A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 2001-Chapter 2248)

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes as it didn't seem to him like Silvermoon was intentionally feigning indifference, but he quickly smiled, and said, "I was unaware of your true identity back in the human world, so please forgive me for any prior offense I may have caused. Furthermore, I didn't have to go to a lot of trouble to save you back then, so don't mention it."

"Haha, there's no need to be so cold and distant even though the two of you haven't met for so many years. Regardless of what you say, the fact of the matter is that you saved Silvermoon's life, and I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for that," Ao Xiao chuckled.

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and quickly changed the subject. "Senior, this area is already under the control of the devilish army; have you come here to spy on the devilish army?"

"Yes and no," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied in an ambiguous manner after a brief pause.

Han Li was rather perplexed by this answer.

"Several months ago, our united army received news that the three devilish patriarchs seem to have changed their plans, and the devilish army has begun expanding their territory while corrupting a larger area with devilish Qi. I came here to verify if this was actually the case under the request from several fellow daoists, as well as to see if I could destroy a few Devilification Formations set up in this area," Ao Xiao replied.

"I see. What is this Devilification Formation, Senior? I recall that there are some areas in our human race that have displayed signs of having undergone devilification; is that the same as what's happening here?" Han Li asked in a perplexed manner.

"If the Elder Devil Realm wants to truly claim a territory for itself in our Spirit Realm, then they have to devilify an area to completely convert the spiritual Qi in that area into devilish Qi, and this transition requires a type of devilish formation that can make normal trees undergo this change. The devilish army has attempted to set up the same formations in our human and demon territories, but we discovered them very early and destroyed most of them before they could produce much of an effect.

"However, the situation in the Wood Tribe is a lot more troublesome. Not only have Devilification Formations been set up over most of their territory, they've also begun setting up a super formation that will act as the primary formation several years ago. With this primary formation, they'll be able to connect tens of thousands of Devilification Formations as one entity, and if they were to succeed, it would become extremely difficult to destroy the connected formations. However, if I can destroy a few of these formations, it would delay the devilification process," Patriarch Ao Xiao explained.

After a brief pause, a hint of a smile appeared on his face, and he suddenly asked, "I haven't heard anything about you for the past few decades, Fellow Daoist Han; did you venture into the Elder Devil Realm with those from the true spirit families?"

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and after a brief hesitation, a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "How did you know about that, Senior? I did indeed enter the Elder Devil Realm with some fellow daoists from the true spirit families and the Spirit Race."

"All of you vanished off the face of the realm at the same time, and I'm aware of the existence of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, so it was easy for me to make the connection. Every devilish tribulation, cultivators from our races would venture into the Elder Devil Realm to seek out those two things, but barely any of them have ever succeeded. Seeing as you're the only one who's returned, I presume everyone else has already perished," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a calm manner.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior. Indeed, our journey into the Elder Devil Realm had been extremely perilous, and unfortunately, I'm the sole survivor of our group," Han Li sighed.

"With your cultivation bases, it would indeed be an extremely dangerous undertaking to venture into the Elder Devil Realm, but I'm sure you've reaped far more rewards than you imagined. Setting aside everything else, this fellow daoist is the golden crab within the Devilish Origin Sea, right? Why has his cultivation base dropped to this extent? Tsk tsk, if this Faux Immortal Puppet were at the height of its powers, even I would be no match for it. How did you manage to abduct it from the Elder Devil Realm?" Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled as he cast his gaze toward Daoist Xie with a hint of yearning in his eyes.

"I see you're aware of Brother Xie's existence as well. Fellow Daoist Xie has already attained intelligence, so he's certainly not someone that I can simply abduct; he's only temporarily following me as I was able to offer him a mutually beneficial deal," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

"I see," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied, but he was clearly unconvinced.

If the giant golden crab were that easy to lure away, then it wouldn't have remained in the Devilish Origin Sea for so many years.

Ao Xiao was extremely envious of this Faux Immortal Puppet, but he had no intention of trying to take it for himself. After all, obtaining such a puppet still didn't change the fact that he would struggle to transcend his next major heavenly tribulation.

On top of that, the fact that Han Li had progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage and seemed to have a chance of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage was extremely astonishing to him.

As a result, there was now potential for him to undo the one thing that he had always regretted.

With that in mind, he cast a glance toward Silvermoon, and even though his expression remained quite relaxed, a serious tone crept into his voice as he said, "Fellow Daoist Han, I won't force you to tell me what you experienced in the Elder Devil Realm, but I hope you can answer one questions truthfully: did you manage to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consume the Clean Spirit Lotus?"





Chapter 2152: Art of Indifference


Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this before immediately returning to normal as he asked, "Do you think I succeeded, Senior?"

Patriarch Ao Xiao hesitated momentarily before replying, "The Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus are extremely renowned, and many powerful beings from several realms have tried to obtain them, but I've never heard of anyone who's actually succeeded. You've returned safely from the Elder Devil Realm, but there's still a very low chance that you've obtained those two things. However, for some reason, I can't help but feel like you've encountered greater opportunities than I imagine, so I'm going to go with my instinct and say that you've succeeded."

"Your instincts are very sharp, Senior," Han LI replied with a smile.

In the past, he wouldn't have revealed this information to such a powerful being, but now that he had cultivated his Holy Nirvana Physique to the Second Nirvana Transformation and he had the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword and Daoist Xie as trump cards, he no longer had such inhibitions.

Furthermore, Han Li was very curious to see how Ao Xiao would respond to this news.

"That's fantastic! Seeing as you've already entered the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consumed the Clean Spirit Lotus, there's a very good chance that you'll be able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. In that case, it looks like I've made a grave mistake. If I had known that this would happen, I would've allowed Silvermoon to meet you rather than encourage her to use that cultivation art," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed in a remorseful manner.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"I was the one who made the choice to cultivate the Art of Indifference, so you're not to blame, Grandfather. If I hadn't used this cultivation art, how would I have been able to overcome the flaws in my mental state to progress to the Body Integration Stage? On top of that, after using this cultivation art, I've realized that emotions are completely superfluous and will only inhibit one's pursuit of the Great Dao," Silvermoon finally said in a calm manner.