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

by Translator: Johnchen

  "We've been exposed! Prepare for battle, fellow daoists!" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns immediately yelled as her expression darkened.

  She then waved a hand through the air, and the layer of cloud and mist around them suddenly formed a dense light barrier that kept all of the oncoming black spikes at bay.

  Everyone else immediately released their treasures and abilities upon seeing this, and the surroundings restrictions were instantly torn apart in the face of their combined powers, following which all of them flew toward the node above the devilish stronghold like lightning.

  Such a massive commotion naturally alerted all of the devilish beings in the surrounding area, and countless balls of light exploded near the stronghold as spiritual light spread over the entire sky.

  At the same time, groups of armored devilish beings riding atop all types of devilish steeds rose up into the air in a menacing manner.

  Chapter 2021: Brilliant Treasured Sacred Flower

  After just a few flashes, Han Li and the others finally reached the giant black light barrier up ahead, where they were stopped in their tracks. The long-haired man from the Lin Family immediately made a grabbing motion, conjuring up a huge azure claw that attacked the light barrier with devastating force.

  A resounding boom rang out as the light barrier flashed erratically a few times, but it remained completely unscathed.

  The long-haired man's expression changed slightly, and he gave a cold harrumph before preparing to unleash another attack, but right at this moment, the elderly scholar of the Spirit Race stepped in, sweeping a sleeve through the air to release seven or eight talismans of different colors that vanished into the light barrier in a flash.

  In the next instant, a rumbling boom rang out from the light barrier, and it tremored violently before shattering to open up a massive hole.

  The long-haired man's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he turned to the elderly scholar with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

  It seemed that Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns hadn't been exaggerating, this elderly scholar really was a master in the art of restrictions and formations.

  The other human cultivators were also rather taken aback, but there wasn't any time for them to ponder such a matter in this situation. Thus, all of them shot forth through the hole as streaks of light, and only then did the hole on the black light barrier seal shut again.

  However, during this brief delay, the devilish guards patrolling the nearby area had already surrounded them.

  Han Li and the others immediately combined as one to form a streak of rainbow light that was over 1,000 feet in length, then flew toward a certain direction. The devilish guards in that direction were very alarmed to see this, but the streak of light was far too fast for them to evade, and they were instantly incinerated into ashes.

  The other devilish beings converging toward the scene all stopped involuntarily upon seeing this, and the streak of rainbow light tore through seven layers of restrictions with unstoppable force.

  However, just as it was about to plunge into the dark cloud above the devilish stronghold, a roar of fury suddenly rang out alongside a rumbling thunderclap.

  Thick bolts of lightning sprang out of the cloud like silver pythons, intertwining to form a massive lightning net that crashed down toward everyone.

  If a normal Body Integration cultivator were facing such a fearsome restriction, they'd most likely be forced to take evasive measures. However, there were as many as four late-Body Integration Stage beings in Han Li's group, and everyone else was also at the Body Integration Stage, so they certainly weren't going to fear this lightning net.

  The Long Family patriarch harrumphed coldly, "What a pathetic little trick!"

  He raised a hand as he spoke to release a small silver vial, which swelled to around a foot in size as soon as it hurled through the air.

  A burst of white Qi surged out of the opening of the vial, and it transformed into countless threads of light that swept upward in unison.

  A peculiar turn of events immediately unfolded!

  As soon as the lightning net came into contact with the threads of light, it was drawn toward the small vial, and in the blink of an eye, the entire lightning net had been drawn into the small vial.

  "That's the Lightningcleanse Vial! You're from the Long Family!" the devilish being within the dark cloud exclaimed in a horrified voice.

  "Oh? You recognize this treasure from our Long Family? You must be a devilish lord then. Fellow daoists, let's continue onward," the Long Family patriarch said in a nonchalant voice as he stowed the small vial back up his sleeve.

  Han Li and the others naturally had no objections to this, and they plunged into the dark cloud as a collective streak of rainbow light.

  There were still some other restrictions within the dark cloud, but all of them were destroyed with ease, and after just a few flashes, the streak of rainbow light reached the shimmering grey node.

  However, situated in front of the node were hundreds of elite devilish beings with a huge devilish figure behind them. The devilish figure had black Qi all around its body, thereby concealing its appearance, but its large shimmering eyes were still visible, and there was clearly an incredulous look within them.

  "Hmph, so it really is a devilish lord," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns harrumphed coldly with furrowed brows at the sight of the devilish figure.

  "One devilish lord isn't going to be able to stop us. If it dares to attack us, then it'll simply be asking to be killed. There's no need to pay any heed to it; our priority is to get to the node as quickly as possible," the Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light chuckled coldly.

  Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns nodded in response before flying ahead, followed by the other Holy Spirits.

  "Now's not the time to be getting caught up in battles; as long as that devilish lord doesn't attack us, we won't attack it, either," the Long Family patriarch said in a cold voice before also flying toward the node as a streak of golden light, and Han Li and the others naturally followed along.

