A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm
Chapter 572: Impending Crisis

Chapter 572: Impending Crisis

"What do you think of this, everyone?" Nuo Qinglin asked as he turned to all of the other chiefs in the palace.

"The Insect Race spent several decades to assemble this elite army consisting of several hundred tribes, yet after a single defeat, the inspect spirit abandoned the army to attack the Red Spiral Valley on its own... It just doesn't make sense..." Ulu mused with a perplexed expression.

"Indeed. Not only does it not make sense, it goes against the insect spirit's personality as well," Marlon chimed in.

After some discussion, none of them were able to make heads or tails of the situation. Meanwhile, Nuo Yifan was standing in the palace as well, and a thought had occurred to her.

Back when Senior Li was at the Dark Star Canyon, the insect spirit led the Insect Race army on an excessively aggressive attack, and now that Senior Li has left the Dark Star Canyon ,the insect spirit has inexplicably attacked the Menace Lion Tribe... Is there really no correlation between these two events?

She recalled that back when she first met Han Li, there had been a strange golden beetle accompanying him, and its aura had been rather similar to that of the insect spirit. However, it had slain the Gray Toad beings without any hesitation, so she had regarded it as an ally, but thinking back now, she realized that something wasn't quite right.

It was said that some Insect Race tribes liked to engage in cannibalism. With that in mind, could it be that the insect race had attacked the Dark Star Canyon for the sake of Han Li's golden beetle?

A chill immediately ran down Nuo Yifan's spine at this thought. If that were the case, then she was completely to blame for drawing the Insect Race army to the Dark Star Canyon!

Her face instantly turned deathly pale as she lowered her head, not daring to share this theory with everyone.

It wasn't that she was afraid that her father or someone else would be reprimanded for this. Instead, she was worried that revealing something like this would draw ire from the other tribes toward the Calm Dawn Tribe, a consequence that was too much for her to bear.

......

Several more months passed by in a flash.

Even though the Gold Devouring Immortal had managed to severely wound True Spirit Jiu Ling of the Menace Lion Tribe, it had also been significantly worn down during that battle, so it was unable to pursue Jin Tong with the same level of intensity as before. Hence, Han Li was able to enjoy a rare period of peace.

However, that was only relative to the dire situation that they had previously been in.

As they ventured deeper and deeper into the primordial land, the environment was becoming more and more complex, and they encountered many primordial beasts that were even more formidable than Han Li and Jin Tong themselves.

Fortunately, at this point, they had begun to develop an understanding of the complex environment of the primordial land, and thanks to his enormous spiritual sense, Han Li was able to pre-emptively avoid these formidable creatures instead of inadvertently encroaching upon their territory.

Even so, they were still unable to avoid being attacked by some primordial beasts, and regardless of whether they posed a threat or not, Han Li was unwilling to engage in battle against them for fear of being slowed down.

Despite this, they were still inevitably slowed down quite a bit by these regular attacks.

One night, Daoist Xie was piloting the flying carriage over a vast plain.

As for Han Li, he was seated inside the cabin of the carriage, gently massaging a black jade slip in his hand.

His brows were tightly furrowed as if he were contemplating something, and he seemed to be quite hesitant.

After some time, he took a deep breath before pressing the jade slip against his own glabella.

The jade slip contained the fourth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique. After obtaining this jade slip, he had cultivated it briefly to resolve the earlier issue of backlash, but he had never fully mastered it, and he was planning to resume his cultivation once he crossed the primordial land and found a safe place to cultivate.

However, in this situation, he was forced to scrap those plans.

In the face of an opponent as formidable as the Gold Devouring Immortal, he had to elevate his own powers as much as possible. It was too difficult to advance in his cultivation base in a short time, but perhaps there was a chance that he would be able to make some progress in the Spirit Refinement Technique, which was also perfect as the Gold Devouring Immortal's soul was its main weakness.

As the jade slip lit up, Han Li gradually entered a state of immersive meditation.

Meanwhile, Jin Tong was sitting on the edge of the flying carriage with her feet dangling over the side, and she was gently swinging them back and forth.

Seeing as Jin Tong would always reappear in a different direction after spending time in Xiao Bai's stomach, the Gold Devouring Immortal had changed its strategy. Whenever Jin Tong's aura disappeared, it would simply stop and wait, then continue its pursuit once Jin Tong re-emerged. Hence, Han Li was no longer making Jin Tong spend as much time in Xiao Bai's stomach as possible. Instead, he only resorted to this in some critical junctures.

As a result, she was able to stay on the outside for longer than before.

At this moment, her face was devoid of its usual smile, and it was as if she had suddenly become a lot more mature and quiet.

