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

by Translator: Johnchen

  "On top of that, I've heard that Bao Hua was last sighted near the Blue Waterfall Lake, and you're by far the most powerful being in this area. If you're willing to deploy your forces to search for her, we'll be able to find her in no time," Liu Ji explained.

  Lan Pu was silent for a long while, but was unable to resist the temptation of Liu Ji's offer in the end, and she gritted her teeth as she said, "I see. In that case, I really am obligated to help you. As long as Bao Hua really is residing nearby, I'll definitely be able to find her. However, in addition to all her other treasures, I want a copy of the cultivation art of the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain as well."

  Liu Ji was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately agreed, "That's not an issue!"

  "Alright, I'll go back and mobilize my forces to track down Bao Hua. By the way, it seems that something rather peculiar has just taken place here; could it have something to do with Bao Hua?" Lan Pu suddenly asked as she cast her gaze over the severely ravaged surrounding area.

  "I don't think so. It seems that a battle has recently concluded here, and judging from the residual auras, it seems that the battle took place between someone and a devilish beast. You arrived here before I did; did you manage to discover anything?" Liu Ji asked as she made a grabbing motion toward a certain direction.

  One of the gemstones that had previously been embedded in the Magnetic Light Beast's body emerged from the soil and flew into her grasp, upon which she gave it a brief inspection.

  "Whoever was here had already left by the time I got here; perhaps it was some powerful late Body Integration Stage being who just so happened to be passing by. We're currently in the season where Bloodtooth Rice is being harvested, so it's no surprise to see powerful devilish lords in the area," Lan Pu replied.

  "Perhaps so. Speaking of Bloodtooth Rice, you've restricted the amount that can be sold to normal devilish beings, yet you're selling large amounts to the major powers for astronomical prices in secret; I must say, I'm very impressed by your ploy, Sister Lan," Liu Ji chuckled.

  "I have no choice but to do this. The amount of Bloodtooth Rice that's produced really isn't enough to satisfy everyone's needs, and I don't want to offend too many powers, so I can only resort to this to maintain a certain level of stability," Lan Pu replied in a nonchalant manner.

  "This is definitely a wise course of action. Otherwise, you'll be making a lot of enemies for yourself if you didn't regulate the sales of Bloodtooth Rice, but doing things this way keeps all sides relatively happy. By the way, I have two disciples who just so happen to require Bloodtooth Rice to strengthen their bodies; would you be able to sell me some as well?" Liu Ji asked with a smile.

  "You can have some free of charge," Lan Pu replied in a display of generosity.

  Liu Ji was ecstatic to hear this, and she hurriedly said, "You have my thanks, Sister Lan. Alright, let's split up for now. I've also brought along some trusted subordinates with me, and they'll be able to help out in the search for Bao Hua as well."

  Lan Pu had no objections to this, so she replied, "Alright, I'll be returning to Blue Waterfall City then."

  After that, she flew away as a ball of blue light, leaving Liu Ji on her own.

  After Lan Pu had completely disappeared into the distance, Liu Ji's smile faded, and she looked down at the gemstone in her hand with a cold expression. Her brows then furrowed slightly as if she had identified something, but couldn't decide what she wanted to do.

  However, it didn't take her long to make a decision, and she crushed the gemstone into powder as she murmured to herself with a cold smile, "Seeing as Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light has appeared, I certainly can't just let it slip; looks like I'll have to hunt down the person who obtained this true light as well."

  After that, she flew back onto her flying boat, and countless runes surged out of the flying treasure before it flew away toward another direction.

  ......

  Meanwhile, Han Li was already on his way back to Blue Waterfall City, and he was appraising the first green rock that he had obtained with a faint smile on his face.

  As a safety precaution, he had flown around in a huge circle before returning to the city from another direction.

  After a short while, Han Li stowed the green rock away amid a flash of spiritual light, and it was replaced by a piece of Foreign Devilish Metal.

  The smile on his face became even more pronounced at the sight of this piece of metal.

  This was one of the pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal that the azure ape puppets had mined, and not only was there no less Foreign Devilish Metal than what he had obtained from Wu You, close to half of them contained mysterious crystalline beads, a discovery that naturally made Han Li extremely excited.

  With such a large number of those crystalline beads, they would be able to save him over 1,000 years of arduous cultivation!

  Chapter 2138: Unrest Brewing Beneath the Surface

  However, prior to that, he had to obtain the refinement method for the Baleful Yin Qi first. On top of that, he also had to purchase some Bloodtooth Rice as soon as possible.

  He had already obtained the contacts required for this from the Vast Origin House, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

  As Han Li flew toward the city, he carefully pondered what he was going to do next, and several days later, he finally returned to Blue Waterfall City, where Violet Spirit was waiting for him at the inn where he was staying.

  Han Li was rather taken aback by this, and he asked in a cautious manner, "Did something happen? Why are you here?"

  He and Violet Spirit had agreed to meet as little as possible in order to avoid attracting unnecessary problems for Violet Spirit, so the two of them had been keeping in touch through her subordinates.

  As such, Han Li was naturally surprised to see Violet Spirit waiting for him at the inn.

