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

by Translator: Johnchen

  His face had turned slightly pale, and he was panting slightly from exertion. The ability that he had just unleashed had clearly expended a considerable amount of spiritual sense and magic power, which was why he had refrained from using it earlier.

  Han Li glanced at the spot where the devilish figure had just disappeared, and his expression remained quite grim. He immediately made another hand seal, and his body disintegrated into specks of azure light.

  In order to prevent the inner demon from affecting the spiritual sense he had left outside his soul, he had completely cut off his connection to his own physical body. Now that this threat had been averted, he was naturally immediately returning to his own body.

  In the instant that Han Li opened his eyes, he caught sight of the surrounding grey specks of light, which had transformed into five ghastly apparitions that were trying to attack him through his treasures with all their might.

  With each assault that they unleashed, the surrounding treasures would tremor violently, and the spiritual light being released by them had also dimmed significantly.

  The five apparitions were constantly revolving around Han Li with astonishingly violent auras emanating from their bodies, and Han Li's expression immediately darkened upon seeing this.

  He let loose a loud cry as countless arcs of golden lightning sprang forth out of his body, and the five devilish apparitions manifested from baleful Qi were instantly destroyed without being able to offer any resistance.

  After taking care of these five devilish apparitions, Han Li's expression only darkened even further.

  At this point, the restrictions and formations he had prepared specifically for this heavenly tribulation had already been activated, conjuring up several massive layers of light barriers that encompassed the entire stone pagoda.

  There were currently 81 giant black wyrms overhead, blasting forth devastating bolts of lightning of different colors.

  The smallest bolts of lightning were only around a foot in length, while the longest were around 500 meters long, and they were crashing down in a torrential downpour.

  Amid the flashes of lightning, the restrictions were beginning to display signs of overexertion.

  At this moment, all of the bolts of lightning crashing down from above suddenly combined as one to form a gigantic pillar of lightning, and all of the light barriers were instantly shattered.

  Without any further impediment standing in its way, the bolts of lightning instantly vanished, then reappeared above Han Li in his secret chamber before continuing to crash down with devastating might.

  Han Li immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release a dozen or so bolts of golden lightning, and a deafening boom rang out as the golden lightning and five-colored lightning canceled out one another.

  However, this was only the beginning. Even more bolts of five-colored lightning had appeared overhead, and they were raining down upon Han Li with incredible ferocity.

  Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he made a grabbing motion with one hand. A ball of azure light appeared over his palm in a flash, then shot forth in all directions as 72 streaks of azure light.

  All of a sudden, a loud dragon's roar rang out, and countless streaks of azure sword Qi appeared before dispersing all throughout the entire secret chamber, then converged to form an azure ball of light above Han Li.

  The ball rotated on the spot to release countless streaks of dazzling sword Qi, then shattered to reveal a green coiled dragon.

  In the blink of an eye, Han Li had set up his Azure Coil Sword Formation. As expected of one of his trump cards, the azure coiled dragon managed to remain completely unscathed in the face of the five-colored lightning, and it was able to vanquish all of the bolts of lightning with devastating sweeps of its powerful tail.

  At this point, the fiery clouds up above had already recovered to their original mass, and fire-attribute spiritual Qi surged within them, following which head-sized crimson fireballs came crashing down from above.

  Han Li naturally wasn't going to be fearful of these oncoming balls of flames. He took a deep breath and summoned his two extreme mountains, then laid a hand on each of them, upon which grey Divine Essencefused Light and streaks of invisible sword Qi surged out of the two mountains in a frenzy.

  ......

  A day and a night later, the 81 black wyrms in the sky finally self-detonated into clouds of black Qi, and at this point, all of the spectating high-grade cultivators had already been completely awestruck by the ferocity of this heavenly tribulation, as well as the measures that Han Li had taken to oppose it.

  This was the first time they had ever seen such a fearsome heavenly tribulation, and it was downright incredible to them that the might of a single person had been able to stand up against it.

  In the instant that the black wyrms disappeared, a long cry rang out from within the stone pagoda, piercing straight into the heavens.

  At the same time, an azure pillar of light erupted out of the pagoda, reducing all of the remnant fiery clouds and black Qi to countless runes of different colors.

  After the pillar of light faded, an enormous humanoid projection that was around 10,000 feet tall with an appearance that was completely identical to Han Li emerged high up in the air.

  "Isn't that Fellow Daoist Han?"

  "I see, so it's Senior Han who's been transcending his late-Body Integration Stage tribulation."

  ......

  Most of the nearby cultivators were immediately able to identify the projection as Han Li, and they immediately burst into spirited discussion.

  The azure projection looked around at the countless runes in the nearby area, and a faint smile appeared on its face before it abruptly inhaled violently.

  All of the runes shuddered before transforming into specks of light that flooded into the giant projection's mouth, and with each inhalation, tens of thousands of these specks of light were devoured.

  At the same time, the azure projection was expanding at a rapid rate, and after all of the surrounding specks of light had been devoured, more specks of light began to converge from the distance like moths to a flame, only to be devoured by the azure projection as well.

