Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 678

“Putting these aside, can you identify the rest of these items?”

Han Li, having lifted his head again, pointed to the other items with a calm expression.

“The crystal stones are Dream Separation Crystals. They’re a bit unusual, but they’re used to refine magical artifacts that cast illusions. As far as I know, the Heavenly Illusion Gate of the Spirit Realm once offered a fortune for Dream Separation Crystals, but they quickly canceled it.

I don’t know if they have any special effects, but they’re not very common. And as for the black and white beast core, I don’t know what it is either, but its energy seems very unique. What did the demonic beast look like?”

“The demonic beast looked a bit strange…”

Han Li recalled the mushy, fleshy demonic beast he had killed at the Chuma Bone Lake and explained it in detail. The Heavenly Orchid Saint Ancestor listened for a long time, then finally shook his head.

“I’ve never heard of a demonic beast of that kind. Perhaps it was a mutated demonic beast? Judging by its great divine abilities, the beast core might be useful.”

“Since it was a demonic beast that was excellent at concealing its energy, it might have a similar effect if used to refine a magical artifact.”

Han Li reached out and drew in the black and white beast core. The black and white energies clearly separated and sparkled.

“Since the Wind Thunder Wings refinement wasn’t perfect, I’ll tell you how to refine the Fire Spirit Silk and the Destruction Law Wood as compensation. Whether you want to refine them or not is no longer my concern!”

The Heavenly Orchid Saint Ancestor narrowed his eyes and stared at Han Li.

“Understood. I will follow the Heavenly Orchid Saint Ancestor’s wishes.”

Han Li accepted the offer without hesitation, as if he were doing the other party a favor. The Heavenly Orchid Saint Ancestor was taken aback by this and stared blankly for a moment before his figure blurred and disappeared with a gloomy expression.

The two treasures he had been holding fell into the cauldron, and Han Li reached out and drew them in. Almost simultaneously, the Heavenly Orchid Saint Ancestor’s voice transmission, containing the methods for refining the two items, entered Han Li’s ears.

“……!”

He immediately focused his mind and sat upright, silently learning the refinement incantations.

Half a day later, in a pavilion of the Falling Cloud Sect, Foundation Establishment cultivators were pouring out and inspecting the materials in their storage pouches.

Just then, a red light flew in, circled the ceiling, and exploded above a cultivator in a navy robe. Jade slips and spirit tokens fell from the flames, and the navy-robed cultivator quickly gathered them up, his expression changing drastically as he received the flames with both hands.

After a moment, the flames disappeared, and a look of tension appeared on the navy-robed cultivator’s face.

The navy-robed cultivator gave a wry smile at the gazes of the others focused on him.

“This is a voice transmission talisman from the Grand Elder. He wants us to bring the materials written on the jade slip within three days. It seems they are quite rare. Fellow cultivators, you must postpone your current tasks and prioritize finding the materials the Grand Elder wants.”

The other cultivators were startled by his words.

“If it’s an order from the Grand Elder, it must take precedence over everything else. First, we must check the materials written on the jade slip and secure what we have within the sect. Then, we must check if the High Sword Gate and the White Teaching Institute have any.

Especially the White Teaching Institute, which is famous for refining magical artifacts, must have a considerable amount of materials stored. If we don’t do this, it will be impossible within three days!”

An older, gray-robed man boldly suggested a plan. The other cultivators, including the navy-robed cultivator, nodded in agreement. The Foundation Establishment cultivators divided the tasks, mounted their magical artifacts, left the pavilion, and hurriedly scattered in all directions to find the materials.

Three days later, the navy-robed cultivator arrived at the Mother Peak with a bulging storage pouch. After sending the voice transmission talisman, the Foundation Establishment disciple released the storage pouch, presented it with both hands, and waited.

After about an hour, the golden restriction fog moved, and a blue energy appeared within it, instantly wrapping around the storage pouch.

The navy-robed cultivator was startled and bowed towards the fog before flying away again on his magical artifact.

