Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 916

About an hour from the island, dark clouds suddenly swirled into the clear sky, and the wind picked up. Han Li was surprised by the abrupt change, but the bone boats continued their course without faltering.

This was because a small formation had activated on the lower part of each snake person’s boat, creating a protective white light. Despite this, the snake people looked tense.

The waves had grown violent, with massive swells two or three times the height of the small boats crashing around them. Fortunately, the white barrier prevented capsizing and kept everyone alive, but progress was much slower than before.

Han Li observed the women. Their expressions had hardened slightly, but they showed no panic or fear.

‘They must have a plan,’ he thought.

As if on cue, shortly after the small boats were isolated in the dangerous conditions, a milky white pillar of light shot from the island into the dark clouds.

*Kuururung.*

The dark clouds vibrated, and the white pillar of light dispersed, creating a hole about a hundred feet wide. The waves remained rough, but the wind on the sea surface subsided, allowing the snake people to row hard and move forward quickly.

Soon after, the bone boats reached a small, natural harbor. Han Li was carried ashore in a palanquin. Looking back, he saw the hole in the dark clouds had vanished, and strong waves were crashing. He wondered about the source of the light pillar from the island.

Although his consciousness hadn’t fully recovered, the spiritual power within the light pillar felt chaotic, not like the work of a powerful divine being. It was more likely a formation or magical artifact powered by spirit stones [crystals that contain spiritual energy].

This level of light pillar was nothing to him, but it would be considered miraculous on this remote island where the snake people lived.

Han Li turned his attention to his surroundings. Along the coast were low stone buildings and a massive stone pillar, a hundred feet tall.

The snake people seemed to live in a small wooden structure below the stone pillar. At that moment, seven or eight snake people emerged from one of the stone buildings.

The leader was a beautiful, voluptuous woman. She smiled at the sight of Jang Han and the others’ luggage but stopped when she saw Han Li.

Jang Han quickly stepped forward, bowed, and reported what had happened. The snake woman listened, looked at Han Li, and couldn’t hide her surprise.

She moved swiftly to Han Li and spoke to him. However, Han Li didn’t understand her, so he shook his head. Undeterred, she tried six or seven different languages.

When she spoke the last language, Han Li’s expression changed. It was the language of the Bi Ling people. The woman spoke haltingly, with an unfamiliar accent.

“You can speak the Bi Ling language?”

“It’s fortunate that the esteemed Upper Clan member can speak the Bi Ling language. I am Yeom-Moo, an assistant priest of the Hwa Yang Clan. How should I address the esteemed Upper Clan member?”

The woman was delighted that Han Li understood the Bi Ling language and immediately paid her respects.

“You can call me Teacher Han. Hwa Yang Clan? I’ve never heard of that name. Can you tell me which sea this is?”

“The Hwa Yang Clan is a small branch of the Wa Clan, so it’s not strange that Teacher Han hasn’t heard of us. It’s an honor that an esteemed member of the Upper Clan has come to visit our Hwa Yang Clan!

However, I am only an assistant priest, so I know very little about the nearby seas and the affairs of the Upper Clan. I’m not even qualified to serve Teacher Han directly. Would you mind if I took you to the High Priest so you can speak with her?”

Yeom-Moo of the Hwa Yang Clan explained calmly.

“High Priest!”

Han Li narrowed his eyes, observing the snake woman. He could faintly sense spiritual energy, seemingly at the Qi Refining stage [the first stage of cultivation], but she was definitely a cultivator. If the assistant priest’s cultivation was so low, the High Priest’s probably wouldn’t be very high either.

With this in mind, Han Li nodded without hesitation. The woman was relieved at his acceptance.

In her eyes, the aura of the Upper Clan member was strange. His spiritual energy felt similar to hers, but she couldn’t gauge his cultivation by scanning him with her consciousness. It was best for the High Priest to handle such a strange matter.

The woman gave instructions to Jang Han and the others, then reached into her waist pouch and took out a leather bag. A pure white spirit bird emerged. The bird, resembling a parrot, had eyes as red as flames.

The woman stroked the bird, made a strange sound, and released it. The spirit bird turned into a white light and flew deep into the island.

“I’ve informed the High Priest, so now I’ll guide you to our city,” Yeom-Moo said with a smile. Han Li raised his eyebrows but didn’t object, closing his eyes. With his tacit agreement, Yeom-Moo led the snake women along a small stone path toward the island’s center.

After traveling a few miles, Yeom-Moo entered a shabby building. Inside, several Hwa Yang Clan members were raising a dozen or so beasts, and in the shed was a black palanquin made of dark plants.

When Yeom-Moo approached, the snake people greeted her politely. Yeom-Moo answered calmly and pointed to the black palanquin.

The slightly surprised snake people looked at Han Li, nodded, and went to the shed. They soon tied the black palanquin onto two lizard-like demonic beasts and brought three more along.

Han Li was carefully moved into the black palanquin, and two women sat in front, driving the lizard demonic beasts. The rest rode on their own lizard demonic beasts.

