A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

Han Li tightly frowned for a long while before sending a voice transmission to Monarch Soul Divergence, “Senior, have you seen this before?”

“Do you truly believe that there is nothing that I haven’t experienced and nothing I don’t know?” Monarch Soul Divergence bluntly asked. “No, I don’t know what it is, but since it is able to block your spiritual sense, it could be considered a rare treasure. Ask him in detail where he acquired this item. Then you can decide whether or not you’ll take it.” 

Han Li inwardly chuckled when he heard this. Then with a flicker of his eyes, he withdrew his spiritual sense from the bubble and put the box back on the table.

“How was it? Did Fellow Daoist recognize it?” Jin Yuan quickly asked.

“Apologies, my experience is still too lacking. I couldn’t recognize it.” Han Li said with a sorrowful expression.

“Even Fellow Daoist wasn’t able to recognize it,” Jin Yuan dejectedly said, “But from the way the item reacted, I had believed Fellow Daoist found out how to use it.”

Han Li smiled and casually said, “That strange reaction was something that I was only able to produce when wrapping a large amount of spiritual sense around it. Although I don’t know what it is, it does qualify as a rare treasure.”

“Oh! So it was like that.” Jin Yuan appeared skeptical and then his gaze focused on the golden bubble on the table before he released his spiritual sense.

Han Li calmly observed Jin Yuan’s actions, and after a moment, golden light began to flash from the bubble and faintly pulse. The old man then let out a long sigh and wore a tired expression as he withdrew his spiritual sense.

“It seems I’ve made a fool of myself. Fellow Daoists spiritual sense is far stronger than mine.” He spoke with a tone of admiration.

He originally believed that Han Li possessed cultivation on par with his own. However, his greatest efforts were barely enough to stir the bubble at all while Han Li’s minor efforts were able to induce a powerful reaction. This solidified his assumptions that Han Li was a heavily nurtured sect disciple that possessed countless prospects.

Han Li simply smiled and didn’t refuse his claims.

“Brother Jin, where did you acquire this item? From its peculiar nature, does it come from a particular origins? Of course, if Brother Jin finds it difficult to say, you don’t have to answer.” Han Li said with an indifferent tone.

Jin Yuan initially appeared hesitant before wearing a bitter smile and saying, “It is no secret where this item came from, but I fear you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. The matter is rather incredulous.”

“If you don’t say it, how am I supposed to believe it. If you tell me where it came from, I might be able to recognize this item. Perhaps I’ll be reminded of similar items of this nature.” Han Li said with a grin. From Jin Yuan’s tone, it seemed he had quite the story.

Jin Yuan sighed and said, “It isn’t anything worth hiding. But in order to acquire this item, many of my good friends had died and I didn’t want to have the memory fresh in mind.”

Han Li was stunned when he heard this, but when he saw that Jin Yuan wore a pensive expression, he knew that Jin Yuan was thinking about what to say.

“Fellow Daoist might’ve guessed, but I am a loose cultivator, one who cultivates an earth attribute cultivation art. My other abilities may be unremarkable, but it just so happened I was given an earth spirit constitution and am obviously talented in earth movement techniques. If it weren’t for my poor spiritual roots, many large sects would’ve competed to take me in as a disciple.” Once that was said, he wore a regretful expression before continuing.

“When my cultivation reached a certain point, I became fond of looking for ancient cultivator ruins or other curiosities in the wilderness in hopes of finding some good fortune. However, ancient cultivator residences and items weren’t so easy to find. Although it could be said I made some gains, my efforts also took up a great amount of time. That is, until three years ago...”

Jin Yuan suddenly paused for a moment before his tone turned sullen, “Three years ago, I was given an invitation by a good friend of mine, saying that he discovered the huge tomb of an ancient cultivator. He planned on drawing the support of my earth movement techniques to probe into it and see if there was any treasure that could be acquired. Naturally, he would give me a portion of the treasures. I was elated to hear this and promptly agreed. As a result, we went together with a few of our other close friends. By then, I realized that the ancient tomb was greatly unordinary. It was only after we entered that we discovered...” At that moment, his voice began to tremble.

