A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 813: Sprout

Two Months later.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong were seated across from each other on a pair of long benches in a pavilion outside East Mountain City.

"Brother Shi, I've been thinking the past few days, and I feel like it would be best for us to avoid using the teleportation array in East Mountain City," Han Li mused.

"Why is that?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"We should avoid appearing in the city on multiple occasions as much as possible. There's no guarantee that there are no high-grade cultivators or spies of your eldest brother's lurking in these cities, so it'll be safer for us if we show ourselves as little as possible," Han Li explained.

"That does make sense. My eldest brother's intelligence network isn't as extensive as my third brother's, but he's certainly no slouch in that regard. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become aware of our arrival in the Ten Hazards Mountain Range so quickly," Shi Chuankong replied with a nod.

"According to the map that you gave me earlier, the nearest city to East Mountain City is Connected Phoenix City. Let's go there, then immediately continue onward to Seven Lake City, and we'll rest for a while once we get there," Han Li proposed.

"Are you suggesting that we disrupt our own itinerary so no one can predict where we're going?" Shi Chuankong asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"The more confused they are, the safer we'll be," Han Li confirmed with a nod.

"Impressive as always, Brother Li. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't even have been able to survive that ordeal with Daoist Master Bone Shine. We'll do as you say," Shi Chuankong replied with a smile.

With the decision made, the two of them flew away into the distance atop Shi Chuankong's flying carriage.

Over ten years flew by in a flash.

On this day, a black flying carriage was racing over a primitive forest, carrying Han Li and Shi Chuankong, who had disguised themselves as an azure-robed scholar and a man clad in a suit of azure armor, respectively.

"I didn't think that it would take a whole decade to travel from the Mountain Lake Region to the neighboring Sunken Mountain Region," Shi Chuankong mused.

"It was always going to take far longer to travel without the use of teleportation arrays, and on top of that, we're regularly being attacked by devilish beasts, so that'll naturally slow us down as well," Han Li replied.

"The devilish beasts of our Holy Realm are extremely aggressive and territorial, and if anyone enters their territory, they'll often rush straight into battle, even if the opponent is far more formidable than themselves. Take that Devilish Bone Dove as an example: it was only at the early-Golden Immortal Stage, yet it pursued us for over three months," Shi Chuankong said with a wry smile.

"We would've killed that thing long ago had we not been worried that doing so would cause too much of a commotion and attract the attention of others. Let's be more careful from now on and do our best to avoid the areas where those powerful devilish beasts reside," Han Li said.

"Mountain Seal City is not far up ahead. Once we get there, we'll be able to use the teleportation array in the city to reach the midwestern region of the Holy Realm. Most of that region is my eldest brother's territory, so we have to be even more careful there," Shi Chuankong said.

"In that case, let's rest in Mountain Seal City for a while," Han Li replied with a nod.

"That's not a bad idea. Mountain Seal City is the second-largest city in the Sunken Mountain Region, and it's quite a thriving business hub, so we can replenish our supplies here too," Shi Chuankong said.

With the decision made, the two of them sped up as they made their way toward the city.

Upon entering the city, they first went to an inn and rented a pair of unremarkable and relatively cheap courtyards to stay in. After that, they split up to visit the renowned shopping streets in the city.

There weren't many things that were useful to Han Li in the Devil Realm, but thankfully, he didn't need to purchase much. All he was looking for were some lightning-attribute array materials like Lightning Restraining Wood.

Hence, he was able to get almost everything on his shopping list after passing through just one shopping street.

All that's left is the Lightning Dust Bead, but that's not going to be easy to find, Han Li thought to himself as he stood at the end of the shopping street.

He then left the street and traveled eastward onto another street, and only late that night did he return to the inn.

Upon returning to his courtyard, he activated all of the restrictions before entering the Flower Branch domain, arriving in the new bamboo building near the spirit medicine garden.

Daoist Xie was already waiting outside, and he approached Han Li as he asked, "How did it go?"

"I've managed to gather everything with the exception of the Lightning Dust Bead," Han Li sighed.

"It's no surprise that it's proving to be difficult to find these materials in the Devil Realm, but the Lightning Dust Bead is crucial for stimulating and the replenishing the lightning power in the Dao Warriors, and without it, the powers of the Dao Warriors won't be enhanced by much at all," Daoist Xie said.

