A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

First, I want to thank everyone for their opinions and thoughts on how we should overhaul completed novels. We've reviewed nearly 2000 comments across multiple platforms and forum, and while we haven't responded to everything I can promise I HAVE read it all.  First, I'm going to briefly go into some of the things which were discussed which may or may not work, because I don't want people to think I ignored anything. I'm putting those in 'spoiler' tags so people who don't care can skip it.  Then, we'll talk...

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First, I want to thank everyone for their opinions and thoughts on how we should overhaul completed novels. We've reviewed nearly 2000 comments across multiple platforms and forum, and while we haven't responded to everything I can promise I HAVE read it all.  First, I'm going to briefly go into some of the things which were discussed which may or may not work, because I don't want people to think I ignored anything. I'm putting those in 'spoiler' tags so people who don't care can skip it.  Then, we'll talk...

Read More...

Now, for a much shorter announcement than the last two.  For several months now, we've been working on a super secret project, and it's time to accelerate it!  We have a new platform called Wutopia Comics (Wuxia Utopia) coming up soon, and everything is very nearly ready.  We are getting ready to launch soon, but we need to speed up the pace of manhua translation even further!  These are paid work-for-hire translation jobs, starting off at $40-50/3000 Chinese characters (roughly).  Those who do well and have...

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Chapter 305: Last Resort 

Since Han Li said as such, although the old man was filled with doubt, he could only return first.

Not long after, the second brother returned with an ashen face. As expected, he hadn’t managed to catch up to that Fifth Sister. Fortunately, Han Li’s words assured them that they did not have to worry about incurring Han Li’s wrath.

At the time, in an extremely remote alley within Yuejing, a slender figure staggered towards the south district; the faint moonlight revealed her to be the flustered “Fifth Sister”.

As she ran, she incessantly glanced behind her, as if she were afraid that someone would suddenly appear behind her.

Although this woman’s magic power had largely been suppressed by Han Li, her divine sense as a cultivator was still mostly there; upon discovering that nobody else appeared behind her, she finally became somewhat more relaxed in her heart.

Thankfully, when the youth let her go, he had slipped her a concealment talisman. This was the only reason why she could have escaped to here.

Not long after she had escaped, the woman discovered a tall thin man’s figure sweeping overhead. Fortunately, she had swiftly used the talisman, successfully dealing with the situation.

At this time, her Second Brother did not actually go chasing in another direction; instead, he had already returned to the Qin Residence. This was why she dared to run around in the alleys so boldly.

The place she was headed towards was one of the Black Fiend School’s secret strongholds in the south district. As long as she was able to precisely report Han Li’s location to her superiors, she will have contributed much to the sect! Thus, she would immediately be one step closer to her dream of entering the Foundation Establishment stage.

That year, when she and a few other Black Fiend School outer court disciples who had performed quite well saw that their mysterious school master’s divine methods allowed a Qi Condensation disciple to establish their foundation, they immediately chose to dedicate themselves to the Black Fiend School so that they could also have a similar fate. Once their contributions reached a certain level, they could also obtain the School Master’s favor and aid in entering Foundation Establishment.

As far as she knew, most outer court disciples willing to be ordered around by the Black Fiend School all had this intention in mind; thus, she never believed that she had made any mistakes in her decisions.

After all, based on her natural talent, she had pretty much reached the peak of her cultivation base. If she wanted to advance another layer, or even form her foundation, she had no other choice.

Although she felt some regret towards her sworn brothers and sisters, since she had embarked on this path, she could only cut off all her natural affection for them. If they were caught, whether they were used as blood servants or forced to follow orders once again depended on the intentions of her superiors. She did not intend to plead for mercy on their behalf; in the future, she would only live for herself and herself alone.

As she thought these vicious thoughts in her heart, she began to dream about entering Foundation Establishment; it seemed as if her footsteps also sped up significantly.

