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

The old man smiled and paused for a moment before continuing, “Regardless, these beast gems are incredibly difficult to acquire. Generally, the larger the demon beast, the more likely there’s a beast gem inside their skull, but that isn’t a guarantee. There were several times where we invested great amounts of effort and resources to slay a huge demon beast, but no beast gems were found on its corpse. As for the villagers that slayed a few of the Firescale Beasts on their way back, they were actually able to find a beast gem among them but this tends to be an exception.

“In summary, the demand for beast gems is astonishingly high due to the constant assaults by the umbra beasts. However, we’ve only managed to maintain a stockpile of about ten umbra beast gems over the years so we only use them with reluctance. As a result, the beast gems are kept among the village elders, and are only to be used when required. After the battle is concluded, they are immediately returned. As for the stone talismans, they are instilled with several days worth of power and the talisman is left to persist for several days. The beast gems aren’t allowed to be embedded in them, wasting the slots that were specifically refined for them.” The old man appeared somewhat dissatisfied with the village elders’ methods and rubbed a square groove at the side of the stone disc with a wry expression.

Han Li silently smiled in response. He reckoned the the old man had told him that last part in order to involve him in a power struggle within the village. However, Han Li didn’t have the slightest interest in becoming tangled up in the matter.

It appeared that the old man in front of him had started behaving like a mortal after he was severed from the path of cultivation, and had involved himself in a contest for political power. Han Li sighed and felt that this was quite lamentable.

A trace of disappointment appeared in the old man’s eyes when he saw Han Li remain silent. But soon, his expression recovered and he began to idly chat.

The old man casually mentioned, “It is unknown just how many years this forsaken land has existed. Although very few cultivators are sucked in, I reckon that over time several hundred cultivators have met their end here in the Umbra Realm. I’ve heard that Core Formation cultivators and even Nascent Soul cultivators have lived out their days in this land.”

Han Li’s expression stirred, “There have been Nascent Soul cultivators here?”

The old man sighed, “That's right. Although I don’t know how many years ago it was when that expert had been sucked into this land, but he had once been an elder of this village. I guess that he was the same as you two, and was sucked into the ghost mist when there was an eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi. Normally, the strange fog would be incapable of capturing such a figure.”

“That should be the case. However, the Spirit Extinguishing Qi is quite fearsome. I’d guess that only the Deity Transformation stage cultivators from legend would be able to resist it.”

“Deity transformation stage! Hehe, Fellow Daoist’s scope of thought is truly wide. With regards to the Nascent Soul cultivator, although he already died trapped in this place, he left behind a few records, some of which detail his cultivation experiences. While these items might be incredibly precious on the outside, but here? Heh...” The old man shook his head with a sense of regret.

Han Li animatedly said, “His cultivation experiences! I am very interested. Would Fellow Daoist happen to know where they are?”

Records of a Nascent Soul cultivator’s experiences are extremely valuable. It was only natural for Han Li to want to take a look.

The old man rubbed the wrinkles on his face and casually said, “Hehe! I was excited like you when I first heard of this. However, after staying in this place for so long, I’ve completely lose interest in them. Without any magic power, the records are nothing more than drawings. If you’re still interested in taking a look, all of the cultivators’ remaining possessions are being kept in storage.” The old man then pointed to a shabby stone building in a corner of the village.

Barely restraining his excitement, Han Li calmly said a few words of thanks to the old man.

Han Li chatted a bit more with the old man, but he was able to see Han Li’s impatience and took the initiative to take his leave.

Han Li watched the old man’s departing figure and pursed his lips. After a quick moment of deliberation, he shook his head and descended from the stone platform. He then quickly walked towards the storage room with the cultivators’ remaining belongings .





Chapter 585: Reappearance of Demon Script


Many villagers along the way felt that Han Li’s face was somewhat unfamiliar and curiously glanced at him. However, none of them bothered to approach or question him.

As a result, Han Li was able to arrive in front of a rather worn black stone building unobstructed. After a moment of hesitation, he pushed the door in front of him, but it didn’t budge in the slightest.

Han Li was surprised by the door’s resistance and suspected that there was something wrong with the door. But after taking another deep breath, he used the entirety of his strength. Although he hadn’t cultivated any exterior martial arts, his body had passed through the essence cleansing of both Foundation Establishment and Core Formation and was able to muster great force.

With a heavy groan, the door slowly began to give way, inch by inch, and Han Li was elated at the sight.

At that moment, he discovered that for some reason, the door was twice as thick as an ordinary door. It was no wonder the door was nearly stuck.

Han Li quickly entered the room and was faced with a moist stench of decay. He grimaced and quickly held his breath until the outside air rushed into the room and cleared out most of the unpleasant scent. He then took a short breath of fresh air before he began to look through the room, using the faint light from the doorway.

The room was rather simple. Apart from the rows of stone tablets that took up a majority of the room, there were also a few stone tables. The stone tablets were about three meters tall and six meters wide, much to Han Li’s surprise. As for the stone tables, they had records and a few scrolls as well as what seemed to be lifeless magic tools.

Han Li quickly recovered from his surprise, and after some thought, he burst into laughter.

How could one find wood or bamboo to make paper with in this realm? As for jade slips, they were incapable of being used without magic power. As such, the stone tablets would be the only way to record something so these stone tablets should be the records they had left behind.

As for the magic tools on the table, they seemed to be just like his own flying swords and must be removed from this place before they could be put away. As for storage pouches, Han Li hadn’t spotted any of them in the room. It seems they had been dealt with in a different manner and weren’t left on display.

After glancing at the general situation in the room, Han Li casually walked over to a stone tablet and saw that it was covered in a thick layer of dust, obscuring whatever was carved into it. Han Li casually tore off a piece of his jacket with a frown and started to wipe it clean.

Soon, Han Li was able to see what was carved onto the tablet.

These weren’t characters that were widely used in the cultivation world but rather were a type of rarely seen script. Fortunately for Han Li, he was vastly experienced and could easily recognize them.

But as soon as Han Li glanced at the tablet, his interest immediately disappeared. This was merely the diary of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Han Li immediately set it to the side and began to look through the other stone tablets in the room.

There were about twenty in total. It was only when Han Li reached the sixth stone tablet that his interest finally began to stir. He had found what he was looking for, the cultivation experiences of the Nascent Soul cultivator! Han Li was entranced and motionlessly stood in front of the stone tablet for an unknown amount of time before letting out a long breath and revealing a complicated expression.