Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 363

Han Li unfurled the lightly rolled scroll and gazed at it.

A man in a blue robe stood there with a smile, looking exactly like Han Li himself.

After staring blankly for a while, Han Li let out a soft sigh and folded the scroll. He was silent for a moment before looking directly at the woman and calmly asked,

“How did your grandmother come to possess this?”

The woman hesitated for a moment before cautiously opening her mouth.

“Senior Han, before I give you that answer, I would like to ask you one question first. Do you perhaps remember the promise you made to Miss Xin Ruyin back then?”

“Yes, I do. Do you know about that?”

“Actually, the reason I have stayed here and endured is deeply related to that promise. However, if you have not yet fulfilled that promise, please forgive me for not being able to say more.”

She glanced at Han Li, feeling uneasy, but said everything she needed to say.

*Thud!*

A square wooden box appeared from Han Li’s sleeve and landed on the table.

“This is….”

The woman, startled, clutched her chest, her eyes wide, not understanding Han Li’s intentions.

“Don’t be nervous. Inside is the head of the Bu Clan’s patriarch, and all of the Bu Clan’s direct descendants have already vanished. With only the remaining collateral descendants, it will be impossible for the clan to rebuild in the Yuan Wu Kingdom. Would you consider this the fulfillment of the promise from back then?”

“Y-yes? The Bu Clan, by you, Senior….”

Greatly shocked, the woman stared at the wooden box. She gritted her teeth and opened it, and a stench of blood filled the air. But what was inside was beyond comparison to the smell.

“It really is the old man of the Bu Clan. Long ago, I secretly went to confirm the face of my enemy from afar.”

Her face was pale, but after confirming that it was indeed the old man of the Bu Clan, joy and surprise crossed her face.

“It happened a few days ago, so the news should have already spread. Madam, go find a close acquaintance or a branch family to confirm the news.”

“So, you came here with this because….”

“That’s right. It’s to honor my old friends. I haven’t had many friends in my life, but I have avenged Miss Xin and Fellow Daoist Ji, so I believe I have done my duty to them.”

“To avenge the grievances of the young lady and young master, they must be overjoyed in the afterlife! Senior, please wait a moment. I will be right back.”

The woman finished speaking urgently and immediately went out the door.

This time, she went to the back where the bamboo pavilions were, dug under a large tree, and returned with a jade box that had a faint green glow.

“What is this?”

“Senior Han, long ago, before Miss Xin Ruyin passed away from illness, she left a will. She said to give the items in this jade box to you. However, only after you had fulfilled the promise you made to her, after the Bu Clan was destroyed.

My grandmother, who was the young lady’s maid, lived here her whole life to fulfill this order before passing away, leaving this task to me. She even left a portrait she had personally drawn, in case I might not recognize you and ruin things.

Today, after you fulfilled your promise from long ago and came here, this is yours according to her will. I feel like a great burden has been lifted from me now.”

She seemed much more at ease. It was clear that she had been constantly worried about this matter. Han Li used his spiritual sense to examine the inside of the jade box and then immediately picked it up and opened the lid.

Inside was a jade book with a faint blue glow, and on top of it were yellow and silver talismans.

The woman also looked inside the jade box, showing curiosity. Han Li raised his head.

“Is it something that even you, Fellow Daoist, are seeing for the first time?”

“Yes. I will not deceive you, Senior. The young lady told us to keep it, but she didn’t say not to look at it, so I heard that my grandmother once tried to look at the contents. However, she collapsed after only a few seconds, spitting blood and losing consciousness for three days and nights. After that, she immediately bought a high-grade talisman and sealed it.

She was worried that later generations would harm themselves if they looked out of curiosity. After that, the cultivation of her descendants did not reach my grandmother’s level, so no one could confirm its contents.”

Han Li nodded calmly. Then, he blew on the jade slip, and a blue mist flowed out, enveloping the talismans and causing them to fall off.

“……!”

Seeing him do this so casually, the woman watching from the side was greatly surprised, even if only inwardly.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to remove the talismans over the years. But she knew that the level of the high-grade talisman used for the seal was enormous, yet he had lifted the restriction with just a single breath. His depth of cultivation was beyond imagination.

Before, he had the cultivation of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but now he had destroyed the entire Bu Clan and brought the head of the old man of the Bu Clan. He was at least a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, perhaps even a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Han Li silently examined the book, and a blue light flashed. The jade slip he was holding instantly disappeared.

“Good. It’s something that will be helpful to me, so I won’t refuse it. However, since you have been guarding this place for so long to deliver this to me, I don’t feel comfortable leaving just like that. Do you live here alone?”

“No. My husband is also a cultivator, though his talent is low, so he is a Qi Refining cultivator at a similar level to me. Our son’s talent is not bad, but he hasn’t received proper guidance yet, so he hasn’t had the chance to join a cultivation sect. S-Senior… I….”

The woman spoke, trying to calm her pounding heart, after Han Li had spoken first. Even if she and her husband were not good enough, if her son could serve a master of high cultivation and live a better life, she wouldn’t hesitate to ask. However, she was still afraid that saying such things would disturb the deceased.

“There’s no need to say more. I understand your intentions!”

Han Li, with a calm face, immediately raised his hand to stop her, and the woman was startled and closed her mouth.

“Since you are a descendant of Fellow Daoist Mei and have kept this item for me for so long, even if I don’t take your son as a disciple, I should at least give him a chance at Foundation Establishment. Here are a Foundation Establishment Pill and two bottles of elixirs that are very effective for Qi Refining cultivation. Whether he succeeds in Foundation Establishment or not will depend on his own luck, but once he becomes a Foundation Establishment cultivator, there will surely be a major sect that will accept him.”