Although she was still quite a distance away, she finally saw the street opening to the south district. But just as she became excited and wanted to speed up her steps, she suddenly felt that there seemed to be something wet running down her nose. Baffled, she wiped it with her hand, but what she saw her make entire figure tremble. Her expression was one of fear and surprise.

Her five snow-white fingers were covered in a sticky, dark-red liquid.

“This is?”

Fifth Junior Sister panicked and attempted to wipe away the black blood under her nose, but at this time, the blood from her nose began to flood out as if a gate had been opened; in the blink of an eye, fresh blood began to flow out from even her eyes and ears.

The young woman could only feel her entire body losing strength. Once her legs softened, she directly fell towards the ground.

At this time, her entire body was incomparably cold; no warmth could be found near her heart. She wanted to call out for help, but her throat was incredibly dry and could not let out any sound.

Afterwards, her divine sense slowly began to fade. Not long after, she slipped into an eternal darkness.

The next sunrise, the mortals who bypassed this place would be surprised to find that a puddle of black, filthy blood had suddenly appeared, forcing them to take a detour. It incited quite a few harsh comments.

In the moment that the young woman had been killed, Han Li was in his room inspecting all of the magic tools and talismans he had, preparing to move out.

After nimbly cleaning up, Han Li glanced at the round moon outside his window; he revealed a somewhat lonely expression, then suddenly said to himself under his breath:

“It should be about now...the poison should have activated.

After saying this, Han Li gently sighed, then left the room, heading towards the Clear Sound Courtyard.

In reality, Han Li’s suspicions about that Fifth Junior Sister had begun when he inspected the poison afflicting the Five Friends of Meng Mountain. Although she had also been poisoned, its toxicity was much less than the everyone else’s; even if it were to flare up, it most likely would not have taken her life.

On the other hand, Han Li had only gotten rid of the blood curse on her after expending a ton of effort. This meant that when the young woman had received the blood curse, it must have been uninterrupted; otherwise, it would not have left such a deep mark on her divine sense.

Keeping a cautious mindset, Han Li deliberately placed a small restriction when removing the young woman’s blood curse.

The restriction’s usage was very simple; it would cause the residual medicinal strength in the antidotes to temporarily aggregate in some area of the body. When needed, it would suddenly turn into an extreme poison. That was because those two bottles of pills contained “Impermanence Pills”; they could be used as medicine for curing poison, or they could be turned into poison via a specific method. They were one of the spoils Han Li had collected in the battlefield.

As for the other friends from Meng Mountain whom he had secretly called over, he made them see firsthand the reality that she had been planted as a spy before capturing the woman, using the opportunity to touch a few spots of her body using spiritual power.

These touches, apart from being able to restrict a large portion of her magic power, also activated this hidden restriction. As long as Han Li did not deactivate it in some time, the woman would die soundlessly and without a trace, as mentioned previously.

As for whether or not he should kill this woman, Han Li had felt somewhat conflicted in his heart due to her close ties with the Five Friends of Meng Mountain. However, he definitely could not allow this woman to leak out his relationship with the Qin Clan; that was his bottom line.

Activating the restriction at the time was only Han Li’s cautious fallback plan. He never expected that it would actually have some use.

 This was why Han Li had been so calm and did not panic at all when the dark-faced elder came back to report in.

In reality, if this woman had obediently remained in the Qin Residence as a hostage, Han Li would have repressed the restriction from flaring up inside her.

 But now that she had escaped, regardless of if the Five Friends of Meng Mountain had purposefully let her go, the young woman who had disappeared from this world would be unable to send any reports to the Black Fiend School. In addition, he had done the Five Friends of Meng Mountain a big favor, which should be extremely beneficial in reinforcing them!

Upon entering the Clear Sound Courtyard, the dark-faced old man and the others had already made their preparations; although they weren’t too spirited, they were quietly waiting for Han Li’s arrival.

“Let’s depart!” Han Li said crisply after entering the room.

