A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

Temptation

Master Sunreach gloomily said, “The three of us naturally know that something is amiss. However, when the Moulans attacked, they captured many cultivators. Most of them were fellow Daoists from the Nine Nations Union, but many of our sects’ support disciples also fell. According to the envoy, there were over a thousand of them.”

“What do you mean? Could it be that if we don’t accept the bet, they’ll dare to kill the captives? If that’s the case, aren’t the Moulan people afraid that we’ll use other methods to take revenge?” Old Man Kuang blurted out in shock.

Master Sunreach quickly added, “The envoy didn’t say anything about killing the captives, but he did say that he would give us a chance to rescue these cultivators. In addition to these materials, there will be over a hundred captured cultivators in each of the ten battles. So long as we win, these people will be released.”

All of the old eccentrics looked at one another in dismay.

These thousand cultivators didn’t seem to be many, and most of them were low-grade cultivators with low cultivation. It seemed they didn’t need to be threatened. However, if anyone proposed not to save the captives, they would immediately become the target of public criticism.

These cultivators weren’t much, but they represented many clans and sects. Many of them were captured by the Moulans in order to delay the spell warriors’ attacks. If they were rescued, the morale of the army would plummet even before the battle began. The low-grade cultivators felt their hearts turn cold, and many of them wouldn’t fight to the death with all their might.

Long Han sighed and agreed, “I didn’t think that these grassland barbarians would be able to play such a trick. In the previous invasions, they rarely used schemes, but this time, they are vicious enough. We have no choice but to jump in even though we knew it was inappropriate.”

How could the others not understand Long Han’s words? They also felt greatly helpless and inwardly cursed the Moulan people for their cunning.

Master Sunreach swept his gaze past everyone in the hall and solemnly said, “It seems everyone understands that we have no choice but to accept this bet. Regardless of the opponent’s intentions, we must defeat the spell warriors in the battles. Otherwise, it will be a great blow to our morale. Furthermore, it seems the opponent’s proposal isn’t something that involves tricks in battle. They most likely have other plans. As such, there is no need for Fellow Daoists to worry about any hidden losses. If anything goes wrong, we will directly stop the battles. Of course, since those are battles to the death, whether or not you are willing to participate is entirely up to you. We won’t force you.”

“Up to us?” When these words entered the ears of the eccentrics, they inwardly sneered. Soon after, their eyes flickered and they remained silent.

No one was stupid! Not to mention that there was something fishy about this wagered battle, even if there wasn’t, no one would be willing to fight to the death. After all, at their current cultivation realm, which one of them hadn’t spent several hundred years of bitter cultivation to stand out? How could they easily take the risk?

Han Li also had an indifferent expression and did not plan to step forward. Although he did not mind contributing to this battle, he had to do so in a situation where his life was not in danger. The last battle at the Yellow Dragon Mountain had almost taken his life, and he did not want to experience it again.

When Devil Concord saw this, his expression sank and he coldly snorted. His snort was bone-chilling and shook the cultivators present to the point where their expressions slightly changed. However, everyone remained seated and didn’t say anything.

When Master Sunreach saw this, he shook his head with a helpless expression. Meanwhile, Wei Wuya narrowed his eyes and remained silent. It was unknown what he was thinking.

In such an awkward situation, Master Sunreach didn’t allow it to continue.

“Before we came here, we had a discussion. This battle is truly dangerous. Therefore, if the cultivator emerges victorious, the precious materials will belong to the victorious Fellow Daoist, making up for the risk. What do you think, Fellow Daoists? Furthermore, from what I know, there are a few Fellow Daoists that lack rare materials in their cultivation, which can’t be found anywhere. The three of us have a collection that will satisfy these Fellow Daoists.”

After Master Sunreach said this, he swept his gaze past a few people, including Han Li.

Han Li’s heart skipped a beat and he started to have some doubts.

The others were no ordinary cultivators, and they also wore bewildered expressions.

Although the Daoist Priest had stated attractive conditions and most people were interested, no one stepped forward and proposed to participate in the gambling battle.

However, right at this moment, Wei Wuya, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly raised his head to look at Daoist Shattered Soul. His lips moved a few times as he sent a voice transmission.

Daoist Shattered Soul’s expression changed from shock to delight.

After listening to a few more sentences, Shattered Soul opened and closed his mouth in silent discussion with Wei Wuya.

A short moment later, Daoist Shattered Soul wore a hesitant expression.

At the same time, the black-robed man sent a voice transmission to Devil Concord.

Ever since the old devil had arrived in the hall, he had maintained a nonchalant expression. However, when he heard his sect’s Grand Elder’s voice transmission, he immediately frowned and his expression darkened. It was unknown what the large man had said to him.

