Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 945

“Ah, I have a portrait of the demonic beast. Please, take a look.”

The Crystal Race woman gestured, and a prepared stone carving was tossed to Han Li. He accepted it without hesitation and infused it with his consciousness.

“Indeed, it does bear some resemblance!”

After a moment, Han Li lowered his hand, muttering with a thoughtful expression.

“Now that I’ve explained everything, it’s your turn to make a decision, Senior.”

“How should I address you, Fellow Cultivator?”

“You can call me Seomseom, Senior!”

The woman smiled lightly.

“Seomseom, is it.”

Han Li quietly spoke her name and nodded.

“There’s no need to go deep into the Magma Mountain Range, and the divine abilities of the Saint Realm demonic beast have weakened significantly, so it’s worth a try! I’ll say this in advance: if it’s too dangerous, contrary to what you said, I’ll give up at any time. Also, on the day the Magma Mountain Range opens, you must guide me. Lastly, if that Saint Realm demonic beast truly has the bloodline of the Mountain Giant Ape, I will take the True Spirit blood. If you don’t agree to even one of these conditions, the deal is off.”

Han Li finished speaking and looked at the woman with calm eyes.

“I will follow all of your wishes, Senior.”

Seomseom answered without much hesitation. In response, Han Li laid out over a dozen small bottles, wooden boxes, and jade cases from his storage pouch. He also took out dozens of top-grade spirit stones.

“These elixirs are for you to consume from now until you reach the Upper Realm. They will even be effective when you overcome bottlenecks to advance your cultivation. The other materials are things I spent quite a bit of time collecting. Are you satisfied?”

Most of the elixirs he presented were ones Han Li had taken before, and there were even two bottles of True Essence Liquid. He didn’t expect the other party to be dissatisfied at all.

The other materials were obtained after capturing two Void Refinement-level demonic beasts when he was in the Fire Fox Archipelago, making them extremely precious. The most regrettable were the hard-to-find top-grade spirit stones. It stung a little to use so many top-grade spirit stones after such a long time.

The woman checked each elixir and material, her face beaming with joy.

“The items are all extraordinary, and with the addition of the top-grade spirit stones, it’s more than enough to give you the Demonic Armor.”

Seomseom gathered the items and spirit stones, smiling.

“It’s good that you’re satisfied. Then, I’ll leave you with a Ten Thousand Mile Talisman. Contact me as soon as the Magma Mountain Range opens.”

Han Li moved his consciousness and released a jade pendant from his storage pouch.

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

Seomseom accepted the jade pendant and replied.

Han Li formed hand seals and chanted an incantation, causing the golden Dharma Image to collapse and disappear along with the purple armor. At the same time, in Han Li’s dantian [energy center], his Nascent Soul [a cultivator’s soul form] curled up the corners of its mouth and smiled.

The Nascent Soul’s plump, white body was now clad in a crimson-purple armor.

Once the transaction was complete, the woman used a formation disc to return to the shop with Han Li, and Han Li left without hesitation. For the rest of the time, he visited various shops, purchasing necessary items.

There were some minor gains, but nothing was as impressive as the Celestial Demonic Armor. After wandering the streets all day, Han Li took a spirit beast carriage back to his residence as the sky darkened.

After that, Han Li spent over ten days doing nothing but exploring every corner of Yun City, visiting hundreds of shops. In this way, he gradually learned about Yun City, and in the evenings, Xiang Zhili would occasionally visit and chat with him before returning.

There was tension outside the city, but inside, it was peaceful. It was unclear whether the Heavenly Cloud Race was used to the Gakchi Race’s invasions or if they believed the enemy wouldn’t be able to reach the vicinity of Yun City.

One day, Han Li left the inn and immediately hailed a spirit beast carriage, calling out, “Yunxia Mountain!” The spirit beast carriage sped through the streets, crossing Yun City horizontally and stopping at the foot of a tall mountain.

“……”

Han Li got out of the carriage and looked up at the tall mountain before him. The mountain was three thousand zhang [a unit of length] high and filled with lush greenery and pure spiritual energy. It was a mountain with a rather good spiritual vein.

