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

by Translator: Johnchen

  On top of that, it was said that the spiritual natures of these puppets could evolve given the right conditions, and they could even develop a high level of intelligence.

  Of course, that was only a rumor. The Myriad Ancient Race had never released an official statement to support or refute this claim, so these sentient puppets were given an extra layer of mystery and intrigue.

  Even for the Myriad Ancient Race, these sentient puppets were quite difficult to refine, and they weren't sold to outsiders under normal circumstances.

  The few that did manage to somehow make their way out of the Myriad Ancient Race were all highly sought-after items, and each puppet could be sold for an astronomic sum.

  Han Li was quite proficient in the art of puppet refinement himself, so he was naturally very intrigued by these extraordinary sentient puppets.

  Furthermore, he had some other objectives as well, and that was why he had decided to come to this place in person.

  After flashing through the air a few times as a streak of azure light, Han Li descended onto an obscure location halfway up the mountain.

  There was an ordinary-looking mountain face not far ahead of him, upon which a stone gate that was several tens of feet tall could be seen.

  Han Li didn't directly knock on the gate. Instead, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a ball of light flew out from within, then disappeared into the stone gate in a flash.

  Not long after that, white light flashed from the surface of the stone gate, and it slowly opened of its own accord.

  Jia Tianmu emerged from within with a smile on his face, and greeted, "Haha, it really is you, Fellow Daoist Han. What took you so long? I've been waiting for quite a few days already."

  Han Li smiled, and replied, "Apologies for the delay; I had some matters to attend to, so I ended up coming a little later than expected."

  Jia Tianmu nodded before extending a warm invitation. "I see. Come into my cave abode and we'll talk in there."

  "I'd be glad to." Han Li accepted the invitation and strode into the cave abode.

  Jia Tianmu's cave abode wasn't very large. After passing through a short passageway, the two of them arrived in a hall that was over 300 feet in size.

  The decor was quite unique and elegant with a few shimmering beads embedded onto the roof, along with a table, two smaller side tables, and a few chairs in the room.

  There was nothing else in the hall aside from that, and even the walls had only been paved with the most ordinary bluestone.

  "Take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han," Jia Tianmu offered after sitting down on the main seat.

  Han Li nodded before taking a seat beside him.

  Before even saying anything, Jia Tianmu suddenly clapped his hands together twice, and footsteps sounded from a side door, thereby drawing Han Li's attention toward that direction.

  Moments later, a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her twenties emerged into the hall. She was wearing a yellow palatial dress and was holding a long wooden box as she strode into the room in an elegant manner.

  The woman made her way to the center of the hall, then placed the wooden box in her hands onto the side table in front of Han Li before standing off to the side in a respectful manner.

  Han Li merely took a cursory glance at the wooden box before turning his attention to the woman with a peculiar look in his narrowed eyes.

  "Has my servant caught your eye, Fellow Daoist Han? If you like her, how about I give her to you?" Jia Tianmu chuckled upon seeing this.

  Chapter 1590: New Puppet

  "It's not that; I was marveling at just how extraordinary sentient puppets truly are. If it weren't for the fact that I'm also proficient in puppetry myself, I'd be fooled into thinking that this sentient puppet was an actual person. The spiritual pressure emanating from her body is remarkably similar to that of a normal cultivator," Han Li praised with a smile on his face.

  Not only was Jia Tianmu not dejected upon hearing this, he burst into hearty laughter instead. "Haha, so you've figured it out, Fellow Daoist Han! Tsk tsk, among the fellow Daoists who have visited my cave abode, you are definitely the first below the holy race to discover that this servant of mine is only a puppet. I refined this puppet myself many years ago, and it's swindled many of my good friends since then."He seemed to be quite impressed that Han Li had been able to identify his servant as a puppet.

  "You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Jia. From the looks of it, this sentient puppet isn't very powerful, but it certainly does greatly resemble a human," Han Li mused with a smile as he appraised the puppet, which was virtually identical to a real human being.

