Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 733

The scarred man waited calmly after Han Li absorbed the bead, then, with a surprised look, asked in a low voice,

“Can you understand me now? Who are you, and why were you collapsed here? An ordinary person wouldn’t even be able to reach the Azure Luo Desert.”

“Azure Luo Desert? I’ve never heard of it. Actually, I came here by accident, so I have no idea where this is. I’m just an ordinary person with no special status. My name is Han Li,” Han Li replied with a wry smile.

“…It seems you also fell here through a spatial rift. There’s no need to be surprised. Spatial rifts appear so frequently here that strangers are often swept in from tens of thousands of miles away,” the large man said, as if it were nothing unusual. Han Li was speechless at his words and swallowed all the lies he had prepared.

“Well, you don’t seem like an ordinary person… As long as you’re not a transformed alien, it doesn’t matter. But the situation doesn’t look good. In a few days, the ‘Scorpion Uprising’ will occur in the Azure Luo Desert, and even if you have great abilities, you’ll be as good as dead. How about making a contract with our Heavenly East Trading Company? We’ll take you out of here on the condition that you work for our company for ten years. After twenty years, you’ll be free to leave.” The large man gave a sly smile.

“Twenty years? Very well, I agree to the deal.”

“Good. Since we’ve agreed, let’s draw up a blood oath.” The large man smiled and gestured to one of the cavalrymen behind him. The cavalryman took out a thick stack of papers from his pouch, pulled one out, bit his fingertip, wrote something on it, and approached Han Li. It was to show the paper to Han Li and have him confirm the contents. Han Li frowned and looked at the paper, remaining silent for a while.

“Surely you’ve seen a blood oath before, haven’t you?”

“No, I’ve never seen a blood oath before. Could you tell me how it’s used?” Han Li said honestly, looking at the spells written on the paper. It was more like a talisman [a piece of paper inscribed with magical symbols] than a piece of paper. He recognized the talismanic characters written on it; they were a very old type of spell script from the Mortal Realm [the world where Han Li previously resided].

The problem was that the arrangement was in a form he had never seen before, and the faint smell of blood made it very unsettling.

“You’ve never seen a blood oath before? Could it be that you came from the East? Sigh, never mind. I’ll explain it to you. If there are no problems with the contents written above, you voluntarily drop a drop of blood to make a contract. If you violate it, the power of the blood oath will take away a part of your soul, making you wish you were dead. This is made by the Blood Oath Sect, so unless you have the abilities of an immortal, you’ll be completely bound.” The large man patiently explained a few things. Han Li pondered after hearing his words.

Looking closely at the blood oath, he couldn’t fully understand it, but he roughly grasped the depth of the spell. It wasn’t a very complex talisman.

With a little time, he could figure out the principle behind the spell, and it wouldn’t be difficult to break it.

Also, even at a glance, it was something that could bind cultivators up to the Foundation Establishment stage [a low level of cultivation], so it was useless against cultivators above the Core Formation stage [a higher level of cultivation].

Although he had no magic power, the essence of his Nascent Soul [a very high level of cultivation] was spread throughout his body, so he wouldn’t be affected by this level of blood oath.

Come to think of it, it was similar to the evil artifact, the Nether River Page, that the old man Gu Youzhong had taken out in the Mortal Realm.

Of course, even Nascent Soul cultivators were somewhat bound by the Nether River Page, but the blood oath seemed to be mainly for making ordinary people keep their promises.

Also, judging by the large man’s tone, it seemed to be a common item here. Han Li organized his thoughts and checked the terms written on the document.

It stated that if they saved him here, he would work for them for twenty years.

“There are no problems with the content. But I can’t move, so this will have to wait…” Han Li accepted the offer but made it clear that he was reluctant to sign the blood oath. The scarred man sneered and said to the cavalryman who had brought the blood oath,

“Seventh, you help him.”

The cavalryman immediately placed the paper on Han Li’s chest, lifted his wrist with one hand, and flicked the other. A sharp dagger appeared from his fingertip and slashed at Han Li’s wrist without hesitation.

Ting!

However, a metallic friction sound rang out, and there was no blood or even a mark on Han Li’s wrist. The large man and the others all looked on in surprise, and the cavalryman holding the dagger froze on the spot.

“Did you train in the Profound Body Art? Or the Vajra Body [a body strengthening technique]? Have you already mastered the second level?” The scarred large man regained his senses and asked with a bit of respect.

“…I’ve mastered the Vajra Body to the third level.” Han Li, who had been silent, answered slowly, inwardly rejoicing. Now he was certain that this was the Spirit Realm [a higher realm of existence] that the avatar of the Heavenly Orchid had referred to. Otherwise, how would ordinary people know about a special technique like the Vajra Body?

“Vajra Body, third level…! You’re at least on par with a low-level demon beast. It seems we’ve picked up a very valuable treasure in the desert this time. It’s no wonder Seventh’s weapon didn’t work. But this Golden Jade Sword will work. It’s a spirit tool [a tool imbued with spiritual power], even if it’s from the lower realm, so it can make a small wound unless you activate a magic seal to block it.” The scarred large man sighed, then regained his original expression and threw a dagger in its sheath to Seventh.

‘Spirit tool?’ Han Li was intrigued by the strange word. At that moment, Seventh took out the dagger, and golden light spread in all directions. Han Li narrowed his eyes and observed it. The so-called ‘spirit tool’ didn’t look much different from a magic tool.

‘Do even ordinary people in the Spirit Realm use magic tools?’

But upon closer inspection, there was a difference. There was a concave part on the handle of the dagger, and a golden spirit stone [a stone containing spiritual energy] that shone brightly was embedded in it.

