Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 338

“Then now…”

“Ah, my spiritual power is depleted, I can’t hold on any longer!”

Her words cut off Han Li’s, and with a scattering of silver light, she began to shrink, returning to her fluffy white fox form.

Han Li, holding the fox by the scruff of its neck, calmly finished his sentence.

“I’ll take you out and hand you over to the disciples of the Falling Cloud Sect soon. Let’s part ways for now and meet again later. It shouldn’t be difficult to escape the grasp of those mere Qi Refining disciples. I’ll wait for you on the way back.”

The white fox’s consciousness replied to Han Li telepathically.

“Okay. I’ll do as Brother Han says. But what are you going to do with that corpse?”

Han Li’s gaze fell on the corpse, its entire body covered in thick green fur, before moving away.

“I’ll test if the Devouring Gold Beetles can eat it first, and if not, there’s nothing I can do. I don’t care if that kind of monster lives or dies. Since I’m taking the jade box containing its soul, even if it’s released, it won’t be able to cause chaos in the cultivation world like before.”

His hand brushed his waist, and the Spirit Beast Pouch floated into the air. Countless Devouring Gold Beetles poured out, forming a three-colored cloud above their leader as they swarmed the corpse.

*Buzz, buzz, buzz.*

The eerie sound of something being gnawed echoed for a while, and then one by one, the Devouring Gold Beetles began to flip over and fall. The shells of the beetles, originally three colors, had turned dark green.

“That’s a powerful poison.”

He chanted an incantation, and the insects flew back into the Spirit Beast Pouch. The fox, who had been rolling its round eyes beside him, spoke.

“The corpse poison on that corpse is quite potent, even if it’s not among the top ten most deadly poisons in the world.”

Han Li looked at the corpse with cold eyes. It seemed that the body of that vile corpse was more resilient than that of a high-level Poisonous Dragon.

After gnawing for a long time, only a thin layer of skin had been peeled off. At this rate, eight out of ten of the three-colored Devouring Gold Beetles would die before they could destroy that monster.

“Let’s go.”

“I guess we have no choice. If we leave it, it might be useful later!”

The fox nodded cutely, then emitted a light from its body and summoned a yellow wolf.

The small wolf immediately opened its mouth towards Han Li and the fox, enveloping them in a yellow membrane, and in an instant, they were able to exit the stone chamber.

* * *

Outside the cliff, Senior Brother Wang and Gui Huan were pacing back and forth anxiously. Since they couldn’t use earth escape techniques, they had no choice but to wait. Gui Huan, having reached the end of his patience, asked Senior Brother Wang.

“Senior Brother, do you think Junior Brother Han can capture the Snow Cloud Fox?”

The other two senior brothers also immediately showed interest in their conversation. They had quite a bit of trust in Senior Brother Wang’s judgment. Senior Brother Wang hesitated before smiling wryly.

“I can’t be sure. It won’t be easy for a Qi Refining stage 10 cultivator to capture that demon, but he seems to have many mystical magical artifacts, so we can only wait and see.”

Gui Huan and the other three exchanged glances.

The short, stocky youth was looking down at his injured hand and sighing when suddenly a yellow light flashed, and Han Li appeared, holding a small fox in his hand.

“Junior Brother Han!”

“He really caught it!”

The four cultivators surrounded him, chattering as if a celebration had occurred. Han Li smiled calmly and handed the white fox to Gui Huan.

“The demon beast was cunning and escaped well even inside the cliff. If its spiritual power hadn’t run out at the end, I might not have been able to catch it.”

Gui Huan happily accepted the Snow Cloud Fox, and the short, stocky youth standing next to him quickly urged him.

“Junior Brother Gui! Be careful. It might escape again.”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan!”

He then rummaged through his storage pouch and took out a cyan leather pouch, placing the fox inside.

“Hehe! Let’s see if you can escape from this Azure Cloud Pouch!”

