A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

Lure

Through the split soul in the puppet, after it entered the cave, Han Li sensed everything clearly.

In front of the white wolf was a natural passageway that was around 70 to 80 feet tall. The walls on both sides were black and red, and from time to time, wisps of flames would emerge from the cracks, causing the nearby air to twist and deform due to the high temperature.

Han Li believed that once a cultivator with a low cultivation entered this passageway, they would most likely be caught off guard and immediately faint from the hot winds and high temperatures.

As a mechanical puppet, the white wolf naturally didn’t have such a problem.

It flew forward along the passageway, and after a short while, its eyes lit up, revealing a fiery-red underground world.

The area was several thousand feet wide, but the most eye-catching thing was a lake of molten lava that occupied most of the area. Red lava bubbles continuously roiled within before exploding with a “pa pa” sound. It gave off a fearsome feeling that one would be roasted to a crisp if one were to approach too closely.

Surrounding the lake was the reddish ground of the rock. There were a few flashes of green light on top of it. It was quite surprising to see that there were some spirit herbs growing on it. It was clear that these spirit herbs were extraordinary.

However, Han Li, who was in the white wolf, was not interested in any spiritual herbs. His gaze had already landed on a huge protruding rock at the center of the lava lake.

Up above, there was a fiery red monster that was sleeping soundly with its stomach turned over.

The monster wasn’t very large. It was thirty feet wide and fifty to sixty feet long, resembling a huge toad. However, it had skin that glowed like flames, giving it an extraordinary appearance. As it breathed, a layer of red mist would occasionally appear over its body, giving it a mysterious appearance.

It seemed that this was the Fire Toad!

Han Li saw the beast clearly and carefully examined it for a long time. Then, his gaze fell on a stone platform on the opposite side of the lava lake.

This stone platform was clearly an ancient object.

Although the platform was engraved with many patterns and runes, the four corners of the platform had long been corroded and worn out.

At the center of the stone platform lay the remains of a cultivator wrapped in a long azure robe.

The robe was simple and unadorned, clearly not something that cultivators wore today. Furthermore, after so many years, the robe was still brand new and emitted a faint green light. It was clear that it was no ordinary item.

The remains wrapped in the robe had already turned into a pile of bones. However, these bones were translucent and as clear as crystal. It was truly a strange sight.

After carefully examining the skeleton and then checking the Fire Toad, Han Li split a portion of his attention and quietly wrapped it around the skeleton.

He planned to first take a look at the cultivator’s remains and see if it had any treasures.

After all, he hadn’t found any treasures or storage pouches on the remains.

However, perhaps the treasures had been placed in the azure robe or somewhere near the stone platform, so he planned to search for it first.

Just as this trace of spiritual sense flew above the remains and gently descended, an unexpected change occurred.

Brilliant spiritual light suddenly erupted from the azure robe and a layer of azure light appeared over it, repelling the spiritual sense.

The nearby spiritual Qi fluctuated.

The Fire Toad seemed to have sensed something and opened its eyes. It quickly turned its green eyes toward the white wolf puppet at the entrance of the cave.

“Not good!” Han Li cried out in his heart.

The white wolf puppet hurriedly turned around, and in a flash of light, it turned into a streak of white light and fled in the direction it had come from.

At the same time, the seemingly bloated Fire Toad suddenly flipped over and leaped high into the air before landing back on the huge rock in a crouching position.

It glanced at the disappearing white streak of light and let loose an enraged cry. Immediately thereafter, its thick hind legs abruptly kicked off the ground, instantly enshrouding it in a cloud of red light as it gave chase.

Han Li’s lips silently moved as he sent a voice transmission to Marquis Nanlong. “The Fire Toad has already arrived. Be careful, Fellow Daoists.”

When the two heard this, their expressions froze as they looked at the huge mountain in the distance.

A streak of white light shot out from within and flew directly toward them. A short moment later, a ball of shimmering red light flew out from the cave and chased after the streak of white light.

From the looks of it, its speed wasn’t slow at all, and it wasn’t inferior to an ordinary early-Nascent Soul cultivator.

Seeing this, Han Li’s expression changed.

