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

Chapter 999: May We Never Meet Again

Han Li watched as Shi Pokong departed with his entourage, then carefully examined the nearby area with his spiritual sense, and only after confirming that there was nothing amiss did he return to the palace.

Inside the palace, Weeping Soul was curled up into a ball on her side on the jade bed, and her brows were tightly knitted with pain.

Han Li hurriedly inspected her condition with his spiritual sense, upon which a look of relief appeared on his face.

Even though she was still unconscious, her aura had already undergone a drastic change.

What was particularly worthy of note was that a wisp of essential power had appeared in her dantian, and it resembled a flame in a dark room, one that was rather frail, but instilled within the beholder a sense of warmth and comfort.

The sound of splashing water rang out from behind the jade bed, and Han Li turned to discover the grand priest slowly rising up from the pool with plumes of smoke rising up from his body alongside the acrid smell of charred flesh.

Han Li's expression changed slightly at the sight of the grand priest's face.

"Your face..."

The grand priest stroked his own face with a wry smile upon hearing this, and he sighed, "A price must be paid for using the power of reincarnation laws."

A series of charred gashes had appeared on his cheek, within which pus was flowing incessantly like molten lava, giving off a putrid odor and bursts of scorching heat.

"What about all the other wounds on your body?" Han Li asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"Every time I draw upon the power of reincarnation laws, a new wound will appear on my body, as if by an act of divine punishment. The wounds can't be healed by any means, and over time, I've been reduced to this hideous state," the grand priest explained with a wry smile.

He bent down to scoop up some water from the pool as he spoke, then splashed it onto his own face, sending a plume of white steam rising up into the air.

This was most likely one of the reasons why the grand priest had been reluctant to treat Weeping Soul.

Once this divine punishment reached a certain level of severity, the grand priest would inevitably meet his demise regardless of how lofty his cultivation base was, and judging from his current state, he had to have already been very close to reaching that point.

"I owe you a favor for this. If you have any request for me, I'll be sure to fulfill it as long as it's within my capabilities," Han Li said.

"I don't have any request for you now, but I will require your help at some point in the future," the grand priest said as he emerged from the pool.

"What will you require my help with?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"That's a secret," the grand priest replied with a shake of his head.

Han Li was just about to raise more questions when Weeping Soul suddenly gave a quiet groan, sounding as if she were about to awaken.

"Weeping Soul..." Han Li hurriedly called out in a gentle voice, yet she remained unconscious.

"Her essential power has been dormant for too long, and as a result, her spiritual sense has been severely taxed. If you hadn't sealed her soul within her body, she would be nothing more than an empty husk right now. Having said that, now that her essential power has returned, all she'll need is some time to rest and recuperate, and she'll eventually awaken on her own," the grand priest explained.

Han Li was feeling a little more reassured upon hearing this, and a thought suddenly occurred to him as he asked, "How are you going to answer to the third prince for helping me?"

"I was forced to help you against my will, of course. Those two can serve as proof," the grand priest replied with a smile as he gestured toward the two unconscious guards at the entrance of the palace. "If you don't think this is convincing enough, you can rough them up a little more to seal the deal."

"I don't think the third prince would be that easy to fool," Han Li replied with an amused smile.

"So what? I'm still the grand priest, so he wouldn't dare to do anything out of line. On top of that, he came here in person just now, but could only scurry away with his tail between his legs in the end, so what right does he have to criticize me?" the grand priest countered.

"That's true," Han Li replied with a nod, following which he carried Weeping Soul back into the Flower Branch domain.

The next morning, Weeping Soul still hadn't awakened, but her aura had become noticeably stronger, serving as further reassurance to Han Li. After bidding farewell to the grand priest, Han Li stepped out of the palace, and Shi Pokong was already waiting for him outside with an entourage of close to twenty people.

In addition to Elder Qu, there were three more late-High Zenith cultivators and also seven or eight early and mid-High Zenith cultivators among them.

Han Li remained composed as he chuckled, "Are you trying to scare me into submission, Your Highness?"

"Not at all, Fellow Daoist Li," Shi Pokong replied with a smile. "You arrived at our Night Sun City as an esteemed guest, and now that you're leaving, I naturally had to arrange a ceremonious departure."

"That's very kind of you, Your Highness," Han Li said with a smile, then abruptly vanished from the spot, only to reappear ahead of everyone.