  "I had to come and see you in person; my mistress, Liu Ji, just arrived at Blue Waterfall City, and she recently instructed me to gather all of my subordinates to see her," Violet Spirit replied in an urgent manner.

  Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "Is it her true body that's arrived in the city?"

  "No, it's just one of her late-Body Integration Stage clones, but even so, its powers and treasures wouldn't be inferior to those of the average Sacred Ancestor," Violet Spirit replied in a concerned manner.

  "In that case, there's nothing to be overly concerned about. Having said that, why did she come here? Surely it's not for me; I don't think I've antagonized her in any way, and if she wanted to get rid of me, then she wouldn't have only sent a clone here. Do you know the exact purpose for her visit, Violet Spirit?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

  "The instructions I was issued weren't very specific; it seems that she wants me and my subordinates to help her search for someone in this nearby area. I'm also of the opinion that she isn't here for you, but it would be best for you to take extra care during this time," Violet Spirit said in a concerned manner.

  A hint of warmth flowed through Han Li's heart at the sight of Violet Spirit's concerned expression, but he remained very calm as he said, "Alright, I understand. As a devilish matriarch, I'm sure Liu Ji is a very cautious person, so don't contact me anymore during this period of time. Otherwise, it would be very bad for you if she discovers what you're doing. Also, I'm going to be leaving the Blue Waterfall Lake to return to the Spirit Realm soon."

  "I see, then the next time we meet may be several centuries or even over 1,000 years in the future. Even with the treasures that Sister Lan provided to you, you won't be able to return to the Elder Devil Realm as you please," Violet Spirit said with a slightly dejected expression.

  "You may not have to wait that long; I recently encountered some opportunities, and I should be able to make a breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage soon. As long as I can make a successful breakthrough, I'll immediately return to the Elder Devil Realm to save you from Liu Ji. During this time, you'll have to fend for you
rself. If anything happens and Liu Ji plans to refine you into one of her clones, inform the Vast Origin House so they can relay the message to me, and I'll return to the Elder Devil Realm for you right away," Han Li vowed without any hesitation.

  A gentle look appeared in Violet Spirit's eyes upon hearing this, and she said, "I am eternally grateful for your promise, Brother Han. With your exceptional aptitude, I'm sure you'll be able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage and climb to the pinnacle of the Spirit Realm; I'll be praying for your success. That's all I came here to tell you; I'll be taking my leave now."

  As soon as Violet Spirit's voice trailed off, she extended a salute toward Han Li before immediately departing.

  Han Li looked on at her departing figure and was struck by the urge to say something, but only managed a faint sigh in the end as a hint of dejection also crept into his eyes.

  Two days later, Han Li was standing atop a peak of a small mountain near Blue Waterfall City, looking on at the massive boundless Blue Waterfall Lake in silence.

  It was currently early morning, so the sky was still quite dim, and the water vapor permeating over the lake made the air very moist and humid.

  All of a sudden, Han Li raised an eyebrow, and said, "Seeing as you've arrived, why don't you show yourself, Fellow Daoist? Are you afraid that I've set up an ambush for you?"

  Spatial fluctuations erupted up above, and a grey-robed man in a conical bamboo hat appeared before replying, "Hehe, this is quite a significant deal, so it certainly couldn't hurt to be careful."

  "Have you brought all of the Bloodtooth Rice I requested?" Han Li asked as he turned around to face the grey-robed man.

  "Of course, I had to pay quite a heavy price to gather the staggering number that you requested, so I'm going to have to raise the price by 20%," the grey-robed man replied.

  Han Li's expression instantly darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? I've never heard of anyone raising the price at the point of transaction."

  "If you want to go with the original price, then I can only give you a third of what you requested; you can't expect me to incur a loss for you, Fellow Daoist," the grey-robed man chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

  After pondering the situation for a while, Han Li harrumphed coldly in response, "Hmph, you expect me to believe that you'll be incurring a loss? So be it, I still have other matters to attend to, so I don't have time to waste here; I'll give you the extra 20%. However, you have to ensure that the quality of the Bloodtooth Rice is up to standard."

  "Haha, rest assured, Fellow Daoist; all of the Bloodtooth Rice I've brought with me are of a premium standard," the grey-robed man replied in an ecstatic voice.

  "I certainly hope so," Han Li said in an indifferent manner before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending a black bracelet flying directly toward the grey-robed man.

  "Oh? You're handing over the devil stones first? You seem to have a lot of trust in me, Fellow Daoist." The grey-robed man was rather taken aback by this gesture, but he immediately drew the bracelet into his grasp before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

  Han Li merely gave a cold smile and offered no response.

  Moments later, a pleased look appeared on the grey-robed man's face, and he stowed the bracelet away as he said, "You must be a very powerful man to be able to bring out so many devil stones at once. Seeing as you've kept your end of the deal, I certainly won't revoke on my end. Brother Fang, bring out the Bloodtooth Rice."

  As soon as his voice trailed off, green light flashed in the air even higher above him, and a green humanoid figure appeared in a wraith-like manner.

