderous roars.

  Meanwhile, its lower head belonged to that of a giant python, and the eyes on that head were tightly shut, but it was flicking its forked serpentine tongue in an erratic manner.

  "What is this thing? I've never heard of anything like it!"

  Even with Han Li's vast wealth of knowledge and experience, he still couldn't help but draw a sharp breath at the sight of this fearsome beast. Thankfully, the demonic power emanating from the beast's body wasn't overly powerful, and it appeared to be a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being. As soon as Qing Xiao's plea for help rang out, Han Li swept both sleeves through the air, and 72 small azure swords immediately shot forth. The swords then transformed into 72 azure threads that flew through the air toward the giant moth.

  Qing Xiao was the one who had invited him here and they'd conversed with one another extensively on a past occasion, so he naturally wasn't going to abandon her in such a dire situation.

  Han Li's newly refined flying swords were drastically faster than they once were, and they reached the giant grey moth in a flash before piercing toward its body like lightning.

  The massive moth clearly didn't expect Han Li's attacks to reach it so quickly, and it didn't have time to adopt any defensive measures before the azure threads punctured its body with ease.

  The grey shadow immediately faltered, and the unsettling roars also came to an abrupt halt.

  Immediately thereafter, the azure threads revolved around the giant moth's body, quickly slicing it into countless pieces.

  However, Han Li was not elated in the slightest by his easy victory. Instead, his eyes narrowed as a wary look appeared on his face.

  Having just been saved from certain death, Qing Xiao and t
he woman in black were ecstatic. The massive moth's roars had just cut off, thereby freeing them from its restrictive power, and they immediately took this opportunity to fly toward Han Li with all their might.

  At the same time, Qing Xiao yelled out from afar, "Be careful, Senior Han; this thing seems to possess an immortal body that can't be killed by normal treasures!"

  "An immortal body?" Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

  Right at this moment, the countless sections of the giant moth's body suddenly converged, and grey light flashed as it instantly regenerated back to its original form.

  Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and all of his flying swords transformed into azure threads again at his behest, then hurtled toward the giant moth.

  However, the massive creature let loose a thunderous roar of fury, and at the same time, it flapped its wings to emit those invisible fluctuations again. The ripples proliferated in all directions, instantly sweeping up all of the oncoming azure threads.

  The azure threads shuddered in unison before reverting back to their sword form, then exploding into balls of azure light in quick succession.

  Chapter 1555: Intense Battle

  Han Li didn't know what kind of ability those invisible fluctuations were, but even his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were completely unable to withstand it.

  Qing Xiao and her companion's faces paled again upon seeing this.

  They'd only opened up a little bit of distance between themselves and the giant moth at this point, so if it were to let loose its roars again, they would still be in a dire situation.

  However, Han Li remained completely unflustered at the sight of his flying swords being destroyed. Instead, he harrumphed coldly and made a rapid series of hand seals before pointing a finger toward the distance.

  An astonishing scene then ensued!

  The countless azure flying sword fragments suddenly began to emit a loud buzzing sound while revolving around the massive moth. The fragments then joined together to form 72 azure flying swords again, and the two women were struck by a sense of deja vu as they witnessed those swords slicing the giant moth into countless pieces once again.