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

by Translator: Johnchen

  Pillars of five-colored light erupted into the heavens from all parts of the formation, and bursts of spatial fluctuations surged throughout its entirety.

  A layer of five-colored light instantly appeared over Han Li's body, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.

  Immediately thereafter, the pillars of light faded, and the entire formation fell silent again.

  Bao Hua and Yuan Yao's expressions remained completely unchanged as they witnessed this process; it was clearly not their first time seeing this.

  Yuan Yan looked down at the formation for a while longer before suddenly asking, "Bao Hua, do you really intend to let him go? Not only does he possess a Profound Heavenly Treasure, he can already put up a fight against us even though he's only at the Body Integration Stage. If he were to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, he would definitely become a formidable enemy of our holy realm."

  "That's something that you patriarchs should be thinking about. In any case, I'm not going to do anything to him. Once I obtain my spirit medicine, I'm going to leave the holy realm right away. Also, it's naturally impossible for that human brat to defeat us even with the Holy Nirvana Physique and that Profound Heavenly Treasure, but if he were determined to escape, it wouldn't be an easy task to stop him even outside of the Bitter Spirit Island. On top of that, judging from the calmness he's displayed, there's a good chance that he has some other life-saving trump cards up his sleeve, so I'd advise you not to take the risk," Bao Hua replied in an indifferent manner.

  "Hmph, you weren't like this in the past. Back when you were one of the three patriarchs, you were the one who had dedicated the most time and energy toward ensuring the prosperity of our race, yet now, you're not even asking about the tribulation that our holy realm is going to face," the black-robed young man said with an accusatory tone in his voice.

  Bao Hua's expression darkened slightly as she replied in a cold voice, "I did indeed dedicate a lot of energy and attention toward preparing for the tribulation in the past. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for Liu Ji to successfully usurp me. However, in my current state, I'm naturally not going to worry about this matter anymore. Having said that, it seems that you've adopted the plan that I had already abandoned; you're planning to forcibly conquer some territory in the Spirit Realm, then gradually move all of our brethren there, isn't that right?"

  Yuan Yan was silent for a moment before heaving a faint sigh. "Indeed. We've prepared several plans to address the tribulation, and we had originally planned to use the most reliable one, but after Liu Ji took your place, the situation took a drastic turn, forcing us to abandon that plan and adopt the more drastic course of action of conquering some territory in the Spirit Realm."

  "From the looks of it, your plan isn't progressing all that smoothly. You've managed to conquer some territory in the Spirit Realm, but you're unable to eradicate the existing races there, and a stalemate seems to have ensued," Bao Hua said with a cold smile.

  "That's not a cause for concern; this stalemate only exists as the Grand Ascension Stage beings of those races have joined forces, and they've also recruited some assistance from other races. Once we complete the preparations and are able to descend into the Spirit Realm with our true bodies, their resistance will be crushed with ease," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan replied in a proud manner.

  Chapter 2106: Entering the Pond

  "Is that so? I'd advise you not to underestimate them. The human and demon races aren't particularly prominent in the Spirit Realm, but all of their past Grand Ascension Stage beings have been remarkable characters; that's evidenced by the fact that they've been able to withstand all of the past invasions from our holy race.

  “Furthermore, that old monster of the Spirit Race is definitely no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being; I've always suspected that the past Spirit Monarchs have actually all been manifested by the same person, and there's even a chance that he's somehow related to the True Immortal Realm. Otherwise, there's no way that a Grand Ascension Stage being from such a minor race would be able to obtain a Faux Immortal Puppet," Bao Hua analyzed in a calm voice.

  "We've considered all of this before deciding on our final plan. Regardless of what trump cards those races have up their sleeves, there's no way they'll be able to resist the entirety of our race. If we weren't concerned about attracting the attention of the superpowers in the Spirit Realm, we would've already unleashed our entire race and completely destroyed the opposition.

  “Hmph, even if they have someone among their ranks who's somehow related to the True Immortal Realm, it doesn't matter; our sacred race also has backers from the upper realm. Besides, the laws of the upper realm state that unless an entire realm were at risk of being completely destroyed, they won't interfere with the lower realms, so there's nothing for us to worry about," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan replied in a nonchalant manner.

  "Seeing as you're so confident, just pretend as if I never said anything. However, prior to coming here, I paid the original sealed site a visit, and even though I only took a look at it from afar, I could tell that the rift in the seal has expanded to several times its original size back when I was one of the three patriarchs. On top of that, the beings emerging from the rift have also become far more powerful.

  “During the two battles that I witnessed, one devilish lord and over 10 Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings perished alongside thousands of normal guards, and this was even while they were being assisted by hundreds of puppets and countless devilish beasts. However, what drew my attention the most was that Fellow Daoist Nie Pan was absent from those two battles. Instead, the army was being led by a clone of Liu Ji's," Bao Hua said.

  Yuan Yan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "You didn't do anything to Liu Ji's clone, did you?"

  "Of course not. I may no longer be one of the three patriarchs, but I'm still a member of our sacred race; I wouldn't do something so reckless at the original sealed site for my own personal vendetta. It seems that you weren't lying when you were talking about how dire the situation has become," Bao Hua replied in an indifferent manner.

