Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 516

KUNG!

Green light flashed around Hyunyeop King, deflecting the wind blades and black streaks of light simultaneously. The corpse king’s body was far more resilient than most magical treasures.

At that moment, the giant hand formed from the golden orb shook the sand dragon, eventually seizing its neck, causing a brief pause in the battle.

Han Li calmly observed the situation. The side with the potent corpse energy was fighting fiercely, even after sustaining serious injuries.

However, the yellow-robed giant seemed pleased that the golden hand had captured the sand dragon and reached out.

The sand dragon’s entire body flashed yellow. In an instant, the sand dragon, which had crumbled into yellow sand, attempted to engulf the giant hand instead.

The yellow-robed giant wasn’t idle either. He cast a chilling gaze at Hyunyeop King and Han Li, quietly forming hand seals to manipulate the yellow sand of the barrier.

Waves of sand, a dozen yards high, gradually closed in, creating strange noises. The eerie cries emanating from within would have driven ordinary cultivators mad.

They were attempting to crush Hyunyeop King using the barrier from all sides.

Han Li realized the moment the yellow-robed giant’s gaze fell on him that he was also a target. Enraged, Han Li abandoned his plan to wait and acted.

With a flick of his sleeve, dozens of golden flying swords shot out, forming a massive sword light that sliced through the approaching waves of sand.

Simultaneously, with his other hand, he raised a purple ancient mirror, emitting a purple beam of light. Then, something strange occurred.

The purple beam, which should have been effective against this kind of mist, seemed to seep into the sand waves and disappear.

“……!”

Han Li frowned, becoming even more cautious when someone shouted.

“The Soul-Shattering Sand will contaminate your flying swords, so don’t let them touch it.”

Hyunyeop King, amidst the barrage of magical treasures, finally spoke after seeing Han Li’s move.

Before Han Li could react in surprise, an eerie wind blew from the gaps created by the flying swords, and countless black sands emitted a dense energy, attempting to bind the swords.

As the black energy enveloped the flying swords, they became difficult to control. Han Li’s expression turned cold as he reached out.

“Explode.”

*KWAKWAKWANG!*

Thunder rumbled in succession, and countless thin golden lightning bolts exploded. The black energy from the sand was instantly swept away, and a large hole was blasted in the middle of the sandstorm.

Han Li, narrowing his eyes, stared into it, his expression darkening. The sheer amount of sand made it impossible to destroy it all.

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly spread silver wings from his back.

*KWA-GWANG!*

Han Li vanished from his spot and reappeared a dozen yards away, where a bright red spear pierced through the space he had just occupied. He could feel the burning heat even from a distance.

The long spear spun around and returned to its owner. He raised his head and looked up at the cloud of demonic energy from where it had come.

The old man seemed greatly surprised by Han Li’s lightning-fast escape technique.

Han Li flapped his wings again and disappeared. The old man in the blue robe was startled for a moment, but with his considerable combat experience, he immediately brushed his sleeve and released a blue shield.

In that instant, a silver light flashed from outside the cloud of demonic energy, and Han Li’s figure appeared.

*KWA-GWANG!*

He clenched his fists, which were flashing with golden light, and disappeared once more.

The old man, terrified by an ominous premonition, opened his mouth and spat out a green sword, which transformed into a black-green beam of light, constantly circling his body.

The old man released several magical treasures and was slightly relieved when thunder rumbled from his side.

Han Li, who had appeared with lightning flashing all over his body, looked like the god of thunder had descended.

The surrounding cloud of demonic energy dissipated as soon as it touched the lightning, revealing the old man’s figure, who had been hiding.

“Hah!”

The old man in the blue robe gasped and hurriedly tried to flee. But Han Li, who had risked his life to come this far, would not let him escape.

His figure flashed, and he moved like a phantom in front of the old man, shaking both hands. He released purple flames and golden light simultaneously.

The old man in the blue robe was surprised by Han Li’s speed and immediately opened his mouth, blowing white energy into the shield. Soon, the shield transformed into a blue wall, blocking Han Li.

However, purple flames flashed and touched the blue wall.

*CHWA-REUK.*

Purple cold air rapidly spread along the wall, encasing the blue shield, a magical treasure, in ice.