"Is that the only purpose of the Lightning Dust Bead?" Han Li asked.

"That's its primary purpose. It also has some other effects, but those are negligible," Daoist Xie replied.

"In that case, I don't think it's necessary at all," Han Li said with a smile.

"Why is that?" Daoist Xie asked.

Han Li offered no response as he flipped a hand over to summon his Profound Heavenly Gourd, then gently patted its underside, and a streak of purplish-golden light flew out from within, containing a shimmering, golden bean.

Daoist Xie's brows furrowed slightly as he caught the bean, and he immediately felt a powerful burst of electricity surge through his body.

He raised an eyebrow as he tightened his grip around the bean, and a loud thunderclap rang out as purplish-golden lightning erupted out of the tiny bean like a pair of giant lightning wings.

"How is this possible?" Daoist Xie exclaimed. "There's no way that the Lightning Aura Soil alone would've been able to nurture such a powerful Dao Warrior Bean!"

"If you'll recall, I stored all of the beans into my Profound Heavenly Gourd, hoping to use the gourd's special properties to enhance the beans. However, to my surprise, the lightning law powers within the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords inside the gourd began to resonate with the beans, and part of their lightning law powers was transferred into the beans.

“The beans have been in the gourd for over ten years, and their powers have been significantly enhanced over this period of time," Han Li explained.

"In that case, it does indeed look like a Lightning Dust Bead won't be necessary," Daoist Xie said with a smile.

"I'm afraid it's not all good news. Due to the outflow of lightning law powers from my Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, I can sense that they're being nurtured at a far slower rate than before inside the Profound Heavenly Gourd," Han Li sighed.

"Don't be greedy, Fellow Daoist Han. Your Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords have absorbed both Divine Devilbane Lightning and Bone Rinsing Golden Lightning, both of which are some of the most potent yang-attribute lightnings in the world. Your Dao Warriors will be significantly enhanced even if they only absorb a tiny amount of those lightnings, and they'll be particularly effective against ghostly enemies," Daoist Xie said.

Han Li contemplated this notion momentarily, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Seeing as everything is ready, I can begin refining the Dao Warriors," Daoist Xie said.

"Do you need me to do anything?" Han Li asked.

"Not at the moment. The initial refinement process will take at least three years, and I can complete it on my own. However, someone with tremendous spiritual sense will be required to engrave the runes onto the Dao Warriors, so that task will have to be undertaken by you," Daoist Xie replied.

"In that case, I'll be counting on you, Brother Xie," Han Li said.

After that, he transferred all of his Dao Warriors Beans from the Profound Heavenly Gourd into the gourd that had been used to store his previous batch of Dao Warrior Beans.

Daoist Xie accepted the gourd from Han Li, and he gave a pleased nod as he shook the gourd gently to feel the beans inside.

Right as he was about to turn and make his way up to the second floor of the bamboo building, he suddenly recalled something, and he turned to Han Li as he said, "By the way, that tree root in the spirit medicine garden seems to have sprouted."

"Tree root?"

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a look of realization appeared on his face, and he hurriedly rushed into the spirit medicine garden.

Upon reaching a certain area deep in the garden, Han Li spotted a thin sapling that was no thicker than a finger. It was extending out of a withered tree root on the ground, and there were two leaves growing on its tip.

The leaves were filled with countless extremely thin veins that resembled human blood vessels, and they appeared very delicate, but also quite resilient and determined to make the most of the new life that they had been given.

Han Li crouched down next to the frail sapling, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he mused, "It's taken a lot of spirit liquid from my Heaven Controlling Vial, but you've finally sprouted, little guy."

The sapling was growing from the roots of the Twin Birth Tree that he had taken from the True Mantra Sect ruins, and Han Li reached out to stroke the leaves of the sapling, but he had only just extended a hand when the leaves suddenly began to sway toward his finger.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately released his spiritual sense to discover that the leaves had detected the time law powers within his body, and that was why they were approaching him.

Han Li gently stroked the leaves a few times without any incident, and he pulled out his Heaven Controlling Vial, then opened it before tipping the latest drop of spirit liquid inside directly onto the two leaves.