“We discovered that the tomb actually belonged to an illustrious mortal monarch during ancient times. He was widely known as the Glorious Blaze Monarch while he was alive and was said to be a legendary character. When we saw this, we were greatly disappointed, fearing that our trip was in vain. After all, no matter how grand a mortal may be, their treasures are of little value to cultivators like us. But who could’ve known that we would’ve discovered many magic tools and precious cultivator materials buried with the king in his grave room. We were overjoyed by our newfound gains, but the decayed husks in the room suddenly began to come to life and became invulnerable soldiers. No matter the magic tools or techniques we used to attack them, they were of no use. Most of my companions were unable to protect themselves and were torn apart by the undead soldiers. And then, a strange sound came from the monarch’s coffin as if the Glorious Blaze Monarch himself was about to come to life. Fortunately, I was able to flee with my earth movement techniques when things turned for the worst, or else I would’ve perished there. The others didn’t have such luck.” Jin Yuan’s complexion turned pale when he was done talking as he recalled the frightening scene.

Feeling somewhat moved by the story, Han Li pointed to the box and said, “Then that item is...” 

“It was one of the offerings on top of the monarch’s coffin. I took it just as I left. I originally thought since the item was peculiar, it would be a great treasure, but when I brought it to various market cities, none were able to identify it. Although they all knew it was an unordinary item, none were willing to purchase it at a high enough price so it had remained in my possession ever since.” Jin Yuan answered bluntly and wore a clear gloomy expression.

With an odd look on his face, Han Li said, “Since it was an item buried with an ancient monarch, it isn’t strange that no one can recognize it. After all, there are countless items during ancient times that are now lost to the cultivation world. However, there are questions to be had if a mortal monarch possessed cultivator items and turned into a walking corpse. Didn’t you have anyone else to explore the tomb?”

“Of course I did. I even brought a large group of high-grade cultivators with me. But who could’ve known that the ancient tomb would miraculously disappear when I arrived, only to be replaced by wilderness. Even more unbelievable was that the secret mark I placed at the entrance of the tomb was still clearly present.” With that said, Jin Yuan’s expression became particularly sullen.

Han Li frowned. If this was all true, then Jin Yuan was the sole survivor of the group and he wasn’t able to later find the place. Needless to say, his life afterwards can’t have been good.

After a moment of thought, Han Li calmly said, “Fellow Daoist, could you tell me where the ancient tomb was?”

Jin Yuan gritted his teeth and said, “If it was still there, it’d be deep into the Snowmound Mountain Range.” 

A glint flickered from Han Li’s eyes and he slowly asked, “The Snowmound Mountain Range? If I remember correctly, you stated that cultivators often disappeared in the mountain range. Could this have anything to do with it?”

After some hesitation, Jin Yuan answered, “It’s possible. If Fellow Daoist is interested, I can give you the location of the tomb. Perhaps you can discover something there!” Afterwards, he took out a jade slip and imprinted something onto it before handing it over to Han Li.

After a moment of silence, Han Li took the jade slip and calmly said, “Good. If I have the time, I’ll be sure to take a look.”

Jin Yuan chuckled with a beaming smile and said, “It seems we’ve become quick friends and it has been a long time since I’ve been able to talk about my bitter experiences with someone else. How about this? Since you seem so interested in it, how about I sell it to Fellow Daoist? It will only cost you a hundred spirit stones. How about it?”

“A hundred spirit stones? That is quite cheap, but I can’t have Brother Jin suffer a loss. How about I give you two hundred spirit stones instead?” Han Li said wearing an embarrassed smile. Afterwards, he touched the storage pouch at his waist and handed two mid-grade spirit stones over to the old man.

When Jin Yuan saw the spirit stones, he couldn’t help but smile. Then after uttering a polite word of thanks, he took the spirit stones and handed over the jade box containing the golden bubble.

Han Li received it and promptly placed it into his storage pouch, completing the transaction, much to Jin Yuan’s satisfaction as if in fear that Han Li would change his mind

But at that moment, a spirit beast pouch at Han Li’s waist began to stir and release a strange cry.

“This is...” Jin Yuan looked at Han Li’s spirit beast pouch in shock.

Han Li took a glance at his spirit beast pouch and calmly said, “It’s only a few low-grade spirit beasts that I nurtured. They must’ve thought the box was a treat and were excited.”