Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 701

“Tsk, tsk, they say he was the greatest demonic beast of the Chaotic Star Sea, and it seems there was nothing he wouldn’t do. Such a famous evil artifact, shall we test its power?”

Han Li sneered and, with a flick of his wrist, took out the black jade bottle.

As the grayish-white yin energy overflowed from the bottle, five eerie skeletons appeared. They were none other than the Five Phantom Devil Corpses.

As he cast a magic seal, the five skeletons rolled on the ground, transforming into skull heads and flying away.

“Five Phantom Devil Corpses!”

Daoist Six Paths, as the greatest demonic beast of the Chaotic Star Sea, was well-versed in demonic arts. He recognized the power of the five devils at a glance and raised his voice.

Even to freely control the Five Phantom Devil Corpses required a harsh process.

Thinking that Han Li was as ruthless as himself, the old demon’s heart grew heavier.

‘It was already difficult to deal with him, and now he’s also proficient in demonic techniques. Is it impossible to survive this time?’

As the five devils rushed in with eerie sounds, he had no choice but to wave the giant flag to block them. The flag vibrated, and the three skull heads embedded at the top emitted a bizarre laugh, spewing black energy.

The five devils also opened their mouths, pouring out a torrent of eerie, blue-green demonic flames. In an instant, black energy and green demonic flames intertwined, and explosions continued.

However, after a while, the old demon’s face twisted. The green flames spewed by the five skulls began to overwhelm the black energy and push it back.

Daoist Six Paths groaned inwardly. No matter how powerful the Five Phantom Devil Corpses were, they should only be able to display the divine abilities of a late-stage Core Formation cultivator [a cultivation stage].

Yet, the devils before him were overwhelming the skulls, which were comparable to early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators [a higher cultivation stage]!

The old demon gritted his teeth, formed a hand seal, and opened his mouth, sending a mouthful of blood flying into the flag.

Then, the flag buzzed, and incantations writhed on its surface, and countless skull phantoms appeared around it.

The skull phantoms were only the size of fists, but there were many of them, and they simultaneously emitted black energy.

In an instant, the black energies coalesced into a coiling dragon, which trembled from head to tail and charged towards the five devils.

Two of the five skull heads became blurry and transformed back into human-shaped skeletons, summoning a pair of bone sabers and leaping towards the black coiling dragon.

With two of them gone, the power of the green flames emitted by the remaining three was greatly reduced.

As a result, the black energy emitted by the skulls on the opposing flag regained stability.

The black energy and yin fire reached a stalemate. Only then did the old demon breathe a sigh of relief and look at Han Li, his heart sinking.

Han Li stood with his hands behind his back, watching the battle between the Five Phantom Devil Corpses and the skull flag. His expression, which seemed to be smiling, made him look like a spectator.

‘What is it?’

The old demon felt an unknown sense of crisis creeping in.

At that moment, the serpent floating above cried out loudly, and the old demon’s face changed drastically as he turned his head.

Then, a blue figure appeared silently from behind, cutting through the black wind with a black dagger, just before reaching the crimson protective barrier. If he hadn’t turned around in time, his head and body would have already been separated.

Daoist Six Paths’ face turned pale, and the second Nascent Soul [a powerful secondary soul], having failed in its ambush, now openly cast magic seals and wielded the demonic beast dagger.

Silver light flashed from the human-shaped puppet’s body, and it disappeared from the spot. At that moment, Han Li, who was watching from afar, sent a cold gaze and took out the Eight Spirit Ruler.

Then, flapping its two wings, it disappeared, leaving behind a faint sound of thunder.

The moment the human-shaped puppet’s black dagger was about to pierce the protective barrier, the old demon, without even a chance to look at Han Li, let out a tremendous roar and split into two illusions, jumping out in different directions.

At this time, the serpent that Daoist Six Paths had released spewed black liquid downwards, and the surrounding area of a dozen feet was filled with poisonous fog.

Bang!

The black light and the dagger collided, emitting a dazzling light, but unexpectedly, the black light exploded on its own, blocking the demonic beast dagger.

As silver light flashed, the human-shaped puppet appeared where the old demon had been, and the poisonous fog rushed in, with the black serpent leaping towards the puppet.

