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

by Translator: Johnchen

  "Alright, be careful then, Fellow Daoist Tie," the elderly devilish man said as he flipped his hand over to stow the bowl away.

  What took its place was a translucent black crystal, and he immediately hurled it forward before chanting an incantation.

  The crystal rotated on the spot and released countless black threads of light, all of which intertwined to form a black formation that was around 10 feet in size.

  A resounding boom rang out, and the black formation began to slowly rotate, looking as if it had been activated.

  "It's ready, let's go!" the elderly devilish man hurriedly yelled before flying toward the formation without any hesitation.

  The burly devilish man swung his giant club vigorously through the air a few times to force back the oncoming silver devilish beasts, then also rushed toward the formation as a burst of black Qi.

  The two of them were clearly planning to escape using the power of this formation.

  However, just as it was looking as if their plan was going to succeed, the situation suddenly took a drastic turn.

  In the air above the formation, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a silver beast suddenly appeared before opening its mouth to expel a pillar of silver light, which struck the direct center of the formation.

  An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the black formation flickered erratically before exploding violently.

  The two devilish beings who were already close to reaching the formation were immediately plunged into despair upon seeing this, and immediately thereafter, all of the silver beasts converged to surround them again.

  Almost at the exact same moment, the giant circle formed by the faint azure smoke faded amid a dull thump, and all of the devilish beasts that had previously been kept at bay immediately let loose bloodthirsty howls as they also flooded toward the pair of devilish beings.

  Two cries of alarm and fury rang out, followed by a string of violent explosions. It was quite clear that in this dire situation, the two devilish beings were making a final stand.

  Han Li was appraising the unfolding situation from a distance, and all of a sudden, he made a hand seal, upon which layers of black scales appeared over his skin. At the same time, a burst of powerful devilish Qi erupted out of his body alongside immense spiritual pressure that came crashing down upon all of the devilish beasts.

  All of the green devilish beasts standing in his way immediately backtracked reflexively as they let loose menacing snarls, but the ferocity in their eyes only became more pronounced.

  "Who goes there? We are both guards of Blood Crow City; if you were to save us, we'd be sure to offer you a handsome reward, Senior."

  "I am the only son of the grand elder of the Infernal Crow Race; our race will also be greatly indebted to you, Senior."

  Han Li had activated his Devilfeign Bead before unleashing his power, and the two devilish beings instantly called out to him in hope and desperation upon discovering his presence.

  A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he abruptly advanced toward the green beasts that stood in his way.

  His body blurred, and he suddenly appeared in the air above the green devilish beasts.

  On this occasion, the green beasts displayed no intention of backing down, and they let loose long howls as they released countless strands of fur from their backs, all of which hurtled directly up toward Han Li as streaks of green light.

  "Interesting!" Han Li chuckled as he clenched his fists, then unleashed countless black fist projections that rained downward in a frenzy.

  There was an astonishing number of those streaks of green light, but they were obviously no match for the attacks manifested by the power of the Provenance True Devil Arts. As soon as they were struck by the fearsome might of the fist projections, they instantly exploded, following which the first projections went on to reduce hundreds of green beasts into mincemeat in an instant.

  Meanwhile, Han Li vanished on the spot again, then flew over to directly above the pair of devilish beings before casting a cold gaze downward with his arms crossed.

  The two devilish beings were currently frantically unleashing their powers and treasures to keep the hordes of devilish beasts at bay. The normal devilish beasts weren't able to pose much of a threat to them, but the green and silver devilish beasts were too much for them to contend with, and it looked as if they could be completely inundated at any moment.

  "I can save you, but you have to do something for me," Han Li said in an unhurried manner.

  "Alright, we'll do anything you ask, Senior!" the burly devilish man immediately yelled without any hesitation.

  During this brief moment, a silver beast had already torn through his defenses and inflicted several claw gashes onto his shoulder, through which even his bones were visible.

  The elderly devilish man naturally immediately agreed as well.

  A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and a pair of translucent azure and white wings appeared on his back amid a rumbling thunderclap, following which countless azure and white balls of lightning emerged out of thin air.

  He then made a hand seal, and he immediately disappeared once again along with all of the balls of lightning.

  An earth-shattering boom erupted, and countless arcs of azure and white lightning shot forth out of thin air, instantly intertwining to form a gigantic lightning net that descended from above with devastating force.

  Bolts of lightning rained down from the lightning net before instantly exploding violently, forming a sea of lightning in the air down below.

  What was incredible was that the two devilish beings remained completely unscathed and weren't struck by so much as a single bolt of lightning, even though they were situated right in the midst of the sea of lightning. A dense lightning barrier had appeared around them as a shield, while most of the surrounding devilish beasts were reduced to dust by the powerful lightning strikes.

  Finally, after the lightning faded, only around 10% to 20% of the high-grade devilish beasts remained, and even they had been completely charred black.

  Following that devastating rain of lightning, the remaining devilish beasts no longer had the courage to oppose Han Li, and they all fled amid horrified howls.