Fortunately, the white wolf puppet was a speed puppet. Otherwise, it would’ve been difficult to lure it over.

With that thought, he commanded the white wolf puppet to fly at full speed without fear of damaging the puppet’s body. Then, he flipped his hand and summoned a ball of blue flames.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying also prepared their magic treasures with gloomy expressions and waited on either side of the spell formation.

The huge mountain and the location of Han Li and the others seemed to be very far away, but the white rainbow and the ball of fiery red light arrived nearby in the blink of an eye.

A fierce look flashed across Han Li’s face, and the ice flame in his hand silently grew three times larger.

However, just as the white streak of light was about to enter the grand formation that they had set up, the Fire Toad that was 300 to 400 feet behind it grew impatient.

With a loud croak, a scarlet fireball shot forth from the beast’s mouth.

The fireball was only the size of a head, but after shooting out for several tens of feet, it instantly transformed into a massive creature that was several tens of feet in size. It caught up to the white wolf puppet at the edge of the formation, and a raging tornado of over 100 feet tall instantly engulfed the puppet beast.

Following that, muffled explosions continuously sounded from the flames, and then it became silent. Han Li’s expression changed slightly!

The flames quickly receded, and the puppet beast disappeared without a trace.

Han Li was naturally shocked when he saw this.

As expected, the demonic flames within the toad’s body weren’t ordinary flames. At the very least, they were superior to the Nascent Flames of a Nascent Soul cultivator. He didn’t know if his ice flames would be able to restrain it. However, he wasn’t too worried. After all, he had more than one or two methods to kill this beast.

Both the Purple Apex Flame and the Aureate Sword Formation were even more powerful trump cards.

Furthermore, if he released all the Core Formation puppets at once, he could definitely kill this beast. However, Han Li naturally could not bear to suffer such a huge loss.

Puppet beasts were very useful in certain situations.

At that moment, the head of the Fire Toad let out a long cry of satisfaction upon seeing that it had killed the enemy that had rashly intruded into its nest. In a flash of red light, it was about to turn around and fly back.

At this moment, Han Li and the other two looked at each other in dismay. Among them, Han Li’s heart tightened.

How could Han Li let the Fire Toad leave so easily when it concerned Nangong Wan’s life and death? He frowned and suddenly flew out as a streak of azure light.

On the other side of the formation, Han Li’s lone figure appeared through the formation.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were stunned for a moment before understanding Han Li’s intentions.

Han Li’s actions had startled the Fire Toad, which had turned around halfway. It nimbly turned back and stared at the new enemy not far away. It did not move, and a trace of doubt seemed to flash in its single eye.

Han Li did not reply. He held the small ball of ice flames in one hand and patted his waist with the other. Six balls of blue light flew out from his storage bag and landed behind him. After the light faded, six huge blue turtles that were thirty feet tall and shining with spiritual light appeared behind Han Li. They were the huge tortoise puppet beasts that Han Li had just refined.

Han Li gave an order with his spiritual sense.

The shells of the six giant tortoises flashed with light and suddenly condensed into icicles that were around a foot tall. Each of the icicles was translucent and straight, emitting wisps of cold Qi.

All of a sudden, the seemingly harmless tortoise became ferocious and imposing.

The Fire Toad seemed to have sensed Han Li’s hostility, and a fierce light flashed in its green eyes. In a breath, it spat out a fireball.

The fireball also enlarged and shot toward him in an overbearing manner.

Han Li did not say anything. With the thought of testing the power of the Fire Toad’s demonic flames in mind, he immediately raised the hand holding the ice flame.

The ball of blue ice flames in his hand immediately condensed into a blue ice flower and flew toward the huge fireball in front of him.

The Fire Toad’s fireball was around twenty meters in diameter, while the Celestial Ice Flame’s flower was only a few inches in size. In terms of size, they were incomparable. However, as soon as the two came into contact in the air, an astonishing scene occurred.

With a crackle, blue light flashed from the fireball, and a thick layer of blue ice appeared on the surface of the fireball. A huge ice ball appeared in the air, but the center of the ice ball was still flickering with scarlet flames.

When Han Li saw this, he was slightly stunned.

