A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm-Chapter 649: The Lost Sect

"If I were in your shoes, I would also definitely want to find an ally," Han Li said with a smile.

"That's exactly why I'm here, and it's also why I wanted you to come with us, but you turned down the offer last time before I could bring up this topic," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said with a resigned shake of his head.

"If I didn't have so much on my plate already, perhaps I would've agreed at the time. In any case, we're both still traveling together anyway, it's just that both of us are members of the Reincarnation Palace now," Han Li said.

A hesitant look flashed through Immortal Lord Hot Flame's eyes upon hearing this, and he was silent for a moment, then said, "Fellow Daoist Li, I consider you to be a friend from the time that we spent together in the Leisure Valley, so can I ask you to be candid with me and tell me exact what mission the Reincarnation Palace assigned to you? Does it have anything to do with the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra?"

"Truth be told, I'm not a true core member of the Reincarnation Palace, and the mission that I received only requires me to assist Fox 3 in exploring the True Mantra Sect's ruins. As for exactly what his plans are, that's completely unknown to me," Han Li replied in a truthful fashion.

"I see. I don't trust Fox 3 and Shi Chuankong. Ours is only a partnership of convenience, and I don't know what their objectives are, so I want a definitive response from you in regard to whether you'd like to form an alliance with me," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said with a serious expression.

"I'm carrying out a mission for the Reincarnation Palace, so there are some things that I must do, but if your life comes under threat, I can't guarantee that I'll do everything in my power to save you, but I definitely won't just stand by and watch," Han Li declared.

"That's all I need, Fellow Daoist Li. I'll be sure to repay you handsomely once all of this is over," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said as he cupped his fist in a salute.

Han Li returned his salute, and the two of them chatted for a while longer before Immortal Lord Hot Flame departed.

......

One morning, around two weeks later.

Han Li and Immortal Lord Hot Flame arrived at a dock, upon which they discovered that Fox 3 was the only one waiting for them there.

"Where's Fellow Daoist Shi?" Han Li asked after greeting Fox 3.

"Brother Shi has some things that he needs to do, so he'll be a little late. Where did the time go? I still haven't had anywhere near enough fun yet!" Fox 3 yawned in a lazy manner.

"It sounds like you went to the arena again yesterday," Han Li remarked with a faint smile.

"Sure did," Fox 3 replied.

Around 15 minutes passed before Shi Chuankong and Shopkeeper Zhu arrived, and the two of them apologized for their tardiness before everyone boarded the ship together.

There was a late-Golden Immortal Stage elder of the Vast Origin House and an early-True Immortal Stage administrator coming on the trip, and the former only appeared for a brief chat with Han Li's group before returning to his living quarters, while the latter arranged places to stay for everyone.

The ship was enormous, tens of thousands of feet in size, and aside from cargo warehouses, there were also over three hundred guest rooms, but they were generally reserved solely for members of the trading house.

Han Li chose a room that was situated close to the bottom level, and the conditions were a little lackluster compared with the rooms on the higher levels, but it was quieter and more inconspicuous.

The True Immortal Stage administrator accompanied Han Li through the cargo warehouse to his room, and as they passed through the warehouse, Han Li caught sight of a collection of large black crates with some special restrictions engraved upon them stacked in an orderly fashion.

A hint of intrigue emerged in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

"Administrator Hu, why does it feel to me like the spiritual power fluctuations on these black crates are similar to those of storage pouches?" Han Li asked.

"That's a very astute observation, Senior, these black crates are indeed storage tools, and they're actually a little easier to craft than storage pouches. They can contain a hundred times their volume's worth of cargo, but things can't be stored in them for as long as they can in storage pouches. However, they're more than sufficient for transporting things like spirit soils," the administrator explained.

"I see," Han Li replied with a nod.

As he looked deeper into the warehouse, Han Li spotted some special cages that ranged from only around three feet in size to over a thousand feet tall. There were arcs of lightning flashing over them, and all of them had restrictive talismans adhered to them.

Inside the cages were a series of wounded or completely defeated demon beasts, and before Han Li even had a chance to ask about them, the administrator pointed at the cages and explained, "There are always people willing to pay exorbitant prices for exotic beasts. Take that Primordial Sand Lion, for example: it was specifically requested by the arena in Spirit Swamp City, and we had to go to great lengths to capture one from the primordial land."

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he didn't say anything further.

The administrator could see that Han Li didn't want to speak on this matter, so he also fell silent.

Upon accompanying Han Li to the entrance of his room, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you really not going to switch to a premium room, Senior?"

"There's no need for that. I appreciate the thought, but I prefer a more peaceful room," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Alright, I won't disturb you any further then, Senior. Feel free to call upon me if you need anything," the administrator said, then promptly departed.

