A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

”May I ask how much the trade guild knows about the ancient altars on this continent?” Han Li suddenly asked.

The monk was rather taken aback to hear this. ”How much we know? What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist?”

”I’m asking about how many altars your trade guild knows the location of,” Han Li clarified.

”I’m not sure about other continents, but here on the Blood Sky Continent, we should have a grasp on the location of around 70% to 80% of all ancient altars. Are you interested in these things, Brother Han?” the monk asked.

It was no wonder that he found this to be strange; these ancient altars were generally defunct, so they were largely useless to Grand Ascension Stage beings like them.

”I’ll have to put more consideration into whether I want to join the trade guild as this isn’t a decision to be made lightly. However, I can agree to participate in the match, but aside from the compensation you just mentioned, I have another condition,” Han Li said.

”What is it?” A hint of caution appeared in the monk’s eyes upon hearing this.

”I wish to be able to make use of your guild’s information-gathering avenues during my time on the Blood Sky Continent so I can access the information I want as quickly as possible. As for the information about the ancient altars, I would like a detailed distribution map right away,” Han Li replied.

The monk’s expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in agreement. ”That’s not an issue; I agree to your request. As for the ancient altars, I’ll get someone to deliver a distribution map to you immediately after you leave this space.”

”Good. As long as your trade guild keeps its promise, I’ll be sure to attend the match in three years,” Han Li assured with a smile.

”I have no reasons not to trust a promise from a man of your status. Here is a token; please keep it safe. When the match is about to begin, it’ll notify everyone, and when that time comes, just go to any subsidiary site of our guild, and you’ll be taken to the entrance of the small world,” the monk said as he flipped a hand over to produce a formation plate.

”Alright, I’ll see you and the other fellow daoists on the cusp of the match then.” Han Li stowed the formation plate into his storage bracelet as he spoke.

After that, the monk told him about some precautionary aspects of the match, then gave him an even more detailed map of the Blood Sky Continent before finally releasing him out of this space.

All of a sudden, Han Li re-emerged in the outside world, enshrouded within a ball of crimson light.

”Master Han!”

”Senior Han!”

Everyone hurriedly greeted him with respectful salutes.

”Sorry to make you worry,” Han Li said to his entourage with a faint smile.

At this point, the woman from the trade guild had already received instructions from Bi Ying, and she said in a respectful manner, ”Senior Han, I’ve already sent out a message requesting the information that you want; it should arrive soon, so please wait here for now.”

”I’ve already stayed here for quite some time; it’s not like waiting a bit longer will make any difference,” Han Li replied in a calm voice.

The woman didn’t dare to say anything further, and she extended a respectful bow before rolling up the scroll that Han Li had just emerged from, then stood off to the side in silence.

Fang Jin also remained silent as he stood still on the spot with a respectful expression.

Only after more than two hours had passed did a streak of crimson light appear in the distant sky, then approached everyone at an incredible speed, arriving on the scene after just a few flashes.

The woman made a hand seal before raising a hand upward, and the streak of crimson light immediately descended as a crimson flying sword, attached to which was a yellow jade slip.

”This is the information about the ancient altars that you requested, Senior Han.” The woman removed the jade slip from the sword before hurriedly handing it over to Han Li.

Han Li accepted the jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face.

”This is indeed a very detailed distribution map. It’s getting late, so it’s about time we set off now.”

Han Li stowed the jade slip away, then raised a hand to release a ball of black light, which instantly transformed into the mountainous Inkspirit Holy Ark.

Fang Jin and the woman were both quite startled by the sudden emergence of such an enormous object, while Han Li and the others flew onto the ark, following which it quickly sped away as a streak of black light.

In the blink of an eye, Fang Jin and the woman were the only two people remaining on the scene.

Right as the giant ark disappeared into the distant sky, the woman suddenly turned to Fang Jin before extending a respectful bow.

”Master Bi Ying, it looks like Senior Han has already agreed to represent our guild. In that case, our chances of securing victory will be bolstered even further.”

”Hehe, Fellow Daoist Han does indeed possess incredible powers, but against a Monarch of the Netherworld, his chances of victory are only around 50%. Having said that, our trade guild won’t be able to find any better representative during the next three years. I just hope that not all of the Infernal Realm’s representatives will be Monarchs of the Netherworld,” Fang Jin replied with a smile, then suddenly grew drastically taller as he transformed into a green-robed elderly man with a pair of murky eyes.

