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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Streaks of black light erupted from the flying carriages and hurtled directly toward the golden light barrier as an incessant string of rumbling booms shook the entire heavens.

  Han Li heaved a faint sigh before turning to Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and the others with slightly furrowed brows. "Fellow Daoists, it looks like this is just a jab thrown by the Elder Devil Race to test out our city's defenses, so I'm going to go back for now. I'm currently at a critical juncture in the refinement of one of my treasures, and once I complete the process, it should be very helpful in the defense against the Elder Devil Race."

  "Indeed, this first wave of attacks is far less fearsome than we had expected. It seems we overreacted due to the past tales that we had heard. If you have something important you need to attend to, then go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han. It looks like the Elder Devil Race is settling in for a prolonged battle, so Body Integration cultivators like us most likely won't need to do anything in the immediate future," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed as he nodded in response.

  "If the Elder Devil Race had attacked our city with everything they had from the beginning, then I would feel less uneasy instead; we'll have to be on our guard in this current situation. We are the most powerful beings in the city, but we all have matters that we need to attend to as well, so we can't just stand around like this. How about this? Unless the Elder Devil Race launches an all-out attack, we'll guard this place two at a time. Fellow Daoist Han, you're not part of the panel of elders, and you're not very familiar with the defenses we've set up in the city, so you won't need to be part of this rotation. However, if the city falls into a truly perilous situation, then I hope you will lend us your assistance," Elder Gu said in a meaningful voice.

  "That's a great idea, Brother Gu."

  "I have no objections to this, either."

  Everyone nodded in agreement with this proposal, including Han Li.

  Thus, Han Li cupped his fist in a parting salute before flying away as a streak of azure light. Everyone else also departed soon thereafter, leaving only the burly black-robed man and Elder Gu to stand on guard duty.

  "Brother Gu, are we going to just keep standing by and watching like this? Isn't that too passive? It's taking a vast amount of spirit stones to support the Treasured Sunrise Mirror in the face of such fierce attacks," the black-robed man said in a cold voice.

  "Hmph, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Bao; seeing as these devilish beings are throwing these devilish beasts at us as cannon fodder to test our defenses, then I certainly can't disappoint them. We'll use the Seven Star Flame Essence Formation to teach them a lesson," Elder Gu replied as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

  The black-robed man was quite taken aback by this, and he asked in a hesitant voice, "The Seven Star Flame Essence Formation? That's one of the city's trump cards; is it really a good idea to reveal it so early?"

  "It's alright, I'll only activate 10% of the formation's power. In doing so, we'll be able to teach those devilish beings a lesson, but still keep the true power of the formation a secret. Perhaps it'll lure the high-grade devilish beings into a false sense of security and benefit us later on," Elder Gu said in a confident manner.

  After contemplating this notion for a moment, the black-robed man also felt this to be a sound plan, so he nodded in agreement. "That does make sense. We'll do as you say, then, Brother Gu."

  Thus, having reached a consensus, they immediately issued the order without any delay.

  Within an underground secret chamber beneath a giant crimson tower in Deep Heaven City, there were seven elderly men in crimson robes seated around a golden formation with their eyes closed.

  Judging from the fire-attribute spiritual Qi emanating from their bodies, all seven of them were fire-attribute cultivators, and the spiritual pressure they were releasing suggested that they were all at the Spatial Tempering Stage.

  The sound of a bell chime suddenly rang out from the body of what appeared to be the eldest member of the group, and he immediately opened his eyes, revealing a pair of crimson pupils that seemed to have flames surging within them.

  He flipped a hand over to produce a white disk, then quickly glanced down at it before instructing, "Activate the formation, but only unleash 10% of its power."

  The other six elderly men immediately opened their eyes, and answered in unison, "Yes!"

  All seven of them made hand seals as bright crimson light erupted from their bodies. They then each laid a hand onto the back of their own heads, and seven crimson Nascent Souls emerged in quick succession.

  The seven Nascent Souls had facial features that were identical to the seven men, and they were each holding a shimmering red treasure, which consisted of a ring, a flag, a sword, a saber, a pagoda, a badge, and a bead.

  There was red light swirling around the surfaces of these treasures, and they were releasing scorching waves of heat, clearly indicating that they were extremely pure fire-attribute treasures.

  The seven Nascent Souls began to chant incantations, and the seven fire-attribute treasures quickly swelled to several times their original size, then slowly drifted toward the center of the formation.

  Chapter 1890: Battle Between Humans and Devils (4)

  Han Li was on his way back to his cave abode when he suddenly stopped in his tracks, then turned back to look into the distance with a bewildered expression.

  In the air above Deep Heaven City, seven massive crimson stars had suddenly emerged, tainting the entire heavens a fiery crimson color.

  Even through the layers of restrictions that enshrouded Deep Heaven City, he could still sense wisps of a scorching aura.

  All of the guards in the city, as well as the normal cultivators who were meditating in their abodes, naturally also rushed out to appraise this phenomenon with astonishment in their eyes.

  As a Body Integration cultivator, Han Li was able to sense far more than other cultivators with his spiritual sense, and as he looked into the distance, a rare hint of wariness flashed through his eyes.