‘This is the famous Eight Cloud Mountain!’

He had heard that the powerful beings in the city had spent immense effort to move eight mountains from the ground to Yun City. Moreover, they had obtained top-grade spiritual veins and placed them in each mountain, creating artificial spiritual mountains.

The eight peaks were the only places in Yun City where one could reside long-term, and there were large and small cave dwellings. These cave dwellings could not be privately owned but could only be rented. They were residences that were traded for huge sums on a hundred-year basis.

However, despite this, the cave dwellings on Eight Cloud Mountain were always popular, and sometimes the supply couldn’t keep up with the demand. The cave dwelling where Gap Cheonmok was temporarily staying was on the ‘Yunxia Mountain’ peak right in front of him.

Following the records he had left behind, Han Li transformed into a streak of blue light and flew up. Eight Cloud Mountain was the only place in Yun City where one could use their magic power to perform 遁術 [dunjutsu, a type of escape technique].

The reason Han Li had come here today was because of the Spiritual Puppet that Gap Cheonmok had promised. In the meantime, Han Li had learned enough about the Mago Race.

The Mago Race was a mid-level power among the thirteen races of the Heavenly Cloud, but their puppetry had reached an unfathomable level. They were one of the top three races known for their puppetry skills on Thunder Continent, so what more needed to be said?

He had also learned about the Spiritual Puppet, which he hadn’t known much about before, through various scriptures and Xiang Zhili. The Spiritual Puppet had power equivalent to at least a Deity Transformation stage cultivator, and it possessed some spirituality, allowing it to carry out simple commands without needing to be possessed by a consciousness.

Moreover, the spirituality of these puppets could be cultivated, and they could later develop high intellectual abilities. Of course, this was all just rumor, and the Mago Race had not officially disclosed it. This made the Spiritual Puppet seem even more mysterious.

The Mago Race put a lot of effort into crafting Spiritual Puppets, so they were not sold externally.

Occasionally, one or two would appear in the world, and other races would snatch them up, selling them at astronomical prices at auctions. The more Han Li learned about the Spiritual Puppet, the more his interest grew.

‘Although my purpose isn’t just the Spiritual Puppet….’

The streak of blue light that Han Li had transformed into fell to a corner of the mountainside. Not far away, there was a cliff face, and a semi-circular stone door was visible. Han Li didn’t knock on the door but instead flicked his sleeve, sending a fireball flying. The fireball silently entered the stone door and disappeared.

Not long after, a white light flashed, and the stone door opened on its own. Gap Cheonmok walked out from inside, smiling.

“Haha, Fellow Cultivator Han has arrived. I’ve been waiting for you for so long, why are you only coming now?”

“I had some matters to attend to, so I was delayed for a few days.”

Gap Cheonmok’s complexion was much better.

“I see. Well, come in and let’s talk slowly.”

“Very well.”

Han Li didn’t refuse and strode inside. Gap Cheonmok’s cave dwelling wasn’t very large. After following a small passage, they arrived at a hall about thirty zhang in size.

The interior was neat, and in the center of the hall was a long table, two side tables, and hundreds of chairs. The four walls of the hall were also made of ordinary bluestone.

“Fellow Cultivator, please sit here.”

Clap clap!

Han Li nodded and took a seat next to him. Gap Cheonmok clapped his hands silently. Then, a woman dressed in a yellow palace dress entered, carrying a wooden tray. The woman placed the wooden tray in front of Han Li and respectfully withdrew.

Han Li quickly scanned the wooden tray in front of him and then looked up, staring intently at the woman.

“It seems you like my maid, Fellow Cultivator. Shall I give her to you?”

Gap Cheonmok, who had been observing Han Li closely, chuckled lightly.

“No, it’s just that the Spiritual Puppet is indeed as famous as they say! I’m also interested in puppetry, but if I hadn’t learned the secret arts related to consciousness, I would have believed she was a real person. The aura and spiritual pressure emanating from her body are no different from an ordinary cultivator.”

