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

by Translator: Johnchen

  "That's right. The first streak contained around half of my full power, the second streak was a full-power strike, while the third streak was infused with a flying sword that's a bonded treasure of mine," Han Li replied.

  Xie Lian and Lü Shi were naturally unaware that Han Li had lied about the first two streaks of sword Qi and only told the truth for the third one.

  His powers were far superior to those of an ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, so the first streak of sword Qi had only contained around 20% of his full power, while the second one was only imbued with around 50% of his full power.

  Even so, Xie Lian and Lü Shi were quite stunned by how resolute this carcass was.

  "Not only is this insect virtually immune to Fellow Daoist Lü Shi's true flames, it can even withstand Fellow Daoist Han's sword Qi to a certain extent; looks like these descendants of the Stemborer Queen are even more fearsome than I'd imagined. What should we do if we encounter one of them?" Xie Lian asked with a grim expression.

  "There's no need to fear; if we really do encounter one of these insects, we'll just have to attack it as normal. I'm confident that the four of us combined will be able to bring down a mere insect," Lü Shi chuckled coldly in response.

  "One or two of them won't be an issue, but what if we encounter seven or eight, or even more of these insects? Would you still be so confident then?" Xie Lian sighed.

  Lü Shi's confident facade slipped a little upon hearing this. "Surely there aren't that many of these things around."

  "Hehe, it's indeed very unlikely to encounter so many of these insects. If the Stemborer Queen had the ability to produce so many descendants, it would've most likely broken out of this ancient seal long ago," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

  "I certainly hope so. Otherwise, we could potentially find ourselves in some huge trouble. It looks like the last group of fellow daoists to have entered this underground palace were the ones who killed this insect; I wonder why they left in such a hurry. I hope there aren't more of these things up ahead," Xie Lian said with a wry smile.

  "In any case, we're already here, so we can't back down now. We've already wasted quite a bit of time here; let's keep going. It would be truly regrettable if our tardiness affects Fellow Daoist Bao Hua's plans," Han Li said in a calm manner, then drifted back the way he had come.

  Through his examination, he had determined that these insects didn't pose much of a threat to him, so he naturally wasn't going to be too concerned.

  Daoist Xie followed along behind him in silence, and Xie Lian and Lü Shi were rather surprised by Han Li's decisive departure.

  However, they knew that Han Li was right, so they could trail along behind him as well.

  Daoist Xie seemed to be completely obedient to Han Li, and Han Li had just displayed spiritual sense far superior to that of Xie Lian and Lü Shi, so the two of them were unconsciously beginning to follow Han Li's lead.

  Shortly thereafter, the four of them returned to the path and continued onward according to the map.

  As they progressed along the path, they didn't encounter any obstacles, and that came as quite a relief for both Xie Lian and Lü Shi.

  Even though they were both at the Grand Ascension Stage, they definitely didn't want to encounter an insect like the one they had just seen.

  At this moment, the four of them had arrived in a spacious garden with shimmering silver trees all around them. These trees had palm-sized silver flowers growing on their branches that were very beautiful to look at, but didn't give off any aroma.

  Initially, Lü Shi had been rather wary of these trees, but his concerns were assuaged after Xie Lian informed him that this was a plant unique to the Elder Devil Realm, and it served no purpose other than as a low-grade pill refinement ingredient.

  "Brother Han, according to the map, that hall up ahead should be where the formation core is situated. Once we repair it, our mission will be complete," Xie Lian said as the three of them emerged from the garden, upon which a grey hall appeared in the distance.

  "Looks like our journey was quite smooth; I wonder if the same applied for our other fellow daoists," Han Li replied with a nod.

  For some reason, as soon as he had arrived in the garden, he couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that he was being watched.

  Considering how powerful his spiritual sense was, it was virtually impossible for him to be unable to detect someone if they were nearby.

  This meant that the one watching them either possessed incredible powers and could avoid the detection of his spiritual sense, or this was merely a figment of his imagination brought on by the powers of the ancient seal and all of the restrictions in the underground palace.

  In any case, Han Li had naturally become a lot more cautious, but as soon as they emerged from the garden, this strange feeling suddenly vanished, leaving him feeling quite perplexed.

  ......

  Meanwhile, an indistinct humanoid figure situated in a dark underground cave in the deepest part of the underground palace suddenly began to cackle to himself.

  "I can't believe someone from a lower realm has managed to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique to the second stage! Haha, the heavens really are smiling down upon me! Looks like I won't be trapped here for much longer..."

  Initially, the cackling was very loud, but it gradually became clearer and more deranged, striking the listener with a bone-chilling sensation.

  Chapter 2230: Re-emergence of the Lightningwield Technique

  Han Li was naturally oblivious to the scene that had just transpired deep in the underground palace, but after that unsettling feeling disappeared, he was quite relieved.

  At this moment, the four of them had emerged from the garden and arrived on an ordinary-looking small plaza.

