A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

When Han Li heard about a hidden location that only Gui Ling was aware of, he nodded and said, “Good, let’s go. If we encounter our enemies along the way, there is no need to fight them. We’ll just shake them off.”

After he put away the human-like puppet, he hurriedly flew out from the palace hall.

The two flew through the Greatnorth Essence Light in the blink of an eye, but when the flight restrictions took effect once more, they could only drop to the floor and use body lightening techniques to conserve their magic power.

He swept his spiritual sense into the distance and didn’t see anyone on the exterior of the Greatnorth Essence Light, much to his delight and surprise.

He called out to Gui Ling and calmly emerged from the light with the Tailstar Essence Shield and Triflame Fan in hand.

After taking another careful look around, he slowly walked out from Kunwu Hall.

It was deathly quiet on the outside, and when he had a clear view of the area, he felt a hint of surprise. 

In the large plaza past the felled Goldweight Spirit Trees, the ground was littered with holes and piles of rubble as if a grand battle occured.

When Gui Ling walked up behind him, she looked at the scene and paused.

“How curious, could it be they fought amongst themselves?” She puzzlingly mused.

Han Li regained his composure and sullenly said, “I’m unsure. It is possible they encountered that first group of cultivators. Although I don’t know their origins, since they were able to rend open the seal to Kunwu Mountain, their abilities should be great.”

Gui Ling sighed, “That could be the case. When the seal was broken, I followed them from a distance and noticed that two of them had a similar cultivation to mine.”

“Oh, do you remember their appearance?” From the first wave here, he only knew about the square-faced middle-aged man. He had seen him use a powerful treasure to defend himself against Old Devil Qian.

Gui Ling shook her head, “Since their strength was sure to be powerful, I didn’t dare to approach. I only viewed them at a distance with my spiritual sense.”

Han Li was a little disappointed to hear this. He had wanted to know if the Elder Devil was among those here and if he should plan for an opportunity to seize back his two flying swords.

But now with Gui Ling and the human-like puppet, he was confident that he would have more than a fighting chance against the Elder Devil and wouldn’t need to flee.

His gaze flickered as he pondered for a moment, then concluding, “In any case, they shouldn’t have been able to easily exterminate those here. They most likely chased them elsewhere.”

Although he had spoken as such, Han Li knew that something else was afoot. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have so easily departed from their original goals, much like how Grand Immortal Xu and the Endless Sky Saintess had come to pursue him.

Could it be that the first one here were so powerful that they could force the lot of them to rout?

But even that was highly unlikely. If they had such an advantage, why would they wouldn’t they remain and wait for an opportunity to fight for the treasures?

With all things considered, he contemplated a moment more and rubbed his chin before dropping the matter.

No matter what happened, his objective had been achieved. He only needed to stay safely hidden until he could depart from the brewing storm.

He would have to think of a method to reclaim the two flying swords the Elder Devil stole after he left Kunwu Mountain.

Having pondered over the matter, Han Li promptly came to a decision.

“Fellow Daoist Gui, let’s first go to the secret place you spoke of! There is no need to follow them. In a few days, there will be even more cultivators who will enter!” Han Li then led the way down the stairs to the main plaza.

Gui Ling wryly laughed and followed suit.

Along the way, they saw sword scars, scorch marks, and other signs of battle.

These cultivators had been pursued when they made their escape.

“This is...” When a huge gorge suddenly appeared before them, Han Li approached and took a look before tensely frowning.

The huge split was certain to have been created from the strike of a blade-type treasure. It had rend the stairs in two and created a gap over three hundred meters wide and a hundred meters deep. 

He even mused that if he made use of the full might of his giant sword technique, he wouldn’t be capable of such a feat.

Silvermoon’s voice echoed from his mind, “It seems those cultivators definitely encountered trouble, given the power of the abilities that had been displayed. The battle was much more intense than we imagined.” 

“Hmm, perhaps — but what does that have to do with us?” Han Li casually replied.  Soon after, he launched himself from the ground and floated across the ravine.

Gui Ling moved closely behind.