  The green figure sent a green storage bracelet flying toward Han Li with a flick of his wrist, and Han Li immediately drew the bracelet into his grasp before pressing it against his forehead to inspect its contents.

  Han Li's inspection was clearly far more thorough than that of the grey-robed man, and only after a long while did he finally remove the bracelet from his forehead.

  "It's a little expensive, but the quality you've provided really is quite outstanding."

  "Of course. Truth be told, I've had to delay my transactions with several other buyers to gather this batch of premium Bloodtooth Rice, so the price increase really was necessary," the grey-robed man chuckled in response.

  "Alright, seeing as the transaction is complete, I'll be taking my leave now," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute, then instantly flew away as a streak of azure light.

  After Han Li had disappeared into the distance, the grey-robed man remarked, "To think that he's able to fly away so easily despite the flight restrictions in place; it seems he's even more powerful than we anticipated."

  "Seeing as we couldn't target him, then we'll naturally just treat this as a normal transaction. Having said that, all of the recent buyers seem to have been very powerful, so we haven't encountered many suitable targets," the green figure replied in a cold voice.

  "Even Sacred Ancestors wouldn't want to cross those major powers; the only targets that we can prey on are those from smaller powers or no-name vagrant cultivators. Not only is this man very powerful, he's been purchasing Foreign Devilish Metal in bulk in a very blatant manner as soon as he came to the city, so he's most likely from some major power and not someone to be messed with; it's already very fortunate that we were able to get an extra 20% out of him," the grey-robed man chuckled.

  "His origins are too mysterious for us to ascertain in a short time anyway, and Mistress Lan Pu has already summoned us to return to the city, so it would be best to avoid unnecessary trouble," the green figure replied before vanishing into space once again amid a flash of green light.

  The grey-robed figure lingered for a while longer, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "I have a feeling that if we had tried to target that man, we would've been left to rue the decision."

  Chapter 2139: Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation

  After that, the grey-robed man also swept a sleeve through the air and vanished amid a flash of grey light.

  Two days later, Han Li exited Blue Waterfall City on a beast-drawn carriage and traveled toward the Vast Origin House again.

  At the Vast Origin House, Han Li was once again greeted by Lan Ying, and they stayed in a secret chamber for several hours before Han Li emerged with a mysterious smile and returned to the city.

  On this occasion, Han Li stayed in his room in the inn for several days without setting foot outside.

  Han Li had issued sufficient devil stones for a month's stay when he had first arrived, so the employees at the inn didn't think much of this initially.

  However, the one-month deadline quickly approached, but Han Li still showed no signs of leaving his room, and the employees were finally beginning to grow concerned.

  On the final day, one of the employees carefully knocked on the door to Han Li's room before making his way into it, only to find that Han Li was already nowhere to be found.

  At this point, Han Li was seated in a grey flying carriage with his eyes closed in meditation.

  Seated across from him were Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er, the former of which was as still as a wooden statue, while the latter was constantly looking around.

  After departing from the island, Han Li had returned to the location they had previously agreed on, and the trio had immediately set off.

  After flying for several days, they had already flown out of the Blue Waterfall Lake area, and that was quite a relief to Han Li.

  Having reaped such a bountiful haul of rewards, he was naturally planning to leave the Elder Devil Realm and return to the Spirit Realm.

  Of course, he wasn't going to return along the same route that he had come from. Instead, he was planning to return to the Spirit Realm through another devilish node that the Long Family patriarch had already scouted.

  According to the Long Family patriarch, that devilish node was situated in a very secluded part of the Elder Devil Realm, so there weren't many high-grade devilish b
eings guarding it, and the node would lead to the Wood Tribe territory in the Spirit Realm.

  Even though the Long Family patriarch and the others had already perished, Han Li was still planning to take this predetermined route.

  After all, he had no idea where the other nodes led to, and if he were to end up on another continent in the Spirit Realm, it could take him centuries to return to the human race.

  The thought of Violet Spirit suddenly sprang into Han Li's mind, and his heart began to throb faintly once again.

  It was naturally impossible for him not to harbor any feelings toward her, and it pained him greatly to have to leave her in this perilous realm so soon after their long-awaited reunion.

  Of course, if she weren't being restricted by Liu Ji, he would've definitely taken her back to the Spirit Realm with her and tracked down a way to expel the devilish Qi from her body so she could revert back to a human body.

  However, as the situation currently was, his hands were tied.

  Thus, his mind began to stray back to the experiences he had shared with Violet Spirit in the human world, and another gorgeous figure soon also crept into his thoughts.

  After a long while, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he immediately opened his eyes.

  At the same time, the light emanating from the flying carriage faded, and it drew to an abrupt halt.

  "Did something happen, Senior Han?" Zhu Guo'er immediately sprang to her feet with an alarmed expression, while Daoist Xie continued to remain seated like a statue.

  "We seem to have unintentionally stumbled into a super formation. The formation was set up in a very discreet manner, so I failed to notice it," Han Li said with furrowed brows as he also stood up.

  "A super formation that escaped even your notice? Could it be targeting us?" Zhu Guo'er was quite concerned to hear this.