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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Han Li then began to chant something as one top-grade spirit stone after another flew out of his sleeve. Soon, over 100 such spirit stones had been released, and they all disappeared into the light formation.

  Immediately thereafter, he tossed the disk in his hand forward, and it hovered in front of him as he flicked his fingers toward it in quick succession, seemingly working to activate it.

  Lei Lan observed everything in silence, and as bright light began to glow from the disk, she couldn't help but turn to Jin Yue with a hint of concern in her eyes.

  Jin Yue's eyes were still closed at this point, but there was clearly an elated expression on her face, so it seemed that the second half of the cultivation art was authentic. Lei Lan naturally heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this.

  All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a low cry before pointing a finger at the disk. At this point, it had transformed into a ball of white light, and it slowly hovered toward the center of the five-colored light formation, then fused as one with the formation amid a dull thump.

  At this moment, Han Li stopped what he was doing and turned to Jin Yue. "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Jin? Is there anything you're dissatisfied with?"

  "Not at all. This is indeed the second half of the cultivation art, and I must thank you on behalf of our entire race for this precious gift," Jin Yue replied in an extremely pleased manner as she finally withdrew her spiritual sense from the jade slip.

  "Hehe, there's no need to thank me; this was a mutually beneficial trade, after all. In that case, I'll be taking my leave," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

  Jin Yue returned his salute with a smile, and said, "I wish you the best of luck, Fellow Daoist Han!"

  "Hehe, thank you for your kind words. Holy Master Lei, I wish you luck in progressing to the holy race soon," Han Li chuckled as he turned his gaze to Lei Lan.

  "Thank you, Senior; I'll be sure to work hard," Lei Lan replied with a curtsey and a rather complex look on her face.

  "Alright, it's time for me to leave." Han Li gave the two women a quick nod before stepping into the five-colored light formation, following which a burst of chanting immediately rang out.

  A burst of loud rumbling then suddenly erupted from the light formation, and countless silver runes surged forth in a frenzy. The white ball of light at the center of the formation also swelled to several times its original size, taking up almost the entire light formation.

  Chapter 1856: Unexpected Troubles

  The entire formation began to flash with silver runes and white light, and specks of starlight flashed within it to form a radiant galaxy. It was quite clear that the formation had been activated to the limit of its power.

  A solemn look appeared on Jin Yue's face upon seeing this, but in the next instant, her expression abruptly changed as she yelled, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

  As soon as her voice trailed off, she extended a hand out of her sleeve before making a grabbing motion, and a burst of enormous invisible force erupted forth.

  The invisible force converged toward what was seemingly nothing more than thin air, but a ball of silver lightning suddenly exploded there, and a silver snake shot forth from within the lightning before pouncing toward the light formation.

  The silver snake was astonishingly fast and was completely immune to the influence of the tremendous force being exerted upon it.

  Jin Yue faltered slightly upon seeing this, and before she had a chance to react, the silver snake had plunged headfirst into the light formation.

  Almost at the exact same moment, a sharp piercing cry rang out from within the massive light formation, following which a pillar of white light erupted forth. The pillar of light tore through over 10,000 feet of space in an instant, then vanished into a black hole that emerged out of thin air.

  Only then did the five-colored light formation fade away, leaving only a shattered white disk behind.

  Lei Lan looked on in a flabbergasted manner, and only after a while did she return to her senses. "Who was that, Grand Elder? They seem to have been teleported away along with Senior Han!"

  "I don't know, but that person was using an extremely remarkable lightning cultivation art that allowed them to disregard my powers. He's most likely the thief that the law-enforcement squad is hunting for," Jin Yue replied with a dark expression.

  "What? Will Senior Han be in danger, then?" Lei Lan drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

  "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han's powers are most likely not inferior to mine; even that thief won't be able to best Fellow Daoist Han in battle. However, the fact that he was lurking nearby indicates that he's most likely been following us ever since we visited that giant crater several days ago, yet neither Fellow Daoist Han nor I were able to sense him, so he must possess incredible concealment abilities. It's no wonder that even after deploying so many people, the law-enforcement squad was still unable to hunt him down. However..." Jin Yue's voice suddenly trailed off as a perplexed look appeared on her face.

  "What is it?" Lei Lan asked.

  "That man's aura was rather strange; it seemed to be have been intermingled with a beastly aura that resembles that of the Lightningcloud Falcon of the primordial world, but it's not exactly the same," Jin Yue explained in a hesitant manner.

  "A beastly aura? Could it have belonged to a spirit beast that he owns?" Lei Lan asked.

  "I don't think so. The aura was completely integrated with his aura, and they seem more like constituent parts of a whole rather than two separate entities. In any case, we've achieved our objective, so let's leave this place right away. We came here under the guise that you were going to cultivate in the glacial baleful area, so we have to go there to avoid suspicion. That teleportation formation created quite a massive commotion just now, so there are most likely going to be people arriving on the scene soon," Jin Yue said.