Han Li glanced at it; it was just a low-grade magical artifact. Senior Brother Wang, no longer paying attention to the fox trapped in the magical artifact, spoke to Han Li with sincerity.

“Junior Brother Han has worked hard to catch this beast, so let’s do this. When we sell the Snow Cloud Fox and get the money, Junior Brother Han will take one-third, and the rest will be divided among the four of us.”

Han Li simply smiled lightly at those words. Seeing his strength, the other party was genuinely trying to build a relationship with him.

“I will follow Senior Brother Wang’s wishes.”

The others had no choice but to accept, even if they were reluctant. If Han Li hadn’t stepped in, they would have returned empty-handed anyway.

Afterward, Han Li chatted with the Falling Cloud Sect senior brothers for a while before making an excuse that he had business to attend to and parted ways with them. Senior Brother Wang and his group decided to stop by the market in the middle of Cloud Dream Mountain to complete the sale and then return.

There were quite a few disciples from the three sects visiting that place, so they would be able to sell the Snow Cloud Fox at a reasonable price.

Not long after parting with them, Han Li descended into the mountains and sat on a prominent rock, beginning to circulate his energy.

Since the jade pendant was in his hand, it was no problem for the fox to find his location. About half an hour passed, and his eyes opened.

Then, a yellow light shone in front of the rock, and the fox emerged.

“You’re quick.”

The fox chuckled.

“It’s not that I’m fast, it’s that those cultivators’ magical artifacts are too low-grade. They’re underestimating me. They probably don’t even know I’ve disappeared yet, right?”

“Since we made the Falling Cloud Sect disciples waste their time, I should give them a small reward when the opportunity arises.”

“It would be a blessing in disguise for them.”

“Enough, we need to go back, so shrink your body and come into my sleeve.”

The fox immediately wrapped itself in silver light, quickly shrinking, and then hid inside his sleeve like a flash of lightning. Since he had placed a restriction on the fox’s body, there was no need to worry about being ambushed or losing it.

Han Li didn’t return to his cave dwelling right away but headed with the fox towards the base of the highest peak of the Falling Cloud Sect.

To refine the spirit, he needed some special materials and the assistance of magical artifacts, and he planned to obtain them from the sect’s internal market located at the base of this mountain peak.

He felt that he needed to deal with the soul that called itself Eunwol as soon as possible to be able to sleep soundly.

Having made up his mind, he visited a store selling raw materials and bought everything he needed. Then, with the materials and the fox, he flew back to the herb garden, satisfied.

Just as he was about to enter the herb garden, he noticed familiar figures outside the barrier. It was Gui Huan and Senior Brother Wang, constantly sighing.

Han Li secretly sighed as he looked at them.

The two of them soon discovered him and hesitated, embarrassed, not speaking first. Han Li stepped forward and asked them.

“Seeing you two return so quickly, it seems the Snow Cloud Fox has already been sold.”

Senior Brother Wang hesitated before speaking with a bitter smile.

“That… I and the other junior brothers are ashamed to face Junior Brother Han.”

“Why? Did something happen to the Snow Cloud Fox?”

Han Li’s casual words startled the two of them.

“Junior Brother Han, how did you know?”

Han Li smiled calmly at Gui Huan’s questioning.

“Aside from the story of that fox demon beast, what else would we have to talk about?”

Hearing those words, Gui Huan had nothing to say and closed his mouth. Senior Brother Wang, who was standing next to him, spoke first.

“Junior Brother Han is indeed intelligent. There was indeed a problem with that Snow Cloud Fox. When we arrived at the market to sell the fox and checked, it had already disappeared. No matter how much we searched inside Junior Brother Gui’s Azure Cloud Pouch, it wasn’t there.”

He also seemed completely unable to understand it. Gui Huan, frustrated, chimed in as if asking for their belief.

“No, I don’t know how that fox disappeared! It’s truly a bizarre thing.”

Han Li narrowed his brows and remained silent, and seeing that, Senior Brother Wang looked troubled. Although Han Li’s cultivation was not high, he had learned the art of refining talismans and had some good magical artifacts, so he had decided to get along well with him. But unexpectedly, this kind of thing had happened, so he was at a loss.

