Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 913

The flying sword, now imbued with the divine ability of ‘Sword Spirit Transformation to Emptiness,’ could shatter into countless pieces at will and then instantly reform. Now, barring a few treasures with unique properties, nothing could truly break the Azure Bamboo Cloud Piercing Sword.

However, each time the flying sword fragmented and reformed, it sustained minor damage, requiring its master to expend a considerable amount of magical power. If it were broken too many times, or if the master’s magical power was depleted, it would be completely destroyed, regardless of its divine abilities.

Han Li now understood why Old Man Kang had been so impressed. Perhaps the old man’s flying sword possessed similar abilities. Of course, Old Man Kang hadn’t used the Sword Seed Technique, so it was impossible to know how long he had refined his flying sword.

He opened his mouth and exhaled a blue aura, causing the flying sword to shrink to the size of an inch before settling inside his body, enveloped by the blue light.

To advance the flying swords to the next stage, he needed to reach the realm of ‘Sword Heart Illumination.’ This couldn’t be achieved through external means; it required the slow nurturing of his own true essence.

In a good mood, Han Li flew off, internally reviewing the Spring Dawn Sword Formation.

* * *

About half a year into his coastal journey, Han Li, after dispatching a sea serpent that had attacked him from the depths, suddenly changed his expression and looked up at the sky.

The clear sky was gradually turning red, like a distant sunset. Blood-colored clouds silently enveloped him, spreading relentlessly.

Suddenly, Han Li’s vision was completely dyed red, and a thick, fishy stench filled the air, making it feel as if he had been transported to another world.

Sniffing the air, Han Li’s face paled. This was unmistakably the stench of blood. He couldn’t fathom how much blood it would take to create such a scene, and he immediately went on high alert.

He covered himself in lightning armor, flashing cyan lightning, donned his golden scale armor, and summoned the illusion of the Three-Headed, Six-Armed Asura [a powerful demonic guardian] behind him.

He cautiously surveyed his surroundings, his eyes flashing with a blue light. He extended his spiritual sense to detect any hidden enemies, but no matter how hard he searched, he found nothing. All he could see was the sky covered in crimson blood clouds.

‘Could I be trapped in some kind of restriction?’

His expression shifted rapidly, and he suddenly transformed into a streak of blue light, disappearing towards the horizon. He didn’t know the cause of this celestial phenomenon, but it was best to get away from it.

His escape technique was comparable to that of a Fusion Stage cultivator [a very high cultivation level], allowing him to travel over a hundred miles at a time. This was partly due to his greatly increased cultivation, but also because the newly refined flying sword was lighter and much faster.

Han Li was pleased with his speed. However, his joy was short-lived.

Even after escaping a million miles in one go, the strange clouds still loomed above him.

Han Li was shocked and increased his speed even further. However, even after flying for half an hour, the crimson color in the sky remained unchanged. Han Li’s face turned pale.

If he wasn’t inside a restriction, this shouldn’t be happening. But the range was too vast. Han Li stopped his escape and floated in the air, pondering how to escape this predicament.

*Whoosh!*

Suddenly, the blood-colored clouds in the sky began to churn, and numerous blood-colored magic characters appeared, swirling above the clouds. The sound of the clouds vibrating grew louder and louder, almost deafening.

Han Li immediately formed a hand seal and summoned all his flying swords to surround his body. Then, he summoned a small mountain and threw it with all his might. The black mountain blurred and instantly grew to over a dozen yards in size, perfectly shielding his head.

Just as he finished preparing, the magic characters in the sky descended all at once, flying towards Han Li. Blood-colored magic characters surged fiercely not only from above but also from all directions.

Han Li’s expression changed drastically, and he activated the blue lotuses around him, causing the blue sword light to tear through the magic characters.

*Puff! Puff! Puff!*

The severed magic characters turned into blood-colored mist, and as they exploded, they unexpectedly penetrated the blue sword light and surged in.

However, cyan lightning erupted from Han Li’s body, creating a huge lightning net that repelled the blood-colored mist. The blood-colored mist retreated and quickly returned to the blood-colored clouds in the sky.

*Rumble.*

A moment later, a huge blood-colored magic character, thirty yards in size, appeared with a loud roar. Han Li turned pale and moved the mountain above his head, causing it to emit gray-white threads.

The densely emitted threads formed a large net. However, the magic character did not descend but only spun and shimmered under the blood-colored clouds. A moment passed, but nothing happened.

Something occurred to Han Li, and his expression changed as he took out a jade box from his storage pouch. As the jade box appeared, the blood-colored magic characters in the sky flashed brilliantly, and the lid of the jade box trembled, flickering with spiritual light.

*Whoosh!*

Suddenly, the talismans sealing the jade box burst into flames and turned to ashes, followed by a loud *thud!* The jade box glowed with a strange color and burst open in a white light.

An ordinary cultivator would have been severely injured by this unexpected attack, but Han Li’s body was already as strong as steel, so he suffered no injuries.

When the white light faded, a dark green wooden club appeared in the air. Surprisingly, it was his Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread.

*Bang.*

As the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread appeared, the blood-colored magic characters trembled violently, then flickered and disappeared. Han Li’s expression shifted as he watched this.

‘Could it be that all of this was aimed at the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread?’

As he was lost in thought, a sudden rumbling sound came from the blood-colored clouds. Startled, Han Li looked up and was shocked.

The blood-colored clouds rumbled and created illusions, most of which were demonic beasts, and some were alien races he had never seen before. Among them was an illusion of a Bi Ling person [a specific alien race].

The illusions of the demonic beasts and alien races all had their faces twisted in extreme pain, as if they were suffering greatly.

