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

by Translator: Johnchen

  "There was a new development around half a year after you left the united army, and if you knew about it, perhaps you would have a different opinion right now. Three months ago, we received news that the Elder Devil Race has suddenly sent in a huge influx of troops to the territories of all of our races. Without us Grand Ascension Stage beings present, the situation has taken a turn for the worse, so we have to take care of matters in the Wood Tribe as soon as possible; we can't afford to just hold on and wait until our two realms separate," Mo Jianli said with a grim expression.

  "What? The Elder Devil Realm has sent more troops into our Spirit Realm? Did you verify this news? It's not a bluff, is it?" Patriarch Ao Xiao's expression darkened significantly upon hearing this.

  "I contacted the holy island to verify this, and I was told that not only is this news genuine, there have even been clones of the three devilish patriarchs sighted within the new devilish reinforcements. However, we don't know if the true bodies of any of the devilish patriarchs have descended into our Spirit Realm," Mo Jianli replied with a wry smile.

  "That's impossible! Normal Sacred Ancestors may be able to enter our Spirit Realm, but there's no way that devilish patriarchs can do the same. Everything we set up over all these years was prepared precisely to prevent this from happening!" Patriarch Ao Xiao immediately said.

  Chapter 2157: Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation

  "That is indeed true, but who knows if the devilish beings have thought of some unforeseen way to bypass our setup? If the true bodies of the patriarchs manage to descend into our realm while we're away, then our two races will be plunged into a dire situation," Mo Jianli said in a concerned voice.

  After a long pause, Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in agreement. "In that case, we really do have to exercise more caution. Looks like we'll have to return to our races as soon as possible."

  "Seniors, I don't think there's much of a chance that the patriarchs will all be able to descend into our realm. Even if they manage to do so, it would most likely only be one or two of the three," Han Li interjected.

  Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before his eyes immediately lit up. "Oh? It sounds like you know something that we don't, Fellow Daoist Han. You did just come back from the Elder Devil Realm; is there some information you'd like to share with us?"

  Han Li paused for a moment before asking, "Have you heard of the tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm, seniors?"

  "Tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm? We have indeed heard of this, but we didn't get a chance to gather any detailed information," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied as his eyes narrowed slightly.

  "Indeed, back when I ventured into the Elder Devil Realm, I also heard about this from a devilish lord, but it seems that only the Sacred Ancestors know the full story. Have you managed to find out more information about it, Fellow Daoist Han?" Mo Jianli asked in an eager voice.

  "I did indeed manage to gather some information about this tribulation. Have you heard of the Stemborer Queen?" Han Li asked as a serious look appeared on his face.

  "Stemborer Queen? I don't recall ever hearing this term. Do you know anything about this, Fellow Daoist Ao?" Mo Jianli replied with a perplexed expression.

  "It sounds rather familiar. I seem to have heard of it a very long time, but it's been too long, and I can't remember the exact details," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied as his brows furrowed slightly.

  "It's no surprise that you haven't heard of the Stemborer Queen, seniors; this is an insect queen that was sealed by true immortals back in ancient times, so very little people currently know of it," Han Li replied with a smile.

  "Ah yes, I remember now! The Stemborer Queen is the ancient insect said to be capable of devouring entire realms, right? Could it be that it's at the center of the tribulation that the Elder Devil Realm is facing?" Patriarch Ao Xiao's face paled slightly as he spoke.

  "Capable of devouring realms? What kind of insect is this? Wouldn't that make it even more terrifying than true spirits?" Mo Jianli's expression also changed significantly upon hearing this.

  "True spirits simply aren't comparable to this thing; in ancient times, several powerful true spirits had been devoured by this insect queen. I heard about it while traveling through another continent prior to reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, and apparently, the Stemborer Queen was born..."

  The Patriarch Ao Xiao began to provide a backstory on the Stemborer Queen with a grim expression, and the content of the story was much the same as what Han Li had heard from Violet Spirit.

