A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Wang Yu’s Rebirth as the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor - Chapter 44

Chapter 44 No wonder, no wonder

After spending several days consolidating his cultivation, he left the inn.

He planned to head to Tianwu Terrace as soon as possible.

Although he still had plenty of time left, enough for him to stay in Tainan Valley for a while, staying here was no longer of much use.

After all, he wouldn’t be able to continue scavenging for bargains. The reason he was able to obtain the Golden Bamboo Talisman Brush and the fragment of the Silk Handkerchief magic weapon was purely because he had the advantage of foresight, not because of his exceptional eyesight.

Besides, there were too many people and too many eyes around, so it wasn’t suitable for him to flaunt his wealth too much.

Furthermore, he might encounter some trouble on the way, which could delay him and make him miss his appointed time.

“Moreover, I also need to spend some time familiarizing myself with the characteristics of those puppet beasts.”

The ironwood puppets made by Young Master Lin were mostly made of two-hundred-year-old ironwood, and each one possessed spiritual power comparable to a Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivator from a cultivation sect. In terms of material strength, they were comparable to high-grade magic weapons. Ordinary low-to-mid-tier magic weapons struggled to penetrate its defenses, while high-tier magic weapons could only leave white scratches on the puppet’s body.

“The probability of top-tier magic weapons appearing at the Ascension Conference is extremely low. Even those at the eleventh or twelfth level of Qi Refining in Yellow Maple Valley mostly use mid-to-high-tier magic weapons. Let alone the family scions and even poorer rogue cultivators outside.”

“If I can skillfully control one or two puppets, theoretically, that’s enough to deal with most of my competitors,”

Han Li thought to himself.

At the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining, the battles between cultivators no longer solely depend on the depth of their individual magical power. The most important factors are the power of the spells they master, their skillful use of various techniques, and the power of their personal artifacts.

The difference between a low-to-mid-tier magic weapon and a high-tier or even top-tier one is like heaven and earth.

Therefore,

he spent the next period of time practicing how to better control puppets in a desolate mountain wilderness.

He had already begun researching this while traveling. However, time is still short, and a smooth tactical system has not yet been formed. Continuing the research now will likely yield some results.

“Right, before leaving, don’t forget this…”

That same day,

two major “insider stories” spread from the Tai Nan Small Meeting in Tai Nan Valley .

First: The Hidden Moon Sect is recruiting, with guaranteed job placement upon joining. This “guaranteed job placement” means male-female pairings for easier work. A Daoist partner is also included upon joining—how about that? Other benefits are far better than other sects.

Second: The Spirit Beast Mountain is recruiting, with a pet included upon joining.

The literal meaning.

The appearance of these two pieces of news immediately stirred the interest of many independent cultivators with considerable cultivation.

Most importantly, the news was true and reliable! Even the inner disciples of the seven major sects knew! It’s just that many independent cultivators outside were unable to find out due to limited information channels. Therefore, the cultivation families like the Yan family, which hosted the Tai Nan Small Meeting, couldn’t very well come forward to suppress the news at this time.

“I wonder if these two pieces of news will affect the upcoming Ascension Conference?” In a quiet courtyard in Tai Nan Valley, the Foundation Establishment stage elder of the Yan family murmured with slight worry.

…

Time flies, and another ten days or so have passed in the blink of an eye.

Han Li has also arrived at a secluded place called the Misty Hidden Mountains.

It is not far from Tai Nan Mountain, only a two-day journey away.

The hundreds of miles of the mountain range are in a primeval forest state, with miasma and natural fog, so mortals rarely come into contact with it.

The Heavenly Mist Platform is located on a majestic mountain deep in the mountain range.

The mountain here is over four thousand feet high, towering into the clouds, and the top of the mountain is covered with white snow all year round. There is a thick fog that never dissipates from the foot of the mountain. When you reach the belly of the mountain, the fog is so thick that it cannot be dispersed. The white fog on the mountaintop mixes with snowflakes, giving people a visual presentation of a silver-clad world.

The name Heavenly Mist Platform comes from this.

Furthermore, a miniature spiritual vein stretching two or three miles exists at the location of the Heavenly Mist Platform. This spiritual vein is not suitable for a single cultivation family to thrive and utilize, making it only suitable for a very small number of individual cultivators to establish their own cave dwellings. Of course, it is also sufficient to use this miniature spiritual vein as a venue for the Seven Sects’ Ascension Conference for a short period of time.

At this moment, there are less than two days left before the Ascension Conference to be held by the Seven Sects.

The teams from each of the Seven Sects usually arrive three days in advance to repair the venue, so the people from the Seven Sects have been there for at least a day.

When Han Li arrived, he saw several disciples from Yellow Maple Valley using some kind of earth-attribute secret technique to rebuild and reinforce an arena.

“Looks like I’ve arrived just in time…”

He went to a slightly farther place, found an ancient tree, quickly dug a hole under the tree to take shelter, and set up a small illusion array within a twenty-meter radius around the ancient tree.

This kind of small array is not particularly advanced. Yellow Maple Valley disciples receive a set of arrays for free after advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage to protect their personal cave dwellings.

If a Qi Refining stage cultivator purchases it themselves, it costs fifty low-grade spirit stones for a set.

When traveling, he naturally needed to be prepared.

And his set wasn’t the inferior kind used by other Foundation Establishment cultivators; it was the one Fairy Hong Fu received from her sect when she advanced to Foundation Establishment! And it had undergone several improvements by Fairy Hong Fu! The current version was far superior to the original small-scale illusion array.