The Mother Peak regained its calm as if nothing had happened.

Inside his residence, Han Li retrieved the human-shaped puppet and checked the materials in the storage pouch.

“They really found everything. The cultivators are quite useful.”

“It’s the Falling Cloud Sect’s Grand Elder’s order, so who wouldn’t do their best? But I didn’t expect them to bring even the auxiliary materials for the Fire Spirit Silk. You don’t cultivate a fire-attribute technique, do you?”

“Even if I don’t have fire-attribute spiritual power, I can still find the form of the Fire Spirit Silk. The Fire Spirit Silk originally possesses the object that created the treasure.”

Han Li touched the storage pouch, and a small, bright red cauldron flew up and floated in the air. The Heavenly Orchid Saint Ancestor silently watched the fire cauldron and nodded without a word.

Han Li smiled and turned over the storage pouch in his hand, and a dozen or so large and small jade boxes poured out in a white light.

He pointed at the fire cauldron, and the lid of the bright red cauldron flew off silently. Then, with a rumble, flames burst out and instantly transformed into a dozen bright red fire crows, circling above the fire cauldron.

“Its power is ordinary, but it’s definitely a pure fire-attribute treasure. It’s enough to refine the Fire Spirit Silk for you. But the fire crows aren’t born from your magic power but from that cauldron, so they’ll be difficult to control, right? You must be careful if you want to restore the true form of the Fire Spirit Silk. Even a small mistake could ruin everything.”

“Rest assured. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s patience.”

Han Li chuckled and answered nonchalantly. Then, he formed a hand seal and threw a magic seal, and the fire cauldron rotated and grew several times larger. Only then did he flick his sleeve, and something transparent flew into the cauldron.

Boom!

A loud sound echoed from the fire cauldron, and bright red flames covered the surface of the cauldron. The transparent object was barely visible in the flames, and the fire crows pecked at it, pushing it onto the flames.

Seeing this, Han Li carefully flicked his ten fingers, sending different colored magic seals to the fire crows. The fire crows then frantically spewed flames at the transparent object.

It was as if it was absorbing the fire crows’ flames, and its surface gradually turned red and its shape changed.

Then, Han Li pointed to one of the materials he had laid out, and a jade box opened, revealing a faint navy, viscous substance. At his gesture, the viscous substance also entered the cauldron and immediately melted into a navy liquid, which was absorbed by the transparent object.

Seeing this, Han Li was delighted and stopped sending magic seals, instead drawing out a blue thread from his fingertip. As the blue thread disappeared into the flames, the flames soared several times higher, and Han Li’s expression became even more serious.

* * *

Two months later, a blue streak of light flew into the main peak of the Falling Cloud Sect, and after the light faded, Han Li appeared at the entrance of the main hall.

The dozen or so Falling Cloud Sect disciples guarding the entrance hurriedly bowed to Han Li. Han Li waved his hand lightly and began walking as soon as he took a step, already inside the entrance.

The disciples were terrified and tried to follow his figure, but after a few flashes of light, he completely disappeared into the corridor. When Han Li arrived at the main hall, Lieluo, who actually managed the Falling Cloud Sect, was pacing anxiously.

“Junior Brother Han, you’ve finally come out. You must have received the voice transmission talisman I sent, right?”

“Junior Sister Song and the others have gone missing in the Chuma Bone Lake. Since it involves the Soul Lamp and my nominal disciple, I naturally had to come.”

“Things are a bit strange. It’s been half a year since they went to the Chuma Bone Lake, and they still haven’t returned. According to the disciples I sent to investigate, some cultivators saw them entering, but no one saw them leaving. It seems…”

“It seems you suspect that the three of them have entered the central area of the Chuma Bone Lake and are in a dangerous situation or trapped somewhere.”

Han Li calmly finished his sentence.

“That’s right, exactly! Although the central area of the Chuma Bone Lake is dangerous now as it always has been, you are a Great Cultivator and have already been there once, so it shouldn’t be difficult for you to search, right?”

