Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 460

The Fire Toad seemed terrified by the rapidly changing situation.

Shriek!

In response, the Fire Toad opened its mouth and shot out a jet-black tongue. It intended to use its tongue, as hard as a fine sword, to deflect the giant sword and retreat.

That might have worked against a normal magic treasure, but Han Li’s flying sword, infused with the essence of the Glacial Flames, sliced through the Fire Toad’s tongue instantly.

And as the Fire Toad leaped, this time the sword beheaded it in one swift stroke. The severed head tumbled to the ground.

‘Got it!’

Old Man Luo shouted in delight. Nan Longhou also let out a long breath and was about to dispel the water barrier.

‘Please wait a moment.’

Han Li coldly stopped him as he was about to remove the barrier.

‘Brother Han, what is it?’

At Han Li’s words, Nan Longhou unconsciously released his hold on the water barrier, and Luo Weiying also glanced at Han Li, cautiously stepping back.

‘I’m saying don’t rush because the Fire Toad isn’t dead yet.’

‘It’s still alive?’

Nan Longhou and Old Man Luo were shocked and quickly looked at the water barrier. Only then did they realize that the Fire Toad’s corpse was strange.

Even though its head and body were separated, its skin was still glowing.

Not only that, but a red light was protecting the severed neck area, and the head and body were gradually moving closer together.

‘Is it immortal! Does the Fire Toad have such an ability!’

Nan Longhou raised his voice at the Fire Toad’s mysterious appearance.

‘Is there such a thing as an immortal being in this world? It’s just that its vitality is stronger than other demon beasts!’

Han Li, who had studied many scriptures, had already anticipated this situation after seeing the severed toad’s legs. That’s why he stopped Nan Longhou from removing the barrier.

If he allowed the toad to revive again, all his efforts would have been in vain. Han Li sneered and pointed at the giant sword floating above the Fire Toad.

The giant sword spun in the air, split into two, and flew towards the toad’s head and body. A bang! bang! sound echoed as a dark blue light burst forth.

The Fire Toad’s head and body instantly turned into dark blue ice blocks, and the giant sword shattered the ice with tremendous force.

Only a small red bead remained among the Fire Toad’s remains. It was the Fire Toad’s demon core [a concentrated source of energy in a demon beast].

As the demon core appeared, Nan Longhou and Old Man Luo exchanged glances, and they could read the greed in each other’s eyes. The inner core of an ancient demon beast with an immortal body would surely possess extraordinary power.

However, after witnessing and hearing about Han Li’s abilities, such thoughts quickly vanished. They would probably have to join forces to fight Han Li, and Nan Longhou’s current physical condition was not ideal.

Besides, it would be foolish to betray him just for the demon core of an ancient demon beast. After all, they had entered the heart of the Chuma Bone Mountain, so there would be more opportunities.

Han Li roughly guessed their thoughts.

He had sensed that they hadn’t given their all when killing the Fire Toad, letting him take the lead in killing the demon beast.

While he pretended to be calm as he beheaded the Fire Toad, he was secretly on guard and preparing for any eventuality.

Fortunately, Nan Longhou and Old Man Luo regained their composure, and Han Li was relieved. Even for him, fighting the two of them would be a risky endeavor.

Han Li gestured towards the water barrier, summoning the red demon core. The two flying swords also returned to their small forms and disappeared into his sleeves.

Han Li held the demon core in his hand and let out a long sigh. He had finally achieved one of his goals for entering the Chuma Bone Mountain.

At that moment, Nan Longhou suddenly burst into laughter.

‘Haha! Brother Han’s contribution was great in killing the Fire Toad. Shall we explore the demon beast’s cave? Brother Han must also be interested in the remains, right?’

‘Yes, we should.’

Han Li, having placed the demon core into his storage pouch, replied calmly. Thus, the three cultivators removed the barrier and headed towards the base of the massive mountain peak.

Three streaks of light quickly arrived outside the cave and entered. Upon seeing the lava lake, the three cultivators immediately surveyed the interior.

‘It seems this is the ancient cultivator’s remains that Merchant Chang Kun mentioned. Let’s explore it together.’

