A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1001-Chapter 1200)

"Really, now? Could it be that you want to use my Unbroken Cinque Devils and my puppet for this secret technique?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look on his face.

"Hehe, you sure are a smart man, Fellow Daoist Han. That was exactly my intention! With the combined form of the Unbroken Cinque Devils, that puppet, and myself, there's a good chance that we'll succeed." The silver-robed woman chuckled and her icy cold demeanor was replaced by an inviting and seductive one, as if she had transformed into a completely different person.

However, Han Li paid no heed to her exquisitely beautiful features. Instead, he was contemplating something in deep thought.

"You didn't mention my name just then; am I not able to take part in this secret technique?" he asked.

"That won't work. This secret technique can only be unleashed by cultivators of the same cultivation base. Furthermore, the one who can control this combined magic power must be the participating cultivator with the highest cultivation base. You are far more powerful than any other mid-Nascent Soul cultivator I've seen, but there is still a large disparity between you and a late-Nascent Soul cultivator," the silver-robed woman explained with a smile.

Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he harrumphed coldly, "Hmph! In order to control the Heavenvoid Cauldron, you must master the Artifact Imprint Technique first. Are you asking me to hand over my Heavenvoid Cauldron?"

"A spirit treasure is very valuable, but this is the only way out unless you want to be trapped here forever!" the Ice Phoenix replied calmly.

"Don't even think about it; I won't agree to this no matter what!"

The silver-robed woman was rather surprised by Han Li's complete lack of hesitation. She raised an eyebrow and was just about to say something when Han Li cut her off coldly, "Let me tell you something: this place will open once every 300 years. Even if we don't do anything, we'll still be able to get out; we'll just have to stay here for a while. I've changed my mind now. I'm not in a hurry to leave this place. Instead, I'm going to stay here and cultivate. Hehe, I'll come and find you if I end up progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Farewell for now, Fellow Daoist Phoenix!" At the conclusion of that sentence, Han Li transformed into an azure streak of light as he flew away from the stone terrace, disappearing into a bluestone path in the blink of an eye.

"This place opens once every 300 years?" The silver-robed woman was overjoyed to hear this and she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Even though she had missed out on the chance to snatch away his spirit treasure, it was undoubtedly good news that she wouldn't be trapped here forever after all.

She didn't have to worry about Han Li deceiving her as a mere 300 years was completely negligible for a heavenly spirit beast like her, whose lifespan numbered in the tens of thousands of years.

She was originally planning to use a secret technique with self-mutilating side-effects that could temporarily grant her Deity Transformation Stage power, thereby allowing her to easily kill Han Li and take his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

However, using a secret technique like that was extremely taxing to her body.

Not only did the user of the secret technique have to be a tenth grade Ice Phoenix, unleashing it would inflict severe damage to the user's essential Dao foundation, making it almost impossible for her to progress to the Deity Transformation stage in the future. Even for a semi-Deity Transformation cultivator like her, who had satisfied the prerequisite conditions for making a breakthrough long ago, the consequences were still bound to be catastrophic.

As such, she had been very reluctant to employ this course of action. Due to the fact that she was approaching the end of her lifespan, she was planning to make her breakthrough during this recent period of time. However, Old Devil Che's avatar had then alerted her to the news regarding the spatial node, so she had been recruited to attack the North Night Palace with him, thereby forcing her to set her breakthrough aside. That was why she was still at the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

Of course, progressing to the Deity Transformation Stage in this place wasn't a bad option, either. If she could successfully make her breakthrough, not only would she be able to kill Han Li, she would also be able to take his Heavenvoid Cauldron and escape from this place. Unfortunately, Ice Phoenixes were rather special in that they could only make breakthroughs during a special ceremony held in the holy land of the Ice Phoenixes, the Ice Abyss Island.

Otherwise, even if a breakthrough were to be successfully made, the Ice Phoenix in question wouldn't be able to make any further breakthroughs in the future. The silver-robed woman didn't dare to take such a risk before she could escape from this place.

Of course, Han Li wasn't aware of these things, but he revealed to her the fact that the Heavenvoid Hall opened once every 300 years in fear that she would turn on him out of sheer desperation. As long as she could see a glimmer of hope, she wouldn't be inclined to engage Han Li in a battle to the death.

What Han Li had said in the end about making a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage was, of course, nothing more than an errant comment.

The silver-robed woman didn't take him seriously either.

It was not an easy task to make a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. There were countless mid-Nascent Soul cultivators in this world who were unable to make this breakthrough and were confined to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage until their deaths.

The silver-robed woman stood on the stone terrace and contemplated to herself for a long while before murmuring, "So be it. I have a few secret techniques I haven't yet fully mastered. This is a good opportunity to hone them now. If I can successfully master them, my chances of victory would improve if I were to engage that man in battle."

With that in mind, she stomped a foot onto the ground and abruptly transformed into a streak of light, flying toward the opposite direction that Han Li had gone in.

She was also planning to find a suitable stone chamber for her to go into seclusion and cultivate in.

Half a day later, Han Li found himself in a secret chamber around 400 feet both in length and width. He sat on the ground with his legs folded in front of him and there was an off-white pond over 100 feet in diameter situated before him. Spiritual Qi intermingled with a fragrant aroma wafted forth from the pond; this place was the mysterious secret chamber on the second floor where Han Li had last met Yuan Yao.

Not only was this an extremely well-concealed place, there was also a large spirit well in here, making it an outstanding cultivation venue. However, in order to avoid unforeseen circumstances, Han Li sealed the teleportation formation on this level, making it temporarily ineffective, then used some formation flags to conceal the entire secret chamber.

With those measures in place, it would be difficult to find him, even for a tenth grade Ice Phoenix.





Chapter 1128: Heavenly Premonition


In all honesty, Han Li didn't want to stay in this place. Instead, he wanted to return to the Heavenly South Region as quickly as possible to undo Nangong Wan’s Soul Seal Curse.

However, lending the Heavenvoid Cauldron to the silver-robed woman was no different from committing suicide. A late-Nascent Soul cultivator like the Ice Phoenix was powerful enough to master the second layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique. In that case, with the cauldron under her control, he would be no match for her in battle even with the puppet and the Unbroken Cinque Devils on his side.

He was naturally not going to put himself in such a perilous situation.

Thankfully, Nangong Wan had already consumed the inner core of the Ancient Flame Toad. Even though that couldn't completely undo the curse, it would definitely be able to delay the outbreak of the curse, thus ensuring her survival for the next 300 years.