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

by Translator: Johnchen

  What was most bizarre was that barely anyone knew anything about his abilities. It seemed that this demon monarch never fought others in front of an audience, but the high-grade beings who had crossed him in the past had all disappeared from the two races one after another.

  No one could confirm whether he was behind all of this, but everyone knew that it was definitely not a good idea to mess with this Mouse Monarch Dong Tian.

  Chapter 1798: Transport Spirit

  This demon monarch was a member of the Jade Mouse Race, which held a very important position in the demon race. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to become one of the demon monarchs.

  After all, the demon race was different from the human race. Even if they were considered to be top-tier beings among the demon race, they still had to have sufficient backing before they could become demon monarchs.

  In contrast, power was generally passed down from generation to generation for the three human sovereigns.

  Han Li really wanted to go and meet this mouse monarch, but the latter clearly had no intention of seeing anyone, so he could only give up on this matter.

  Thus, during the remaining time, Han Li acquainted himself with more Body Integration Stage cultivators and also studied that strange disappearing spiritual root of Young Master Hai's.

  Not only had he read many tomes for this, he had even asked Young Master Hai to release some blood essence for further study. From his efforts, he managed to deduce a few murky possibilities.

  However, he would still have to observe Young Master Hai for some time longer before he could ascertain the true nature of his spiritual root.

  During this time, Han Li was quite benevolent toward his two companions. Not only did he allow Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi to enter and exit the palace as they pleased, he also provided occasional guidance to them in their cultivation, which benefited them immensely.

  On this day, Han Li was, explaining some aspects of a cultivation art to Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi, and just as he was about to take a sip of spirit tea, his expression suddenly stiffened slightly.

  Qi Lingzi reacted quite quickly, and asked, "Is something wrong, Senior?"

  "You'll know what's going on soon," Han Li replied with furrowed brows.

  Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi exchanged a slightly bewildered glance upon hearing this, but they didn't dare to press Han Li any further for answers, so they could only wait in silence.

  After a full 10 minutes had passed, a dull thump suddenly rang out from outside the palace. The entire ground beneath their feet and the surroundings walls then tremored slightly, and both Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were given quite a fright as they cast their astonished eyes toward the door.

  Han Li remained still on his seat, but a slightly solemn look had also appeared on his face.

  One dull thump rang out after another, and tremors continued to run through the entire palace. It was as if there was some kind of gargantuan creature slowly approaching the Immortal Welcome Palace.

  "What's going on, Senior Han?" Young Master Hai couldn't help but ask in a bewildered manner.

  "You two won't be able to sense anything here. Let me take you two to broaden your horizons," Han Li sighed before rising to his feet, then swept his sleeve toward the two of them.

  A burst of azure light immediately swept forth to encompass the trio, and they vanished as a streak of azure light.

  In the next instant, the three of them appeared in the teleportation formation before teleporting out of the fifth floor.

  The three of them then emerged from the teleportation formation on the first floor of the Immortal Welcome Palace, then rose up into the air as a streak of azure light.

  After just a few flashes, the azure light faded, and the trio appeared on the summit of a tall mountain, where they were able to see everything within a radius of several thousand kilometers.

  Without the Immortal Welcome Palace's restrictions acting as a buffer, the rumbling booms in the distance were even more earth-shattering.

  The entire Nine Immortal Mountain seemed to be quaking as a gargantuan being approached from the distance.

  "What is that? It looks like a living walking piece of land!" Qi Lingzi's jaw dropped straight to the ground as he cast his gaze into the distance.

  Young Master Hai blinked rapidly in an astonished manner as if he were afraid that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

  It was no wonder that they were so astonished; there was currently an immeasurably massive mass of black land approaching them from afar, and the rumbling booms were emanating from directly beneath this unfathomably massive chunk of black land.

  This plot of land seemed to be extremely dry, and its surface was riddled with countless cracks, forming a series of extremely deep rifts and ravines.

  What was even more astonishing was that at the center of the plot of land was a tall and majestic black fortress, around which stood countless black-armored guards.

  They were standing in a completely still manner with cold expressions on their faces, and holding all types of long halberds and giant axes.

  There were also over 1,000 guards clad in bone armor atop giant blue wolf steeds flying in the air above the fortress, and they were none other than Lightning Guards!

  One group of guards stood in a stationary manner on the ground, while the other group of guards soared through the air, and the combination of the two created quite an intimidating sight to behold.

  All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes narrowed and blue light flashed through his pupils as he said, "I can see you, fellow Daoist; why don't you come out to meet me?"

  An unfamiliar yet extremely pleasant female voice rang out from behind him in response. "As expected, my little tricks aren't enough to fool you, Brother Han. Tsk tsk, the Tyrant Sovereign's spirit beast steed sure is massive. It most likely has something to do with the legendary Transport Spirit."

  Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was feeling slightly alarmed. With his immensely powerful spiritual sense, it was quite incredible that someone had managed to get so close to him before he finally noticed their presence.

