A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

”Hehe, you think you can disable the technique? If it were that easy to escape the technique’s clutches, then it wouldn’t have been listed as a restricted technique. Once you begin cultivating this secret technique, stopping halfway is not an option. At your current level, if you don’t reach the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique within 10,000 years, your mind will be unable to contain your enormous spiritual sense, and you’ll die from self-detonation. Under those circumstances, your fate will be sealed, even if you possess someone else in advance,” the man chuckled coldly.

”At least I still have 10,000 years to find a solution. Come to think of it, aren’t there only three stages in total to the Spirit Refinement Technique?” Han Li asked.

He naturally wasn’t just going to blindly believe everything that was being told to him, and he immediately identified something suspicious.

The man faltered slightly upon hearing this before suddenly arriving at a realization. ”Who told you that the Spirit Refinement Technique only has three stages? Ah, I see, you must’ve only obtained the first half of the Spirit Refinement Technique’s cultivation method. There are actually seven stages in total; you’ve only mastered the first two stages, so you still have a long way to go.”

”Thank you for telling me this, but would you happen to have the cultivation method for the second half?” Han Li asked.

”The Spirit Refinement Technique isn’t exactly a rare cultivation art in the True Immortal Realm, but it’s definitely not very commonplace, either. On top of that, trading and teaching the cultivation art is strictly prohibited, and I’m a patrolling envoy, so unfortunately, I do not have the second half of the secret technique. However, there’s no need to be too concerned; as long as you can master the third stage, you’ll have around 30,000 to 40,000 more years until you face the same crisis with your spiritual sense. With your aptitude, that should be more than enough time to ascend to the True Immortal Realm and find a solution there,” the man replied in a meaningful voice.

”You make it sound like a simple task to ascend to the True Immortal Realm. If that really were the case, there wouldn’t be so many fellow daoists stuck at the Grand Ascension Stage,” Han Li said with a wry smile.

”Haha, you seem to have forgotten that you’re speaking to a true immortal. If you receive my assistance, your chances of ascension will increase by at least 20%,” the man chuckled in response.

Han Li was silent for a moment before replying, ”I’m sure that I’ll indeed have a better chance of ascending with your guidance, but surely you didn’t summon me here just to help me, Senior.”

”You’re a smart man. Indeed, if you were useless to me, I would’ve still helped you kill that Stemborer Queen, but I definitely wouldn’t have gone out of my way to teleport you here. I’ve done this because I want you to help me with something, and in exchange, I’ll provide you with the methods to master the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique as quickly as possible, as well as to transcend your immortal tribulation, what do you think?” the man proposed in a straightforward manner.

Han Li wasn’t surprised to hear this, and he asked in a calm manner, ”Wouldn’t a Sacred Ancestor like Fellow Daoist Bao Hua be more suited to assist you? Why does it have to be me?”

”Hehe, if any ordinary lower realm Grand Ascension Stage being could be of assistance to me, then I wouldn’t have been trapped here for so many years,” the man chuckled.

”So what exactly is it that makes me special?” Han Li asked with a solemn expression.

”I took an interest in you precisely because you’ve cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique. Even if there were another lower realm Grand Ascension Stage being that was several times more powerful than you, they still wouldn’t be of any help to me,” the man explained.

Han Li was rather perplexed upon hearing this. ”You’re interested in me because I’ve cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique?”

”That’s right. I haven’t described my situation to you yet, but I’m sure you’ve arrived at some conclusions based on what you can see here,” the man sighed.

”I’ll have to ask you to enlighten me, Senior. Is it the case that the Stemborer Queen we just killed no longer contained its original soul? Of course, if this concerns some sensitive information, then you don’t have to tell me,” Han Li inquired in a cautious manner after a brief pause.

”I’d rather not reminisce about those past events, but it can’t hurt to tell you what happened. Back then, the Stemborer Queen was wreaking havoc on the lower realms, and after this was brought to the attention of the immortal envoys of our True Immortal Realm, I was sent down with another patrolling envoy to eradicate it together. It’s quite difficult for immortals like us to descend into lower realms, but we were able to do so through some special methods...” Thus, the man began his recount.

It was an extremely rare opportunity even for a Grand Ascension Stage being to hear the experiences of a true immortal, so Han Li was naturally listening very intently.

”Right as we were about to kill the Stemborer Queen, a massive spatial storm suddenly erupted in an extremely untimely fashion, impacting all of the realms, and as a result, we were severely debilitated by the power of realms that we had kept in check using treasures and secret techniques. As a result, the tables were immediately turned, and we were almost devoured by the Stemborer Queen. In the end, we had no choice but to use an immortal secret technique to self-detonate and severely wound the Stemborer Queen.

”After that, we were no longer able to kill the Stemborer Queen, and we could only possess a pair of high-grade devilish beings, then build this massive seal before issuing instructions for this seal to be maintained in the future. Following the spatial storm, we discovered that we had lost all contact with the True Immortal Realm and were unable to go back using the original method. Thus, we posed as Grand Ascension Stage devilish beings and explored some of the more renowned lower realms. During this process, we discovered that spatial storm had affected all realms, causing the power of the boundaries between realms to be increased by close to tenfold, so we were unable to find a way to return to the True Immortal Realm.

”Thus, we could only return to this place and set up this small formation that our souls could reside and hibernate in. At the time, we could only hope that some of our good friends in the True Immortal Realm would think of us and try to descend into this realm to save us. We awakened roughly once every millennium, but we were met with disappointment every time. As time passed, my companion began to fall into despair, and we had a few arguments, following which she suddenly restricted me and sealed my soul within this bowl.”

A hint of fury crept into the man’s voice as he spoke.

”After that, she took the Clear Jade Lamps that were maintaining our souls and sought out the sealed Stemborer Queen. As for what happened after that, I’m sure you could already tell after witnessing that Stemborer Queen. If I hadn’t had the foresight to save a Clear Jade Lamp for myself, my soul would’ve already dissipated countless years ago. As for why she did that, I presume she wanted to attain a True Extreme Body by borrowing the Stemborer Queen’s body, then attempt to force her way through the power of realms and return to the True Immortal Realm. Of course, perhaps she had some other intentions as well, but that’s beyond my knowledge,” the man sighed.

”So that’s why you’ve been trapped here this entire time. Are you recruiting my assistance to help you break free from this bowl, Senior?” Han Li asked in a calm manner even as countless thoughts were racing through his mind.

”Hehe, during all these past years, I’ve already undone the seal in this Black Sandalwood Bowl and regained most of my freedom. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to assist you two just now. What I need you to do is to use your powerful spiritual sense to help me activate a talisman. Once the talisman is activated, it’ll be able to send a message to a good friend of mine in the True Immortal Realm. I’m sure that with our close friendship, he’d definitely do everything in his power to rescue me,” the man said in a solemn manner.

”You have a talisman that can directly contact the True Immortal Realm?” Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.

”Ordinary talismans naturally wouldn’t be capable of this, but this talisman of mine was created by a renowned immortal lord of the True Immortal Realm, and there are very few of them in existence. On top of that, the average low-grade immortal wouldn’t possess sufficient spiritual sense to activate this talisman, which is why I’m turning to you now, Fellow Daoist Han,” the man said in a resigned voice.

”So you’re saying that with the enhancement from the Spirit Refinement Technique, my spiritual sense will be powerful enough to activate this talisman?” Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

”Your spiritual sense is several times more powerful than other beings of the same cultivation base, but it’s still lacking compared to my spiritual sense back when I was in my prime. Only after you master the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique will there be a chance for you to achieve this,” the man replied.