Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 221

Jin Qing led Han Li to the stone building. The building was so dilapidated that it was clear at a glance it had been roughly constructed using petrification techniques [techniques that turn things to stone].

Before Jin Qing and Han Li even landed, two men and a woman emerged. The men were both Core Formation cultivators, but the woman was only at the Qi Condensation stage.

Among the two men, the younger one, dressed in white, greeted them politely.

“Fellow Daoist Jin, you’ve arrived!”

“Since you didn’t go all the way to Heavenly Star City like me, I figured you’d be here waiting early,” Jin Qing replied gently.

The young cultivator’s gaze lingered on Han Li and the Soul Puppet. Han Li immediately clasped his fist in greeting.

“I am Han Li, and this is my fellow disciple, Qu Hun.”

They had already agreed with Jin Qing not to reveal Qu Hun’s true identity.

From what Han Li could see, this Fellow Daoist Hu looked young on the surface, but the fine wrinkles around his eyes suggested he was not so young after all. Fellow Daoist Hu seemed to be the owner of the other pearl Jin Qing had mentioned.

“I am Hu Yue. Although we meet for the first time today, I hope we can share insights and learn from each other in the future. After all, there are too few of us scattered cultivators who reach the Core Formation stage, so we must help each other. Let me introduce the other two.”

Hu Yue was skilled in interpersonal relationships, and with just a few words, he had already created a favorable impression. He then began to introduce the fellow Daoists beside him.

“This is Fellow Daoist Shi Jie and Fellow Daoist Gan. Fellow Daoist Shi is a renowned formation expert from Red Moon Island, and she will help Fellow Daoist Han dismantle the formation. Also, Fellow Daoist Gan is a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator who will assist in breaking the formation.”

Shi Jie, who had been standing silently, suddenly spoke.

“I’ll make this clear: I will only be involved in dismantling the formation. No matter what dangers arise afterward, I will not use my Qi Condensation cultivation to help, and when we divide the treasures we find later, I will choose first.”

Shi Jie had an ordinary face, but her arrogance was considerable, and her words immediately made the group feel awkward. Jin Qing suddenly had an idea and asked,

“Red Moon Island, could you be related to True Person Shi?”

“He is my father.”

“Haha! In that case, I will follow Miss Shi’s requests.”

Han Li looked at Jin Qing with a puzzled expression as he answered without hesitation. At this moment, Jin Qing’s voice transmission reached Han Li’s ears.

“Fellow Daoist Han, I once received help from True Person Shi, so please accommodate Miss Shi’s requests.”

Han Li simply smiled calmly at Jin Qing without saying anything else.

Hu Yue initially looked troubled, but he quickly pulled Han Li into the conversation and smoothed things over.

“Then let’s do this. If Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Shi can solve the formation, then you two will have priority. After that, we will distribute the rest.”

The tall and thin cultivator with the surname Gan had been quiet all along, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.

Jin Qing smiled and suggested,

“Then, Fellow Daoist Hu, let’s take Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Shi to see the formation first. After all, if we can’t break the formation, nothing else matters!”

“That’s right. The formation is so powerful that we attacked it all day until Fellow Daoist Jin and I were exhausted, but we couldn’t damage it at all.”

With that, the group flew up and stopped about halfway up the earthen hill. Hu Yue pointed to a certain spot in the air.

“Please look over there. The place covered by yellow dust is where the formation is located.”

Even before he pointed, Han Li’s gaze had been fixed on the area below. It was covered in yellow dust, dark and silent as if a huge demonic beast was crouching there, giving off an eerie feeling.

As soon as Shi Jie saw the aura of the formation, her eyes lit up.

“Wow, a formation mixed with both earth and wind attributes! This is going to be fun!”

At her words, Han Li glanced at Shi Jie and then looked down again with a serious expression.

This formation was indeed a mix of earth and wind attributes, as she had said, and it seemed difficult for him to solve with his current level.

Shi Jie approached the edge of the formation and excitedly took out strange magical artifacts. It seemed she was trying to measure something.

When she raised a disc-shaped magical artifact, it turned into a green beam of light and disappeared into the yellow dust.

Shi Jie twitched her eyebrows and took out a red crystal ball, then activated it and sent it flying into the yellow dust. However, this magical artifact also flashed red a few times before disappearing into the thick yellow dust.

Now with a slightly flushed face, she couldn’t help but take out seven or eight magical artifacts in succession. As a result, a yellow mirror was able to see through the dust, but the rest were useless.

Seeing this, Hu Yue and the others exchanged glances and flew to Shi Jie’s side.

Even though they had arrived, the woman continued to send out magical artifacts in the same way. Han Li secretly sighed. He stopped her with a gentle tone.

“Fellow Daoist Shi, let me try.”

Perhaps she was a little frustrated, Shi Jie did not turn to him with a pleasant expression.

“Hmph! If Fellow Daoist Han wants to try, then go ahead. I won’t stop you.”

Her tone was a little unpleasant. However, Han Li, who had always maintained his composure, did not show any displeasure. He simply brushed his storage bracelet, causing a dozen colorful flags to circle around him.

Seeing the flags, Jin Qing exclaimed,

“Formation flags?”

Everyone else looked puzzled. They had asked to break the formation, so they didn’t understand why he was taking out other formation flags.

Han Li didn’t care about their gazes and gestured towards the flags.

At the same time, the flags transformed into a dozen beams of light and flew into the sky above the yellow sand, arranged like the Big Dipper [a constellation]. Shi Jie looked a little surprised at the arrangement of the flags.