  The devilish lord's face immediately paled at the sight of the oncoming Body Integration Stage powerful beings, and after grappling with an internal conflict for a long while, he gritted his teeth in the end and commanded his subordinates to step aside.

  The Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light was the first to enter the node, and he vanished amid a rumbling boom.

  Han Li and the others also flew in behind him without any hesitation.

  A burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted out of the node before it reverted back to its original peaceful state.

  The devilish lord appraised the node with a dark expression for a long while, and one of his subordinates approached him with an uneasy look on his face. "Those foreign powerful beings definitely aren't harboring good intentions; should we give chase?"

  "Hmph, give chase? What if they're waiting for us on the other side? We'll be charging to our deaths!" the devilish lord snapped.

  The mid-grade devilish being who had raised the question immediately shuddered and backed away after without daring to say anything further.

  Right at this moment, a long cry rang out from within the dark cloud, following which a gust of green devilish wind swept forth, then stopped not far away from the devilish lord before revealing a thin and tall green humanoid figure.

  This was a middle-aged man with a pair of wings on his back.

  "Where are all the foreign cultivators, Brother Ke?" the winged man asked in an urgent manner after frantically casting his gaze through the surrounding area.

  "You came too late, Brother Feng; they've already entered the node," the massive devilish figure replied in a grim voice.

  The winged man's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "What? Why didn't you stop them? If the Sacred Ancestors hear of this, we'll be severely punished!"

  "Stop them? That was a group of 10 beings, all of whom were at the Body Integration Stage; there were even several late-Body I
ntegration Stage beings among them. If they weren't in a hurry to enter the node, I would've already been killed!" the first devilish lord replied in a cold voice.

  "What? They were all at the Body Integration Stage? Are you serious?" the winged man exclaimed in astonishment.

  "Everyone else saw them as well. Do you think I'd let them through so easily otherwise?" the devilish lord sighed in a resigned manner.

  The winged man turned toward the other devilish beings present, and they all confirmed what the devilish lord had proclaimed. After a long while, he finally recovered from his astonishment, and said, "This is a very important matter; we have to report it to the Sacred Ancestors."

  A peculiar light flashed through the devilish lord's eyes upon hearing this, yet just as he was about to reply, an indifferent female voice suddenly rang out. "Don't report this matter to anyone."

  "Who's there?"

  Both the huge devilish figure and the winged man were quite started by this voice, and they immediately approached one another with their backs facing each other. One of them summoned a pair of silver longswords while the other conjured up a long black spear, and they both adopted cautious expressions.

  They knew that someone who could hide from them at such close quarters had to possess powers superior to theirs, so they naturally became very wary.

  Right at this moment, a peculiar fragrance wafted through the air, following which a giant floral tree appeared up above without any warning amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

  The floral tree was glittering and translucent with beautiful fist-sized pink flowers growing all over its branches.

  "It's the Brilliant Treasured Sacred Flower!"

  The winged man's face immediately became twisted with horror at the sight of the floral tree, and he immediately flapped his wings to flee into the distance.

  However, right at this moment, the pink flowers on the tree suddenly burst into flames, and its petals drifted down from above as balls of pink fire.

  Chapter 2022: Tian Qi and He Yan

  The pink fireballs seemed to be descending quite slowly, but they somehow reached all of the devilish beings down below with unerring accuracy in a flash, including the winged man.

  In the instant that these flames came into contact with the devilish beings, they were incinerated into smoke in the blink of an eye, leaving only the first devilish lord behind.

  The devilish lord's eyes were filled with incredulity at the sight of the floral tree up above, and he immediately fell to his knees without any hesitation.

  The devilish lord's voice trembled with emotion as he said, "I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again, Mistress Bao Hua; I can die without any regrets now."

  "Long time no see, Ke Yun." A faint sigh rang out, following which two humanoid figures, one white and one black, emerged in unison above the floral tree.

  They were none other than Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua and Hei'e. Bao Hua looked down at the devilish lord, and a reminiscent look appeared in her eyes.

  "It really is you, Mistress Bao Hua! There are many rumors going around, claiming that you'd already passed away, but I refused to believe them! With your powers, there's no way you wouldn't have been able to at least ensure self-preservation!" the devilish lord said in an excited manner.

  "I did indeed manage to survive that ordeal, but my cultivation base was severely debilitated, and I could only flee into the Spirit Realm with some of my subordinates. I'm quite pleased to see that you're doing well for yourself, but as a safety precaution, I have to examine your spiritual sense," Bao Hua said as her eyes narrowed slightly.

  The devilish lord shuddered slightly, but then immediately agreed, "Of course, Mistress! Those two possess powers that aren't inferior to yours back at your peak; if they were to plant some type of restriction within me, I wouldn't be able to detect it."

  "Alright, pardon my intrusion then." Bao Hua's expression eased slightly as she slowly drifted down from above, followed closely by Hei'e.

  The floral tree vanished into her body as a streak of pink light, while the devilish lord rose to his feet and stood on the spot in a respectful manner.