If they had enough wealth, they could have paid the promised amount and left a good impression, but he and the other junior brothers who had worked together were in dire straits and could not afford to pay the spirit stones.

After pondering, Senior Brother Wang erased his dejected expression and boldly proposed an alternative.

“It’s truly an unbelievable thing that happened. But regardless, Junior Brother Han handed the demon beast to us, and it disappeared afterward, so we must pay the promised amount. We can repay the spirit stones we borrowed from Junior Brother by selling the Yellow Essence again, but the promised reward… we will divide it and give it to you as we earn spirit stones.”

At Senior Brother Wang’s words, Gui Huan hurriedly stopped him.

“Senior Brother! That’s not a small amount for cultivators like us. Even if we repay it as we earn, it will take two or three years. How will we cultivate without spirit stones or pills during that time?”

Senior Brother Wang shook his head as if there was no other way and tried to persuade him, but Han Li spoke first.

“There’s no need for that. That Snow Cloud Fox was skilled in disguise, so it’s not that strange that it escaped from the leather pouch magical artifact. I was going to remind Brother Gui earlier, but I didn’t, and in the end, it turned out like this. So, my share of the spirit stones is unnecessary. Just return the spirit stones you borrowed to buy the Yellow Essence.”

Gui Huan immediately jumped up with joy at Han Li’s generous action, even showing a calm smile.

“I should have known earlier that Junior Brother was such a magnanimous person! This time, it’s truly our mistake, but we’re sorry since we don’t have spirit stones. But Junior Brother doesn’t need to be concerned about that amount of spirit stones, right? From now on, this Gui Huan is Junior Brother Han’s friend, so treat me comfortably.”

Unlike Gui Huan, Senior Brother Wang thought that although Han Li was polite on the surface, he didn’t know what he really thought inside.

So, he once again asked in a roundabout way if it was really okay, carefully observing Han Li’s expression. Of course, he couldn’t read any emotion on Han Li’s unchanging face.

They returned to the herb garden together and talked, then went out again on their magical artifacts and sold the Yellow Essence they had bought as bait for the Snow Cloud Fox. Han Li received the pouch containing the spirit stones, released his consciousness to check the amount, and then put it in his pocket without saying anything.

Seeing that, Senior Brother Wang was about to leave when he suddenly had an idea and turned back to look at him.

“Come to think of it, Junior Brother Han’s magical artifacts are quite mystical. Are you planning to participate in the swordsmanship competition in half a year?”

“Swordsmanship competition?”

“Surely you know about it?”

Not only Senior Brother Wang but also the other senior brothers who had come to return the spirit stones had bewildered expressions. Han Li was a little taken aback inside, but he didn’t show it at all on the outside.

“No, I don’t. Is that strange?”

Gui Huan blinked, then remembered something and explained instead.

“It is strange, but Junior Brother Han only entered the sect a year ago and has been living inside here, so it seems he hasn’t heard the news.”

Everyone seemed convinced by those words, but only Senior Brother Wang had a strange look before explaining.

“I was surprised that Junior Brother Han didn’t know about the swordsmanship competition. Anyway, the competition is not far away, and as long as all the inner and outer disciples of the sect gather, they’re all talking about it. Some are already sharpening their swords to get good results in the competition.”

The short, stocky youth added enviously.

“There are quite a few young cultivators in the sect with powerful cultivation techniques. Senior Uncle Go of our Hidden Sword Peak, Son Hwa of Fire Cloud Peak who succeeded in Foundation Establishment not long after entering the sect, and cultivators like Senior Uncle Mo of your Heavenly Spring Peak are all expected to be active! Unfortunately, we outer disciples can participate in the sect’s preliminary rounds, but we’ve never actually been selected. Not only can we not represent the sect in the swordsmanship competition, but it’s also difficult to get good results in the preliminary rounds.”

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