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

by Translator: Johnchen

  A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He had already scoured through this space with his spiritual sense earlier and discovered that there were no precious spirit medicines here.

  There were either no precious spirit medicines in this space to begin with, or they had already been taken by the powerful beings who had been here before him.

  Even so, the incredible abundance of spiritual Qi in this space made even the most ordinary trees and plants far older and more precious than some of the rare spirit medicines in the Spirit Realm. He possessed that mysterious small vial, so these plants didn't interest him, but it would be a waste to leave these sources of enormous spiritual Qi behind, so it was an easy decision for him to instruct his Gold Devouring Beetles to devour them in order to enhance their powers.

  With his current spiritual sense, he would be able to control all of the Gold Devouring Beetles in his possession for a substantial period of time.

  Furthermore, this entire space was only less than 100 kilometers in size, and with the devouring prowess of the Gold Devouring Beetles, it wouldn't take them long to devour everything here.

  During this period of time, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a small purplish-golden vial, which had a restriction talisman adhered to it.

  He gently exhaled toward the small vial, and the talisman was instantly removed.

  After that, Han Li removed the lid of the vial before tipping it upside down, and a clear cry immediately rang out from within it.

  Golden light flashed, and a fist-sized golden fiery bird emerged before flying away into the sky.

  Han Li was already prepared for this, and he made a grabbing motion with one hand, releasing a burst of invisible force to trap the fiery bird.

  The bird flapped its wings with all its might, but it was forcibly snuffed out by the burst of enormous force, reducing it to a thumb-sized golden pill that hovered in mid-air.

  The surface of the golden pill was riddled with intricate pill patterns, and it was none other than the Spiritvoid Pill.

  Han Li drew the pill back into his grasp as a streak of golden light, then began to appraise it with a contemplative expression.

  The jade slip that he had received from Bao Hua didn't mention when it would be best to consume the pill after undergoing his transformation, but generally speaking, it would naturally be best to consume pills of this nature as soon as possible to achieve the best effect.

  He may not be able to refine all of the power imbued within a pill of this caliber in a short time, but the benefits of consuming it now far outweighed the disadvantages.

  With that in mind, Han Li immediately tossed the pill into his own mouth before swallowing it without any hesitation.

  The power of the pill instantly flowed through his meridians as surges of warmth.

  Even though its effect wasn't as direct and aggressive as that of the flower petals, it struck Han Li with a very warm and comfortable sensation.

  This was very encouraging to him, and it further cemented his confidence in the fact that the Spiritvoid Pill was indeed extremely beneficial to him in his current situation. Thus, he immediately sat down with his legs crossed beside the pond to refine the power of the pill.

  Shortly thereafter, the swarms of Gold Devouring Beetles returned before combining to form a massive golden cloud above the pond.

  Han Li opened his eyes and looked around to find that the entire space had been reduced to what appeared to be a bleak and barren desert.

  However, with the enormous abundance of spiritual Qi here, the greenery would all return in several hundred years. Having said that, it would most likely take tens of thousands of years before the plants here could replenish their spiritual power to its former level.

  After devouring so much spiritual power, the golden shells of the Gold Devouring Beetles seemed to have become brighter than before.

  Furthermore, even more benefits would undoubtedly arise as they continued to refine all of the spiritual power they had devoured.

  Instead of withdrawing the swarm of beetles right away, he estimated how much longer his spiritual sense would be able to last, as well as how much more time he would be able to spend in this space. After ascertaining these two parameters, he instructed the swarm of beetles to plunge down into the pond.

  After that, Han Li didn't continue to refine the Spiritvoid Pill. Instead, he cast his gaze toward the pond with a contemplative expression.

  Moments later, he suddenly raised a hand to summon a yellow gourd amid a flash of yellow light.

  Han Li gently waved the gourd toward the silver pond, and the former instantly swelled drastically to over 10 feet tall.

  He then tossed the gourd through the air while making a hand seal, then pointed a finger toward it.

  A burst of black and white Qi immediately erupted out of the gourd before sweeping toward the pond.

  Immediately thereafter, a pillar of silver water was swept up before being drawn into the giant gourd with unerring accuracy.

  He had suddenly been struck by the idea to store some of the water in the pond and take it with him. As for whether anyone had done the same thing before him, that was something that was only known to the heavens.

  Han Li stood on the spot with his hands clasped behind his back, appraising the water flowing into the gourd in an expressionless manner.

  After a while, he suddenly swept a sleeve toward the giant gourd, releasing an azure incantation seal that vanished into the gourd in a flash.

  The gourd shuddered, and the black and white Qi that it was releasing abruptly vanished, following which the gourd itself quickly shrank down to its original size.

  Han Li drew the gourd back in his grasp, and his expression immediately darkened as he inspected its contents with his spiritual sense.