  The devilish Qi around his body faded, and he was revealed to be a middle-aged man with a pair of inky-black curled horns on his head.

  Bao Hua arrived in front of him before pointing a finger toward his glabella without any hesitation. A thin translucent thread shot forth out of her fingertip and vanished into his glabella in a flash as she slowly closed her eyes.

  A hint of pain appeared on the devilish lord's face before his eyes quickly glazed over.

  Time slowly passed by, and all of a sudden, the translucent thread began to shimmer with golden light before vanishing into the devilish lord's head.

  The devilish lord gave a muffled groan as blood began to trickle out of his nostrils and ears, following which a pea-sized grey speck of light emerged from each of those four orifices before flying away into the distance.

  A cold look appeared on Bao Hua's face as she flicked a finger toward these specks of light, and four more translucent threads of light shot forth in a flash, instantly piercing through those specks of light before drawing them into her sleeve.

  Immediately thereafter, she opened her mouth to expel several pink specks of light that instantly disappeared into the devilish lord's glabella.

  Only then did the translucent thread disintegrate into nothingness.

  The devilish lord's expression stirred slightly, and the vacant look in his eyes faded as he turned to Bao Hua. "Mistress Bao Hua, I..."

  "As expected, they planted a restriction within you, but it's been nullified now, and I planted a fake restriction inside your body to replace the original one. Unless those two examine your body in person, no one will be able to detect anything amiss," Bao Hua said in a calm manner.

  "Thank you, Mistress. May I ask why you've appeared here? There's no one here who can pose a threat to you, but it would still be very detrimental to you if news of your presence here were to be leaked," the devilish lord said in a concerned manner.

  "I have my own reasons. Let me ask you this first: was there a group of people that just entered the node behind you?" Bao Hua asked with a complex expression as she cast her gaze toward the node.

  "There was indeed a group of foreign beings who just entered the node. Half of them were human, while the other half were Spirit beings, and they were all at the Body Integration Stage, so I didn't dare to stop them," the devilish lord replied in a truthful manner.

  "I see. I have a mission for you: keep this incident a secret from the Sacred Ancestors for now. You won't be able to hide this forever, but keep it a secret for as long as possible, can you do that?" Bao Hua instructed in a cold voice.

  The devilish lord didn't know why Bao Hua was asking this of him, but he replied in a confident manner, "That's going to be rather troublesome, but the one that was sent here to keep an eye on me was just killed by you, so I should be able to keep this a secret for around a year."

  "Good. Let's go in as well, Hei'e." Bao Hua gave a content nod before drifting toward the node without even turning her head.

  Both the devilish lord and Hei'e's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, but neither of them dared to say anything.

  Hei'e gritted his teeth as he grappled briefly with an internal conflict before following along behind Bao Hua, and the two of them quickly disappeared into the node.

  The devilish lord stared blankly at the node for a long while before a wry smile appeared on his face. Following a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly raised his head and let loose a long cry that pierced straight into the heavens.

  A short while later, groups of devilish beings riding atop all types of devilish steeds emerged from within the dark cloud.

  Black Qi appeared over the devilish lord's body, and immediately charged toward these devilish beings.

  ......

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the node, spatial fluctuations erupted
, and Bao Hua and Hei'e emerged in the Elder Devil Realm, only to be immediately surrounded by a group of alarmed and furious devilish beings.

  These were all low-grade and mid-grade devilish beings, most of whom were already carrying injuries. Bao Hua took a glance at them before leaving them to Hei'e and vanishing directly into the nearby space.

  Hei'e inspected the surrounding devilish beings, and after discovering that there weren't any Body Integration Stage beings among them, a vicious smile appeared on his face as turbulent devilish Qi erupted out of his body.

  Around 10 minutes later, Hei'e had caught up to Bao Hua again on an unknown mountain tens of thousands of kilometers away, and he was standing off to the side in a respectful manner.

  "Are you feeling uneasy now that I've brought you back into our holy realm?" Bao Hua asked in a completely emotionless voice.

  Hei'e shuddered slightly before replying in a fearful manner, "Not at all! You must have your reasons for doing this, Mistress."

  "It's only natural to feel uneasy. This is quite a risky undertaking even for me, and there's a chance that I could perish here. After all, Tian Qi and He Yan will be sure to hunt me down if they discover that I've returned to the holy realm. With my current level of powers, I can just barely ensure self-preservation against one of them, but if the two of them were to join forces, then I would be killed for sure," Bao Hua said as she turned toward Hei'e.

  Hei'e hesitated momentarily before speaking in a careful manner, "Seeing as you're aware of the risk involved, I can only assume that you've made this decision based on the results of your divination."

  "Indeed. I couldn't complete the divination, so the signs I derived were incomplete, but do you know what those signs told me?" Bao Hua asked as a peculiar look appeared in her eyes.

  Hei'e faltered slightly before a wry smile appeared on his face. "I'm a complete novice when it comes to divination; please enlighten me, Mistress."