However, a moment later, a silver lotus bloomed above the serpent’s head, emitting seven-colored firelight. The serpent was unable to move, and a thin silver thread pierced through the poisonous fog and wrapped around the serpent’s neck.

Whirr!

Then, the serpent’s two heads fell powerlessly. In fact, the serpent’s poison was a deadly poison comparable to the Ten Absolute Poisons. An ordinary cultivator would have died the moment they touched it.

However, the puppet was not a person with flesh and blood, so no matter how strange the poison was, it would have no effect.

Instead, relying solely on the poisonous fog, it lost its life.

The moment the serpent died, the illusion that was connected to the serpent’s consciousness became even more terrified.

The illusion didn’t look back and simply waved its hand, pointing at the skull flag.

Then, the skull flag was about to rise, emitting black light, but a blue lightning flashed in the void, and Han Li appeared.

Looking down with his navy blue eyes, he waved one hand, dropping a golden net, and summoned a blue cauldron from his other hand, shooting out countless blue threads.

Daoist Six Paths’ Transformation Shadow Technique was so mysterious that it was impossible to distinguish between the real and the fake with consciousness alone, but Han Li, having activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, could instantly distinguish between the real and the fake.

Startled by Han Li’s attack, the illusion that Daoist Six Paths had transformed into shook its shoulders, and six shadows flew out from behind.

However, the devil shadows that appeared this time were much dimmer and more ambiguous than the first ones.

The old demon then took out a navy blue jade umbrella, and the treasure quickly grew several times larger, blocking the old demon below.

Fortunately, the six devil shadows collided with the blue threads in the void and, surprisingly, did not get pierced immediately, holding out for a while.

However, as golden lightning crashed down with a rumble, the devil shadows could no longer withstand it.

Golden lightning and blue threads flashed, now attacking the giant umbrella.

The jade umbrella, which was flashing brightly, unexpectedly did not budge against the combined attack of the golden lightning and blue threads.

At this, Han Li summoned a golden sword in the void, flapped his wings, and transformed into a white thread, disappearing.

Swish!

The old demon, feeling an ominous premonition, was about to flee when a streak of golden light pierced through the jade umbrella.

“Hah!”

The old demon was startled and released black energy, but a white thread appeared and wrapped around him like lightning.

Thud, thud.

Daoist Six Paths suddenly felt a chill down his back, and at that moment, purple flames pierced through his protective barrier and made a hole in his back.

The armor-shaped treasure he was wearing had not blocked Han Li’s attack at all.

As the old demon felt excruciating pain, the purple flames spread out, turning Six Paths’ body into an ice block.

However, the face of Six Paths, who was turning into purple ice, twisted hideously, and he blew himself up.

Blood splattered like rain, and each drop of blood turned into a strange blood-colored flame, rushing towards Han Li.

At this time, a green light escaped from the body and flashed thirty feet away. The green light was tightly holding a green jade bottle in both hands, and it was none other than the old demon’s Nascent Soul [the core of a cultivator’s power].

Han Li flicked his sleeve, extinguishing the blood-colored flames with purple flames, but he did not immediately chase after the old demon.

He stood still, calmly watching the old demon’s Nascent Soul flee.

The Nascent Soul teleported away, but when Han Li didn’t chase after it, it flinched and stopped.

But then, a flash of spiritual energy appeared above the Nascent Soul’s head, and a black dagger appeared strangely, falling silently.

Only then did the Nascent Soul discover the dagger, but it was already too late.

Black light flashed, and the old demon’s Nascent Soul was cut in half.

Then, silver light spread, and another Han Li appeared.

The human-shaped puppet, having defeated the two-headed serpent, had flown straight here and dealt with the old demon’s Nascent Soul.

But then, a strange thing happened.

Even after being cut in half, the Nascent Soul did not scatter but transformed into six black threads, shooting out in all directions.

The human-shaped puppet, pausing for a moment, quickly flicked all ten of its fingers.

Then, a thunderous sound rang out, and a dozen thin golden lightning bolts shot out, hitting the black threads.

As the golden light exploded in succession, the black threads disappeared powerlessly.

Thus, the body and soul of the demonic beast that had ruled the Chaotic Star Sea for hundreds of years were completely annihilated.

