A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

Happiness welled in Han Li’s heart and he calmly asked, “Silvermoon, you’ve awoken?” 

Silvermoon slowly said, “I woke up as soon as Master entered the hall. I’ve barely been able to after years of recuperation. I fear I won’t be able to assist Master anytime soon.”

“Did your spiritual sense suffer any damage?”

Han Li faintly felt that something was amiss from her tone and he couldn’t help but frown.

With a forced chuckle, Silvermoon answered, “It’s nothing of the sort. I’ve only recovered a portion of my memories while asleep, and feel a bit uncomfortable.”

Han Li raised his brow in surprise, “You recovered a portion of your memories?”

Silvermoon let out a long sigh and elaborated with a sad tone, “Yes. It... feels as if the memories belong to someone else entirely.”

After a short silence, Han Li consoled, “It is good that you’ve managed to remember your past. Perhaps with time, you’ll remember everything.”

“Perhaps,” Silvermoon softly muttered.

“Ah yes, you mentioned that this is ‘Great Yin Trueflame,’ is that correct?” Han Li then astonishedly looked at small scarlet firebird he had captured. The bird appeared entirely lifelike and intelligent.

Silvermoon carefully explained, “There is no doubt it is a ball of Yin flame essence. If I recall correctly, this ball of trueflame should be the lowest grade of its existence, or it wouldn’t have been so easily struck down by mere sword Qi. But it is fortunate that it wasn’t Greatsun Essence Flame. This flame is quite a bit weaker than the Purple Apex Flames as it has recently come to life, but it does have the potential for extreme coldness. If it were the Greatsun Essence Flames, even the lowest grade would be capable of bringing out the fullest of its potential and escape. When the Great Yin Trueflame is nurtured, it will come to possess even greater power than your Purple Apex Flames. It is deserving of its title as one of the three true spirit flames in the mortal world.”

“And what are the three true spirit flames? I’ve never heard of them before.” Han Li stared at the firebird with doubt. All he could see from the flame was intelligence with no hint of its supposed greater power.

Silvermoon bitterly chuckled, “I’ve seen the three once before, but I can’t quite remember the details. It seems my mind is still in disarray.”

A bright glint flashed from Han Li’s eyes and he pensively said, “Since the thought had existed in your mind in the first place, it should be true. Could this Yin fire be fused with my Purple Apex Flames?”

Silvermoon warned, “While that should be possible, it’d be better for the Great Yin Trueflame to consume the Purple Apex Flames instead. After all, it is already intelligent and it would be a waste to extinguish it. There is even a possibility of backlash.”

Han Li nodded, “That is reasonable to say. But before that, I will need to first refine the trueflame. Since it has a trace of intelligence, it will be more difficult to refine.

Silvermoon smiled, “In addition, you should have this flame take in some Greatsun Essence Flame if given the opportunity. With the convergence of Yin and Yang, it will create unfathomable power. Its likely such power would have never existed in the mortal world before.”

Han Li frowned and helplessly said, “It would be amazing if I could, but I heard from Monarch Soul Divergence that it isn’t something that cultivators like us can acquire.”

“That could be,” then with some hesitation, Silvermoon skeptically suggested, “But since you have the Great Yin Trueflame, you may be able to use it to capture the other as their natures mutually oppose one another.”

Han Li felt his heart stir, but he shook his head and said, “Let’s leave the topic for later. I don’t even know when I’ll have an opportunity to refine the Great Yin Trueflame after all.”

Silvermoon giggled, “Master, how about first placing the flame underneath a restriction before storing it away? Otherwise, it could escape if you’re careless.”

“Of course,” Han Li chuckled and had the purple hand float into the air.

When it arrived above his head, he flicked an arc of lightning off his finger towards it. In the blink of an eye, the blaze wrapped in purple fire had turned into a ball of brilliant golden light.

Silvermoon chuckled at the sight of this. It was exactly the same method he had used to restrict the Celestial Ice Pearl, but with his current cultivation, it was now much more skillful.

Soon, he took out a scarlet jade box and placed it inside. Soon after, he turned his attention to the now frozen cauldron.

Han Li stroked his chin and mused, “It’s reasonable to say that it’s rather strange for the Yin flame to come from the smoldering cauldron. Could it be that it was originally a miraculously glacial item and that it was born from Yin Yang convergence?”

Silvermoon said nothing, also finding this to be quite odd.

Han Li’s eyes wandered and he moved towards the cauldron.

With a flick of his sleeve, a bolt of lightning struck it and wrapped it in a net of gold.

Then with claps of thunder and flashes of lightning, the net tightened and shattered the ice covering it.

Han Li calmly examined the cauldron in front of him and then slowly floated up until he was three meters above it.

Although there were restrictions preventing flight, Han Li was able to forcefully bypass them for a short time through the sheer strength of his cultivation.

The cauldron’s red light had long disappeared and its interior could be clearly examined. As a result, his expression stirred and he reached out his hand.

In a gust of wind, a shining object shot out from within, circling once in the air before falling into his grasp.

It was a fist-sized crystal of some sort. It had the sensation of warm jade and was flexible when pressed.

Han Li frowned and muttered, “What is this...”

“Master doesn’t need to dwell on it. Regardless of whatever material it is, it would’ve changed into something else entirely given the millennia it spent in refinement. However, the Great Yin Trueflame is certain to be related to this item, so it can’t be ordinary.”

“Very true,” Han Li smiled, “When there is spare time, I’ll properly inspect it.” 

Soon after, light flashed from his hand and the item was placed into his storage pouch.

Afterwards, he took another appraising glance at the cauldron and made sure nothing else was inside before forming an incantation gesture and striking it with a red spell seal.

It immediately trembled massively, and its body flashed as it quickly shrunk in size.

In the blink of an eye, a small half-foot-tall cauldron appeared on the ground and released a series of clear and bright rings.

The cauldron’s lid flew over of its own accord before shrinking in size and returning to its place.

With the cauldron intact, the rings grew even louder as if it was happy.

When Han Li saw the cauldron’s intelligence, his eyes lit up and he swept his sleeve.

Azure mist swept the cauldron into his hand.

He brought it before his eyes for a closer look and his face soon became fervent.

He then formed an incantation gesture and slapped the top with a flash of azure light.

The small cauldron glowed a brilliant red and the lid opened to reveal countless fist-sized flamebirds, each ugly and completely scarlet. 

With a mental command, these fire-breathing birds flew all around the hall, weaving back and forth with great agility.

This was the earth fire essence that the cauldron had gathered for countless years. Each one was no inferior to a true fire-attribute spirit bird.

When he saw this ability, he collected the cauldron with joy as he acquired another method to use in battle.

After all, the Triflame Fan may be superior, it consumed far too much magic power. He didn’t dare to easily use it.

But just as he was about to depart, he glanced at the dozen scarlet pillars and his heart stirred, releasing his swords and cutting them all down at their base. He then gathered them all into his storage pouch.

While these fire dragon pillars weren’t sentient like the cauldron, they had released countless streams earth fire. The astonishing amount of fire Qi it gathered should make these magic tools into something uncommon. He was convinced that they would prove valuable even as ingredients.

Han Li looked past the hall one last time to make sure he didn’t miss anything, and walked out with a smile, making his way to search through the rest of the buildings in the area.

Unfortunately, it was clear that he spent all his luck in the hall. Apart from a few common tool refinement jade slips, he found nothing else of note.