  The only difference was that according to what Ao Xiao had heard, the Stemborer Queen had vanished following its battle with the true immortals, and no seal was mentioned.

  Mo Jianli's expression darkened even further upon hearing this.

  "The tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm is indeed related to this insect. According to the information I was given, the Stemborer Queen was sealed in a certain part of the Elder Devil Realm. It awakened not long ago and has begun attacking the seal. The majority of the Elder Devil Realm's power has been focused on containing it, so I think there's a very slim chance that all three devilish patriarchs will descend into our Spirit Realm," Han Li said.

  "If that insect queen really has awakened, then the Elder Devil Realm isn't the only one that's in trouble; even our Spirit Realm could eventually be devoured by that thing!" Patriarch Ao Xiao murmured as he fell into deep contemplation.

  "Has this information been verified, Fellow Daoist Han? Can you vouch for its authenticity?" Mo Jianli asked in a cautious manner.

  "The information has come from a reliable source, and I'm 80% sure that it's true," Han Li replied.

  "In that case, it's most likely true, but as a safety precaution, we'll have to send someone into the Elder Devil Realm for verification. What do you think, Brother Ao?" Mo Jianli asked.

  "This is a very important matter, so it would indeed be necessary to send someone to verify the situation; I'll send a trusty subordinate of mine to investigate the matter. If it really is true, then it makes sense that the devilish beings have been so desperate to claim some territory for themselves in the Spirit Realm; they must be doing this so they can mass migrate to our Spirit Realm once the Stemborer Queen breaks out of its seal," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a cold expression.

  "Judging from the number of devilish beings that have appeared in our Spirit Realm, the three devilish patriarchs clearly haven't given up on containing the Stemborer Queen. Otherwise, more forces would've poured into our Spirit Realm at this point. Hence, I'm assuming that their plan to conquer our races is only a backup option," Mo Jianli said in a contemplative manner.

  "Having said that, more devilish reinforcements have appeared in our races, suggesting that the devilish beings are struggling to keep the Stemborer Queen contained, which means that we should return to our races as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the devilish beings transfer most of their forces into our Spirit Realm, then even all of our races combined most likely wouldn't be able to oppose them, so we have to think of another strategy," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a grim voice.

  "What's there to think about? This matter concerns the Stemborer Queen, so it won't just be up to us to address it. If we release this information, I'm sure all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings all over the Spirit Realm will join us," Mo Jianli replied with a smile.

  Patriarch Ao Xiao's eyes immediately lit up. "That's a fantastic idea!"

  "But before that, we have to make sure that the matter about the Stemborer Queen is indeed true. On top of that, we can't just abandon the Wood Tribe and return to our races in this current situation. Otherwise, the alliance that we painstakingly built up would most likely instantly collapse, making it easy pickings for the devilish army," Mo Jianli said in a contemplative voice.

  "In that case, we'll abide by the Wood Tribe's request and battle the devilish army. We'll inflict as much damage as we can on the devilish army, and after that, we'll have an excuse to return to our races. Perhaps that's
Old Man Sang's idea as well. He's the only Grand Ascension Stage being in the Yaksha Race; I'm sure he's concerned about his own race as well. During this time, we'll verify the information about the Stemborer Queen while gathering our own forces. After all, if the devilish army really does launch a big attack, we'll have to save ourselves before we can do anything else," Patriarch Ao Xiao decided.

  "Alright, we'll do as you say, Fellow Daoist Ao. Defeat is not an option in this battle, so we'll have to borrow Fellow Daoist Han and Brother Xie's powers. Having said that, once the battle concludes, you can return to our human race right away, Fellow Daoist Han. I can see that your magic power is far more abundant than that of the average late-Body Integration cultivator, so you'll have a decent chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage once you go into seclusion; the same applies for Junior Ling Long as well," Mo Jianli concluded.

  Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in response, and Han Li also agreed with this arrangement.

