Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 670

“If that’s what you want, let’s start now. When the Silver Tadpole Script first appeared, it was engraved on some items that were lost from the Immortal Realm and drifted into the Spirit Realm. The cultivators of the Spirit Realm spent a long time and a great deal of effort to organize and interpret them one by one.

Of course, it might differ from the true interpretations of the Immortals, but the difference wouldn’t be significant. First, let me explain the characters that are most often used in refining talismans….”

The boy began to speak leisurely within Han Li’s escape light. Naturally, Han Li wouldn’t miss such an opportunity, so he concentrated and listened intently, asking questions whenever he was curious.

After two months passed in this way, and Han Li had gained a basic understanding of the Silver Tadpole Script, they finally arrived in the sea near Kui Star Island.

On this day, as he was listening to the boy’s explanation as usual, a black dot appeared in front of them. Han Li, seeing it from afar, increased his speed and quickly approached it.

It was a small island with a circumference of only 60 or 70 li [approximately 30-35 kilometers], and a faint spiritual vein flowed through it. Han Li, looking down at the island from a height of several hundred feet, felt the impermanence of time.

This was the very Small Huan Island where he had once resided. When he left this island, he had not even succeeded in forming his Core [a stage in cultivation], but now he was returning as a late-stage Nascent Soul [a high stage in cultivation] grand cultivator.

‘My will to cultivate was firm, but I never imagined I would reach this level!’

He quietly hovered in the air, composed himself, and then turned into a blue light and flew away again. The appearance of Small Huan Island meant that Kui Star Island was not far away.

Indeed, half a day later, Kui Star Island began to appear faintly in the distance. However, he did not go to the entrance at the port but instead circled around and plunged into the white restriction [a magical barrier] that covered the entire island.

Bang!

A loud noise rang out, and the protective barrier at the point of impact shook violently before Han Li broke through it.

Then, several escape lights flew towards the barrier in a panic from inside the island, and the Foundation Establishment [a low stage in cultivation] cultivators examined the barrier before scattering to search the surroundings, but they found nothing.

At that time, Han Li had already landed on a mountain peak a thousand li away and took out a milky-white disc from his pocket.

As Han Li chanted an incantation, blue and white lights mixed on the surface of the disc, emitting a dazzling light. When he lightly touched the disc with one hand, the light disappeared, and a red dot appeared and twinkled on the surface, which had become like a mirror.

Han Li nodded in satisfaction and then floated up with the disc. After a while, he hovered high in the sky, looking down at a secluded-looking manor with a puzzled expression.

“Is the Mun Sawol family staying here?”

As Han Li muttered and emitted a brilliant escape light, the mortals below became noisy. Soon, two lights flew out of the building and appeared in front of him.

The old man and the middle-aged man were both Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“You are….”

Han Li frowned as he scanned them. Those who approached also recognized his appearance and were startled, quickly bowing in respect.

“We greet Senior Han. We didn’t know you had arrived and made you wait for so long. Please forgive us!”

They were some of the four Foundation Establishment disciples that Mun Sawol and his wife had brought with them.

“Where is your master?”

“This is the residence of the nominal disciples that this disciple has taken in. Currently, Master and Madam are staying in a temporary residence in the mountains with our junior sister, as they found this place too noisy.”

The old man answered respectfully.

“You took in nominal disciples? Do you know the eldest son of the Go family?”

“Yes! Does Senior know the Go family?”

“I had a slight connection with the head of the Go family. It was over 200 years ago, though.”

“Really? Such a thing….”

“It must be fate that I have returned here. I need to see your master first, so call the nominal disciple of the Go family later.”

“Yes! As you command!”

The old man answered happily. Han Li nodded and, sensing the aura of Mun Sawol and his wife in a nearby mountain, flew away immediately.

After a while, he landed on the mountainside of a small mountain and waved his hand towards an ordinary-looking slope.

Whoosh!

A blue aura touched the rock and exploded, and the slope disappeared like a mirage, revealing a huge stone gate. White light was flashing on the surface, indicating that a restriction had been placed on it.

Han Li stretched out his hand and sent a fireball flying, and the fireball quickly disappeared into the stone gate. Soon after, a woman’s voice was heard from inside.