At Nan Longhou’s words, Han Li and Old Man Luo did not refuse and immediately flew across the lava lake towards the stone table where the remains were located.

When they were about three or four yards away, Han Li slowed down, and Nan Longhou and Old Man Luo also stopped, using their spiritual sense to scan the area.

Han Li merely curled the corners of his lips and said nothing.

He already suspected that there was something strange about the ancient remains, so there was no reason to refuse when the two cultivators offered to investigate first.

As expected, Nan Longhou and Luo Weiying’s spiritual sense approached the remains but were repelled by a dark blue energy emanating from the clothing.

‘Hmm? There’s something strange about that clothing.’

‘It’s not strange that the blue robe is blocking the cultivators’ spiritual sense. It’s a treasure made using the silk of an ancient spirit insect.’

Nan Longhou recognized the robe and grabbed at the air with one hand. The blue robe swayed and then left the remains, landing in Nan Longhou’s hand.

And on the exposed remains, a small, jet-black leather pouch was hanging.

‘Indeed, there’s a storage pouch!’

Old Man Luo’s face lit up with joy, and Nan Longhou also threw the blue robe he was holding to the side, unable to take his eyes off the black storage pouch.

However, Han Li’s expression subtly changed at the sound of the blue robe falling, but he quickly returned to his original state.

‘If you two are alright with it… may I examine the treasures inside the storage pouch first?’

In the tense atmosphere, Nan Longhou smiled and asked Han Li and the old man.

‘Go ahead. Brother Nan Long, please examine the storage pouch.’

Han Li lightly accepted his proposal while examining the leather pouch. Old Man Luo hesitated but eventually nodded.

Then, Nan Longhou took a few steps forward and carefully infused his spiritual sense into the leather pouch.

‘Brother Nan Long, what’s inside? Let me see too.’

Nan Longhou nodded at those words and turned the leather pouch he was holding upside down. Then, a large number of items poured out amidst a white aura.

‘What are these?’

The old man’s eyes widened in confusion as he examined the items. Most of them were red-tinged iron lumps, and apart from those, only a few items caught his attention.

There was a white jade box, a purple mirror, a yellow flying sword, a set of dark blue needles, and two jet-black medicine bottles.

The contents of the jade box and medicine bottles could not be determined, but they were all clearly not ordinary items. And the materials used to make the jade box and medicine bottles could not be identified with spiritual sense.

‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen these materials before. It seems like they were trying to refine something.’

Han Li also couldn’t be sure of the identity of the red-tinged iron lumps.

‘If my guess is correct, they might be the legendary spirit ores. They are special materials used by ancient cultivators when refining ancient treasures. Perhaps this ancient cultivator was also trying to create a powerful fire-attribute ancient treasure and was collecting these?’

Unexpectedly, Nan Longhou recognized the origin of the iron lumps.

‘Spirit ores!’

Upon hearing the name, Han Li remembered reading about them in ancient scriptures. As Nan Longhou said, they were refining materials used to create powerful ancient treasures.

Old Man Luo lost interest at those words and turned his attention to the jade box and medicine bottles. At that moment, Nan Longhou threw the storage pouch he was holding to Han Li.

Han Li understood his intention and unhesitatingly infused his spiritual sense to check the contents before handing it to Old Man Luo. After confirming that there was nothing unusual, the old man threw the storage pouch to the side.

‘Then, how shall we divide these? Are we going to take two each?’

‘Do you have a different opinion, Brother Luo?’

Han Li asked, his eyes gleaming.

‘If the jade box and medicine bottles are also ancient treasures, then the three of us can divide them two each, but…’

‘We don’t know what’s inside the jade box and medicine bottles, so let’s open them first and then talk about it.’

Nan Longhou suddenly interrupted, cutting off Luo Weiying’s words. The old man frowned but nodded, unconcerned.

‘That’s what I meant. What is Brother Han’s opinion?’

‘Do as you two wish.’

‘Your answer is straightforward. Then, shall we check the contents?’

Nan Longhou was satisfied with Han Li’s words and reached out his hand.

Whoosh!

