Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 704

Han Li’s expression changed drastically. With a low shout, he unleashed a burst of golden light from his entire body and used his other hand to strike the arm that was touching the Magnet Mountain.

Only then was he able to stagger away from the Magnet Mountain’s immense gravitational pull.

It was fortunate that it was him; if it had been a cultivator in the early or mid-Nascent Soul stage [a cultivation stage], they would have lost a great deal of their magical power.

“Brother Han, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. The Magnet Mountain is strange, and ordinary methods won’t work. I’ll stay here for a while, think of other ways, and then decide what to do.”

“Very well. But no matter how profound your magical power is, it’s not good to stay here for too long without cultivating the Magnet Divine Light. At most, it will be three or four days; any longer, and it will affect your cultivation. So, I will come back in three days.”

Ling Yuling did not object but repeatedly urged him. When Han Li nodded, she handed him a jade token and immediately left.

Once the woman’s figure had completely disappeared outside the jade gate, Han Li unhesitatingly injected spiritual power into the jade token, allowing a large amount of spells to seep back into the jade gate.

Buzz!

The jade gate, which had been vibrating for a moment, closed firmly on its own.

Having sealed off the space, he did not immediately study the Magnet Mountain but first spread his consciousness to thoroughly search the entire cave.

Only after confirming that there were no suspicious restrictions or anyone spying on him did he take out formation tools from his storage pouch and send them flying in all directions.

Then, a yellow mist rose from the floor, covering the entire cave. Having finished everything, he turned his gaze back to the dark, small mountain.

It wasn’t his first time seeing a mountain-shaped treasure, but this one was particularly troublesome. In the past, the Heavenfall Mountain treasure was only a mountain peak in appearance; its essence was the same as any other ordinary treasure.

“Looking at it, that girl seems very interested in cultivators cultivating the Magnet Divine Light.”

A blue light emerged from his sleeve and transformed into the illusion of a young boy. It was the human form of Celestial Lan.

“I felt it too. It’s clear that Palace Master Ling wants me to master the Magnet Divine Light. If I remember correctly, the Magnet Divine Light has been passed down in the Chaotic Star Sea for a long time, but it’s difficult to master. Only the Twin Celestials succeeded in cultivating it after obtaining the Magnet Mountain. To cultivate it, I would also need to borrow the power of the Magnet Mountain, which means I would have to connect my body’s spiritual power with the five elements, making it difficult to leave this place easily.”

“Oh, so that girl is plotting something.”

The young boy said nonchalantly.

“It’s not exactly a plot… but if I’m trapped on Celestial Star forever, I’ll have no choice but to join the Star Palace. Otherwise, why would the Twin Celestials have given me the secret techniques to break through the Deity Transformation bottleneck [a major cultivation breakthrough] as soon as they saw me? If you look closely at the secret techniques they gave me, the only useful one was the Magnet Divine Light. It’s like they’ve set a trap in plain sight and are telling me to walk right into it.”

“Weren’t they afraid of what the cultivator would do if they were found out?”

“They thought that if someone had a desire to reach the Deity Transformation stage, they would fall into a trap even if it was obvious. But if I can move the Magnet Mountain before I have to cultivate the Magnet Divine Light, the problem will naturally be solved. It seems the Twin Celestials were confident that I couldn’t do it! After all, they’ve been trapped here for hundreds of years while mastering the Magnet Divine Light, so what method haven’t they tried?”

Han Li sighed softly.

“Then why not try to master the Magnet Divine Light without borrowing the power of the Magnet Mountain, just like the Twin Celestials? Learn the technique a little, and then slowly move it to the Southern Heaven.”

The young boy suggested with a chuckle.

“Do you think I have time to spare? It’s not easy to master the Magnet Divine Light so quickly, and even if I master one or two levels, I won’t be able to pass through the teleportation array if I can’t put the Magnet Mountain into my storage pouch. Are you suggesting I fly to the Southern Heaven carrying this thing?”

“I suppose not. If this were the Spirit World, you could use a Universe Belt to carry the mountain…”

The young boy shook his head regretfully. Han Li didn’t know what a Universe Belt was, but he guessed it was a space-type treasure.

‘It seems even Celestial Lan doesn’t have a solution this time.’

Then he had to find a solution himself. He wanted to borrow the Magnet Mountain to master the Magnet Divine Light to reach the Deity Transformation stage, but not like this.

He didn’t want to be trapped on Celestial Star, nor did he want to master the Magnet Divine Light in the Falling Cloud Sect.

Considering his reputation in the Southern Heaven, this matter would eventually become known, and the Falling Cloud Sect would suffer a great disaster, just like the Star Palace.

The best way was to quickly master the technique in a place where no one knew, leaving no openings for anyone.

But whether he could master the Magnet Divine Light so quickly was unknown.

He planned to try using the Cold Flame of the Five Transformations Demonic Heart first, and if that didn’t work, he would use the Magnet Divine Light as a backup plan. Either way, the immediate priority was to come up with a clever plan to take the Magnet Mountain and leave.

Han Li put aside all his worries and took out a dozen or so talismans from his storage pouch and sent them flying. The talismans stuck to the surface of the mountain, and when Han Li formed a hand seal, the talismans activated.

Bang! Boom!

Explosions rang out in succession, and the dozen or so talismans exploded and turned to ash. With a troubled expression, he took a light breath and this time took out a set of formation tools.

The formation tools flew out, emitting colorful lights, and his incantations echoed in the cave…

* * *

Three days later, a streak of blue light flashed and quietly left the peak of the Sacred Mountain, disappearing into the distance.

Shortly after, 81 clear bell chimes echoed through the sky from the Sacred Hall at the very top of the Star Palace’s Sacred Mountain.

