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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“I don’t have much strength. How could I use such a heavy weapon?” Han Li withdrew his gaze and shook his head.

“Then how about this crescent sword? It is refined from pure copper. Not only is it light, but it is also quite durable. It is a rare high-quality flexible sword.”

“It is too short for me. It’d be inconvenient to use.” Han Li rejected it at a glance.

“Too short?” The shop attendant's smile froze as if he wasn’t sure how to reply.

Han Li took several steps to the side and pointed to an item on the table. “What is that over there? That looks interesting?” 

The item he pointed at was a soft pitch-black rope that was as thick as a thumb.

When the attendant saw this, he hurriedly explained, “That is the Young Dragon Rope. It is refined from metal threads and is specialized for binding. It can trap low-grade demon beasts of extraordinary strength with ease.”

“Let me take a look at it.”

Han Li took the item into his hand and shook it. Woosh. The black rope turned into a perfectly straight stick.

When the attendant saw this, his eyes widened.

He attended to countless customers for this weapon shop so he did possess some judgment. Those who can control rope to that degree can’t be ordinary. As he determined Han Li was most likely a body refiner, he couldn't help but wear an expression of respect.

Han Li waved it a few more times and frowned. “This is quite good, but it is still a bit too thick. Do you have anything thinner?” 

The attendant muttered to himself for a moment before answering with an embarrassed expression. “Something thinner... I’m afraid this store doesn’t have anything like that.” 

Then, a rough voice suddenly spoke from behind him, “Oh, you want something thinner? I have something like that. I can let you take a look, but the price won’t be cheap.”

Han Li’s expression stirred and he slowly turned around. There were two large men in leather robes standing behind them. One of them had a lofty stature and hair that reached down from his shoulders, giving him a dangerous aura. The other had a sickly complexion and had shriveled skin.

The larger man carried a long spear on his back and a huge bag as well. The shriveled man carried a meter-long wooden box in his hand and wore a mysterious expression.

Han Li’s face lit up when he saw that the two wore rings embedded with spirit stones, but these rings were much cruder than Zhan Kiu’s and their spirit stones were somewhat smaller as well. There were body refiners with spirit tools.

Having recognized who these people were, Han Li faintly smiled and said, “So long as the item is suitable, the price will be no matter.”

The shriveled man gave Han Li a probing glance and smiled, “Good, but let’s not talk here. Please follow me to a quiet place and we’ll continue there.”

“That will be no problem,” Han Li said with a nod. He then followed the two out of the shop.

The two appeared quite familiar with the area and soon arrived at an unremarkable alleyway after a few turns.

There was no one there and it was completely silent.

When the three stopped, the “This place will be fine. Little Brother Xin, take out the item for him to see.” 

“Of course, Big Brother Bao!” The large man readily agreed and grabbed the bag from his back, giving a big shake. 

Clangs sounded out as a large pile of items formed on the ground. There was an assortment of items from bottles to beast hides and horns.

The shriveled man bent down and took a palm-sized wood box into his hand.

“Take a look at this. This is an earth wyrm tendon that we acquired after killing it with a few other body refiners. Not only is it thin, but it is also incredibly durable and fully flexible. It is rather easy to withdraw and extend.”

“An earth wyrm?”

Han Li didn’t know what kind of demon beast this earth wyrm was, but it appeared to be a kind of low-grade demon beast. However, he didn’t reveal his confusion on his face when he opened the box.

He saw a thin yellow object tightly wrapped into a ball by a red rope.

Han Li bluntly tugged at the red rope and tore it to pieces.

With a pop, the ball of beast tendons flung out and shot at Han Li’s face.

Han Li raised his hand, but it appeared he was too slow. Nevertheless, he managed to grab an end of the tendons with his fingers and instantly turned it soft and limp with a twist of his fingers.

Then, Han Li brought it before his eyes and noticed it was six meters long.

When the shriveled man saw Han Li’s swift actions, he couldn't help but exchange a glance with the large man.

At that moment, Han Li was giving the wyrm tendon a thorough examination.

Having killed a myriad of low-grade demon beasts in the past, he was able to tell the characteristics of the tendon at a glance as well as how it could be used.

He fiddled with it a moment longer before shaking it with a single hand.

The tendon blurred as it twisted and danced through the air. Then, it coiled around his arm to form a faint yellow bracelet.