After a moment of contemplation, Daoist Shattered Soul said, “Good. So long as you keep your promise, I will take the risk.”

The other eccentrics were stunned to hear this.

But at that moment, Old Devil Cloud Dew spoke.

“Since Fellow Daoist Shattered Soul is participating, why don’t I make a trip as well? It would be a pity if I didn’t take so many rare materials.” The old devil coldly smiled and a trace of anger appeared on his face.

The other cultivators glanced at each other. Although they didn’t say anything, they were inwardly shocked.

Regardless of the reason for the two people’s participation, it caused the others to feel uneasy.

As expected, the three great cultivators began to converse with everybody through voice transmission. As a result, most of them agreed to joining the battle with mixed emotions. Only two of them shook their heads with cold expressions and refused.

When Han Li saw this, all sorts of thoughts raced through his mind. But at this moment, Master Sunreach’s voice reached his ears.

“Fellow Daoist Han, I heard that you’ve been searching for a large amount of Auric Essence. Is that true?”

Han Li vaguely expected this, but when he heard this, he could not help but feel his heart thump. The matter of him asking the Heavenly Dao Alliance to help him collect Auric Essence was not a secret, so it was not surprising that the other party knew about it.

Han Li calmed himself down and calmly said, “That’s right. I do need some Auric Essence to refine a magic treasure. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Sunreach has a large amount of this?”

Master Sunreach chuckled and said, “Fellow Daoist Han’s guess is correct. Fellow Daoist Wei and I each possess a large chunk of Auric Essence. It should be enough for you. Would Fellow Daoist Han be interested in taking a look?”

“I have to see if the Auric Essence is satisfactory before I consider participating in the battle.” Han Li pondered for a moment and did not give a definite answer.

Master Sunreach chuckled and readily agreed.

Thus, in a short period of time, five people agreed to this matter one after another. A few others, like Han Li, had to think about it before giving an accurate answer. However, this was already very satisfactory to Sunreach and the others.

They immediately stopped transmitting their voices to the others and began to make arrangements for how to deal with the spell warrior army.

Sitting in the hall, Han Li listened to the old monsters discuss the spell warrior army and how to use formation flags and other tools to deal with the spell warriors’ extremely troublesome Spirit Technique Formations. However, Han Li’s mind was already far away, thinking about the Auric Essence.

To be honest, Han Li was not very satisfied with the power of his own magic treasure, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.

This wasn’t to say that his flying swords were weaker than other cultivators’ magic treasures. Rather, it was because the enemies he encountered were either extremely weak or extremely powerful. If they were extremely weak, he wouldn’t even need to use his flying swords. He would be able to kill his opponents with his Green Essence Sword Qi. As for extremely powerful enemies, their cultivation was generally higher than his, so flying swords were truly of little value.

However, when he saw the last divine power of the Azure Essence Sword Art, namely the Aureate Sword Formation, written on the page, Han Li understood how terrifying the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was when combined with the Azure Essence Sword Art. Even if he could only use a small portion of the power of this sword formation, it was enough to compete with a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, although Silvermoon boasted about it, Han Li was still doubtful about its actual power until he saw it with his own eyes.

As such, the Aureate Sword Formation was definitely a great ability that would allow him to establish himself in the cultivation world.

As such, he had to acquire a large quantity of Auric Essence. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to refine the sword formation.

However, Han Li could not make up his mind whether or not he would have to participate in the battle. After thinking for a while, he decided to look at the quantity of Auric Essence provided by the other party. If they could provide enough Auric Essence, he would have a high chance of refining the Aureate Sword Formation, so it was not impossible to participate in the battle.

As long as his opponents weren’t those Moulan Divine Sages, he naturally wouldn’t fear anyone. Even if the Moulan people did something in the gambling match, with the power of the Thunderstorm Wings and the Purple Apex Flames, a mere barrier wouldn’t be able to trap him.

Han Li made up his mind and calmed down. He began to listen to the discussions of the cultivators.

The gathering lasted for nearly two hours, and Master Sunreach was clearly the leader of the three cultivators. Devil Concord would occasionally comment, while Wei Wuya remained silent.

However, during the discussion, both Master Sunreach and Devil Concord clearly held Long Han in high regard. Whenever they encountered matters related to the Heavenly Dao Alliance, they would ask for his opinion. It appeared that the rumor of Long Han and his wife being able to contend against one of the three great cultivators was true.

In the end, most of the matters were discussed and the cultivators who didn’t participate in the battles were given specific responsibilities.

Then, Master Sunreach said, “Fellow Daoists, go back and get prepared.” Everyone bade farewell and left. However, three cultivators stayed behind, including Han Li.

As for the other two, one of them was Old Devil Cloud Dew, while the other was a beautiful woman with a bloodless face. Just like Han Li, this woman did not say a word during the discussion just now.

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