  "You're right, Grand Elder," Lei Lan agreed with a nod.

  Thus, Jin Yue swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of light that scattered the remnant fluctuations left behind by the light formation, then flew away with Lei Lan as two streaks of light.

  Elsewhere, within a space that was filled with murky white mist, Han Li was standing mid-air, looking at the man who had barged his way into the teleportation formation with a peculiar look on his face.

  "I didn't think I'd meet you again, let alone under these circumstances! I presume you must be the one who's been stealing from the mine warehouse," Han Li said.

  In the instant before he was teleported away, he had discovered that someone else had barged into the formation, but the teleportation had already commenced at that point, so he could only allow that person to be teleported into the infernal river with him.

  However, never did he think that this man would be someone that he recognized.

  "Oh? From the sounds of it, you seem to know who I am." Standing several hundred feet away from Han Li was a thin middle-aged man in a set of long blue robes.

  He wore a faint smile on his face, and was quite calm and collected.

  "How has that Lightning Beast of yours been developing, Fellow Daoist Yu? I'm sure it must've played a big role in your progression to the holy race," Han Li said as a cold smile appeared on his face.

  The man's calm expression instantly transformed into one of bewilderment upon hearing mention of the term "Lightning Beast", and he yelled, "Who are you? How do you know about the Lightning Beast?"

  At the same time, his terrifying early-Body Integration Stage aura was released toward Han Li without any reservation.

  This man was none other than the shopkeeper with the Yu surname that Han Li had last met in the holy city of the Tian Peng Race. [1]

  At the time, the shopkeeper had promised Han Li an Azure Shifting Fruit in exchange for his services to help him tame a certain Lightning Beast. Two other Spatial Tempering cultivators had also been recruited for the task, but in the end, after they had successfully helped the shopkeeper tame the L
ightning Beast, the latter had turned on them and tried to kill them.

  Only after displaying his extraordinary powers did Han Li manage to survive that ordeal, and the shopkeeper had begrudgingly given him an Azure Shifting Fruit core before they parted ways.

  At the time, he had already realized that this was a very mysterious figure who definitely wasn't an ordinary Tian Peng being. The fact that he had progressed to the early-holy race after just several hundred years further vindicated Han Li's suspicions toward him.

  However, Han Li was now far more powerful than he had been in the past, and even though he had restricted his own aura to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, that was still completely incomparable to his past cultivation base. On top of that, he had also altered his own appearance, so it was no wonder that the shopkeeper had been unable to recognize him.

  In the face of the astonishing spiritual pressure the man was releasing, Han Li's expression remained calm, and in the next instant, he also released a burst of spiritual pressure that should only belong to holy race beings.

  A resounding boom rang out as the two bursts of spiritual pressure clashed, then nullified one another, indicating that they were evenly matched.

  "You're also an early-holy race being?" Shopkeeper Yu's heart immediately jolted upon seeing this.

  He had been following Han Li's trio from afar, and after seeing that Han Li had a way to leave the earth abyss, he had barged into Han Li's teleportation formation without any hesitation. He had thought that Han Li was only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so he hadn't been overly wary of him. If he had known Han Li's true cultivation base in advance, he may not have followed through with his initial plan.

  A faint smiled appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and in the next instant, the spiritual pressure he released became even more powerful.

  "You're a mid-holy race being! Who are you? There's no way I wouldn't recognize a mid-holy race being from the Flying Spirit Race!" Shopkeeper Yu exclaimed as his pupils contracted drastically.

  However, what was rather surprising was that he still seemed to be quite calm and wasn't displaying any signs of panic.

  "Who I am isn't important. You must've plundered a lot of precious ore from the mine warehouse, right? I'm not going to ask for anything excessive; hand over all of the ore you stole, and I'll let you go free. That will act as your payment for hitching a ride in my teleportation formation," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner, displaying no intention of revealing his own identity.

  "I see, so you want the materials that I took from the warehouse. Indeed, I was only able to escape from the earth abyss using your teleportation formation, so it's only right that I issued some payment to you." As opposed to being enraged by Han Li's demands, Shopkeeper Yu merely chuckled before flipping a hand over to reveal a blue storage bracelet, then tossed it to Han Li with a flick of his wrist.

  Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but a thought then immediately occurred to him, and a cold look appeared in his eyes at the sight of the oncoming bracelet.

  He swept a sleeve through the air, and golden light flashed as the bracelet was sliced in half. Instead of anything dropping out of the bracelet, a loud thunderclap erupted, and it transformed into a net of blue lightning that descended toward him.

  However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated this in advance. He abruptly flapped his wings, and a thunderclap rang out, following which a silver net of lightning also erupted from behind him.

  The two nets of lightning clashed, and the silver lightning transformed into a strange lightning formation. The blue lightning net was sucked into the lightning formation in an instant, and it was unable to unleash any of its power.

  Shopkeeper Yu's heart jolted upon seeing this, while Han Li merely pointed a finger at the lightning formation, and it vanished following a loud thunderclap.

