Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 651

Han Li had already entered Heavenly Star City.

As the most massive city in the Chaotic Star Sea, he was able to purchase all the materials he needed while browsing the market.

After exchanging some unnecessary treasures for a large number of spirit stones, he found an inn to stay at. Since Ling Yuling knew he possessed the Illusory Sky Cauldron, he had no intention of naively taking the spirit token and heading to the holy mountain.

He decided to wait until nightfall to secretly infiltrate the Starry Sky Palace on the holy mountain.

‘As long as the Heavenly Star Twins aren’t directly guarding the teleportation array, those guards are nothing!’

To avoid attracting attention, he chose an average-sized inn and pretended to be a Core Formation cultivator. Of course, the innkeeper, a Nascent Soul cultivator, still treated him with the utmost respect and gave him the best room.

When it was the third watch [around midnight], Han Li quietly used his earth escape technique to slip out of the inn unnoticed. He remembered the location of the Starry Sky Palace, so all he had to do was quietly fly up the massive mountain.

The patrols, mostly made up of Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment cultivators in groups of two or three, didn’t notice him even when he passed right in front of them.

The 50th floor of the holy mountain was quickly approaching, and Han Li stood before a massive palace. It looked exactly as it had before, showing no signs of the passage of time.

‘……?’

He was about to use a secret technique to break through the restrictions and enter when he suddenly sensed something and disappeared like smoke. After a while, faint figures appeared from somewhere, silently flying low and approaching.

‘Could it be the Rebel Alliance?’

Han Li found the group suspicious and watched to see what they were up to.

There were four Foundation Establishment cultivators and two Core Formation cultivators, but what was unusual was that there was also a low-level cultivator who was only at the second or third level of Qi Refining. Their faces were covered with a gray aura, preventing anyone from recognizing their identities.

The Core Formation cultivators were a man and a woman, but since they weren’t Nascent Soul cultivators, he didn’t pay much attention to them. However, the Core Formation cultivator suddenly flipped his palm and took out a cyan formation disc, lightly casting a magic seal into it.

As a faint white light emanated from the formation disc, the thin Core Formation woman beside him took out a yellow formation flag and waved it.

*Whoosh.*

A yellow aura escaped from the flag and enveloped them in a mist. However, Han Li’s eyes changed when he saw the yellow formation flag.

‘I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere before? Who did I give it to?’

He remembered giving a similar magic tool to someone a long time ago, but it wasn’t a big deal. Low-level treasures were easy to refine, so it was common for the same magic tools to be circulating.

Han Li’s face immediately returned to its expressionless state, but his interest in the Core Formation woman didn’t fade. A navy blue light flickered in his eyes, and he peered through the gray aura on her face.

‘Huh! That woman is…….’

Han Li’s expression became strange. At that moment, blue and yellow lights flashed from the Starry Sky Palace, and the restrictions were lifted. Footsteps could be heard, and a cultivator in a white robe walked out.

He was a thin, stern-looking Core Formation cultivator in his forties. He was clearly a palace cultivator guarding the Starry Sky Palace, but he looked around and, finding no one, revealed a displeased expression.

A yellow light flashed, and the Core Formation man revealed himself first. He even removed the gray aura from his face, revealing a neat, middle-aged face that gave off a scholarly air.

“Brother Zhang, as we agreed, can my wife and I use the teleportation array?”

“As long as you have the right amount of spirit stones, of course you can. It’s something the stewards guarding the teleportation array in our palace often do when they’re on duty. Why would we break our promise and risk losing our supply of spirit stones?”

The palace cultivator recognized the man and relaxed his expression as he spoke.

“Of course. It’s not that I don’t trust you, Brother Zhang, but my daughter is seriously ill, and I need to get a White Egret Inner Core from the outer sea as soon as possible.”

The refined man wore a polite smile and waved his hand behind his back.

*Whoosh!*

The yellow mist dissipated, and the cultivators within appeared. Although they all revealed their faces, only the Core Formation woman and the thin Qi Refining woman didn’t remove their gray auras.

“Is this your wife? I’ve heard much about Fellow Immortal Yue’s reputation.”

