Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 166

Liu Jung watched as the flames from the firebird gradually disappeared, his stomach churning with nausea, but he regained his composure amidst the others’ praises.

“Hurry! We’ve already wasted too much time; we must capture the Black Fiend Sect Leader quickly!” he shouted spiritedly, waving his hand. Everyone, hearing his words, was about to fly into the abandoned palace. Han Li was about to move as well when his gaze fell upon Senior Brother Wang. He was staring blankly at something, his expression strange.

Han Li flinched for a moment and followed his gaze, but apart from the Senior Brother cleaning up the corpses of the Blue Scaled Demon and his companion, there was nothing noticeable.

“Senior Brother Wang, what’s wrong? Is there something strange…?”

“What could be strange? It’s nothing,” Senior Brother Wang said, startled by Han Li’s suspicion, and averted his gaze. It was clear that Senior Brother Wang had discovered something important but didn’t want to share the secret with him.

However, Han Li hid his true feelings and smiled. “Then let’s hurry and depart. Senior Brother Liu and the others are already going in.”

Han Li, pointing towards the gate of the abandoned palace, took off first on his magical artifact. Senior Brother Wang, who was left behind with a troubled expression, had no choice but to follow.

Just as Han Li was about to land, a woman’s beautiful voice was heard. “Senior Brother Liu! Junior Brother Han! Wait!”

Not only Liu Jung and Han Li but also the others turned their heads towards the sky.

Appearing under the soft moonlight were indeed Jong Wirang and Jin Gyocheon, and they were accompanied by a middle-aged man with a pale complexion.

The middle-aged man was wearing a golden dragon robe, its collar tightly bound to Jong Wirang’s magical artifact, and he was being dragged along.

Liu Jung smiled at this sight. “It seems the two Junior Sisters have completed their task smoothly. Is this the Emperor of Wol Country?”

As the two women landed, Liu Jung’s gaze was fixed on the middle-aged man.

“Of course! He was talking with his ministers, so we knocked out the rest of the criminals and captured him. Black Fiend Sect disciples at the Qi Condensation stage tried to stop us, but we dealt with them in an instant on our way here. It’s such a relief that Senior Brother Liu is safe!” Jong Wirang chattered happily at the sight of Liu Jung, clearly smitten with him. Even the usually composed Liu Jung looked flustered.

“Junior Sister Jin, are you alright?” Jin Gyocheon’s two Senior Brothers immediately checked on her well-being. Her gaze briefly swept over Han Li in the group.

“What about Junior Sister Seolhong?”

Bad premonitions were always accurate, and as soon as Jin Gyocheon’s question was asked, everyone’s faces fell.

“…Seolhong has already passed away,” the man who was Seolhong’s companion barely managed to reveal the truth, suppressing his grief. At the news, Jong Wirang and Jin Gyocheon’s faces turned pale.

“How…!”.

Before Jong Wirang could even scream, a horrific scream echoed. Everyone snapped to attention and looked around.

Not far from the group, a person wearing a blue robe was standing, his arm piercing through Senior Brother Wang’s chest.

As the person in the blue robe pulled out his arm, Senior Brother Wang fell to the ground. He was already dead.

“He coveted something he shouldn’t have,” the man, a middle-aged man in his forties, narrowed his eyes and smiled. After speaking, he bent down and snatched the blue bead that Senior Brother Wang was holding in his hand.

Liu Jung and Han Li’s faces darkened simultaneously as they watched this scene.

“You must be the Black Fiend Sect Leader!” Liu Jung asked, probing the opponent first.

“Haha! How clever. I am the one who created the Black Fiend Sect. You must be the leader of this group!” the middle-aged man smiled with an ordinary expression.

Since the opponent was said to be the Black Fiend Sect Leader in secluded training, everyone, including Han Li, prepared for battle, maintaining their tension.

Liu Jung took a deep breath to calm the unease in his heart. Then, he secretly gestured to his fellow disciples and coldly declared, “Yes, I, Liu Jung, have come to lead everyone to destroy your Black Fiend Sect. How dare you harm my fellow disciples even after being left alone; you have some nerve!”

