A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

The Black-robed Young Man

“However, I overestimated him, as he is putting himself in danger for a woman.” The black-robed man muttered and turned his head to look at a place not far away.

The black-robed man’s eyes lit up at the sight of a crude teleportation formation.

When this person sensed that Han Li was only a few kilometers away, he suddenly stood up and strode towards the teleportation formation.

A short moment later, he disappeared amid a flash of white light.

Han Li also sensed the presence of the black-robed man. He was originally flying over carefully, but when he suddenly sensed that the other party had disappeared without a trace, he could not help but be stunned.

“Could it be that this person used an escape technique to hide and wanted to plot against me from the side?” With this thought in mind, Han Li shivered and was naturally more careful.

“This is…”

However, when he cautiously approached the peak of Heaven Pillar Mountain and saw the extremely eye-catching small teleportation formation, his expression changed. He turned his gaze and saw a newly erected limestone slab next to the teleportation formation. There were a few inch-large characters carved on it with a sharp blade.

“I won’t wait for you.”

After Han Li said these words in a low voice, his expression became a little unsightly. He secretly cursed the other party for being cunning.

With his attainments in spell formations, he was able to tell at a glance that such a crude teleportation formation wouldn’t be able to teleport him very far away. But even so, if he were to casually teleport himself to the place where the enemy had set up an ambush, wouldn’t he be walking into a trap?

What was even worse was that he had no idea if the silver-haired old man and the others would be able to find him after he teleported over.

However, from the message left behind by the other party’s stone tablet, it was clear that the man didn’t want to meet him now, nor did he give him a chance to bargain.

If he were to delay for too long and the other party were to make up his mind to leave, it would be quite troublesome.

He did not dare to bet on whether the other party would really do that.

After all, he had killed the Yin Sifting Sect’s Master’s dual cultivation companion. If the person who had come was this Devil Dao Sect Master, it was not impossible.

It seemed that if he wanted to find a way to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse, he could only take the risk.

Han Li’s expression wavered for a long while before he finally made a decision.

He first swept his spiritual sense through the nearby area to make sure that there were no other devilish cultivators hiding. Then, he took out a sound transmission talisman and whispered something into it. He raised his hand and flew off in a streak of red light.

Then, without any hesitation, Han Li took a spirit beast pouch from his waist and summoned it into the air. The tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed out and transformed into tri-colored armor that appeared on Han Li’s body.

He then waved his sleeve, and a small blue shield flew out and stood in front of him. He flipped his other hand, and in a flash of white light, a silk handkerchief appeared in his hand.

Han Li lowered his head and looked at the embroidered handkerchief. A strange look flashed past his eyes.

This brocade handkerchief was the protective treasure that Nangong Wan had given him back then.

Han Li gently stroked the smooth surface of the handkerchief with his finger and stood in silence.

But after a short while, Han Li raised his hand and applied several layers of barriers on his body. With a sway of his body, he stepped into the transportation formation.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li raised his hand and struck a corner of the teleportation formation.

Brilliant white light shone, and Han Li disappeared without a trace from the teleportation formation.

In a lake thousands of kilometers away from the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, there was a nameless island at the center of the lake. White spiritual light shone somewhere on the island, and Han Li’s figure appeared.

Almost as soon as he appeared, he disregarded the discomfort of teleportation and immediately activated the blue light shield in front of him. The shield immediately swelled and blocked most of his body.

However, Han Li did not feel any attacks, so he looked around with a calm heart.

“Don’t worry, I won’t launch a sneak attack against an early-Nascent Soul cultivator like you, although I heard that you’re not an ordinary early-Nascent Soul cultivator.” An unfamiliar voice came from not far away from Han Li.

When Han Li heard this voice, his heart stirred.

This was definitely not the voice of the Yin Sifting Sect’s Master. Could it be that it was really done by another devil cultivator? A trace of surprise flashed through Han Li’s eyes as he looked in the direction of the voice.

He saw a black-robed youth in his twenties standing over 300 feet away with his hands behind his back, calmly looking at him.

Although Han Li had never seen the true face of the Yin Sifting Sect’s Master, this person was definitely not the black-robed man who fought with Devil Concord in the border battle.

“Hmph! If you don’t know how to launch a sneak attack, then why did you cast the Soul Seal Curse on my partner?” Han Li’s gaze swept across the room, but he was actually unable to see through the cultivation of the person opposite him. This caused him to narrow his eyes slightly, and he did not dare to relax his vigilance at all. However, he spoke with a cold mocking tone.

At this moment, he had already seen everything around him.

They were at the edge of a swamp. There were mud pits everywhere, and it was extremely humid. Not far away, there was a small forest, and the faint sound of waves could be heard.

Han Li frowned and instantly relaxed. He sensed an abnormal spiritual Qi fluctuation around him. As expected, there seemed to be a restriction.