“Senior Han, you’ve come. Please wait a moment, and my husband and I will come out to greet you.”

The voice disappeared, and the stone gate flashed before opening with a rumble. Those who came out were Mun Sawol and his wife, along with their daughter, Jeon Geuma.

Han Li was a little surprised to see the girl. The child, who had been haggard and thin not long ago, had now turned into a beautiful young girl. She was quite pretty, resembling her mother.

“We greet Senior Han. We didn’t know you would arrive so soon and failed to greet you first. Please forgive our negligence.”

Mun Sawol bowed with a bright smile.

“Things went smoothly, so I arrived earlier than planned.”

“We have also been waiting for your arrival, Senior. Please come inside and let’s talk.”

Mun Sawol smiled and turned to lead the way.

“Yes, I also want to see how much that child has learned from the formation book. If I am satisfied, I will take her under my wing.”

Han Li nodded and looked at the girl without changing his expression. Jeon Geuma blushed and lowered her head at his gaze, and Mun Sawol and his wife happily led Han Li into the cave.

Thus, a day passed.

During that time, Mun Sawol’s Foundation Establishment disciples came to the residence to greet him, and among them, the old man brought a young man with him. Another day passed, and when a blue streak of light left the mountain, the faint outlines of a man and a woman were revealed.

* * *

A month later, far away from the Chaotic Star Sea, inside the border of the Yue Kingdom in Tiannan Continent.

Several cultivators wearing black robes flew into a huge canyon on their magical artifacts. They all had decent appearances, but their flying speed was slow, indicating that they were cultivators from a lower realm.

They quietly hid in a cave secretly hidden on one side of the valley. After going another dozen feet, the light of spiritual energy from a restriction flickered.

A burly man in black robes with a fierce face, who seemed to be the leader, stepped forward and chanted an incantation while forming hand seals. After a while, he spread his arms and sent out a spell, and the stone gate with the restriction slowly rose.

“I wonder which fellow disciple has come all the way here this time?”

A pale-faced old man with a dark aura emanating from him appeared, scattering an eerie energy.

“Oh, if it isn’t Fellow Disciple Maeng. Was it your turn next?”

The old man smiled immediately after confirming the face of the burly man in black. This was because the old man was in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, while the burly man was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Yes, Senior Brother Beom! I have been ordered to come and guard the mine in place of Fellow Disciple Che. Is the entrance to the mine inside?”

“You’re in such a hurry. Yes, this is the entrance to the mine. But are these all the disciples you brought? It’s too few, isn’t it?”

The old man looked at the cultivators behind the burly man with suspicion.

“The situation in our Guiling Sect is different from before. Most of the disciples are focused on defending against the Eoryeong Sect and the Mayeom Sect, so this is all we could gather.”

“That’s true! With that number, you’ll have a hard time managing this place.”

“Enough, please guide me to the mine first.”

The burly man was already staring at the inside of the cave.

“Of course. Follow me!”

The old man cast a spell to seal the stone gate again and led the burly man inside. After going through several passages, a crack several feet wide appeared on the floor, and the white light shining from inside indicated that an underground passage was open.

Two Qi Refining [a low stage in cultivation] cultivators in black robes, who were sitting at the entrance, hurriedly bowed when they saw the old man and the burly man approaching.

The old man waved his hand in response and led the burly man and his group into the crack.

An hour later, they had explored about half of the underground passage. The path was very complicated due to the mining of the vein, and many mortal young and middle-aged people were sweating as they mined spirit stones.

The old man explained various things as he guided them, as he had been managing this place for over ten years.

After a while, a passage appeared in front of them, and there was a place connected to a deeper underground area. The old man in black shook his head and, unexpectedly, tried to turn back without introducing that place to the burly man and his group.

“Senior Brother Beom, why are you just passing by this place? It seems to be a passage leading underground.”

“That place was designated as a forbidden area a long time ago, and it has been abandoned for a long time now.”

“A forbidden area? What’s there that made it so?”