It was also quite high-grade, surprisingly a mid-grade metal-attribute spirit stone, but it was about one-fifth the size of a spirit stone from the Mortal Realm.

While he was wondering, ‘Seventh’ took out a leather glove from his pouch, put it on one hand, and then grabbed the dagger. The leather glove had spells shimmering on its surface, and unexpectedly, several small spirit stones the size of beans were embedded in it.

As he held the Golden Jade Sword with his gloved hand, the blade shone even more sharply. Han Li watched it expressionlessly, but he was quite surprised inside.

The cavalryman was able to use the spirit tool by wearing the leather glove. It was something that overturned his common sense.

The avatar of the Heavenly Orchid had said that in the Spirit Realm, outstanding individuals among ordinary people could contend with cultivators, and looking at the spirit tool in front of him, he couldn’t help but be amazed. If this was the case, then even ordinary people could certainly annihilate low-level cultivators.

Meanwhile, the cavalryman swung the dagger and slashed at Han Li’s wrist again. This time, it was a much heavier attack.

Han Li frowned and activated a magic seal inside. This time, it wasn’t to strengthen his body but to deliberately weaken it.

The Nether King Art and the Vajra Body were the same technique, but the way they were used was different. The former was cultivated using the magic power within the body, while the latter was a method of forcibly injecting external spiritual power into the body.

Han Li had been cultivating using the Nether King Art, but since he had no magic power left in his body, he used the Vajra Body’s method this time.

He had mastered the Nether King Art to the fourth level, not the third, with the help of the Bone Forging Art and the Dragon Scale Art, so if he left it as it was, no matter how powerful the spirit tool was, it wouldn’t be able to wound his wrist.

When the dagger touched Han Li’s wrist, it finally made a hairline cut, and blood flowed out.

The cavalryman hurriedly grabbed Han Li’s other hand, dipped his fingertip in the blood, and wrote spells on the blood oath. The blood formed shapes and was strangely absorbed into the paper.

Only then did the cavalryman smile and say to Han Li,

“Now, just read the contract in your mind and think that you agree.”

Han Li slightly raised his eyebrows but did as he was told. Then, the blood on the blood oath spread greatly, and the spell characters popped out and disappeared into Han Li’s and the cavalryman’s bodies.

Fwoosh.

The blood oath suddenly caught fire with a blue-green flame and disappeared into ashes.

“Haha! Excellent, Brother Han! Now you’re a member of our Heavenly East Trading Company. Brother Han, since you’re not feeling well, you can’t ride the Suan Wolf Beast, so please take the carriage. Seventh, bring the carriage.” The scarred cavalryman smiled and treated Han Li kindly.

The young man called Seventh immediately moved the giant wolf he was riding and went behind Han Li.

Meanwhile, the large man smiled and introduced himself to Han Li. Only then did Han Li learn that the other’s name was ‘Zhang Gui’ and that he was one of the captains of the Heavenly East Trading Company’s escort team.

Their job was to escort valuable goods and cross the Azure Luo Desert, and the desert was so vast that it would take a month even if they moved quickly.

The two exchanged questions and answers, and as they were talking, something was approaching in the distance, raising a cloud of dust. It was a giant tortoise, about four or five times the size of a person.

On the back of the giant tortoise were cabins and cargo holds made of blue wood, and in front of it was a chair where a thin, dark-faced old man in a gray robe sat like a coachman.

The giant tortoises stopped in front of several cavalrymen, and the door of the blue wooden cabin opened, and a slender figure walked out.

Unexpectedly, it was a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl in a jade-green robe, with a very cute and adorable round face.

“Uncle Zhang! Who is this person?” The girl asked with a bright smile as she looked at Han Li lying on the sand.

“Miss Xiang’er! Brother Han is someone who has decided to join our company. He’s not feeling well right now, and we can’t just leave him in the cargo hold… Please be understanding.” The scarred large man answered respectfully to the girl.

“If he’s become a member of the Heavenly East Trading Company, then he’s one of us! Bring him inside.” The girl smiled, and although she was still young, she had a certain charm. The scarred large man expressed his gratitude and waved his hand, and two cavalrymen got off the giant wolves and lifted Han Li from the sand.

One grabbed his head, and the other grabbed his legs, and they climbed up the rope ladder onto the giant tortoise. Once up, Han Li scanned the inside of the cabin.

The interior space was large enough to seat a dozen people, but apart from the jade-green robed girl who had first shown her face, there were only three other girls sitting there.

The girls were all exceptionally beautiful and did not seem to be of ordinary status.

Apart from the table in the middle and the long chairs installed on all sides, there was nothing else in the carriage, so there was plenty of empty space. Han Li was laid down on a long chair on one side of the carriage, which was quite comfortable with yellow demon beast leather spread on it.

The two cavalrymen quietly turned around and did not even glance at the girls.

Han Li found it strange but didn’t show it. He smiled at the women inside the cabin, then closed his eyes and rested.

After spending months lying in the desert, suffering from the scorching sun during the day and the bone-chilling cold at night, his body and mind were quite exhausted.

The four girls looked at Han Li with curious eyes and whispered among themselves, and anyone could tell that they were talking about him. The girls spoke in low voices, but there was no way Han Li wouldn’t hear them.

“How badly injured is he that he can’t even move?”

“I don’t know. I heard Uncle Zhang say that he’s going to ask one of the cultivators in our group to examine him.”

“Uncle Zhang is going that far? Cultivators aren’t people you can just call on anytime.”

“Exactly! Anyway, Uncle Zhang said that he’s a person with great potential. That’s why he brought him into the carriage where we are.”

“Potential? He doesn’t look like it at all?”

Han Li lay peacefully, not moving as if he couldn’t hear their conversation at all.