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

by Translator: Johnchen

  He gently removed the lid to reveal the thin white snake that was lying inside, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he attempted to glean the internal structure of the puppet.

  However, this sentient puppet really was quite special; even after using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, its vitals were still quite blurry to him, and he couldn't make any sense of how this puppet functioned.

  Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately released his powerful spiritual sense to encompass the entire snake.

  He directed his spiritual sense toward those blurry vital regions, only for it to be forcibly repelled. The other sections of the white snake were quite similar to normal puppets aside from the fact that some special materials had been used. Some of the internal structures were also quite profound, but he was able to figure out how they worked, albeit with some difficulty.

  It appeared that the areas that truly set sentient puppets apart lay in those blurred-out regions that he couldn't see.

  It wasn't that he couldn't use his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly infiltrate those areas, but doing so would definitely inflict some damage to the puppet.

  Furthermore, if he could do this, then other beings who had been in possession of sentient puppets in the past would also have been able to do the same thing. However, the secret of sentient puppets was still one that was exclusively kept in the Myriad Ancient Race, so that course of action clearly didn't work.

  It would most likely damage the puppet, yet leave him still unable to glean its secrets.

  After a brief hesitation, Han Li finally decided against taking the risk and turned his attention to conducting a master recognition ceremony instead.

  With that in mind, he opened his mouth to expel an azure thread, which revolved around his wrist before disappearing into his body again.

  At this moment, Han Li extended his wrist forward, and azure light flashed as a few drops of blood essence dripped from his wrist down onto the white snake in the box.

  The drops of blood essence only came into contact with the snake's body for a split second before vanishing.

  Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal and cast a series of incantation seals onto the white snake.

  As a result, the motionless white snake suddenly raised its head, and a hissing sound came out of its mouth.

  The puppet then flew out of the box before flying around in the air before Han Li.

  However, Han Li paid no heed to it as he flipped his hand over again to produce a stack of formation plates of different colors.

  He raised a hand, and all of the formation plates shot forth as balls of spiritual light, then disappeared into the nearby space.

  In the next instant, a five-colored light formation that was around 10 feet in size appeared in mid-air. There were runes of all colors shimmering within the formation, presenting quite a mystical sight to behold.

  Han Li pointed a finger at the white snake before him, and red light flashed through its eyes as it circled around in the air in a hesitant manner. However, it was unable to resist the power of Han Li's spiritual sense in the end, and it slowly flew into the light formation.

  A dull ringing sound rang out across the entire formation at Han Li's behest, following which countless runes appeared before surging toward the puppet in a frenzy.

  A layer of crimson light surfaced over the puppet's body, but it remained completely motionless, allowing these runes to fuse into the crimson light.

  A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

  This master recognition technique was something that he had learned in the Tian Peng Race, and it was far more effective than other conventional methods.

  After using this technique on the puppet, even a being that was vastly more powerful than him wouldn't be able to wrest control over the puppet.

  Han Li activated the formation while slowly closing his eyes, leaving the light formation to flash incessantly as it hovered in mid-air.

  This master recognition ceremony lasted for a day and a night before Han Li finally opened his eyes again.

  He then began to chant something as he waved a hand toward the white snake within the formation, and brilliant white light erupted from its body as it flew out of the formation in a flash.

  It twirled in mid-air before transforming into a white-robed woman, upon which it descended slowly beside Han Li in a silent and expressionless manner.

  A hint of intrigue appeared in Han Li's eyes as he appraised the woman's gorgeous features, and he smiled as he mused, "Looks like you really don't possess a high level of spiritual nature; you're just like a humanoid doll. I'm going to call you Doll from now on!"

  Red light flashed through the white-robed woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she still remained completely motionless.

  Han Li shook his head in a slightly resigned manner upon seeing this. He made a hand seal, and spiritual light flashed from the woman's body as she transformed into a white snake again, then disappeared up his sleeve.

  He then pointed at the light formation again, and it immediately vanished, reverting back to a dozen or so formation plates again, all of which were stowed away into Han Li's storage bracelet.

  After a brief contemplative pause, he pulled out another white jade box, upon which several crimson talismans were plastered.

  This was none other than one of the mysterious boxes that the big-headed being had entrusted to everyone.

  From the caution with which the big-headed being had treated the boxes with and the efforts that the Jiao Chi Race was making to secure them, it was not difficult to deduce that they contained extremely important items. However, due to the fact that an extremely potent restriction may have been set up on the box, Han Li hadn't gotten around to attempting to open it.

  Now that it was essentially necessary for him to request an audience with the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, he naturally had to figure out the contents of the box first to see if there was something in it that he could use.

  Han Li could sense that the item in the box was extremely important to the Myriad Ancient Race. In that case, there was a chance that he could use it to exchange for an opportunity to use the super teleportation formation.

