A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1013: Qi Mozi’s Plan

Qi Mozi paid no heed to the fiery face as he continued to ponder the situation in silence, following which he made a casual grabbing motion toward the brazier, pulling out the fiery face along with a fiery figure.

After the figure was pulled out of the brazier, it gradually took on a substantial form, one that was identical in appearance to Qi Mozi.

A burst of fire emerged over Qi Mozi's hand, and the aura of the fiery figure beside him swelled drastically until it was almost on par with his own.

"I'm going in person this time, you stay behind to oversee the Immortal Prison for me," Qi Mozi instructed.

"What if someone..."

The fiery figure didn't get a chance to fully articulate his question before he was cut off by Qi Mozi.

"This is the Immortal Prison, no one's going to say anything here. I'll only be taking one person with me, and I'll return as quickly as possible."

"Who are you taking if you're not even taking me?" the fiery figure asked in a perplexed manner.

"An old acquaintance of mine," Qi Mozi replied with a faint smile, then made his way out of the palace.

All of a sudden, a burst of flames rose up over his entire body, and he sped toward a golden space neighboring the crimson clouds as a blazing fireball.

......

Sixty years flew by in the blink of an eye.

There was a peaceful courtyard in Azure Fox City.

The light of the morning sun was filtered through the branches of a tree, casting a series of fragmented shadows onto the ground.

A group of children were joyfully running back and forth along a little path, holding colorful paper windmills in their hands.

The sound of their playful laughter could be heard in the neighboring courtyard, and at his moment, Weeping Soul was seated on a stone chair inside the courtyard, resting her chin on one hand while listening to the sounds of the playing children outside.

Ever since she attained the ability to look directly into the hearts of others, she had become very fond of hearing the laughter of children. Their pure and simple joy never failed to put her in a good mood.

Right at this moment, she suddenly turned around as Han Li emerged from the room behind her, clearly in very high spirits.

"You've come out of seclusion so soon, Master. Have you already made a breakthrough?" Weeping Soul asked with a surprised expression.

"I did. Having already opened so many profound acupoints, I was able to progress very quickly in my cultivation of the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra," Han Li replied with a smile.

At this point, it was only a matter of time before he reached the late-High Zenith Stage.

"Congratulations, Master!" Weeping Soul said with an elated expression.

"Have there been any abnormal occurrences in the Azure Fox Tribe during my seclusion?" Han Li asked.

"Nothing that I could see. After their chief made a full recovery, the morale of the entire tribe received a significant boost, and even the Golden Horse Sect hasn't dared to make any moves. I was worried that you would cause too much of a commotion during your breakthrough and attract a lot of attention, but even I didn't detect your breakthrough," Weeping Soul replied.

"There wasn't much of a bottleneck for me to overcome for this breakthrough. On top of that, I was cultivating in seclusion in the Flower Branch domain, and I set up an aura concealment array at the entrance of the domain, so that's why there wasn't any commotion. However, I won't be able to make my late-High Zenith Stage breakthrough in the Flower Branch domain, so I'll have to find some other place next time," Han Li said with a smile.

While Han Li and Weeping Soul were chatting with each other, there was a heated argument raging in the conference hall elsewhere in the city.

"I've always felt like that human cultivator was suspicious, Chief. Surely the Immortal Palace wouldn't be spreading false information. He's an evil cultivator who kills mortals in order to further his own cultivation! We cannot allow someone like him to continue to remain in our city!" Ye Qiu said in an urgent manner.

"Elder Qiu is right. Humans have always been very sly and cunning creatures, so we can't afford to take any chances here," another elder chimed in.

There were several people behind him who remained silent, but they were also nodding in agreement.

"There must be some misunderstanding here. Senior Han's aura is one of righteousness and tranquility, completely unlike the aura of an evil cultivator who would do something so heinous. He's definitely not the wanted fugitive that the Immortal Palace is looking for! If he really were such a terrible person, then he wouldn't have saved me and my mother!" Ye Susu protested vehemently.

It was true that Han Li had helped the Azure Fox Tribe, and conflicted looks appeared on the faces of all of the Azure Fox beings upon hearing this.

