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

Dongfang Bai's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of golden light, which captured all of the jade slips before carrying them to him.

As he examined the contents of the jade slip, a look of bewilderment appeared on his face, slowly becoming more and more pronounced.

Moments later, he set down the final jade slip as he asked with a grim expression, "Are you certain that all of these jade slips are describing the same person?"

"I've sent out all of my spies this past century, Palace Master Dongfang. They may not be the most capable fighters, but they can definitely be relied upon when it comes to gathering information.

“We began our investigation in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, and we discovered that Han Li had already appeared in their line of sight back when they were hunting down Baili Yan of the Blaze Dragon Dao. However, at the time, he was still going by the alias of Li Feiyu," Lü Yun reported.

"That was also when my son was killed by him," Tao Ji said with a pained expression.

"The Blaze Dragon Dao has the Mantra Axis Scripture, which is a time-attribute cultivation art, so that must be when he first began cultivating time law powers," Dongfang Bai mused.

"That's right. From that point onward, the name of Li Feiyu has sprung up several more times, but the information has been quite vague each time, indicating that he's been intentionally covering his own tracks. On top of that, a man by the name of Li Han has also made some appearances, and he possesses some traits that are identical to Han Li's, so it's very likely that Li Han was also an alias of his," Lü Yun replied with a nod.

"How is that possible? According to the information in these jade slips, Han Li has traveled across the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, the Black Mountain Immortal Region, the Black Soil Immortal Region, and now the Golden Origin Immortal Region within the short span of just a few thousand years, and on top of that, all of the major events that took place in those immortal regions during this time seem to have had something to do with him," Dongfang Bai mused with a perplexed expression.

"According to my investigation, there's some evidence to indicate that he played a role in a series of significant events, including the fall of the Blaze Dragon Dao, the emergence of the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor, and the reappearance of the True Mantra Sect ruins. On top of that, he seems to have also played significant roles in the deaths of Gongshu Tian and Gongshu Jiu," Lü Yun reported.

A grim look appeared on Dongfang Bai's face upon hearing this, and he asked, "So where did he go after the True Mantra Sect ruins? Why has he suddenly appeared in our Golden Origin Immortal Region?"

"Please take a look at this first, Palace Master," Lü Yun replied as he offered up another jade slip.

"Isn't this a report from Dao Ancestor Feng Qingshui's trip to the Gray Realm?" Dongfang Bai asked with a perplexed expression.

"Many of the people that previously appeared in the True Mantra Sect ruins also appeared in the Gray Realm during the time that Dao Ancestor Feng Qingshui was there. Hence, my assumption is that Han Li most likely went there as well, then somehow ended up in the Devil Realm before returning to the Immortal Realm," Lü Yun speculated, and everyone in the palace fell into deep thought after hearing this.

"This man seems to have some ties with the Reincarnation Palace, and not only has been able to safely travel across multiple immortal regions, his cultivation base has been progressing rapidly during this time. What do you all think?" Dongfang Bai asked.

"The fact that he's been able to make such rapid strides in his cultivation base indicates that he's not just some average itinerant cultivator with no backing. His ties with both the Reincarnation Palace and the devil race serve as further confirmation of this," Hei Dao analyzed.

If Han Li were to hear this assessment of him, he would be left completely speechless. Somehow, these people had led themselves completely astray.

Does that mean that I've made an enemy out of someone that I can't afford to mess with?

With that in mind, a remorseful look appeared on Tao Ji's face.

After a long silence, Dongfang Bai stood up from his chair, then began slowly pacing from side to side with tightly furrowed brows as he contemplated how to proceed from here.

Some time later, he stopped in his tracks, then turned to Tao Ji's trio as he said, "Regardless of his cultivation base or status, we have to continue our investigation, given that that thing is concerned. Once you track him down, make sure not to make any rash moves. Just report back to me, and I'll plan out the next steps."

"What happens if a conflict arises?" Lü Yun asked.

"If that happens, then feel free to strike him down. Of course, do your best to capture him alive. Once we find out the whereabouts of that thing, we can take him back to the Nine Origins Temple before making a decision on what to do with him," Dongfang Bai replied.

Lü Yun's trio was rather hesitant upon hearing this, but they still gave a collective affirmative response.