  An alarmed look appeared on the white-robed elderly man's face upon seeing this, and he hurriedly yelled, "Everyone, get back! Fellow Daoist Han has already transcended his late-Body Integration Stage tribulation and is currently devouring the world's origin Qi to reform his soul. We're all currently in the affected area, so we have to get back right away!"

  Chapter 1994: Number One Devilish Lord

  All of the high-grade cultivators present immediately flew away in different directions upon hearing this with a few exceptions, but those outliers were also forced to retreat in the face of the cold glare aimed toward them by the white-haired elderly man.

  "Hmph, I can't believe those bastards were planning to take the world's origin Qi gathered by Fellow Daoist Han at such a crucial juncture!" the white-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.

  "It's no wonder that some people would try to take such a risk. The world's origin Qi that Fellow Daoist Han has gathered is of the highest level of purity; if they can even take a tiny portion of it, they would benefit immensely," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue chuckled.

  "But if we were to allow that, it could affect the reformation of Fellow Daoist Han's soul. The effect would be virtually negligible, but we certainly wouldn't want Fellow Daoist Han to become dissatisfied with our city over something like this," the white-robed elderly man said as a complex look appeared on his face.

  "Indeed. Besides, if something were to go wrong during the reformation of Fellow Daoist Han's soul, he definitely wouldn't let those opportunistic individuals off the hook. In any case, Fellow Daoist Han's successful breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage is fantastic news for our city. Even now, I still feel like I'm in a dream. I had quite a great deal of confidence in Fellow Daoist Han, but even I didn't think that he would be able to transcend such a fearsome tribula
tion so smoothly," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed.

  "It's only taken Fellow Daoist Han several centuries to progress from the early-Body Integration Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage. Compared to him, I feel like I've wasted my entire life! Perhaps there really is a chance that he'll become a second Grand Ascension cultivator of our human race," the white-robed elderly man mused as he stroked his long beard.

  "Indeed, with Fellow Daoist Han's stunning aptitude, it's certainly not impossible. However, while progressing to the late-Body Integration Stage is already extremely arduous, it still pales in comparison to a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough. Even for Fellow Daoist Han, there's only a very slim opportunity," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied with a nod.

  "Of course, but he still has a sliver of an opportunity to attain immortality in the future. In contrast, that ship has already sailed for us, and we can only await the conclusion of our lifespans," the white-robed elderly man said in a slightly dejected manner.

  "There's no need to dwell so much on this matter, Fellow Daoist Gu; very few people in the entire history of our human race have managed to reach the Grand Ascension Stage; we're already immensely fortunate to have Senior Mo in our generation," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied.

  "Hehe, you sure are enlightened, Fellow Daoist Jin. Indeed, you're right. Even for Grand Ascension cultivators, there's one final major obstacle to be overcome before immortality can be attained. I've heard occasional tales of mighty figures in foreign races successfully ascending to immortality, but no one in the recorded history of our two races has succeeded, so it's certainly far from a simple task," the white-robed elderly man chuckled.

  "There have been several seniors who have attempted to transcend ascension tribulations in the past, but all of them did so in secret, so no one witnessed their tribulation transcendences. Perhaps some of them managed to succeed in the end," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a hopeful manner.

  "Perhaps. In any case, that has nothing to do with the current state of our city. Seeing as Fellow Daoist Han has already succeeded in his tribulation transcendence, let's not delay here any longer. Otherwise, it would be quite troublesome if Fellow Daoist Han were to misconstrue our presence as a sign that we're harboring malicious intent," the white-robed elderly man replied.

  Buddhist Monk Jin Yue naturally had no objections to this, and the two of them instantly flew away from the scene.

  In the distance, the giant projection was still gathering the world's origin Qi in a frenzy, and at this point, over half of the entire Deep Heaven City had become a funnel for the world's origin Qi.

  In the end, the projection swelled to around 50,000 feet tall, and it was visible to everyone in the city, thereby naturally creating a massive stir.

  Not only were the humans and demons in the city able to see the projection formed by Han Li's soul, the devilish beings in the devilish strongholds and pyramids further away were also able to see a blurry silhouette in the distance, as well as sense the surging world's origin Qi within Deep Heaven City.

  In the tallest of the devilish pyramids, there was a crimson-robed young man looking out the window toward Deep Heaven City with crimson light flashing within his eyes.

  "There's no mistaking this aura; someone must've made a late-Body Integration Stage breakthrough. Hmph, that's rather troublesome; this enormous aura suggests that this isn't just some ordinary late-Body Integration Stage being. I'll have to prepare some countermeasures for this," the young man murmured to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.

  The young man was none other than the final Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clone, which was the commander of the devilish army in this area.

  Seated on a stone chair not far away from the window was a burly man in a silver beasthide garment. He was currently munching on the bloody hindleg of a certain beast, and he said in a slightly garbled voice, "A mere late-Body Integration Stage being is nothing to be worried about; rest assured, just leave them to me. Hehe, you invited me all the way over here precisely because you wanted me to clear out some obstacles for you, isn't that right?"

