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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Han Li didn't waste any more time upon hearing this, and he accepted the black box before sweeping his spiritual sense toward it.

Even though restriction talismans had been plastered over the box, they weren't enough to completely obstruct his spiritual sense, and he still sensed something within the box.

"Hmm?" Han Li cast his gaze toward the Crystal woman with a hint of surprise on his face.

"Looks like you really do know some things," Han Li said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm working off a lot of assumptions as well, so I certainly can't say that I know everything. Why don't you open the box to see if the item inside interests you? This is not a good place to talk; let's go elsewhere first," the woman said with a smile.

She then flipped a hand over, and a formation plate appeared over her palm. She glanced at the entrance of the shop before making a hand seal and chanting something, then pointing a finger toward the formation plate. 

Brilliant light instantly flashed from the formation plate, following which a vast expanse of five-colored light swept forth in all directions, enshrouding Han Li and the woman within.

Han Li raised an eyebrow at the sight of this sudden development. He could sense powerful spatial fluctuations from within the five-colored light, but he remained still on the spot and made no attempt to evade.

The light swirled around Han Li before forming a five-colored light formation, and Han Li felt his surroundings abruptly blur before he found himself within a murky grey space.

The space was extremely small; only just over 100 feet in size, and there was nothing in it aside from a table and a pair of chairs.

At this moment, Han Li was standing atop a teleportation formation that was shimmering with five-colored light alongside the woman. 

"This is a small spatial rift that I had someone open up for me. There won't be any danger of our conversation being eavesdropped on here. Of course, with your powers, even without the teleportation plate, it would be a simple task to force your way back to the original space," the Crystal woman explained with an elegant smile.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the spatial walls around them to find that this space was indeed quite secure, and he nodded in a content manner before sweeping a sleeve over the black box in his hand.

A swath of azure light immediately flashed past, and the two talismans detached themselves from the box while the lid was flung open.

A burst of black Qi immediately swept forth from within, swirling around the box before attempting to spread into the surrounding area.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated that this would happen well in advance. He merely opened his mouth in a composed manner to expel a swath of golden light, and as soon as the black Qi was swept up by this light, it transformed into a black pillar of mist that was sucked straight into Han Li's stomach.

"What pure devilish Qi!" The golden light around Han Li's body intensified in brightness as if it had been enhanced by the devilish Qi he'd just swallowed.

This black Qi was devilish Qi of an extremely high degree of purity, and for a cultivator like Han Li, who was using the Provenance True Devil Arts, he was able to convert this devilish Qi into magic power as long as he didn't ingest too much of it at once.

A hint of astonishment flashed through the Crystal woman's eyes upon seeing this.

She was well aware of just how powerful the devilish Qi emanating from the item in the box was, and every time she opened the box, she would have to make extensive preparations beforehand.

Otherwise, if the devilish Qi were to infiltrate her body, her cultivation base would be significantly damaged, and under worst-case scenarios, she could even die.

At this moment, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the box, and a black object flew out from within before landing in his grasp.

This was a suit of purple armor that was around half a foot in size. Not only was it extremely sinister in appearance, there were several spikes protruding from the shoulder and knee sections of the armor. On top of that, its entire surface was filled with black patterns, and it was emanating immensely powerful devilish Qi.

This was a suit of armor that had undergone devilfication.

However, there was a large hole on the chest of the suit of armor, and the surrounding area was riddled with cracks, clearly indicating that it had been severely damaged.

Han Li stared at the suit of armor in his hand with a peculiar look on his face.

With his mastery of the Provenance True Devil Arts, he could naturally sense that this suit of devilish armor contained incredible power. This was definitely the most powerful suit of armor he had ever seen, and this was even after it had sustained such severe damage. If it could be fully repaired, it would truly be an unfathomably powerful suit of armor.

With that in mind, Han Li's eyes began to shimmer with intrigue as he appraised the suit of armor.

"This suit of devilish armor is something I just so happened to come across, and in the beginning, I didn't know what it was, either. However, after verification from many sources, I learned that this is a legendary suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor. It appears that this is a suit of armor manifested by an extremely powerful Heavenly Devilish Monarch. However, from the extensive damage suffered by the suit of armor, it's most likely the case that its former owner has already perished. Now, the suit of armor is most likely not even a tenth as powerful as it once was. However, if it were to be repaired, it should be able to recover around 20% to 30% of its former power," the Crystal woman said with a smile.

"A Heavenly Devilish Monarch? Those are devilish beings that are close to true spirit beings; it's no wonder that this suit of armor is imbued with such pure devilish Qi. It's quite extraordinary that you were able to find something like this," Han Li said in a solemn manner.

He then suddenly tossed the miniature suit of armor into the air before casting a golden incantation seal onto it.

The golden light disappeared into the purple suit of armor in a flash, following which it expanded to several times its original size. At the same time, the devilish Qi emanating from it also became more powerful, and it began to sweep through the surrounding area.