  A massive hall that covered an area of several acres stood directly across on the other side of the plaza, and Lü Shi's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Why is my spiritual sense unable to enter that place? Are the restrictions here still activated?"

  "It's not the restrictions at work; this hall was constructed from a type of special material from our holy realm. This material is known as Underworld River Sand, and it naturally possesses spiritual sense resistance properties, so it's no surprise that your spiritual sense can't enter the hall," Xie Lian replied with a smile.

  Instead of becoming complacent upon hearing Xie Lian's explanation, Lü Shi's brows furrowed even further as he suddenly made a grabbing motion to summon a dagger enshrouded within green Qi. "Hold on, I can sense the aura of stemborers here!"

  "Surely not! Could it be that you're mistaken, Fellow Daoist Lü Shi?" Xie Lian's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she also hurriedly summoned three silver rings that appeared before her in a flash of light.

  "I've cultivated a special secret technique that allows me to identify the auras of all beings within a radius of several tens of kilometers; I'm certain that there are stemborers nearby!" Lü Shi replied in a confident voice.

  Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he suddenly rubbed his hands together before raising them toward the hall up ahead.

  A pair of loud thunderclaps rang out as two thick bolts of golden lightning sprang forth, transforming into a pair of golden pythons over 100 feet in length before pouncing into the hall.

  A rumbling thunderclap immediately rang out within the hall amid flashes of lightning.

  "Divine Devilbane Lightning!" Xie Lian's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

  Generally speaking, Divine Devilbane Lightning was no longer all that effective against devilish beings of her caliber, but when unleashed by a fellow Grand Ascension Stage being like Han Li, it would still pose quite a threat to her.

  Right at this moment, a string of sharp hissing rang out within the hall, following which five shadowy figures shot out in a flash before landing on the small plaza in a line.

  "There really are stemborers here!" Lü Shi's expression immediately darkened at the sight of the
se figures.

  The five figures were none other than five giant human-faced insects. Each of them was around 30 to 40 feet tall with extremely hideous male heads attached to their thin and long necks.

  Furthermore, they were holding some crude club-like weapons in their front limbs.

  The largest of the human-faced insects was standing at the center, and its exoskeleton was light blue, while the other four all had black exoskeletons, similar to that of the insect carcass Han Li and the others had found earlier.

  A sinister look immediately appeared on the blue human-faced insect's face at the sight of Han Li and the others, and it cackled, "Fantastic... There are more foreign beings... We'll be able to have another feast..."

  "I really miss the taste of foreign flesh... I can't even remember how long it's been since I last had some..."

  Greedy looks also appeared in the eyes of the other human-faced insects.

  Xie Lian's expression darkened upon hearing this, and the three silver rings before her began to buzz loudly amid a flash of bright light.

  In contrast, Han Li was very relaxed, and after taking a glance at the five human-faced insects, he smiled, and said, "Five is not a disaster, but nothing to be scoffed at either. How about this? Brother Xie and I will take on three of them and leave the other two to you two."

  "I certainly have no objections there. You and Fellow Daoist Xie are no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage beings, so we'll be counting on you," Xie Lian chuckled.

  Lü Shi naturally had no objections, either, and he slashed his dagger through the air, releasing a burst of green Qi that transformed into a wyrm, which pounced directly toward one of the human-faced insects.

  The human-faced stemborer was completely unfazed, and opened its mouth to expel a burst of grey Qi.

  The two clashed amid a resounding boom, then rose up into the heavens like a pair of wyrms that were constantly tearing at one another.

  Immediately thereafter, the three silver rings in front of Xie Lian disappeared in a flash, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above another one of the human-faced stemborers, following which the three silver rings reappeared before crashing down with ferocious might.

  A ferocious look appeared on the human-faced stemborer's face, and it swung its two thick clubs violently upward, sending two bursts of enormous power crashing into the three silver rings.

  The three rings tremored violently, and were unable to continue in their descent.

  The blue human-faced stemborer cackled upon seeing this, then sprang forward using its hind legs, upon which it suddenly vanished into thin air.

  "Leave that thing to me," Daoist Xie said as he also disappeared amid a flash of silver lightning.

  In the next instant, a dull thunderclap erupted up above, and Daoist Xie and the giant blue stemborer appeared in the sky in unison amid a violent explosion.

  Daoist Xie immediately made a grabbing motion, and arcs of silver lightning converged to form a pair of giant shimmering silver blades, following which his body swelled to over 100 feet in size, and he charged toward the giant stemborer as he brought his blades down with vicious force.

  The blue stemborer let loose a loud screech as it also swelled several times in size, swinging its giant clubs through the air in retaliation without any fear in its eyes.

  A string of earth-shattering booms rang out as the two clashed with their weapons over and over again.

  Daoist Xie remained completely expressionless, and his silver blades were revolving around the blue stemborer while unleashing ferocious attacks like a pair of silver wheels.

  Meanwhile, the blue stemborer was cackling incessantly, and it had a near-deranged look on its hideous face as its massive black clubs were revolving around its body as bursts of black Qi.