  "You do indeed have a brilliant discerning eye, Brother Han! This is the first sentient puppet that I've ever refined, and it's only a third-tier upper race puppet. I decided to solely pursue crafting a sentient puppet with the most spiritual nature at the time, but unfortunately, even after I've nurtured the puppet for so long, its spiritual nature hasn't been enhanced in the slightest," Jia Tianmu sighed as he turned toward the servant with a wistful look on his face.

  At this moment, the servant suddenly turned and smiled at Jia Tianmu in an extremely humanized manner, but its smile then instantly faded as it adopted a blank and wooden expression again. Han Li was a little speechless upon seeing this. "Have a look at the sentient puppet in the box and see if you're happy with it, Brother Han," Jia Tianmu prompted after withdrawing his gaze from his servant."Alright, then I'll go ahead." Han Li nodded as he swept a sleeve over the table, and a swath of azure light surged forth. The long wooden box opened following a crisp crack, revealing the item within. Han Li focused his gaze on the item, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

  There was a white snake that was around a foot in length sitting inside the box. Its entire body was glittering and translucent, with a layer of white spiritual light radiating from it.

  "This is a new type of sentient puppet that I refined not long ago. It possesses a cultivation base that's roughly the same as yours at around the seventh-tier of the upper race, but even though it's not all that powerful, it possesses two forms. If it weren't for the fact that you've saved my life, I really wouldn't be willing to part with this puppet," Jia Tianmu said with a slightly forlorn look in his eyes."Two forms?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

  "Indeed! Even though I haven't infused my blood essence into it to perform a master recognition ceremony, I can still show you its basic abilities." Jia Tianmu made a hand seal as he spoke, then pointed a finger toward the wooden box in Han Li's hands. A beam of white light immediately shot forth from his fingertip, disappearing into the white snake's body in a flash.

  Spiritual light flashed, and the motionless snake suddenly sprang to life. Brilliant white light erupted from its body, and it transformed into a streak of white light as it flew out of the wooden box. Immediately thereafter, it swelled drastically to become a white python that was several tens of feet in length before circling around in the air.

  The python had a pair of crimson eyes while its body was entirely covered in shimmering white scales. A violent aura was emanating from the puppet, and it really did seem to be completely identical to a real giant python. All of a sudden, Jia Tianmu let loose a low cry and made a hand seal before casting another incantation seal onto the snake.

  The giant python puppet shuddered as a result before curling up into a ball.

  Another flash of brilliant white light radiated forth, following which the white python transformed into a beautiful white-robed woman. In its female human form, the puppet wore a slightly lost expression as it hovered motionlessly in mid-air.

  "This sentient puppet can assist you in battle and also be used as a servant in your cave abode. Its only flaw is that it requires several times the number of spirit stones to function compared to other sentient puppets. On top of that, most of the puppet's body is constructed from Glacial Crystal Iron, so it can only be powered by the extremely rare ice-attribute spirit stones. If you want to use the puppet, yo
u'll have to prepare to expend a lot of spirit stones on it in the future," Jia Tianmu explained.

  Han Li stared at the white-robed woman hovering in mid-air for a long while before smiling as he replied, "Ice-attribute spirit stones are indeed quite rare, but I do have some in my collection, so I'd be more than happy to take the puppet."

  "Hehe, I'm glad that you're pleased with the puppet, Brother Han. You'll only need to use a drop of your blood essence to conduct a master recognition ceremony, and no one else will be able to use the puppet aside from yourself," Jia Tianmu said with a smile before making a hand seal, then pointing a finger at the puppet. The white-robed woman immediately swayed before flying toward Han Li as a ball of white light. It then transformed into a white snake that slowly descended into the box again. At the same time, Han Li rustled a sleeve, and a burst of azure light swept past to place the lid back onto the box.