The Crystal woman's expression changed slightly at the sight of the black Qi surging toward her, and she abruptly raised a hand to send several white talismans flying through the air. The talismans then exploded to form a white light barrier than shielded her within.

A strange sizzling sound rang out as the devilish Qi made contact with the light barrier, but it was kept at bay in the end.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He abruptly made a hand seal, and brilliant golden light erupted from his body as golden halo emerged above his head, within which a projection with three heads and six arms gradually surfaced.

The three heads of the projection were chanting in unison while the six arms pointed a finger each at the suit of devilish armor at the same time.

Six pillars of golden light immediately surged forth, all of which struck the suit of purple armor.

An astonishing scene then ensued. 

After being struck by the golden light, the suit of purple devilish armor rotated on the spot and disappeared.

In the next instant, black Qi swirled around the golden projection, and the purple armor somehow ended up on the projection's body.

In the instant that the projection donned the suit of armor, its aura swelled to several times its original power. At the same time, black Qi surged forth from its body, completely inundating the projection under a vast expanse of devilish Qi.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this. From this, he was able to deduce that the suit of armor hadn't lost all of its spiritual nature, and was thus able to be used by his Provenance True Devil Arts.

It was no wonder that this was the case. After all, the Provenance True Devil Arts was a mysterious devilish cultivation art that originated from the Elder Devil Realm in the first place. Even though elder devils were vastly different from Heavenly Devilish Monarchs, both drew on true devilish Qi as their essential source of power.

Of course, if the suit of armor were completely unscathed with its spiritual nature fully intact or if its owner were still alive, then it would be close to impossible for him to take it for himself.

Han Li nodded with a wistful expression as he said, "This suit of armor does indeed suit me very well, but it's a pity that it's already been damaged. Otherwise..."

The woman was quite stunned by the sight of the golden projection that Han Li had conjured up, but her expression remained calm as she replied, "If this suit of armor hadn't been damaged, then it most likely wouldn't have fallen into my hands. However, if you're willing to pay the price, then I have a way to repair it. At the very least, the suit of armor will be able to recover 20% to 30% of its former power."

"You can repair this suit of armor? Oh, I almost forgot that you were a Crystal being, so repairing this armor certainly wouldn't be beyond your capabilities. What's this price that you're referring to? Also, how much do you plan to sell this suit of armor to me for?" Han Li asked with a smile.

Following a brief pause for contemplation, the woman replied, "This item should be a priceless treasure, but it's a pity that it's a suit of devilish armor, so it can't be used by anyone who's not a devilish cultivator. Unfortunately, devilish cultivators have always been quite rare on Thunder Continent, and it's the first time I've ever seen a devilish cultivator of your cultivation base. Otherwise, this armor would've most likely have been sold already. How about this? If you have any precious materials, ingredients, pills, or medicines, bring them all out and thrown in a few top-grade spirit stones as well. If your offer is satisfactory, I can consider selling the armor to you."

"It's that simple?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear her answer.

The conditions she was proposing were far too simple considering what was being offered in exchange.

The woman merely smiled and provided no response.

"Can you tell me how you're going to repair this suit of armor first?" Instead of immediately accepting the offer, Han Li suddenly changed the subject.

A slightly hesitant look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, but she heaved a faint sigh in the end, and replied, "Repairing the armor is actually quite simple. As long as you have sufficient devilish cores, I'll be able to easily repair it."

"Devilish cores? What are those?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows. This was the first time that he had heard of such a thing.

"Devilish cores are the inner cores of high-grade devilish beasts. If we want to repair this suit of armor, it would at least require hundreds of devilish cores, all of which would have to be from upper race devilish beasts. One of those devilish cores will act as the main material to repair the armor, and the higher the grade of that core, the better. Ideally, we'd use the inner core of a holy-grade devilish beast to serve that purpose," the woman said with a solemn look on her face.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist! Where am I going to find so many high-grade devilish cores? And you're asking me to secure the inner core of a holy-grade devilish beast as well? Why does it feel like repairing this suit of armor will cost far more than what it takes to purchase it? You're not swindling me for an ulterior motive, are you?" Han Li asked with a cold expression.

The Crystal woman seemed to have anticipated Han Li's reaction, and her expression remained calm as she said, "You're wrongfully accusing me here, Senior. The enhancement the suit of armor will receive after being repaired is almost entirely dependent on the devilish core that is to be used as the main material. I can still repair it using devilish cores of a lower caliber, but the effect will be severely lackluster in comparison. If we were to use a holy-grade devilish core as the main material, the enhancement effect would at least be increased by twofold to threefold compared to if a lower grade devilish core were to be used. If you want the best, then you naturally have to pay a high price. I have two avenues through which you can potentially secure a holy-grade devilish core, and I can disclose both of them to you if you're interested."

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