Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 290

Shush. With a sound like cutting through the wind, the giant monkey puppet reappeared. The puppet approached with large strides and stopped right in front of the girl. The middle-aged man’s face changed, and he looked up at the giant monkey with a worried expression. The girl in yellow robes also looked lost, her eyes red. The man’s voice echoed once more. “I have no interest in whether your pitiful story is true or false, and I have always avoided getting involved in things that offer no benefit. However, since you are a maiden who has not experienced a man, and I am also seeking a way to overcome my cultivation bottleneck, I will give you three ‘Supreme Origin Pills’ from this bottle if you become my cultivation partner and help me with my training. This will be more than enough to heal your father. Send it with your fellow disciples, and you come into the barrier. I am not the type of strong person who bullies the weak or forces others to do things they dislike, so if you do not wish to, you can leave this place immediately.” The giant monkey puppet took out a white bottle from its hand and placed it in front of the girl. The girl’s mouth fell open. Although she was still young, she fully understood what it meant for a man and woman to cultivate together and the meaning of being a cultivation partner. The girl’s pale face flushed red, but her answer was firm. “Yes, I will. If my father recovers to his original state, I will become your cultivation partner and help you with your training.” The girl reached out her white hand, took the medicine bottle, and slowly stood up. The surprised middle-aged man quickly stopped her. “Heng’er! Do you really mean to do this? What am I supposed to say to my senior brother when I return to the sect?” The others in the group also changed their expressions and tried to dissuade the girl. The girl did not answer the middle-aged man but instead handed him the medicine bottle and asked. “Uncle, can this pill really save my father?” The middle-aged man sighed at the girl’s determined expression. Realizing that he could not change her mind, the middle-aged man opened the medicine bottle with a dark expression and took out a navy-blue pill. “This is…” A unique, clear fragrance began to prickle his nose. Everyone who smelled the fragrance felt a sense of relief. The middle-aged man brought the pill close to his nose, identified the scent, and expressed his joy. “This is a pill refined with spirit jade.” “If the Supreme Origin Pill is refined with spirit jade, can it save my father?” The middle-aged man’s heart grew complicated at the girl’s calm question. He hesitated for a moment but eventually answered truthfully. “I don’t know the specific effects of this pill, but it is definitely incredibly precious. There’s no reason for him to give us such a pill and deceive us.” “Then I am relieved. Please, take the pill and return safely. Tell my father to forget about this unfilial daughter.” Only then did the girl, who had taken a long breath, enter the barrier without looking back, her eyes red. The middle-aged man’s expression changed momentarily, but in the end, he only gripped the bottle in his hand more firmly. At that moment, the giant monkey also entered the brightly shining barrier, and the passage was slowly disappearing. A sturdy young man asked anxiously. “Uncle, are you really going to let Senior Sister Gongsun go like this?” The other two women looked unwell. However, the middle-aged man muttered in a low voice. “Didn’t you see the girl’s determination? It’s not something that can be stopped by trying to dissuade her. Besides, if this pill can really heal the sect leader, there will be an opportunity for our Azure Spirit Sect in the future.” “But how can you let our junior sister live as a cultivation partner! Does our young junior sister’s life have to end like this?” The young man’s face was as red as blood, and he still could not accept the situation. “I know that this junior sister has grown up with Heng’er since childhood and that they are like siblings. But this is something that cannot be helped.” As the middle-aged man was answering, looking troubled as if there was nothing he could do, another woman suddenly shouted. “Uncle! Senior Sister Gongsun is disappearing.” The middle-aged man and the young man turned their heads at the same time. The light in the passage spread greatly, and the girl’s figure gradually blurred and disappeared. The sturdy young man collapsed like a deflated leather ball, kneeling on the floor, unable to speak. The middle-aged cultivator simply placed his hand on the young man’s shoulder to comfort him. Half an hour later, the group left the foggy island. * * * The girl in yellow clothes felt dizzy, her vision darkened, and the transfer was completed by the restriction. When the light disappeared, the girl was already in an unfamiliar mountain valley. In front of her was only a blue stone gate. The girl looked around, wondering what to do, when the light flared again, and the giant monkey she had seen earlier appeared behind her. The giant monkey stepped forward and pushed the blue stone gate open. The man’s voice was heard again and then disappeared. “You must be Gongsun Heng. Follow the puppet to my residence. I will finish my cultivation in two days and come out.” The girl pursed her red lips and cautiously passed through the blue stone gate. Following the giant monkey, she turned this way and that, and soon arrived at a large stone chamber. The space was bare except for a stone bed covered with animal hides, a stone table, and a stone chair. The giant monkey left her there and went out. The girl, who had been looking around the room, looked out the door. It seemed that she could come and go freely. After hesitating for a moment, the girl finally sat down on the bed and fell into thought. She had already promised to offer her body, but she felt fear when she thought about the future. Moreover, she was alone in a strange place for the first time in her life, and she could not control her desolate feelings. Only after an hour did she finally shake off her random thoughts, and she looked at the passage and slowly got up. After leaving the stone chamber, she soon came to a complex passage and reached a large hall with several round doors. One of them was the passage she had come from. What caught the girl’s eye was that giant monkeys were standing guard at each passage without moving. When the girl approached the nearest door, a giant monkey