    ……

Under the night sky, Prince Xin’s residence appeared similar to a gigantic, strange beast, deterring any petty thieves that had their sights set on the mansion.

But tonight, Han Li and the others cast a concealment technique and silently snuck in.

At this time of night, despite the commotion that had been stirred up due to the old Immortal Wu’s disappearance, the majority of people in Prince Xin’s residence had gone to sleep a long time ago apart from a few guards and sentries; at this moment, most of them were sound asleep.

Upon entering the palace, Han Li immediately found one of the night guards and cast the Soul Controlling Technique, causing him to reveal Steward Wang and the young prince’s residences, then knocked him out with one palm.

Then, he said to the four people behind him, “Between the two of them, the young prince’s cultivation layer is the lowest, so we’ll first make our move against him before dealing with Steward Wang.”

The now Four Friends from Meng Mountain had already been shocked to learn that the people in Prince Xin’s palace were from the Black Fiend School. None of them were surprised by Han Li’s words, nodding their heads in assent. Although this young prince was a relative of the royal family, them being cultivators meant that his status as a core disciple of the Black Fiend School was even more taboo.

Next, the few of them silently drew near to the young prince’s residence, a small, three-story tower.

There were numerous sentries nearby as well; out of a fear that these people would make trouble once the fighting began, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain stepped forwards and knocked them out before Han Li even made a move.

As he observed their practiced motions, Han Li secretly nodded his head and felt that having some subordinates was worthwhile!

Because they had gathered from the sentry that the young prince lived on the third floor, Han Li didn’t let them go upstairs; instead, he placed them in the surroundings to ambush whoever came their way.

This way, if the young prince happened to be too slippery and escaped from Han Li’s grasp, they could delay this person and give Han Li some additional time.

Of course, for fear of alerting Steward Wang at the other end of the palace, Han Li didn’t try to conserve any magic power and casted an extremely large soundproof enchantment that spread out hundreds of feet with the small tower as the center, encompassing it all inside.

Then, Han Li gently flew to the third floor and, in a flash, entered the tower.

The Four Friends of Meng Mountain gazed at the small tower’s third floor alertly, not even daring to blink. Soon after, a person’s shadow flashed out from inside the tower extremely quickly.

When these people discovered that it was Han Li, instantly their hearts relaxed, but at the same time, they felt that something was off.

Did this Senior Han Li succeed so quickly? But how come they never even saw the young prince?

Han Li descended from the tower, his face cloudy. Upon seeing the four people gather around him, he said, knitting his eyebrows:

“There was no one on top of the tower, only a mannequin created from an illusion technique. It seems like he was occupied with something.”

These words caused them to stare at each other, not knowing what to do for quite some time.

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Since Han Li said as such, although the old man was filled with doubt, he could only return first.

Not long after, the second brother returned with an ashen face. As expected, he hadn’t managed to catch up to that Fifth Sister. Fortunately, Han Li’s words assured them that they did not have to worry about incurring Han Li’s wrath.

At the time, in an extremely remote alley within Yuejing, a slender figure staggered towards the south district; the faint moonlight revealed her to be the flustered “Fifth Sister”.

As she ran, she incessantly glanced behind her, as if she were afraid that someone would suddenly appear behind her.

Although this woman’s magic power had largely been suppressed by Han Li, her divine sense as a cultivator was still mostly there; upon discovering that nobody else appeared behind her, she finally became somewhat more relaxed in her heart.

Thankfully, when the youth let her go, he had slipped her a concealment talisman. This was the only reason why she could have escaped to here.

Not long after she had escaped, the woman discovered a tall thin man’s figure sweeping overhead. Fortunately, she had swiftly used the talisman, successfully dealing with the situation.

At this time, her Second Brother did not actually go chasing in another direction; instead, he had already returned to the Qin Residence. This was why she dared to run around in the alleys so boldly.

The place she was headed towards was one of the Black Fiend School’s secret strongholds in the south district. As long as she was able to precisely report Han Li’s location to her superiors, she will have contributed much to the sect! Thus, she would immediately be one step closer to her dream of entering the Foundation Establishment stage.