  "Hmph, do you think I would lie to you about something like this? the black-robed young man harrumphed coldly in response.

  "I'm curious; aren't you afraid that that thing will suddenly awaken and use its body to attack the seal? Even with the seal in place, Liu Ji's clone would act as nothing more than a snack for that thing," Bao Hua asked with a cold smile.

  A wry smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face upon hearing this, and he replied, "It's a bit too late to be asking that question now. That thing's body already awakened for the second time 6,000 years ago, and the power it displayed was far more fearsome than even back when it had awakened for the first time."

  "It awakened again 6,000 years ago? That's far earlier than we predicted," Bao Hua exclaimed as a hint of fear appeared in her eyes.

  "At the time, Liu Ji and I immediately rushed to the scene upon receiving news of its awakening, but by the time we got there, Fellow Daoist Nie Pan had already unleashed his Third Nirvana Transformation to force that thing into retreating. However, Nie Pan was also severely wounded during that battle, and he was forced to withdraw all of his clones and enter a semi-hibernative state. I sent one of my clones into the sealed realm following that battle, and discovered that that thing had also exhausted all of its power and gone into hibernation as well.

  "Nie Pan had replicated what you had done all those years ago to give our holy realm some respite, which is why Liu Ji's clone has been enough to guard the seal during this time. After all, all of the other beings attacking the seal are merely that thing's descendants, and even the most powerful ones among them are only comparable to average devilish lords. However, the seal has loosened even further as a result of that ordeal, so it'll most likely be able to awaken even earlier next time," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan signed with a resigned expression.

  "Nie Pan's Third Nirvana Transformation allows him to attain powers comparable
to those of a true spirit for a short time, yet he was still severely wounded by that thing?" Bao Hua was quite stunned to hear this.

  "There's nothing surprising about that; do you think that's the extent of that thing's true power? As the seal continues to loosen, that thing will gradually recover its powers, and the next time it awakens, it'll most likely be as powerful as a true immortal from the upper realm. When that time comes, there's no way we'll be able to stop it from breaking the seal. Once it leads all of its descendants into our holy realm, there will be no place for our sacred race. Not only do those things possess incredible reproductive abilities, they can directly devour all spiritual Qi and devilish Qi to further fuel their reproduction. Countless realms have already been destroyed by them. Otherwise, the True Immortal Realm wouldn't have sent an envoy down during ancient times to seal them away.

  "Unfortunately, after such a long time has passed, the seal is beginning to come undone; we need to create a new territory for our sacred race in the Spirit Realm before the seal is completely torn open. In order to avoid turmoil and unrest, no one else is aware of this aside from us and the Sacred Ancestors. However, I don't think we'll be able to keep this a secret for much longer," the black-robed young man said in a grim manner.

  "I'm already quite surprised that you've managed to keep this a secret for so long. I'm sure there are some dissenting voices in our holy realm, right?" Bao Hua said.

  "Hmph, of course there are; the most outspoken ones are those bastards from the Beast Lord Palace," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan harrumphed coldly in response.

  "Oh? That's rather strange. Nie Pan may be hibernating right now, but you and Liu Ji aren't exactly pushovers, either; why haven't you stamped them out already?" Bao Hua asked with a perplexed expression.

  "Liu Ji and I would naturally be able to stamp out the resistance if we're only talking about some normal Sacred Ancestors, but Tian Qi and He Yan are among the Sacred Ancestors supporting the Beast Lord Palace. They once competed with you for the position of patriarch, so I'm sure you're well aware of how troublesome they are to deal with," the black-robed young man replied in a grim manner.

  Bao Hua's expression also darkened upon hearing those two names, and Yuan Yan didn't say anything further.

  ......

  Meanwhile, Han Li was situated in a space with a radius of around 50 kilometers, hovering in the air above a pond that had a diameter of around 1,000 feet.

  There were massive trees that were several thousand feet tall growing throughout this entire space.

  All of these trees were extremely lush and emitted threads of light of all colors. There were also countless unidentifiable shrubs, flowers, and other plants growing on the ground below, and they were also releasing faint five-colored light.

  On top of that, there were countless thumb-sized balls of five-colored light drifting through the air, making Han Li feel as if he were in an immortal paradise.

  The pond below Han Li was completely tranquil, and the water within it was of a faint silver color. On top of that, it seemed to be extremely dense and viscous with a consistency much like that of mercury.

  Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he looked down at the pond, but internally, he was extremely stunned as he could sense that the water in the pond consisted purely of compressed and liquefied spiritual power.

  Additionally, there were several mysterious types of energy contained in the water that he was unable to identify, and they were most likely what granted the Spirit Cleansing Pond the ability to completely transform those who bathed in it.

  Thus, the Spirit Cleansing Pond had been found with ease, but where were the Clean Spirit Lotuses?

  Han Li quickly swept his gaze over the entire surface of the pond, but there was nothing floating on the surface of the water.

