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

by Translator: Johnchen

  It elongated to over 100 feet in length in an instant, and spiritual light swirled over its surface before transforming into layers of a hard yellow substance. Looking at the sword from afar, it was as if it had become a giant yellow stone sword, and as it was swung through the air, even the space in its wake began to emit a loud buzzing sound, clearly indicating that this was an astonishingly powerful weapon.

  As for the golden and azure flying swords, they didn't display much change aside from emitting bursts of dazzling light.

  The five flying swords danced and pursued one another through the air, and they seemed to possess a very high level of spiritual nature.

  Han Li appraised these flying swords with a calm expression, then made a hand seal shortly thereafter. The five swords immediately reverted back to their original forms at his behest before flying back into the golden gourd.

  Only then did Han Li turn his attention toward the Myriad Sword Artwork, and a slightly solemn look appeared in his eyes.

  All of a sudden, he raised a hand to cast several incantation seals in quick succession, all of which vanished into the artwork in a flash.

  The artwork immediately began to emit a series of sharp ringing sounds, following which dazzling golden light erupted from it. The countless swords inscribed on its surface gradually began to move, then multiplied at a rapid rate.

  All of the swords on the artwork seemed to have sprung to life in the blink of an eye.

  Han Li let loose a low cry, and a burst of azure spiritual Qi was expelled out of his mouth, then vanished into the artwork.

  A burst of metallic clangs immediately rang out from within the Myriad Sword Artwork, following which countless sword projections erupted out of the artwork in a frenzy. All of a sudden, a burst of bone-chilling sword Qi had settled over the entire hall.

  Black light flashed from Han Li's glabella, and his Law Destruction Eye emerged. Piercing black light swirled within the eye as an enormous burst of spiritual sense erupted forth before vanishing into the Myriad Sword Artwork.

  Golden light instantly flashed from all of the sword projections in the hall, and they began to slowly revolve around Han Li.

  Initially, they were only moving at a snail's pace, but after just the span of a few breaths, they were swimming through the air like small spritely fish. Furthermore, they had formed a sword formation with a tremendous aura.

  Han Li suddenly switched to a different hand seal as he prepared to activate the enormous magic power within his own body, but right at this moment, the Myriad Sword Artwork shuddered as it let loose a low ringing sound, and the spiritual light radiating from it abruptly faded.

  The golden sword projections dancing through the hall also became blurry and indistinct before finally blinking out of existence.

  Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li's Law Destruction Eye also vanished in a flash.

  His expression changed slightly, and he turned toward the golden gourd and Myriad Sword Artwork with furrowed brows.

  The golden gourd was something that he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm, and due to the fact that it could potentially have belonged to an immortal, he naturally held it in very high regard and had constantly been studying it.

  Thankfully, he had already mastered beveled silver text and golden seal text. As such, even though the refinement method for this treasure was far different from those used in the human world and Spirit Realm, and the flying swords in the gourd hadn't yet been completely refined, he was still able to understand some of the intricacies of the treasure.

  As a result, he made use of his own analysis and expended some precious materials of the five elements, and finally managed to just barely completely refine the entire treasure.

  However, the flying swords in the gourd were originally all of the metal element, but he had refined them to become a set of five-elemental flying swords.

  Thus, the treasure definitely wouldn't be as powerful as what its original owner had envisioned, but it was definitely no less powerful than the average spirit treasure.

  Even so, with Han Li's current enormous wealth, a treasure of this caliber wasn't going to be very useful to him. As such, he was planning to examine the treasure to ensure that there was nothing wrong with it, then pass it down to one of his disciples.

  As for the phenomenon that had just been conjured up by the Myriad Sword Artwork, that was a result of inspiration that Han Li had derived from a secret technique of a certain foreign race. Using this secret technique, he was able to refine the astonishing sword Qi imbued within the artwork using a special method, thereby allowing him to use the artwork as a normal offensive treasure.

  The sword Qi within the artwork had originated in the True Immortal Realm, so if he could completely harness and control it, it would undoubtedly be immensely powerful.

  If even a Body Integration cultivator were to be attacked by all of the sword Qi within the artwork, they would be killed for sure.

  Unfortunately, this refinement method was very time-consuming, and he had spent all of his time improving his own magic power, so this artwork was only halfway refined. Furthermore, due to the fact there was no source or origin to the sword Qi within the Myriad Sword Artwork, if the sword Qi were to be completely exhausted, then the artwork would be completely ruined.

  At present, he still hadn't completely gleaned the Sword Observation Art imbued within the artwork, so prior to completely refining this treasure, he wasn't going to use it unless he absolutely had to.

  Otherwise, if the Sword Observation Art were to be destroyed, he would lose an extremely valuable asset.

  After failing yet again in his attempt to control the Myriad Sword Artwork, Han Li was just contemplating whether he should try once more when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he abruptly reached behind himself with one hand.

  A ball of fire surged through the gates behind him and landed in his grasp in a flash. He closed his fingers around the fireball, and it immediately exploded. At the same time, Hai Yuetian's urgent voice rang out from within the flames. "Master, the panel of elders just sent someone to invite you to the Skyview Platform; it seems that devilish beings have begun to gather, and there are even high-grade devilish beings among them. "

  Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "High-grade devilish beings, eh? Alright, I suppose I should go and take a look."

