A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality - Chapter 501

Chapter 501

Chapter 501: Southclear Island

Inspiring awe in all those who witnessed his passage, Han Li eventually arrived in the nearby seas of the Heavenly Star City . As he was only a few days away, Han Li put away his blood-red cloak and resumed traveling as an ordinary streak of light .

Currently, the Scattered Star Seas were in disarray and it was possible that a Nascent Soul cultivator would be nearby . As Han Li didn’t wish to capture the attention of such a powerful individual, he moved in a more inconspicuous manner . Fortunately, he hadn’t heard any news of the Starfall Coalition appearing nearby . Much to his relief, it seemed he had managed to arrive in time .

He had arrived at the outskirts of the last intermediary island before Heavenly Star City . Although it wasn’t large, it held many cultivators from the Star Palace . It seemed they were the forward sentries for Heavenly Star City .

In the past, the island would have boats of all sizes flowing in and out of its harbor with cultivators and mortals leaving and arriving at the island en mass . But now, when Han Li swept his gaze past the island, he only spotted a few small boats . As for cultivators, he would only occasionally come across them .

It seemed both the mortals and cultivators knew that a war was imminent and meekly avoided the area for the time being . The only cultivators that dared to come to the island were mostly from factions wishing to scour through the rumors .

Having traveled for such a long period, Han Li felt somewhat fatigued and decided to stop over at the island for the time being . Not only to rest, but to visit the island’s market in preparation for his long excursion in the Outer Star Seas . After all, he didn’t know how things currently were in Heavenly Star City . As such, it would be best for him to make his preparations here and avoid any mishaps from catching him unprepared .

When Han Li descended within range of the island, he was able to sense that Southclear Island was on far greater alert than during his previous visits . Just as he entered the scope of the island’s spell formation, he was able to feel the spiritual sense of three Core Formation cultivators sweep past him . They had even lingered on him for quite some time until they had deemed him unsuspicious .

It was clear that the Star Palace was guarding itself against any sudden attacks by the Starfall Coalition .

At that moment, Han Li was calmly heading towards the island’s market .

Southclear Island’s market was in a small city not far from the island’s port, likely for the convenience of any merchants or cultivators that visited . Although the market wasn’t nearly as famous or as large as those on other islands, its variety of goods was unrivaled by any other market . More importantly, its prices were cheaper than in Heavenly Star City . This was because a majority of Heavenly Star City’s goods were directly shipped over from this island .

Han Li didn’t have any time to dawdle . Just as he entered the market, he took out the Bone Sage’s Ninecurl Ginseng pill formula and read through it .

Now knowing the required ingredients by heart, he bluntly began to search through ingredient stores of all sizes .

…

Inside a large room, an ordinary middle-aged cultivator said with a careful tone, “Senior, I am truly sorry! Junior has opened a materials shop for so many years, yet he had never heard of ‘Thousand Leaves Dew’ before . As for ‘Agate Horn’, it is the horn that is grown off of the rare Agate Beast . Few cultivators ever get to see it . I fear Senior will have to go look through other stores or auction halls to see if they have it . ”

“This is the largest materials shop on the island . If you don’t have it, then the other shops won’t either . As for the auction halls, I currently do not have the time for them . ” Han Li frowned and sat down in the chair across from the middle-aged cultivator . He softly tapped his finger against the side of the chair in annoyance .

The middle-aged cultivator revealed slight embarrassment at Han Li’s words . However, he was being honest when he said that he had no way of acquiring the items that Han Li wanted . As such, he could only continue to ingratiatingly smile . After all, he was in the presence of a rarely seen Core Formation expert; he could not afford to offend him .

When Han Li saw the shopkeeper’s attitude, he knew that he truly didn’t have the two items . With a sigh, Han Li stood up and walked out .

It seemed that he would have to think of other methods to find the last two ingredients for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng . Fortunately, he was still quite a long way from the peak of Core Formation . As the medicine could only be used upon the formation of a Nascent Soul, he wasn’t in any rush .

Just as the middle-aged cultivator was about the respectfully send Han Li off from the entrance, he suddenly thought of something and hesitated for a moment before saying, “While you might know of its name as the ‘Thousand Leaves Dew’, it may be known by another name . ”

A strange light flickered from Han Li’s eyes and he stopped, curiously asking, “Oh? What does that mean?”