  The burly devilish man was ecstatic to see this, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he hurriedly yelled, "Senior, kill those Silver-necked Beasts before they get away! If you can do that, this beast tide will immediately fall apart, and no new beast monarch will be born for over 100 years in this pack!"

  "Silver-necked Beasts?" Han LI's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his spiritual sense toward the dozen or so wounded silver beasts that had already fled into the distance.

  Those were clearly the Silver-necked Beasts that the burly devilish man was referring to, and all of them had managed to survive that round of lightning strikes with their early-Spatial Tempering Stage powers.

  After tracking them down, Han Li immediately sprang into action again, quickly making a hand seal, upon which a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him.

  As soon as the projection appeared, it swelled to over 100 feet tall, then opened all six of its golden eyes in unison.

  Chapter 2029: Butterfly Tail Beasts

  Around a dozen pillars of golden light erupted forth one after another out of the projection's six eyes, and each pillar of light struck a fleeing silver beast with unerring accuracy.

  These silver beasts only had a chance to howl with anguish before their bodies were reduced to nothingness within the golden light.

  The two devilish beings knew that Han Li's powers were definitely far superior to theirs upon seeing this, and their expressions changed drastically.

  They had faced the silver beasts in person, so they were well aware of how powerful those beasts were. However, this senior had destroyed all of the silver beasts with ease; it was quite clear that his powers were completely unfathomable to them.

  After all of t
he silver beasts were eradicated, all of the other devilish beasts instantly scattered under the leadership of the green beasts. All of the devilish beasts quickly fled deep into the grassland like the receding tide, and the surrounding space was emptied in the blink of an eye.

  Han Li had no intention of pursuing the devilish beasts any further. Instead, he cast his spiritual sense even further into the distance, and he discovered that all of the devilish beasts there were also fleeing for their lives.

  Thus, the terrifying beast tide had been completely scattered.

  Han Li's expression eased slightly as he heaved a faint sigh of relief upon sensing this.

  The burly devilish man briefly examined the wound on his own shoulder before flying toward Han Li with the elderly man. He looked at the Provenance True Devil Projection with a hint of awe and veneration in his eyes, and said, "Thank you for saving us, Senior. If it weren't for you, the two of us would've perished to those Luminous Wolf Beasts for sure."

  "It's alright, it was only a simple task for me, and I only saved you as you agreed to do something for me in return," Han Li replied as he made a hand seal, upon which the golden projection vanished in a flash.

  "How may we be of service to you, Senior?" the elderly devilish man asked in a respectful manner.

  "Tell me who you are and how you ended up here," Han Li instructed in an implacable voice.

  "We are both guards of Blood Crow City, and we were sent here by the city lord to kill the Luminous Wolf Beast Monarch in order to scatter this beast tide. Unfortunately, a mishap occurred at the end, and we almost perished here," the burly devilish man replied.

  Even though they were unable to sense Han Li's exact cultivation base, they knew that he had to be an extremely powerful devilish lord, so they naturally didn't dare to display any disrespect toward him.

  "I'm sure that Luminous Wolf Beast Monarch's powers wouldn't have been inferior to yours; how were you two able to venture so deep into this beast tide and kill the beast monarch? Also, where is this Blood Crow City? Is it located somewhere near here?" Han Li asked with a puzzled look in his eyes.

  He had developed some understanding of the Elder Devil Realm through the information he had gathered and the jade slip given to him by the Long Family patriarch, but he naturally couldn't be aware of all of the cities in the entire realm.

  Considering this Blood Crow City hadn't been mentioned in any of the information he had obtained, it was most likely not a very large city.

  "You must've come here from another area, Senior. We were able to venture into this beast tide and kill the beast monarch as we had a few special treasures at our disposal. Otherwise, we certainly wouldn't have dared to enter this beast tide. As for Blood Crow City, it's a small nearby city, but it's decently renowned in this area, and City Lord Bing of our city is a devilish lord as well," the elderly devilish man replied.

  Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this. "Oh? So there's a devilish lord overseeing this Blood Crow City? It must be quite a prosperous city, then; is there anything special about it?"

  "Blood Crow City was built on a Bloodlight Crystal mine. The Bloodlight Crystal it produces are extremely important for those cultivating blood-related devilish arts, and our city lord just so happens to be using the renowned Blood River Cultivation Art. Otherwise, there's no way he would've been willing to take on the role of city lord in such a small and secluded city like ours. On top of that, Blood Crow City is the only city within a radius of millions of kilometers, so all fellow daoists looking to enter the grassland to hunt for devilish beasts would stay in the city for a few days. If you don't mind, you can come with us to rest in the city as well, Senior. Our city is going to be holding a small auction soon; perhaps there could be some auction items that could catch your eye," the elderly devilish man said in a careful manner.

  "An auction? I'm interested, but I have no time to waste here; I have to be on my way soon," Han Li refused with a shake of his head.

