Mortal's Journey: Immortal World

Somewhere in the dark, dense forest of the Ten Affliction Mountains, two shadow-like streaks of light were speeding along at a low altitude. They were none other than Han Li and Shi Chuankong.

The forest here was exceptionally dim, with trees that were all pitch-black in color. The surrounding void seemed to have been infected as well, filled with a somber, dark feeling.

The aura emitted by this forest was also unusually strange. It wasn't the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, nor demonic energy, but a special kind of shadowy power. Many strange beasts lived in the forest, all emitting this aura.

After Han Li and Shi Chuankong cast spells to conceal their light, they blended almost perfectly into this environment. Although they were moving very fast, they didn't cause much fluctuation in the surrounding aura.

"The environment of the Ten Affliction Mountains is truly unique, to actually have such a special environment," Han Li said, looking down at the forest below.

The two had been traveling like this for over ten days. Along the way, they had encountered some ferocious beasts, but they were easily dealt with, and no life-threatening situations like before had occurred.

The two men's tense nerves relaxed slightly.

"The Holy Region here has more disordered underground energy veins compared to other places in the True Immortal Realm. The Ten Affliction Mountains are even worse, with spiritual energy, demonic energy, and various other elemental energies intertwined, forming many special environments. Fellow Daoist Li may find it novel since you've just arrived, but you'll get used to it after staying here for a while," Shi Chuankong said with a smile.

Han Li hummed in agreement, but just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed. His flying figure abruptly stopped, and he looked down at a certain spot in the forest below.

"Fellow Daoist Li, what's wrong?" Seeing this, Shi Chuankong also stopped immediately and looked in the direction of Han Li's gaze, but he didn't notice anything.

"It's nothing, perhaps it was just my imagination," Han Li said, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

He looked at that spot carefully a few more times and didn't find anything, so he called out to Shi Chuankong to continue forward.

The two figures disappeared into the distant horizon, above a pitch-black tree that Han Li had just been looking at.

The tree's leaves were large and thick, and among the leaves grew many black, rod-shaped fruits that were half a person tall. The fruits also looked somewhat like human figures, which seemed a bit eerie.

At this moment, a black glow suddenly appeared on one of the black fruits. As the black glow flickered, the black fruit slowly deformed, especially the face, which developed facial features. It slowly opened its eyes and looked in the direction where Han Li and Shi Chuankong had gone.

Ripples of black light appeared in the black eyes, flickering constantly.

At this moment, hundreds of thousands of miles away, a black cloud the size of dozens of acres was rolling forward.

Standing on the black cloud were nearly a hundred half-human, half-beast figures. The leader was none other than Tie Yu.

His expression was stern, vaguely revealing a bluish-black baleful aura.

The others nearby saw Tie Yu's appearance and kept their distance, no one daring to stand beside him.

Many people sat cross-legged in various parts of the black cloud, seemingly casting various secret techniques, with different colored strange lights rolling around them.

"What, still no news?" Tie Yu suddenly said.

The deadline he had guaranteed to King Golden Rhino was one month, and now half of that time had passed, and he hadn't even found the trail of those two people.

"Lord Tie Yu, we are trying our best to search, but the area is too large, and those two seem to be quite cunning, leaving no clues whatsoever... Therefore, we haven't been able to find their trail yet," a golden-robed man said through gritted teeth as he stepped forward two steps and spoke in a low voice.

"Useless!" Tie Yu suddenly shouted angrily, a layer of green light appearing on his body, condensing into streaks of green snake shadows. The cold snake eyes looked towards the golden-robed man, as if choosing someone to devour.

The golden-robed man seemed extremely afraid of these snake shadows. He trembled all over and knelt down with a thud, kowtowing incessantly.

"Get back down there and continue searching. I'll give you three more days. If you still can't find them, then go die!" Tie Yu rebuked coldly.

The golden-robed man was granted amnesty and retreated in a fluster.

