Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 348

As the low-level disciples grew restless and the yellow-robed cultivator disappeared, they began to gather in groups of their respective sects, discussing the situation in hushed voices.

Naturally, Han Li, Doo Dong, Lady Mo, and Sun Hua also gathered together.

“I was shocked to learn that Senior Baek of the Gogeom Sect was a spy for the Righteous Alliance! I had so much respect for him, a cultivator from the mountains who reached the Core Formation stage. It’s infuriating!” Sun Hua lamented, his frustration evident in his voice. Lady Mo coldly stared at the young man and replied emotionlessly,

“How many people do you think truly reach the Core Formation stage without the support of a family? In Sun Senior’s case, he has already proven his talent by reaching the Qi Refining stage as a mountain cultivator. Many families would want him as a son-in-law. If he finds a suitable place to join, it would greatly aid his future cultivation.”

The young man sneered, appearing quite smug.

“Hehe! Sun Mo doesn’t believe such words. Just because someone is a mountain cultivator without the support of a good family doesn’t mean they can’t reach the Core Formation stage! I will never rely on a family.”

However, Lady Mo fell silent as she noticed Sun Hua unconsciously glancing at her icy beauty.

Doo Dong suddenly asked,

“But isn’t Senior Baek also pitiful?”

“Pitiful? What are you talking about, Doo Senior?” Sun Hua asked, looking bewildered. Lady Mo also looked puzzled.

Unlike his usual naive demeanor, the large Doo Dong ignored the two seniors and coldly asked Han Li,

“Han Senior, do you also think these two are talking nonsense?”

“I don’t know anything about Senior Baek, so how can I carelessly judge him?” Han Li replied, showing no surprise at Doo Dong’s sudden change.

“Is that so? Still, in my opinion…”

“Doo Senior, look at this rude fellow! Can’t you hear me?” Sun Hua, who had been watching Doo Dong deliberately ignore him, was about to scold him when Doo Dong’s gaze changed. His eyes turned cold, and he faced Sun Hua with a menacing expression.

“I’m not deaf, so why are you shouting? Of course, I heard you, but do I have to respond to such nonsense?”

“What! You…”

Sensing something was wrong, Lady Mo’s hand moved towards her magical artifact [a weapon or tool imbued with spiritual power].

“What is your true identity?” she asked coldly. Finally, the other sect disciples realized that something was amiss and stared at them with shocked faces. However, the answer came from outside the stone chamber.

“Hehe! He is a direct disciple of the Demonic Heavenly Illusion Sect. I hope that answers your question, Doo Senior.” A loud bang followed, and the large stone door of the secret chamber shattered into pieces. The disciples inside were startled and quickly released their magical artifacts, preparing for battle.

Soon, a familiar figure appeared through the dust.

“Senior Baek!” one of the Gogeom Sect disciples exclaimed, recognizing him immediately, his face showing disbelief.

The other disciples were at a loss, staring at the blue-robed scholar who had suddenly appeared. They had clearly seen him being captured and dragged away, so how could he appear here? Moreover, he looked perfectly healthy, showing no signs of torture or injury. Doo Dong looked at Senior Baek without any surprise and coldly questioned him,

“Why are you only arriving now! If you hadn’t shown up, we were about to move first.”

“Hmph! You don’t know the power of that old hag’s sword threads. Even with preparations, there was no way to avoid being captured. If I didn’t have the assurance that she wouldn’t take my life because of what she feared, would I have cooperated with this?”

“Hehe! How could we have known that the old hag would personally intervene? But things are progressing smoothly within our expectations. Senior Bun and Senior Jin of the Gui Sect will buy us enough time.”

The low-level disciples, who didn’t know what was going on, realized that they had been caught up in something serious as the two men casually conversed, not even using voice transmission [a method of telepathic communication].

One of the Gogeom Sect disciples, quick-witted, tried to escape by flying towards the entrance on his magical artifact, turning into a streak of red light. Unfortunately, he failed to pass by Senior Baek, who had a murderous look in his eyes.

“Agh!” With a final scream, the cultivator and his magical artifact were instantly cut in half and fell to the ground.

Seeing their fellow disciple, who had been laughing and chatting just moments ago, suddenly die, the others turned pale and released their defensive barriers and magical artifacts, emitting various colors of light.

Most of them stared intently at the blue-robed scholar, not letting their guard down for a moment. For a while, no one dared to move, and silence fell upon the stone chamber.

Lady Mo was also shocked and immediately distanced herself from Doo Dong, protecting herself with her ribbon-like magical artifact.

Sun Hua had already retreated far away at the scholar’s appearance, looking at Doo Dong and the scholar with distrust.

Only Han Li, who had silently moved to a corner of the stone chamber, observed the situation, lost in thought.

Suddenly, Doo Dong’s body exploded with spiritual power, and a black light enveloped him. Thin black symbols and spells appeared on his face and neck, and his body began to change shape.

When the light faded, he had transformed into a giant, twice his previous height, with green eyes and a demonic face, a true Core Formation stage cultivator.

Senior Baek clapped his hands as if he were watching a good show.

“Impressive! When it comes to changing appearances or hiding techniques, the Heavenly Illusion Sect is indeed the best in the Southern Heaven Region. The reputation of your sect’s unique technique, the Great Heavenly Illusion Art, is not exaggerated.”