“There’s nothing special, just an ancient teleportation array. But there’s no way to use it, so it was designated as a forbidden area at first, and then it was left unattended. I don’t know the exact details, but it seems to be related to something that happened with Senior Uncle Wang Seon.”

“Senior Uncle Wang, he was originally….”

The burly man also seemed surprised at the name Wang Seon.

“As you know, Fellow Disciple, is it our place as juniors to talk about Senior Uncle Wang’s affairs?”

“If it’s already abandoned, please introduce it to me. I’ve been researching formations for the past few years, and I want to see what an ancient teleportation array looks like in person.”

“You’re researching formations? It’s quite far, and it will take some time.”

The old man’s expression became a little strange.

“There’s no need to find it strange. I’m stuck in a bottleneck in my cultivation, so I’m trying to gain stimulation through various methods. Who knows, I might gain an opportunity from the insights I get from researching formations.”

The burly man said with a sigh.

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll take you there, Fellow Disciple.”

When the other party said this, the old man had no choice but to agree. A faint smile appeared on the burly man’s face at his answer. Thus, they followed the passage leading underground, winding down for almost an hour, and entered a stalactite cave connected in all directions.

It was as complicated as a maze, but they continued to walk along the small markings and reached a fairly large cave. And inside, there was an old hexagonal teleportation array installed.

“Fellow Disciple, this is it!”

The old man pointed to the ancient teleportation array.

“Huh, this is the ancient teleportation array that I’ve only seen in books! I never thought I’d have the chance to see it in person.”

The burly man’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the teleportation array, and he strode forward to examine it. The old man stood to one side, stroking his beard, and remained silent, while the Qi Refining disciples were curious but did not dare to look with the burly man.

“I heard that the teleportation array left here is complete, but the problem is with the array on the other side, so it can’t be used. I’ve been curious about where this leads, but I had no way of knowing. You’ll be here for over ten years, Fellow Disciple, so study it slowly, and let’s go back now!”

The old man urged them to return, explaining roughly as the burly man couldn’t take his eyes off the teleportation array.

“Go back? It’s quiet and the atmosphere is nice here, so why don’t you stay here forever, Senior Brother?”

Before the old man could react to the burly man’s words, a sudden chill ran through the air, and the old man’s head fell off his body.

Only then did the burly man slowly turn around and sigh as he looked at the old man’s corpse with a complicated expression.

“Fellow Cultivator Maeng, it seems you still have the Guiling Sect on your mind.”

A middle-aged cultivator who looked ordinary among the Qi Refining disciples opened his mouth and retrieved a silver-white flying sword. The old man had unexpectedly been killed by a flying sword that had flown from behind.

“Now that I’ve decided to join the Mayeom Sect, I have no regrets. This person wasn’t close to me either. But it’s natural to feel sorry for the bond we’ve formed over the years.”

The burly man, Maeng, answered calmly.

“Fellow Cultivator Maeng, don’t worry! The Guiling Sect lost two Nascent Soul cultivators and many Core Formation cultivators over a hundred years ago, and their power has greatly diminished. This time, our Mayeom Sect, the Eoryeong Sect, and the Blood Fiend Sect have joined forces, so it will be difficult for them to avoid disaster. From now on, the Blood Fiend Sect will replace the Guiling Sect, so it was a wise choice to surrender to our sect in advance.”

The unnamed middle-aged man chuckled. At that moment, the aura of the other cultivators also changed. They were actually all Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Mayeom Sect.

“If you keep your promise, I will cooperate to the best of my ability.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. Fellow Brother Maeng’s aptitude isn’t bad, so our master will take you in as soon as this war is over. It’s much better than cultivating alone in the Guiling Sect without any guidance. Our master gave us a talisman that can hide our aura, so we successfully infiltrated, and this place is secluded and has few cultivators coming and going, making it perfect for hiding a large number of people.”

“Fortunately, there’s an ancient teleportation array, so we were able to make up a story. Otherwise, the dozen or so Qi Refining disciples stationed here would have activated the restriction or sent out a sound transmission talisman while we were killing the other party. Now, if we gather them in one place and deal with them cleanly, there will be no future troubles.”

The burly man changed his expression completely and spoke coldly.

# 672