“A Foundation Establishment Pill?”

The woman was overjoyed at the three small medicine bottles he took out from his sleeve. The disappointment she had felt a moment ago had long since disappeared. Han Li took the opportunity to ask casually,

“That’s right, although I destroyed the Bu Clan, I shouldn’t cause any trouble because of the involvement of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators. Does your husband know about this?”

The intelligent woman immediately understood what Han Li was worried about and quickly replied,

“Senior, please rest assured! Before she passed away, my grandmother repeatedly told me that I should never do anything that would cause trouble for you and that I should keep the secret strictly. I have obeyed her orders my whole life and have never said a word about it to my husband or even my children.”

“That’s good then. I will take some time to honor Miss Xin and Fellow Daoist Ji, so I will take my leave now.”

Seeing Han Li get up, the woman followed suit.

“Are you leaving already? In a little while, my husband and son will….”

*Tick!*

Before she could finish speaking, the woman’s body collapsed with a white flash of light. Han Li, as if he had prepared for this, immediately waved his sleeve, emitting a light, and her body landed safely on the floor.

The white light disappeared, and a small fox, the incarnation of Yin Yue, appeared.

“Master, why did you suddenly tell me to knock this woman out? Is there something strange about her, or do you like this woman?”

Yin Yue giggled.

Han Li snorted, showing his displeasure.

“What nonsense are you spouting? She is someone who has a connection with me, so I am erasing today’s memories. It’s to prevent her from inadvertently revealing today’s events and bringing disaster upon herself.”

He then placed his five fingers, emitting a blue light, on the woman’s head and used the Dream Guiding Technique recorded in the Profound Yin Scripture. He sealed and distorted the memories of the important parts, making her believe that she had met a generous old man today and had accidentally obtained Foundation Establishment Pills and elixirs. All memories related to Han Li would be sealed.

This was a secret technique that was incomparable to the previous Spirit Control Technique or the Worry-Free Needles and Forget-Dust Pills he had used before. Unless a cultivator whose cultivation far surpassed Han Li’s personally intervened, no one would be able to restore her memories.

However, this secret technique could only be properly executed when the difference in cultivation between the two cultivators was very large. Otherwise, it could cause permanent damage to the consciousness of the person being affected.

Han Li was confident because the woman’s cultivation was so low, so he chose this method.

He properly seated the woman on a chair and took this opportunity to go to the shrine where the memorial tablets of Xin Ruyin and Ji Yunshao were enshrined and paid his respects. Then, he turned the head of the old man of the Bu Clan into ashes and left the place leisurely.

* * *

“Master, what was written inside the jade slip? Was it important?”

Yin Yue, having transformed back into a spirit, murmured in Han Li’s mind.

“It’s a scripture related to formations from the Ancient Desolate Era. It contains profound great laws from the ancient times that I cannot master in a short time with my current strength. Moreover, there is a very interesting special secret technique written in the last part.”

Han Li murmured leisurely as he flew through the sky.

“A secret technique? What kind of secret technique could be so interesting to you, Master, who already possesses the Profound Yin Scripture?”

“Have you ever heard of the famous ‘One Qi Transforms into Three Purities’?”

“Huh? The One Qi Transforms into Three Purities, which is called the number one technique of the Daoist school, is written there?!”

Yin Yue’s laughter disappeared, and even her voice trembled with excitement, but Han Li immediately denied it.

“Of course not.”

“Aww, are you teasing Yin Yue? Well, if it were such a great secret technique, the Daoist school wouldn’t easily expose it to the outside world. There are even rumors that it has already been lost within their own ranks.”

“The secret technique recorded in the jade slip is not the profound technique of One Qi Transforms into Three Purities, but a similar type of demonic technique called the Profound Yin Transforms Infant Great Technique.”

As he said this, Han Li, who had always been calm, felt a slight excitement.

“Profound Yin Transforms Infant Great Technique! I’ve never heard of it.”

“Neither have I. It’s a technique that can cultivate the nascent soul and produce a second nascent soul.”

“A second nascent soul! Really? If that’s possible, it’s an amazing technique that’s no different from the One Qi Transforms into Three Purities!”

Yin Yue became excited again at Han Li’s serious tone. The more Han Li’s abilities grew, the closer she would get to her goal!

“Whether it’s true or not, we’ll soon find out. I’ll have to go back to the Fallen Cloud Sect and study it in detail, but the front part is a genuine formation from the Ancient Desolate Era, so the possibility of the accompanying secret technique being fake is low.”

“It’s amazing that someone would offer such a technique to you. It seems that luck is on your side, Master. But if you want to master a demonic secret technique that rivals a Daoist secret technique, there must be considerable drawbacks. The more powerful it is, the greater the backlash will be. When we return, you should be careful when studying the secret technique.”

“I know. If I find anything strange, I just won’t learn it.”

Yin Yue, having received a clear answer, immediately felt relieved, but soon asked as if something was strange.

“Master, the direction we’re flying in isn’t towards the Qi Kingdom. Aren’t you going straight back to the Fallen Cloud Sect?”

“I’m not going back for the time being. Since I’ve come this far, I should take a look at the Yue Kingdom. It’s also my birthplace, so I need to settle my worldly ties. If I don’t, they will become a hindrance in my heart and will interfere with my future cultivation.”

“That’s true. You must completely sever your worldly ties to reach the true Dao, free from all attachments.”

“Shh, I need to go at full speed, so be quiet now.”

Han Li said coldly and immediately transformed into a streak of blue light, cutting through the sky at several times the speed. Soon, his figure disappeared. He didn’t know that about ten thousand miles away from him, cultivators in green robes were searching through the bushes, trembling with fear.

# 365