A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality () is a long-running Chinese xianxia serial web novel written by Wang Yu between 2008 and 2013 on Qidian. After its publication, it gradually became one of the most famous fantasy novels about immortal cultivation in Mainland China, a very popular web novel topic in Chinese online literature. In 2010, the book was published as a single volume by Taibai Literature and Art Publishing House, with a total of about 7.71 million characters.
The novel tells the story of the protagonist Han Li, a mortal who born into mediocrity in a fictional world of immortal cultivators but eventually achieved immortality after overcoming hardships. Its English translation is currently being serialized on Wuxiaworld.
Plot Han Li (), a poor and ordinary boy who came from an ordinary mountain village, was recommended by his relatives to join the local Jianghu sect Qixuanmen (). He was chosen by the sect elder Mo Juren () to become his disciple. He practiced the formula called "Changchun Gong" () every day. During this period, his suspicions about his master was piqued as his companions started disappearing. In addition, he accidentally got a green medicine bottle that could catalyze herbs, and saved his sect brother Li Feiyu () and became his confidant. One day, he had a showdown with his master and was accidentally defeated. He should have been killed by his poisonous hands, but he survived by chance. After learning from his collaborator Yu Zitong that he had mastered a set of immortal cultivation skills and the truth about Mo Juren, he killed him. He wanted to regain his freedom, but after reading his master's suicide note, he found that the poison he had been given had not been completely solved, and he had to travel far to find his family to get the real antidote. After learning about this, Han Li decided to fulfill his master's last wish to save himself, and since then he has embarked on the road of immortal cultivation.
Works
Volume 1: The Seven Mysteries Sect Source:
Han Li was born in poverty. In order to bring glory to his family, he participated in the assessment of Qixuan Sect in his childhood. Because he had spiritual roots and could practice "Eternal Spring Skill", he was accepted as a disciple by the mysterious Doctor Mo of Qixuan Sect. During this period, Han Li picked up a small bottle that could be used to ripen plants infinitely. Doctor Mo wanted to take over Han Li's body after he had made some progress in practicing the Changchun Skill, but failed. Han Li was also secretly poisoned by him and had to find Doctor Mo's family for an antidote. From then on, he learned about the existence of the world of immortal cultivation.
Not long after, the Qixuan Sect suffered a surprise attack by the Wild Wolf Gang and was facing the crisis of extinction. Han Li stepped forward and showed his skills, destroying the immortal cultivator invited by the leader of the Wild Wolf Gang. He obtained a mysterious sword talisman and a token called "Ascension" from the cultivator.
Volume 2: First Steps on the Journey of Immortality By chance, Han Li joined the Yellow Maple Valley with the "Ascension" token, one of the seven major sects of immortal cultivation in Yue State, with the help of the Immortal Ascension Order, and officially embarked on the road of immortal cultivation. After joining the Yellow Maple Valley, Han Li's cultivation level improved rapidly with his alertness and with the help of the mysterious bottle.
Volume 3: Invasion of the Devil Dao In order to obtain the foundation-building pill, Han Li risked his life to enter the blood-colored forbidden land and met Nangong Wan. After accidentally touching the Ink Dragon's sac, Han Li and Nangong Wan had sex. A few years later, the demon sect expanded and invaded Yue State. To avoid the war, Han Li reached the Chaos Star Sea through a mysterious ancient teleportation array.
Volume 4: Across the Sea After several efforts, Han Li formed a golden elixir, and during this period, he occasionally got a gold-eating bug. He met Zi Ling and got a golden thunder bamboo. At this time, rumors spread that the "Twin Saints of Tianxing", the controllers of the Chaos Star Sea, had gone astray in their cultivation, and chaos gradually arose in the Chaos Star Sea. Not long after, the "Xutian Palace" was opened once every three hundred years. Han Li was fortunate to enter the treasure hunt. By chance, he obtained the first secret treasure of the Chaos Star Sea, the Xutian Ding, which was coveted by all forces in the Chaos Star Sea. So he was teleported to the outer sea, killed monsters to get the elixir, took the elixir to refine medicine, and took medicine to refine Qi. After dozens of years, he searched for medicinal materials and unfortunately encountered a demon cultivator. He was forced to help refine a magic weapon. Later, under Han Li's careful design, he secretly plotted against the demon cultivators, killed the poisonous dragon and obtained the heaven-defying magic weapon Fenglei Wings. Then, in order to avoid the pursuit of the demon cultivators, he took the teleportation array and sneaked back to the inner sea. He happened to meet his old friend Yuan Yao who was performing a heaven-defying magic. In the process of protecting her, he encountered the descendant of the Six Paths. When he was about to defeat him, he encountered the spiritual energy that only appears once in a hundred years. He was teleported to the land of ghosts by ghost fog. After many twists and turns and escaping from death, he was teleported to the Boundless Sea and finally returned to Tiannan.
