A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

Initial Completion of the Sword Formation

A strange scene immediately ensued. The transparent liquid began to slowly split and transform, forming six thumb-sized silver beads that slowly rotated in the air.

Han Li took a deep breath and bit the tip of his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood essence.

As a result, as soon as the blood essence touched the surface of the beads, they all absorbed it without a single drop remaining. Soon after, the color of the beads changed drastically, turning into a golden color as if they were made of pure gold.

Seeing this, Han Li’s spirits were lifted. He opened his mouth again and a green light shot out. Then, it circled around and stopped in front of Han Li.

It was a miniature azure sword that was around an inch in size and flickered with spiritual light.

Han Li pointed at a golden bead formed from Auric Essence. Immediately, the golden bead turned into a streak of golden light and shot towards the small sword. Then, it melted and wrapped around it, evenly smearing on the surface of the flying sword.

The small sword immediately began to shine with a dazzling golden light.

Han Li raised his eyebrows and pointed at the ground a few more times. Several supplementary materials flew onto the flying sword and fused into it.

Then, Han Li waved his hand at the flying sword, and the sword instantly flew to his palm. With a puff, a ball of green Nascent Fire appeared out of thin air, enveloping the flying sword.

Han Li slowly closed his eyes and used his divine sense to control the Nascent Flame, beginning to refine it.

Only by completely fusing the Auric Essence with the flying sword could the refinement be considered complete.

Days passed, and Han Li was refining the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in the secret chamber, without a moment of rest.

If Han Li did not have the Myriad Year Spirit Milk and could recover his magic power in time, he would not have been able to persist for such a long period of time.

Outside the cave abode, seeing that the agreed date with the black-robed man was approaching and Han Li had yet to walk out of the cave abode, some people who knew about this began to become anxious.

Among them, the silver-haired old man was naturally the most anxious. This was because yesterday, someone had used a flying sword to send a jade slip into the Drifting Cloud Sect. The jade slip had accurately written the location of the appointment with Han Li.

Not only was the terrain there dangerous, but it was also very far away from Dreamcloud Mountain. If Han Li did not come out of seclusion soon, it would be too late.

Just as the silver-haired old man was restlessly sitting in the side hall of the meeting hall, Han Li’s figure silently appeared at the entrance of the hall.

“Junior Brother, you’re out of seclusion. Have you finished refining the magic treasure?” The old man sensed something and turned around. When he saw Han Li at the door, he could not help but shout in surprise.

“Finally, I’ve finished refining them. Senior Brother, I heard that the person sent me a jade slip again. There’s also the place to meet me. Is that true?” Han Li’s expression was calmer than a month ago as he asked in a low voice.

The silver-haired old man nodded and tossed a green jade slip over, “That’s right. He wants to meet you at the peak of Heaven Pillar Mountain. This is the jade slip he sent over. Take a look at it.”

Han Li took the jade slip and immediately immersed his divine sense into it, quickly scanning through it.

“Hmph! He asked me to go alone and to bring the Golden Lightning Bamboo. It seems that he really investigated me very thoroughly and knows some things about me and Wan’er. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so confident.” Han Li snorted coldly and a trace of fierceness flashed across his face.

The silver-haired old man resentfully said, “With his abilities, it will be extremely easy for him to investigate Junior Brother and Sister Nangong’s matter. After all, low-grade cultivators are incapable of keeping any secret in front of such powerful devilish cultivators. However, Junior Brother, I cannot allow you to take the risk alone. I’ve already arranged to meet with the Child Fire Dragon and five other cultivators who are on good terms with you. When the time comes, Junior Brother will leave first. We will follow behind you. As soon as that person appears, we will attack him together. We must capture him and let him know that our State of Xi isn’t a place where he can come and go as he pleases.”

“Senior Brother’s method is not bad, but this person is most likely on guard. However, it’s not bad for Senior Brother and the others to follow. If the other party is negligent or overly arrogant, his fall will be fated.” Han Li thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

He was naturally more than happy to have some helpers.

“It’s settled then. Although the Heavenly Pillar Mountain is incomparably tall, it is nothing to cultivators like us. I will plant a mark on Junior Brother’s body and use it to track you down. When the time comes, if the enemy is truly invincible, Junior Brother will only need to stall for time and my friends and I will arrive in time.”

“I’ll have to trouble Senior Brother for this matter. I will definitely repay this favor.” Han Li, who was unwilling to easily accept favors from others, actually said such words.

The silver-haired old man chuckled and nonchalantly said, “Junior Brother is also a member of our Drifting Cloud Sect. There is no need for such formalities. It is getting late. Junior Brother Han should quickly make preparations. Junior Brother must set off tonight in order to reach Heaven Pillar Mountain on time.”

Han Li nodded and immediately took his leave.

Looking at Han Li’s back as he left, the silver-haired old man sighed and revealed a knowing smile.

