Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 345

The area outside the protective barrier was bustling.

The bald referee looked at the young man with a strange expression, then announced loudly,

“Han Li of the Falling Cloud Sect wins!”

Han Li, completely unconcerned, bowed to the giant and calmly walked out of the protective barrier. Afterward, disciples from the Ancient Sword Sect rushed in, picked up the unconscious Yo Bong, and carried him away.

Kang Woon, who had been watching from above, had his eyes wide open.

Although he knew that a lower-realm disciple who had advanced to the main competition must have some hidden skill, he had not expected that his own highly anticipated disciple would be defeated so quickly. He, who had mocked the red-robed elder before the competition, now looked foolish.

His embarrassment turned into annoyance, but still, the red-robed elder kept his mouth shut. Elder Baek Gyo-won burst into laughter upon seeing Han Li’s victory.

“Haha! Elder Dan, you have an interesting disciple. To unexpectedly scatter dozens of talismans at once, his trickery is impressive, but his skill in activating so many talismans at the same time is also remarkable.”

The red-robed elder with the angular face looked at Kang Woon of the Ancient Sword Sect, who had a displeased expression, and replied as if it were nothing special.

“What do you mean? That fellow is originally a talisman craftsman, so it’s not surprising that he uses talismans to attack. However, using so many talismans at once was unexpected even for me.”

Kang Woon grumbled, fuming.

“Hmph! To win by relying on talismans. Now that everyone has seen his tricks, he will surely be defeated next time.”

“Is that so?”

The red-robed elder just smiled and didn’t argue further.

The scholar in the blue robe glanced at Han Li, who was returning to the Falling Cloud Sect group, and nodded without malice.

“The movement technique that your sect’s disciple used at the end seems to be a type of worldly agility technique. Otherwise, Junior Sister Yo wouldn’t have been so quickly defeated without any means of resistance.”

“Elder Baek has a good eye. Our sect’s disciple wandered around the mountains before joining the sect and learned various things, so please don’t mind it too much.”

Elder Baek smiled at the red-robed elder’s words.

“Not at all. I myself was once interested in worldly martial arts and practiced them for a while. Although the martial arts of mortals have little effect on higher-level cultivators, if a Qi Condensation disciple uses them, they can exert more than 30% of their true strength. Moreover, judging by the skilled movements of your sect’s disciple, he is not someone who has only fought once or twice. It’s not unfair that our sect’s disciple lost.”

While they were chatting, the referee had changed to a stern-looking old man from the Falling Cloud Sect.

“Second match, Wan Cheon-sa of the Baekgyo-won versus Joo Wook of the Ancient Sword Sect!”

As soon as the words were spoken, two young men from Baekgyo-won and the Ancient Sword Sect came out, bowed to each other, and began their artifact duel. The Core Formation cultivators forgot about the previous duel and focused their attention.

Perhaps influenced by Han Li’s quick victory, both cultivators engaged in a cautious duel, focusing on defense, which soon made the people outside the arena feel bored and frustrated.

In the end, the disciple of the Ancient Sword Sect, who had trained with a sword-type artifact, proved to be more skilled, breaking through his opponent’s defensive artifact and winning.

Thus, the first round lasted for two long days. Among them, the skills of the Ancient Sword Sect cultivators were truly exceptional. Except for a few cultivators like Han Li, the disciples of the other two sects who competed against the Ancient Sword Sect were clearly at a disadvantage and were eliminated one after another.

As the competition proceeded as expected, the cultivators of the Kang family regained the smiles on their faces.

The Core Formation cultivators of Baekgyo-won and the red-robed elder of the Falling Cloud Sect acted as if they had expected this, not showing any particular reaction on the surface, no matter what they felt inside. In terms of composure and spirit, they were far superior to the petty old man of the Kang family.

In the second round, Han Li faced a brave-looking Qi Condensation female cultivator from Baekgyo-won. As soon as the match began, she immediately released her flying artifact and soared into the air.

It seemed to be a countermeasure to avoid Han Li’s talisman attacks and his strange agility technique.