  He slowly turned toward the one who had just spoken, and discovered there was a beautiful young woman in a five-colored palatial dress, appraising him with a smile over 100 feet away.

  As Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward her, a hint of befuddlement appeared in his eyes.

  "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Han, my name is Liu Qing. As I'm sure you've already noticed, this is just a puppet clone of mine, rather than my true body," the young woman said in a composed manner as she extended a curtsey toward Han Li.

  "Liu Qing? I've heard that the former Heavenly Spirit Sovereign had a pair of trusted subordinates, one of whom excelled in the art of puppetry while the other was adept in disguise techniques. Among them, the former is known as Liu Qing or Fairy Thousand Spirit; could that be you?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look in his eyes.

  "I'm truly flattered that you know of me, Fellow Daoist Han. I should've attended such a grand occasion in person, but I've reached a critical juncture in my cultivation of a secret technique, so I'm unable to leave my secret chamber. As such, I had no choice but to send this puppet clone in my stead. Thankfully, this clone of mine has built up somewhat of a reputation for itself and was allowed to enter this place." The woman spoke in a calm and graceful manner, and Han Li's expression changed slightly upon verifying her identity.

  This Fairy Thousand Spirit was only a subordinate to Heavenly Spirit Sovereign, but it was said that she possessed outstanding aptitude in the art of puppetry. On top of that, her skills in that area had drastically improved even further after she pledged her allegiance to Heavenly Spirit Sovereign. She was renowned as the second-most proficient human in the puppetry arts, second only to the Heavenly Spirit Sovereign himself, who excelled in both puppetry and illusionary techniques.

  This Fairy Thousand Spirit and Heavenly Spirit Sovereign's other trusted subordinate had bee
n won over by Heavenly Spirit Sovereign's abilities, and were therefore willing to pledge their allegiance to him.

  Even though this was only a puppet, Han Li could tell that it was most likely not inferior in power to a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being. As such, even though he was rather surprised that this Liu Qing seemed to recognize him, he immediately cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Apologies for my rudeness, Fairy Thousand Spirit. In regard to the Transport Spirit you just referred to, could this be the ancient divine tortoise that's able to carry Xuan Wu City on its back?"

  "Indeed. The Transport Spirit is a giant beast that has inherited the bloodline of the True Spirit Xuan Wu, and I was fortunate enough to have been able to see it in person. Its sheer size is so astounding that no one would dare to oppose it. On top of that, it's also proficient in powerful water and earth-attribute abilities, and its defenses are so powerful that even the average Divine Spirit Treasure wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch on it. This giant beast in front of us is most likely only one of the descendants of that tortoise," Liu Qing chuckled.

  "This is only one of its descendants?" Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath as he turned back to the massive plot of approaching land.

  "That's right, the true Transport Spirit is more than 10,000 times larger than this creature," Liu Qing replied with an earnest nod.

  "I'm very intrigued to see this Transport Spirit for myself now," Han Li mused as he cast his gaze into the distance.

  "It won't be easy to witness that giant beast. At the time, I traveled to Xuan Wu City as part of the Spirit Sovereign's entourage, and it was only through sheer luck that I managed to catch a glimpse of the creature from afar. Once every 3,000 years, the giant tortoise emerges to absorb the essence of the sun and the moon, and I was fortunate enough to be present at the time. Otherwise, it spends most of its time with its body mostly buried in the earth, and its limbs and head are also retracted back into its shell as it hibernates."

  "I see, my eyes have truly been opened," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Liu Qing with a slightly wistful look in his eyes.

  Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were completely enraptured by their conversation, and they were clearly filled with yearning toward this unfathomable world inhabited by these truly powerful beings.

  When the giant beast in the distance was still several tens of kilometers away from the Nine Immortal Mountain, it finally drew to a halt, and the tremors running through the ground abruptly ceased.

  Right at this moment, the giant plot of land slowly rose up from the ground, transforming into a giant black mountain that was tens of thousands of feet tall in mere moments. Faint tremors emanated from the bottom of the black mountain again, and an enormous head emerged from the soil before casting its gaze toward the nearby spectating cultivators, which naturally included Han Li and Liu Qing.

  Han Li focused his gaze on the head of the creature to find that it was extremely intimidating in appearance. There were a dozen or so curved horns of different sizes on its head, and the vulnerable points on its neck were all covered by thick black scales.

  The giant beast also had a remarkably long mouth, and as it opened its mouth, a pungent odor swept forth while rows of giant sharp teeth were revealed.

  Han Li looked on at the creature's sharp teeth, and he estimated that it would take hundreds of someone of his size to provide an ample mouthful for this creature to devour.

  Qi Lingzi was quite a courageous character, but even his face had paled slightly at the sight of this ferocious gargantuan beast.

  Meanwhile, Young Master Hai was looking back and forth between the creature and his own body.

  Qi Lingzi asked in a curious manner, "What are you doing?"

  "I'm just comparing to see if I'm as big as one of that thing's teeth," Young Master Hai replied, leaving Qi Lingzi feeling completely speechless.