  Of course, Han Li wouldn't be willing to hand over the box to the Myriad Ancient Race without inspecting its contents first.

  Only with the knowledge of just what this item was could he barter effectively with the Myriad Ancient Race.

  With that in mind, Han Li glanced at the walls of his room, which were shimmering with faint white light, and his brows furrowed slightly.

  If opening the jade box were to create a massive ruckus, then the restriction he'd set up may not be enough to completely conceal the commotion. As such, he had to set up a few more layers of restrictions first.

  Thus, Han Li pulled out several sets of formation flags from his storage bracelet again, all of which were sent hurtling toward the corners of the room.

  Immediately thereafter, a layer of azure light and a layer of five-colored light appeared in unison.

  Even after setting up the two additional barriers, Han Li still wasn't content. He thrust a hand into the air, and a black shadow shot forth from his palm, transforming into a miniature black mountain that was only around a foot tall hovering above his head.

  Spiritual light flashed, and a layer of grey light emanated from the underside of the miniature mountain, forming a light barrier than encompassed an area with a radius of several tens of feet around Han Li.

  Thus, the area around Han Li was in complete lockdown.

  Chapter 1592: Vast Glacial Badge

  Han Li had already examined the crimson talismans plastered to the surface of the box; they were nothing special and were only used to repress the aura of the item inside the box.

  On top of that, he had already formulated a plan to remove these talismans.

  For others, this would most likely prove to be quite a troublesome prospect, but he p
ossessed several abilities that were extremely effective against restrictions.

  Thus, after securing his room with a series of light barriers, Han Li tossed the jade box into the air, where it hovered motionlessly at his behest.

  He then reached out with a pristine white hand toward the jade box while the Divine Essencefused Light barrier being emitted by the miniature mountain became noticeably denser. At the same time, five white skulls emerged from his fingertips, all of which swelled in size before hurtling toward the jade box.

  "Break!"

  Han Li issued a command as he pointed at the five skulls, and all of them opened their mouths in unison to expel a wave of five-colored glacial flames that swept up the jade box within.

  An astonishing scene then ensued.

  As the five-colored glacial flames converged toward the box, the crimson talismans detached themselves from the box's lid of their own accord.

  The talismans should've been quite light and spritely, but due to the effects of the five-colored glacial flames, they were moving a lot more slowly than they normally would, and Han Li was able to clearly see the process through which they were separating from the box.

  This brief period of time was enough for Han Li to assess all of the changes taking place within the box.

  All of a sudden, his expression darkened, and the five-colored glacial flames surging around the jade box transformed into a massive five-colored hand, which forcibly removed the lid on the box.

  A burst of extremely unstable yet powerful fluctuations erupted from the box into the air, following which a golden ball of light shot forth, only to be caught in and completely immobilized by the five-colored hand.

  Right at this moment, a resounding thump rang out as a red light formation surfaced around the jade box. The formation then swelled and shrank, looking as if it were about to explode.

  Han Li glanced at the light formation, and the terrifying spiritual power imbued within it was quite harrowing even to him.

  Thus, he immediately made a hand seal, and the massive five-colored hand locked firmly around the golden and silver ball of light before whizzing toward the corner as a streak of five-colored light. At the same time, the Divine Essencefused Light in the nearby area suddenly tightened to form a dense grey pillar of light that trapped the light formation within.

  In the next instant, the light formation exploded, and a white halo immediately appeared within the pillar of light.

  The pillar of light then began to tremor violently as a series of strange ripples appeared over its surface, looking as if it were going to be vanquished at any moment by the force of the explosion.

  Han Li's eyes narrowed as he harrumphed coldly, and he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

  The fireball transformed into a silver Fire Raven that rushed into the grey pillar of light in a flash before plunging headfirst into the halo of white light.

  A bizarre turn of events then unfolded. The violent fluctuations that resembled an erupting volcano within the white halo of light suddenly receded, and at the same time, the halo of light shrank drastically at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

  Within just the span of a few breaths, it had disappeared completely, and in its place was the silver Fire Raven.

  The bird had swelled to several times its original size, and it was in the process of sucking one final wisp of white light into its stomach.

  Han Li finally heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

  He waved a hand, and the silver Fire Raven spread its wings before flying back to him, disappearing into his body in a flash.

  Meanwhile, the five white skulls also vanished amid a string of dull thumps.

  At the same time, the five-colored hand in the air appeared above his hand, then relaxed its fingers to release that ball of golden and silver light.

  Han Li swept a sleeve upward, and a swath of azure light swept forth to draw the golden ball of light into his grasp. As he clenched his fingers around it, the golden and silver light dimmed to reveal the object within.

  He held his hand up to his face, then focused his gaze to conduct a more thorough inspection.

  There was an antiquated badge that appeared to be around half a foot in length within the spiritual light.