  "I can forgive you just this once. Here's a second chance; hand over the ore, and I'll let you leave. Otherwise, hehe..." Han Li chuckled coldly as killing intent flashed through his eyes.

  This Shopkeeper Yu had tried to kill him several hundred years ago, and if it weren't for the fact that Han Li was more powerful than he had expected, he would most likely have tried to kill Han Li here as well.

  As such, Han Li naturally wasn't going to show him any kindness. In fact, he was already letting him off the hook by granting him freedom in exchange for the ore that he had stolen.

  Of course, if he didn't want to comply, then Han Li certainly wouldn't mind putting an end to his life.

  The man's ability to remain calm in this situation indicated that he had some trump cards up his sleeve, but with Han Li's current powers, he naturally wasn't going to be fearful of him.

  "Looks like you know me quite well. In that case..." After some contemplation, Shopkeeper Yu feigned a resigned expression and seemed to be about to concede, but right at this moment, a dozen or so transparent thin needles suddenly appeared behind Han Li.

  These needles then shot forth toward Han Li as silver threads, and at the same time, a loud thunderclap erupted above him.

  A ball of lightning emerged out of thin air, consisting of three colors, which were gold, silver, and blue.

  Within the lightning was a half-human half-bird beast, and it opened its mouth to expel three thick bolts of lightning at once.

  Chapter 1857: Fierce Battle (1)

  A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and his body blurred, leaving only an afterimage for the silver threads to pierce through.

  Immediately thereafter, bright golden light erupted above his head, and a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged. As soon as it appeared, the projection thrust all six of its palms forward at once, releasing six pillars of golden light.

  A string of resounding booms rang out, and despite the astonishing power imbued within the three bolts of lightning, they were still destroyed by the six pillars of light in the end.

  Before the strange beast up above could unleash another attack, Han Li flapped his wings and vanished on the spot.

  In the next instant, a loud thunderclap rang out over 200 feet away, and he re-emerged with a cold expression.

  "So it seems you insist on a fight. In that case, I'll send you on your way and settle our differences once and for all!" As soon as his voice trailed off, the golden projection behind him took on a substantial form and manifested into the Provenance Golden Body.

  After that, he quickly laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and an inky-black Nascent Soul emerged, then disappeared into the golden body as a burst of black Qi.

  The golden body immediately opened all six of its eyes at once, and it swung its six arms through the air, summoning a giant golden blade in each hand. The golden blades were then swung through the air in unison, and countless streaks of golden sword Qi surged forth in a frenzy.

  After that, the golden body itself pounced directly toward the beast in the air above.

  The beast within the lightning let loose a roar of fury upon seeing this, and countless balls of silver lightning appeared around it. At the same time, it flapped its wings, and countless feathers shot forth like arrows before transforming into bolts of blue lightning.

  The balls of silver lightning and bolts of blue lightning were all quite powerful, but they were instantly reduced to tatters by the countless streaks of devastating sword Qi.

  The golden body appeared right before the beast in a flash, and its six blades transformed into wagon-wheel-sized golden balls of light that hurtled directly toward the beast.

  A vicious light flashed through the beast's eyes upon seeing this, and light flashed from its two arms before they transformed into a hammer and an awl.

  Immediately thereafter, it let loose a loud screech and swung both the hammer and awl through the air. A halo of crimson light appeared around its body alongside arcs of golden lightning, and it flew directly toward the six balls of golden light without any fear or inhibitions.

  Streaks of sword Qi
instantly intertwined with bolts of lightning, and the two seemed to be evenly matched.

  Shopkeeper Yu was stunned to see that even the Lightning Beast was unable to take care of Han Li.

  He was more aware than anyone of just how powerful this Lightning Beast of his was. The lightning released by this beast appeared to be quite ordinary, but in reality, every single bolt was capable of killing a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

  The law-enforcement squad members that had managed to chase him down on the third level of the earth abyss had been slain by none other than this Lightning Beast.

  Despite his astonishment, he immediately made a hand seal with a hand that was hidden within his sleeve. At the same time, a dull thump rang out from behind him, and a burst of five-colored light erupted forth, then transformed into a giant peacock projection.

  "You're a Five Light being!" Han Li was rather taken aback to see this.

  "Hehe, why don't you come and see for yourself," Shopkeeper Yu chuckled coldly as the peacock projection transformed into a vibrant sea of five-colored light that surged toward Han Li from afar.

  The space in the wake of the sea of five-colored light twisted and warped violently, as if it were threatening to make the entire sky cave in.

  At the same time, the silver threads that had missed Han Li earlier shot forth again before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

  Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and blue light flashed through his eyes, following which purple light erupted from his body. A vibrant green figure then separated itself from him before positioning itself right behind him.

  The dozen or so silver threads shot forth through the air and plunged straight into the green figure, but it was as if they had struck a dead log.

  At this moment, the spiritual light flashing from the green figure's body faded, revealing it to be a green-skinned "Han Li" with purple patterns all over its body.