  "Fellow Daoist Jia, from the sounds of it, all of these sentient puppets were created by you, so you must be an extremely well-established puppet refinement master. I also have some interesting puppets that were given to me by someone else; would you like to see them?" Han Li turned to Jia Tianmu with a smile.

  "Oh? I'd love to see them!" Jia Tianmu seemed to be genuinely excited at the prospect of witnessing a new type of puppets. Han Li smiled as he flipped his hand over, and a jade box appeared over his palm. The box was shimmering with spiritual light, and there were even a few restriction talismans plastered onto it.

  After peeling off the talismans, Han Li laid a hand onto the lid of the box, and it came flying off of its own accord, following which several tens of humanoid puppets flew out from within, each of which was around a foot in size.

  These were none other than the spirit servants that Han Li had received from Demon Monarch Di Xue.

  As soon as these humanoid puppets flew to the center of the hall, a cloud of five-colored mist suddenly erupted forth. The mist then faded, and 12 seductive gorgeous women in five-colored dresses appeared in the hall.

  At the same time, 24 handsome young men appeared on either side of the hall, and all of them were holding different types of musical instruments as they sat in a cross-legged manner.

  Han Li hadn't cast any incantation seals, but a delightful captivating symphony immediately rang out within the room. The beautiful women also began to dance along to the music.

  Their five-colored dresses fluttered as they flaunted their slender figures, and a peculiar fragrant aroma wafted through the air.

  Jia Tianmu's eyes abruptly widened as soon as those humanoid puppets appeared, and he stared intently at them with rapt focus in his eyes.

  After a long while, the captivating music drew to a halt, and the 12 female dancers also stood still on the spot with their hands by their sides. "They are indeed quite interesting. The spiritual sense within these puppets doesn't belong to you, does it, Fellow Daoist Han?" Jia Tianmu asked with an intrigued look on his face.

  "So you've noticed that as well. These puppets are known as spirit servants, and they're half-spirit half-object entities. They're different from sentient puppets in that they're refined from infusing a type of spirit body into a puppet. However, they function much the same as sentient puppets in that they have a certain, albeit limited, degree of autonomy, and there's no way to further enhance their spiritual nature after they've been refined," Han Li explained with a smile.

  An elated look appeared on Jia Tianmu's face upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "I've thought of trying to fuse spirit bodies and puppets as one, and I've conducted several experiments to try and make that a reality, but none of them have succeeded. What kind of spirit body was infused into these spirit servants?"

  "I didn't refine these spirit servants myself, so I'm not too sure what kind of spirit bodies were infused into them. However, I'm sure that you'll be able to separate the spirit bodies from these puppets and identify them," Han Li replied as he stroked his chin."That's true. Wait, you're giving these puppets to me?" Jian Tianmu nodded in response before suddenly realizing what Han Li was implying.

  "These spirit servants are quite interesting, but they serve no purpose for me. In contrast, you have brilliant mastery in the art of puppetry, so perhaps you'll be able to make good use of them to further better yourself," Han Li said in a calm manner.

  "These spirit servants are indeed extremely useful to me, but I can't just accept such a precious gift from you. How about this? I have some wealth on my hands at the moment, so I'll purchase them from you instead," Jia Tianmu insisted as he shook his head.

  "If you really want to offer me something in return, then I have a few questions to ask you. If you can answer those questions, I'd be more than satisfied." Han Li finally disclosed his objective.

  Jia Tianmu faltered upon hearing this before responding in a cautious manner. "Questions? Feel free to ask me anything, Brother Han. However, if what you're asking has anything to do with confidential information in our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, then forgive me for not being able to answer them."

  "Of course, my questions definitely won't be related to any sensitive subjects," Han Li assured with a smile. Jia Tianmu's expression eased upon hearing this, and he nodded as he said, "Then go ahead, Brother Han."

