Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 555

A yellow wind poured from the fan, instantly blowing away the dust and stone fragments on the ground. Now, the entire cave was so dark that one could barely see a finger in front of their face.

However, Han Li and Bai Yaoyi, with their movement techniques and protective barriers, were completely unaffected by the dust storm.

Only then did they begin to examine the formations on the floor. At that moment, a dark light flickered behind them, and something black and murky silently rose from the floor.

Han Li and Bai Yaoyi didn’t even turn their heads, seemingly oblivious. In response, the black shadow flashed a red light and shot out like an arrow, spewing something towards Bai Yaoyi.

It was targeting both Han Li and Bai Yaoyi simultaneously.

At that moment, Han Li suddenly flipped his palm, and a blue hand appeared in the air, grabbing the black shadow by its waist.

The palace lady’s elegant gesture caused the umbrella to flash, and without her realizing it, the umbrella moved behind her.

When the projectile touched the umbrella, a white light burst out, and the black light was deflected, hitting the wall.

Only then did Bai Yaoyi turn around with a smile, checking the monster that Han Li had caught. The monster had a monkey’s head and a snake’s body, with arms growing out, making it incredibly bizarre.

The monster, with its jet-black scales, was about three to four yards long and held short spears made of bone in both hands. Caught in the hand of light, the monster struggled fiercely, glaring at the two of them.

“A Niefeng Ape? Such a rare creature exists in this world?”

“It is said that these rare creatures are formed when a person’s resentment congeals in strong Yin energy [negative energy]. They are known to be ferocious, tearing apart and eating people’s brains while they are still alive. Moreover, they can imitate various sounds. It seems the roar we heard earlier was the work of this Niefeng Ape. I’ve only seen it in scriptures, never thought I’d actually encounter such a creature. But to dare to ambush a Nascent Soul cultivator [a high-level cultivator], it has sought its own death.”

Han Li said casually, examining the creature in detail.

“Why keep such an evil spirit around? It’s best to get rid of it immediately.”

Bai Yaoyi, feeling a chill from the Niefeng Ape’s ferocious gaze, immediately reached out and sent out a cold energy. The cold light circled around the Niefeng Ape, turning it into a block of ice.

In response, Han Li strengthened the blue hand, shattering the ice block into pieces. Now, the dust storm in the cave had subsided, and the formation was clearly visible.

While Han Li narrowed his eyes, scanning it, Bai Yaoyi, seemingly uninterested, examined other parts of the cave.

“It’s a type of Soul Refining Formation. A very old type, and even…”

“Even what?”

“Even the formation seems to have been created much earlier than that corpse. It might have been here since ancient times.”

“Why do you think so?”

“It’s just a guess based on my past experiences, so don’t worry too much about it.”

Bai Yaoyi realized that Han Li didn’t want to explain the reason and smiled, changing the subject.

“Well, no matter how strange the formation and the corpse are, it has nothing to do with us. There doesn’t seem to be anything else, shall we go back?”

Bai Yaoyi reached out, retrieved her flying sword, and put it back into her sleeve.

“Let’s go.”

Han Li nodded, and the two walked towards the entrance. Feeling an ominous premonition, Han Li couldn’t help but glance at the corpse with its stomach torn open.

“Is there a problem?”

Bai Yaoyi asked, puzzled, as Han Li stopped walking. But suddenly, Han Li reached out a hand and attacked the corpse on the stone pillar with golden lightning.

The corpse, which had been there for who knows how long, was shattered into pieces by the golden light and scattered into ashes.

“Let’s go. I guess I was just worrying for nothing.”

Han Li, who had briefly frowned, returned to his expressionless state.

As Han Li and Bai Yaoyi safely exited the cave, a human-shaped black shadow suddenly rose from the base of the cave’s stone pillar. Its entire body was jet-black, and its face was vague, making it look like a shadow. Only its two eyes flickered, making it extremely bizarre.

It looked at the shattered Niefeng Ape and the ashes of the stone pillar before flying down to the floor. Then, a strange scene unfolded.

As the black shadow rolled on the floor, the gray ashes of the corpse flew towards it. A strange cry was heard, and a black aura rose. From within the black shadow, the same corpse as before walked out.

As the corpse opened its mouth, the remains of the Niefeng Ape were engulfed in a black aura and disappeared into its stomach. Then, something wriggled inside its stomach before popping back out.

It was the same Niefeng Ape as before.

The Niefeng Ape raised its head and, crawling on the ground, affectionately wrapped itself around the corpse’s leg and climbed up.

* * *

Around the time Han Li’s group began their separate exploration, explosions and shouts echoed from a mountain peak in the Southern Border.

Over a hundred black-clad figures were attacking a yellow protective barrier with magical treasures and artifacts, while inside, a dozen or so cultivators in yellow robes were desperately waving formation flags to resist.

However, the number of cultivators in yellow robes was small, and the protective barrier seemed on the verge of breaking. A middle-aged man in yellow robes inside the barrier floated with a pale face.

Around him, five gray-white shadows floated like smoke in the distance.

“Brother Jong, can’t you spare a path for our Ha family? You know very well that I have a connection with your sect’s leader. If you let us go this time, we will lead our clan away from the cultivation world and never appear again. Besides, this is the Southern Border. Do you think you can get away with this?”