That year, when she and a few other Black Fiend School outer court disciples who had performed quite well saw that their mysterious school master’s divine methods allowed a Qi Condensation disciple to establish their foundation, they immediately chose to dedicate themselves to the Black Fiend School so that they could also have a similar fate. Once their contributions reached a certain level, they could also obtain the School Master’s favor and aid in entering Foundation Establishment.

As far as she knew, most outer court disciples willing to be ordered around by the Black Fiend School all had this intention in mind; thus, she never believed that she had made any mistakes in her decisions.

After all, based on her natural talent, she had pretty much reached the peak of her cultivation base. If she wanted to advance another layer, or even form her foundation, she had no other choice.

Although she felt some regret towards her sworn brothers and sisters, since she had embarked on this path, she could only cut off all her natural affection for them. If they were caught, whether they were used as blood servants or forced to follow orders once again depended on the intentions of her superiors. She did not intend to plead for mercy on their behalf; in the future, she would only live for herself and herself alone.

As she thought these vicious thoughts in her heart, she began to dream about entering Foundation Establishment; it seemed as if her footsteps also sped up significantly.

Although she was still quite a distance away, she finally saw the street opening to the south district. But just as she became excited and wanted to speed up her steps, she suddenly felt that there seemed to be something wet running down her nose. Baffled, she wiped it with her hand, but what she saw her make entire figure tremble. Her expression was one of fear and surprise.

Her five snow-white fingers were covered in a sticky, dark-red liquid.

“This is?”

Fifth Junior Sister panicked and attempted to wipe away the black blood under her nose, but at this time, the blood from her nose began to flood out as if a gate had been opened; in the blink of an eye, fresh blood began to flow out from even her eyes and ears.

The young woman could only feel her entire body losing strength. Once her legs softened, she directly fell towards the ground.

At this time, her entire body was incomparably cold; no warmth could be found near her heart. She wanted to call out for help, but her throat was incredibly dry and could not let out any sound.

Afterwards, her divine sense slowly began to fade. Not long after, she slipped into an eternal darkness.

The next sunrise, the mortals who bypassed this place would be surprised to find that a puddle of black, filthy blood had suddenly appeared, forcing them to take a detour. It incited quite a few harsh comments.

In the moment that the young woman had been killed, Han Li was in his room inspecting all of the magic tools and talismans he had, preparing to move out.

After nimbly cleaning up, Han Li glanced at the round moon outside his window; he revealed a somewhat lonely expression, then suddenly said to himself under his breath:

“It should be about now...the poison should have activated.

After saying this, Han Li gently sighed, then left the room, heading towards the Clear Sound Courtyard.

In reality, Han Li’s suspicions about that Fifth Junior Sister had begun when he inspected the poison afflicting the Five Friends of Meng Mountain. Although she had also been poisoned, its toxicity was much less than the everyone else’s; even if it were to flare up, it most likely would not have taken her life.

On the other hand, Han Li had only gotten rid of the blood curse on her after expending a ton of effort. This meant that when the young woman had received the blood curse, it must have been uninterrupted; otherwise, it would not have left such a deep mark on her divine sense.

Keeping a cautious mindset, Han Li deliberately placed a small restriction when removing the young woman’s blood curse.

The restriction’s usage was very simple; it would cause the residual medicinal strength in the antidotes to temporarily aggregate in some area of the body. When needed, it would suddenly turn into an extreme poison. That was because those two bottles of pills contained “Impermanence Pills”; they could be used as medicine for curing poison, or they could be turned into poison via a specific method. They were one of the spoils Han Li had collected in the battlefield.

As for the other friends from Meng Mountain whom he had secretly called over, he made them see firsthand the reality that she had been planted as a spy before capturing the woman, using the opportunity to touch a few spots of her body using spiritual power.