Shi Pokong's expression darkened slightly seeing this, and he strode over to Han Li on his own, while everyone else trailed along a short distance behind.

"Fellow Daoist Li, is it too late to say that I regret not choosing to recruit you as an ally in the past?" Shi Pokong asked.

"When you say in the past, are you referring to back when I first arrived in Night Sun City, or right before I was about to enter the Scalptia Spatial Domain?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Is there a difference?" Shi Pokong asked.

"Not really. You could've still won me over at any point in time before giving me that Explosive Space Realm Talisman, but from the moment you made that decision, it was too late to change your mind," Han Li replied.

"That's a real pity," Shi Pokong sighed.

A look of melancholy appeared on Han Li's face as he sighed, "Did things really need to become like this between the two of you?"

Shi Pokong was naturally aware that Han Li was referring to him and Shi Chuankong, and he heaved a long sigh as a hint of dejection appeared on his face, but he offered no response.

Han Li didn't speak any further on the matter, either, and he continued onward.

The group flew to a plaza in the southern wing of the imperial palace before descending, and Han Li could see a conical pagoda up ahead.

The pagoda was riddled with a series of ring-shaped patterns that were interconnected with one another to form an extremely complex network array patterns that stretched all the way down to the ground.

The pagoda itself was no more than two thousand feet tall, and its foundation took up roughly a third of that height. A ring of transparent, rhomboid crystals were embedded into the side of the foundation, reflecting the light of the sun to give off a radiant gleam.

"Could this be the legendary Space Passage Pagoda?" Han Li asked.

"It would be impossible for you to return to the Immortal Realm using a normal teleportation array, so the only feasible option is to use the Space Passage Pagoda," Shi Pokong replied with a nod.

"Will the pagoda be able to return me directly to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region?" Han Li asked.

"Interrealm teleportation is extremely difficult to facilitate and also requires the expenditure of a vast amount of resources. Hence, we can only teleport you to the nearest point in the Immortal Realm," Shi Pokong replied.

"And where would that be?" Han Li asked.

"The Golden Origin Immortal Region," Shi Pokong replied.

"Where in the Golden Origin Immortal Region?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

Han Li hadn't visited that immortal region yet, but he wasn't unfamiliar with it. After all, it was home to the Nine Origins Temple and the headquarters of the Hundred Creations Mountain, and there was also a good chance that Jin Tong was currently there as well.

"That'll depend on your luck," Shi Pokong replied with a smile. "The Space Passage Pagoda can only teleport you to a random teleportation array in the Golden Origin Immortal Region."

"Alright, then let's begin," Han Li said in a direct and concise manner as he made his way into the Space Passage Pagoda, followed by Shi Pokong.

The ground inside the pagoda was riddled with array patterns, and at the very center of the pagoda were several white stone pillars with various types of strange patterns engraved upon them.

There were also transparent, rhomboid crystals embedded into the walls of the pagoda, and at the center of the white stone pillars was a platform that was around a hundred feet in diameter.

Even though the array wasn't currently operating, there were layers of rippling light surging over its surface, giving off bursts of formidable law power fluctuations.

"I hope that we never meet again in the Holy Realm, Fellow Daoist Li," Shi Pokong suddenly said.

"Rest assured, Your Highness, I'm a man of my word," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Good. Please enter the array," Shi Pokong said with a nod.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the array, and only after verifying that every detail of the array matched what he had been told by the grand priest the night before did he step into it.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, this Space Passage Pagoda is extremely precious, so I wouldn't dare to tamper with it. If I somehow damage the pagoda, it'll be no less catastrophic than having half the city destroyed," Shi Pokong assured with a smile.

Han Li didn't respond, merely turning his gaze to Shi Pokong, waiting for him to activate the array.

Shi Pokong raised a hand upon seeing this, and several of the elders behind him immediately spread out around the array before sitting down with their legs crossed, making a string of hand seals to activate the pagoda.

A loud buzzing noise rang out as the entire pagoda began to tremble slightly, immediately following which a burst of silver light appeared over the platform at the center of the pagoda, while the array patterns on the ground lit up as well.

All of the rhomboid crystals embedded into the pagoda also began glowing brightly, releasing countless rays of blinding light that were too bright to directly behold.

Han Li was inundated by all of the dazzling light, and burst of formidable spatial power began to converge toward him from all directions.

Right as the array was about to be activated, Shi Pokong's voice suddenly rang out beside his ears.

"May we never meet again, Fellow Daoist Han."