Han Li frowned and replied, “I know, but the Feng Clan’s secret cave is the easiest way. It would be for the best if I happened to find it there. Otherwise, I’ll have to head to a famous Buddhist Sect, and with my current cultivation, it will be quite difficult to resolve the matter there.”
Monarch Soul Divergence snorted several times in succession and said, “After your cultivation dropped, these many simple matters have become far more complicated. If you still had your mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivation, you could’ve found a Buddhist Sect and have them sell you such a technique on behalf of your status as a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
When Han Li heard this, he could only shake his head with a bitter smile.
It was said that Buddhist Sects are prejudiced against outsiders. Even if he was still a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, how could the sect easily allow their high-grade techniques to leave the sect? If it truly couldn’t happen, he could only infiltrate a Buddhist sect and see whether or not he would be able to steal the technique he needed.
However, when he thought of the oaths and shaved head he needed to enter a Buddhist sect, he felt somewhat gloomy.
‘Perhaps it would be easier to find a method to dissolve the baleful Qi in a Confucian sect,’ he sullenly thought.
...
The Liao Province’s Wuyuan Prefecture was on the west border of the Guanning Prefecture. As a result, it only took Han Li a couple of weeks before crossing into the Guanning Prefecture.
Along the way, he hadn’t encountered any high-grade cultivators. He only saw a few Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators flying from a distance. He didn’t have any reason to call out to them, so he kept his distance and focused on his journey.
After flying for a few days, the mortals became less frequently sighted and the land became wild and overgrown as though uninhabited. But two days later, Han Li arrived at Falcon Cloud Village and descended from his flying magic tool before slowly entering on foot.
The village was far more crudely constructed than the other villages he had seen on his way. Not only was it smaller but also only had four roads crossing one another. The buildings were also all constructed from yellow mud and scorched wood.
He frowned and glanced around him as he walked on the road.
As of that moment, the weather was exceptionally chilly, but he simply strode in with his neat Confucian robes. The mortals didn't appear particularly surprised when they saw this.
Han Li wore a pensive expression, and just as he felt that something was odd, his expression stirred as a pair of white-robed men approached him, one tall and one short. They were both around the age of twenty, but their bodies possessed spiritual Qi fluctuations, displaying cultivation at the eighth and seventh layers of Qi Condensation.
When the two saw Han Li, their expressions revealed a trace of alarm and approached him until they were ten meters away.
The tall, skinny youth respectfully saluted him and asked, “Might I know Senior’s esteemed name? Surely he must’ve come to participate in the Grand Assembly.”
Han Li was stunned for a moment before speaking with obvious surprise, “The Grand Assembly? I’m not aware of it. I’m only in the area in search of spiritual herbs.”
“Didn’t I say?” The taller white-robed youth said to his shorter companion, “The assembly had started yesterday. If Senior wished to take part in it, he would already be at Snowmound Mountain. It seems he was only passing by.”
“That doesn’t matter!” The shorter youth said, “Senior still has the time to enter the Grand Assembly. This assembly is being jointly conducted by the three great clans of the Guanning Prefecture. Not only are there many common spiritual herbs on sale, but also many that are several of hundreds of years old, and there is even a thousand-year-old Wild Monarch Ginseng on sale. The gathering should be about halfway through and the final auctions are about to begin. Surely this will be much better than trying to find herbs on a barren mountain. There are also many loose cultivators and a few small sects trading medicine herbs and materials as well. Our three clans doesn't place taxes on any of the revenue.”
Due to Han Li’s many storage pouches at his waist and his Foundation Establishment cultivation, the two white-robed youths didn’t dare to slight him.
Han Li’s eyes flickered and he asked with surprise, “The three great clans? Could they be the Kong, Zhao, and Dong Clans?”
“That’s right,” the taller youth said with a smile, “We are disciples of the Kong Clan. We are here to receive any cultivators that were rushing over. Originally, we didn’t think that there would be more guests and were thinking of participating in the gathering ourselves, but it turned out Senior just happened to arrive on time.”
Instead of agreeing, Han Li glanced around and asked, “This village is already under the direct supervision of the Kong Clan? These mortals seem rather accustomed having cultivators nearby. This is quite rare.”
The taller youth explained, “Senior is quite intelligent. Six years ago, the village entered the ownership of our three clans and was filled with our clan’s mortal descendants. As a result, they don’t hold much fear towards cultivators like us.”
“So it’s like that. This will be troublesome.” Han Li muttered, revealing an unsightly expression.
The shorter youth’s expression stirred and he eagerly asked, “What? Does Senior have some other affairs? Could he tell us? Perhaps we can be of assistance!”
Chapter 905: The Coffin
Han Li pondered to himself for a moment before calmly saying, “It’s nothing. It won’t be too late to mention it in the future. Since there is an extensive gathering here, I’ll take a look at there first.”
After the two white-robed youths glanced at one another, the shorter youth smiled and said, “That’s good. Let us lead the way, Senior.”
Soon after, each of them took out a disk magic tool and tossed them into the air before leaping onto them. When Han Li saw this, he tossed a sparkling flying sword and appeared on top of it in a blur.
Having seen the sword, the shorter youth revealed an expression of admiration and said, “Senior’s magic tool is a high-grade flying sword. You must be an inner disciple of a large sect, right? There is no way a master or sect would give a magic tool of that quality to a low-grade disciple.”
Han Li chuckled and answered, “My sect has a rule where we’re not allowed to reveal the identity of our affiliation while we’re on a journey. I hope you two Fellow Daoists will refrain from asking these questions.”
The two youths felt somewhat embarrassed, but now they felt even more certain that Han Li was a disciple from a large sect and their expressions grew even more respectful.
The three cultivators then headed south of the village on their magic tools.
The Snowmound Mountain wasn’t very far away from the village. As they flew towards it, they could faintly see a line of black mountaintops in the distance. It was more appropriate to call it a mountain range than a mountain. The mountain range spanned over five hundred kilometers and was one of the several great mountain ranges in the Liao Province. Additionally, it was reportedly said that there were demons and ghosts lurking deep into the mountain. Let alone mortals, even lower grade cultivators would occasionally disappear in the mountains.
The friends and sect of the cultivators who disappeared formed search parties and scour through half the mountain range only to find no sign of them. After this, more cultivators would disappeared regardless.
Fortunately, disappearances only rarely happened and most of those that disappeared were low-grade cultivators native to the Liao Province. As a result of these repeated incidents, few cultivators ever tread too deeply into the mountains and the disappearances slowly stopped as well.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 801-Chapter 1000)
Wang Yu's books
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1-Chapter 200)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 201-Chapter 400)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 401-Chapter 600)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 601-Chapter 800)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1001-Chapter 1200)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1201-Chapter 1400)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1401-Chapter 1600)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1601-Chapter 1800)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1801-Chapter 2000)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 2001-Chapter 2248)