Han Li lightly exhaled at the sight and took out another handful of fire-attribute talismans.

Just as the woman was about to proudly dodge the talisman attack, Han Li’s hands moved swiftly, forming hand seals, and the flames in the air transformed into dozens of fist-sized firebirds that swooped down.

The female cultivator from Baekgyo-won was startled and tried to activate her artifact to create a protective barrier, but Han Li wouldn’t give her the chance. On the surface, he chanted spells and diligently formed hand seals, but in reality, he used only his consciousness to make the firebirds collide with the female cultivator from all directions.

The female disciple managed to quickly form a water-attribute protective barrier, but it was too meager a defense to withstand dozens of fierce attacks in a row.

As the protective barrier shattered, the woman realized she had no choice and declared her surrender. With this duel, the perception of the disciples of the other two sects, who had thought of Han Li as just a guy who relied on talismans and wealth to participate in the sword tournament without any real skill, changed.

* * *

Five days later, around dusk, in an unnamed valley in the central part of Unmong Mountain.

This valley was in a very remote area, shrouded in a dense fog that had not seen sunlight for many years, making it so gloomy that it was difficult to see one’s own fingers inside. Moreover, this fog was teeming with venomous creatures and insects, such as poisonous scorpions and snakes.

The valley itself was small and far from each sect, so even if some cultivators occasionally passed over it, no one bothered to come down and explore it.

However, amidst the dense fog where the sun did not shine, a light flickered in the mountain valley, and two figures appeared. One cultivator was a stern-faced man in gray robes, and the other was a refined-looking scholar in a blue robe with a jade-inlaid belt.

Although there seemed to be no one else around the pile of rocks, a hoarse, metallic voice was heard from somewhere.

“Elder Baek of the Ancient Sword Sect and Fellow Daoist Woo of the Falling Cloud Sect! Has the sword tournament ended?”

Elder Baek of the Ancient Sword Sect smiled with an unwavering expression.

“Elder Wol, you were on duty. The tournament has ended well, and the two of us have come to check if the Holy Land’s Myungcheong Elixir is being prepared properly. If there are no other problems, we will immediately send the ten selected disciples.”

However, the old man beside him remained expressionless and did not say a word.

“With three Core Formation cultivators taking turns guarding day and night, what problems could there be? Are you worried that a few lower-realm cultivators might cause some trouble?”

Elder Baek slightly shook his head.

“Since it concerns the Spirit Eye Water, we need to be extra cautious. Moreover, if the pure essence is added in the final stage of refining the Myungcheong Elixir, it must be used immediately to see its full effect! I am checking to make sure that our efforts for the tournament are not wasted, so please understand.”

The hoarse voice of the man laughed and said confidently.

“Understood. The refining of the Myungcheong Elixir is in its final stages, so let’s proceed right away. The disciples who will be sent here will be surrounded by layers of restrictions, so they won’t even know where they’ve been.”

“That’s how it should be. Then, while Elder Woo remains here, I will inform the other cultivators to send the disciples.”

Seeing Elder Baek about to leave, the man quickly remembered something and asked,

“Wait! Who won this sword tournament? Surely it wasn’t the Ancient Sword Sect again?”

The scholar in the blue robe grinned.

“This tournament was won by our Ancient Sword Sect’s disciple, Maeng Jeok. I don’t know if we have disappointed Elder Wol.”

“Hmph! It’s well known that the sword-based cultivation of the Ancient Sword Sect allows them to exhibit stronger abilities than ordinary cultivators once they reach the Foundation Establishment stage. However, it remains to be seen which sect’s techniques are superior when they reach the Core Formation stage. If you have the chance, please tell your sect’s third senior brother that this Wol Mo wants to compete with him again.”

His tone was languid, but it was clear that he was not pleased with the result. Elder Baek was silent for a moment at those words, then laughed lightly and replied,

“You still hold a grudge about what happened with our third senior brother that year. Unfortunately, there is no way to convey Elder Wol’s wishes anytime soon. Our third senior brother has just reached the late Core Formation stage and has entered closed-door cultivation.”