appeared and blocked her way. The girl was startled and stepped back, but the giant monkey simply returned to its place. The girl rolled her black eyes and approached again, and the same reaction occurred. Gongsun Heng now realized that this door was a place she should not enter. She changed direction and approached another door. This time, the giant monkey did not block her, so she was relieved and was able to enter. After passing through a rather unique flower garden, a tightly closed stone chamber appeared. The girl approached and pushed, and the stone chamber door opened easily. Gongsun Heng looked inside with clear eyes and saw various colorful books piled on a stone table, and next to them, in a low-walled field, strange turquoise plants were blooming luxuriantly. The girl pouted her cute lips for a moment and entered without hesitation. Then, she picked up any book from the stone table and infused it with her consciousness. It was a scripture describing knowledge of formations, which did not pique her interest. She picked up another book and infused it with her consciousness. This time, it was a book about how to refine magical artifacts, but she had no interest in it. However, there were still many books, so she began to pick them up one by one and check their contents. Books explaining the types of demonic beasts or various pills did not hold her attention for long either. However, after checking the next book, her expression changed noticeably. It was unexpectedly a cultivation manual called the ‘Golden Essence Art’. After half an hour with the book in her hand, she withdrew her consciousness with a surprised expression. The Golden Essence Art was a rare, top-grade cultivation technique, and it was incomprehensible that such a precious item was piled up carelessly on the table. In the end, the girl put it down with a regretful expression and began to look at other things. After looking through all the books for half a day, most of them were miscellaneous knowledge about the cultivation world, such as pills or formations, and a few were cultivation manuals, but none of them were not top-grade. Among them, a cultivation technique called the ‘Entangling Jade Art’ was the most appealing. The Azure Spirit Sect was a very weak sect in the Chaotic Star Sea, and the Azure Spirit Art, which they mainly practiced, was not comparable to the power of the Entangling Jade Art. After thinking for a moment, the girl immediately left the stone chamber and returned to the main hall. Then, she headed for the stone chamber she had not yet visited. The giant monkeys blocked two of the remaining three, but they let her into the last one. As a result, she entered another main hall. This time, she was stunned and stood there for a long time as soon as she entered. In the center of the space, a huge formation was installed, and a transparent barrier with a faint red glow was incredibly beautiful. Inside the barrier, a dozen or so different shapes of small swords and spears were floating, and they were making clear cries as if they were conscious objects. And outside the barrier, various colored magical artifacts were displayed on a shabby wooden shelf. These magical artifacts were not as impressive as the ones inside the barrier, but they had considerable spiritual power. She had never seen them before, but she guessed that the objects moving inside the barrier might be magic treasures. Seeing so many magic treasures, she could not take her eyes off them. If she had obtained even one of these before coming here, she would have been so excited that she would not have been able to sleep. But thinking about living as the cultivation partner of a cultivator who possessed so many treasures, all her motivation disappeared, and she left the room empty-handed. * * * Two days passed, and the girl was completely immersed in the contents of the books in the stone chamber. At this time, a gentle man’s voice was suddenly heard from the entrance. “The Entangling Jade Art is indeed a suitable cultivation technique for a woman. I got it from some man, though.” The girl was startled and trembled, then withdrew her consciousness and hurriedly turned her gaze. A young man with an ordinary appearance, wearing a navy-blue robe, was looking at her with a smiling face. Gongsun Heng was puzzled. “Y-you are the senior?” His voice was similar, but he was too young, so he was completely different from the person she had imagined. Having seen his immense power, she had naturally expected an old man. Especially in the past two days, she had been restless and speculated that he would be a strange old man with a bad temper and fluctuating moods. The young man was Han Li, who had just finished his seclusion. “Why? Do I look different from what you expected?” When the girl heard that Han Li was really the senior, she felt somehow relieved. However, she began to stammer again and explain the situation. “Senior, this cultivation manual, it’s…” “It doesn’t matter. When I allowed you to enter this place, it was the same as allowing you to read the cultivation manuals.” The girl’s face lit up at Han Li’s gentle words. “Thank you.” Han Li’s gaze softened even more at the sight of the young girl jumping up and down with joy. He smiled and asked lightly. “I haven’t left this place for a long time, so I don’t know much. I wonder if Miss Gongsun knows of a place where goods are traded in the nearby sea area?” The girl, as if she had an idea, rushed to Han Li and stood in front of him. “If you’re talking about a place to buy and sell goods, there’s a small uninhabited island half a month south. There’s a market there, and it’s said to be quite safe because it was established by a coalition of Core Formation seniors [a high level of cultivator]. Do you perhaps need a map of that sea area?” “I’m thinking of going there, so it would be convenient if I had a map of the sea area.” At those words, the girl rummaged through the nearby shelves and handed a book to Han Li. Han Li smiled lightly and received the book, noticing the girl’s red ears and face. Without thinking, he reached out and stroked her soft hair. Gongsun Heng trembled slightly with fear but did not avoid it. She only shrank her neck without realizing it. At that moment, Han Li’s soft voice echoed in her ears. “There’s no need to be afraid. Don’t forget to come to my bedroom in the evening.” After speaking, he left the stone chamber without delay. Left alone, Gongsun Heng could not stop her heart from beating fast and her face from turning hot at his ambiguous words. # 292