Han Li raised the corners of his mouth and offered praise.

“Haha, you noticed! Aside from the Saint Race cultivators, you are the first, Fellow Cultivator Han. I’ve tricked many cultivators with this puppet since I crafted it myself.”

Gap Cheonmok burst into laughter when he realized that Han Li had recognized the maid as a puppet. He seemed to feel even more favorably towards him for recognizing the humanoid puppet at a glance.

“I was lucky. It’s because this Spiritual Puppet’s cultivation isn’t very high and it’s focused on humanization.”

Han Li couldn’t take his eyes off the puppet that looked so much like a human.

“You have a good eye. It’s the first Spiritual-level puppet I made, so it only has the strength of a Third Stage Upper Realm cultivator. I’ve only focused on cultivating its spirituality so far, but unfortunately, it hasn’t improved much.”

Gap Cheonmok looked at the maid with a hint of regret. The maid puppet made eye contact with Gap Cheonmok like a real person and smiled faintly, but soon withdrew her smile and turned expressionless.

It was a sight that left one speechless.

“That’s right! Brother Han, why don’t you check if the Spiritual Puppet in the wooden box is to your liking!”

“Then I won’t refuse.”

Han Li sent out a blue light, and the long wooden box opened, revealing its interior.

“This is….”

Han Li’s expression was surprised as he looked inside. In the wooden box, there was a white snake about a zhang long, its body as transparent as crystal, emitting a white light.

“It’s a new type of Spiritual Puppet I crafted recently. Its cultivation is about the same as yours, around the Seventh Stage Upper Realm. Although its cultivation isn’t high, it can transform into two forms. If you hadn’t saved my life, Brother Han, I wouldn’t have been able to give it to you.”

“Two forms?”

“That’s right. It hasn’t been blood-bound to a master yet, so I’ll give you a simple demonstration.”

Gap Cheonmok formed a hand seal with one hand and pointed at the wooden box in front of Han Li. Immediately, a white light shot out from his fingertip and was absorbed by the white snake in the wooden box.

The light of spiritual energy flashed, and the motionless white snake wriggled before transforming into a white light and flying up. A white serpent about a few zhang in size flew around the hall. From a distance, the white serpent with its bright red eyes looked no different from a real giant serpent.

Gap Cheonmok gave a low shout and threw another magic seal.

*Paat.*

The white serpent’s body trembled and contracted into a single mass, then transformed into a beautiful woman. She floated in the air with a dazed look, not moving.

“How is it? This Spiritual Puppet is good for attacking enemies, or for keeping at home to serve you. The only drawback is that it consumes several times more spirit stones than other Spiritual Puppets. This is because the puppet is mostly made of Cold Light Crystal Iron, so it can only be operated with ice-attribute spirit stones. If you take it, Fellow Cultivator, the spirit stone consumption will be significant.”

“Ice-attribute spirit stones are rare, but I’ll find them. If it’s useful, I’ll take it.”

“Haha, I’m glad you’re satisfied, Brother Han. When you return, use your blood to bind it as its master, and no one else will be able to control it.”

Gap Cheonmok pointed at the puppet in the air, and the white-clad woman transformed into a white light and flew towards Han Li. The light circled in the air and then turned back into a white snake, returning to the wooden box.

Han Li immediately sent out a blue aura and closed the wooden box.

“Did you craft all of these Spiritual Puppets yourself? I can see how high your puppetry skills are, Fellow Cultivator Gap. I happened to obtain a new type of puppet crafted by someone else. Would you like to take a look?”

“Oh, a new type of puppet? Please, show me. I’d like to broaden my horizons.”

Gap Cheonmok replied with delight. Han Li smiled and flipped his palm, revealing a jade case with a golden talisman attached to it. He tore off the talisman, and the jade case opened on its own.

The lid shot up high, and dozens of puppets flew out from inside. They were the Spirit Servant puppets that he had received from Ji Xue, one of the Earthly Fiend Kings.