Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 639

When the mist had cleared about halfway, Han Li reappeared. He sat cross-legged, his brow furrowed, the Nascent Soul of Han Li Shangren already gone from the bottle.

“To think the Solar True Flame was in such a place… It’ll be difficult to go looking for it without reaching the late Nascent Soul stage. Besides, even though there are three entrances to the Void Spirit Hall, there’s only one exit. It’s clear Han Li Shangren had no intention of letting us leave alive!”

Finally, Han Li’s expression relaxed as he muttered to himself. He stood up, summoning all the formation flags and the bottle. Then, turning into a streak of blue light, he flew towards the door on the side.

The light of spiritual energy faded, and he activated his consciousness upon seeing the door sealed with ancient talismans [magical symbols].

*Caw!*

The fire crow, a spirit beast transformed from the Taiyin True Flame [a powerful yin-attributed flame], cried out lowly before suddenly flapping its wings, sending out fireballs.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

The talismans burst into flames as soon as they were touched by the fire, flickering intensely. The light dimmed quickly, seeming quite ordinary, but suddenly, a layer of ice formed on the surface of the talismans, protecting them. Han Li chuckled and flicked his fingertips, sending out golden lights.

*Puff puff pang!*

The ice layer on the surface shattered, and the talismans turned to ash and disappeared. Han Li scratched his chin, then waved an arm, causing a strong wind to slowly open the stone door.

He entered without hesitation, the humanoid puppet following behind. Beyond the stone door was a courtyard about a hundred yards in size.

Following a winding path, he saw bizarrely shaped sculptures on both sides, all carved from mystic ice. Han Li leisurely walked along the path, his gaze sweeping over the lifelike ice sculptures.

At first, everything seemed normal, but as he reached the middle of the courtyard, the sculptures on both sides suddenly flickered with red light in their eyes and came to life. However, as if he had anticipated the attack of dozens of ice beast sculptures, his expression didn’t change as he released a bright red cauldron.

The cauldron hummed, its lid flying off, and a pillar of fire, over a dozen yards long, shot out from within. The intense heat slowed the ice beasts, and they hesitated to advance, showing signs of fear.

However, Han Li quickly cast a spell, scattering the pillar of fire. The flames transformed into over a hundred fist-sized fire crows, which attacked the ice beasts like a cloud.

In an instant, the surrounding temperature soared, and the entire courtyard was engulfed in flames. If the ice beasts were made of mystic ice, the small fire crows were the essence of flames refined in the fire cauldron for many years.

No matter how much the beasts struggled, they eventually melted away one by one, leaving nothing behind. Han Li nodded in satisfaction and pointed at the fire cauldron in the air.

*Thump!*

The cauldron vibrated, and the fire crows simultaneously changed direction, obediently returning inside. The lid flew back on its own, and the cauldron became still as if nothing had happened.

The large fire crow perched on Han Li’s shoulder seemed uninterested in what its fellow crows were doing, focusing on preening itself.

Han Li put away the fire cauldron and disappeared from the courtyard.

Not long after, he arrived at another large hall, which looked shabby and had a small teleportation array. Han Li walked over as if it were natural, intending to examine it, but suddenly, a white light spread, and something was teleported in.

‘What is it?’

A hint of curiosity flashed across his face, but even if the Palace Lord of the Small Pole Palace appeared with his divine powers, he had nothing to fear. He stepped back slightly and quietly waited for the light of the teleportation array to fade.

Judging by the size of the teleportation array, it seemed that it could only teleport three people at a time. Indeed, three slender figures hurriedly emerged from the teleportation array.

The young women, dressed in Small Pole Palace attire, all had cultivation levels around the Foundation Establishment stage, with the oldest among them having reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

They looked very flustered, and one of them had bloodstains on her shoulder, indicating that they had just been in a battle.

“Who are you?”

“H-Han Senior!”

They were startled by the appearance of a man not wearing Small Pole Palace attire, and two of them immediately activated sword-shaped magic treasures. However, a cute-looking girl recognized him and called out happily.

“…?”

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sound of his name and looked over, recognizing her as the maid with the surname Hua who had served him at the Guest Pavilion.

“It’s you. What happened?”

The other two women didn’t know who Han Senior was, but they seemed relieved that he was acquainted with their junior sister. Of course, they were greatly surprised once again after confirming Han Li’s cultivation level.

Before the two women could pay their respects, the teleportation array flashed white again, and a huge beast, accompanied by the stench of blood, appeared. A beast with a horse’s face and two horns appeared, holding a green trident in one hand.

“Senior, be careful! It’s one of the beasts that invaded our palace. It chased us all the way here!”

The three women quickly retreated and explained hastily. The beast emerged from the teleportation array and let out a ferocious laugh. It looked as if it was about to throw its trident. But suddenly, a red light flashed behind the beast, and a blue shadow swept past.

The beast let out a terrible scream, a large hole pierced through its chest. Its large body staggered, and it finally dropped its trident and collapsed.

Hua, who already knew that Han Li was a Nascent Soul cultivator highly regarded by the palace elders, was not very surprised. Although she hadn’t intervened herself, she believed that killing a mere level 6 or 7 beast would be a simple task for Han Li.

“Thank you so much for your help, Senior! The beasts have already invaded the main hall of the Void Spirit Hall, so we earnestly request that you step forward for our palace.”

The woman with the highest cultivation level bowed deeply to him and said.