After carefully scanning the surroundings to confirm that all the split souls had disappeared, the puppet sucked in a small bottle floating in the void and flew straight back to Han Li.

The secret technique of the Nascent Soul’s soul scattering and fleeing was extremely rare, and other cultivators would not even think of chasing after it.

However, having seen someone use a similar technique to escape in the Peony Grassland, Han Li had prepared in advance and killed the old demon’s split souls in one blow.

The human-shaped puppet threw the green bottle, and Han Li, taking it, had an intrigued look on his face.

Even before opening the bottle, he could hear ghostly cries from inside.

Then, Han Li’s eyes lit up as he looked at the Five Phantom Devil Corpses.

The skull flag had lost its master and its power had plummeted, leaving it struggling against the Five Phantom Devil Corpses.

However, the three skull heads on the flag did not avoid the Five Phantom Devil Corpses’ ferocious gaze and flashed a murderous green light.

Before the flag’s skulls and coiling dragon could counterattack, the Five Phantom Devil Corpses formed a hand seal and opened their pure white mouths wide.

Then, five-colored cold flames erupted violently, turning into a five-colored sea of fire.

The coiling dragon was the first to be engulfed in the flames and showed a mysterious reaction.

The black coiling dragon, which had been baring its sharp teeth and claws, slowed down and staggered.

At that moment, the Five Phantom Devil Corpses howled in unison!

In the sea of fire, countless ice blades shot up, cutting the black coiling dragon into pieces, and its remains burned away in the flames.

The same was true for the three skull heads at the top of the flag.

The black energy that had been erupting met the five-colored sea of fire, its momentum subsided, and it immediately writhed and scattered.

Whoosh.

The skull heads were still emitting black energy, but they were terrified as they watched the approaching five-colored sea of fire, letting out strange noises.

At this, the Five Phantom Devil Corpses let out a bizarre laugh and transformed into five streaks of grayish-white energy, leaping into the sea of fire.

Having pierced through the five-colored sea of fire, the Five Phantom Devil Corpses had transformed into skull heads the size of cartwheels.

Excited, the Five Phantom Devil Corpses bared their sharp teeth and rushed at the flag’s skulls, beginning to tear them apart.

Crunch! Munch!

However, the flag skulls also opened their mouths wide and bit at the Five Phantom Devil Corpses, so angry screams and roars constantly echoed as the brutal devouring continued.

But the flag skulls, having already released a large amount of black energy, were bound to be pushed back. Han Li, watching this with satisfaction, nodded, when a sigh came from the blue cauldron.

“Do you have something to say?”

“It’s just that the cultivator’s five-colored cold flames remind me of the Spirit Realm’s Five Elements attribute techniques. If these techniques are used, they will also display five colors, so if someone doesn’t know, they might mistake them for Five Elements techniques and get tricked.”

A blue light flashed, and a small boy wearing a blue robe stood barefoot on top of the Void Sky Cauldron.

The boy strolled leisurely around the cauldron, looking at the Five Phantom Devil Corpses.

“Five Elements techniques?”

“What I’ve noticed since coming to the human realm is that cultivators who practice multiple attribute techniques at the same time are rare. Most of them only cultivate one attribute technique. Tsk, if they continue like that, even if they ascend to the Spirit Realm, they won’t even dream of reaching the Refinement Void stage [a very high cultivation stage].”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s still too early to mention the Refinement Void stage to a cultivator. But if I were to give you a piece of advice, the core of the Refinement Void stage is the unity of the Five Elements! If you reach the Transformation Spirit stage [a high cultivation stage], it would be best to change your cultivation technique to one with multiple attributes. If that’s difficult, you should at least practice techniques with special properties, such as wind and thunder attributes. Only then will you have a slightly higher chance of reaching the Refinement Void stage after the Transformation Spirit stage. Of course, techniques with various attributes are more difficult to cultivate than ordinary techniques, and the cultivation speed is also slower. Well, if you don’t aspire to reach the Refinement Void stage, then it’s not bad to just practice a single attribute technique! Then your magic power will increase quickly, and it will be easier to overcome the Minor Heavenly Tribulation [a trial of cultivation] that occurs every three hundred years.”

Han Li was speechless at the boy’s casual remarks.