A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

NEW NOVEL: First and foremost, I'm delighted to announce that our long-time veteran translator littleshanks has finally launched his new novel, Rise!  Rise is a novel about the esports scene in Shanghai, the competitive gaming capital of China. It follows the story of Lin Feng, a boy who has just moved to the city for his last year of high school. He's a passionate gamer and dreams of being the best professional League of Legends player in the world. The twist? He almost achieved his dream, but failed at the...

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“Amuse myself with you? Over a trifling grade-six demon core?” Han Li raised his brow and wore a mysterious smile.

“Humph, if it were the core of a common grade-six demon, it wouldn’t be worthy of our attention, but the demon core of a Lightning whale is an exception. Furthermore, you discredited Brother Fan’s demon core as soon as you appeared. I feel this deserves some consideration.” The cultivator surnamed Sun finally broke his silence with a cold tone. He was an old man with a fierce expression.

Han Li chuckled and calmly said, “You took a long time before you managed to kill that Thunder Whale. It had exhausted most of its demonic power before you managed to kill it. Unless its demon core had its power replenished, it doesn’t have much intrinsic quality. It seems you two haven’t killed many high-grade demon beasts, otherwise you would have known about this.”

When he heard this, Cultivator Fan and Sun exchanged a glance. They couldn't help but wear a hesitant expression.

The white-haired old man cautiously said, “Even if the matter about the demon core is true, why have you come here? Fellow Daoist Fan clearly used an illusion technique to conceal this place. Has your esteemed self come here specifically for us?”

“A trifling illusion formation is beneath my notice. As for you, this is the first time I’ve come to this sea, so there is no way I came for you specifically. My mood is quite good today, so I’ve been polite. But if you ask any more questions, I won’t be interested in answering them. My previous conditions still remain. Are you willing to trade a map with me? I don’t plan on staying here any longer.” When Han Li finished speaking, his face stiffened.

Han Li’s tone wasn’t loud, but it heavily shook the hearts of the cultivators in the pavilion.

When they realized Han Li was such a mysterious character, his bold tone inspired fear in them and none of them replied. The beautiful green-clothed woman examined Han Li for a moment before suddenly asking, “From your tone, it seems you aren’t a cultivator from our Five Dragon Seas. Did your esteemed self come from the Great Jin? Do you know Senior Xiang?”

“You know Fellow Daoist Xiang?” Han Li stared at the woman and narrowed his eyes. He did feel somewhat surprised.

When she heard this, an odd look appeared in her eye. She stood up, curtsied to him, and spoke to him with a most respectful tone, “Senior Xiang has visited my island for a time. He had given me cultivation guidance that has greatly benefited me. If you two are acquainted with each other, could you also be a Deity Transformation-stage Senior?”

“A Deity Transformation-stage cultivator?”

The others that heard this, each jumped up in a start.

Cultivator Fan and the harsh old man both wore a trace of terror from the words they said before.

Han Li seemingly ignored the action of the other cultivators. Rather, he turned his attention to the woman and frowned, “Since you’ve recognized this, I won’t keep it hidden. When did you last see Fellow Daoist Xiang?”

The woman smiled and answered, “This junior had last seen him two hundred years ago. I had yet to condense my Nascent Soul. If it weren’t for his guidance, I fear I would still be lingering at Core Formation stage.”

Two hundred years ago was around when Xiang Zhili and the others discovered the spatial node. 

Han Li’s thoughts quickly churned and in the blink of an eye, he determined her words to be true. With an eased expression, he said, “Since you know Fellow Daoist Xiang, that is good. Take this demon core and give me a map.”

Han Li raised his hand and tossed the rare demon core in his hand over to her.

In her joy, the woman raised her arm and summoned the core into her hand. She bowed in thanks and immediately took out a faint green jade slip before sending it over to Han Li.

Han Li caught it and promptly read through it with his spiritual sense. After he compared it with the information Xiang Zhili left behind, he instantly found the location of the spatial node. It wasn’t too far from this place. He should arrive within a month’s time.

“Very good,” he nodded with satisfaction. Then using a tone of unquestionable authority, he commanded, “Now, I have a few questions for you. Listen well.”

As of current, he has achieved the highest state of existence in the mortal realm. There was nothing in this world that scared him apart from an encroaching lifespan.

The green-robed woman naturally agreed.

In the following moments, his mouth moved, but he seemingly uttered not a word. The woman’s beautiful eyes quickly stirred, and when Han Li ceased his voice transmissions, she immediately responded to them in kind.

