Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 150

After a short while, the girl and the old man returned inside. Han Li, noticing their somewhat hesitant demeanor, was curious about their request.

“Have you reached a decision?” he asked.

“Senior,” the old man replied, “after discussing it, my granddaughter and I have decided to make a request rather than ask for a material item.”

“And what kind of request is that?” Han Li inquired.

“Well,” the old man began, a slight tremor in his voice, “my granddaughter was deeply moved by your profound cultivation and wishes to become your disciple. We implore you to consider her sincerity and accept her!”

The old man finished speaking with a stammer, and the girl, with a bright and eager look, stepped forward and bowed deeply to Han Li. Han Li was taken aback, not expecting such a request. A troubled expression crossed his face. The idea of taking on a disciple was absurd to him. He was already notorious among the Demonic Path and barely able to protect himself; why would he take on another burden?

He couldn’t agree to this. However, after hearing their request, he realized that although he hadn’t closely examined the girl’s aptitude, she was certainly quite talented. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have reached the sixth level of Qi Refining [the initial stage of cultivation] at such a young age. He had to consume countless pills to reach that level. It seemed a waste for her to wander around aimlessly. Even if he couldn’t take her as his direct disciple, he could introduce her to a suitable master.

He remembered that Martial Brother Ma still didn’t have a disciple. Moreover, he clearly recalled him complaining after leaving the Hundred Herbs Garden, saying that he needed to take on a disciple to manage the place.

Since this girl was intelligent and had good aptitude, introducing her to Martial Brother Ma wasn’t a bad idea. In any case, whether they would truly become master and disciple would depend on their fate. As Han Li pondered, the old man and the girl grew more hopeful, believing that he was seriously considering their request.

“Come here, let me examine your spiritual roots,” Han Li said.

“Yes!” the girl replied obediently.

The girl stepped forward and extended her pale wrist. Han Li placed his hand on her slender wrist and channeled his spiritual energy into her.

“An Earth Spiritual Root, not bad at all,” he muttered.

At his words, the faces of the girl and the old man lit up. They seemed to expect him to accept the girl as his disciple immediately.

“Your aptitude is sufficient, but unfortunately, I have no intention of taking on a disciple right now,” Han Li stated, seeing the girl’s disappointed expression, he smiled.

“Although I won’t take you as my disciple, I can introduce you to another Foundation Establishment Senior [a higher level of cultivator]. Whether he accepts you will depend on his decision.”

“Really?” the girl asked, her eyes widening, the tears she had been holding back now gone.

Without hesitation, Han Li took out a message talisman from his storage pouch, muttered something, and then handed it and a jade pendant to the girl.

“Take this talisman and jade pendant and go to the Hundred Herbs Garden of the Yellow Maple Valley to find Senior Ma. Whether he accepts you will depend on your luck.”

At his calm tone, the girl realized that she still had a chance. She repeatedly thanked Han Li, and the old man was also overjoyed.

“Since it’s uncertain whether you’ll become a disciple, I’ll give you each a high-grade magic tool as compensation for the book,” Han Li said.

He took out a cyan silk cloth and a navy blue dagger from his storage pouch and gave them to the old man. It was astonishing.

They were already grateful that he was introducing his granddaughter to a master, but to receive such gifts as well was truly moving. The old man quickly expressed his gratitude and respectfully accepted the magic tools.

Even after spending many years in the cultivation world, he only possessed one high-grade magic tool. But now, he had two in an instant, so he couldn’t be more pleased. Han Li didn’t linger long. He removed the spiritual energy mark he had left behind and left the place.

The old man watched Han Li disappear into the distance, then happily gave the silk magic tool to his granddaughter and kept the dagger for himself.

He was so excited at the thought of setting off for the Yellow Maple Valley tomorrow to find a master for his granddaughter that he felt like dancing.

While the old man was lost in thought, Han Li had already arrived at the Jin family’s residence.

He rode his magic tool to his residence and entered his bedroom without being seen by anyone.

The newly acquired nameless cultivation technique was so practical that he intended to spend the night mastering it.

The technique was just a minor skill for manipulating spiritual energy, so it wasn’t difficult for Han Li, who had sufficient magic power. In just one night, he was able to roughly understand the technique.

The next morning, as he opened his eyes from his cultivation, he felt like his luck had been good recently. But as soon as he had that thought, he heard a popping sound from his storage pouch. With a darkened face, he searched through his storage pouch and found that the surface of a bead, identical to the one he had given Taoist Oh yesterday, was cracked.

Silently staring at it, Han Li immediately opened the door and went outside. After confirming that no one was around, he immediately rode the Wind Riding Boat [a flying magic tool] and disappeared somewhere.

Shortly after, he arrived at a small mountain village outside of Moonrise City. Looking down at the village from the sky, he seemed to be searching for something.

Eventually, Han Li landed on a secluded hill a few miles from the village. His gaze was fixed on a large willow tree, and then he formed hand seals and chanted a spell.

“Collect!” he commanded.

As soon as he spoke, a green light rose from deep beneath the willow tree. The light was holding the bead with the cracked surface, the very same one Han Li had given to Taoist Oh. Han Li sighed and reached out his hand, and the bead fell into his palm.