  "Could they be at the bottom of the pond?" Han Li murmured to himself as he peered deep into the water.

  He had already swept his spiritual sense through the entire pond, but it had been cut off by some type of unknown energy after reaching a depth of around 10 feet.

  After a brief pause, blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, but even with his spirit eyes, he was only able to see just over 100 feet into the pond before his vision was completely obstructed by a vast expanse of white light.

  His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light, which landed in front of him.

  This was an extremely life-like azure wolf puppet that was around 10 feet tall, but it clearly wasn't of a very high caliber.

  Han Li pointed a finger toward his own glabella, and a ball of white Qi emerged before forming a faint white face with a set of blurry facial features that mirrored those of Han Li.

  The face vanished into the giant wolf puppet's body in a flash, following which Han Li immediately swept a sleeve down toward the pond below.

  The giant wolf immediately sprang forth at his behest, descending toward the pond as a streak of azure light.

  Following a series of barely visible ripples, the water in the pond returned to its original tranquil state.

  After that, Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and began to wait patiently in mid-air.

  Chapter 2107: Clean Spirit Lotus

  After injecting that wisp of spiritual sense into the puppet, he was able to clearly see everything within the pond through his spiritual connection with it, and the water in the pond turned out to be even more viscous than he had predicted.

  After diving to a depth of around 30 feet, a burst of repelling force suddenly erupted from the bottom of the lake, and an enormous compressional force also converged from all sides, making it extremely difficult for the puppet to descend any further.

  After diving down by roughly 10 more feet, the repelling and compressional force became several times more powerful, and the puppet was stopped cold in its tracks.

  At the same time, a string of loud cracks and pops rang out from the puppet's body, indicating that it was about to be crushed to a pulp at any moment.

  Han Li swept the fragment of his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, but detected nothing aside from the water in the pond.

  His brows furrowed slightly as he stood in the air above the pond, and the giant wolf puppet gradually began to swim through the pond at the same depth at his behest.

  It was moving extremely slowly, but the pond was over just 1,000 feet in size, so the puppet managed to scour through it after only around 15 minutes, but it still didn't discover anything.

  Han Li paused momentarily before waving a hand toward the pond, and the giant wolf puppet emerged. At the same time, a ball of white light flew out of it before vanishing into his body in a flash.

  Han Li gave the puppet a brief inspection, then stowed it away after determining that there was nothing amiss about it.

  Of course, he wasn't about to give up just like that. As soon as the giant wolf puppet was stowed away, he raised a hand to release a black spirit beast bracelet.

  Golden light flashed from the bracelet, and over 100 huge beetles flew out of it; these were none other than his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

  Han Li then immediately made a hand seal, and a burst of white light emerged from his glabella before splitting up into over 100 translucent white threads, each of which plunged into a golden beetle with unerring accuracy.

  All of the beetles surged forth at once, plunging into the pond as balls of golden light before quickly diving into its depths.

  The Gold Devouring Beetles possessed virtually indestructible bodies and incredible strength, so they would definitely be able to descend further than the giant wolf puppet had.

  Mere moments later, the Gold Devouring Beetles had descended to a depth of around 80 feet, and only then were they beginning to slow down slightly.

  However, the bottom of the pond was still nowhere in sight.

  Han Li's expression changed slightly upon detecting this, and he began to consider using his
Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

  However, right as the Gold Devouring Beetles descended arduously to a depth of around 100 feet, an elated look finally appeared on his face.

  A patch of white sand had finally become visible at this depth, and Han Li immediately instructed his Gold Devouring Beetles to split up and search through the area.

  Soon, they discovered seven lotus flowers in two secluded corners of the pond.

  Each flower was around a foot tall, and their stems were as translucent as crystals. There were also countless translucent threads that could be seen throughout the stem and the entirety of the flowers.

  Among the seven flowers, three of them were only fist-sized flower buds, while another three had less than half of their petals unfurled, and there was only one flower that was actually in full bloom.

  The lotus flowers that were yet to fully blossom were all of a mundane yellow color, while the single flower that was in full bloom was of a fleshy red color with patterns that resembled blood vessels and meridians running along its surface, creating a very intriguing sight to behold.

  Not only was Han Li not disappointed by this, he was ecstatic.

  There was very little information about the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus circulating in the Spirit Realm, but seeing as he had taken such a huge risk to venture into the Elder Devil Realm, he had naturally done everything in his power to gather as much information as possible.

  According to the information he had accrued, the Clean Spirit Lotus was something that could only be born in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, and before it fully blossomed, it wouldn't be much more useful than an ordinary spirit medicine.

  However, when it did develop into full bloom, it would be able to maintain that state for 1,000 years. If no one picked it during that time, then it would slowly transform into pure spiritual Qi that fused into the Spirit Cleansing Pond. After that, it would take several thousand years for one to blossom again.

  As such, prior to entering the Spirit Cleansing Pond, no one could guarantee that they would definitely be able to encounter a Clean Spirit Lotus that was in full bloom. Furthermore, due to the large number of people in their group, even if they were to encounter one or two fully blossomed lotus flowers, each person would only receive two or three flower petals at most.