Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 798

“Amitabha.”

The old monk also chanted a Buddhist invocation in a low voice and flicked his finger, sending out a golden flame. The Taoist’s body turned to ashes and scattered in the golden flames.

“Although Zi Ying possessed a divine power similar to our Combined Body cultivators, there’s no way he could have been silently defeated by Venerable Lei Luo’s divine abilities. The only possibility is that Venerable Lei Luo was ambushed when he went to the Great Barren World a hundred years ago. For Zi Ying to have taken his place after that, he is an extremely cunning fellow. If it weren’t for Celestial Sovereign Tian Yuan revealing this person’s true identity, we would still be deceived. His eagerness to gather the Ascended cultivators was supposedly to protect them, but he clearly had other intentions.”

The old monk sighed deeply. The middle-aged scholar was surprisingly Celestial Sovereign Tian Yuan, the renowned master of the Celestial Origin Realm among the human race.

“However, he has shown a tendency to favor the native cultivators too much in recent years. It’s understandable that the Ascended cultivators would feel dissatisfied.”

Celestial Sovereign Tian Yuan said with a gentle smile.

“This old monk has been focusing on cultivation recently and hasn’t paid much attention. But now that we face a powerful enemy, it’s not the time to worry about such trivial matters. We can’t even imagine how much information Zi Ying has extracted while occupying Venerable Lei Luo’s body. It seems we need to drastically revise the Celestial Origin defense and restrictions.”

The old monk’s face darkened.

“This is an important matter, so we must discuss it with the Elder Council. Zi Ying must also possess a considerable amount of information, so Great Master Jin Wol, you must interrogate him thoroughly.”

The middle-aged scholar, Celestial Sovereign Tian Yuan, flipped his palm and took out a jade bowl, then tossed it over.

“Thank you. It’s just that I’m worried that the future of those who have already been dispatched will not be smooth.”

Great Master Jin Wol accepted the jade bowl with a troubled expression.

“We can’t stop the plan, as the enemies might notice in advance, can we? We’ve only made some adjustments to a few members. Perhaps the Spirit Race will try to harm them along the way, but for now, we can only hope they can avoid disaster themselves. But is what you said earlier true? Is it really possible that there is someone among the Ascended cultivators who possesses the Profound Heaven Severing Spirit Sword?”

“How could that be! What I said earlier was 70% truth and 30% lies. Profound Heaven treasures [Treasures of immense power and origin] can be moved to other realms after they take form but before they gain spirituality. However, once they leave their original dimension, they lose their spirituality. No matter how great a Profound Heaven treasure is, it becomes useless. Naturally, it wouldn’t be able to ascend to the Chaos Myriad Spirit Board [A list of the most powerful treasures]. The reason this old monk told such a lie was simply to buy time.”

“I see. As expected, you are well-versed in Profound Heaven treasures, Great Master.”

The old monk smiled and explained calmly, and the middle-aged scholar, Celestial Sovereign Tian Yuan, smiled along. However, it was unclear whether he believed him.

* * *

Han Li, unaware of the secrets behind his mission, was slaughtering the strange birds along with the other four.

The strange birds were about a zhang [approximately 3.3 meters] in size, with four wings and a body resembling a giant bat, but with the head of a mountain goat. The two curved horns above their heads and sharp fangs made them look very ferocious.

Every time the hundreds of strange birds flapped their wings, a gray wind swept through, and when they opened their mouths, they spewed out lightning bolts the size of bowls, displaying power comparable to a Core Formation cultivator.

Moreover, the strange birds’ claws were as black and sharp as if made of black iron, making them look extremely dangerous.

Perhaps ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators would have been troubled or avoided the situation if they were surrounded by so many strange birds.

However, among Han Li’s group were a direct descendant of the True Spirit Family, a Transformation Stage demon beast from the Seven Great Demon Clans, and an anomaly named Han Li.

Even as the strange birds swarmed like a storm, these five were easily repelling them while protecting the giant ship.

The blood-spotted youth and Nong Dong formed hand seals with both hands, manipulating white light streaks over ten zhang long to cover the area a hundred zhang ahead.

The white light streaks seemed to be a powerful treasure, emitting an immense spiritual light that split apart both the gray wind and lightning, killing one or several strange birds with each flash.

Xiao Hong was also surrounded by terrifying black flames, making it impossible to see what divine abilities she was using, but any strange bird that approached turned to ashes on the spot.

No matter how ferocious the strange birds were, after a dozen of them died screaming, they no longer dared to approach recklessly. And the cultivator with the snow-white eyebrows continued his attack in another way.

He didn’t rely on treasures but directly jumped into the flock of strange birds. Black wings appeared on his back, and his shoulders thickened as he fought in a semi-demon form.

Every time this cultivator strangely stirred up the flock of strange birds, the surrounding birds scattered in all directions, and blood splattered everywhere.

Han Li, on the other hand, fought very ordinarily, releasing the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, with 72 golden lights circling around him, slicing any approaching strange bird in half.

However, the one fighting most leisurely among the five was the white-robed girl, Ye Ying.

She held a jade pipa [a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument] and moved her delicate fingers across its strings.

Faint yellow rings emanated in layers, instantly surrounding the approaching strange birds, which were then covered in a grayish-white substance and fell straight down.

And the moment they hit the ground, the grayish-white strange birds shattered into pieces. The pipa surprisingly possessed the divine ability of petrification.

Even though none of the five were using their full power, they had completely dealt with the hundreds of strange birds in a short time. After finishing their task, they retracted their divine abilities and returned to the giant cloud that the Spirit Cloud Ship had transformed into.

“I don’t know what these strange birds are, but it’s surprising that they could see through the Spirit Cloud Ship’s transformation.”