After he landed, his expression stirred and he glanced at one of the huge rocks in front of him with a cold gaze.

Then, Han Li’s expression sank and he harshly yelled, “You, come out from there!”

A cloud of black Qi then shot out from the nearby. A Nascent Soul could be faintly seen within it.

“Yi!”

Since the cultivators on the mountain were more likely to be enemies than not, there was no need to be polite and let him slip away.

Thunder rang out from his back and he suddenly disappeared from sight. A short moment later, he appeared in front of the black mass in a flash of silver light.

He raised his hand, and with a crackle, a massive blue hand appeared and closed its grip.

With great alarm, black Qi surged around the Nascent Soul in an attempt to flee.

But since it had been greatly wounded in the fight before, it wasn’t able to use instantaneous movement from the very start.

And with Han Li’s rich experience in dispersing Nascent Souls, he was also quite proficient in trapping them.

He simply sneered in contempt when he saw the soul’s attempt to escape.

Golden lightning began to spark from the large azure hand and five bolts of thunder erupted from it, creating a large golden net to trap it.

Then, the Nascent Soul’s body blurred, only to run headfirst in the net of lightning.

A large explosion sounded out. The golden lightning had dispersed a majority of the black Qi protecting the Nascent Soul’s body.

As for the soul itself, its body began to tremble as if it were on the verge of collapse.

The large azure hand then swiftly grabbed a hold of the soul and brought it back to Han Li.

He glanced at the terrified being and smiled. 

“It’s him?” When Gui Ling saw the Nascent Soul, a trace of surprise appeared on her face.

Although it had no body, its face clearly belonged to one of the two old Yin Sifting Sect Elders. He had lost his body at some point and his Nascent Soul had remained hidden behind the huge boulder ever since.

With a terror-struck face, the soul pleaded, “We have no grudge between us, Fellow Daoist Han. I had no hand in pursuing you!”

Han Li chuckled with a calm expression, “Why are you so scared? When did I say I was going to attack you? I only want to ask you what happened outside the hall. And you should’ve also seen two women leaving the hall along with two other demons.”

The Nascent Soul felt relief at his calm attitude and he quickly answered, “Not long after you entered the hall, the Ye Clan cultivators had suddenly arrived with the Ye Clan Grand Elder amongst them. When they saw us, they immediately attacked, and we had no choice but to fight under Fellow Daoist Xu’s command. We were able to defend ourselves well enough, but then, the Devil Suppressing Pagoda suddenly began to quake and a majority of the mountain on that side sank as if it was entering the heart of the mountain. Furthermore...” The Nascent Soul paused for a moment, but when Han Li’s cold gaze pierced it, its heart trembled and it hastily continued, “F-furthermore... a light suddenly flew out from the pagoda, followed by loud Buddhist chants that we could all clearly hear. Someone had yelled that it was a sign that a Divine Spirit Treasure had arrived and soon after, they all gave up on the battle and flew in its direction.  The Immortal Form Sect Elders and the two demons had emerged just as this occurred and traveled in the same direction. As for me, I had remained behind to inform the Grand Elder of this matter.

“A Divine Spirit Treasure truly appeared?” Han Li exclaimed.

“I don’t know if it truly is a Divine Spirit Treasure, but changes in the sky to the likes of this couldn’t be produced from an ordinary treasure. But since Fellow Daoist Xu and the Ye Clan Grand Elder chased after it without another thought, it should be true.”

“And how did you die?”

The Nascent Soul gritted its teeth, “That wretch Scatterwind had snuck up on me and used a crimson saber to strike down my body. The saber had completely absorbed my blood essence with the attack. If I hadn’t resolved myself to abandon my body early, I fear my Nascent Soul wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

Han Li raised his brow and doubtfully asked, “What blade could be so powerful?”

The Nascent Soul paused for a moment before replying, “I’m not sure. It was the first time I had seen such a treasure. However, its appearance strongly resembled that of the Devil Dragon Blade of legend, although its color was quite amiss. But if it was a true Devil Dragon Blade, how could I have the opportunity to flee?”

The Devil Dragon Blade! Han Li’s expression changed at the mention of it.