Although it wasn’t a particularly powerful spell formation, teleporting to this place was a complete loss in terms of terrain advantage.

“Hehe! There’s no need for that, Fellow Daoist Han. I may have a few tricks up my sleeve, but I’m not arrogant enough to go against your entire sect,” the young man replied in an unhurried manner.

“You are not the Yin Sifting Sect’s Master?” Han Li stared at him and suddenly changed the topic.

The black-robed youth chuckled and leisurely said, “What? Do I resemble our sect master in any way?”

“It doesn’t seem like it, but you were able to easily infiltrate the Drifting Cloud Sect and leave safely after injuring someone. I really didn’t know that there was such an expert like you in the sect. I don’t know why you didn’t appear during the battle.” Han Li seemed to be a little puzzled, but he also seemed to be muttering to himself.

The young man chuckled and wore a strange expression, “Although I wish to give Fellow Daoist Han an explanation, I didn’t bring you here to reveal my origins. Have you brought your Golden Lightning Bamboo?”

Hearing the young man’s words, Han Li coldly glared at him and did not say a word.

“Cough! If Fellow Daoist Han wishes to stall for time, then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. The teleportation formation I arranged can only be used twice. Once it’s used twice, the teleportation formation on the other end will automatically be destroyed. They won’t be able to find this place without half a day. I believe half a day should be enough to settle the matter between us.” The black-robed youth appeared extremely confident.

“Humph! If you want to know if the Golden Lightning Bamboo is with me, can you tell me the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse first?” Han Li’s eyes flashed with a cold light, but his tone softened slightly.

“The method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse is in this jade slip, but show me the Golden Lightning Bamboo first. I’m different from our sect master. I only want the Golden Lightning Bamboo, and I have nothing to do with your grudge against him for killing his partner. I can’t be bothered to interfere in this matter.” The young man withdrew his smile and flipped his hand, producing a pitch-black jade slip.

Then, the youth looked over with deep meaning.

“Of course. Although the Golden Lightning Bamboo is very important, I value my partner more.” Han Li raised his eyebrows and said without hesitation.

He then brought his hands together in front of his chest and gently separated them. A thunderclap sounded out, following which a small azure arrow appeared in his hand amid a slight arc of golden lightning.

Han Li held the arrow between two fingers and glanced at the young man expressionlessly.

When the young man saw this, greed flashed through his eyes. After a moment of thought, he suddenly shook his wrist.

Immediately, the black jade slip in his hand slowly flew towards Han Li. Its speed was extremely slow, as if it was being pulled by an invisible rope.

Han Li was stunned at first, but he immediately understood the other party’s intentions. Without saying anything, he also threw out the small arrow in his hand, which slowly floated towards the other party like a cow pulling a carriage.

Although the two of them were controlling the items in their hands, they were both looking at each other’s faces without blinking.

When the two items passed by, Han Li and the young man secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and their expressions relaxed slightly.

The two of them grabbed the flying object at almost the same time and hurriedly took a closer look.

After a moment of careful examination, a wry smile appeared on their faces.

“This is your esteemed Golden Lightning Bamboo?” The black-robed youth coldly smiled and suddenly rubbed his hands together. Silver-white flames erupted and the small azure arrow in his hand instantly turned to ash.

“I’ve also never heard that the most basic five-elemental technique in the cultivation world can eliminate the Soul Seal Curse.” Blue flames rose from Han Li’s expressionless hand, and the jade slip instantly condensed into ice before shattering into specks of light and disappearing without a trace.

“Hmph! It seems we don’t trust each other, but I don’t care. I’ll ask you one last time, Fellow Daoist Han. Are you willing to hand over the Golden Lightning Bamboo? As long as you hand it over to me, I’ll immediately turn around and leave behind a method to save your companion. Otherwise, I’ll be able to find this treasure after I kill you. This isn’t an ancient treasure, so you’ll definitely carry it with you.” The black-robed youth’s expression darkened as a trace of baleful Qi emitted from his body, and a sinister expression appeared on his face.

“What a coincidence! Fellow Daoist’s thoughts are somewhat similar to mine. Since you used the Soul Seal Curse, the method to dissolve it must be in your mind. After I kill you, I can also search your soul and obtain what I want to know.” Han Li exhaled lightly and said coldly.

“Search my soul? In the past several hundred years, you’re the first person to speak to me in such a manner. I will leave your corpse intact.” The black-robed youth was so angry that he laughed. He raised his hand and several incantation seals flew in all directions.

A series of explosions erupted nearby as seven blinding pillars of white light shot into the sky. At the same time, roars rang out as silver-white flood dragons emerged from the seven pillars of light.

“Not good, it’s the Seven Dragon Pillars! Master, quickly dodge.” Before Han Li could clearly see what these seven pillars were for, he heard Silvermoon’s terrified voice, as if she was extremely afraid.