This Fang Jin was actually none other than Bi Ying in disguise.

He was somehow able to disguise himself and even restrict his own cultivation base to the Body Integration Stage, but it was unclear whether Han Li had been fooled.

......

”What did the trade guild want from you, Senior Han? It’s not going to affect the objective of our trip, is it?” the blood soul asked with a hint of concern in her eyes.

”Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, the He Lian Trade Guild is only asking for a small favor from me, and it won’t affect our original plan at all,” Han Li replied with a smile.

The blood soul’s expression eased slightly upon hearing this. ”That’s good to hear.”

All of a sudden, Han Li flicked his wrist, and said, ”Fairy Tian, you can show yourself now, and please keep my conversation with Fellow Daoist Bi Ying a secret.”

”Hehe, rest assured, Brother Han, I’m more than capable of keeping a secret. In any case, it’s just a small world, and that’s not enough to tempt our dragon race. If our dragon race wanted a small world, we could obtain any number of small worlds at any time we want. I swear on my inner vows that I won’t disclose this to anyone.”

As soon as this voice trailed off, green light flashed from Han Li’s wrist, and an elegant figure emerged before everyone.

She wore a long green robe and had skin as fair as snow, creating a stark contrast with her long black hair.

Her facial features were very beautiful, and she would be completely identical to a human beauty if not for the pair of short green horns sticking out of her hair.

This was the true form of Tian Fei’er.

The blood soul and the others were all given a fright upon seeing this, but judging from Han Li’s words, they knew that this wasn’t an enemy, so they didn’t immediately lash out despite their surprise.

”Considering how wealthy the dragon race is, I’m sure you wouldn’t revoke an inner demon vow over something like this,” Han Li replied with a nod, seemingly in full trust of the woman.

”It was all thanks to you that I was able to escape from the He Lian Trade Guild, and I’ll be sure to repay you during the Dao Fruit Convention, Brother Han. I’ll be leaving this realm and returning to my race now,” Tian Fei’er said with a smile before taking her leave.

Han Li naturally wasn’t going to try and keep her, and after exchanging some parting words, Tian Fei’er sped away toward a certain direction as a ball of azure light.

As for how she was going to leave the Spirit Realm, that wasn’t something for Han Li to be concerned about.

”Let’s go, the distribution map indicates that there seems to be an ancient altar just nearby; let’s take a look at that one first,” Han Li said after Tian Fei’er had faded into the distance.

Patriarch Hua Shi immediately gave an affirmative response, then controlled the puppets piloting the giant ark to change directions slightly before accelerating toward the nearest altar.

”Fellow Daoist Blood Soul, please come with me to the hall; I have something to discuss with you,” Han Li instructed.

The blood soul wasn’t surprised to hear this, and she immediately did as she was told.

Moments later, the two of them arrived in the hall, and Han Li took a seat while the blood soul remained standing.

”What are your plans now that we’ve arrived on the Blood Sky Continent, Fellow Daoist? Our agreement was that I would protect you if you encountered any powerful enemies, but it’ll be up to you to find and recover your true body,” Han Li said in a calm manner.

”I’ve already decided that I’ll be going to Blood Crane City, which was where I previously discovered some leads in the form of a mark left behind by my true body. Unfortunately, I was being pursued by enemies at the time, so I didn’t get a chance to thoroughly inspect the nearby area and could only flee back to the Tian Yuan Continent. I’m sure that if I were given sufficient time, I’ll be able to find more leads,” the blood soul replied.

”Blood Crane City? Let me check the location of that city,” Han Li said as he flipped a hand over to produce the jade slip containing a map of the continent, then injected his spiritual sense into it.

”It’s quite a distant location. If we don’t use any teleportation formations, it’ll most likely take half a year to fly to the city. The good thing is that there are many ancient altars along the way, so it won’t hamper my progress. However, I’ll have to examine all of the nearby ancient altars on the way there, and that will result in some delays,” Han Li said.

The blood soul was ecstatic to hear this, and she hurriedly extended a deep bow as she said, ”Of course, it’s only right that you prioritize what you’re doing above my quest. By the way, Blood Crow City is part of the territory of the Blood Dao sect that I made an enemy of, so we’ll have to be careful once we get there.”