The middle-aged man honestly replied, “Not to boast, but this Junior has spent over a hundred years managing this ingredient store . I’ve seen all sorts of bizarre and rare ingredients . If there is an ingredient I haven’t heard of, it is likely being referred to by the name passed down from ancient cultivators . In current times, it may be known by another title . This was something that I have encountered several times before . This Thousand Leaves Dew might actually be a rather common medicinal ingredient . ”

Han Li’s heart stirred . He felt that the man’s words made much sense .

After all, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was an item from legend . It made sense for its formula to be passed down from antiquity . It seems he would have to examine a few ancient records to find out its true identity .

With that thought, Han Li nodded with a relaxed expression and silently left the store .

Afterwards, Han Li sifted through all of his pill formulas suitable for Core Formation cultivators, and made preparations for his future pill refinement . Han Li especially stocked up on the supplementary ingredients that couldn’t be grown with the liquid from his small bottle .

The current journey to the Outer Star Seas would take a long while without doubt . Han Li didn’t wish for his mass creation of pills to fail because of a shortage of common materials, and slow down his own progress in cultivation as a result .

With his current collection of magic treasures along with the aid of a few flag formations, he should be able to handle grade seven demon beasts without question . Naturally, if he were to come across any grade eight demon beasts, he would have no choice but to flee . Once demon beasts reached grade eight, it is said that their wisdom would be far greater than ordinary humans and their bodies are able to take human-like forms . Due to their exceedingly powerful innate skills, they would have a tremendous advantage over Nascent Soul cultivators of the same rank .

Several hours later, Han Li managed to gather everything together and left the market city in the direction of the port .

At that moment, the sky suddenly filled with black clouds, turning the sky into the image of a cloudy night .

A short moment later, a relentless barrage of light shot towards the island from the horizon, leaving roars of thunder in its wake .

Han Li’s expression suddenly change and he hastily strained his magic power, tearing through the sky in an azure streak .

From the pressure being emitted, it seemed that the barrage came from the simultaneous attack of at least a thousand cultivators .

In the following moment, a large formation activated and covered the entire island in a barrier of scarlet light, managing to rigidly block the attack . At the same moment, there were many white clothed cultivators that struck back at the attackers in the sky with their own magic tools .

Han Li bitterly laughed . The Starfall Coalition had moved remarkably quick . They even managed to bring the battle so close to Heavenly Star Island in only a few months .

Heavenly Star City would surely receive news of this sudden battle through specialized means . Now, his current plans of rushing towards Heavenly Star City had been completely ruined .

Extremely vexed, Han Li’s expression fluctuated for a long while before he suddenly stamped his foot on the ground . Then with a series of distortions, his body disappeared from sight .

Although he was disinclined to involve himself in the battle, he still stealthily released his spiritual sense . If he had guessed correctly, the harbor and its surroundings should be quite active .

As expected, many streaks of light soon shot towards Southclear Island’s harbor from inside the island . But as they grew closer, they all disappeared from sight, quietly laying low as they observed the battle unfolding above .

A majority of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators, numbering over a hundred, with only about thirty Qi Condensation cultivators mixed among them . As for Core Formation cultivators like Han Li, there were only five or six with the highest ranked cultivator being at the mid Core Formation stage .

Although this person was silently watching from the cover of the hills, Han Li’s spiritual sense was vastly superior to his, allowing Han Li to observe him without being noticed .

While Han Li’s spiritual sense wasn’t as powerful as a Nascent Soul cultivator’s, by cultivating the Great Development Technique, it wasn’t that much weaker either . Since he could even conceal himself from a nearby early Nascent Soul cultivator, it was only natural for him to be able to do this much .

To the best of his knowledge, a majority of Nascent Soul cultivators lingered at early Nascent Soul stage without any hope of advancement . And much to his relief, he couldn’t sense such a monster nearby .

However, since the Starfall Coalition dared to attack Southclear Island, there should be at least one Nascent Soul cultivator in the main host . As such, Han Li could only conceal himself and meekly wait for the conclusion of the battle before stealthily slipping away .