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

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Jin Liu sighed with a wry smile.

"It seems like the higher up we go in this pagoda, the more our spiritual sense becomes restricted," Valley Master Fu observed with tightly furrowed brows.

"Let's go. It's too late to turn back now," Su Anqian said in a calm manner, then led the way forward, and Jin Liu hurriedly followed along.

Meanwhile, Valley Master Fu and the others were still looking back at the giant gate behind them with hesitant expressions.

As Han Li passed Valley Master Fu by, he advised, "The restriction on this gate is not inferior to the protective array of a large large sect, so it definitely won't be easy to bypass. My suggestion would be to look for another way out."

Immediately thereafter, he also set off for the cluster of black buildings.

Valley Master Fu and the others were still very hesitant, but they ultimately followed after Han Li as well.

As the group approached that cluster of black buildings, they began to detect an increasing abundance of baleful qi in the air, to the point that even the surrounding air temperature had dropped significantly, and everyone was able to see their own breaths as clouds of white mist.

Only upon arriving before the cluster of black buildings did everyone discover that it was an abandoned Buddhist temple.

The entrance of the temple was extremely dilapidated. Wild grass was growing rampant in the gaps in the brick walls, and even the two wooden doors were covered in moss, while the knockers on the doors were covered in rust and only just barely hanging on.

There was a plaque hanging above the doors, and it read "Level Eighteen".

Perplexed looks appeared on everyone's faces upon seeing this.

"Level eighteen? Isn't this supposed to be level three? How did we suddenly arrive on level eighteen?" Valley Master Fu exclaimed.

"Don't get so worked up, maybe this temple is called Level Eighteen," Jin Liu said in a derisive manner.

"This doesn't look like a very safe place... I think we should stay out of here," an itinerant Golden Immortal said in a fearful voice.

Right as his voice trailed off, the wooden doors of the temple swung open on their own.

Everyone waited for a moment with tense looks on their faces, but nothing else happened, and that left everyone at a slight loss for how to proceed.

Jin Liu and Su Anqian exchanged a glance and a nod with each other, following which both of them stepped into the temple.

Han Li raised an eyebrow before following along, and Valley Master Fu and the others were still feeling very hesitant, but decided to proceed, nonetheless.

As soon as everyone entered the temple, a grating creak rang out as the wooden doors swung shut again.

Han Li turned to discover two balls of ghostly green flames emerging from behind the doors, then drift through the air to arrive in front of everyone, hovering in mid-air like a pair of lanterns to guide them.

Everyone was quite startled by this, and only after a long hesitation did they follow the two balls of ghostly flames deeper into the temple.

Beyond the wooden doors was a large, white plaza that was rather uneven, and it would occasionally creak and groan underfoot.

Han Li looked down to discover that the plaza was paved with pieces of white bones, and not only was it very bumpy and uneven, there were occasionally specks of green fire rising up from it.

Everyone cautiously made their way over the plaza, but thankfully, they encountered no hazards, and before long, they had arrived at the Hall of Heavenly Kings. [1]

Inside the hall were two heavenly king statues that were hundreds of feet in height, almost as tall as the hall itself.

Both were clad in suits of dilapidated golden armor, and one was holding a vajra pestle, while the other was carrying a bloody human head. In contrast with the heavenly kings that one would expect to find in a normal Buddhist temple, these two were far more sinister and demonic in appearance.

After passing through the Hall of Heavenly Kings, everyone arrived on an even larger plaza.

There were nine elevated platforms constructed on each side of the plaza, and there were countless figures on the platforms, while agonized howls could be heard ringing out incessantly. ṝ₳ℕО𝐁ÈŞ

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the first platform on the left, upon which was a demon with green and purple skin, holding a pair of black metal tongues that it had extended into an elderly woman's mouth to slowly pull out her tongue.

The woman had an agonized look on her face, but was unable to make any sound aside from a quiet whimper.

On the first platform on the right, a beautiful woman was laid out completely bare while strapped to a stone bed, and two green-haired demons were snipping away at her body with a pair of giant scissors, causing the woman to shriek and wail in agony.

Similar horrific scenes were on display on all of the elevated platforms.

On one of them was a giant stone mill that was being pushed by a muscular demon, and a man's body was being crushed within the mill, but his head remained intact, and it was howling in agony.

On another platform was a giant metal pot that was filled with bubbling oil, and a horrified man was thrown into the pot by several demons.