  He could sense that these seven crimson stars were imbued with enormous powers of laws that were capable of severely wounding or even killing him, so how could he not be alarmed?

  Right at this moment, red light suddenly swirled over the surfaces of the seven stars, following which an extremely profound and massive formation emerged in mid-air with the seven stars at its center.

  The formation was of a fiery red color and encompassed close to half of Deep Heaven City. Immediately thereafter, the powers of laws of heaven and earth rippled violently, following which all seven of the stars abruptly blurred before transforming into a massive Fire Raven projection that swooped down from the heavens amid a clear cry.

  An earth-shattering boom erupted, and tremors ran through the entirety of Deep Heaven City. A crimson mushroom cloud then rose up from beyond the city wall, swelling to over 100,000 feet tall.

  Even from this far away, Han Li could still clearly see the devastating mushroom cloud, and it created quite an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

  The scorching flames from the mushroom cloud were kept at bay by the golden light barrier, and it was as if two different worlds had appeared on either side of the barrier.

  On one side, everything remained completely unchanged, while the other side had been completely transformed into a sea of flames.

  The waves of fire surging out from the mushroom cloud stretched for hundreds of kilometers, and all of the devilish beasts swept up by the flames were instantly reduced to ashes without being able to offer any resistance.

  As for those devilish humans, they were naturally able to resist somewhat with their devilish treasures to protect them, but there wasn't enough time for them to escape an attack that covered such a vast area, and they were also quickly incinerated amid bloodcurdling cries of agony.

  Meanwhile, a layer of dense spiritual light instantly appeared over the bodies of the five gargantuan devilish beasts to keep the flames at bay, but it was quite clear that they wouldn't b
e able to last long in the face of such fearsomely high temperatures, either.

  The giant black devilish bird quickly rose up into the air, and with just a single flap of its wings, it transformed into a ball of black light that flew back to several tens of kilometers away. After just a few more flashes, it had escaped outside the range of the entire sea of flames at an incredible speed.

  The giant crimson ape stomped both of its feet violently into the ground, propelling itself up into the air like a reverse shooting star. It then transformed into a gust of fierce wind that swept away into the distance, forcibly parting all of the flames in its path.

  Even though it was slightly slower than the black devilish bird, it wasn't far behind and quickly escaped from the sea of flames as well.

  As for the two white snails and three-headed purple python, they were clearly far more maladroit and were nowhere near as lucky.

  Even though they were also traveling as quickly as they could, they only managed to cover several hundred kilometers of ground before the protective spiritual light around their bodies gave out, and they were also swept up by the flames amid thunderous howls of anguish.

  Not long after the fall of these three gargantuan devilish beasts, two streaks of light, one purple and one green, rushed out of the sea of fire, then continued to fly away without any pause and only stopped after flying for close to 10,000 kilometers away.

  These were none other than the purple-armored man and the green-robed elderly man. As a pair of Body Integration Stage devilish beings, they were able to escape with their lives despite that horrific attack.

  However, judging from their charred clothes and singed hair, it was quite clear that it had been a very close call for them as well.

  They turned back and cast their eyes toward the sea of flames with expressions of thunderous fury. The purple-armored man spat through gritted teeth, "I didn't think that the humans would use this kind of attack against us; they sure do think highly of us!"

  "Indeed, that was quite unexpected; the humans normally wouldn't use this type of trump card against mere devilish beasts. An enormous amount of spiritual power would be required to unleash such an attack; have they really gathered that many spirit stones or is the leader of the human cultivators in this city just a madman?" the green-robed elderly man also murmured with his brows tightly furrowed.

  "Hmph, who cares if the leader of the human cultivators has gone mad or not? The issue at hand is that all of the devilish beasts we brought with us have perished here with the exception of those two giant devilish beasts; we're definitely going to be punished for this," the purple-armored man sighed in a resigned manner.

  "That may not necessarily be the case. The mission we were assigned is to test out this city's defenses and try to provoke the most powerful attacks possible. We managed to goad them into unleashing such a fearsome retaliative attack against us, so we've completed our mission with flying colors. As such, I'm sure that even if we do get punished, it won't be a very severe punishment," the green-robed elderly man countered in a calm manner.

  "I certainly hope so. Thank heavens we didn't bring any of our race's elite troops with us. Otherwise, our losses would've been far more severe," the purple-armored man said with a wry smile.

  "There's no need to be so depressed, Lord Shi; our army was only wiped out as we were completely unfamiliar with what defensive measures the humans had prepared. When we return, we definitely won't fall for the same thing again," the green-robed elderly man consoled.

  "Indeed, if I'm given another opportunity, I'm definitely going to exact my vengeance! I haven't been reduced to such a sorry state for a very long time! For now, let's go back and report our findings." The purple-armored man cast one final resentful glance at Deep Heaven City before flying away again, not waiting for a response from the elderly man.

  The green-robed elderly man also cast a frosty glance at Deep Heaven City before giving a cold chuckle and flying away as well.