“Blood Sacrifice!”

Seeing this, he immediately understood what was happening. Just then, the blood-colored illusions emitted a tremendous light from within the blood-colored clouds and slowly revealed their forms.

Han Li swallowed hard, grabbed the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread, and transformed into a blue thread, shooting out over a hundred yards. The situation was ominous, so he decided to flee. After a few flashes, he turned into a blue thread and disappeared towards the horizon.

However, the giant light formation did not try to chase or stop Han Li. Han Li flew with all his might, passing a million miles in an instant, but he still could not escape the blood-colored clouds.

He took a long breath and slowed down his escape speed for a moment.

*Rumble!*

At that moment, a roar echoed from the blood-colored clouds above his head. The calm blood-colored clouds suddenly split and distorted, and a giant blood-colored formation appeared within. The mysterious light formation spun around, with Han Li at its center.

Its purpose was unknown, but it was clear that the sudden appearance of the giant formation chasing him was not a good thing. He immediately activated a blue light from his body and tried to fly away with all his might again.

But at that moment, an anomaly occurred in the blood-colored formation.

A thick pillar of light, over a hundred yards in diameter, erupted from the center of the formation and fell directly on Han Li. Its speed was so fast that there was no way to avoid it.

“… !”

Han Li was terrified. He didn’t know what kind of divine ability the light pillar possessed, but surprisingly, it was piercing through his Nascent Soul Mountain [a spiritual core] and shooting down at him.

The surroundings were dyed red, and his body was frozen to the point where he couldn’t even move a finger. The blue lotuses that had been circling around him immediately turned into inch-long flying swords and emitted sword light, wildly tearing through the blood-colored light.

The sword light pierced through the blood-colored light, but he still couldn’t move, as if the surrounding air was trapping him.

In response, Han Li dyed his entire body gold and summoned the Asura Dharma Idol [a manifestation of a powerful deity] of the Three-Headed, Six-Armed Demon behind him.

The Dharma Idol sat cross-legged and formed dazzling hand seals with its six hands. Then, golden energy emanated from the Dharma Idol’s body, causing ripples in the still blood-colored light pillar. At that moment, Han Li sensed that the surrounding air had loosened slightly.

Overjoyed, he chanted an incantation and activated his magical power, trying to operate the Great Devilish Divine Art to its extreme. But then, the blood-colored formation in the sky began to emit light.

The blood-colored magic characters at the center of the formation scattered, and a dark, murky cave appeared. From the cave, which was dozens of yards in diameter, ghostly wails flowed out, and countless blood-colored shadows flickered.

As the cave appeared, the blood-colored light pillar began to spin. And the pressure that was pressing down on him intensified, and the freedom he had gained with the Great Devilish Divine Art immediately disappeared.

In the blood-colored light, countless magic characters rushed towards him.

“Hah!”

Han Li’s face turned pale.

He quickly formed a sword seal in his mind, and the flying swords around him flashed and gathered around him, wildly tearing through his surroundings. But no matter how much the blue sword light tore, the blood-colored magic characters remained intact, as if they had no form.

In an instant, the magic characters reached Han Li.

In response, Han Li gritted his teeth and flashed a black light, summoning the dark煞armor [a type of protective armor] and connecting his consciousness with the Gold Devouring Beetles in his spirit beast pouch.

‘No matter how strange the restriction is, it won’t be able to stop this many Gold Devouring Beetles at once.’

Even though he had reached the Void Refinement Stage [a very high cultivation level], he wouldn’t be able to control this many Gold Devouring Beetles for long, but in this critical moment, he intended to mobilize everything he had.

However, the magic characters did not engulf him; instead, they changed direction just before touching his body and rushed towards the object he was holding. Confused, he stopped summoning the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Han Li’s palm became hot, and he unconsciously released the hand holding the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread. Then, the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread turned into a white light, surrounded by blood-colored magic characters, and soared over a hundred yards.

Then, it spun around and grew several times in size, emitting a white light that turned the magic characters into dust. When the light faded, the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread remained floating in the air.

Han Li was so shocked that he couldn’t close his mouth. But he soon regained his senses and drew a large amount of magical power, pouring it into the Dharma Idol. The Dharma Idol’s body trembled, and a golden glow enveloped its entire body, emitting light in all directions.

At that moment, a dazzling golden light cluster rose above Han Li’s head.

“Saintly Demon Sun Domination!”

Han Li shouted, and the three heads of the Dharma Idol simultaneously raised their heads and roared. Then, the golden light cluster shrank and expanded before suddenly exploding.

A roar echoed, and a golden wave surged. Wherever the golden wave reached, the blood-colored light flickered and retreated, dyeing the area within a dozen yards of Han Li in gold.

Han Li was soon free again. Saintly Demon Sun Domination was a secret technique he had obtained from the Great Devilish Divine Art after reaching the Void Refinement Stage. It was a technique that gathered the power of magical power and unleashed it all at once.

With the previous attack, he had exhausted half of the magical power in his body. Han Li didn’t know it, but the Great Devilish Divine Art was a very special technique with both Buddhist and demonic attributes, which was why he was able to repel the blood-colored energy.

If it had been any other technique, even a Fusion Stage cultivator would not have been able to escape the blood-colored energy’s restraint.

The moment he struggled free from the restraint, a buzzing sound came from the black cave at the center of the light formation in the sky, and countless blood-colored threads were released, tightly binding the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread.

In response, the Profound Heavenly Wood and Thread trembled as if it had a spirit, and once again emitted countless white lights.

*Tss! Tss! Tss! Pop! Pop! Pop!*

Explosions occurred as the white light and blood-colored threads collided.