Following the administrator's departure, Han Li entered his room, and only then did he discover that it was very spacious, consisting of a bedroom, a meditation chamber, and a guest room.

There was a small window in each of the meditation chamber and the guest room, and he could see the sky outside through the windows.

After briefly inspecting the room, Han Li began to set up a series of array tools, and only after the setup was completed did he make his way into the meditation chamber, where he sat down with his legs crossed.

As night fell, the light of the moon spilled into the room through the window, illuminating a patch of ground that was around a foot in size.

Han Li removed the Heaven Controlling Vial from around his neck, then placed it onto the illuminated patch of ground. After that, he flipped a hand over to summon the jade slip that contained the fifth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique before pressing it against his own glabella.

......

Over thirty years passed by in a flash.

By alternating between ships and teleportation arrays, Han Li and the others were able to cross the Black Dragon Continent without any incident and enter the Floating Mountain Continent.

On this day, Han Li was cultivating in seclusion when he received a knock on his door from Fox 3.

"Don't get too absorbed in your cultivation and forget the task at hand, Fellow Daoist Li. We're almost at Smoke Wave City, which is where we need to disembark," Fox 3 said with a smile.

"Even if I wanted to forget about all of this, I'm sure you wouldn't let me. Go on ahead, Fellow Daoist. I'll pack up my belongings, then come meet up with everyone on the deck," Han Li jibed.

Fox 3 nodded in response before departing.

Han Li closed the door of his room, then packed up all of the array treasures and his other belongings. After that, he erased all residual aura of himself in the room before setting off for the deck.

A few minutes later, Han Li and the others disembarked from the ship, landing on the official road outside Smoke Wave City before making their way into the city.

"Why didn't we disembark at Illusory Smoke City like we planned? I've already had everything arranged there in advance, why do you insist on disembarking here instead?" Shi Chuankong asked with a displeased expression.

"You mustn't be so inflexible, Brother Shi. Everyone knows that the emergence of the illusory smoke is a precursor to the emergence of the True Mantra Sect ruins, but not everyone knows where the illusory smoke arises," Fox 3 said with a disdainful expression.

"So you're saying the illusory smoke has arisen near Smoke Wave City?" Shi Chuankong asked in a skeptical manner.

"Smoke Wave City, Illusory Smoke City, and Flowing Smoke City are all spread out across the bank of the Illusory Smoke Swamp, but during the past few instances in which the illusory smoke has arisen, it's almost always been sighted first in Smoke Wave City, so that city must be the nearest one to its origins. My guess is that it could be somewhere near Serene Floating Island," Fox 3 explained.

"What is this illusory smoke that you speak of, Fellow Daoist Fox 3?" Han Li asked.

"I'll explain that. For some reason, after the True Mantra Sect was destroyed, almost the entire sect vanished aside from a few fragments. Roughly every 3,600 years after that, a type of purple smoke would arise from the Illusory Smoke Swamp, and parts of the True Mantra Sect's ruins would emerge, but in most cases, they only appear for a moment before vanishing again like mirages," Immortal Lord Hot Flame explained.

"It sounds like you've been looking extensively into the True Mantra Sect ruins as well, Fellow Daoist Hot Flames," Shi Chuankong remarked.

"I've only heard some passing rumors," Immortal Lord Hot Flame replied in a nonchalant fashion.

"The True Mantra Sect ruins actually didn't exist in the past, and the Illusory Smoke Swamp also had a different name," Fox 3 revealed.

"There were no ruins?" Han Li asked with a surprised expression.

"That's right. The illusory smoke only appeared in this area for the first time tens of thousands of years ago. That was when the ruins of the True Mantra Sect began to emerge, and it was also from that time that this place became known as the Illusory Smoke Swamp," Fox 3 replied with a nod.

"So the True Mantra Sect ruins just suddenly popped up out of the blue? How is that possible?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Up to this point, there has been no conclusive answer to that question. However, Brother Shi speculates that the battle that led to the fall of the True Mantra Sect was so earth-shattering that it cast the entire sect into a spatial rift, thereby causing it to disappear, and it's only re-emerged tens of thousands of years ago due to some unknown reasons," Fox 3 explained.

"That's just a completely baseless guess from me, so do take it with a huge grain of salt," Shi Chuankong said with a smile.

"You're being far too modest, Fellow Daoist Shi. I think there's a very good chance that this was exactly what happened," Han Li said.

As the group was chatting with one another, they arrived at the gate of Smoke Wave City, where there was a group of cultivators conducting checks on those wishing to enter the city. However, they were only led by an early-True Immortal cultivator, and the tests weren't very stringent, either.

Hence, Han Li's group was able to quickly make its way into the city after submitting an entrance fee.

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