Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 948

Tianji Zi’s orders brought more soldiers to seal off the surroundings, leaving the inn with no choice but to cooperate. Upon hearing this news, Xiang Zhili gave a startled, wry smile.

Han Li then followed the benevolent old man out of the inn. The spirit tablet called the ‘Cold Moon Token’ was left behind at the inn under the watchful eyes of numerous soldiers. Bai Yue and Changying also didn’t stay long and left.

Instead of flying away using遁光 [遁光 (dùn guāng): a technique of escaping using light], Tianji Zi summoned a carriage pulled by two massive lion-like spirit beasts to the front of the inn.

As Han Li boarded the carriage, a gust of wind rose from the golden giant lions’ legs, and they dashed into the sky. Tianji Zi seemed disinclined to talk inside, only exchanging a few words before closing his eyes and entering meditation.

As he followed, Han Li continued to ponder. The favor of saving Gapcheonmok had already been repaid by receiving the Spirit General Puppet.

What he could guess now was only the Cold Moon Token activated by his blood. From their conversation, it seemed that his cooperation in awakening the Cold Moon Token was necessary to enter a place called the ‘Cold Moon Realm.’

If this was true, it was a good opportunity to use the teleportation array.

The spirit beast carriage was indeed much faster than ordinary carriages, and it wasn’t long before they had crossed half of Cloud City. Han Li’s heart sank as he saw the eight massive mountain peaks through the carriage window.

‘Are they taking me to their residence?’

As the carriage reached the massive mountain, a small mountain fortress appeared after a short while. Although not very large, the outer walls were layered, appearing to be seven or eight layers thick.

The walls grew taller as they went inward, making it look more like a giant tower than a mountain fortress from afar.

When Han Li activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he discovered silver-white statues crouching on the walls. Some were in the form of demonic beasts, while others were human-like, but all emanated an unknown killing intent.

And blue-armored soldiers holding long spears were patrolling, but no signs of life could be felt. They were all humanoid puppets. At the four corners of the mountain fortress, there were crystal pillars.

The yellow, navy, red, and green pillars were covered in countless flashing magic characters that caught the eye.

While Han Li was inwardly surprised, the spirit beast carriage flew over the mountain fortress and landed in front of a cyan hall in the center. As soon as Han Li got out of the carriage, he noticed a large plaque hanging on the hall.

‘Spirit General Hall!’

Seeing the name of the hall, he suddenly thought of the Spirit General Puppet.

‘Is this place related to the Spirit General Puppet?’

As he was lost in thought, Tianji Zi’s laughter was heard.

“Cultivator, come inside. This is a key location for the Myriad Ancient Race and a space used by our Heavenly Luck Clan for important discussions, so it’s rare for outsiders to be allowed in.”

“It’s an honor, Senior.”

Han Li bowed his head in greeting. There was no point in acting arrogant in front of a peak Fusion Stage existence. Tianji Zi, pleased with his polite attitude, smiled and entered first.

At the entrance of the hall, a soldier in white robes stood, showing no change in expression even when seeing the old man. Han Li quickly understood the reason after examining them.

“Cultivator Han has noticed them as well! They are also Spirit General Puppets. They possess the strength of a Rank 9 Upper Clan [Rank 9 Upper Clan: a high-level cultivation realm] and guard this place day and night. Only old men like me and a few people with special status can bring guests inside, and anyone else who approaches will be attacked mercilessly.”

‘Rank 9 Upper Clan, isn’t that the cultivation of a late-stage Void Refinement?’

Han Li’s gaze changed as he looked at the white-robed puppets. Using such puppets as gatekeepers was an enormous waste.

Han Li was filled with envy, but he had no choice but to follow closely as Tianji Zi entered. Unlike its exterior, the interior of the Spirit General Hall was simple. There was only a main hall in the middle and side halls on the left and right.

The main hall also had no noticeable objects except for dozens of thick metal pillars. Tianji Zi walked to the chairs lined up in two rows in the center of the main hall and sat on the head seat in the middle.

“Cultivator Han, please sit. This matter concerns the Cold Moon Token, so I’ve contacted the other two elders as well. The three of us oversee matters related to the Myriad Ancient Race in Cloud City.”

“I see. It seems the Cold Moon Token is a very important item.”

Han Li was inwardly surprised. He hadn’t felt anything on the way, but they had already sent a message. As expected, the existence of a peak Fusion Stage was different.

“Cultivator, you are not from Thunderclap Continent.”

At Tianji Zi’s words, Han Li’s heart turned cold, but he soon nodded.

“Yes, I came from another continent. I believe Cultivator Gap mentioned that I was looking to borrow a super-large teleportation array.”

“That’s right. Also, if you were from Thunderclap Continent, you wouldn’t be unaware of the Cold Moon Token, nor would you have been able to activate it so easily.”

“Is the Cold Moon Token that famous? I’ve never read about it in any scriptures. If it’s not too much trouble, could you explain it to me?”

“It wouldn’t be written in ordinary scriptures. The Cold Moon Token is famous, but it’s difficult for an individual to possess and use! Without the support of a clan, even if you obtain the Cold Moon Token, it’s impossible to enter the Cold Moon Realm. However, it’s something that anyone with a cultivation above the Upper Clan level would know.”