Nong Dong glanced at the others and sighed softly.

“I’ve never seen this kind before either. But there must be many ancient beasts we don’t know about in the vast Great Barren World, so it’s not strange. I’m more surprised that the Spirit Cloud Ship was only discovered now.”

Xiao Hong replied calmly.

“This means we’ve already entered the depths of the Great Barren World. The journey ahead will be even more dangerous. Although the strange birds were numerous, they were easy to deal with, but if we encounter a powerful ancient beast, we must abandon the Spirit Cloud Ship and flee.”

The cultivator with the raised eyebrows said.

“Of course. If we encounter a legendary being like the White-Eyed Giant, the most important thing will be to save our lives. Ah, it’s Han Brother’s turn to stand guard now, so you’ll have to work hard for a while.”

Nong Dong smiled at Han Li as he spoke. Han Li simply nodded and said nothing. But Ye Ying suddenly smiled and asked Xiao Hong beside her,

“Did you use the Black Flame of the Black Wind Clan just now? It’s indeed as famous as they say, its power is truly amazing!”

Xiao Hong was startled by her question and replied with a strange look in her eyes,

“Yes, it’s the Black Flame I’ve cultivated. But compared to Ye Fellow Daoist’s pipa, it’s not worth mentioning. I heard that tens of thousands of years ago, a Combined Body senior in the Celestial Spirit Realm refined a Heaven Piercing Treasure called the Spirit Bewitching Pipa and ascended to the Chaos Myriad Spirit Board. It was said to be a treasure that could use the three great divine abilities of petrification, melting gold, and freezing ice. Is your treasure related to that?”

“Haha, I didn’t expect Xiao Fellow Daoist to be so knowledgeable about the human race’s treasures. What I possess is merely a replica of the Spirit Bewitching Pipa. That’s why I can only use the petrification divine ability. Its power is nothing compared to the real Heaven Piercing Treasure.”

“I see! Even so, it’s still a Spirit Treasure level treasure. The petrification divine ability itself is so rare that one can’t help but be caught off guard.”

Nong Dong, who had been watching the conversation between the two women, who were outwardly friendly but inwardly hiding daggers, suddenly seemed to have an idea and asked Han Li,

“Han Fellow Daoist, the flying sword magic treasure you refined is very unique! It can move 72 swords as a set at the same time, and its power seems considerable. It reminded me of a senior who was an Ascended cultivator before. He was in the late Void Refinement stage at the time, but he used 72 flying swords to form a sword formation and drove back a Combined Body cultivator. I heard it caused quite a stir. That senior’s sword light was blue, so it’s different from your flying swords. Perhaps, can you also use a sword formation?”

Nong Dong seemed quite interested in the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that Han Li had activated.

“Oh, was there such a thing? Could you tell me the name of that senior and the name of the sword formation? I only have many flying swords, but I don’t know much about sword formations.”

Han Li, who was interested in the story, replied without showing it.

“I know who Nong Fellow Daoist is talking about. Isn’t it the eccentric senior, Qing Yuanzi? I don’t know what kind of sword formation he cultivated, but I heard that the cultivation method he used was also something he created himself. It’s a pity that he entered the Great Barren World a long time ago and we haven’t heard from him since. If not, he would have reached the Combined Body stage with his extraordinary talent.”

Ye Ying interjected with a smile, but Nong Dong simply smiled back.

Han Li remained silent for a long time.

When he heard the title, the characteristics of the magic treasure, and that he had created his own cultivation method, Han Li was certain that he was the senior from the lower realm who had created the Qing Yuan Sword Art. It was surprising to hear news of him like this, but he had already chosen the path of dual cultivation of body and magic.

Otherwise, he would have sought out Qing Yuanzi to inherit the cultivation method that followed the Qing Yuan Sword Art. Thinking this, he cupped his fist to the others, then flew to the highest point of the ship and sat down in a cross-legged position.

After Han Li left, Xiao Hong and Nong Dong exchanged glances and then naturally dispersed.

* * *

Han Li had his eyes closed, but he wasn’t really meditating. He was repeatedly thinking about the cultivation method he still didn’t understand, and he released a part of his consciousness to monitor the movements around the Spirit Cloud Ship. It was to guard against attacks from ancient beasts.

For the next seven or eight days, the ship continued to move forward disguised as a giant cloud, and they occasionally encountered bird-like beasts, but there were no problems. Unlike the flock of four-winged strange birds, they didn’t seem to have the ability to see through the Spirit Cloud Ship’s restrictions.

It was the ninth day since Han Li had taken his turn to stand guard.

After replacing the ship’s spirit stones with new ones, he was about to return to his position when he stopped and stared at the front with a surprised expression.

“This can’t be. How could something like that be here?”

His expression changed as if he had sensed something, and he suddenly let out a long whistle.

Whistle!

It was a small sound, but it was enough to summon the other four who were resting in their private rooms. Soon, streaks of light flew from all over the ship.

“What’s wrong? Has something dangerous appeared?”

“What is that? Could it be….”

Xiao Hong and Nong Dong spoke one after another. Xiao Hong was full of suspicion, but Nong Dong already seemed to have discovered something and looked surprised. The cultivator with the raised eyebrows and Ye Ying also released their consciousness to scan the surroundings.

“Has a True Spirit level being really appeared?”

The surprised cultivator raised his voice, and Ye Ying also looked startled, though she didn’t say anything.

Han Li, with a blank expression, was scanning the giant black shadow that covered the high sky hundreds of miles away with his consciousness.

The area around the black shadow was filled with dark clouds, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and below it, gray whirlwinds swept continuously, making it look like a giant pillar supporting the sky.