  The two of them seemed to be evenly-matched.

  Right at this moment, a giant green flower projection appeared behind Xie Lian, and it immediately transformed into countless azure saber projections that swept toward the giant stemborer up ahead.

  Meanwhile, Lü Shi had produced a huge shimmering golden seal, which instantly swelled to a size of a mountain at his behest before slamming down onto his opponent over and over again.

  The human-faced stemborers possessed very powerful bodies, but even they didn't dare to take such astonishing attacks head-on, and could only take evasive measures.

  Seeing as three of the human-faced stemborers had been occupied, Han Li cast his gaze toward the two remaining giant insects.

  Those two stemborers were currently hesitating about whether they should reinforce their companions or deal with the only available enemy.

  A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, following which countless golden runes surged out of his body.

  A loud thunderclap rang out, and those runes instantly transformed into scintillating bolts of golden lightning that enshrouded his entire body.

  He then made a hand seal followed by a grabbing motion, and the bolts of lightning converged to form a shimmering golden ball of lightning that gave off an extremely formidable aura.

  The two human-faced stemborers immediately sensed the threat being posed by Han Li, and they hissed in unison as they rushed directly toward Han Li, leaving trails of afterimages in their wake.

  One of them opened its massive mouth, releasing a burst of nauseating black liquid, while the other hurled its giant clubs directly toward Han Li.

  Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and he suddenly disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

  As a result, the giant clubs and black liquid all missed their target.

  The two giant stemborers were very alert, and they immediately flapped their wings upon seeing this, upon which they also instantly disappeared.

  In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on either side of the plaza, and the two giant stemborers re-emerged.

  However, the specks of spiritual light suddenly converged to form Han Li's body once again, standing on the exact same spot as before.

  It turned out that Han Li had never actually left that spot; he had easily managed to fool the two stemborers with an illusion.

  The two stemborers' hearts jolted upon seeing this, and they immediately pounced toward Han Li again, but it was already too late.

  Right at this moment, Han Li gently tossed the ball of lightning in his hands up into the air, and it vanished into thin air amid a flash of golden light, following which an earth-shattering burst of rumbling immediately rang out.

  Countless golden runes scattered through the air, following which a bolt of golden lightning as thick as a water tank came crashing down upon a human-faced stemborer with unerring accuracy.

  This was none other than the complete Lightningwield Technique that Han Li had only recently mastered!

  A howl of anguish rang out, and the stemborer didn't even get a chance to struggle before it was wiped out of existence by the golden lightning.

  The Lightningwield Technique was so formidable that even a human-faced stemborer couldn't take a single attack!

  The other giant stemborer was both shocked and enraged to see this, and it abruptly let loose a piercing screech, unleashing a burst of invisible soundwaves that swept directly toward Han Li.

  Chapter 2231: Slaying the Human-Faced Stemborers

  Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he merely raised a hand before thrusting it forward and spreading his fingers.

  Five balls of golden light immediately erupted out of fingertips, then expanded drastically before combining as one to form a golden vortex the size of a wagon wheel.

  The vortex began to rotate as it released a burst of invisible suction force, drawing in all of the oncoming soundwaves.

  However, at this point, the human-faced stemborer had also reached Han Li in a wraith-like manner, and it immediately plunged its sharp front limbs toward Han Li as streaks of black light.

  Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon see
ing this, and he pointed a finger at the vortex in front of him.

  The vortex immediately swelled before shrinking again, then exploded into a ball of golden light.

  In the next instant, countless azure threads erupted out of the golden light, surging directly toward the human-faced stemborer.

  A vicious look appeared in the eyes of the human-faced stemborer, and instead of taking evasive measures, it plunged its sharp limbs even faster through the air toward Han Li.

  The stemborer was determined to break through with its attack even at the expense of harming itself.

  However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow that to happen.

  He swept a palm through the air, and around a dozen layers of light barriers instantly appeared before him.

  In the next instant, the streaks of black light struck the light barriers, piercing through all of them seemingly with ease before striking the protective spiritual light around Han Li.

  A sharp screeching noise akin to that of metal grating on metal rang out, and Han Li's skin suddenly turned a purplish-golden color while countless silver formations also appeared all over his body.

  In the instant that the streaks of black light struck his protective spiritual light, all of them were instantly repelled.

  This protective spiritual light had been manifested from Han Li's Provenance True Devil Arts and Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, and even the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't be able to pierce through it.

  This human-faced insect was very fearsome, but it was still slightly inferior in power to a Grand Ascension Stage being.

  At this moment, the azure threads struck the human-faced stemborer in a torrential storm, instantly piercing through its exoskeleton.

  The stemborer let loose a howl of anguish, and countless streams of dark green liquid began to gush out of its body.

  However, it then let loose a low roar, and grey light surged all over its body, upon which those puncture wounds began to rapidly heal at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.

  After the span of just a few breaths, the stemborer was almost fully recovered from its injuries.