The bell chimes, like the roar of a dragon, could be heard by any cultivator on Celestial Star.

The Star Palace abruptly announced that the great cultivator Han Li had officially accepted the position of guest elder of the Star Palace and would be entering closed-door cultivation on the Sacred Mountain for a hundred years.

Various factions had differing opinions upon hearing this news, but no one suspected anything.

After all, in the battle against the Inverse Star Alliance, Han Li had personally killed ten thousand people on behalf of the Star Palace, securing victory for them.

Thus, those who had other intentions secretly abandoned their plans, and many factions in the Inner Star Sea declared a complete blockade of their islands and announced that they would not be involved in outside affairs for the time being.

Apart from the Star Palace dispatching disciples everywhere to pursue the remnants of the Inverse Star Alliance, everything seemed to have returned to a peaceful state on the surface.

However, in reality, the battle between the Star Palace and the Inverse Star Alliance had caused numerous casualties, greatly affecting other sects and factions.

Therefore, during this period, many sects disappeared, and new factions emerged repeatedly.

But now that the Star Palace had taken in a great cultivator as a guest elder, everyone had no choice but to behave themselves.

However, the guest elder of the Star Palace, whom they feared, was not in the secret chamber of Celestial Star but was flying over a sea far away from there.

“To become a guest elder of the Star Palace is quite unexpected. Even though the other party offered millions of spirit stones as compensation, I thought you would refuse immediately, given your aversion to troublesome matters.”

The young boy’s laughing voice reached Han Li’s ears.

“I do dislike troublesome matters, but what’s wrong with taking a position in name only when they’re giving so many spirit stones! Besides, the situation in the Chaotic Star Sea has already stabilized, so they’re just using my name to intimidate other factions. On the contrary, if I had really said I would stay on Celestial Star, the old men of the Star Palace would have been restless and unable to sleep at night.”

“That’s true! With your cultivation, it wouldn’t be impossible to forcibly take over the Star Palace. If you dealt with the Star Palace elders appropriately and cultivated your own confidants, the surname of the Star Palace Master would be Han within two or three hundred years!”

“That wouldn’t be a bad choice if I didn’t have the intention of ascending to the Spirit World. But since I do, what’s the point of doing such useless things? It would only waste my cultivation time.”

“Your firm will on the path of cultivation is truly admirable. Even I would have wanted to swallow such a huge force if it were me. Are all the cultivators who ascend from this lower realm so resolute?”

“I’m not a saint, and there’s no way I wouldn’t be swayed by a huge force like the Star Palace. But I have no intention of wasting time on illusions. Celestial Lan, you are originally a spirit beast of heaven and earth, so your lifespan is much longer than mine, and a few hundred years may not be much to you.”

“That’s a valid point, but it’s still a shame to leave the Magnet Mountain behind.”

“It’s alright. Just think of it as temporarily entrusting it to the Star Palace. The Magnet Mountain isn’t going anywhere, and I can come back when I need to cultivate the Magnet Divine Light. The problem is that no matter what method I use, it’s impossible to shrink it.”

“The cultivator tried all sorts of methods in that cave for several days, but nothing worked. Such an item shouldn’t exist in the Human Realm…”

The young boy seemed lost in thought.

“But as you said, if it’s a powerful space treasure, it should be able to move the entire Magnet Mountain.”

“Are you talking about something like the Universe Belt that my main body possesses? Do you really have such a treasure? Let me tell you in advance, ordinary space-type magical artifacts or treasures won’t be able to move the Magnet Mountain.”

“I have about half of one. I only recently realized that I possessed such a treasure.”

“Half?”

The young boy asked blankly, and Han Li immediately brushed his storage pouch, summoning a black, shimmering object. It was the remaining part of the Black Wind Flag.

It was a powerful space spiritual treasure, and it would have originally been able to contain the Magnet Mountain. Seeing it, the young boy clicked his tongue lightly and appeared as a blue light from Han Li’s sleeve.

The young boy pulled the Black Wind Flag closer and began to examine it carefully.

“A space spiritual treasure! Such things are rare even in the Spirit World, but it’s such a pity that it’s so damaged.”

After examining it from all sides, the young boy threw it back and said cautiously.

“Can it be repaired?”

“It would be difficult to restore it to a spiritual treasure level. However, it might be possible to refine it again to create a lower-grade space-type treasure! A Crimson Soul Banner should be enough, but…”

“What’s the problem?”

“While other auxiliary materials can be obtained, refining this requires a large number of souls. The power of the treasure depends on the number of souls. It’s one of the seven great evil artifacts of the Spirit World that I mentioned before, and the refining process is very difficult and cruel. To contain the Magnet Mountain, you would need at least millions of souls. Of course, there are other ways to refine space treasures, but the necessary materials are absolutely not available here.”

The young boy explained seriously.

“You mean I need that many souls?”

Han Li was also dumbfounded.

“That’s the minimum! To unleash the true power of the Crimson Soul Banner, you would need tens of millions. You just want to contain an object, so you don’t need that much, but the true power of the Crimson Soul Banner is not much weaker than a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure [a very powerful treasure]. Especially since it possesses space divine abilities, it’s something that many cultivators would covet.”

“Tens of millions of souls! It would be difficult unless I went around massacring every island I see… No, wait, there might be another way.”

“Do you have another clever plan?”

Han Li did not answer the young boy’s question and brushed his storage pouch.

A green light flashed, and two small green flags appeared in his hand, their surfaces filled with extraordinary-looking spells.

They were the Ghost Soul Banners of the Great Jin Yin Luo Sect.

One of them was even a treasure that Old Man Gan had personally possessed, and the other was infused with demonic energy.