"You don't know just now cunning humans can be, Young Mistress. No one knows what his objectives are. Who knows if this isn't all just part of a long-term, sinister plan of his? Even if he bears no ill intent, we still can't afford to keep him. If we're caught harboring a wanted fugitive of the Immortal Palace, the consequences will be catastrophic!" Ye Qiu sighed.

"Indeed. If the Immortal Palace finds out that that human cultivator is staying here, our entire city would be razed to the ground," another elder sighed.

"We can't endanger the safety of our entire tribe for an outsider!"

"Please reconsider, Chief!"

"Everyone, Senior Han has done our tribe a great kindness, are we going to repay his kindness with ingratitude?" Ye Susu frantically yelled.

The entire hall immediately fell silent as guilty looks appeared on everyone's faces.

Right at this moment, a gentle voice suddenly rang out.

"I am aware of everyone's concerns."

Everyone immediately turned to the woman on the main chair in the conference hall upon hearing this, and it was none other than Ye Luo.

"Regardless of whether Senior Han has committed the crimes claimed by the Immortal Palace or not, it still doesn't change the fact that he has helped our Azure Fox Tribe in the past, so we cannot turn on him," Ye Luo said in a calm manner.

Ye Susu hurriedly nodded in agreement, but before she had a chance to say anything, Ye Luo continued, "However, now that Senior Han is a wanted fugitive of the Immortal Palace, we cannot allow him to continue staying in our city. Otherwise, it would be detrimental to both him and our tribe."

Ye Susu's face fell slightly upon hearing this.

Even though she was very grateful to Han Li, she knew that her mother was right, and she had simply been stubbornly denying the reality. Now that her mother had spoken, she had no choice but to accept this outcome.

Everyone nodded in relief and agreement upon hearing this.

"Susu, you were the one who brought Senior Han to our city, so you'll have to be the one to discuss this matter with him," Ye Luo said.

Ye Susu opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately remained silent and merely nodded in response.

"Let me go instead, I don't think it's safe to allow Young Mistress to go and see him," Ye Qiu hurriedly interjected.

"Senior Han is a benefactor of our Azure Fox Tribe, and the entwinement of his fate with our tribe started with Susu, so she should be the one to see things through to the end," Ye Luo said with a shake of her head.

"Leave it to me, Elder Qiu," Susu chimed in in agreement.

"Fine, you can go, but I'll come with you," Ye Qiu sighed.

Shortly thereafter, two streaks of light descended outside the peaceful courtyard that Han Li was staying in, and the children that were playing outside immediately gathered around Ye Susu, clamoring for her attention.

However, Ye Susu was in no mood to play with them, so she sent them away to play on their own before making her way over to the courtyard and knocking on its doors.

"Come in," Han Li called out from inside, and Ye Susu and Ye Qiu entered the courtyard to discover Han Li and Weeping Soul seated at the stone table, chatting with each other over some tea.

"Senior Han..." Ye Susu began, only for her voice to trail off into silence as she thought of her objective for this visit.

Ye Qiu stepped around Ye Susu to shield the latter behind her, following which she cast a wary gaze toward Han Li.

"Seeing as the two of you have come together, I'm assuming you haven't come to see me for private matters. Why don't you go ahead and state the purpose of your visit?" Han Li prompted as he took a glance at Ye Susu, paying no heed to Ye Qiu in the process.

Ye Qiu's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she was just about to say something when Ye Susu raised a hand to stop her.

"Please pardon my abrupt visit, Senior Han. I've come here today..."

With that, Ye Susu informed Han Li of his current status as a wanted fugitive of the Immortal Palace, but made no mention of asking him to leave Azure Fox City.

After hearing what she had to say, an amused look appeared on Han Li's face as he mused, "I'm not sure if I should feel flattered that the Immortal Palace thinks so highly of me that they've fabricated these crimes just to justify my capture."

Weeping Soul also shook her head with a wry smile.

Ye Susu was very relieved to hear this, and a bright smile appeared on her face as she said, "I knew you weren't that type of person, Senior Han!"