Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 614

Han Li pondered for half a day and decided to head north. After passing through a dozen or so regions, he arrived at a place called Frost County.

Although it wasn’t the largest county in the northern part of Great Jin, it was still quite substantial. As he traversed the snow-covered white land, Han Li saw heavy snow for more than six out of ten days.

Because the quality and quantity of spiritual mountains and veins were low, there were hardly any major powers of Great Jin here. However, quite a few small clans and hermits gathered in this place. Although the environment of Frost County was harsh, it was among the top five in size out of the 36 counties of Great Jin. It was also a well-known source of extremely cold spiritual herbs and materials.

Most of the cultivators here practiced ice or extreme cold attribute techniques, and there were also those who practiced yin-cold techniques. Not only could they increase their cultivation speed, but they would also have a significant advantage if they fought against cultivators of other attributes here. Most of Tiannan and even the Chaotic Star Sea had warm, spring-like weather all year round, making such icy and snowy regions very rare.

Han Li was initially interested, but after a few days, he became indifferent. He encountered other cultivators along the way, but Han Li detected them in advance and took detours, so he was not discovered by anyone.

On the fifth day after entering Frost County, Han Li finally stopped on an inconspicuous mountain range. It wasn’t a very large mountain range, but it still had a usable spiritual vein flowing through it.

Han Li floated in the air, checked the density of spiritual energy, and nodded in satisfaction.

“Hmm.”

Han Li snorted coldly and released a powerful aura over the mountain range.

The vegetation throughout the mountain trembled under the immense pressure of spiritual energy, and small animals collapsed and lost consciousness. Naturally, the hermits who were staying there were thrown into chaos.

Those with lower cultivation felt as if their bodies weighed a ton, and their knees buckled, while those with higher cultivation had their breathing become ragged as if they were under a restriction.

Three streaks of light shot up from the mountain and flew towards Han Li.

Seeing someone approaching, Han Li emitted a blue light, blurring his face, and soon transformed into a sinister-looking old man with a goatee.

The light from the streaks faded, and two old men in black robes and a burly man in a gray robe appeared before Han Li. The burly man, who looked the youngest, was in the lead, with the two old men following behind.

Han Li raised an eyebrow but didn’t find it strange at all.

The burly man was a Core Formation middle-stage cultivator, and the others were Foundation Establishment late-stage, so it was only natural. Moreover, the three seemed to be practicing similar techniques, suggesting they were from the same sect.

Before Han Li could speak, the burly man in the gray robe scanned him with his spiritual sense, and his expression changed drastically. The anger vanished like smoke, and he immediately began to smile broadly.

“I am Li Chongtian, the head of the Li family from Snow Lotus Peak. If you need anything, Senior, please tell me!”

The burly man spoke extremely respectfully, but his heart was pounding as he looked at Han Li’s changed face.

“Did this old man ask you where you came from? I like this mountain, so I’ll give you half a day to leave immediately. From now on, this mountain is my territory.”

Han Li said fiercely in a hoarse voice.

The burly man felt suffocated by those words but forced a smile.

“Senior, our family resides on Snow Lotus Peak with the permission of Senior Rong. Of course, we will follow your instructions, but I thought I should let you know beforehand.”

“Senior Rong? Are you threatening me now? Whoever that is, tell them to come find me if they have any complaints. But if anyone remains on this mountain after half a day, don’t blame me for what happens!”

Han Li glared and flicked his sleeve, creating a blue gust of wind. The burly man’s expression changed, and he tried to put up a protective barrier and explain, but the powerful pressure of spiritual energy made him swallow his words.

The two old men, who had barely managed to rise on their magic tools, were hit by the wind and tumbled in the air without even having time to deploy a protective barrier. The two old men tried to cast spells, but they couldn’t gather their magic power. It was as if they were under a restriction.

At this point, the two old men were truly terrified and didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, the wind disappeared in an instant. They looked around with pale faces, but Han Li had already vanished.

“Elder, when did that person…”

“Inform the family cultivators. Pack your things immediately and leave this place within two hours.”

The burly man’s expression was grim, but he took a deep breath and made a decision. He also had no idea when Han Li had disappeared.

“What? Are we leaving Snow Lotus Peak like this? Our family worked hard to take this place after driving out the Seven Friends of Snow Lotus. And it hasn’t even been a hundred years yet. Besides, Senior Rong won’t just sit idly by when someone acts so recklessly.”

One of the old men in black robes raised his voice in agitation. The other old man didn’t speak, but he was just as reluctant to lose the family’s hard-earned home.

“You’ve all lost your minds! We can’t fathom the depth of that person’s cultivation, and the fact that he’s doing this openly means he must have something to rely on. The pressure of spiritual energy he released was even stronger than what we felt from Senior Rong, so he might be a Nascent Soul middle-stage cultivator. Now that such a powerful figure has appeared, even if Senior Rong has ties with our family, he’s likely to pretend he doesn’t know anything and remain neutral.

Do you think he would confront that person for the sake of a small family like ours? Besides, if the opponent was truly reckless, he wouldn’t have given us time to leave. He would have just killed us all outright. Don’t forget that the cultivation world is a world of the strong preying on the weak. When we occupied this mountain, didn’t we forcefully drive out the Seven Friends of Snow Lotus in the same way?

As long as we can preserve the core disciples of the family, we can just find another spiritual mountain and leave. It’s much better than being annihilated by a Nascent Soul cultivator!”

The burly man in the gray robe’s face darkened as he severely scolded the two old men. The two old men seemed to have finally come to their senses and nodded repeatedly. The three cultivators then flew back down and disappeared into the mountain.

Shortly after, the entire mountain became chaotic.