“The Big Dipper Two-Aspect Formation!”

*Buzz.*

At this moment, Han Li’s flags emitted a soft hum and released a dozen beams of light, creating a huge current in the center that poured down towards the ground.

At the astonishing sight, the cultivators, including Shi Jie, focused their attention, but there was still a thick layer of yellow dust, and there was no change.

“Fellow Daoist Han, is this…”

Jin Qing couldn’t help but try to speak, but in the end, an anomaly was detected.

*Whoosh.*

The yellow dust, which had been as still as death, suddenly began to stir, as if a dragon was flying around inside.

Jin Qing swallowed the words he was about to say. Han Li’s eyes lit up as he chanted numerous hand seals again and sent them towards the flags in the air.

At the same time, the colorful beams of light gathered from the dozen flags continued endlessly. Before long, something astonishing happened.

The wildly fluctuating yellow dust began to subside and change shape, as if the monsters playing inside wanted to come out.

Startled by the sight, the fellow Daoists retreated involuntarily.

*Bang, bang, bang…*

Deafening explosions rang out in succession.

Although the fellow Daoists had already prepared, the fierce energy made it difficult for them to stand properly, so they quickly took out various defensive tools to barely maintain their balance.

Everyone except Shi Jie, who had expected this result, had expressions of surprise on their faces. The thick yellow dust that had been blocking their vision and wouldn’t disappear had vanished as if the sky had cleared.

The appearance hidden inside was also revealed. Hu Yue and the others were overjoyed, and Jin Qing immediately approached Han Li with a smile.

“Fellow Daoist Han! I didn’t expect you to hide such talent. Have you already broken the formation!”

“Break the formation? Fellow Daoist Jin, you underestimate the formations of ancient cultivators. Just now, I only removed the illusion of the outermost layer.”

Jin Qing looked a little disappointed, but Hu Yue immediately laughed heartily and approached.

“Haha! So what? We have hope that the formation can be solved, so now we just have to wait for the formation to be broken.”

At those words, Jin Qing quickly put on an apologetic expression and added,

“That’s right. We cultivators shouldn’t worry about time. I was just being impatient.”

At that moment, Shi Jie also walked over and bowed to Han Li.

“I was a frog in a well [a person with a limited view of the world]. Seeing how you, senior, use formations to break formations, I have broadened my horizons today. I hope you can guide me more on formations in the future.”

“It’s just a small trick. I don’t actually know much about formations.”

These words were sincere. If the other party hadn’t identified the attributes of the formation first, Han Li wouldn’t have known what to do either.

There was a limit to the knowledge he had gained from only 20 years of research, and he often felt clueless about the profound principles of most formations.

Moreover, it was thanks to Xin Ruyin that he was able to break the illusion with the Big Dipper Two-Aspect Formation flags. The book she had given him contained methods for dealing with formations in various situations.

However, with this success, the other fellow Daoists seemed to have taken Han Li’s words as modesty. Han Li simply smiled and didn’t bother to explain, turning his gaze back to the remaining formation.

After the yellow dust disappeared, a faint yellow barrier was formed, covering an area of about a hundred zhang [a unit of length].

The yellow barrier was murky, so it was better than when it was covered in yellow dust, but it still blurred the vision.

In addition to this barrier, there were several more layers inside, and in the center, a circular pillar could be seen, with ancient characters or patterns engraved on its surface.

However, his consciousness was repelled by the barrier, so he couldn’t specifically identify what it was. Moreover, seven-colored lights floated around the barrier as if it were alive, making it extremely strange.

Everyone clicked their tongues at this sight, but Han Li’s eyes showed a hint of doubt.

Although he couldn’t be said to have a great understanding of ancient formations, he had seen many ancient formations in the scriptures left by Xin Ruyin.

However, the appearance and atmosphere of the formation in front of him were completely different from those. It even seemed to have a slightly sinister aura. Thinking this, Han Li glanced at Shi Jie.

However, she was looking at the formation with curious eyes and didn’t seem to feel anything strange. Han Li was relieved and thought it was just his imagination.

Hu Yue opened his mouth, considerate of Han Li and the others.

“It’s getting dark, and Fellow Daoist Han and the others have just arrived from afar, so let’s rest for now. It seems difficult to deal with it immediately, and it would be better to come back tomorrow morning.”

Indeed, Han Li and the others, who had been flying for several months, were a little tired, so they did not object to the suggestion. Fellow Daoist Shi wanted to do something right away after seeing the formation, but she knew that Hu Yue was speaking for the sake of others, so she didn’t say anything.

Thus, everyone returned to the stone building.

Since there were not enough rooms, Han Li and the others immediately cast spells to create crude rooms, and each went inside to rest.

* * *

The next morning, Han Li and Shi Jie returned to the formation and began their work again. However, the process of breaking the formation was truly slow.

Especially at first, both of them didn’t know what to do and even spent several days in a row. However, as Han Li and Shi Jie worked together, they gradually began to understand the ancient formation.

In the process of understanding the formation, Han Li’s thoughts about Fellow Daoist Shi also changed. Although she was a little arrogant, she had the skills to back it up.

She had a thorough understanding of various commonly used formations, and she was especially good at grasping the structure of formations, which impressed Han Li.

In terms of formation theory alone, she might not be better than Xin Ruyin, but she seemed to have reached a similar level. However, compared to Xin Ruyin, Fellow Daoist Shi felt too weak in practice.

She was well-versed in various formation theories, but she had little experience in how to actually break a formation. After trying a few things she knew and failing, she would become helpless.

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