Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 556

Fifteen days later, in the underground of the Yin-Yang Cave.

Han Li manipulated over a dozen golden flying swords with hand seals, slicing through countless black moths that swarmed toward him.

The moths were small, but their bodies were pitch black, and each flap of their wings released blades of wind. Han Li showed a hint of annoyance as he watched the endless stream of moths.

He grabbed a spirit beast pouch and tossed it into the air, causing golden petals to fall and release a swarm of spirit insects—the Gold Devouring Beetles.

The black moths collided with the Gold Devouring Beetles and fell in droves. Han Li, seeing this, retrieved most of his flying swords and moved deeper into the wind tunnel.

After walking about halfway through the wind tunnel, his dark blue eyes pierced through the darkness, allowing him to assess the situation.

“Hmm?”

He walked about twenty steps and raised a moonstone. The surroundings brightened, revealing a black crystal the size of a head, from which countless black moths poured out.

The moths swarmed toward Han Li and the dazzling moonstone, but they were easily knocked away by the Gold Devouring Beetles. The moths fell continuously, but before they could touch the ground, they turned into black energy and vanished without a trace.

“That’s the third one already. A crystal that automatically transforms Yin energy into Yin Nether Moths…”

However, as he examined the crystal closely, a black light burst forth, and a giant moth appeared. The giant moth immediately glared at him with its red eyes.

But Han Li’s hands moved even faster, and golden lightning flashed, tearing the giant moth to pieces.

It was unknown what abilities the large Yin Nether Moth possessed, but it was no match for the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, which was its natural enemy.

Afterward, he reached out his hand toward the crystal.

A blue hand appeared in the air, digging the crystal out of the wall. At that moment, the powerful Yin wind that had been swirling around subsided, and the black moths that had been fighting the Gold Devouring Beetles scattered into black energy and disappeared.

Although this crystal was not as large as the previous ones, the same situation had occurred twice before when he had discovered and entered wind tunnels.

After Old Man Fu had once again cast the Free Movement Technique [a technique that allows for rapid movement], he and Bai Yaoyi had moved separately. With her not by his side, the variety of attacks he could use naturally increased.

He had encountered high-level ghostly creatures frequently as he went deeper into the cave, but he had annihilated them all with his flying swords and Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning. As a result, his search speed was twice as fast as others. Before others could even explore one passage, he had already finished two.

While chasing after a fleeing ghostly creature, he had discovered a wind tunnel and encountered the black crystal there.

In fact, the Yin energy was so strong in places where the wind blew too fiercely that even Yin Earth Demons found it difficult to survive, and even with the Free Movement Technique, the consumption of magical power was severe, so no one except Han Li entered such places.

Therefore, Han Li was actually wandering around trying to collect the crystals.

The black crystal was something he had never seen before, and he had never read about it in any scriptures. Although it looked similar to the Demonic Essence Stones at first glance, it was definitely different upon closer inspection.

The black crystal was not as hard as the Demonic Essence Stones, and the energy it contained was not demonic energy but a wind-attributed substance that had solidified over a long period. Of course, it also contained a large amount of Yin energy.

However, the black crystals were not common, and Han Li had only managed to obtain three after exploring dozens of wind tunnels.

Han Li stared at the unresponsive crystal for a long time before taking out a large jade box, placing it inside, and attaching layers of talismans. He then checked his surroundings once more to make sure he hadn’t missed anything before leaving the passage.

After walking a few hundred steps, the passage became narrower, and another small cave appeared. At the end of the path was a wall covered in what looked like ice.

Han Li sighed softly and released a blue light. The light began to dig deep into the stone wall and then disappeared.

After confirming that there were no devices or restrictions, Han Li turned around and flew back the way he had come. Judging by the appearance of various high-level ghostly creatures, he seemed to have already approached the center quite closely.

Yet, he had not even found a trace of the Yin Earth Demon, so he was starting to get impatient. He had rushed here after quickly finishing the refinement of the Three Flame Fan, but he couldn’t return empty-handed.