  One side was shimmering with golden light while the other glowed with silver light, and the surfaces of the badge were riddled with profound ripples. At the same time, there was an unidentifiable ancient symbol carved onto each side of the badge.

  Even with Han Li's vast wealth of knowledge in foreign languages, he was still completely unable to figure out from which language these symbols originated.

  Han Li stroked the surface of the badge gently with his finger, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

  To think that the item that the big-headed being had held in such high regard was something like this.

  Even though the badge was shimmering with spiritual light, there were some signs of wear and tear around its edges, indicating that it was definitely quite an old item. Furthermore, the material used to forge the badge was also quite strange. One side was frosty cold to the touch while the other side was scorching hot, indicating that it seemed to possess both ice and fire attributes at the same time.

  Han Li fell into deep thought upon seeing this. However, as he swept a finger over one of the ancient symbols, something unexpected happened.

  A wisp of white light suddenly emerged from within the badge, and it was as thin as a strand of fine silk, but it was extremely fast and disappeared in a flash.

  A cold sensation shot through his palm, followed by a faint hint of stabbing pain. His hand then became a little a moist and clammy, and in his bewilderment, Han Li reflexively tossed the badge into the air, where it hovered motionlessly above his head.

  He then brought his palm up to his face to find that there was a gash that was several inches long on his palm. The gash was bleeding profusely, and it seemed that he wouldn't be able to immediately stop the bleeding.

  With his powerful body in conjunction with the fact that this hand had cultivated the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, it was quite incredible that a thin white thread could inflict such a nasty gash onto his palm.

  Despite the astonishment in his heart, Han Li immediately began to circulate his magic power within his body. Specks of white light began to emanate from the gash, following which it was fully healed in just a few moments.

  After that, he glanced up at the strange badge overhead with intrigue and bewilderment in his eyes.

  At this moment, brilliant golden and silver light were radiating from the badge, and the traces of blood on it were rapidly vanishing.

  No, they weren't vanishing; they were being absorbed by the badge!

  Han Li's lips twitched, yet before he had a chance to do anything, the badge suddenly let loose a long cry akin to that of a dragon's roar. Immediately thereafter, a pillar of golden and silver light erupted into the air, completely disregarding the Divine Essencefused Light and the restrictive light barriers that he'd set up earlier, then puncturing the roof and climbing straight into the heavens.

  Han Li's expression instantly darkened significantly upon seeing this. He immediately waved a sleeve through the air, and a swath of azure light swept forth from within as he attempted to recover the badge.

  However, an incredible turn of events then unfolded!

  Even as the azure light swept toward the badge, it completely refused to budge, and it only continued to blast a pillar of golden and silver light into the sky.

  Han Li's heart sank as a wry smile appeared on his face.

  With the massive commotion that this badge was causing, there was no way that what he was doing would go by unnoticed. It wouldn't take long before someone came to investigate what was going on.

  With that in mind, a series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind, and he immediately sprang into action.

  Specks of light of different colors
instantly appeared out of thin air at his behest, and he instantly stowed away the miniature black mountain as well as the formation plates he'd set up earlier.

  He then paused before making his way toward a corner of the room, where he sat down expressionlessly in a cross-legged manner, paying no further heed to the badge that was hovering in mid-air.

  A short while later, light flashed from the four walls and the door of the room at the same time, following which a few black-armored warriors of Cloud City emerged in the room in a wraith-like manner.

  All of them faltered slightly at the sight of the badge that was causing such a big commotion, then turned to Han Li in unison with a cold look in their eyes.

  However, their expressions then changed slightly after verifying Han Li's cultivation base with their spiritual sense to find that he was far more powerful than them.

  The leader of the armored warrior adopted a slightly more benevolent expression as he asked, "Is that your treasure? Are you not aware that activating powerful treasures and using too much spiritual power is prohibited in Cloud City?"

  Seeing as Han Li's cultivation base was far superior to theirs, they didn't dare to show him any disrespect before figuring out what was going on.

  "I encountered some issues while refining this treasure, but I'll sort things out right away." Han Li was quite calm and collected, and he made a grabbing motion toward the badge from afar as he spoke.

  A massive translucent hand instantly appeared in the air before grabbing down toward the badge.

  However, despite Han Li's best efforts to drag the badge down toward him, it refused to move so much as a single inch, as if it were completely locked in space somehow.

  Confused expressions appeared on the faces of the armored warriors in the room upon seeing this, and Han Li's lips also twitched in response to this situation.

  He took a deep breath, and just as he was about to exert more force on the badge, an indifferent male voice suddenly sounded from outside the room.

  "Don't bother! The Vast Glacial Badge has already been activated by you in advance, and it's locked onto a spatial position, so it won't move no matter what you do to it unless you shatter all of the space in a radius of 1,000 feet."