  He then swept a sleeve through the air to stow the golden gourd and Myriad Sword Artwork away, then flew away as a streak of golden light.

  After emerging from the pagoda, he immediately flew toward the border of Deep Heaven City. At his current speed, it only took him less than an hour to reach the city wall.

  At this moment, the entire sky outside the city wall was filled with devilish Qi, and there was not a ray of sunlight to be seen. It seemed that someone had unleashed an extremely powerful technique to completely block out the suns.

  Beneath the devilish Qi, the sound of war drums could be heard, and within Deep Heaven City, there were groups of armor-clad warriors and cultivators rushing out of the giant towers.

  They were either wielding weapons or treasures, and they flew directly toward their designated posts with extremely solemn looks on their faces.

  A series of altar-like platforms also slowly emerged from the formations on the giant city wall, and atop these platforms were huge objects such as round disks or giant cones.

  Around each of the objects stood seven or eight cultivators in long robes, and there was also a giant light barrier above Deep Heaven City that was currently radiating dazzling light. A white jade palace that resembled a miniature city had been conjured up high in the air above the city as well, and countless silver runes were revolving around it.

  Furthermore, countless armored guards could be seen roaming over the palace, and at the tip of the tallest pagoda-like building in the palace, there was an antiquated golden mirror with a diameter of around 1
00 feet.

  The mirror was currently reflecting dazzling light, and was acting as a replacement for the sun, shining its scintillating golden light down upon most of Deep Heaven City.

  In the instant that the golden light came into contact with the human warriors and cultivators down below, they were completely reinvigorated and instilled with a sense of indescribable courage that made them a lot more confident to face their enemies.

  [1] "Meanwhile, at the Justice League!"

  Chapter 1887: Battle Between Humans and Devils (1)

  Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the white jade palace, then immediately flew directly toward it. Even before he had approached the palace, the guards had already noticed him.

  A golden-armored Heavenly Guard immediately led a dozen or so azure-armored guards to carefully approach Han Li.

  The Heavenly Guard took a quick glance at Han Li before immediately extending a salute. "May I ask if you're Senior Han? I've been instructed to wait here by the elders for your arrival. Please allow me to accompany you to the Skyview Platform."

  "I am indeed Han Li. Please lead the way," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

  "Yes! Please come with me, Senior," the Heavenly Guard said in a respectful voice as he made an inviting hand gesture.

  The other armored guards also parted for him in a respectful manner and stood with their hands clasped behind their backs.

  Thus, Han Li flew toward a tall platform in the palace, led by the Heavenly Guard.

  On the platform, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and several other Deep Heaven City elders that Han Li had met before were currently looking out at the devilish beings gathered outside Deep Heaven City.

  As soon as they noticed Han Li's arrival, all of them immediately smiled and extended warm greetings.

  Buddhist Monk Jin Yue was the most familiar with Han Li, and he said in a concerned manner, "You're finally here, Fellow Daoist Han. Just as the rumors suggested, this devilish tribulation really is more fierce than the previous ones."

  Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "How so? Are there a large number of high-grade devilish beasts among their ranks?"

  "You'll know what the situation is like when you see it, Fellow Daoist," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied as he pointed a finger into the distance.

  Han Li raised an eyebrow and cast his gaze toward that direction.

  From such a high vantage point, he was able to see everything outside the city wall.

  There, he was greeted by the sight of countless sinister-looking devilish beasts, stretching for several tens of kilometers. Just the sheer number of them was enough to make the onlooker's skin crawl, and at the center of this enormous army of devilish beasts were five gargantuan devilish beasts with bodies that resembled mountains.

  They were lying half-sprawled on the ground, looking at Deep Heaven City with a cold light in their eyes.

  The five gigantic beasts consisted of a crimson ape, two white snails, a black devilish bird with talons and feathers that looked as if they'd been constructed from steel, and a three-headed purple python.

  There was a wide berth around all five of these beasts, and it seemed that even their fellow devilish beasts were extremely fearful of them.

  However, Han Li was more interested in the humanoid figures hovering in the air above these gargantuan beasts.

  From a distance, they appeared to be completely identical to normal humans, but there was an enormous amount of devilish Qi erupting from their bodies. All of them seemed to be at the Deity Transformation Stage or Spatial Tempering Stage, so they comprised quite a formidable force to be reckoned with.

  "What are those people?" Han Li asked with his brows furrowed in befuddlement.

  "If I'm not mistaken, those are most likely human cultivators who ascended to the Elder Devil Realm from various lower realms. However, they specialized in Devil Dao cultivation arts during their time in the lower worlds, and they've been corrupted by the devilish Qi in the Elder Devil Realm for so many years, so they can no longer even be considered as humans," the white-robed Elder Gu sighed.

  "Prior to this devilish tribulation, these devilish humans have never appeared; it seems that this devilish tribulation really is different from previous ones. Could it be that the Elder Devil Race is going all-out in a make-or-break bid to conquer our human race?" Fairy Silver Light mused in a grim voice.