He knew without even trying how difficult and challenging it would be to advance from the mid-stage to the late-stage of the Nascent Soul realm [a high level of cultivation].

Among the mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, who wasn’t a genius? Yet, there were only three who had reached the late-stage of the Nascent Soul realm in the entire Tiannan region. There were quite a few in the Great Jin, but considering the large number of cultivators and sects, it was still very rare.

Although he had prepared a means to overcome the bottleneck of cultivation with the Heaven Phoenix Nurturing Yuan Art, it was still uncertain whether he could truly reach the late-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Therefore, he absolutely could not miss the Nascent Soul Pill this time.

If he could really find the Yin Earth Demon in the Yin-Yang Cave, he planned to obtain the Nascent Soul Pill recipe from Old Man Fu. Although the possibility was slim, after obtaining the recipe, he might be able to find another Yin Earth Demon elsewhere. After all, this wasn’t the only place in the world where Yin energy gathered.

Lost in thought for a moment, Han Li suddenly turned his head. He had sensed a green light approaching from afar. Without any hesitation, he immediately released a blue aura and wrapped it around the light, bringing it back.

The light faded, revealing a small green sword, which had flown in embedded in a red jade slip.

Han Li curled up the corners of his lips and pulled the flying sword from the jade slip, throwing it into the air. The flying sword rang out clearly, then circled and disappeared into the black Yin wind. Han Li immediately infused his consciousness into the jade slip.

“To find the trail of the Yin Earth Demon, that’s good news.”

He retrieved his consciousness and flipped his hand, causing a white formation disc to appear.

A blue light flashed, and the surface of the disc shone like a mirror, faintly showing four dots of different colors. He confirmed the location and flew away at an increased speed.

* * *

Half a day later, Han Li returned through the passage to where the Yuan Clan giant and Old Man Fu were. They were sitting cross-legged, recovering their magical power under the Free Movement Technique.

“Did Fellow Cultivator Yuan find the Yin Earth Demon?” Han Li asked as he entered the purple light.

“Yes! The Yin Earth Demon is in that passage over there. It’s so cunning and fast that I didn’t think I could catch it alone, so I sealed the entrance and gathered everyone here.”

“Good. As long as we find it, catching it won’t be a problem.”

Han Li smiled at the giant as he revealed a happy expression.

“Senior Sister Shang and Fellow Cultivator Bai are a bit far away, but they will arrive soon. Let’s move together when everyone is here,” Old Man Fu said, also showing a happy expression. Han Li was relieved by his words and also sat cross-legged, closing his eyes.

Not long after, the black-clad Lady Mi and Bai Yaoyi returned. Without delay, they placed a few simple barriers at the entrance and entered the passage.

However, no one noticed that a dark light flickered near the entrance of the passage, and three pitch-black ghouls appeared.

The emaciated ghouls had empty abdomens and were skin and bones, but their green eyes were chillingly cold.

The five cultivators searched everywhere along the eastern passage and soon reached the small cave where the Yuan Clan giant had discovered the Yin Earth Demon.

They were worried that the Yin Earth Demon might escape, so three cultivators entered the cave while the other two guarded the entrance. This time, it was Lady Mi and Bai Yaoyi’s turn to guard the entrance while the remaining cultivators entered.

As soon as they entered, they sensed a strange energy. The Yin wind was very weak, and they even felt warm air.

Upon closer inspection, they found a rare warm jade vein flowing under a sand dune on one side of the cave. There was a faint fragrance around it, which smelled like herbs and wood.

And they found a large hoof-shaped footprint on the sandy floor.

“It’s definitely the Yin Earth Demon,” Old Man Fu said, clapping his hands after smelling the fragrance around the footprint.

“Since Fellow Fu has confirmed it, all that’s left is to chase it. The passage isn’t very wide, so if we search thoroughly, we’ll definitely find it,” the Yuan Clan giant said.

“That’s right. Then now…”

Old Man Fu was about to say something when suddenly a ‘grrr’ sound was heard, and a vibration was felt. It was as if the entire Yin-Yang Cave was shaking. And the tremendous sound was getting closer and closer.