The white jade box flew up first, and he tried to open the lid. However, the moment his hand touched the jade box, a white light appeared and pushed him away.

‘Huh! There’s a restriction on the jade box.’

Nan Longhou was surprised and tried to grab the jade box again, covering his hand in golden light. However, this time, the white light spread and merged with the golden light from his hand.

After a while, the white light was unable to overcome the golden light, and the lid of the jade box slowly opened. Han Li looked closely and saw that a yellow jade slip was inside the jade box.

Nan Longhou hesitated before reaching out and infusing his spiritual sense into the jade slip. However, his expression was strange after looking inside.

‘You two should check it too!’

As if trying to avoid suspicion, Nan Longhou immediately passed the jade slip to Han Li first. Han Li checked it and also frowned before throwing it to Old Man Luo.

Old Man Luo hurriedly infused his spiritual sense.

‘Is the Seven Flame Fan such a great ancient treasure? I’ve never heard of it before.’

Luo Weiying withdrew his spiritual sense without examining it closely.

‘I don’t know. However, considering that the refining method is recorded on this jade slip and a large amount of spirit ores are needed, wouldn’t it be?’

Nan Longhou also didn’t seem to know much about the Seven Flame Fan.

‘Well, no matter how great it is, it’s useless. There are so many spirit ores needed for refining! Eighty-one types of fire-attribute spirit ores need to be fused, and there are too many auxiliary materials needed. There are even some materials that can no longer be found… It’s useless unless you’re researching ancient treasure refining methods.’

Old Man Luo shook his head and returned the jade slip to Nan Longhou. Nan Longhou smiled as if he had expected it and placed the jade slip back into the jade box.

‘Seven Flame Fan? Master, is the refining method for the Seven Flame Fan written on that jade slip!’

Han Li had also thought that the jade slip was unnecessary, but suddenly, Eunwol’s voice echoed in his mind.

‘Yes. Do you know of this ancient treasure?’

‘Master, if my past memories are correct, the Seven Flame Fan is one of the Heaven Piercing Treasures! Although it’s one of the lowest-ranked among the Heaven Piercing Treasures [extremely powerful and rare artifacts].’

Eunwol’s voice trembled with joy.

‘Heaven Piercing Treasure!’

Han Li was shocked and unconsciously became dazed.

‘What? The Seven Flame Fan is a Heaven Piercing Treasure!? Then, we must get our hands on that jade slip. This old man has researched Heaven Piercing Treasures before, and a book containing its refining method!’

Before Han Li could reply, the Great Yan Divine Lord suddenly spoke up, his voice echoing in his mind.

‘Old monster, where do you think you’re butting in?’

Eunwol coldly retorted to the Great Yan Divine Lord’s words.

‘Hehehe! Little girl, you’re still hung up on what happened back then. This old man was just trying to study you since it was the first time I’d seen such a clever spirit. It’s fine since your master refused, isn’t it?’

The Great Yan Divine Lord laughed it off nonchalantly.

‘You…!’

‘Enough, Eunwol. Don’t dwell on the past. It’s also news to me that the senior knows about Heaven Piercing Treasures. But now is not the time for such talk.’

Han Li coldly stopped their words, but Nan Longhou had already opened the two black medicine bottles.

Eunwol naturally obeyed his command, and the Great Yan Divine Lord grumbled unhappily but didn’t say anything more.

As soon as the medicine bottles were opened, a subtle fragrance spread. Han Li also felt refreshed after smelling it.

‘It doesn’t seem to be a commonly known ancient era elixir, so we’ll have to investigate its uses later. But it doesn’t seem to be a poison.’

Nan Longhou muttered, taking out a green-tinged pill.

‘How many pills are there in total?’

Old Man Luo’s gaze was fixed on the pill.

‘There’s only one. It’s highly likely to be a very rare elixir.’

Nan Longhou shook the medicine bottle in front of Han Li and the old man.

‘Let’s look at the next medicine bottle quickly!’

There was impatience in Luo Weiying’s tone. Nan Longhou nodded and opened the next medicine bottle, which also contained the same green-tinged elixir.