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

Han Li was clearly prepared for a sneak attack, and he laid back to evade the bird's beak strike.

However, before he had a chance to stabilize himself, the bird suddenly stomped its talons into the ground and sprang up into the air. As it began its descent, it abruptly spread its wings, thrusting Han Li's legs up into the air, and he almost fell off its back as a result.

In response, Han Li pushed off with both hands against the bird's back, launching himself up into the air before quickly falling back down thanks to the spatial pressure in the environment.

As he did so, Han Li intentionally increased the force of his descent, plummeting heavily down onto the bird's back.

The bird was also in the process of a descent, and with Han Li falling onto its back with such immense force, it let loose an involuntary squawk before crashing to the ground with a loud thump.

A crater that was hundreds of feet in size appeared on the ground, and even with its tremendous leg strength, the bird was unable to remain on its talons, kneeling to the bottom of the crater.

All of the creatures that were basking in starlight in the surrounding area hurriedly dispersed in alarm, while all of the other birds fled in all directions.

Shi Chuankong and Daoist Xie rushed over to the edge of the crater to find Han Li straddled atop the bird with one hand pressed against its head and his other hand gently stroking the feathers on its back.

Initially, the bird struggled vehemently, but a few moments later, its struggles ceased, and it began gently rubbing its head against Han Li's hand in an affectionate manner.

Han Li gently patted the bird on the back, and it stood up again, then bent its legs slightly, following which a loud explosion of air rang out as it leaped out of the crater with Han Li on its back.

After jumping out of the crater, the bird galloped over the plain with Han Li on its back for a while, and it was even faster than before. While it galloped along, it flapped its wings while blasting air out of the holes on the underside of its feet, and it was able to fly about a foot above the ground.

After briefly testing out the bird's abilities, Han Li instructed it to land in between Shi Chuankong and Daoist Xie, following which he jumped down from its back and said, "This bird doesn't seem to have a name, so I'll call it a Hover Flight Bird. It's extremely difficult to tame, and once captured, it must immediately be subdued using spiritual sense."

"No wonder you were stroking its head earlier, you were brainwashing it!" Shi Chuankong jibed.

"As you just saw, this bird is capable of flying with one person on its back, and it should be able to reach the other island just fine, even with the added load. On top of that, it's also quite fast, so it makes for a very good steed," Han Li said.

"That's great! In that case, we're killing two birds with one stone," Shi Chuankong said with an elated smile.

"Brother Shi, I saw some profound acupoints light upon your chest earlier when you were being kicked by one of the other birds. Are you also using some type of bodily refinement cultivation art?" Han Li asked.

"That's right. Beings of our holy race are born with powerful bodies, so we don't have to focus as much on bodily refinement as humans. However, the laws of space that I'm cultivating are quite special, and it requiredme to further strengthen my body. On top of that, my physical constitution was enhanced even further thanks to my breakthrough to the High Zenith Stage," Shi Chuankong explained.

"That's good to hear. I presume you must be very confident in your own physical body, given you were willing to come on this trip with me," Han Li said with a smile.

As for exactly how many profound acupoints Shi Chuankong had opened up, Han Li didn't pry as the subject potentially concerned secrets of Shi Chuankong's cultivation.

"I wouldn't dare to say I'm very confident, but I should be able to lend you some assistance here and there," Shi Chuankong said with a smile.

"Right now, we only have one Hover Flight Bird. Are we going to take turns riding it to the other island?" Daoist Xie asked.

"Let's not do anything else for tonight. Even though the creatures on the island are very active at night, it appears that they've only come out to absorb starpower, so they shouldn't pose much of a threat. We don't know what things are like on the other island, so let's rest here for tonight," Han Li decided after some contemplation.

"That does sound like a safer course of action," Shi Chuankong agreed with a nod.

Thus, the three of them sat down with their legs crossed on the slightly slanted ground at the foot of the mountain ridge before closing their eyes to cultivate.

Han Li attempted to channel his Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra, only to discover that he was unable to draw upon his own immortal spiritual power, as if it had congealed within his body.