It was certainly not a pleasant experience to be on the run from such a formidable enemy for so long.

She looked down at the winding river on the plain below, and it resembled a shimmering white vein on the earth under the moonlight. She suddenly recalled that there was a similarly shimmering white crystal that she was still yet to finish, and she hurriedly summoned it before sinking her teeth into it as a blissful look appeared on her little face.

There were no clouds in the sky, so the moon was made to appear particularly bright.

Han Li was basked in a layer of faint white moonlight, making the lines of his face appear softer and more gentle.

However, at this moment, his body was trembling slightly, and what appeared to be an eye had opened up on his glabella, while numerous translucent threads were flying in and out of the eye, presenting a peculiar sight to behold.

Daoist Xie couldn't help but turn around to take a glance at Han Li upon sensing these strange energy fluctuations, and its brows furrowed ever so slightly with concern.

At this moment, Han Li's spiritual sense fluctuations were rather unstable. It was like a bubble that was constantly expanding and shrinking, and that was indeed what Han Li felt like was happening in his consciousness.

All of the spiritual sense in his consciousness was ebbing and flowing back and forth like the tide, the fluctuations were becoming more and more pronounced, until they transformed into enormous waves.

Some time later, his eyes abruptly sprang open, and he immediately began gasping for air.

Jin Tong was very startled to hear this, and she hurriedly rose to her feet and rushed over to his side before asking, "Are you alright, Uncle?"

Han Li offered no response, merely stowing his black jade slip away with a slightly weary look on his face. He then swallowed a pill and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he replied, "I'm fine. I was just trying to rush a little in my cultivation earlier, and something almost went wrong."

The fourth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique was quite easy to understand, but the more he progressed, the more risk presented itself, and even the slightest lapse in concentration could lead to qi deviation.

"You really scared me just now," Jin Tong said with a relieved expression.

"Is the Gold Devouring Immortal doing anything new?" Han Li asked.

"Not really, it's still just following us like usual. Right now, it should be..."

Jin Tong began to examine what the Gold Devouring Immortal was doing through their spiritual connection as she spoke, and a grim look suddenly appeared on her face.

"Is it close?" Han Li hurriedly asked with an alarmed expression.

"No, but it's suddenly accelerated," Jin Tong replied.

"How many days will it take for it to catch up to us?" Han Li asked.

"I don't think we have days left, Uncle. At this rate, it'll catch up to us in just a few hours," Jin Tong replied with a sullen expression.

"Brother Xie, you take a rest, I'll pilot the flying carriage," Han Li said as he turned to Daoist Xie.

Daoist Xie nodded in response, then flew up Han Li's sleeve as a streak of golden light.

Han Li took a glance at the Immortal Origin Stones embedded into the array on the carriage, and he could tell that they didn't need to be replaced for now, so he focused on piloting the carriage, sending it racing forward at full speed.

"Don't worry, go back into Xiao Bai's stomach for now. After that, I'll change directions a few more times to see if we can buy ourselves some time," Han Li consoled as he turned to Jin Tong.

Jin Tong nodded in response, then pulled out a Soul Armor Talisman, yet right as she was about to press it to her own forehead, her expression abruptly stiffened as she exclaimed, "It's sped up once again! It's burning through its own essential power! Has it gone insane? At this rate, it'll catch up to us in just three hours!"

"Looks like it's run out of patience," Han Li mused with tightly furrowed brows.

All of a sudden, the green jade flying carriage drew to an abrupt halt at his behest.

"Why did you stop, Uncle?" Jin Tong asked with a perplexed expression.

"This isn't going to work. It'll inevitably be able to catch up to us sooner or later," Han Li replied as he cast his gaze into the night sky.

"But Uncle, your Time Dao Runes still haven't fully recovered yet, so we have no chance against it in a battle," Jin Tong exclaimed.

"Who told you we're going to engage it in battle? I'm just switching to a different strategy. Put on the Soul Armor Talisman and go into Xiao Bai's stomach for now," Han Li said as a faint smile appeared on his face.

Jin Tong immediately obliged, doing as she was told, while Han Li summoned Xiao Bai before swallowing her.

After stowing Xiao Bai away, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "It sure is coming fast..."

The Gold Devouring Immortal had already entered Han Li's spiritual sensory range, so he no longer required any updates on its location from Jin Tong.

Han Li stowed the flying carriage away with a sweep of his sleeve, following which flashes of silver lightning appeared in his eyes as he began making a string of hand seals.

Before long, the arcs of silver lightning around him had swelled to form a silver lightning array, and he abruptly vanished from within the array amid a bright flash of lightning.