......

Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed at the sight of these terrifying scenes, and he finally understood why this place was called Level Eighteen.

It was said that hell had eighteen levels, and this was a legend that Han Li had heard many times in his formative years.

"What the hell is this place?" Valley Master Fu yelled in a grim voice.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a burst of red light appeared over the plaza up ahead, and ten figures slowly descended out of the sky.

It was a collection of ten ghostly beings that were dressed in bright red official robes with jade belts around their waists.

These ghostly creatures all had horrific, inhuman appearances, and their leader seemed to be a deathly pale figure with a large red flower on the front of his robe, as if he were a celebrated scholar who had excelled in the imperial examination.

"What are all of you supposed to be?" Jin Liu sneered.

"We are the Ten Kings of Hell! Kneel down and repent for your crimes!" the man with the scholarly appearance yelled as he pointed a finger at Han Li's group while placing his other hand on his hip.

His voice was very high-pitched, and that, in conjunction with the rather effeminate pose that he had just struck, immediately made him resemble a eunuch more than a scholar.

"You claim to be the Ten Kings of Hell? What a joke!" Su Anqian sneered.

"For your insolence, all of you will be subjected to eternal torture in this eighteenth level of hell with no chance for reincarnation!" the pale ghostly man yelled in a furious voice as he rose up into the air, followed immediately by the other nine ghostly creatures.

At the same time, gusts of yin wind swept through the air as huge plumes of black mist rose up from the ground, and countless fearsome demons that were wielding bone weapons were rushing toward the center of the plaza.

There were so many of these demonic creatures that were trampling over one another as they rushed onto the plaza, which was rumbling incessantly beneath their feet.

"Where did all of these things come from?" Valley Master Fu asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"Don't be alarmed, everyone, these are just ordinary yin beings that can be destroyed with ease. Our Heavenly Water Sect will deal with those ten ghostly generals, while all of you can take care of the rest of these ghostly creatures," Jin Liu said in a calm manner, following which he flipped a hand over to produce a miniature octagonal pagoda that was giving off radiant silver light.

Han Li was immediately able to identify the pagoda as a spatial immortal treasure, which was extremely rare, but unfortunately, it wasn't an immortal treasure of a very high caliber.

Immediately thereafter, around a dozen figures flew out of the entrance of the pagoda, and it was quickly revealed that they were all elders of the Heavenly Water Sect.

The group of elders was led by an early-High Zenith cultivator, while the rest were all at the late and peak-Golden Immortal Stages.

"Elder Lu Qiu, we'll be counting on you to help everyone deal with these ghostly creatures," Jin Liu said as he cupped his fist in a salute.

The leader of the group of Heavenly Water Sect elders was a thin elderly man with a head of white hair, and he waved a hand as he replied, "There's no need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Jin. We came here with you precisely so we could help out in scenarios like this."

Valley Master Fu and the others were feeling slightly more confident upon seeing this, and they summoned their treasures as they prepared to face the enemy.

Jin Liu and Su Anqian exchanged a glance with each other, then rose up into the air with all of the Heavenly Water Sect elders to oppose the self-proclaimed Ten Kings of Hell.

Following the departure of the Heavenly Water Sect cultivators, Valley Master Fu yelled, "None of these ghostly creatures are particularly powerful, but there are far too many of them, so if we all split up and fight on our own, we'll eventually all be worn down and killed. Hence, I propose that we establish an Azure Dragon Origin Array together, and perhaps that'll allow us to survive until the Heavenly Water Sect cultivators return victorious."

"But the Azure Dragon Origin Array is a secret array of your Azure Lock Valley, so none of us are familiar with it," an itinerant Golden Immortal said with a hesitant expression.

"The key to this array is a certain treasure. All you need to do is follow my instructions, and the array can be set up very easily," Valley Master Fu said, then quickly issued some instructions to everyone through voice transmission.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to produce a dragon-shaped jade pendant, which he tossed up into the air, and everyone immediately sprang into action, following his instructions as they formed a circle while making hand seals and chanting a collective incantation.

Han Li was also standing nearby, but he didn't do anything.

Everyone was too busy setting up the array to reprimand him, but it was clear that they weren't very pleased with his lack of participation.

1. The Hall of Heavenly Kings is a significant structure that serves as an entry point to the sacred space in a Buddhist temple. ☜

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