  As for the two giant devilish beasts that had also managed to escape, they had been extremely alarmed by their near-death ordeal and continued to fly away in a blind panic even after emerging from the sea of flames.

  In the blink of an eye, peace and quiet had returned to the area.

  However, no one had noticed that on a mountain over several hundred kilometers away, there was a translucent crystal ball hovering high up in the air while incessantly flashing with faint spiritual light.

  At the same time, in one of the giant pyramids in a devilish city countless kilometers away, there were over 20 high-grade devilish beings seated in two rows on either side of a hall.

  At the end of the hall was an inky-black chair, upon which sat a crimson-robed middle-aged man.

  The man had a very graceful and handsome appearance, and he appeared to be completely identical to a normal human.

  At the center of the hall was a head-sized crystal ball that was hovering in mid-air, and it was extremely similar in size and appearance to the one near Deep Heaven City. Within the crystal ball, the images of the sea of flames raging in front of Deep Heaven City were being depicted.

  Everyone's attention was focused on the scenes unfolding within the crystal ball, and the crimson-robed man remained completely expressionless, so it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, but all of the other high-grade devilish beings wore different expressions.

  "Sacred Ancestor, Lord Shi and Fellow Daoist Lü are truly useless; they lost all of their troops to a mere restriction! We must punish them severely when they get back," a handsome man with a short corkscrew horn on his head suddenly said in a cold voice.

  "You're being too harsh, Brother Ban. Fellow Daoist Shi and Fellow Daoist Lü haven't made any errors; even if we had led that army in person, the result would've still been the same. No one could've envisioned that the humans would retaliate in such a fierce manner. In any case, we managed to goad the humans into revealing one of their trump cards, and all it cost us were some low-grade devilish beasts. If you ask me, they should be rewarded for their efforts instead," a devilish man with a near-transparent face countered.

  "I'm afraid I can't agree with you there, Lord Xuan. Even though those low-grade devilish beasts are nothing more than cannon fodder, losing so many at once is still quite a heavy blow for us. On top of that, there were three rare giant devilish beasts that perished alongside them as well, and they hadn't served any purpose before they were killed. If no punishment is given for something like this, then it would set a very bad example," the man with the short horn said with a hint of cold mockery in his eyes.

  "Hmph, are you saying that you would've been able to do better, Brother Ban? We all know that you and Fellow Daoist Shi are sworn enemies; who knows if you're proposing a punishment for them for your own personal gain?" the devilish man with the transparent face chuckled coldly in response.

  It was quite clear that they weren't on good terms with one another, and all of the other high-grade devilish beings were displaying different reactions to their fiery exchange. Some remained expressionless and merely ignored their argument, some sighed with furrowed brows, and some looked on with their intrigued smiles on their faces.

  Of course, there were also several other high-grade devilish beings who joined in on the debate, and the hall was quickly plunged into a chaotic state.

  "That's enough!" the crimson-robed man on the black chair yelled in an expressionless manner.

  All of the arguing voices in the hall immediately died down, and the devilish beings who had participated in the argument immediately extended respectful bows toward the crimson-robed man before falling silent.

  "I'll see to those two in person when they get back. I gathered all of you here to appraise the defenses of this Deep Heaven City, and to devise a strategy to conquer the city as quickly as possible. The other armies have all been mobilized now, and I don't want to fall behind the others," the crimson-robed man said in a cold voice.

  Chapter 1891: Battle Between
Humans and Devils (5)

  "As long as we can conquer this city as quickly as possible, losing some devilish beasts isn't a big deal; we have countless devilish beasts at our disposal and can replenish our armies at any time. Does anyone have anything to add to the method that Elder Huan Yu proposed?" the crimson-robed man asked in a cold voice.

  "Sacred Ancestor, I suggest we send out some elite devilish beings to eradicate some of the smaller human cultivator strongholds in this area while we attack Deep Heaven City. That way, we won't have to worry about watching our backs when we launch the final attack. On top of that, we can use this opportunity to familiarize our elite troops with the way that human cultivators like to do battle, which should minimize our casualties during the final attack," a graceful yellow-robed woman suggested.

  The crimson-robed man was rather intrigued by this idea, and he asked, "Roughly how many other large human settlements are there in the nearby area?"

  A high-grade devilish being with the appearance of a fair-skinned young man replied, "We haven't had much time to scout the area yet, but from what we've seen thus far, there are approximately seven or eight human settlements nearby. However, none of them are even close to the scale of Deep Heaven City."

  After a brief pause for contemplation, the crimson-robed man decided, "In that case, send the Jialun War Devils, Bloodlight Crystal Guards, and the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers to wipe out those settlements. As for everything else, follow the plan outlined by Elder Huan Yu."

  "What? You're planning to deploy the Bloodlight Crystal Guards? There's no problem with deploying the Jialun War Devils and the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers, but the Bloodlight Crystal Guards are your personal guards; it would not be wise to send them away, Sacred Ancestor!"

  Most of the high-grade devilish beings' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this order, and some of them immediately raised objections.

  "I have my own reason for deploying the Bloodlight Crystal Guards; there's no need for any of you to try to dissuade me," the crimson-robed man said in an implacable voice.