‘How can this be!’

As the old man’s face turned pale in shock, golden light surged.

*POOK!*

The golden light disappeared into the frozen wall, then reappeared, piercing through it. The old man quickly dodged to the side, boosting his spiritual energy.

“Kkeuak!”

But the next moment, he felt a chill in his shoulder and writhed in extreme pain. He hurriedly turned his head and saw that one of his arms had been severed by the golden light. If he had been just a little slower, it would have been his neck.

The golden light changed direction, revealing its form. It was a golden sword about an inch long.

He turned his head again and confirmed that a very small hole had been made in the ice wall. The golden sword was so sharp that it had pierced through the ice wall and the shield, cutting off his arm.

It was unbelievable. He quickly applied a talisman to stop the bleeding and gritted his teeth. It was his turn to repay the pain of having his arm cut off.

But when he looked around, Han Li was nowhere to be seen.

‘Could it be?’

The old man gave up trying to find him and was about to take out a defensive treasure from his sleeve when it was already too late.

*PUNG.*

A faint sound was heard from behind the old man in the blue robe, and it pierced through the protective barrier created by his spiritual power, passing through his chest. Soon, purple ice flames spread throughout his body, trapping him alive in ice.

The old man was terrified, unable to move due to the needle-like pain.

At that moment, Han Li flicked his sleeve, spreading a net of golden lightning. The lightning exploded, shattering the purple ice block, and the Nascent Soul [a cultivator’s core of spiritual energy] inside, which had deployed a black protective barrier, tried to teleport away.

Han Li, who had anticipated this, sneered, and light poured out from the golden net, enveloping the old man’s Nascent Soul. Han Li formed hand seals with a cold gaze and detonated the lightning flowing through the golden net.

The old man’s Nascent Soul vanished forever.

The old man had been killed by Han Li’s counterattack in an instant after ambushing him, so the yellow-robed giant and the Fangqian Mountain Twin Devils didn’t have time to help.

Seeing Han Li easily kill an old man in the mid-Nascent Soul stage, the two cultivators turned pale. The yellow-robed old man quickly moved his lips and sent a telepathic message to the Heavenly Wind True Lord in the whirlwind.

They retrieved all the magical treasures that had been attacking Hyunyeop King and disappeared into the sandstorm without looking back.

Hyunyeop King, despite being seriously injured, was enduring the attacks with his powerful corpse king body, but he began to feel uneasy when he made eye contact with Han Li. The opponent’s strength and methods made the old demon’s hair stand on end.

‘Is he a late-Nascent Soul stage cultivator?’

Such doubts arose, but he was clearly a mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator. The power shown by the cultivator, who looked like a polite young man, was too great.

It was fortunate that he had sent out his incarnations to chase after the opponent. If he had gone to find the Vajra Ape himself, he would have been in trouble.

He thought that the two incarnations that had lost contact had surely been killed by Han Li.

Just as he was hesitating and about to say something to Han Li, the surrounding formation changed drastically, emitting an enormous aura.

The yellow sandstorm gradually subsided, and the pitch-black sand particles that had been trying to contaminate Han Li and his flying swords became even denser.

The eerie cries grew louder, and the aura of the pitch-black sands became more ominous.

“It seems that the Mad Sand Old Devil has released all of the Soul-Shattering Sand he possessed. Ordinary magical treasures cannot block it, so we have no choice but to endure it with our magical power. But with this amount, the opponent’s magical power consumption will be extreme, so we won’t have to endure it for long.”

Hyunyeop King said to Han Li with tension. They were already in the same boat, and he couldn’t let anything happen to him now.

He had seen Han Li drive away the black energy with golden lightning, but if the amount of Soul-Shattering Sand increased like this, the situation would be different.

“The Soul-Shattering Sand seems to be a magical treasure made by refining souls, judging by its dense yin energy [a type of dark, negative energy].”

Han Li floated in the air, expressionless, and muttered to himself.

Hyunyeop King found it strange that he didn’t seem nervous at all, but he had no time to think about it as the black sand energy was getting closer and closer.