These touches, apart from being able to restrict a large portion of her magic power, also activated this hidden restriction. As long as Han Li did not deactivate it in some time, the woman would die soundlessly and without a trace, as mentioned previously.

As for whether or not he should kill this woman, Han Li had felt somewhat conflicted in his heart due to her close ties with the Five Friends of Meng Mountain. However, he definitely could not allow this woman to leak out his relationship with the Qin Clan; that was his bottom line.

Activating the restriction at the time was only Han Li’s cautious fallback plan. He never expected that it would actually have some use.

 This was why Han Li had been so calm and did not panic at all when the dark-faced elder came back to report in.

In reality, if this woman had obediently remained in the Qin Residence as a hostage, Han Li would have repressed the restriction from flaring up inside her.

 But now that she had escaped, regardless of if the Five Friends of Meng Mountain had purposefully let her go, the young woman who had disappeared from this world would be unable to send any reports to the Black Fiend School. In addition, he had done the Five Friends of Meng Mountain a big favor, which should be extremely beneficial in reinforcing them!

Upon entering the Clear Sound Courtyard, the dark-faced old man and the others had already made their preparations; although they weren’t too spirited, they were quietly waiting for Han Li’s arrival.

“Let’s depart!” Han Li said crisply after entering the room.

    ……

Under the night sky, Prince Xin’s residence appeared similar to a gigantic, strange beast, deterring any petty thieves that had their sights set on the mansion.

But tonight, Han Li and the others cast a concealment technique and silently snuck in.

At this time of night, despite the commotion that had been stirred up due to the old Immortal Wu’s disappearance, the majority of people in Prince Xin’s residence had gone to sleep a long time ago apart from a few guards and sentries; at this moment, most of them were sound asleep.

Upon entering the palace, Han Li immediately found one of the night guards and cast the Soul Controlling Technique, causing him to reveal Steward Wang and the young prince’s residences, then knocked him out with one palm.

Then, he said to the four people behind him, “Between the two of them, the young prince’s cultivation layer is the lowest, so we’ll first make our move against him before dealing with Steward Wang.”

The now Four Friends from Meng Mountain had already been shocked to learn that the people in Prince Xin’s palace were from the Black Fiend School. None of them were surprised by Han Li’s words, nodding their heads in assent. Although this young prince was a relative of the royal family, them being cultivators meant that his status as a core disciple of the Black Fiend School was even more taboo.

Next, the few of them silently drew near to the young prince’s residence, a small, three-story tower.

There were numerous sentries nearby as well; out of a fear that these people would make trouble once the fighting began, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain stepped forwards and knocked them out before Han Li even made a move.

As he observed their practiced motions, Han Li secretly nodded his head and felt that having some subordinates was worthwhile!

Because they had gathered from the sentry that the young prince lived on the third floor, Han Li didn’t let them go upstairs; instead, he placed them in the surroundings to ambush whoever came their way.

This way, if the young prince happened to be too slippery and escaped from Han Li’s grasp, they could delay this person and give Han Li some additional time.

Of course, for fear of alerting Steward Wang at the other end of the palace, Han Li didn’t try to conserve any magic power and casted an extremely large soundproof enchantment that spread out hundreds of feet with the small tower as the center, encompassing it all inside.

Then, Han Li gently flew to the third floor and, in a flash, entered the tower.

The Four Friends of Meng Mountain gazed at the small tower’s third floor alertly, not even daring to blink. Soon after, a person’s shadow flashed out from inside the tower extremely quickly.

When these people discovered that it was Han Li, instantly their hearts relaxed, but at the same time, they felt that something was off.

Did this Senior Han Li succeed so quickly? But how come they never even saw the young prince?

Han Li descended from the tower, his face cloudy. Upon seeing the four people gather around him, he said, knitting his eyebrows:

“There was no one on top of the tower, only a mannequin created from an illusion technique. It seems like he was occupied with something.”

These words caused them to stare at each other, not knowing what to do for quite some time.