When Han Li heard this, he stroked his chin and lowered his head in contemplation.

The other cultivators didn’t dare to even breathe in this stifling atmosphere and remained still in place. They feared if they disturbed this Deity Transformation-stage senior, they would be provoking a huge problem.

As if something came to mind, Han Li raised his head and chuckled, “I have things to attend to, so I’ll be taking my leave. Go ahead and continue.” Then, he waved his sleeve and in a flash of azure light, he suddenly disappeared.

Once Han Li vanished, the cultivators remained motionless, still in awe of Han Li’s presence. Eventually, the cultivators let out a huge sigh and looked at the Thunder Whale’s demon core in the woman’s hand with envy.

It was rather good luck to be able to acquire a Thunder Whale’s demon core with a map and a few words.

The green-robed woman noticed their gazes and calmly put away the demon core. Then with a chuckle, she said, “Fellow Daoists, since the Senior has departed, let us continue!”

The scholarly man let out a sigh and wore a wry smile, “Fairy Bi, there is no need to hurry! Rather, I didn’t think that you had previously befriended a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. It seems we’ve been disrespectful!”

The woman shook her head and answered with a faint smile, “That was something that happened long ago when I was still a Core Formation cultivator. How could I dare say I befriended him. Senior Xiang had only given me a few pointers at the time.”

“Even if it was only a few pointers, you had something of a relationship to a Deity Transformation cultivator. It is something that people could only dream of.” Cultivator Fan spoke with a tone of admiration, but then he frowned and bewilderedly asked, “But oddly enough, why would these pinnacle existences from the Great Jin come to our Five Dragon Seas? Could it be that something great has occurred?”

The old man chuckled and said, “That is possible. However, since a Deity Transformation cultivators are involving themselves, how would we hope to participate. If we’re not careful, they could end us with a flip of their hand. It’d be best not to make any careless inquiries. If we were to anger a Deity Transformation cultivator, hehe.”

When that was said, the others’ expressions changed and they nodded.

As for what they truly thought, only the heavens could know.

As these cultivators made guesses about Han Li’s objective, he had already flown thousands of kilometers away in an azure streak.

The green-robed woman’s answers had given him a rough understanding of the Five Dragon Seas. There were no Deity Transformation-stage cultivators in the area, so the last of his worries were extinguished.

With Han Li’s current cultivation, he could fly at inconceivable speeds if he were to use all his power but that would stir up the worldly essence Qi and cause his lifespan to slowly decrease. As such, Han Li flew an ordinary speed rather than hurrying.

A month later, He arrived in front of a foggy sea area without any complications.

He looked at the white mist in front of him and he frowned, deciding to fly into it without any hesitation.

After flying through it for almost two hours, he came to a sudden stop.

He looked around him and held his hands in an incantation gesture and raised them, uttering “Break”.

Two dense bolts of lightning flashed and struck at the air, releasing resounding booms of thunder. The nearby mist warped and twisted before eventually scattering and releasing a clear area several kilometers wide.

There was a small island below him with a few buildings on it.

When Han Li saw this, joy lit up on his face and he muttered, “Old Eccentric Xiang and the others weren’t lying. They clearly left behind disciples to watch over the spatial node. If I had taken another two hundred years of time, there might’ve not been anyone here.”

As he was talking to himself, three streaks of light flew up from the small mountain and directly towards Han Li.

Han Li remained calm, waiting in the air with his hands held behind his back.

The light faded away to reveal three middle-aged cultivators, one woman and two men.

They were all at Core Formation-stage.

The three took a look at Han Li’s face and they all greeted him with a smile.

“We pay our respects to Senior Han! Under orders of Martial Ancestor Xiang, we’ve been awaiting your arrival for a long time!”

“You are disciples of Fellow Daoist Xiang? You’ve seen me before?” Han Li’s expression stirred.

“We are indeed his disciples. Our master left behind a portrait of your likeness. That is how we recognized you.” One of them respectfully answered.

Han Li nodded and smiled, “Yes, these past years must’ve been hard on you. I won’t treat you unfairly. In the future, I’ll have my own disciples guard this place on your behalf. You don’t need to be trapped here.”

When the three heard this, they were overjoyed. They soon invited Han Li down to a building below, but Han Li shook his head, wanting to first take a look at the spatial node.

The three immediately agreed and brought him off to the side of the island.

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