"Remember to keep this matter a secret. If anyone leaks this information, and it reaches the ears of those immortal envoys from the Heavenly Court, there will be dire consequences to suffer," Dongfang Bai warned with a cold expression, and the trio hurriedly nodded in response.

Following their departure, Dongfang Bai continued to pace in the palace, feeling rather uneasy.

This was the first time that he had met someone as strange as Han Li, someone with such incredible powers and presumably an extremely powerful background, having played roles in so many significant events, but had somehow simultaneously managed to keep such a low profile.

On top of that, this was only the information that they currently had on Han Li, and there was a very good chance that it was only the tip of the iceberg.

What was truly terrifying to him was that such a person still wasn't under much scrutiny from the Heavenly Court.

......

In the Middle Earth Immortal Region.

There were a series of dark, crimson clouds hovering in the air within an unknown space.

There was a faint odor of blood emanating from the dark clouds, and a series of ominous-looking black buildings could be seen littered throughout the area.

The crimson clouds were hanging up in the sky in layers, and the higher one went, the denser the clouds they would encounter.

Standing below the crimson clouds was a white archway that was several thousand feet tall, upon which the words "Immortal Prison" were engraved in huge crimson characters.

Enshrouded within the crimson clouds not far away from the archway was a black palace with an octagonal bell roughly the size of a cow's head hanging from each corner of its roof, and the bells were swaying and chiming occasionally on their own, even though there was a complete absence of wind.

Whenever the bells chimed, a layer of faint golden light would ripple through the air, scattering some of the heavy bloody odor in the air.

Stationed at the entrance of the palace were two warriors clad in suits of black armor, both of which were extremely imposing and stood at over ten feet tall. One of them was wielding a giant ax, while the other was wielding a huge halberd, and their bloodshot eyes gave them a very fearsome appearance.

The gates of the palace were tightly shut, and hanging above its entrance was a giant black plaque that had the words "Judgment Hall" inscribed upon it in red characters.

There were two rows of red pillars standing alongside each other inside the palace, hanging upon which were a series of black metal tablets that laid out various different punishments for different crimes.

The interior of the palace was rather dimly lit, with a series of braziers with dark red flames burning inside them suspended up high.

Deep within the palace was a large, black, metal table, and standing in front of it with their back facing the palace gates was a tall figure that was rather strange in appearance. They possessed hands and feet that were far larger than that of the average person, and the figure currently had one hand resting on the table, while a jade slip was held in their other hand.

Their upper body was bared to reveal their fiery-red skin, and there were circles of strange patterns visible on their body.

On top of that, their hair was also bright red, with small flames occasionally springing out of it.

If Han Li were present, he would immediately be able to identify this man as one of the five disciples of Patriarch Miro, namely the traitor, Qi Mozi.

Qi Mozi slowly set down the jade slip in his hand, then sighed to himself, "How unfortunate that you had to suffer such a terrible fate, Hot Flame..."

Right at this moment, a fiery human face appeared within a nearby brazier, and it remarked, "It looks like he was always the disciple that you cared for the most."

"All I wanted was for him to stay far away from this mess, but he was ultimately still swept up in it in the end. I was never very fond of Chi Rong as a disciple, but he did enter the True Mantra Sect ruins for my sake. Who could've imagined that the two of them would both end up losing their lives in the Gray Realm?" Qi Mozi sighed.

"So what if they died? They still couldn't find the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra, so their deaths were completely pointless," the face in the brazier sneered in an abrasive voice.

"That's not true, their deaths were not in vain. Prior to entering the Gray Realm, Chi Rong sent a message back to me, mentioning a very... strange individual. There's a very good chance that he was the biggest beneficiary to this venture into the True Mantra Sect ruins, and it's very likely that he's in possession of the complete Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra," Qi Mozi countered.

"Who is this person? Where is he right now?" the face in the brazier hurriedly asked.

"His name is Han Li, and he's recently been sighted in the Golden Origin Immortal Region," Qi Mozi replied.

"Looks like it's about time that I go out for some exercise. I must say, I'm really missing the air outside after staying in this Immortal Prison for so long. Let's make a deal: I capture this man for you, and you let me do whatever I want to an area of my choosing. I've already picked out an area, it's just an inconspicuous place in a lower realm, so it won't cause you any trouble," the face in the brazier proposed as it rose up into the air.

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