“The beasts have invaded the main hall? The Void Spirit Hall has layers upon layers of restrictions, how could this happen?”

Han Li waved a hand, pushing the beast’s corpse out of the teleportation array, and asked.

“We don’t know either, but while patrolling, we discovered that a large number of beasts had invaded. It seems they entered the main hall directly without triggering the outer restrictions.”

“They must have used a special secret technique to enter.”

Han Li was not greatly surprised by this mysterious event. There were so many strange secret techniques and treasures in this world, there was no reason to believe that there was no way to bypass the restrictions and invade this place.

While Han Li was thinking this, the teleportation array flashed again.

This time, even the women of the Small Pole Palace were surprised, but since Han Li was with them, they stepped back two steps and quietly watched who would be teleported in.

The white light faded, and a woman in her thirties with an ordinary face appeared. She cautiously surveyed her surroundings, protecting herself with a ring-like object, and was startled when she saw Han Li and the three women.

“Greetings, Martial Aunt Yo.”

The three women were overjoyed to see her and approached her. She waved her hand casually to acknowledge their greetings, then stepped out of the teleportation array and paid her respects to Han Li.

“Greetings, Senior Han.”

“Do you know me?”

“This junior is Yo Man, and I am in charge of patrols. I once saw you from afar while on patrol.”

“I see!”

“Could you possibly know where the other elders of our palace are? The beasts have invaded the main hall of the Void Spirit Hall, and I was ordered to inform Elder Han Li about it.”

“Han Li is unlikely to be able to come forward right now.”

“I’ve heard about it. I know that the seniors and the elders of our palace are working on something important! But the matter is urgent, and if the Great Elder and the other elders do not step forward now, the Small Pole Palace will face a great disaster.”

“Are the beasts that powerful? I heard that your palace lord is also a late Nascent Soul cultivator, why isn’t she stepping forward?”

“This junior was ordered by the palace lord to seek help. When I left, the palace lord was fighting a powerful beast and had no time to worry about other matters.”

“Han Li and the others have entered the Mystic Jade Cave, so if there is a way to call them out, do it yourself. I will go outside to assess the situation.”

Han Li said calmly and flew into the teleportation array.

“Senior, you must be careful. The number of invading beasts is so large that the other side of the teleportation array is not safe either.”

The woman advised cautiously, not daring to stop him. Han Li nodded and threw a blue spell into the formation. At the same time, a white light spread, and the teleportation began. Behind him, a silver light flashed, and a blue figure disappeared with him in an instant.

“Who is that?”

Yo Man, who had been teleported in later, asked in surprise.

“This junior sister doesn’t know either, but when the beast appeared just now, that senior stepped forward and dealt with it.”

The disciple at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage hesitated before telling her what she had seen.

“I heard that several seniors were invited to our palace this time, so it must have been one of them. You three stay here and block any enemies that are teleported in! I will go to the Mystic Jade Cave and try to contact the Great Elder.”

The woman was a little puzzled that Han Li was wandering around without any palace elders, but she immediately remembered her duty and gave her orders.

“Understood!”

The disciples bowed in response, and she turned into a white light and disappeared into the Mystic Jade Cave.

On the other side of the teleportation array, Han Li and the humanoid puppet emerged from the teleportation array. Before the dizziness from the teleportation could subside, the puppet suddenly disappeared from its spot, and two screams were heard, followed by a thud as something fell to the ground.

Han Li looked in the direction of the sound and saw a beast’s corpse lying face down in a pool of blood. Next to it were a man and a woman, seemingly disciples of the Small Pole Palace at the Core Formation stage.

They stared wide-eyed at the humanoid puppet, which was shaking off the silver, gleaming arm that had just pierced the beast’s chest. This was the same hall as before he had been teleported.

Han Li ignored the Small Pole Palace disciples and walked towards the outside. The sounds of explosions and magic treasures clashing indicated that someone was engaged in a fierce battle.

Before the man and woman could recognize Han Li’s cultivation level and pay their respects, he left the hall. Outside the hall was another side hall, where over a dozen Small Pole Palace disciples were engaged in a fierce battle with beasts.

Magic treasures and demonic energy filled the hall, and the sounds of explosions and roars were deafening. However, since the two sides were evenly matched, Han Li merely glanced at them.

The cultivators and beasts here were mostly at the Foundation Establishment or Core Formation stage. He turned into a streak of blue light, intending to leave the side hall with the humanoid puppet.

To use the teleportation array to leave the Void Spirit Hall, he had to quickly find the main hall of the Void Spirit Hall. At his speed, he covered dozens of yards in almost a single breath and arrived right in front of the entrance.

But suddenly, something roared and charged at him. It was a monster covered in black scales, and the black energy it emitted from its mouth was ferocious.

Han Li could only sigh.

The beast’s cultivation level was not low, but its intelligence was low. While other beasts were avoiding Han Li after seeing his escape technique, this one had foolishly charged at him alone.

However, there was no reason for him to seriously deal with a beast that had not even reached the Transformation stage. He simply flicked his fingertips, and five streaks of blue light cut through the air. With a terrible scream, the beast was torn to pieces and fell to the ground.

Other beasts were terrified to see their comrade die in agony and quickly distanced themselves. This boosted the morale of the Small Pole Palace disciples.

However, Han Li flashed with blue light and quickly left the side hall, showing no intention of getting involved in the battle here. The remaining cultivators and beasts looked at each other before resuming their fierce battle with shouts and explosions.