The snake women had no legs, so each demonic beast had a water container-shaped seat for their tails.

The group set off again.

The lizard demonic beasts swayed a lot, but they were fast, and they arrived at a shabby earthen fortress in just two hours.

The city wall, about ten miles long, was made of mud, and most of the buildings inside the city gate were also made of mud. Through the palanquin window, Han Li scanned the dozen or so snake people guarding the gate.

There were more women than men among the soldiers, all wearing armor made of a unique material. They were armed with silver spears, throwing knives, and short spears.

When Yeom-Moo arrived, one of the soldiers smiled and approached to greet her. Yeom-Moo greeted her happily and then pointed behind her with a serious face.

The soldier nodded and gestured to the others to open the way. Once the way was clear, Yeom-Moo got back on her lizard demonic beast and led the black palanquin inside.

The inside of the earthen fortress wasn’t very large, but the road was unusually wide. On both sides, many snake people were walking around. The men were sturdy, and the women were well-built. It was impressive that both men and women, young and old, carried weapons.

Seeing this, Han Li fell into thought.

He had never heard of the Wa Clan, but the fact that they were raising all their clan members as soldiers and that the proportion of women was overwhelmingly higher than men caught his attention. Even a quick glance showed twice as many snake women as men.

There were also differences in their lower bodies. Light yellow was the most common, followed by white and black. The yellow ones were lower status, and the other colors were higher status. There were other colors, but they were less noticeable.

Soon, the lizard demonic beasts stopped in front of a hall made of wood and mud, past a plain stone path. The walls were decorated with various colored seashells.

However, Han Li’s attention was drawn to an object in the plaza in front of the hall. The cone-shaped bronze object was about a dozen feet tall, covered with bizarre patterns, faintly reflecting a white light.

Around it, snake people in white robes were standing, their hands emitting a glow of spiritual energy. Han Li realized they were inserting something into the bottom of the cone. The colorful things didn’t look like spirit stones.

The men and women in white robes were cultivators like Yeom-Moo, but their cultivation was lower. They noticed Yeom-Moo and the palanquin and hurried over.

Han Li was carefully helped out of the palanquin and sat on a bamboo chair. He calmly watched them talking.

He couldn’t understand their conversation, but he could tell that the snake people in white robes were treating Yeom-Moo respectfully.

At that moment, two groups of snake people in white robes walked out of the hall. They slowly approached Han Li, and upon seeing them, Yeom-Moo and the snake people in the plaza parted to make way.

In the middle, a woman in a red robe walked out. She had ordinary features and, like him, two legs. Han Li was puzzled, but what surprised him more was that she exuded the aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator [a high level of cultivation].

This was unexpected. Except for one man at the Foundation Establishment stage [a mid-level of cultivation], the snake people around her were mostly at the Qi Refining stage. But suddenly, a Nascent Soul cultivator appeared, which was strange.

The woman in the red robe scanned Han Li and seemed surprised, but she hid her expression and hurried over.

“Hwa-Wol greets Senior Han,” the woman said, paying her respects and speaking fluently in the Bi Ling language.

“Are you the High Priest of the Hwa Yang Clan?”

“Yes, I am. Please, come inside the main hall so we can talk.”

“Alright. I have many questions to ask anyway.”

“Thank you for accepting. You all, quickly escort Senior into the main hall.”

When Han Li nodded, the woman smiled brightly and gave instructions. The snake women quickly came out, carefully lifted the bamboo chair, and headed toward the main hall.

Soon after, Han Li settled into a simply decorated main hall. Only he and the woman in the red robe were seated inside, and the rest of the snake people stood on both sides.

“It seems you’re having trouble moving. Are you alright? I have some Qi and Blood Pills that I refined myself. I can give them to you if you need them.”

“It’s alright. It’s just a minor problem from cultivation. I’ll be fine after a little time,” Han Li refused with a faint smile.

“Haha, I see. Then, please ask me anything you’re curious about. I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge.”

“Oh, then first, I’d like to know which sea this is and if there are any famous cultivators nearby that I might know.”

At his question, the woman looked slightly puzzled but answered truthfully.

“This is the Hwa-Ho Archipelago, and there aren’t any particularly famous cultivators nearby. At most, there are those with cultivation similar to mine.”

“Hwa-Ho Archipelago? Do you have a map of the nearby seas?” Han Li frowned at the unfamiliar name and asked again.

“Yes, I do. However, it’s written in the Wa Clan’s script, so it would be best if you learn our language first before looking at the map.”

“That would be good.”

Han Li frowned and nodded. He hadn’t recovered enough to release his consciousness outside his body, but he could check the contents of a jade slip [a device for storing information]. The woman smiled and took out a jet-black stone fragment from her bosom and threw it to Han Li.

The stone fragment was similar to a jade slip. He opened his mouth and released a blue aura, placing it on his forehead to check the contents.

*Bang!*

But the stone fragment exploded, and black mist surrounded Han Li.