However, when the Fire Toad saw that its fireball had been restrained, it became furious.

It opened its mouth to release hundreds of fist-sized fireballs.

Han Li pursed his lips and waved his hand.

The six huge tortoise puppets that had been accumulating power for a long time shook their shells at the same time. Then, countless icicles tore through the air from their shells and densely met the fireballs.

After a series of explosions, the white glacial air from the icicles and the hot wind from fireballs intertwined in midair.

Surging white Qi suddenly filled the entire sky.

Han Li stared ahead and narrowed his eyes.

It was clear that his opponent’s fireballs were far more powerful than the giant tortoises’ icicles. In an instant, the wave of fire forced the glacial air to retreat.

When Han Li saw this, he muttered something in a low voice and suddenly flew backwards.

The six huge tortoise puppets immediately followed after him.

At that moment, the sea of flames completely overpowered the glacial air formed by the icicles and relentlessly pursued him.

However, the six giant tortoises immediately spat out a large number of icicles, turning into cold air to block the fire wave again. Meanwhile, Han Li and the giant tortoises had already flown more than 200 feet away.

Han Li stared at the Fire Toad that was still motionless on the spot with his mouth tightly shut.

According to the information he had gathered before coming to Devilfall Valley, the Fire Toad could not only use the power of lava to recover its vitality, but it was also proficient in fire escape techniques. It could use the power of fire to travel thousands of feet in an instant.

At the bottom of the mountain range, there was a sea of lava. If the beast were to dive into the ground, it would be able to easily escape. Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying didn’t care about this. After all, they were here for the remains and treasures. Even if they couldn’t kill the beast, it wouldn’t matter as long as they could chase it away.

However, it was different for him. He was determined to acquire the beast core.

As such, he had to lure the Fire Toad into the spell formation and block its path of retreat. Only then would he be able to deal with the Fire Toad without worry. Therefore, whether or not the Fire Toad would chase after him was a crucial matter.

When the Fire Toad saw that Han Li had only fought for a moment before retreating, it could not help but be stunned. However, this beast did not seem to have much intelligence. Without thinking, its body flickered with light and turned into a ball of red light, chasing after Han Li.

Han Li was overjoyed when he saw this.

After it only chased him for a short distance, blue and white light suddenly appeared around the flying Fire Toad, and a layer of light blue water appeared around it.

Soon after, several streaks of white light flashed from the water barrier, and several white water dragons appeared indistinctly. The entire barrier of light became damp and cold.

The Fire Toad was startled and unconsciously stopped moving. Its eyes darted around wildly and it let out a low growl as if it were threatening him.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed on both sides of the light barrier, and Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying appeared.

When the two saw that the Fire Toad was trapped by the formation, they immediately summoned their respective treasures.

Marquis Nanlong tossed out the jade ring in his hand, but the old man didn’t use the magic flag treasure. Instead, he raised his hands, and two blue spears flew out.

The spell formation’s light barrier naturally wouldn’t affect their treasures. The treasures immediately passed through the water barrier and attacked the Fire Toad.

The few white water dragons on the light barrier also flew out from the water screen at the right time, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they attacked. This was Han Li, who was in the distance. He took the opportunity to activate one of the formation flags in his hand and turned on the restriction in the formation to cooperate with the two’s attacks.

When the Fire Toad saw this, it felt a sense of foreboding despite its low intelligence.

It immediately let loose an earth-shattering cry before shrinking back and suddenly expanding, displaying its life-saving abilities. After the beast let loose a loud roar, crimson light shields of the same size immediately appeared on its body.

These small shields were densely packed together and swarmed out of the Fire Toad’s body in batches. They then fused together to form three layers of impenetrable fiery light barriers.

Right at this moment, the green jade ring, the water dragon, and the two blue spears struck the light barriers almost at the same time.

Thunderous booms immediately erupted from within the water barrier as red flames and vapor intertwined with one another, creating a blinding sight.

However, after another roar from the Fire Toad, a pillar of crimson light as thick as a water tank shot out from the light and struck the water curtain.

As a result, the water curtain was only able to block the attack for a short moment before it was easily pierced through.