He opened his mouth and spat out a fist-sized gray-white corpse fire, which instantly turned into a huge ball of flame.

Only this flame, which had been refined for a long time, could withstand the power of the Soul-Shattering Sand. But even as he did so, the black sand energy was getting closer and closer.

*KU-KWANG!*

When the gray-white corpse fire and the black energy collided and began to fight, Han Li slowly retreated and threw the spirit beast from his waist into the air.

Something came out of it and appeared in front of Han Li. It was a small, pitch-black monkey.

The small monkey didn’t look happy, as if it was dissatisfied. It had been busy refining the corpse fire inside the Vajra Ape, and it was greatly upset that Han Li had forcibly summoned it.

But soon, the Soul Devourer sniffed with its nostrils and began to get excited when it saw the pitch-black sand energy surrounding it.

When Han Li urged it with his consciousness, the monkey beat its chest and howled lowly.

The black energy exploded and transformed into a giant ape the size of a dozen yards, and the ghost pattern on its back became even clearer.

Those hiding in the sandstorm and Hyunyeop King, who was risking his life to fight the Soul-Shattering Sand, were horrified by the appearance of the ape.

But whether they were surprised or not, the giant ape snorted and released yellow energy. The yellow energy spun around Han Li, protecting him.

And as soon as the black sands that were rushing in came into contact with the yellow energy, they began to lose their black energy.

When the giant ape saw this, it became excited and opened its mouth wide, releasing a golden, brilliant beam of light.

Wherever the beam of light touched, the black sand was sucked in without resistance and soon disappeared into the giant ape’s mouth.

After the yellow energy and the beam of light swept through a few times, most of the black sand lost its yin energy and scattered. Naturally, Han Li was fine, and only the Soul Devourer was enjoying absorbing a large amount of yin energy and black sand.

The surrounding sandstorm gradually turned yellow again. The Mad Sand Merchant and the Heavenly Wind True Lord, who were watching this, were speechless.

A treasure that could contaminate other people’s magical treasures like the Soul-Shattering Sand was not something that could be easily obtained. The yellow-robed giant must have killed countless low-level cultivators and refined their souls and a large amount of rare materials for over a hundred years.

The reason they were able to touch Hyunyeop King this time was partly because they believed in the power of the treasure.

But now that a giant monkey that an unknown cultivator had released was absorbing it, the yellow-robed giant was heartbroken. He no longer dared to attack using the Soul-Shattering Sand and retrieved all the black sand.

Now that it was uncertain whether this operation would succeed, he even wanted to retreat at this point.

“Mad Sand, you have the Southern Divine Sand that you borrowed this time, don’t you? Use that to deal with him. I don’t know the identity of that person’s spirit beast, but it seems to be the opposite of yin spirits or demons. The Southern Divine Sand is a treasure made of pure Taoist energy, so the opponent won’t be able to do anything about it. If we kill that person, the rest will go according to plan.”

The Heavenly Wind True Lord, with a pitch-black face and small eyes, spoke. In fact, he had worked so hard to plan this operation, and it was a shame to retreat now that success was within reach.

“The Southern Divine Sand is a treasure that I obtained after countless hardships to prepare for emergencies. I was only able to get it because I had a connection with Old Woman Cheonseok. I promised to use it only in life-threatening moments, and if anything happens, I won’t be able to handle the aftermath.”

The Mad Sand Merchant strongly shook his head and refused.

“But that cultivator’s spirit beast and magical treasures are not ordinary. If we don’t use the Southern Divine Sand, there is no way to fight back. Are you saying we should just fail like this? The Old Demon’s Heavenly Corpse Pearl is a treasure that can temper the body and is essential for us to reach the next realm!”

“Are you saying that the Heavenly Corpse Pearl is important and the Southern Divine Sand is not? This sand is not something that can be used repeatedly, but only once. No matter how much of a connection I have with Old Woman Cheonseok, I will not be able to obtain it again.

Besides, the opponent’s strength is unfathomable, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to defeat him even if we use it.”

The Mad Sand Merchant snorted.

“But…”

The Heavenly Wind True Lord also thought that the other party’s words made sense, but he was still reluctant to retreat like this. But then, a ball of fire flew from the distance.

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