A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1401-Chapter 1600)

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were quite elated by their progress.

However, after flying for several tens of thousands of kilometers further, a vast expanse of black mountain ranges suddenly appeared up ahead.

The three of them immediately stopped the carriage in alarm.

"According to the map, there should be a set of plains here; why are there mountain ranges instead?" Bai Bi murmured as he looked at the massive mountains up ahead.

Lei Lan was also rather dumbstruck.

Even from a distance, they could tell that all of the mountains in the mountain ranges were extremely tall. Some of them had extended to the very top of the underground world, leaving only small gaps between mountains through which one could pass, and that presented quite a daunting prospect.

No one knew just how long these mountain ranges extended for, nor whether there were any hazards awaiting them inside.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as suddenly exited the flying carriage, then descended onto the nearby ground to carefully inspect something.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were rather surprised by what Han Li was doing, but after exchanging a quick glance, they also flew out of the carriage and landed beside Han Li.

"From the signs nearby, it appears that this set of mountain ranges has only appeared here in the past century. It was most likely moved here by someone with unfathomable power," Han Li said in a slow voice.

Lei Lan's face paled upon hearing this, and Bai Bi's expression was also rather disgruntled.

"There's no need to panic. Even the Demon Monarchs in the deepest level of the earth abyss aren't capable of such a monumental feat through their own power. This was most likely done through the assistance of some kind of treasure or formation. The only alternative possibility is that a True Spirit level demon beast has appeared in the deepest level of the abyss," Han Li said with a smile.

"I see." As a holy disciple of the Tian Peng Race, Bai Bi was no ordinary being, and he quickly realized that Han Li was right.

"Even so, the situation here isn't quite right. The desert that we passed through earlier also appeared out of nowhere. Why are the demon beasts of the earth abyss doing this? What could their intentions be?" A concerned look appeared on Lei Lan's face.

"Perhaps this is all due to the beast torrent. Even if that isn't the case and there's another reason behind all this, there's no way that the earth abyss trial would be canceled. Hence, all we can do is get to the third level, then bring back the Infernal Flame Fruit as quickly as possible and report these sightings to the higher-ups in our Tian Peng Race," Han Li said in an unflustered manner. After all, he had many similar past experiences, so this was not something new to him.

"You're right, Brother Han. However, this set of mountain ranges really is quite peculiar. If we fly through the gaps between the mountains, who knows what dangers we could encounter? But if we try to go around it..." Bai Bi said in a hesitant voice.

"We definitely can't go around it," Lei Lan rejected before analyzing, "According to the map, on one side of this land is the earth abyss wind belt, while the Black Abyssal Flying Ants' nests lay on the other side. The earth abyss winds in the wind belt are far more powerful than the gusts we've encountered before, and the glacial power imbued within them can freeze us instantly; it's a renowned restricted area. As for the ant's nests, there are hundreds of thousands of flying ants in there. If we try to force our way through it with our cultivation bases, there's at least a 50% chance that we'd all die in there."

"So that means our only choice is to pass through these mountain ranges," Han Li murmured to himself as he stroked his chin.

"Not necessarily. If we go around in an even larger circle, we can skirt around all of these hazards, but that'll take at least an extra seven or eight days. That delay could prove to be extremely detrimental to our search for the Infernal Flame Fruit." Lei Lan was becoming rather hesitant.

Meanwhile, Han Li was staring at the mountain ranges up ahead in silence.

At this moment, both Bai Bi and Lei Lan also fell silent, entrusting the final decision to Han Li.

After a while, Han Li finally made his decision. "These mountain ranges give me a very eerie feeling; if we really do go through it, I feel like we'll encounter some extreme hazards. Even if we can force our way through the mountain ranges, we'll most likely have expended a large amount of magic power, and that certainly won't hold us in good stead for the rest of the trial. As for entering the second level a few days late, I don't think that's too much of an issue. With these few days of delay, the branches that are targeting us won't be able to predict our route and ambush us. Besides, there are so many trial-takers, and there won't be all that many Infernal Flame Fruits to be found on the second level. I intend to take you two to the third level anyway, so it's better to waste some time rather than face the unknown dangers within those mountain ranges."

He then flew back into the flying carriage. Lei Lan and Bai Bi held a brief discussion through voice transmission upon seeing this before also returning to the carriage.

"Brother Han, I think we should discuss this matter in further depth. Perhaps the mountain ranges aren't as dangerous as we imagine," Bai Bi said as soon as he entered the carriage.

Even though he felt like Han Li's decision made sense, he still couldn't help but feel that wasting so much time was not wise.

"Speak no further; I won't enter these mountain ranges," Han said in an indifferent voice, cutting off what Bai Bi was about to say next.

The carriage then shot forth toward another direction at his behest.

Seeing as Han Li was so determined, Bai Bi heaved a resigned sigh and fell silent. Lei Lan didn't contribute anything further to the conversation, either,

Unbeknownst to two of them, Han Li was not feeling anywhere near as resolute and assured as he appeared.

At this moment, a wisp of his spiritual sense was connected to the Weeping Soul Beast inside his spirit beast bracelet, trying to soothe the beast's violent and uneasy emotions. At the same time, he was wondering what could the cause of its emotional outburst.

Just as he was approaching those mountain ranges earlier, the Weeping Soul Bead within his body suddenly began to heat up. His heart jolted with shock in response, and he hurriedly established a connection with the Weeping Soul Beast in his spirit beast bracelet. As a result, he discovered that the beast was in an extremely abnormal ruffled state, growling incessantly while rushing around in an erratic manner.





Chapter 1446: Green Shadow


The Weeping Soul Beast had already attained intelligence, and after communicating with it, Han Li learned that there was a burst of fearsome Yin soul energy lurking deep within those mountain ranges. It seemed that there was a ghostly being in there that was so powerful, even the Weeping Soul Beast felt threatened by its existence.

The Weeping Soul Beast was the natural bane of ghostly souls, so a ghostly being with Yin soul energy powerful enough to threaten it naturally had to be an extremely fearsome being.

That wasn't to say that the Weeping Soul Beast stood no chance against it, but Han Li simply wasn't willing to take the risk.

Thus, he immediately decided against entering the mountain ranges, choosing instead to take a further route, even if it meant spending more time on their journey.

This concerned the secret that was his Weeping Soul Beast, so Han Li naturally didn't explain everything in detail to Lei Lan and Bai Bi; he merely used some rather unconvincing excuses to placate them.