His dignified demeanor and confident voice were very satisfying, even to Liu Jung himself.

Now, if he could just eliminate that Sect Leader, his reputation would rise even higher. Liu Jung, having composed himself, flipped his hand, and light began to emanate from the silver hook and ring.

Before he could order everyone to attack, the man who was supposedly the Black Fiend Sect Leader let out a bizarre laugh, and another voice echoed in their ears. “Then I’ll have to kill you first.”

At the same time, Liu Jung felt extreme pain in his chest. Before his eyes, a blood-soaked arm pierced through his chest, the five crimson fingers still clutching something that was wriggling.

‘What happened?’ Soon, the sky and earth turned upside down, and he couldn’t see anything, only hearing someone’s screams.

Among them was the cry of Jong Wirang, who had liked him, but it felt so unfamiliar and distant.

Han Li’s face was contorted as he watched this scene. Before the battle with the Black Fiend Sect Leader could even begin, two Foundation Establishment cultivators from their group were lost due to an unexpected ambush!

The man, who had pierced Liu Jung with one hand and one of Jin Gyocheon’s Senior Brothers with the other, appeared next to the Black Fiend Sect Leader like lightning. He showed a speed that Han Li couldn’t even stop, and he looked at the remaining Yellow Maple Valley cultivators with a sinister smile.

Jong Wirang, clutching her chest and wailing at Liu Jung’s death, was now completely out of it, standing there powerlessly. Jin Gyocheon quickly hid her behind her for protection and glared at the assailant.

The assailant casually shook off Liu Jung and the other’s corpses. “Since you’ve all come, I’ll use you as sacrifices for my cultivation,” the man revealed his white teeth with a sinister smile.

Surprisingly, he was the Emperor of Wol Country, who had been trembling in fear just moments ago! There was no fear or agitation in him, and Han Li could sense the spiritual power of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, similar to the man in the blue robe.

It was unknown what kind of cultivation technique he used, but he had been hiding his spiritual power, evading the cultivators’ senses.

Han Li immediately recalled the similar incident he had experienced with the Young Lord and Chief Wang, but the Emperor had even evaded his extraordinary intuition.

Han Li immediately activated his white shield and tortoise shell magical artifacts, thoroughly defending his entire body. Jin Gyocheon and Song Mong, who were standing next to him, also strengthened their defenses with tense expressions.

Seeing the Yellow Maple Valley disciples preparing thoroughly, the Emperor and the man in blue robes exchanged glances and sinister smiles.

The man in blue robes moved first, appearing in an instant above the remains of the Ice Demon, about a dozen yards away.

As he reached out his hand towards the transparent remains, a blue bead soared from the pile of the Ice Demon’s corpse. At the same time, the Emperor also collected golden and yellow beads from the remains of the other two Blood Fiends, who had been reduced to ashes by the True Treasure.

“Those are!” Those were the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pills that the Young Lord had said were crucial for forming the Core. However, there were only four here, so the whereabouts of the remaining one were unknown.

Even in this situation, the Emperor and the middle-aged man in the blue robe were pleased as they looked at the beads. They each stood in different places, smiling, and did not hide their murderous intent as they looked at the remaining cultivators.

“Everyone, into the sky!” Han Li, quickly thinking, shouted and ascended into the air first on his Wind Riding Boat.

Trusting in the extraordinary abilities he had shown earlier, Song Mong and Seolhong’s companion followed him first, and Jin Gyocheon, after hesitating for a moment, pulled Jong Wirang onto her magical artifact and soared into the sky.

The Emperor and the middle-aged man in the blue robe looked at them with strange expressions, but at the same time, they sneered. Although they were clearly different people, Han Li felt as if he were looking at one person.

“That guy is quite clever. It seems I’ll need your body!” “Isn’t my body your body? Do as you please!” Han Li’s heart turned cold at the bizarre conversation the Emperor and the middle-aged man were having while laughing.

“Junior Brother Han, what are they saying!” Song Mong, startled, swallowed and looked for Han Li.

Having witnessed his fellow disciples being brutally murdered before his eyes, Song Mong, who had been burning with fighting spirit, was now subdued and unable to act recklessly.