"Lord Tie Yu, we've found them!" Just at that moment, a black-faced man who had been sitting cross-legged suddenly stood up, a look of joy on his face, and quickly stepped forward.

The black-faced man held a black wooden figure in his hand, which looked very much like a wooden sculpture.

At this moment, the sculpture's eyes opened, and ripples of black light flickered inside.

"Quick, where are they?" Tie Yu asked, his face showing joy.

"They're in the Blackscale Sea of Trees, and those two are heading north all the way," the black-faced man replied hurriedly.

"Heading north, it seems they intend to leave the Ten Affliction Mountains. We can intercept them along the way!" Tie Yu said with a sneer upon hearing this, and immediately formed hand seals.

The black cloud beneath them immediately changed direction and churned violently, emitting a dull, thunderous sound as it sped forward.

……

Han Li and Shi Chuankong continued to fly forward, and in the blink of an eye, half a day had passed.

The black forest in front of them gradually became sparse, seemingly reaching its end. A verdant mountain range appeared ahead.

Warm sunshine shone down, and the air was much warmer and more comfortable. Gentle and warm breezes swept over them, caressing their bodies.

The view ahead became vast, with endless mountain ranges stretching out, one after another, all the way to the horizon, making one's heart feel broad.

Shi Chuankong opened his arms and took a deep, satisfying breath.

The black forest behind them gave off a cold feeling everywhere. Even he, a member of the Demon Race, felt somewhat uncomfortable.

While Han Li's face was still as calm as usual, one could tell that he had also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go..." Shi Chuankong exhaled and was about to speak.

"Careful!" Han Li suddenly grabbed Shi Chuankong by the collar behind his neck and shot backwards.

Just as Shi Chuankong's body left the spot where he had been standing, a thick, green arrow appeared out of nowhere and pierced through that spot.

The green arrow was three to four zhang long and as thick as an arm. Countless green patterns were engraved on the arrow shaft, and it radiated twisted green light, vaguely forming green snake shadows, emitting the sound of millions of venomous snakes spitting out their tongues.

The arrow was extremely fast, piercing through the void and emitting a piercing sonic boom.

Han Li pulled Shi Chuankong away, barely managing to dodge the arrow. However, he still smelled a sweet scent in his nose, and a green light immediately appeared on his face, his body feeling somewhat weak.

"Poison!" He was shocked and quickly flipped his hand to take out two white pills the size of longan fruits, which emitted an odd fragrance. He swallowed them.

After swallowing the pills, a white light immediately appeared on Shi Chuankong's body, and the green light on his face began to dissipate, and the weakness in his body also subsided.

"Are you alright?" Han Li asked.

Although he had also smelled some of the poisonous gas, he had cultivated the Myriad Poison Mixed Origin Body, which specialized in counteracting strange poisons, and his physical strength was extremely powerful. Now that he had also cultivated the Taiyi Jade Immortal Body, this bit of poison couldn't do anything to him.

"I'm fine," Shi Chuankong shook his head.

"Who is it? Don't hide, come out!" Han Li turned his head to look at a certain spot ahead and said calmly.

"Eh!" A surprised sound rang out in the void ahead, followed by a flash of black light, and a black cloud appeared. Standing on the cloud were nearly a hundred people who looked half-human and half-beast, who were none other than Tie Yu and his group.

"To be able to dodge my Poison God Arrow, you do have some skill," Tie Yu said slowly, looking at Han Li.

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and the green arrow turned its tip and flew back, quickly shrinking into a green arrow and disappearing into his sleeve, without a trace.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong's expressions changed slightly when they saw the people in front of them.

"May I ask which king you serve? We two accidentally entered the Ten Affliction Mountains and are planning to leave. We have no intention of being enemies with the Ten Affliction Kings. We are willing to offer two hundred thousand magic yuan stones, and we ask you to be merciful and let us pass," Shi Chuankong stepped forward and said with cupped fists.