The three cultivators immediately transformed into streaks of light and flew up.

They instantly emerged into the passage and found the two women staring at something with surprised expressions. Something seemed to be rushing toward them, and its size was so large that the entire cave was shaking.

The cultivators exchanged glances and released various magical treasures, focusing their attention on the front.

The other cultivators could not see far due to the pitch-black Yin wind, but Han Li had already activated his Bright Sight Spiritual Eyes and was seeing the ghostly creature over a hundred feet away.

It was surprisingly a giant wolf covered in green fur. Its height while crouching was three zhang [about 10 meters], its head was the size of a house, and its crimson eyes and sharp claws gleamed with a chilling light.

Han Li was greatly surprised to see that green corpse fire was being emitted every time the giant wolf roared.

‘A Corpse Wolf?’

Han Li recalled the identity of the ghostly creature. But compared to the typical Corpse Wolf he had read about in scriptures, the ghostly creature that was rushing toward them was far too large.

Just as he was about to warn the other cultivators, he noticed something between the giant wolf’s fur.

“That’s the Yin Earth Demon…”

“What did you just say?” Old Man Fu turned his head, having heard those words like a ghost.

“A powerful ghostly creature is approaching, and it seems to be with the Yin Earth Demon.”

“Yin Earth Demon!” The other cultivators expressed their joy at those words.

At that moment, the giant wolf’s form began to appear faintly through the Yin wind, and the other cultivators also confirmed it, their smiles disappearing.

The black-clad Lady Mi flicked her ten fingers, sending out over a dozen white light orbs. The light orbs flew not toward the giant wolf but to the side and exploded.

The white light spread, and at the same time, the front became clear, revealing the ferocious wolf’s appearance to the cultivators. Everyone’s expressions changed slightly, but they quickly grasped the wolf’s danger.

At that moment, a white object lying on top of the Corpse Wolf’s head also came into view.

Although only a small part of it was visible through the green fur, it was clearly a white horse with turquoise eyes glaring at them.

“We absolutely cannot let the Yin Earth Demon escape. The Corpse Wolf seems to be a mutated ghostly creature, but five Nascent Soul cultivators should be able to handle it. Fellow Cultivator Bai, I would like you to focus on capturing the Yin Earth Demon,” Old Man Fu said immediately, then sent out a chain-shaped black treasure, which brushed past his storage pouch. The chain flew toward the giant wolf like a venomous snake.

The other cultivators also began to move one by one. Lady Mi flicked her sleeves, sending out three bright red flying swords, and the giant summoned winged scorpions and sent them forward.

Han Li also opened his mouth and released energy, causing the light of his flying swords to intensify and turn golden as they surged forward.

And Bai Yaoyi was holding a translucent net in one hand. A cold light flashed, and the net turned into a white aura and flew toward the Yin Earth Demon on top of the giant wolf.

The five cultivators were cooperating for the first time, but their respective treasures were powerful, so their combined power was tremendous.

The Yin Earth Demon was very clever. Seeing the attacks coming toward the wolf, it ducked down and hid among the Corpse Wolf’s green fur.

The Corpse Wolf opened its mouth with a ferocious gaze, and turquoise ghost fire poured out continuously, engulfing various magical treasures in flames.

In an instant, turquoise flames and the light of the treasures clashed. Han Li’s flying swords, as well as the treasures of the others, were blocked by the corpse fire and could not move forward, and the winged scorpions disappeared into blue smoke without any chance to dodge.

The white net, which had originally been aimed at the Yin Earth Demon, was also blocked by the flames. Seeing this, Bai Yaoyi snorted coldly.

The Northern Night Small Extreme Bow had both treasures and techniques with cold attributes. So, she would not be intimidated by the corpse fire.

Before the other cultivators could react, she first formed a hand seal and drew out the cold energy from her entire body. The surrounding temperature dropped sharply, causing Lady Mi and the giant to shiver from the cold.

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