The stern-looking cultivator scanned the Core Formation woman and gave a wry smile.

“I won’t forget your help this time.”

“It’s a shame I can’t speak face-to-face with Fellow Immortal Yue. Everyone, please follow me.”

The stern-looking man chuckled and turned to walk into the Starry Sky Palace. The Core Formation man and woman exchanged glances, placed the Qi Refining woman in the middle, and followed behind. The other four Foundation Establishment cultivators seemed to be their disciples.

Of course, they didn’t know that before the palace was once again covered in blue and yellow mist, a faint shadow silently followed them inside.

After wandering through the corridors, they arrived at the main hall where the teleportation array was located. An old man with skin as smooth as a child was waiting there. The old man’s eyes flashed coldly when he saw the cultivators entering, but he quickly hid it.

“Are these the ones? There are seven of them, so we can teleport them all at once.”

“That’s right. Steward Quan, which island are you planning to go to?”

“I’m going to Silver Shark Island. There’s a high-grade spirit stone mine there, so most cultivators going to the outer sea go there. If I’m lucky, I might be able to trade for a White Egret Inner Core right away.”

The man hesitated for a moment, looking at the teleportation array as he spoke.

“Brother Huang, should we remove the restrictions on the teleportation array now? Steward Quan, you can pay the spirit stones.”

“Of course.”

The old man cast a magic seal, removing the white light barrier around the teleportation array. The refined man took out a storage pouch and handed it over. The stern-looking man checked the number of spirit stones twice with his spiritual sense and smiled in satisfaction.

“It’s perfect! Here are the teleportation talismans, please take care of them.”

The stern-looking man was quick to act. As soon as he took the storage pouch, he took out seven talismans. The man surnamed Quan took them, distributed one to each of the cultivators, and strode towards the teleportation array.

The teleportation array was already faintly glowing with white light, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.

“How bold! How dare you secretly smuggle cultivators to the outer sea? How many lashes will you need from the Law Enforcement Hall to come to your senses!”

Just as the cultivators were about to move, a woman’s voice suddenly rang out. It wasn’t very loud, but the cultivators in the main hall felt as if thunder had struck right next to their ears, and their hearts sank.

The stern-looking man and the old man immediately turned pale and froze, but the Core Formation man and woman wrapped the girl in light and transformed into streaks of light, rushing towards the teleportation array.

A moment later, someone snorted.

Beautiful colored auras spread through the main hall, and blue and red streaks of light lightly attacked. The streaks of light scattered, and the man surnamed Quan and the Core Formation woman were forced to reveal themselves.

Their faces were extremely pale, and they even coughed up blood, but the Qi Refining girl seemed fine because they had desperately protected her. At this moment, the gray auras on the two women’s faces dissipated, revealing their true faces.

The Core Formation woman was a fair-skinned beauty in her mid-twenties, and the Qi Refining girl next to her was about sixteen years old. Her face was sallow and thin, but if you looked closely, she resembled the Core Formation woman.

Even in this urgent situation, the girl’s eyes were clear and transparent, giving off a calm impression.

“Greetings, Palace Lord.”

The two palace stewards, still shaken, hurriedly knelt and performed a grand salute. The Core Formation man and woman’s hearts sank when they heard those words.

The relief they had felt at surviving disappeared, and they stood there, unable to move. At this moment, a woman with soft curves appeared and slowly descended into the middle of the main hall.

She was a woman in white robes with her face covered by a white veil. She reached the front of the teleportation array and spoke to the empty space without looking at the cultivators in the main hall.

“Fellow Cultivator Han! Since you’ve come this far, why don’t you come out from hiding in front of your juniors and have a chat with me?”

The stern-looking men were startled as soon as the veiled woman finished speaking. At that moment, a light chuckle was heard from the void.

“I didn’t expect to meet one of the famous Heavenly Star Twins here. I doubt you went to the trouble of coming here just to meet me, Fellow Cultivator?”

A blue light flashed, and a cultivator in a blue robe appeared strangely. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the woman with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

“Late-stage Nascent Soul!”