Han Li gave a bitter smile and was about to speak when he closed his mouth at the strange phenomenon that occurred beneath his feet, and Song Mong’s gaze also turned downwards at Jin Gyocheon’s scream.

The Emperor was piercing through the chest of the man in the blue robe, but the middle-aged man, who was about to die, was instead smiling as he accepted the attack.

Then, a dazzling crimson light erupted from the bodies of the middle-aged man and the Emperor, and the two energies were connected through the arm that had pierced through the other.

In an instant, the middle-aged man’s energy was absorbed by the Emperor, and it was as if the middle-aged man was trying to become one with the Emperor.

In the end, the middle-aged man’s red light diminished, and his skin became wrinkled, while the Emperor’s energy grew stronger, and he surprisingly transformed into a young man.

“Such a strange cultivation technique!” Song Mong, startled, shouted without realizing it. Han Li, his face darkened, had no time to worry about Song Mong and immediately stretched out both arms.

Soon, countless talismans containing fire snakes and flames poured down on the Emperor and the man in the blue robe. The quantity, which was nearly two hundred, was the result of Han Li using up all of his fire-type talismans.

The hundreds of talismans that flew transformed into fire-type techniques, covering the sky, and their momentum was no less than the firebird True Treasure that Liu Jung had shown.

It was natural for Song Mong and Jin Gyocheon to be surprised by the enormous offensive, and even Jong Wirang, who had been spacing out, blinked her eyes and was captivated.

The Emperor, who was absorbing his opponent, seemed very surprised at first, but after examining them closely and realizing they were low-level techniques, he lost interest.

He firmly believed that as long as he had his crimson barrier, he could not be harmed by such low-level techniques, and he thought that once he finished the urgent matter at hand, he could crush them like ants.

The flames that covered the sky and flew in attacked the Emperor and the middle-aged man, causing a series of tremendous explosions.

As expected, although tremendous explosions and vibrations occurred, the Emperor and the middle-aged man inside the crimson barrier survived unscathed. The Emperor, having absorbed most of the blood energy from the middle-aged man’s body, had regained his appearance to be about thirty years old.

At this time, Jin Gyocheon and the others also tried to attack the Emperor, who was using a strange technique, by firing their magical artifacts.

However, before they could move their magical artifacts, a blinding white light exploded from the Emperor and the middle-aged man. Then, a world-shaking roar occurred, and the white light enveloped the Emperor and the Sect Leader.

Faced with the powerful spiritual energy contained in the white light, fear finally appeared on the Emperor’s face. It was clear that their fellow disciples had used their trump card. Confirming this, Jin Gyocheon and the others looked at Han Li with hopeful expressions.

However, Han Li, whom they saw, only had a hardened face. “It didn’t kill him.”

Everyone was surprised and looked down again at Han Li’s words, who was looking at them with a calm gaze.

As he said, although it was filled with smoke and dust, the Emperor’s spiritual power could be felt. However, he must have suffered a great loss of magical power while blocking this attack.

Having grasped the situation, Song Mong and the other three snapped to attention and prepared their magical artifacts. They were ready to attack the Emperor like a swarm of bees as soon as he revealed himself, to avenge their fallen fellow disciples.

“Huh… Cough!… Ha! My eyes were blinded, and I didn’t realize that you were the most dangerous one! What did you hide in those talismans that allowed you to penetrate my barrier?” A coughing sound was heard from within the hazy dust, followed by the opponent’s cold and calm voice. At that sound, not only Song Mong and the others but also Han Li felt his heart drop.

“It’s a Heavenly Thunder Talisman! I didn’t know there would be a Foundation Establishment cultivator who could survive after being hit by a Heavenly Thunder Talisman,” Han Li sighed. At the same time, he waved both hands and lined up more than ten puppet beasts and soldiers, and they were aiming at the figure that was about to appear.

As the Emperor’s figure appeared, Song Mong and the others launched a surprise attack with their prepared magical artifacts, but a red light flashed, and all the magical artifacts lost their control over their owners.

Then, the Emperor, covered in blood and dust, appeared, glaring at Han Li with a vicious look.