  As long as none of the true bodies of the devilish patriarchs descended into Wood Tribe territory, he had nothing to fear.

  After that arrangement was made, a thought suddenly occurred to Patriarch Ao Xiao, and he said, "The Wood Tribe has proposed a counterattack, so they must have support from other than from Old Man Sang. You've stayed in this city this entire time; have you heard anything, Fellow Daoist Mo?"

  "I have. With the arrival of the devilish reinforcements, the grand elder of the Wood Tribe seems to be aware that he won't be able to keep us here for much longer. As such, he made the decision to bring out all 36 of the Wood Tribe's backup holy trees. With those trees, he's going to set up the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation for one final battle against the devilish army. If we were to join forces with Sang Hai and have this formation to assist us, there should be at least a 70% chance that we'll be able to win this battle," Mo Jianli replied.

  "I've heard of the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation; it's said to be a formation that's emulated the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain ability of the True Immortal Realm. Apparently, it possesses enough power to kill even Grand Ascension Stage beings, but the Wood Tribe has never even used it once, so no one knows whether this is true or not," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

  "Hehe, in any case, the fact that the Wood Tribe is willing to bring out those 36 backup holy trees indicates that they're making a final roll of the dice. If we can take advantage of this and deal the devilish army a heavy blow, we'll be able to buy more time for our two races," Mo Jianli replied with a nonchalant smile.

  "Hehe, that's true," Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled in response.

  Chapter 2158: Mission

  After that, Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli began to discuss some finer details in preparation for the battle against the devilish army. During this time, they would occasionally ask for Han Li's opinion, clearly making an effort to include him in the discussion.

  Han Li was aware that he couldn't compare with these two Grand Ascension Stage beings when it came to tactical acumen in battles that concerned several races, so he didn't take the initiative to interject and only offered his opinions when requested to do so.

  Daoist Xie and Silvermoon were also in the hall, but both of them were completely expressionless and disinterested.

  As for Zhu Guo'er, she was standing off to the side in an obedient manner.

  Thus, time slowly passed by, and Han Li stayed in Mo Jianli's cave abode for close to half a day before the discussion finally drew to a conclusion.

  Patriarch Ao Xiao departed with Silvermoon first, while Mo Jianli and Han Li chatted for a while longer before the former summoned one of his disciples to organize a temporary place for Han Li to stay.

  The disciple naturally did as he was told in a respectful manner, setting up a pavilion that was situated on a branch of the giant tree less than 10 kilometers away from Mo Jianli's cave abode.

  The spiritual Qi here was nowhere near as abundant as that in Mo Jianli's cave abode, but it was still far better than anywhere else in Cottonwood City, so Han Li was quite pleased with it and moved in with Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er.

  The next half a month was quite uneventful, and Han Li stayed in the secret chamber of his pavilion, cultivating the spiritual sense secret technique that had been given to him by Patriarch Ao Xiao.

  However, this was the first time that Zhu Guo'er had been to a city in the Spirit Realm, and she would go out almost every day to explore the city.

  She had somehow managed to convince Daoist Xie to accompany her on her long trips around the city, so Han Li wasn't concerned about her safety at all.

  However, from what Zhu Guo'er had been telling him after she returned from her daily outings, Han Li could clearly sense that the army within Cottonwood City was in a very tense state.

  It seemed that the higher-ups of all the races had made a decision to battle the devilish army, after all.

  In that case, it was clear that these uneventful days wouldn't last much longer.

  Sure enough, Mo Jianli arrived at his pavilion only several days later.

  After detecting the arrival of Mo Jianli with his spiritual sense, he immediately welcomed Mo Jianli into the hall. They each took a seat, and after exchanging some pleasantries, Mo Jianli revealed the purpose for his visit.

  "We've decided on the main strategies we'll be adopting in the battle against the devilish army. The most powerful beings among our united army are myself, Brother Ao, and Sang Hai of the Yaksha Race, so we should be able to handle the Sacred Ancestors in the devilish army. However, due to the heavy defeats the Wood Tribe has suffered, they don't have any Grand Ascension Stage beings left, so we'll have to reinforce them in that area. With your powers, you'll undoubtedly be assigned an important duty, Fellow Daoist Han."