  A hint of disappointment appeared in the elderly devilish man's eyes upon hearing this.

  "Are you traveling to the plains, senior?" the burly devilish man asked in a hesitant voice.

  Han Li's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this, and a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure erupted from his body. "How did you know that?"

  The burly devilish man's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly explained, "Please don't misunderstand, Senior! Anyone traveling through this area is either here to hunt for devilish beasts on this grassland or is on their way to the plains. Aside from that, I can't think of any other place where you would want to go."

  "Oh? Does that mean I'll have to pass through your Blood Crow City if I want to travel to the plains?" Han Li asked in a cold voice.

  On this occasion, it was the elderly devilish man who hurriedly interjected, "Of course not, but if you want to travel to the plains, you'll most likely have to stay in our city for around half a month first, Senior."

  "Why is that? Is there someone blocking the way?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

  "Surely you jest, Senior; no one would dare to do that here. It's just that there's another beast tide taking place on the way to the plains, and compared with that one, this Luminous Wolf Beast Tide is virtually nothing. Even if someone of your powers were to fall into that beast tide, it would be extremely dangerous. The beast tide began around half a month ago, so it'll most likely last around another half a month. At a time like this, our city is the only place that can offer some refuge," the burly devilish man explained.

  Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this. "What type of beast tide could be that fearsome? Could it be an Irontooth Beast Tide?"

  From the information he had gathered on the Elder Devil Realm, Irontooth Beasts were one of the most fearsome types of devilish beasts on the devilish grasslands. Not only were they all quite powerful, their packs often numbered in the tens of millions, making them extremely feared by all devilish beings who lived near grasslands.

  "I wouldn't be telling you this if it were an Irontooth Beast Tide, Senior. With your powers, you'd have no issues passing through such a beast tide. The beast tide that's currently taking place is one that's comprised of Butterflytail Beasts, which are very rare even in our entire holy realm," the burly devilish man said as a hint of fear appeared on his face.

  "Butterflytail Beasts? How is that possible? Don't they inhabit mountains or forests? Why have they appeared on this grassland?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

  "We're not particularly sure why these beasts have appeared in this area. They suddenly emerged from deep in the grassland in droves, and they're now lingering in the east. As a result of this, many nearby fellow daoists have fled to our city. However, these beasts never remain in the same place for over a month, so as long as our city doesn't attack them, we should be fine. Besides, even if these Butterflytail Beasts suddenly attack our city, the city's restrictions will be able to keep them at bay," the burly devilish man replied.

  This was indeed rather troublesome. Butterflytail Beasts were only slightly more powerful than Irontooth Beasts, but the poisonous mist that they released was extremely formidable. Not only could it linger in one place for a long time, it was capable of slowly eroding all types of defensive treasures and protective spiritual light, making them very difficult to deal with.

  The thought of being caught in a poisonous cloud that extended further than the eyes could see was a very concerning one even for Han Li.

  With that in mind, Han Li's expression darkened slightly.

  "You two wait here for now; I have to discuss this with my companions."

  As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a yellow talisman, then spoke a message into it before releasing it as a streak of red light that instantly vanished into thin air.

  The two devilish men were rather surprised to hear this, but they were too fearful of Han Li to oppose him, so t
hey could only wait in silence.

  Around two hours later, several streaks of light shot forth from afar before arriving beside Han Li, revealing themselves to be a group of male and female cultivators in different attire.

  All of them had pure devilish Qi drifting around their bodies, and they were none other than the Long Family patriarch and the others, all of whom had already activated their Devilfeign Beads.

  The two devilish men immediately drew a sharp breath in unison upon sensing their cultivation bases, and they hurriedly extended respectful bows. "We pay our respects to our seniors!"

  It was no wonder that they were so astonished; even though there were countless powerful beings in the Elder Devil Realm, it was still extremely rare to see so many devilish lords gathered in one place.

  The Long Family patriarch didn't even bother to take a single glance at the two devilish beings as he asked, "Brother Han, is your information reliable? Is there really a Butterflytail Beast Tide up ahead?"

  "I was informed of this by these two fellow daoists. As for whether it's true or not, we'll just have to do some scouting for ourselves to find out," Han Li replied.

  "If there really is such a formidable beast tide, then our journey will have to be delayed. If there were only several hundred thousand Butterflytail Beasts, we'd be able to wipe out all of them, but if there's enough to form a beast tide, then it'll be very difficult for us to fight our way through it without at least sustaining severe injuries," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns sighed.

  Chapter 2030: Soul Seal

  "Indeed, but to make sure that this information is accurate, we'll have to get someone to scout the situation. I'll leave that to you, Elder Hui," the Long Family patriarch said.

  "No problem, I'll be back in half a day," Elder Hui replied with a nod before flying away as a streak of black light.

  Following Elder Hui's departure, the Long Family patriarch finally turned to the two devilish beings. "I have some things to ask the two of you; if you reply truthfully, you'll be rewarded, but if not, I'm sure you know what's going to happen to you."