  The man had an extremely muscular physique with gleaming bronze skin, and he was giving off a bone-chilling aura akin to that of a vicious beast.

  "There's no need to trouble you over something like this, Brother Xiong; I invited you here to deal with an even more troublesome fellow. I can't be sure if he's returned to Deep Heaven City or not, but if he's not present in the city, then I'll leave this late-Body Integration Stage being to you," Xue Guang replied.

  This burly man was clearly only a late-Body Integration Stage devilish being, but Xue Guang seemed to be quite wary of him and was referring to him as an equal.

  "Oh? Is the opponent you want me to take care of going to be even more formidable than this late-Body Integration Stage being?" the burly man asked with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

  "I believe so. I'm not sure of the specific details; all I know is that my three clones pursued him twice, and they returned after a failed first attempt before being wiped out during their second attempt," Xue Guang said with furrowed brows.

  The burly man was astonished to hear this, and he tossed the half-eaten hindleg aside as a solemn look appeared on his face. "What?! Now that you mention it, I do recall hearing some fellow daoists mention that you sent three clones into this realm at once, but how could all three of them have been killed at once? Are you asking me to face a Grand Ascension Stage human or demonic being?"

  "Hehe, rest assured, Brother Xiong; I wouldn't make you battle a Grand Ascension Stage being for me. The target in question is merely mid-Body Integration Stage human cultivator, but he possesses a set of incredible abilities, and even the average late-Body Integration Stage cultivator is no match for him. Those three clones of mine most likely perished by his hands. As the number one devilish lord of our holy race, you're the best choice to deal with such an opponent," Xue Guang replied.

  "Stop trying to flatter me! If that man could kill all three of your clones at once, then even if his powers are inferior to mine, it wouldn't be by much. You have to double my compensation! Otherwise, I'm not taking this job," the burly man said without any hesitation.

  "Alright, but you have to leave all of his treasures to me," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang agreed, also without any hesitation.

  "Oh? Looks like this human cultivator is either carrying some powerful treasures or has something that you desperately need. Otherwise, you wouldn't have agreed so easily. So be it, the original compensation you promised me was already quite a hefty amount; now that you're doubling it, I'll agree to leave all of his treasures to you. I'm really curious to see what kind of abilities this human cultivator possesses that allowed him to kill all three of your clones. Looks like I'll be able to enjoy a good battle this time!" the burly man said with a ferocious smile as he cracked his knuckles.

  In that instant, he truly resembled a vicious beast that was just barely able to contain its killing intent.

  Xue Guang was very pleased with the man's reaction, and he nodded with a smile as he said, "I'm offering such a large sum in compensation precisely because I'm confident in your abilities, Brother Xiong. It won't be long until we launch our main assault against Deep Heaven City. Prior to that, you should take some rest to recover from the energy you expended to descend into this realm so you can face this opponent in your best condition."

  "I don't need to rest to recover from such a trivial amount of energy expenditure. Seeing as there's nothing for me to do here, I'll go take a stroll and see if I can entertain myself. This is the Spirit Realm; surely you Sacred Ancestors won't continue to restrict me here." A cold look suddenly appeared on the burly man's face as he spoke.

  Xue Guang's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he then immediately smiled, and replied, "Of course, you are free to do whatever you want here, Brother Xiong."

  The burly man immediately rose to his feet and departed without even bidding farewell to Xue Guang, leaving Xue Guang to look on
with a resigned expression.

  Chapter 1995: Invitation

  This so-called number one devilish lord clearly wasn't displaying much respect toward Xue Guang. Of course, this could mostly be attributed to the fact that Xue Guang was only present in this realm in the form of a clone, rather than his true body. Otherwise, no matter how powerful the burly man was, he wouldn't dare to act in such an uncouth manner.

  A contemplative look appeared on Xue Guang's face for a moment before he suddenly yelled, "Summon the ten generals to come and see me."

  "Yes, Master Xue Guang," someone outside immediately answered in a respectful manner before rushing away to do his bidding.

  Only then did Xue Guang return to his seat and begin to carefully ponder some things.

  Meanwhile, after absorbing sufficient spiritual Qi, the giant projection in Deep Heaven City finally reverted back into an azure ball of light that descended toward the stone pagoda in a flash.

  The ball of light then vanished amid a flash of spiritual light, and Han Li, who was situated on the deepest level of the pagoda, slowly opened his eyes as an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

  "So this is the late-Body Integration Stage; it really is completely different from the mid-Body Integration Stage. I'm now one step away from the Grand Ascension Stage; the path to immortality is finally becoming a reality," Han Li murmured to himself as he experienced the dramatically enhanced magic power and spiritual sense within his body.

  Following this successful breakthrough, both his magic power and spiritual sense had almost doubled, and they would both only continue to increase as he continued cultivating. The only thing that he was rather disappointed about was that his physical body hadn't been enhanced by much.

  It seemed that the rumors that one could only reform their physical body after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage were true. As for the benefits that one derived from that reformation, that would depend on their latent aptitude and the cultivation arts they were using.