A wry smile appeared on his face as he opened his eyes, then turned to take a glance at Daoist Xie and Shi Chuankong, only to discover that they weren't giving off any spiritual power fluctuations, either.

Han Li closed his eyes again and continued to meditate, and the night steadily wore on.

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes sprang open as he took a glance up at the sky above.

All of the stars in the sky were glowing extremely brightly, to the point that the island was illuminated to be as bright as day, presenting a spectacular sight to behold.

After looking up at the stars for some time, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he began to channel his Great Universe Origin Arts.

As soon as he did this, a series of profound acupoints lit up over his body one after another, and they were also glowing just as radiantly as the stars up above.

Shi Chuankong and Daoist Xie both opened their eyes to look at Han Li upon sensing this, and the former was looking on with keen interest, while the latter closed his eyes in a disinterested manner.

Some time later, Han Li heaved a forlorn sigh before opening his eyes.

He had already achieved full mastery of the Great Universe Origin Arts, so he was unable to channel the cultivation art to absorb any more starpower.

The profound acupoints all over his body faded at his behest, with the exception of a single one on his chest.

After some contemplation, Han Li pulled out a longan-sized yellowish-brown crystal, and it was none other than the giant lizard's beast core.

Compared with back when it had first been pulled out of the lizard's body, the beast core's aura had already abated significantly, but the starpower flashing within it was only growing brighter and brighter.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he held the beast core in his hand and attempted to refine it, only to recall that without any immortal spiritual power, this was an impossible task.

He slapped a hand to his own forehead with a self-deprecating smile, and right as he was about to stow the beast core away again, he caught a glimpse of the Hover Flight Bird out of the corner of his eye, and he suddenly recalled the scene of the birds feeding on the White Armor Crabs.

After a brief hesitation, he tossed the beast core into his own mouth before swallowing it.

As soon as the beast core entered his stomach, he immediately felt a burst of heat begin to travel through his lower abdomen before transforming into a faint burst of power that began to travel toward his leg.

He hurriedly looked down to discover that a slight change was taking place within a brand new acupoint on the inside of his leg.

It was only a minute change, but Han Li was ecstatic to see this as he could sense that a brand new profound acupoint was showing signs of opening up in his body, and most importantly, this change didn't appear to be accompanied by any negative side effects.

A hint of surprise flashed through Shi Chuankong's face as he watched Han Li swallow the beast core, and he approached Han Li before asking, "What are you doing, Brother Li?"

"Do you still have the beast core that I gave you earlier?" Han Li asked with an eager expression.

"I do," Shi Chuankong replied as he hurriedly pulled out the centipede's beast core before handing it to Han Li.

Han Li accepted the beast core before examining it momentarily, then swallowed this one as well.

Immediately thereafter, the same burst of heat reappeared in his lower abdomen, then also transformed into a faint burst of power that surged toward the new acupoint in his leg.

"It's not enough, I need more!" Han Li said in an excited manner.

"What's going on, Brother Li?" Shi Chuankong asked with slightly furrowed brows

"Those two beast cores contain starpower and can open up profound acupoints! We won't be able to refine them, but we can absorb the starpower within them by directly devouring them," Han Li explained.

"Is that true?" Shi Chuankong exclaimed as a hint of excitement appeared on his face as well.

"All of these creatures have clearly come out at night to absorb starpower. Just capture one of them and harvest their beast core, and you'll be able to see for yourself," Han Li replied with a smile.

Shi Chuankong immediately rushed away into the distance upon hearing this, and before long, he returned with the carcass of a scaled feline creature that was around ten feet in length.

Shi Chuankong tossed the carcass onto the ground, then split its head open with his black saber before pulling out a tiny core around the size of a pea.

"These small guys only have tiny beast cores in their heads, while the larger ones are quite rare and extremely fast, so I wasn't able to catch any of them," Shi Chuankong complained.

"It's fine, give this one a try first," Han Li said with a smile.