“Reached the late Core Formation stage, and entered closed-door cultivation…”

The man’s metallic voice paused slightly, then finally let out a long sigh and did not ask further.

“Then.”

Elder Baek of the Ancient Sword Sect immediately waved his arm, and the white light that emanated from him touched a seemingly ordinary rock among the surrounding boulders.

Soon, light flashed from the pile of rocks, and just as when he had arrived, Elder Baek disappeared silently.

The pile of rocks, which seemed to be randomly stacked, was actually concealing a teleportation array with a clever technique.

The gray-robed Elder Woo of the Falling Cloud Sect watched him leave and then chose a flat rock nearby to sit down.

The teleportation array was connected to a stone chamber inside Baekgyo-won. Soon, Elder Baek appeared within the formation. He was surrounded by the elders of the three sects, including Elder Bu.

As soon as Elder Baek appeared, Elder Kang spoke.

“Junior Brother, is everything being prepared smoothly on your side?”

“Don’t worry. Preparations at the Holy Land are proceeding smoothly, so it seems we can send the disciples.”

Elder Bu nodded in satisfaction.

“That’s good. It would be troublesome, but could Elder Dan please bring in the ten juniors? According to the rules, one Core Formation cultivator from each of the three sects should accompany them. Elder Wang is waiting on our side, and Elder Woo is also there from the Falling Cloud Sect. Elder Kang, who will be going from the Ancient Sword Sect?”

As Elder Dan in the red robe left the stone chamber at Elder Bu’s words, Elder Kang replied leisurely,

“There’s nothing to see at the Holy Land. It seems like Junior Brother Baek can just go one more time.”

Elder Bu smiled.

“That’s true. Elder Baek was originally among the top 10 in the sword tournament, so he can go and revisit his childhood memories.”

The scholar in the blue robe simply bowed his head with a composed expression.

At that moment, several footsteps were heard outside the stone chamber, and the red-robed elder led the ten disciples selected from the three sects into the chamber.

Although the Falling Cloud Sect did not produce a winner in this tournament, four of their disciples were among the top 10. Elder Dan in the red robe was outwardly calm, but inwardly quite pleased.

Naturally, his gaze lingered on the four disciples of the Falling Cloud Sect. Cultivator Mo of Cheoncheon Peak, Son Hwa of Hwawoon Peak with a cold face, and the other two were Han Li and Doo Dong!

While Han Li was one thing, the look in the eyes of the Hwawoon Peak Lord as he looked at Doo Dong was mocking.

And the winner of this tournament was Maeng Jeok, a disciple of the Ancient Sword Sect, without any surprises. This young man in black robes was the disciple who was born with the Nine Spirit Sword Body. The Nine Spirit Sword Body was considered one of the most suitable physiques for cultivating sword-type artifacts in the cultivation world.

He dominated with an absolute advantage using only a single top-grade sword-type artifact, defeating all his opponents like falling leaves and taking first place.

Reaching this point in his thoughts, the red-robed elder could not help but feel jealous of the Ancient Sword Sect’s good fortune with disciples.

* * *

Han Li maintained a detached attitude, looking at the ‘Core Formation elders’ in the room with indifferent eyes.

After winning three times in a row, he deliberately lost to a Foundation Establishment disciple from Baekgyo-won. Then, he entered the competition for 7th to 10th place with five other disciples.

Ultimately, he used up all the talismans he had and barely managed to secure 9th place. And Doo Dong, whether he had chosen a similar strategy or not, lost in his fourth duel and then deliberately lost to Han Li in the lower-ranking competition to take the last place.

The young man named Son Hwa, who had participated in the sword tournament with the best results from the Falling Cloud Sect, was surprisingly skilled and took 3rd place.

In Han Li’s view, if Son Hwa had used an artifact that suited his cultivation technique, the Baekgyo-won disciple who took 2nd place would not have been a match for him.

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