"To dare enter the Ten Affliction Mountains without even knowing which king they serve, you truly deserve to die!"

"Heh heh... Is this person joking with us? A mere two hundred thousand magic yuan stones, and you think you can send us away!"

"Pui!"

"Leave your heads behind, and we can be merciful and let your bodies pass!"

"Haha..."

Above the black cloud, Tie Yu's subordinates cackled strangely. Some people even wiggled their eyebrows and made strange expressions.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong's expressions sank upon seeing this.

Tie Yu raised one hand, and the subordinates immediately fell silent. Then, he said coldly:

"You, are you foreigners from outside the mountains?"

"That's right, may I ask who you are..." Shi Chuankong asked calmly, his mind racing.

"Any foreigner from outside deserves to die, and you two are no different! Kill them, don't beat their bodies too badly, leave their heads!" A deep-seated hatred flashed in Tie Yu's eyes, and he spoke in an icy tone.

"Yes!"

His subordinates behind him grinned hideously and agreed in unison. Then, they swarmed forward, and numerous weapons were unleashed together, turning into rays of various colors, aggressively attacking Han Li and the other two.

These subordinates, whose true forms were ferocious beasts, were not weak. There were more than a dozen who were at the Golden Immortal realm.

The three leading figures, a one-horned burly man with silver hair and blue eyes, a tall and thin red-haired old man with rough skin that resembled dried tree bark, and a golden-haired young woman with wings on her back, had reached the Taiyi realm, but they were all only at the early Taiyi stage.

This force was more than enough to deal with Han Li and Shi Chuankong, one a newly advanced Taiyi Human and the other a Golden Immortal peak Demon.

The one-horned burly man formed hand seals, and an astonishing green light burst out from his body. In an instant, he transformed into a dazzling green light ball. The green light ball immediately detached from his body and flew out, turning into a green cloud.

Then, the burly man pinched his fingers and pointed, and a green light shot out from his hand and entered the green cloud.

With a "puff" sound, the green cloud was like oil that had been ignited, instantly turning into a green fire cloud, radiating explosive law fluctuations, and descending towards Han Li.

The red-haired old man chanted incantations, and a red light burst out from his body. Then, ripples appeared above his head, and three phantoms of ferocious tiger heads the size of houses flashed and appeared. Then, with a shake, they turned into three blurry blood shadows and disappeared.

Ripples appeared in the void in front of Han Li, and three enormous tiger head phantoms flashed into existence. Then, their bloody mouths opened wide, and they bit down fiercely on the two of them.

Before the three tiger heads landed, a terrifying aura of the law had already been transmitted, causing one's heart to tremble, and an inexplicable sense of fear arose.

The golden-haired young woman spread her wings wide, and countless dazzling golden lights rose from them, extremely dazzling, like a golden sun blooming.

As the wings flapped, there was a hissing sound, and countless golden lights spewed out from the wings like rain, descending towards Han Li.

Every golden light was actually a golden feather, radiating an extremely fierce power of law.

The three Taiyi realm cultivators joined forces, and their momentum immediately surpassed the attacks of the other ferocious beast subordinates. The demonic energy within a hundred miles suddenly surged violently, and the void also emitted a buzzing tremor, seemingly unable to withstand this immense power fluctuation.

Facing the aggressive offensive, Shi Chuankong's expression changed. A purple-black light flickered on his body, and he was about to make a move.

"Leave it to me!" Han Li's figure swayed, blocking in front of Shi Chuankong, and then his ten fingers flicked repeatedly.

With a series of sharp whistling sounds, eighteen green lights flew out from his sleeves one after another. With a spin, they solidified into eighteen green flying swords, which were none other than the Azure Bamboo Swarmcloud Swords.

After Han Li advanced to the Taiyi realm, the immortal spiritual power in his body greatly increased, and the number of Azure Bamboo Swarmcloud Swords he could drive had suddenly increased to eighteen!