It was only because Fairy Hong Fu no longer valued it, and the other set she prepared for Dong Xuan’er was much better, that this one had been gathering dust in a corner of her private storeroom, which is why it had luckily come to him.

Friendly price: two hundred spirit stones.

“Tsk, there are still rogue cultivators who can set up arrays?”

Among the seven sects’ cultivators, a Foundation Establishment manager from the Giant Sword Sect, hidden in the shadows, noticed the array and looked over.

Originally, this Foundation Establishment cultivator’s surprise was only momentary.

In his view, neither rogue cultivators nor members of outside families could possibly possess an array-building inheritance. At most, they would just have extra money to buy an ordinary array to decorate themselves. But when he extended his divine sense to try and probe the small formation, he couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise:

“Huh? My divine sense is actually blocked outside?”

How is that possible?

It shouldn’t be like this.

“What’s wrong, Senior Brother Zhang?”

another Foundation Establishment cultivator asked curiously.

“Junior Brother Xu, look over there. There’s an interesting formation set up by a rogue cultivator over there.” The Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Zhang pointed towards where Han Li was hiding.

His voice also attracted the attention of Foundation Establishment cultivators from the other major sects.

Everyone’s gazes converged on the formation.

“Isn’t that a small-scale illusion array?”

With just one glance, a cultivator saw through the formation’s structure.

“Strange, something’s not right. Ordinary illusion arrays can only barely hinder the spiritual sense probing of early and mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators, but they can’t stop the spiritual sense penetration of late-Foundation Establishment

cultivators. They’re even less effective against certain spirit beasts and spiritual eye techniques that can naturally see through fog. But this one…” A young Foundation Establishment cultivator in white robes from the Hidden Moon Sect unconsciously frowned.

A barely perceptible blue light flashed in his eyes, and it was unclear what spiritual eye technique he was using.

“What’s wrong, Senior Brother Hongyun?”

A beautiful female Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Hidden Moon Sect asked, her beautiful eyes flickering.

Upon hearing this, the male cultivator shook his head:

“My Spiritual Eye Technique couldn’t see through that layer of mist and illusion…”

“What? Senior Brother, you can’t see through that small formation?!” The female cultivator looked surprised: “How is that possible?”

“Senior Brother Hongyun, you have the cultivation of the late Foundation Establishment stage and have cultivated the Spiritual Eye Technique ‘Dazzling Profound Light,’ which can see through many illusions. How could a formation of a mere Qi Refining stage rogue cultivator obstruct your vision?” The woman from the Hidden Moon Sect was truly incredulous.

“Fellow Daoist Hongyun, Fellow Daoist Huaxu, this formation is indeed strange.”

A mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Giant Sword Sect said solemnly.

The other Foundation Establishment cultivators who cast their gazes had different expressions, each with their own thoughts.

Among them, the three Foundation Establishment cultivators leading the group from Yellow Maple Valley had the strangest expressions.

“Junior Brother Wang, why do I feel that this maze formation is like a small maze formation, a specialty of our Yellow Maple Valley?”

And the more he looked, the more it resembled it.

“Senior Brother Nie, do you feel the same way?”

“It seems the formation not only originated from our Yellow Maple Valley, but has also been adjusted and optimized. Otherwise, how could it have blocked the spiritual eye technique of that Fellow Daoist Hongyun from the Hidden Moon Sect?”

“To optimize a small-scale maze formation to this level, the person who created it must be extraordinary, a formation master with considerable skill…”

“This rogue cultivator probably has some background and some connection with our Yellow Maple Valley.”

“And then…?”

“Let’s see which sect he chooses. If he chooses our Yellow Maple Valley, we’ll naturally inquire about the situation privately. If he chooses another sect, we don’t need to interfere.”

“Senior Brother is right, let’s do it that way…”

Inside the small maze formation.

Han Li was unaware of how much attention the formation sold to him by Fairy Hongfu at a friendly price had brought him.

Well, even if he knew, he wouldn’t care. After all, after today, it would probably be many years before they met again.

…

Time quickly arrived at the day the Ascension Assembly officially began.

Han Li emerged from the tree hollow and approached the registration area where numerous cultivators were signing up for the competition.

He glanced at it and immediately chose the registration area for Huangfeng Valley.

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators from Huangfeng Valley, hidden in the shadows, exchanged bewildered glances:

“How could it be him?!”

The last person to join Huangfeng Valley using an Ascension Token was a lucky individual four or five hundred years ago. How could someone entering the sect with an Ascension Token several hundred years later not have any reputation?

“No wonder, no wonder he has our Huangfeng Valley’s specialty small-scale illusion array, and a carefully improved one at that…”

They wouldn’t believe it wasn’t made by their Martial Uncle Hong Fu!

“What should we do? Should we tamper with the order of participation? If this kid encounters Qi Refining Stage 10 or 11 too early, he might have a hard time getting a ranking…”

They weren’t sure if Han Li had come to participate on his own initiative or if it was arranged by their Martial Uncle Hong Fu.

Regardless, they had to think carefully before acting.

No one wanted to offend a Core Formation stage elder.

“Let’s arrange the competition order. As many low-level cultivators below the tenth level of Qi Refining as possible for that kid, and match his final opponent against someone of the same level. This will minimize his energy expenditure while inflicting more injuries and mana loss on his opponent. As for whether he can achieve a ranking? That’s beyond our control.”

They can manipulate the group assignments behind the scenes.

But once it comes to a real, hard-fought battle on the arena, they can’t help him.

If the little guy wins, they’ll have done him a favor.

Even if he doesn’t, they’ve already done their best.

(End of Chapter)