  "During the past few days, I heard from someone that there seems to be a teleportation formation capable of facilitating teleportation between continents in the Heavenly Cloud Races; is that true? If so, which race is it being controlled by?" Han Li asked.

  Jia Tianmu was clearly rather taken aback by Han Li's question, and he relaxed even further as he replied, "There is indeed such a teleportation formation, but it's not being controlled by any single race. Instead, it belongs to several races among our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races."

  "Which races do the teleportation formation belong to?" Han Li asked.

  "Due to the fact that the teleportation formation needs to be kept in good condition, it's often serviced, and that's taken care of by the Crystal Race, the Stone Cocoon Race, the Multihand Race, and our Myriad Ancient Race. Fellow Daoist Han, are you interested in the teleportation formation itself or are you interested in using it?" Jia Tianmu asked with a thoughtful expression on his face.

  Chapter 1591: Doll

  Jia Tianmu was extremely proficient in the art of puppetry, so he certainly wasn't a dense idiot. As such, he was able to instantly glean Han Li's intentions.

  "I do indeed wish to use the teleportation formation to get to another continent." As things currently were, Han Li saw no point in hiding the truth, so he decided to come clean.

  "It'll be quite difficult for you to access the teleportation formation, Brother Han." Jia Tianmu chuckled with a wry smile and shook his head.

  "I'm aware that using this teleportation formation requires the expenditure of a vast amount of energy, but I just wanted to ask if it's possible for me to secure approval to use this teleportation formation as an outsider," Han Li asked in a slow voice.

  His expression remained unchanged, but he was actually quite nervous to hear the answer. After all, this was his main objective for visiting Jia Tianmu.

  After a brief pause, Jia Tianmu replied, "Truth be told, if you were a holy race being from one of our Heavenly Cloud Races, then it certainly wouldn't be difficult for you to request access to the super teleportation formation. Seeing as you satisfy neither of those criteria, it'll be extremely difficult for you. However, with an invasion from the Jiao Chi Race almost an imminent inevitability, there's a slight chance that an exception could be made. If you make some significant contributions for the Heavenly Cloud Races in the battle against the Jiao Chi Race army, then perhaps there's a chance that access could be granted to you. However, I'm only responsible for puppet refinement, so you'll have to discuss the specific details with the elders. On top of that, due to the imminent battle, our 13 races are all inviting guest members. I've already told the elders about how you were able to easily slay several Jiao Chi beings of the same cultivation base, and they
're quite interested in you as well."

  Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

  With his personality, the last thing he wanted to do was to become embroiled in a battle between two major powers. In such a large-scale battle concerning so many powerful beings, even a being of his powers could easily perish.

  "Thank you for this information; I'll be sure to consider my options carefully. I'll have to trouble you to act as the middle man if I ever wish to request an audience with the elders of the 13 races," Han Li requested with a serious nod.

  "That's no problem at all, especially after you've given me such a precious gift," Jia Tianmu replied without any hesitation.

  A smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

  After that, Han Li spoke no further about the teleportation formation, instead choosing to discuss puppetry with him.

  As soon as the discussion moved on to puppets, Jia Tianmu's eyes immediately lit up, and he became a lot more talkative as if a whole new can of worms had been opened.

  With his astonishing mastery in the art of puppetry, many of his insights quite brilliant even to Han Li, and Han Li learned a lot from their conversation.

  In contrast, Han Li had obtained the puppetry technique from the Monarch of Soul Divergence, so he also had some unique insights to offer, much to the surprise and elation of Jia Tianmu.

  Half a day later, Han Li departed from Radiant Cloud Mountain and returned to the inn.

  As soon as he entered his room, Han Li activated the restriction he'd set up to completely seal off the place.

  He then casually strode over to a corner of the room before sitting down in a cross-legged manner.

  He hadn't found the answer that he was looking for, but he did gain a better understanding of the super teleportation formation, as well as a very versatile sentient puppet.

  Han Li swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and azure light flashed as a long wooden box appeared in his hands.