  Han Li appraised these devilish humans for a long while before he suddenly said with furrowed brows, "Those people will indeed be very troublesome to deal with, but compared to them, I'm more interested in where all the high-grade devilish beings currently are."

  "All of the high-grade devilish beings have concealed themselves within the devilish Qi. Some of them emerged not long ago, but they've all retreated back into the devilish Qi since then. It looks like they're preparing to rest before they attack our city," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied.

  "Have there been any Sacred Ancestors sighted yet?" Han Li asked in a grim voice.

  Buddhist Monk Jin Yue hesitated momentarily before offering his analysis. "We haven't seen any Sacred Ancestors for now, but among the high-grade devilish beings that emerged earlier, there were a few Body Integration Stage beings. However, judging from the size of this army, there's a very good chance that Sacred Ancestors will be lurking within the devilish Qi. It's just that the Elder Devil Realm is only just beginning to erode our Spirit Realm, and they're facing immense resistance from the power of our realm. Hence, Sacred Ancestors are still unable to descend into our Spirit Realm, and even if they do appear, they'll only be clones."

  "If it's only clones, then our Deep Heaven City should be able to keep them at bay." Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this.

  "I certainly hope so. What we can see now is only a small portion of the Elder Devil Race's forces. These low-grade devilish beasts have only been sent out as cannon fodder; the truly elite devilish beings still haven't appeared yet." Elder Gu had endured the last devilish tribulation, so he was well aware of just how fearsome the Elder Devil Race was.

  "All we can do at the moment is to react and adapt to the situation as it unfolds. Our Deep Heaven City is the most powerful force in the human race; if even we're unable to withstand the attack from the Elder Devil Race, then all of the other cities are bound to fall as well. Also, according to the reports we received earlier, the Spirit Sovereign City is the main target of the Elder Devil Race, and the devilish army that has appeared there is several times larger than this one," Fairy Silver Light said in a concerned voice.

  "Indeed, Fellow Daoist. This devilish tribulation may be far more fearsome than previous ones, but as long as we combine all of our powers, there's a very good chance that we'll be able to transcend it. Setting aside everything else, just the restriction formations and fortresses we set up outside the city wall will be enough to kill most of these devilish beasts," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with an optimistic smile.

  "That's true. Our Deep Heaven City was able to withstand that attack from the joint army of foreign beings even without any preparation, and we've been painstakingly improving the city's defenses for close to the past 1,000 years, so I'm confident that we'll be able to keep the Elder Devil Race at bay," the burly black-robed man said in a cold voice, and he seemed to be very confident in the city's defenses.

  Han Li merely listened to their conversation with a smile, but he was constantly inspecting the devilish Qi in the distance with blue light flashing within his eyes.

  This devilish Qi clearly wasn't normal devilish Qi; even with his spirit eyes, Han Li was only able to see around 500 meters into it.

  All he could make out were what appeared to be a series of arks, flying carriages, and some armored warriors.

  A cold look appeared in his eyes, and just as he was about to circulate his magic power to unleash his spirit eye ability to its maximal extent, a pair of cold and forbidding eyes suddenly met his gaze, then tra
cked him down from a distance at an incredible speed.

  Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew his spirit eye ability as a dark expression appeared on his face.

  At the same time, a faint exclamation of surprise rang out from a giant beast-drawn carriage deep within the devilish Qi.

  Immediately thereafter, the crimson light also faded from the eyes of a thin green-robed elderly man with a head of yellow hair.

  "What is it? Did you see something interesting with your divine eyes?" a purple-armored man with black freckles all of his face asked.

  "No, it's just that there seems to be a high-grade human cultivator with a powerful eye ability as well, and I just startled him into retreating," the elderly man replied.

  "Oh? If the humans also have someone with a powerful eye ability, then won't they be able to see our entire setup in here?" the purple-armored man asked in an alarmed manner.

  "Rest assured, Lord Shi, I've already set up a profound restriction within this devilish Qi using the Chaotic Devilish Flag that was bestowed upon me by our Sacred Ancestors, so that man won't be able to see anything no matter how powerful his eye ability is. However, the humans have also set up powerful concealment restrictions on their end, so I'm also unable to see what defenses they've set up in the city," the green-robed elderly man said with a shake of his head.

  "That's not important; we just have to make sure they don't see what we're up to. After all, we're just here to scout out this city, and it looks like we're in luck; if we can loot this entire city, we'll be reaping countless rewards!" the purple-armored man said as an excited look appeared in his eyes.

  "Hehe, don't underestimate this city, Lord Shi. According to the human mortals we captured earlier, this city is where the elites of the human and demon races are gathered. Even if we can conquer it, we'll definitely have to pay a heavy price to do so," the green-robed man cautioned.

  "This is a sacred sacrifice, so it's only normal to suffer severe casualties. In any case, our Sacred Ancestors will have plans for how to conquer this city; we just have to act according to their orders. It's about time, so let's attack. It's unlikely that we'll be able to conquer this city on our first attack, but we have to at least scout out most of the city's defenses," the purple-armored man said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.