“Hmph!” Doo Dong, who had successfully transformed, merely sneered at the other’s words and then glared at Han Li with a sinister look.

*Shuk!* *Thud.*

The giant’s body blurred, and he approached Han Li, who was surrounded by a protective barrier, like a gust of wind. Without hesitation, he broke through the barrier and ripped out Han Li’s heart! It didn’t even take a breath for Han Li’s corpse to fall limply to the ground.

“Gasp!” The other disciples groaned at the gruesome sight of blood and flesh splattering. Now that the opponent had begun to kill, they were all terrified.

“Hmm.” The giant’s face turned strange after killing his opponent so easily. He was suspicious that the person who had been bothering him had been defeated so easily. He looked at the red heart in his hand, which was still warm.

The scholar shouted at Doo Dong, who had acted impulsively.

“What are you doing! Don’t you know that you shouldn’t kill these people indiscriminately! Among them are not only the descendants of that old hag but also direct disciples of powerful families. You can’t just kill them!”

“You can kill them, but why can’t I? Besides, this guy had many suspicious points, so I eliminated him in advance just in case. He’s a disciple who entered at the same time as me, so he can’t be that old monster’s successor.”

The scholar’s face relaxed, but he still muttered, not completely at ease.

“That’s good, but we don’t know if that old hag’s successor is a man or a woman, or which sect they joined. Anyway, that old man is so capable that no sect dares to offend him, so he must have chosen his successor and given them a chance to wash their eyes with the Brightspirit Dew.

If we accidentally killed that person, things would become very complicated. The guy I killed knew my background, so he couldn’t be that old hag’s successor!”

“I understand. I won’t touch the others carelessly. But we can’t let these guys wander around freely, so let’s put them to sleep!” Doo Dong spun around, and black light flowed out of his body, engulfing the stone chamber.

The low-level disciples, who had been relieved by the words of the two Core Formation stage cultivators, were instantly covered by the black light, felt dizzy, and lost consciousness. The scholar smiled contentedly after confirming that all the disciples in the stone chamber had fainted.

“We can’t delay any longer, let’s go.” The two men immediately headed outside with large strides. However, Doo Dong hesitated at the doorway and glanced at Han Li’s corpse, which had a hole in its chest.

“…Hmph.” Only after confirming that the young man’s corpse was lying motionless in a pool of blood did he smirk and leave with the scholar.

As the two cultivators left, the stone chamber became deathly silent.

But soon, a young woman’s cheerful laughter echoed through the chamber.

“Haha, Brother Han! Isn’t my Heavenly Fox Illusion Art more powerful than that Great Heavenly Illusion Art? Even a cultivator with such high cultivation didn’t realize that the person he killed was a fake. I almost died laughing!” Han Li’s corpse, soaked in blood, emitted a white light and transformed into a fox the size of a foot, shaking its head. Han Li’s voice was heard from inside the wall a few feet behind the fox.

“It is indeed impressive. It’s strange that you, who were clearly a member of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan in your previous life, are so skilled in the techniques of the Fox Clan! Perhaps if the two had reached the late Core Formation stage, they wouldn’t have been so easily fooled.

And the Great Heavenly Illusion Art is also extraordinary. At the very least, it means that even a cultivator with a powerful consciousness like me cannot gauge the true cultivation of the opponent when that technique is used.”

Unwillingly, Eunwol retorted to his words.

“Is that technique really that great? Brother Han, you saw that something was wrong at a glance, didn’t you?”

“I have cultivated the Great Evolution Technique, so I possess the consciousness of an early Nascent Soul cultivator [a very high level of cultivation]. If I couldn’t sense something was wrong with this level of cultivation, then the Great Heavenly Illusion Art wouldn’t be the best concealment technique in the Southern Heaven Region, but the best in the world.”

After this explanation, the fluffy fox nodded its head up and down.

Han Li walked to the center of the stone chamber, looked at the people who were still unconscious, and finally found Meng Jeok, the black-clothed youth.

The little fox, sensing his thoughts, jumped and brought the magical artifact from the youth’s body, returning it to him. Han Li smiled, took out the jade box containing the Spirit Pill, and threw the artifact back onto the youth’s body. It was useless to the other party anyway, so he was happy to use it.

“Let’s go. The two of them must have already entered the cave where the Brightspirit Dew is, so we should follow them.”

Han Li, having secured the jade box, retrieved the fox into his wide sleeve and shot out as a streak of blue light.

Explosions and tremors were still occurring outside. Han Li’s face showed a hint of doubt, but he didn’t pay it any more attention.

When he arrived outside the cave, the stone door was open, and the traces of the restriction had disappeared. The two Core Formation stage cultivators had already entered. Moreover, the angry voice of a man could be heard from deep inside the cave.

“Brother Wi, what are you doing! It’s like throwing ashes on a finished meal. Now you’re saying you won’t do it. Are you planning to betray the sect leader’s great favor! No matter how long you’ve stayed in the Falling Cloud Sect, how can you forget that you are originally a member of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect!” It was Doo Dong’s voice, full of anger. Han Li tried to spread his consciousness to grasp the situation inside, but his expression suddenly changed, and he disappeared from the spot.

If what he had grasped was correct, there were unexpectedly seven or eight cultivators inside the cave, and even one Nascent Soul stage cultivator was among them.

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