“The spatial rifts in the central area of the Chuma Bone Lake are not a great threat to me. Unless I deliberately enter a particularly dangerous place, there shouldn’t be any major problems. I’ve also finished refining, so I’ll go take a look.”

Han Li answered readily after thinking for a moment.

“It would be best if you could go. However, now that you are the Grand Elder of the Falling Cloud Sect, you must not forget that you are responsible for the rise and fall of the sect, and you must be careful.”

“Brother Lieluo, rest assured. Who in Tiannan can harm me? Besides, I will be careful.”

Although he was smiling, Han Li suddenly recalled the Heavenly Fiend Banner he had lost in the Chuma Bone Lake.

‘Could the disappearance of the three women be related to the Heavenly Fiend Banner?’

For some unknown reason, this thought flashed through Han Li’s mind. However, he did not show it outwardly and talked with Lieluo for a while before getting up from his seat.

Two days later, Han Li entered the restriction, checked on Nangong Wan’s condition, and then headed to the Chuma Bone Lake alone.

* * *

About a month later, Changzhou, Dongyu Kingdom.

Three streaks of light flew at an extremely fast speed and landed on an unnamed mountain. They were all tall and sturdy, with different colored harpoons on their shoulders. They all looked similar, as if they were brothers.

On the summit of the small mountain, three other cultivators were already waiting for them: an old man, a middle-aged scholar, and a smiling young man.

“Brother Hou, you’ve been waiting long! We had a slight problem on the way, so we’re late. Please understand. Oh, are these two cultivators disciples of your sect?”

The oldest of the giants smiled at the old man with a hearty face, then glanced at the young man and the middle-aged cultivator.

What was strange was that the old man and the middle-aged scholar stood quietly next to the young man, and after hearing the giant’s greeting, they only gave a slight nod, not stepping forward. The giant was startled and scanned the young man with his spiritual sense, and was shocked.

He could not discern the other’s cultivation at all, as if shrouded in mist. The three giants’ expressions changed drastically.

“Are you the Zhao brothers of the Golden Sea Sect?”

The young man smiled at the three giants.

“Who are you? Fellow cultivator Hou, what is going on?”

“Fellow cultivator Zhao, show some respect. This is our sect’s Grand Elder. This is Junior Brother Lin.”

The three giants were startled by the old man’s words.

“Grand Elder! Could it be the senior from the Falling Cloud Sect!”

The oldest giant shouted in disbelief.

“Yes, I am the one who holds the position of Grand Elder in the Falling Cloud Sect. I don’t know if it was rude of me to ask Fellow cultivator Hou to call the cultivators.”

The young man, who was smiling, revealing his white teeth, was none other than Han Li, who had flown to Dongyu Kingdom.

“Rude? Not at all. It is our brothers’ honor to meet a senior in person!”

The giant realized that the other party was similar to the rumors and hurriedly bowed respectfully. The other two giants were also flustered but followed suit.

“The three cultivators are not disciples of the Falling Cloud Sect, so there is no need to be so polite. However, I heard from Fellow cultivator Hou that you saw our sect’s female disciples inside the Chuma Bone Lake. Is that true?”

“If the disciples you are referring to are Junior Sister Song and her group, then we did indeed see them inside the Chuma Bone Lake.”

“Oh, I would like to hear the details of the situation at that time.”

“I understand. A few months ago, my brothers and I entered the Chuma Bone Lake to find materials for refining. While we were leaving the outer area, we encountered Junior Sister Song and the two other women.

We had seen them a few times in the past, so we exchanged a few words with Junior Sister Song, but all three of them looked unwell. They seemed to be looking for something, but we didn’t talk for long and left the Chuma Bone Lake right away, and we haven’t seen them since.”

The giant carefully described the situation at that time.

“Do you remember the location where you met them? Here is a map of the outer area of the Chuma Bone Lake. Please mark the approximate location.”

Han Li flicked his sleeve and sent a pre-prepared blue jade slip to the giant.