Volume 5: Reputation Shaking the Land At this time, the war in Tiannan had stopped, and Han Li sneaked into Luoyun Sect to practice. After more than 20 years, he successfully formed a fetus. After many twists and turns, he finally snatched Nangong Wan from Yanyue Sect. A few years later, he got the news of the first dangerous place in Tiannan, Zhuimo Valley, and the magicians also invaded fiercely. In the decisive battle with the magicians, Han Li reversed the situation with his initial Nascent Soul cultivation, and thus killed the wife of the leader of the Yinluo Sect of Dajin. Later, the Mulan Grassland was attacked by the Tuwu people and was forced to cease fire. Han Li returned to Luoyun Sect and learned that the law enforcement elder of Yinluo Sect had secretly plotted against Nangong Wan, causing Nangong to seal herself for a hundred years, and issued a declaration of war to Han Li. Han Li fought and killed him, and obtained the Yinluo Sect's treasure Yinluo Pan.
Volume 6: Divine Spirit Treasures To save Nangong Wan, Han Li went to the Demon Valley to look for the inner elixir of the Fire-Melting Beast. As a result, the Ghost Spirit Sect and Nanlong Hou accidentally let the ancient demon go. Han Li accidentally fell into a space crack while fighting the ancient demon and fell into the Lingmiao Garden where ancient cultivators planted spiritual herbs. In order to break through the space, Han Li secluded himself for 20 years and reached the middle stage of the Nascent Soul. After coming out, he relied on the Golden Thunder Bamboo to help the three cultivators suppress the boundless demonic energy, and then embarked on the road of Dajin.
Passing through the Mulan Grassland, he was severely injured by several magicians. Due to the heavy evil spirit, he used the Five Ghosts Soul Lock to seal his cultivation. After several twists and turns, he was chased by the Saint and fled to Dajin. By chance, he entered a Buddhist family in Dajin, obtained the Vajra Relics, and practiced the Buddhist mind method. Under the guidance of Dayan God, he controlled the evil spirit and restored his cultivation. Under the pursuit of Tianlan Saint and others, he collected materials, completed Dayan God's last work, the Yuanying Late Puppet, and made the Three Flame Fan, a replica of the Tongtian Lingbao Seven Flame Fan. Finally, he accidentally entered the famous mountain Kunwu Mountain in Dajin, fought against the elder of Yinluo Sect, accepted the Five Sons of the Heart Demon, and got the method to rescue Nangong Wan. In Kunwu Mountain, he eliminated the ancient demon, learned the identity of Yin Yue, and finally escaped from Kunwu. In order to collect medicine to help Nangong Wan recover, he went to the Xiaoji Palace in the north, which was related to the Xutian Palace. A replica of the Xutian Ding and the Qianlan Ice Flame were discovered. The Great Elder of Xiaoji Palace failed in his attempt to seize the Xutian Ding and was killed. Later, under the attack of the demon tribe, Xiaoji Palace was completely destroyed. Finally, Han Li and a level 10 Ice Phoenix were teleported to Xutian Palace through the teleportation array. After more than 80 years, Han Li cultivated to the late Nascent Soul stage.
Volume 7: Dominating the Mortal Realm After successfully escaping from the Xutian Palace, Han Li set foot in the Chaos Star Sea again and made a deal with the two saints of the Xinggong, exchanging some skills for three moves. He also accidentally encountered the battle between Luohou and Youtian Kunpeng and got a feather. After returning to Tiannan, he subdued the second Yuanying and defeated the other two late Yuanying cultivators with his magical powers, making Luoyun Sect a super sect. After rescuing Nangong Wan, they became Taoist partners and helped the Tianlan Holy Beast survive the thunder tribulation. After dealing with miscellaneous matters, he retreated for 120 years again, refined the feather of Kunpeng, and refined some new magic weapons. Later, the Xinggong sent an urgent telegram, so he went to the Chaos Star Sea again and fought against the six paths that took over Wan Tianming's body. Han Li showed his magical powers and killed the six paths with all his strength, making great contributions to the Xinggong. He helped Zi Ling regain her freedom and had a love affair with her. Later, he practiced the Yuanci Divine Light, advanced to the God Transformation Stage, and ascended to the Spirit Realm with Bingfeng through the clues of the space channel left by Yinyue.
Volume 8: First Foray into the Spirit Realm After arriving in the spirit world, Han Li first served as a Qingming Guard in Tianyuan City. Later, the Xuantian Soul-Slaying Sword triggered a reaction in the Chaos Ten Thousand Spirits List, and a war between all races was imminent. Because of the invasion of foreign races, he participated in the execution of dangerous tasks to save his life. He met the Yaksha King of the Yaksha Clan in the Fusion Stage, and escaped by chance, leaving the human and demon races.
Volume 9: Races of the Spirit Realm