  He tipped the gourd over, and clear water that was completely devoid of spiritual Qi flowed out of it.

  A wry smile appeared on his face upon seeing this.

  It seemed that there was something special about the Spirit Cleansing Pond that allowed the water within it to retain its spiritual Qi.

  Even though he was slightly disappointed by this, he had anticipated this to be the outcome.

  Thus, he began to slowly pace around the pond, trying to derive something through inspection.

  There were some naturally forming patterns on the sides of the pond that resembled some type of runes or some kind of mysterious ancient text.

  Of course, at the same time, he was keeping tabs on how long he had stayed in this space, and he was planning to leave as soon as the three-day mark arrived.

  He didn't know if the three-day time limit that Bao Hua had told him about was reliable, but he certainly didn't want to test it out.

  Time slowly passed by, and the auras of all of the beings that Han Li had released into the pond were steadily growing more powerful, clearly indicating that they were benefitting immensely from this experience. Due to the time constraints, they wouldn't be able to undergo a complete transformation as Han Li had, but this was still an exceptional opportunity for them.

  Close to half a day later, Han Li withdrew his gaze from the pond, and murmured to himself in a slightly forlorn manner, "It's time to leave. What a pity; if I could stay in here for around a month, perhaps I'd be able to figure out some things."

  After that, he let loose a long cry, and the pond was stirred up into a frenzy as several figures emerged, followed by the swarm of tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles, which converged to form a golden cloud in the blink of an eye.

  Han Li waved a hand toward them, and the Leopard Kirin Beast, Qu'er, and the spirit body all flew back into his sleeve.

  However, as he cast his gaze toward the golden cloud of beetles and the pond down below, he suddenly raised an eyebrow before instructing the beetles to plunge into the pond again.

  The Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were also among them, and Han Li looked on with an expressionless look in his eyes, whi
ch was then quickly replaced by one of astonishment.

  Chapter 2110: Two Vials

  The surface of the pond was rapidly lowering at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and its depth was reduced by around 10 feet in the blink of an eye.

  On this occasion, instead of just bathing in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, the beetles were drinking the water from the pond as well.

  Seeing as the water from the pond couldn't be taken away, Han Li decided to try and get his Gold Devouring Beetles to drink it.

  Of course, he only dared to make this decision as mature Gold Devouring Beetles could devour virtually all things and were close to indestructible; he wouldn't have dared to take the same risk with the Leopard Kirin Beast or spirit body as who knew what kind of consequences could arise from directly consuming the water in the pond?

  It certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see normal living beings self-detonate from attempting something like this.

  Thus, Han Li stood beside the pond, looking as its surface was lowered further and further.

  Once the pond reached a depth of around 60 feet, something peculiar happened.

  The Gold Devouring Beetles were still gulping down water with reckless abandon, but the surface of the pond didn't drop any lower. Through the use of his spiritual sense, Han Li could sense that all of the Gold Devouring Beetles were indeed still devouring water, so this was naturally very surprising to him.

  His brows furrowed slightly as he looked up into the sky, then thought about what little time he had left before making a decision and plunging into the pond as a streak of azure light.

  Due to the massive drop in the depth of the pond, the pressure within it had abated significantly, allowing him to easily reach the bottom of the pond.

  He cast his gaze downward and almost immediately caught sight of several indistinct stone slabs, which had emerged from the layer of fine white sand at the bottom of the pond.

  These stone slabs had patterns on their surfaces that were similar to those on the sides of the pond, and they weren't very uniform, indicating that these were naturally formed patterns.

  With the way that the stone slabs were arranged, the patterns on their surfaces just so happened to form a slightly damaged formation.

  The formation was only around 10 feet in size, and there was a fist-sized hole in its center, from within which silver liquid that was identical to the water in the pond was pouring out.

  Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this as he knew that this was the source of the seemingly endless supply of water in the pond.

  There seemed to be some type of treasure within the hole that was pumping out spirit liquid incessantly, and Han Li immediately made a grabbing motion to summon an azure longsword before slashing it down toward the hole.

  A resounding boom rang out as a dense five-colored light barrier appeared over the formation, and the azure longsword was repelled.

  Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, but that was easily repelled as well.

  After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li made a hand seal, and hundreds of the Gold Devouring Beetles in the pond immediately swooped down toward the small formation.

  Moments later, the five-colored light barrier resurfaced, and the beetles instantly began to devour it in a frenzy.

  With the fearsome devouring might of the Gold Devouring Beetles, the restriction would be completely eradicated in mere moments.

  However, just as a smile had appeared on Han Li's face, it abruptly stiffened.

  He discovered that the beetles were unable to leave so much as a single trace on the five-colored light barrier; it was too resolute for them to devour!

  Han Li was stunned to see this, and after contemplating the situation for a brief moment, he raised a hand to scatter the mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then instructed the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles to take their place.

