A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 801-Chapter 1000)

‘Since this eccentric dared to act this way in front of me, he must be confident in his abilities. Could it be that he is actually a late-Nascent Soul cultivator?’ As these thoughts appeared in his mind, he felt a trace of fear towards this person.

After taking a few more sips of the tea, Han Li put down the cup and asked, “Fellow Daoist Bamboo should know our reason for coming. What do you think about my proposal?”

With an unsightly expression, Old Man Bitter Bamboo frowned and shortly grimaced, “I’ll be honest. This trade is quite difficult for me. The Black Phoenix is currently at a crucial moment in its growth. I am unwilling to agree to the exchange no matter how many demon cores you offer. Who knows if there will ever come a time that the phoenix will have another breakthrough.”

“Then you mean to say that you don’t agree?” Han Li pursed his lips, but he wasn’t surprised to hear this in the slightest.

“Hehe, if I truly refused you two, I fear that you would be unwilling to return empty-handed. How about this, as cultivators as powerful as we are, how about we compare a few of our techniques? If one of you are able to defeat me in battle, I may be willing to agree to the trade, but if not...”

“If not, we will immediately leave and never mention this matter again,” Han Li said without hesitation.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo swept his gaze past the two and mysteriously smiled. “Good, it is settled then. I haven’t had a measure of strength in nearly a hundred years. Which one of you will I be fighting?”

Under Han Li’s control, he willed the puppet to say, “If you find it acceptable, how about sparring with me?”

“That’s fine. I’m also quite curious to see Brother Li’s techniques. We will compare pointers above the mountain, come!” When Old Man Bitter Bamboo saw that his opponent would be the man with the mysterious cultivation, he solemnly stood up from his chair.

Han Li and the puppet followed after him.

The old steward that had remained silent this entire time couldn’t help but reveal an excited expression. A battle between Nascent Soul cultivators wasn’t something that was often seen.

Soon, Han Li was floating over three hundred meters above the mountain and wore a calm expression. He stood a hundred meters away from Old Man Bitter Bamboo and the puppet.

In the air nearby, there were eight additional Core Formation cultivators that were watching with wide-open eyes.

“Go!” Old Man Bitter Bamboo shouted. He formed an incantation gesture, and a blinding light suddenly covered his body. Over a hundred faint green flying swords were released around him in specks of light, filling the air with an astonishing pressure.

The glowing swords flickered and arranged themselves in a strange formation. They then began to revolve above Old Man Bitter Bamboo, producing a strangely hostile intent.

When Han Li saw this, his expression suddenly froze.

‘Having refined so many flying swords, it is only natural for him to comprehend sword formations so well.’ Although he had already guessed as much, he was still shocked to see it with his own eyes.

Monarch Soul Divergence clicked his tongue and excitedly said, “Youngster Han, it seems this person has quite a bit of skill. This will allow the puppet to reveal even more of its powers! Let’s first test the puppets defensive abilities.” His voice didn’t carry a trace of doubt.

“Understood.” Having used so many rare materials to refine it, Han Li was also excited to see what would happen and he commanded the puppet to act.

From a distance, he saw it open its mouth and spit out a palm-sized shield. In a flash of light, it transformed into a huge silver shield in front of it. In quick succession, the puppet formed an incantation gesture and various-colored talisman characters appeared in the air, condensing into a rainbow barrier covering both shield and body.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo yelped when he saw this and asked, “Could you be from Nanjiang’s Sacred Poison Sect? This ability appears similar to their sect’s trademark Spiritmark Technique.”

Han Li’s heart stirred when he heard this but he commanded the puppet to curtly speak, “No.”

An odd expression appeared on Old Man Bitter Bamboo’s face and then he replied, “Oh? So I was mistaken. However, there is an undeniable resemblance.” It was clear he was doubtful.

However, he didn’t ask any further questions. When he saw that his opponent did nothing, he felt as if he was being underestimated. Annoyed, his expression turned sullen and he began to mutter an incantation.

The hundreds of flying swords above him began to buzz and tremble before shooting out from the formation as three-meter-long swordstreaks, obsuring the sky with their barrage. They all combined into a huge ray of light enroute, producing an astonishing pressure and dazzling radiance.





Chapter 971: The Thunderfire Bow


To the incoming attack of swordlight, the puppet simply pointed to the silver shield in front of it and did nothing else. In a flare of light, the shield grew several times thicker before flying forward to meet the attack.

The swordlight struck the silver luminescent shield with full force, resulting in a resounding explosion as flashes of white and green light colored the sky, but the shield stood as firm as a mountain against the raging tide.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo grimaced at the sight and a trace of astonishment appeared on Han Li’s face.

Monarch Soul Divergence said in voice transmission, “It appears the might of the Tailstar Shield is above what was expected. Despite being a newly refined magic treasure and having yet been tempered, it has absolutely no problem blocking the strikes of ordinary magic treasures. However, I suspect only the puppet is able to bring out this degree of power. If you were to control the shield, you would only be able to display half as much might.”

Han Li bluntly replied, “Of course, the degree of power one can display from a magic treasure depends on its might, the amount of time tempered, the total magic power channeled into it, as well as one’s control of spiritual sense. Storing spiritual power as magic power is the foundation of cultivation. This puppet is refined from rare materials and can pour three times as much magic power into the shield than I can.”

Having spent so many days under Monarch Soul Divergence’s personal guidance, his grasp of puppet techniques had reached a profoundly high level. Monarch Soul Divergence may still prove his superior by far in this regard, but there are no others in this world that could hope to best him in puppet techniques.

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and added, “Although the Tailstar Shield was something that you refined and gave to the puppet, it was created with its characteristics in mind. It is quite different from an ordinary magic treasure. Even if you channeled as much magic power into the shield, you still wouldn’t be produce as much of its strength as the puppet.”

Han Li nodded and said little else, turning his attention back to the battle.

At that moment, Old Man Bitter Bamboo gave his swords another order. Seeing that they were helpless in the face of that shield, he had them create another sword formation above his head in preparation for an attack.

After pointing to the formation, the swords let out a ring and began to spin around in the air. In a flash of light, they formed a three-meter-wide wheel.

He struck the wheel with several spell seals, causing it to rotate with increasing speed. Blinding green light then blazed at its center and concentrated in a beam of energy, fiercely striking at the silver shield.

A muffled bang sounded out, and a ball of green light erupted from the shield. The ball was massive and caved in the center of the shield of light. The depression quickly grew deeper as if it were on the verge of collapse.