  Chapter 1799: Offer

  Han Li's lips also twitched slightly upon hearing Young Master Hai's response. This guy really had been born to be a comedian!

  The giant tortoise suddenly let loose an earth-shattering roar before withdrawing its head and limbs into the ground again, and the giant black mountain it had transformed into immediately fell still.

  Only then did the black-armored guards around the fortress spring into action.

  The Lightning Guards in the air descended into the fortress while the black-armored guards formed teams and rose up into the air, pulling out a series of formation tools as they completed various tasks around the black mountain.

  Moments later, layers of restrictions had been set up around the mountain, and a layer of black mist permeated forth to completely conceal the fortress on it.

  After that, the black-armored guards immediately rushed into the black mist and vanished.

  Everything within the mist fell silent, creating a stark contrast with the massive commotion that had been caused earlier.

  Right at this moment, a dragon's roar rang out from another mountain, and a streak of golden light shot forth before arriving in the air above the black mist after just a few flashes.

  The golden light faded, and a shimmering golden wyrm was revealed with a single horn that was over 100 feet in length on its head.

  A smiling white-robed man stood on the back of the golden wyrm; it was none other than Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign.

  "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Xuan Wu. Care for a reunion?"

  "Hmph, just come in if you want to see me, you old geezer. I'm sure a mere illusionary formation won't be enough to keep you out." A cold voice responded from within the black mist, and the owner of the voice wasn't making any effort to be respectful or polite toward Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign.

  "Hehe, I'll help myself, then." Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign chuckled, seemingly completely unbothered by the animosity being directed at him. He tapped his foot onto the back of his golden wyrm steed, and it immediately vanished into the black mist as a ball of golden light.

  The black mist then fell silent once again.

  All of the spectating Body Integration cultivators knew that nothing more would come of this, so they all returned to their living quarters.

  Han Li naturally harbored the same intentions, and he cupped his fist in a salute to Liu Qing to bid her farewell. To his surprise, before he could say anything, Liu Qing suddenly smiled, and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to invite you to my humble abode, Fellow Daoist Han. There is an acquaintance of yours who would like to see you."

  "An acquaintance of mine?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

  "Indeed. She's actually the descendant of an old friend of mine, and I just so happened to encounter her during my journey here, so I brought her to the Immortal Welcome Palace with me. As for exactly who it is, you'll know when you get there," Liu Qing replied with a smile.

  "You're really piquing my curiosity, Fairy Liu. In that case, please pardon my intrusion," Han Li said, and even though his expression remained unchanged, there were many thoughts flashing through his mind at once.

  "I'm glad to hear that you're willing to come, Fellow Daoist Han. I live on the level directly above yours; there's nothing more to see here, so let's go back together," Liu Qing said with a smile, and based on visual information alone, it was impossible to tell that she was actually a puppet.

  It was no wonder that she was renowned as the second-most proficient puppetry master in the human race; just this extremely life-like puppet alone was sufficient testament to her abilities.

  Now that Heavenly Spirit Sovereign had passed away, she would naturally inherit his status as the most proficient puppetry master among all humans.

  Han Li nodded in response before turning to Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi as he instructed, "You two, take this restriction badge and go back first."

  The two of them naturally accepted this instruction in a respectful manner.

  After that, Han Li departed with Liu Qing toward the Immortal Welcome Palace down be
low.

  Not long after that, Han Li encountered a white-robed young woman who appeared to be around 16 to 17 years of age in a green hall on the sixth floor of the Immortal Welcome Palace.

  A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the young woman. "Fellow Daoist Ye!"

  "Ye Ying pays her respects to Senior Han. I didn't think that you would've progressed to the Body Integration Stage since we separated in the Wood Tribe," Ye Ying said with a complex look on her face as she extended a curtsey toward Han Li.

  "I must say, I'm quite surprised to see you here, Fairy Ye Ying." A smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he swept a sleeve through the air to send forth a burst of invisible force that prevented Ye Ying from sinking down into her curtsey.

  At the same time, he swept his spiritual sense toward her and discovered that she had already reached the early-Spatial Tempering Stage. As expected of a member of the Ye Family who possessed the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline; her rate of cultivation far exceeded that of the average cultivator.

  The Heavenly Phoenix True Blood that Han Li had obtained was from her, so he was reflexively more polite toward her.

  "My mother is good friends with Aunt Liu, and she implored Aunt Liu to take me here with her," Ye Ying explained with a smile.

  "There's no need to place me on such a pedestal, Ying'er. Your mother and I are as close as sisters; I was more than willing to bring you along with me," Liu Qing chuckled.

  Ye Ying naturally expressed her gratitude toward Liu Qing again upon hearing this.

  After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li's smile suddenly faded as he said, "I assume you didn't ask Fairy Liu to bring me here just because you wanted to meet me, right?"

  Ye Ying faltered slightly upon hearing this before a slightly embarrassed look appeared on her face. "That is indeed true, Senior."

  "I'll leave you two to discuss this matter on your own, then," Liu Qing said in a thoughtful manner before turning to leave.