The middle-aged cultivator pleaded, knowing there was little hope.

“Did you not consider that your Ha family betrayed the Yin Fiend Sect after agreeing to join us? What do you take our Yin Fiend Sect for, to dare such a thing! If you thought we couldn’t do anything because we are in the Southern Border, you are greatly mistaken. Will you offer your own life, or must I take action? You know very well that once the Five Hearts Demons act, not even your bones will be left.”

A voice, neither male nor female, echoed leisurely from the empty air. The middle-aged cultivator’s face darkened at those words.

Kukukung!

Suddenly, a great tremor reverberated from below, and the protective barrier that had been protecting the manor and the dozen or so disciples shattered and disappeared.

In an instant, the middle-aged man’s face lost all color. However, the Yin Fiend Sect cultivators cheered and charged forward, flashing various lights of spiritual energy.

“How dare you!”

The middle-aged man couldn’t hold back and threw one of his spirit beasts, which transformed into a yellow serpent several yards long.

“Why try to compete with the younger generation? I was curious about the power of a cultivator’s Chaos Brick, so let’s compete.”

One of the white shadows in the air moved, blocking the yellow serpent from going down. In response, the yellow serpent opened its mouth with a ferocious gaze, but the white shadow shook and transformed into a giant skull.

The yellow serpent tried to stop its attack, but it was too late.

Kkiruk.

The skull let out a strange laugh and released a mass of white threads from its mouth, tightly wrapping around the serpent’s head. The startled serpent struggled desperately and tried to strike the skull with its steel-like tail, but it was useless.

The skull immediately sent a gray aura from its mouth through the white threads to the yellow serpent. As a result, wherever the gray aura touched, the serpent’s smooth skin rapidly lost its luster and withered, leaving only skin and bones.

However, the skull didn’t stop there and pulled the remaining corpse into its mouth, chewing it.

Crack! Crunch!

The yellow-robed cultivator was enraged at the demise of his spirit beast, which had been with him for many years. He scanned the white auras around him and struck the back of his head, spitting out a yellow brick from his mouth.

The middle-aged man formed a hand seal and pointed at the brick. It instantly grew to a size of over a dozen yards, emitting a powerful yellow spiritual light.

“Is that the Chaos Brick? Disappointingly, it’s not as impressive as the rumors. There’s no need for me to act personally; the cultivator should just die at the hands of the Five Hearts Demons.”

The cultivator in the air sighed, expressing disappointment. The white shadows shook and flew towards the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was not swayed by the opponent’s words and shouted loudly. In response, the brick above his head began to rotate, creating a whirlwind that protected the middle-aged man.

However, the white shadows seemed to ignore the whirlwind and threw themselves inside.

“You’re just asking for death!”

Inside the yellow whirlwind, countless small bricks were floating.

Kwakwakwang!

Continuous collision sounds were heard, and when the white shadows disappeared, a yellow beam of light pierced through and soared into the sky, appearing twenty yards away in the blink of an eye.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Papapapat!

A chilling voice echoed, and four white shadows emerged from the whirlwind as if nothing had happened and disappeared from the spot.

At that moment, a surge of spiritual energy was suddenly felt in front of the yellow beam of light, and four white shadows appeared and charged.

The yellow-robed cultivator was terrified and stopped his technique, waving his hand. A giant brick several yards in size blocked the way, but the white shadows surprisingly passed right through it and reached the yellow-robed cultivator’s face.

Now at a loss, he hurriedly poured spiritual power into the ancient treasure he was holding. In response, a blue jade tablet emitted light, and a blue aura was released, holding the white shadows back.

However, the white shadows made strange noises and giggled before collapsing on their own within the blue aura.

Feeling ominous, the middle-aged man tried to flee, but suddenly his vision turned white, and the white shadows pounced. They passed right through him as if he had no protective barrier and disappeared into his body.

Before he could react, his entire body became hot, and his blood began to boil.

If another cultivator had been nearby, they would have seen the yellow-robed cultivator’s body rapidly wither and turn into a corpse.

The Nascent Soul [the core of a cultivator’s power] within the corpse had long been devoured by the white shadows that had entered his body. The white shadows, having emerged from the body, transformed into skulls and brutally devoured the middle-aged man’s corpse.

At that moment, the remaining one flew back leisurely, and the five white shadows floated side by side. The explosions below gradually subsided, and a black-clad old man flew up with an agitated face.

“Greetings, Great Elder. We have annihilated 72 cultivators of the Ha family, and there are still about 300 direct descendants left. What shall we do?”

The black-clad old man bowed respectfully towards the white shadows.

“Kill them all.”

“Yes!”

The black-clad old man answered and was about to turn back.

“Wait. Elder Gal has informed us that the cultivator who killed our sect’s elder and took the Yin Fiend Banner might be in the Southern Border. After finishing this matter, lead everyone to search for him. We cannot allow our sect’s treasure to remain in the hands of another cultivator.”

“Yes, I will move immediately.”

The black-clad old man replied with a tense expression and disappeared below.

“To have killed the fourth one who possessed the Yin Fiend Banner and escaped the pursuit of the Heavenly Orchid Holy Temple to come here, he must be stronger than the Ha family. He might be an interesting opponent.”

# 557