  On this occasion, the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were able to inflict deep gashes onto the light barrier, and Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

  If the light barrier had been impervious even to the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles, then he really would be at a complete loss.

  However, another issue quickly arose.

  Han Li discovered that even though gashes were quickly being inflicted onto the light barrier, they would instantly seal amid faint flashes of light.

  Not only was the five-colored light barrier extremely resolute, it also possessed incredible regenerative abilities.

  Han Li was truly stunned to see this.

  If he had some time, he would be able to set up a few formations to slowly weaken this restriction, but there was simply no time left. He either had to give up on this plan entirely or make one final roll of the dice and turn to his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword.

  There was no way that the five-colored light barrier would be able to withstand the power of his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, and if there really were a treasure within the hole that was creating the liquid in the pond, its value would be downright unimaginable.

  Having said that, after he left this space, he would have to face the two devilish patriarchs again. If he were to expend a huge amount of power to use the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, it would place him in a very perilous situation.

  After considering the situation for a long while, Han Li finally arrived at a decision. "So be it, no matter what treasure there is within the hole, it's not going to be able to compare with a Profound Heavenly Treasure. I already have an opportunity to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage now, and once I make the breakthrough, I'll be able to truly control the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, so there's no need for me to take such a risk. What a pity; if I had discovered this formation a day earlier, perhaps I would have some practical chances."

  Thus, Han Li swept his sleeves through the air, and all of the Gold Devouring Beetles quickly flew into his sleeve.

  Immediately thereafter, he rose up out of the pond as a streak of azure light before flying toward a certain direction.

  Without the Gold Devouring Beetles drinking the water from the pond, its surface began to slowly rise again.

  A series of five-colored clouds appeared up above, and arcs of lightning began to emerge amid rumbling thunderclaps.

  At this point, Han Li had already flown onto an altar situated at one corner of this space, and at the center of the altar was a silver formation.

  This was the formation Han Li had used to enter this space, so he naturally had to use it to leave as well.

  However, instead of immediately entering the formation, Han Li looked up into the sky instead.

  He could sense that the power of heaven and earth was repressing him in a ferocious manner, and if he had left any later than this, perhaps he really would've been trapped in here just as Bao Hua had warned.

  After heaving a faint sigh, Han Li strode into the silver formation before raising a hand to release an azure incantation seal, which vanished into the formation in a flash.

  A burst of buzzing rang out from the formation, and white spiritual light erupted to envelop Han Li's entire body.

  Immediately thereafter, the spatial power within the formation began to fluctuate violently, yet just as he was about to be teleported away, a ball of green light suddenly erupted out of his robes from his chest.

  His eye widened with shock as he reached out like lightning and grabbed onto the object.

  However, before he had a chance to do anything else, he had been teleported away by the formation.

  Meanwhile, the water in the Spirit Cleansing Pond had just returned to its original depth, and scintillating light was radiating from the stone slabs at the bottom of the lake to conceal the formation.

  Within this bright light, a small yellow vial that was several inches tall was slowly floating out of the hole. The surface of the vial was riddled with dark green patterns, and silver liquid was flowi
ng out of its opening.

  After the flow of pond water ceased, a pair of black pea-sized eyes appeared on its surface, and they looked around before a humanized expression of disappointment appeared within them.

  After that, the pair of eyes vanished, and the small vial sank back into the hole, while the five-colored light being released by the stone slabs also disintegrated into nothingness.

  As for the hole at the center of the stone slabs, that had also vanished, as did the five-colored clouds up above after Han Li teleported out of this space. Thus, everything had returned to normal.

  ......

  Han Li appeared in the air above a certain corner of the Bitter Spirit Island, and after inspecting his surroundings to ensure that there was no one around him, he raised his hand to reveal that there was a small palm-sized black leather pouch sitting in his grasp.

  The pouch had several golden and silver talismans plastered to its surface, and Han Li removed the talismans before tipping a small green vial out of the pouch; it was none other than the mysterious small vial he had used to accelerate the growth of all of his spirit plants.

  He began to carefully inspect the vial, and he discovered that the dark green patterns on its surface were flashing with faint green light.

  However, the light was quickly fading, and after the span of just a few breaths, the green light completely vanished.

  Han Li's brows furrowed tightly as a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes, but in the next instant, he suddenly raised his head before casting his gaze toward a certain direction.

  He placed the vial back into the leather pouch with a flick of his wrist, and the talismans also adhered themselves back onto the pouch again.

  He then made a grabbing motion, and the leather pouch instantly vanished.

  Chapter 2111: Escape

  After that, Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and waited in silence.

  After the span of just a few breaths, specks of light flashed in the distant sky.

  Spatial fluctuations erupted several hundred feet away, and a ball of pink light and a cloud of black Qi had appeared in unison.