A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 401-Chapter 600)

The old man received the spirit stones with a wave of his sleeve and then asked with a wide smile, “Does Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul have any plans in mind following his arrival on the island? Although Fellow Daoist’s magic power is profound, the demon beasts here are truly hard to handle. No small number of Core Formation cultivators have been seriously injured by tackling the seas alone. How about I introduce you to a few similar grade cultivators? It would be considerably safer if you were to set out to sea together.”


Han Li smiled upon hearing this. The purpose of the old man’s courteous and friendly behavior from the beginning was for drawing him in.

“Many thanks for Fellow Daoist Li’s kindness. However, I must soon prepare to refine a few medicine pills. And after I consume the pills, I will have to enter seclusion for some time. I won’t be heading out to hunt demon beasts in the near future.” Han Li gave a smooth refusal with an embarrassed expression, but in truth, he was absolutely unwilling to travel out to sea with unfamiliar cultivators.

Although a trace of disappointment flickered across his face, he immediately continued without a care, “That is fine too. It is considerably safer to first increase one’s cultivation and one’s familiarity with the region. However, if Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul does later wish to find companions, please don’t forget about me!”

Han Li naturally agreed and further chatted with the old man for a moment before taking his leave.

The old man saw Han Li off at the building’s exit before returning inside.

Just as the old man sat down, he suddenly heard a voice calmly say, “How about it? Will this person be useful to us?” A vague silhouette soon emerged from the landscape painting on the wall, bringing forth another person into the room.

The white-clothed man remained in the air while covered in azure light, making for a rather mysterious display.

The old man confidently said, “There is no need to worry. Although we only chatted for a short moment, from his strange appearance, that cultivator Crooked Soul should be a vagrant cultivator that travels alone. So long as he witnesses the dangers of travelling the depths alone, he will come to know the advantages of my offer. He will come back sooner or later.”

The white-clothed man coldly refuted, “Humph! That isn’t guaranteed.”

Li Xun shook his head, “What? An early Core Formation cultivator can roam the depths and hunt demon beasts alone?”

The white-clothed cultivator grew silent before solemnly saying, “He isn’t an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. When you were chatting in the room, I was able to feel someone watching me for some unknown reason. Although he didn’t glance in the direction I was hidden, I suspect that he was aware of my existence and only chose not to disclose it.”

The old man was stunned. He then bewilderedly said, “Are you not mistaken? Your concealment technique is something that even higher grade cultivators are incapable of uncovering. Don’t tell me that this Crooked Soul fellow is actually a late Core Formation cultivator.”

The white-clothed man doubtfully said, “That’s hard to say! It is quite possible that he cultivates an unusual cultivation art or possesses some peculiar treasure.”

After circling the room several times, the old man eventually frowned and said, “Leave it be. Regardless of whether this cultivator is exceptional or ordinary, we’ve already tried our hardest to befriend him. It was the correct decision either way!”

The white-clothed cultivator nodded in approval and spoke no further.





Chapter 517: Island in the Mist


By the time the white robed cultivator and the old man finished their discussion, Han Li had already entered a nearby miscellaneous goods store near the Golden Thumb Pavilion. He purchased a map of the local seas and information on the demon beasts that roamed around there before leaving. After finding a secluded area, Han Li started to look through the information.

After only a cursory glance, Han Li unconciously frown.

There were truly far too many dangerous areas in the vicinity of Profound Depths Island. Could it be that high grade demon beasts often roamed through these areas?”

As for the location of the famed depths, it wasn’t too far away from the island. Han Li would be able to reach it after only flying half a month south at full speed. However, the depths were truly vast, spanning over five million kilometers of jagged, uneven territory. This was without even mentioning the territory’s unfathomable depths, as no one had yet to truly explore its farthest reaches.

After Han Li skimmed once through the jade slip, he quickly put it away. Standing in place with a solemn expression, he lowered his head as began to think deeply.

After an unknown amount of time had past, Han Li raised his head, wearing an indifferent expression. He then directly flew out of Blackrock City without any further deliberation. Upon leaving the city, Han Li immediately turned into a streak of azure light and soared through the skies.

Profound Depths Island was a medium-sized island, but apart from Blackrock City, the island was completely barren. Not a single village or town could be seen.

For some unknown reason, it seemed that both cultivators and mortals weren’t setting up residence on the other parts of the island.

Han Li quickly flew away from Wondrous Depths Island. After raising his head to the skies and determining his direction, he headed north.

Currently, he wanted to find an island where cultivators scarcely appeared. He didn’t want to be in a crowded area and attract attention. As a result, he deliberately chose to fly far away from the Wondrous Depths.

There weren’t many cultivators in the seas around Wondrous Depths Island. In addition, all those islands had cultivators and mortals residing on them. Han Li didn’t bother to stop at any of them and shot past them without regard.

It was clear that the northern seas had far fewer cultivators as he had expected.

After flying for about twelve days, he sparsely saw any other cultivators. And when he did encounter them, the low grade cultivators would immediately veer out of his way, and high grade cultivators would watch him with vigilance. Like other demon beast islands, killing others for their treasures was a common occurrence.

Han Li was particularly vigilant as well.

After flying for another two days and finally seeing no trace of other cultivators, Han Li changed direction and started flying west.

According to the map, there would be a few islands with small spirit veins in that direction. As the spirit veins on these islands were low grade, and the distance from the Wondrous Depths was far, along with a complete lack of safety and other various reasons, very few cultivators resided there.

In the case of mortals, they all took residence on the islands nearby Wondrous Depths Island, ensuring some degree of safety.

Of course, Han Li didn’t care about these conditions. He merely wanted to take a look and see if any of the islands were to his liking.

...

About thirty kilometers ahead of him, Han Li spotted a small island. This would be the fourth uninhabited island with a spirit vein he had encountered so far.

The island wasn’t large, but its terrain was both uncommon and varied. There were barren landscapes, dense forests full of unknown trees, grasslands with beautiful flowers and even a small mountain range.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the island and found no traces of any other cultivators staying there.

The spirit vein on this island wasn’t low-grade. Despite its small size, it was actually a peak mid-grade spirit vein. While it couldn’t be considered a top-grade spirit vein, it still released an abundance of spiritual Qi.

It seemed the reason why other cultivators had left this island alone wasn’t due to the spirit vein, but rather the small island’s exceptionally strange environment.

However, there was something about the island that Han Li fancied in particular: the vast white mist that surrounded it. The mist wasn’t natural; it was produced by a few nearby whirlpools. While the mist did cover the island’s sides, it didn’t surround it from above.