Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 561

The flying swords emitted a golden light, swirling around Han Li like falling flower petals. He didn’t stop there; he opened his mouth and spat blood onto the Setting Sun Pearl. The pearl trembled violently, then unleashed a torrent of purple flames.

*Chwaaruk.*

The flames, amplified by the magic seal, engulfed Han Li, drastically lowering the surrounding temperature and creating a massive ice wall over a dozen *zhang* [approximately 3.3 meters] high.

At that moment, the golden needles flashed, piercing the ice wall.

*Taetaetaeng!*

Golden and purple lights clashed, creating countless holes on the surface of the ice wall. Han Li had thought he made the ice wall thick enough, but the golden needles were rapidly eroding it, already halving its thickness.

His expression subtly changed. Unbeknownst to Han Li, Yin Shiyacha was also greatly surprised.

Although the golden needles were indeed made of metal-attribute spiritual energy, they were not easily replicated. They were extracted from the abandoned ore here and refined by him one by one.

The golden needles, refined over thousands of years, were exceptionally sharp. It was these very needles that had shattered the purple ice Han Li had used to freeze him earlier.

However, Yin Shiyacha didn’t know that Han Li had spat out blood this time to amplify the power of the Extreme Yang Flame, borrowing the Setting Sun Pearl’s power to create the essence of ice flame.

Just then, the tricolored fire phoenix from Han Li’s fan crashed into the gray net. Countless silver threads emerged from the giant net woven with Soul-Slaying Threads, attempting to ensnare the phoenix.

After a moment, the phoenix, now covered in silver threads, cried out with a clear sound. Suddenly, mysterious golden, silver, and red lights and spells began to emanate from it.

The Soul-Slaying Threads, enveloped by the phoenix’s mysterious light, melted like snow, turning into gray energy and vanishing. Only then did the tricolored fire phoenix begin its true attack. It spread its wings, transforming into a giant fireball, expanding and contracting its body.

In the blink of an eye, rings of gold, silver, and red light were created, and spells flowed across the surface of the giant net of Soul-Slaying Threads, with the net at its center.

Both Han Li and Yin Shiyacha, floating in the air, were astonished by this beautiful phenomenon and lowered their gazes. The giant rings of light vanished instantly, and the giant net disappeared as if it had never existed.

Yin Shiyacha wore an expression of disbelief.

The Soul-Slaying Thread net was something he had poured all of his refined corpse-killing energy into. Although some remained in the bodies of the corpses, it was only enough to control the corpse-killing spirits, not enough to launch a powerful attack.

The problem wasn’t the amount of spiritual power in the opponent’s attack, but that it seemed to be borrowing the power of heaven and earth, something that should only be possible for a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Although he hadn’t reached the Golden Core Moon level, he had been hovering around a similar level for a long time and had a vague understanding of it. But when he sensed something similar in the attack just now, his mind became troubled.

What exactly was the identity of the fan in his hand that it could unleash such power?

Originally, he had nothing to fear as long as he possessed top-grade treasures due to his special divine power. However, since he had been trapped here after regaining his intelligence, he had no way to find materials to refine proper treasures.

Occasionally, he would slaughter cultivators who entered the Yin-Yang Cave and turn them into corpse-killing spirits alive, but the miscellaneous items they possessed were not to his liking. The only thing he was satisfied with was the Four Moon Mirror, but it had been destroyed, which infuriated him.

Han Li, pleased with the unexpected power of the Three Flame Fan, saw that the ice wall was almost collapsing from the golden needles. He took out a small bottle, brushing it against his sleeve. He opened the bottle and poured a drop of ten-thousand-year spiritual liquid into his mouth.

As the medicine took effect, a large amount of pure spiritual energy began to circulate through his meridians. Han Li, having recovered his magic power, looked coldly at Yin Shiyacha and tightly gripped the Three Flame Fan.

A powerful light erupted from the feather fan, and tricolored spells surged. This time, he was determined to completely annihilate his opponent. Fortunately, a barrier was set up around them, so the opponent couldn’t escape.

Yin Shiyacha’s expression changed when he saw this. Sensing the danger, he gritted his teeth and gestured towards the golden light mass in the air.

The golden light stopped emitting golden needles and was absorbed into Yin Shiyacha’s body. At the same time, he opened his large mouth and spat out black corpse energy, concealing his body in the dark light.

Just as Han Li was about to inject magic power into the fan with a sneer, a sudden, unexpected powerful vibration was felt from below, and the surrounding barrier disappeared.

Outside the original barrier, the ground began to crack and emit light. A huge barrier was merging with the original one, being reborn as a new formation.

Judging by the spirit stones embedded in the formation, it looked like a giant teleportation array.

‘What is this…’

Han Li had no reason to stay in a teleportation array that might send him away. He made up his mind and flapped his silver wings behind his back. He tried to use the Thunder Escape Technique to escape the barrier’s range. However, it was already too late.

The teleportation array hummed, and a blinding white light spread. Han Li and Yin Shiyacha disappeared without a sound.

Unbeknownst to them, similar situations were occurring in various places in the Great Jin. In addition to Yin Shiyacha, three other unknown monsters disappeared simultaneously through the giant teleportation array.

All of this was due to the Ye family cultivators who had gathered at a lake in a certain part of South River.

* * *

At the same time, the high-level Ye family cultivators floating in the sky above the lake were equally confused.

‘Didn’t you say you were setting up a formation to conceal the strange phenomenon? With this sight, cultivators thousands of *li* [approximately 0.5 kilometers] away would have seen it. Are you trying to destroy our Ye family!’