The veiled woman scanned the opponent with her spiritual sense, and her expression suddenly changed, exclaiming in disbelief. She was the woman who had been talking to the middle-aged man in the underground cave of the holy mountain a few hours ago.

The words “late-stage Nascent Soul” echoed in the main hall, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Half of them were Core Formation cultivators, but they rarely had the opportunity to meet a Nascent Soul cultivator. But a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator? It was already a huge event that one of the palace’s owners had appeared, and it felt like a dream.

However, among them, only the Core Formation woman called “Fellow Immortal Yue” couldn’t close her mouth when she saw Han Li’s face. Especially when she heard that he was a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, she seemed completely lost.

However, the Qi Refining girl, who had the lowest cultivation, didn’t react much since Core Formation and Nascent Soul were distant matters to her. She noticed the Core Formation woman’s expression and looked at Han Li carefully.

“Are you Fellow Cultivator Han?”

“It seems you were waiting for me, Fellow Cultivator. Surely you wouldn’t mistake me for another cultivator.”

The veiled woman looked at Han Li without averting her gaze, but her mind was in turmoil. The opponent she thought she could easily subdue had turned out to be a stronger enemy than she had expected, so she couldn’t help but hesitate.

She still had a 70% chance of winning if she used the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light to fight within the influence of Yuan Magnetic Mountain, but the possibility of easily capturing or killing the opponent as before was gone.

If the opponent escaped safely after a fight, the palace would have a formidable enemy, so she couldn’t act rashly. When Han Li didn’t say a word to the veiled woman, the main hall fell silent, and the tension escalated.

At that moment, Han Li hardened his face and lightly clenched his fist in the air. At the same time, a giant blue hand appeared and snatched a fireball like lightning, trapping it. The woman’s eyebrows twitched when she saw it, and a look of surprise flashed across her face.

“You shouldn’t think about sending a voice transmission talisman. I don’t want to be threatened by two cultivators of the same level. I don’t think I’ve done anything to make the palace my enemy, so why is the Palace Lord so hostile to me?”

Han Li said coldly and turned the voice transmission talisman into ashes with his giant blue hand.

“It seems you’ve misunderstood. Why would I threaten you, Fellow Cultivator? I simply came to express my gratitude for saving my daughter.”

After a moment of silence, the woman suddenly smiled brightly. Her tone changed to a friendly one, and the tension in the main hall disappeared.

“Daughter? Could it be Fellow Cultivator Ling’s…….”

Han Li was stunned for a moment, but then he suddenly remembered something and relaxed his expression as well. Of course, judging from her earlier aura, she had definitely not come to express gratitude, but he also wanted to avoid trouble and resolve the situation peacefully.

“That’s right. Yuling is our daughter. We were careless at the time, and if you hadn’t helped, Fellow Cultivator, something terrible might have happened. We’ve been grateful to you ever since.”

“I heard that Miss Ling’s talent was extraordinary, but she was the daughter of the Heavenly Star Twins.”

“It’s embarrassing to talk about it in front of you, Fellow Han. When it comes to talent, how can we compare to a cultivator who reached the late-stage Nascent Soul from Core Formation in less than two hundred years? Even in ancient times, there probably weren’t many cultivators who cultivated so quickly.”

She subtly probed him, finding it strange that Han Li had reached the late-stage Nascent Soul so quickly. Han Li, of course, knew this, so he just smiled and changed the subject.

“I’ve heard of the great achievements of the Heavenly Star Twins. I would normally like to talk more, but I have urgent matters to attend to. I’ll need to use your palace’s teleportation array. I hope you don’t mind?”

After speaking, he looked at the teleportation array with the restrictions removed.

“Of course, we should help with such a small matter! This is a guest elder token that proves you are a guest elder of our palace. If you don’t mind, please take it and use it. Since you probably don’t want to be a guest elder, we’ll just lend it to you for a while. With the token, you can freely use the palace’s resources in the outer sea, so please consider it a token of our sincerity.”

The woman immediately nodded and flipped her palm, throwing a golden token towards him.

“Then I’ll accept your kindness and not refuse.”

After hesitating for a moment, he accepted the token and put it into his storage pouch.

# 653