To be able to make Han Li say what he just said, he did not waste his efforts.

Presumably, after he passed away, this Junior Brother Han would take into account this favor and support the Drifting Cloud Sect with all his might.

The silver-haired old man felt his heart relax, but after a moment of thought, he slapped his storage pouch and took out a few talismans. He then tossed them into the air, and they immediately flew out of the hall as streaks of red light.

These sound transmission talismans had already been sent out, and his good friends who had stayed at the Guest Pavilion since several days ago should be gathered here soon.

The old man sat in his chair with a contemplative look on his face.

…

At night, after Han Li informed the silver-haired old man, he left the Dreamcloud Mountain and went straight to the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, which was a day’s journey away.

Two hours after Han Li set off, the silver-haired old man left the Drifting Cloud Sect with the Child Fire Dragon and a few other Nascent Soul eccentrics, quietly following behind him.

In order to conserve his magic power, Han Li’s azure light speed was only average.

As Han Li flew forward, he played with a small golden sword that was two to three inches long. It was one of the 36 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that Han Li had infused with Auric Essence.

For some reason, the flying sword that had been infused with Auric Essence turned completely reddish-gold.

If he remembered correctly, although the Auric Essence would change the color of the magic treasure during the refinement process, once the magic treasure was refined and the Auric Essence truly seeped into the magic treasure, it should return to its original color.

As for the 36 flying swords, they preserved the golden color until the very end and never faded.

This surprised Han Li.

The power of these flying swords was not affected. Han Li even faintly felt that this Auric Essence seemed to be even more effective than the rumors. After he tested it, the power of the flying swords increased by nearly 30%. Their sharpness was far greater than before.

Han Li believed that if magic treasures with slightly inferior materials were to collide with these flying swords, they would most likely become scrap after being struck by these flying swords.

Han Li was overjoyed, but he was also puzzled.

In the end, he thought of the Golden Lightning Bamboo that was the main ingredient for the flying swords, as well as another precious material that he had previously mixed into the swords.

These materials were all extremely rare. Could it be that after the Auric Essence was mixed in, there was an unexpected change? Han Li thought for a long time and could only explain like this.

Since the situation was developing in a positive direction, he was not willing to spend any more effort on this matter. Instead, he placed all his attention on the Aureate Sword Formation.

This divine ability did not require Han Li to specially cultivate and could be easily used.

Han Li tested the power of this sword formation in the secret room, and the result left Han Li dumbfounded!

The power of this sword formation proved that the golden page was not exaggerating at all. Although he could only form a simple Aureate Sword Formation, the magic of this sword formation had already amazed Han Li and greatly increased his confidence in this trip. Otherwise, Han Li would not have gone to see the other party so obediently.

Nangong Wan’s Soul Seal Curse had to be broken, but without the Aureate Sword Formation, Han Li would not obediently die and be manipulated by others.

Of course, whether or not he could deal with late-Nascent Soul cultivators, Han Li had not truly fought against one, so there was no way to compare.

However, once a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator fell into the sword formation, Han Li was at least 80% to 90% confident that he could trap or even kill him.

With this ability, he would at least be able to protect himself against a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

However, how to get the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse from the black-robed man was a little troublesome. Han Li could only see the black-robed man and act accordingly.

After a light sigh, golden light flashed in Han Li’s hand, and the small sword disappeared. Then, he used his spiritual sense to scan behind him.

Han Li was not surprised that he did not discover the silver-haired old man and the others.

In order to prevent the black-robed man from spying on them, they would definitely hide far away and rely on secret techniques to track him down.

After all, the enemy could be a late-Nascent Soul demonic cultivator, so they had to be extremely careful in case they were discovered.

The Heavenly Pillar Mountain was located to the west of the Dreamcloud Mountains. It was a lone steep mountain that was over 10,000 feet tall. As such, it was known as the Heavenly Pillar Mountain.

From a distance, one-third of the mountain had disappeared into the cloud, making it appear extremely majestic and steep.

The mountain was surrounded by low hills. Standing at the waist of the mountain, one would be able to see everything around them. This was probably one of the reasons why the black-robed man had chosen this place.

However, when Han Li was fifty kilometers away from the mountain, he immediately felt a spiritual sense wrap around him.

This spiritual sense seemed to be quite strong, but it seemed to only be at the level of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. However, Han Li did not dare to let his guard down because of this. Who knew if the other party was deliberately hiding a portion of his strength to give his enemy an illusion.

Thus, Han Li pretended not to know about this spiritual sense scanning him and continued to fly towards the peak of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain at an unhurried pace.

Almost at the same time, a black-robed man opened his eyes on a blue stone at the top of the Heavenly Pillar Mountain and coldly looked in the direction where Han Li flew.

He muttered to himself, “You’ve finally arrived. It seems my information was correct. As expected, your relationship with that female cultivator is extraordinary!”