The cultivators hurriedly flew around the mountain, going in and out of small pavilions, all with panicked expressions.

An hour later, the cultivators split into two groups and began to leave the mountain. There were nearly two to three hundred of them, but most were Qi Refining cultivators, and only about twenty could fly.

Such a large movement of cultivators could not have gone unnoticed by the nearby forces, and they all sent people to inquire about the news, feeling strange.

The Li family cultivators told them the truth without hesitation.

Upon hearing that Snow Lotus Mountain had been taken over by a Nascent Soul cultivator, all the cultivators were greatly shocked and hurried back to their own forces to discuss countermeasures. A cultivator with high cultivation had suddenly appeared and forcefully seized Snow Lotus Peak, so they wanted to assess their future fortunes.

While the few surrounding forces were worried, Han Li appeared on the summit of Snow Lotus Mountain earlier than promised and used his spiritual sense to confirm that there were no remaining cultivators.

He opened his eyes with a satisfied expression. Without wasting any time, Han Li flipped his palm and took out a set of formation flags. Then, his figure blurred, and a blue streak of light quickly circled the mountain before returning to the rock in an instant.

White mist billowed everywhere, enveloping the mountain. Han Li nodded as he examined the restriction created by the formation.

This was something he had obtained from the old devil Gan, and it belonged to a relatively high-level formation. It was useless to Nascent Soul cultivators, but even Core Formation cultivators would have difficulty escaping if they were trapped inside.

Han Li then threw out a spirit beast bag with one hand, forming hand seals and pointing at the sky. The spirit beast bag opened, and a cold aura flowed out. A dozen or so winged centipedes with shimmering white bodies emerged.

The six-winged frost centipedes flew out of the spirit beast bag, circled above Han Li’s head, and cried out happily. Han Li smiled at the sight. The icy and snowy climate suited the spirit insects perfectly.

He moved his spiritual sense, and the twelve six-winged frost centipedes immediately disappeared into the surrounding mist.

Han Li did not delay any further. He used the divine ability of the Brightsight Spirit Eyes to find the spot with the densest spiritual energy around the mountainside and burrowed into the ground using earth escape. Then, he released the Heavenly Fiend Banner and entered it.

Han Li first arranged for the spirit insects and spirit beasts to rest, and then he went straight into the secret chamber for closed-door cultivation, sat cross-legged, and focused his mind. A day passed.

When he opened his eyes again, his mind was calm and peaceful. He brushed past his storage pouch and took out a vermilion gourd, tilting it into his palm.

A jade-colored pill with a pungent fragrance rolled out. It was the Nascent Soul Pill that had driven Han Li to embark on this journey. According to Elder Gu of Nine Serenities Valley, it would take at least half a year to refine it, so he could no longer delay.

The sooner he refined the Nascent Soul Pill, the more advantageous it would be for his future cultivation and battles. Han Li swallowed the jade-colored pill and felt a warm yet cool sensation as a hot aura emanated from the pill’s surface.

Han Li did not relax his vigilance. He put away the gourd, closed his eyes, and focused his mind again.

If someone were looking inside his body, they would have seen his inch-sized Nascent Soul [a nascent soul is a spiritual entity formed after reaching a certain level of cultivation] open its eyes wide and emit a blue aura from its mouth to refine the jade-colored pill.

The secret chamber was as silent as if no one was there.

Time passed quickly, and half a year went by unnoticed. The secret chamber was still silent, but outside Snow Lotus Mountain, several groups of cultivators visited, vying to pay their respects to the rumored expert.

Among them was even a silver-haired old man in the early Nascent Soul stage.

However, no matter how long they waited or how loudly they shouted in front of the white mist, it was useless, and they all left. The silver-haired old man even tried to break into the mist, but he was chased out by the sharp cries of insects inside.

However, one of his arms was transparently frozen after coming out of the mist. It wasn’t a major injury, but the silver-haired old man couldn’t enter the restriction again and had to retreat with a sigh.

Releasing powerful spirit insects inside the formation was a strong expression of not wanting to meet anyone, and it also meant that the stronger the spirit beasts, the more formidable their master’s divine abilities were.

Before long, the large and small forces within a radius of 100,000 li around Snow Lotus Mountain learned that a reclusive expert with great divine abilities was residing on Snow Lotus Peak. When rumors spread that even Senior Rong, who had ruled here for hundreds of years, did not dare to provoke him, everyone began to tread carefully.

Thus, the area within a thousand li of Snow Lotus Peak was automatically designated as a restricted zone, and the cultivators who passed by would take detours to avoid disturbing the expert’s cultivation.

Fortunately, Snow Lotus Mountain had been quiet for almost half a year, and the expert had not interfered in the affairs of other forces, so they were relieved.

But on this day, Han Li in the secret chamber finally refined the Nascent Soul Pill and opened his eyes. His face was radiant, indicating that his cultivation had greatly improved.

Slowly getting up, Han Li flipped his palm and condensed a blue light. A light sphere the size of an egg flickered, looking as if it actually existed.

“My magic power has increased quite a bit as my Nascent Soul has grown.”

Han Li muttered as he looked at the pure spiritual power in his hand. He flicked his hand, and the light sphere naturally disappeared.

Then, he struck his skull, and a blue aura burst out, circling in the air before an infant that looked exactly like him appeared.

However, the Nascent Soul, which was only two inches tall before, was now much larger than it was half a year ago, and its body was stronger and clearer.

The Nascent Soul was holding a blue cauldron tightly in its arms, with a jade-colored talisman flying above its head, and dozens of embroidery needle-sized flying swords, divided into gold and blue, floating around it, making a dazzling display.

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