The light that had been surrounding the bead was absorbed into Han Li’s palm, leaving only the broken bead behind. In silence, he used a fire spell to turn the willow tree into ashes. He carefully examined the pit, but he didn’t find anything of significance.

“It seems they got to him,” he muttered, shaking his head.

The Violet Light Bead (紫光珠) he had given to Taoist Oh, which seemed like a random choice, was actually called the Violet Light Sensing Bead (紫光感應珠).

This magic tool was a pair. They not only formed a protective barrier using the beads, but they also had a strange function where if the barrier of one bead was broken within a thousand miles, the other bead would also shatter.

This magic tool was a defensive item mainly used by the disciples of the Joyful Union Sect (合歡宗) among the Six Demonic Sects. He had kept it from his spoils of hunting them, thinking it was unique. When he gave it to Taoist Oh, it was truly just in case.

But he never imagined that this magic tool would be used in just one night and that the opponent would be able to hide their tracks. It was such an unexpected event that Han Li found it difficult to decide on his next move. He pondered for a while, standing still in front of the pit.

After some time, Han Li rode the Wind Riding Boat and turned into a white streak of light, heading back the way he came. As he left, the overgrown hill became quiet again. Apart from the occasional sounds of birds and insects, there was no sign of any human presence.

‘Huff, huff.’

After a while, the sound of heavy breathing suddenly came from the hill. A person emerged from under a tree about ten feet away from the willow tree that Han Li had just turned to ashes.

He was wrapped in black cloth from head to toe, with only his eyes exposed, and he was surrounded by a yellow protective barrier.

As he fully emerged from the ground, the protective barrier gradually lost its light and disappeared. He looked around cautiously and then whispered.

“Since that person is gone, everyone can come out.”

As his voice echoed, several spots on the hill began to bulge, and three more people in similar attire, surrounded by yellow protective barriers, emerged. One of them was slender, suggesting it was a woman.

“Big Brother, didn’t they tell us to capture or kill anyone who came here? Will it be okay to let him leave like that?” one of them asked, their voice trembling.

They all trembled, seemingly sharing the same concern. They knew better than anyone how ruthless those who had ordered them to do this were.

“They didn’t say anything about a Foundation Establishment cultivator when they gave the order, so it should be fine. We would have been killed if we had tried to fight someone like that,” the leader replied.

“Big Brother is right. How could we possibly capture a Foundation Establishment cultivator? We expected this, but they really don’t know what they’re doing!” the woman among the three couldn’t contain her anger.

The other three smiled wryly at her words. It seemed they were frustrated that the young woman was still so naive. They were already at the mercy of those who controlled their lives, so what was the point of talking about what was right or wrong?

“Little Sister’s words aren’t entirely wrong. It’s likely that they didn’t expect someone of that caliber to get involved. Otherwise, they would have sent a Foundation Establishment cultivator, not just us,” another man said.

“That’s right. If we explain the situation, they probably won’t punish us too severely!” the burly man also agreed. But it was unclear whether these words were meant to reassure others or to comfort themselves.

“But something is strange. That Foundation Establishment cultivator looks familiar,” the burly man said, a look of suspicion appearing on his face. At the same time, the others also looked surprised. The woman, in particular, seemed curious and was about to ask a question, but the person called Big Brother waved his arm to stop her.

“That’s enough. Let’s leave this place and talk,” he said.

The woman swallowed her question and nodded.

“How about I take you wherever you want to go?” a cold voice echoed from the sky just as they were about to leave on their magic tools.

Startled by the voice, the four masked figures didn’t even think to look up. They all activated their defensive magic and scattered in all directions.

Han Li, riding the Wind Riding Boat, quietly looked down at them from dozens of feet above.

They were all shocked, as if their hearts had dropped. They were wondering how long that person had been there and why they hadn’t sensed his presence.

“Let’s retreat!” the Big Brother shouted decisively. At the same time, he took out a disc-shaped magic tool from his storage pouch and flew into the sky on it.

The other three also chose different directions and took off simultaneously. They all knew that they had no chance of winning against a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so they chose to flee immediately.

The young woman, who was the weakest among them, was anxious. She turned her head while riding her magic tool. To her surprise, Han Li was just sitting on a boat-like object and didn’t seem to be moving. She was surprised that he wasn’t chasing them, but she was also relieved. If she could use this opportunity to escape, she might survive.

At that moment, she heard a sharp tearing sound behind her. Startled, she turned her head and saw an arrow-shaped object emitting a dazzling red light, chasing her with a menacing aura.

In a panic, the woman quickly threw out the Ice Spear Talisman (氷槍符) she was holding. A transparent ice spear collided with the red light and scattered like white snow.

However, it failed to stop the red light, which continued straight towards the woman’s water-attribute barrier. The blue light of the water-attribute barrier collided with the red light.

She was pushed back by the impact, but her barrier didn’t break, so she sighed in relief. It was then that she began to suspect that the Foundation Establishment cultivator might have an accomplice.

When she regained her senses and looked at the ‘person’ who had attacked her, she saw something unbelievable.

Surprisingly, a puppet dressed in soldier’s attire, wearing iron armor, was floating in the air. Moreover, one of them was aiming the red arrow she had seen earlier, and the other was slowly closing the distance with her, carrying a yellow-light emitting long blade on its back.

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