With that, he rolled his sleeve over it where it was well concealed.

Han Li looked at the two and said, “It isn’t bad. It truly is a rare material from a low-grade demon beast. Although this item isn’t very useful to cultivators and is most suitably used as a bowstring, it is quite useful towards me. So long as you aren’t too greedy, I’ll agree to your price.”

The shriveled man’s harsh face broke out in a smile and he chuckled, “It appears you really are a body refiner. In that case, we’ll settle the bill with spirit stones. I want thirty spirit stones for that tendon!”

“Thirty spirit stones? That’s a bit high, but I’ll pay it. Take it.”

From his conversation with Liu’er and the others, he learned that although gold and silver were still used as currency by mortals in the mortal realm, body refiners used spirit stones for notable transactions as they used large numbers of spirit stones in their spirit tools.

However, the low-grade spirit stones in the spirit realm weren’t nearly as large as those in the mortal realm.

Regardless of what the spirit stones were used for, mid and high grade spirit stones were treated with the most importance. After all, top-grade spirit stone veins were possible in this world due to the greater density of spiritual Qi, but most of them belonged to a few high-grade cultivators and superpowers.

Even so, thirty low-grade spirit stones was still a bit much for a minor material from a low-grade demon beast.

On the day Han Li hid all of his storage pouches and treasures in the desert, he hadn’t forgotten the significance of spirit stones in the spirit realm. For the sake of carefulness, he left behind a dozen mid-grade spirit stones on his body just in case.

Now, he reached into his robes and tossed a yellow spirit stone over to him.

The long-haired man took a step forward and caught it. After he looked at it, he nodded with satisfaction.

When the shriveled man saw this, he smiled and took out a small leather pouch. He poured out seventy spirit stones from it and used a beast hide on the ground to wrap them up before tossing it to Han Li.

The shriveled man chuckled and said, “Here is your change. Since you are so straightforward, how about we join together if there is a chance?”

“Perhaps there may be an opportunity in the future. But I am preoccupied for the time being, so I must take my leave.” Han Li saluted the two with a smile and calmly walked away.

When Han Li departed from the alley, the large man looked at the mid-grade spirit stone in his hand and took another look at the alley entrance. An ominous glint flashed from his eye and he softly said, “Big Brother Bao, his face is unfamiliar and he is quite wealthy. Should we...?”

The shriveled man’s face sank and he said, “Don’t think about it. Didn’t you see he wasn’t wearing any spirit tools? Body refiners who do this are either too poor, or they feel their cultivation is too high for normal spirit tools to be of assistance. Which one do you think he belongs to?”

The large man hesitated and doubtfully said, “This man can’t be poor since he was able to take out a mid-grade spirit stone, but why did he buy that wyrm tendon from us?”

The man surnamed Bao was silent for a moment before letting out a cold laugh, “Brother Xin, are you certain he bought the tendon to be used as a weapon? He might’ve bought it as material to create a particular spirit tool. Currently, An Yuan City is overflowing with body refiners from the outside. There is no lack of those possessing fearsome talent. Although we aren’t weak ourselves, it's best that we don’t risk it. After all, we only have one life.”

The shriveled man’s words seemed to calm down the large man surnamed Xin, but soon he wore an embarrassed expression and said, “Big Brother’s words are reasonable. I am being too greedy for spirit stones, but in the upcoming beast tide, if we don’t have low and mid-grade spirit stones to replenish our spirit tools, we’ll be put in danger.”

Having already thought of the matter, the shriveled man said, “What are you afraid of? The city lord will surely employ all the body refiners in the city to deal with the beast torrent. They’ll give us a sum of spirit stones of course. So long as we save enough, we’ll be able to preserve our lives.”

When the large man heard this, his spirits were roused. “That’s right. According to the agreement between the three sovereigns and the seven demon kings, cultivators at the Core Formation stage and above aren’t allowed to assist large cities in blocking beast torrents. If they wish to protect the city, who else do they have to rely on aside from us?”

The shriveled man sighed, “So long as you know. In truth, the agreement also stated that the beast torrent can’t have any demon beasts higher than grade five as well. It is hard to say who has more to gain from the agreement.”

The large man then remained silent in thought.

Not long after, the two put away the items on the ground and walked back to the main street where they disappeared into a sea of people.

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