  "This battle is just as important for our human race, so I'm naturally more than willing to offer my services. Feel free to issue me any instructions that you have, and I'll do my best to complete them," Han Li replied with a smile.

  "Your powers rank below only us three Grand Ascension Stage beings, so you'll be playing an extremely important role in this battle. Has Fellow Daoist Xie recovered his powers yet?" Mo Jianli asked.

  "I'm afraid not, Senior; Brother Xie won't be able to make a full recovery without at least half a year of rest and recuperation," Han Li replied.

  "That's quite a pity. If Fellow Daoist Xie can recover to his full power, then our chances of winning this battle will improve by at least 10%," Mo Jianli sighed in a forlorn manner.

  "Brother Xie's powers are indeed not inferior to those of the average Grand Ascension Stage being, but it's not easy to employ his services. If I didn't have some special assets up my sleeve, I wouldn't have been able to convince him to come back with me," Han Li said.

  "I've heard about the rules stipulated by Fellow Daoist Xie, but regardless of the price, it's definitely a good deal to be able to bring him to our Spirit Realm. Even if he doesn't do anything, the presence of a Grand Ascension Stage Faux Immortal Puppet on the battlefield will be very intimidating to the enemy," Mo Jianli replied.

  "I certainly hope so," Han Li could only reply with a wry smile.

  "Seeing as Fellow Daoist Xie hasn't fully recovered, we won't be sending you to the front lines. Here's what we'll do: there are three cores in the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation; if any of them are destroyed, the formation would become significantly less powerful, and if all three were to be destroyed, then the entire formation would collapse altogether, so these cores are extremely important. Having said that, due to their importance, the three cores are all very heavily guarded, so they'll be very safe places to stay. Brother Ao and I have decided to assign you to one of those cores; what do you think, Fellow Daoiast Han?" Mo Jianli proposed.

  "I have no issues with that; I'll be sure to ensure the safety of the core," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

  However, Mo Jianli shook his head, and said, "If the cores were to be destroyed, the outcome of the battle could be affected, but in comparison,
your safety is far more important to our human race. If you really do encounter some insurmountable enemies, then retreat and prioritize your own safety above all else. Otherwise, if something were to happen to you, even a victory wouldn't be worth it."

  Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately nodding in response. "Thank you for holding me in such high regard, Senior; I understand what I have to do now."

  "Just remember that your top priority is to keep yourself safe, and only after that comes the safety of the formation. With Brother Xie by your side, I'm sure you won't encounter any issues unless you encounter the true body of a Sacred Ancestor. I've heard from Brother Ao that you and Brother Xie have even managed to fight on equal footing with that Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha," Mo Jianli said with a smile.

  "Senior Ao Xiao is far too kind! Brother Xie and I were only just barely able to ensure self-preservation, and it was Senior Ao Xiao who drove Yuan Cha away in the end," Han Li replied in a modest manner.

  "In any case, you and Fellow Daoist Xie are able to dominate virtually all beings below the Grand Ascension Stage. The Wood Tribe and the Yaksha Race will also be sending some Body Integration Stage beings to protect the formation core with you. Fellow Daoist Ao and I are of the opinion that you and Fellow Daoist Xie will be more than enough, but those two races are unaware of your powers, so they insisted on sending some more people," Mo Jianli said.

  Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this, and he asked, "I see, but who will be the leader of the group?"

  "Hehe, for cultivators like us, whoever is most powerful will naturally be the one to call the shots. I don't know who the Wood Tribe and Yaksha Race will be sending, but I'm sure they won't be more powerful than you. Having said that, the high-grade beings of the Wood Tribe will definitely be quite familiar with the formation, so it would be wise to enquire them if any issues arise," Mo Jianli replied.