A square-faced cultivator glared murderously and shouted at an old man with a pale face. The other Ye family cultivators gathered behind him also had dark expressions.

An unusually large pillar of light was shooting up into the sky from the center of the lake, and six pillars of light were converging on it from afar.

‘I don’t know what’s going on either. The formation was definitely working properly until yesterday, and I ordered the low-level disciples to activate the formation early this morning.’

The old man with disheveled white hair was the Ye family’s formation master and was in charge of releasing the sealing barrier.

‘Second brother, it’s not right to blame Elder Linglong without reason. How much effort has he put into breaking this formation? There must be a problem somewhere else. If it doesn’t work out, we can all go out and kill the cultivators within thousands of *li*. You all go immediately to the places where the formations are set up, find out the cause, and see if you can restore them.’

A scholar in his thirties, wearing a white robe, muttered fiercely. At the scholar’s words, the square-faced cultivator let go of the old man, and several elders pointed out by the scholar bowed to him.

‘Yes, Great Elder!’

The young scholar in the white robe was the Great Elder of the Great Jin’s first family. The scholar gave his orders and asked the white-haired old man.

‘There won’t be any problems with releasing the sealing barrier, will there?’

‘Reporting to the Great Elder, there are no problems with releasing the sealing barrier. There is already a gap in the barrier that seals Mount Kunwu, and the barrier itself is weakening, so the seal itself will completely disappear within a year.’

‘Okay, that’s good. Tell all the low-level cultivators to gather and leave this place. Don’t return to the family as planned, but hide in the designated place, and don’t show yourselves for a year. If you disobey, you will be punished by family law!’

At the scholar’s words, the white-haired old man trembled and replied that he would, then immediately disappeared somewhere.

After a short while, the Ye family elders who had gone to investigate returned.

‘Great Elder, it’s a disaster. After investigating, we found that the barrier is completely broken, and all the disciples in charge of that place have disappeared.’

At those words, the eyes of the scholar and the other cultivators there turned cold.

‘There was no one within a hundred *li* except for our Ye family cultivators. It’s impossible that someone just happened to pass by and caused this. It seems there’s a problem within our ranks.’

The scholar said with a sudden sneer.

‘Our own cultivators!’

‘That’s impossible. How could a Ye family cultivator do such a thing?’

‘Not all of them are Ye family cultivators.’

All eyes turned to a cultivator with ordinary features. It was the Goma [a type of demon] in human form.

‘Elder Han was placed here at my direct request. Besides, he has been with my uncle all along, so it’s absurd to suspect him.’

The Ye family Great Elder immediately stopped the discussion.

‘That’s right. Elder Han and I had a very pleasant conversation!’

The large-headed monster calmly agreed. The other cultivators also dismissed their suspicions at the words of their uncle and the Great Elder. The scholar soon gave orders to the square-faced cultivator.

‘Brother, you need to go under the lake and check if there are any problems related to the missing disciples.’

‘Understood!’

The square-faced cultivator immediately turned into a beam of light and disappeared into the lake.

‘The other elders should also prepare themselves. Although we won’t be able to hide this for long due to the strange phenomenon caused by breaking the barrier, it will take some time for a force capable of opposing us to gather.

There are no large sects in South River, and it will take at least half a month for cultivators from other regions to arrive. We don’t know the situation inside Mount Kunwu, but we must secure the treasures first. In particular, we must get the Heaven-Reaching Treasure; only then can we protect the family even if this matter becomes known. Otherwise, our plan of over a hundred years could bring about our own destruction.’

‘Yes, Great Elder!’

As the elders bowed their heads, the square-faced cultivator returned with an old man in a white robe. The square-faced cultivator came before the scholar and reported the situation.

‘Two formation masters are also missing below. They are the daughters of the fifth and twelfth families. They wouldn’t dare to collude with the enemy and sell information, would they?’

‘It is not yet known whether they colluded with the enemy or were killed. When did they go missing?’

‘It’s been two days. They were in charge of the formations in distant places, so no one knew they were gone. It was only today, when all the disciples gathered, that we realized they were missing.’

This time, the white-haired old man answered the Great Elder’s question with a cold sweat.

‘It’s possible that those two are the problem. But since it has already happened, when you enter Mount Kunwu, immediately evacuate the formation masters and disciples. By the way, have you found the location of the gap in the sealing barrier?’

‘Yes, we found it using the formation. It’s located about twenty *li* north, underground, and there should be a crack several tens of *zhang* long, a thousand *zhang* below the ground. It will be enough for the elders to enter.’

‘Lead the way. Everyone, let’s go.’

‘Yes, Great Elder!’

At the same time, nine cultivators flew north and soon arrived at a grassy area twenty *li* away.

The white-haired old man stopped and looked around before flipping his palm and taking out a silver formation disc. As he chanted a spell and cast a magic seal, the disc shone brightly, and unknown spells floated around.

‘This is the place.’

The white-haired old man confirmed the formation disc and answered confidently.

‘Okay! We’ll go down as soon as the nun releases the spirit beast.’

The scholar turned his head and looked at the old female Taoist. She immediately emitted a yellow light from her spirit beast pouch, and soon a centipede with what seemed like a thousand legs appeared, emitting a green aura. The centipede was a giant spirit beast proficient in earth escape techniques.

The cultivators, except for the white-haired old man, quickly climbed onto the centipede’s back, and as the old female Taoist chanted a low spell, the giant centipede emitted a yellow aura.

The cultivators, inside the yellow protective shield, burrowed into the ground with the giant centipede.

The white-haired old man waited for a while, and when the elders had completely disappeared, he let out a long sigh and began to return the way he had come.

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