“Support from a clan, so the Cold Moon Realm must be an extraordinary place. To go to such lengths to enter it.”

“It’s not just extraordinary! Some items that can be obtained in the Cold Moon Realm are directly linked to the rise and fall of a clan. Of course, those treasures are not something anyone can find just by entering the Cold Moon Realm. The reason the Cold Moon Realm is so sought after is that the spiritual energy there is more than ten times that of the Spirit Realm. The spiritual herbs and fruits there are hard to find even in the Spirit Realm.”

The benevolent old man met Han Li’s eyes.

“Is the spiritual energy really that dense?”

“Haha, what do you think the Cold Moon Realm is? A spatial rift? Or a small world attached to the Spirit Realm?”

Tianji Zi stroked his beard.

“I ask for your guidance.”

“We are not yet certain, but it’s highly likely that the Cold Moon Realm is an incomplete space attached to the Immortal Realm.”

“The Immortal Realm!”

“A space abandoned by the Immortal Realm. Cultivators who have entered the Cold Moon Realm before have found places suspected to be the residences of immortals or even discovered their remains. However, no one has ever encountered a living immortal.”

At Tianji Zi’s explanation, Han Li was speechless for a while.

“Everything is just unproven speculation, so don’t be too surprised! Anyway, even if you enter that place, not just anyone can find the treasures of the Spirit Heaven or obtain spiritual herbs and fruits.”

The benevolent old man gave a mysterious smile.

“In short, the Cold Moon Realm is full of precious treasures, but whether you can obtain them depends entirely on your own luck!”

A clear voice was heard from outside the main hall, and a white streak of light flew in. When the light faded, a middle-aged man in a light purple robe appeared. He had a slender face with a hooked nose and thin eyes.

“Elder Ma has come in a hurry. I thought Elder Huang would arrive first, but it’s unexpected.”

Tianji Zi looked at the middle-aged man with a full smile. Although Han Li was seeing him for the first time, he assumed that the other was another Fusion Stage elder of the Myriad Ancient Race and stood up to pay his respects.

“Elder Huang is currently refining pills, so even if he received the message, it would take time for him to come. Are you the outsider who activated the Cold Moon Token that Elder Tian mentioned?”

The middle-aged man surnamed Ma scanned Han Li up and down and asked.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Hmm, Rank 5 Upper Clan [Rank 5 Upper Clan: a mid-level cultivation realm]. Your cultivation is solid! Your magic power is more than twice that of a cultivator of the same rank, so you could even fight against a Rank 6 or 7 existence.”

Elder Ma grasped Han Li’s cultivation at a glance.

“The cultivation method I practice is special, so I have a slight advantage in magic power.”

Although inwardly surprised, Han Li answered humbly.

“To call it a slight advantage, it seems that most opponents would be no match for you. Hehe, your consciousness is also not at the level that an ordinary Upper Clan cultivator should possess!”

Elder Ma used some kind of secret technique, and a golden aura flashed across his face as he exclaimed in admiration again. He seemed to have seen through the fact that Han Li’s consciousness was strong to some extent. However, this time, Han Li couldn’t maintain his composure, and his expression changed slightly.

“Enough. Who doesn’t know that Elder Ma is the number one expert in the ‘Spirit Observation’ secret technique? It was expected that Cultivator Han’s cultivation would be outstanding. He killed several cultivators of the same rank while saving Great Master Gap, so can he be considered an ordinary Upper Clan cultivator?”

The benevolent old man spoke nonchalantly.

“Ah, is that so? I was just showing off my skills unnecessarily. Cultivator, please sit down!”

The middle-aged man burst into laughter and sat down next to Tianji Zi. Han Li smiled awkwardly and sat back down.

“I heard from afar that you were discussing the Cold Moon Realm. Brother Tian, why are you explaining it in such a roundabout way? Just get to the important points.”

Elder Ma grumbled at Tianji Zi as soon as he sat down.

“I was about to get to the point, but Brother Ma came and interrupted me.”

“Hehehe, then I was a bit rash.”

“Since you’re here, why don’t you tell Cultivator Han directly? After all, you’ve been to the Cold Moon Realm yourself. You’d be better at explaining than this old man.”

Tianji Zi rolled his eyes and said. At those words, the middle-aged man nodded and opened his mouth towards Han Li.

“Hmm, well, it’s not like I have anything special to say. Back then, when I entered the Cold Moon Realm, I didn’t have the fate to obtain any heaven-defying treasures or spiritual herbs. As for the Cold Moon Heaven that each clan values, everyone is eyeing the immense spiritual energy within, and those clan members who have been stuck at a bottleneck for a long time have been able to raise their cultivation with its help. If I hadn’t gone there, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve my current cultivation.”

The middle-aged man’s expression changed slightly as he reminisced about the past.

“Are you saying that you can use the spiritual energy there to break through your cultivation?”

“That’s right! But that’s a trivial matter compared to the spiritual objects that can be obtained in the Cold Moon Realm. Whether you can overcome a bottleneck also depends on your luck. I returned almost empty-handed, but I heard that some people obtained very rare refining materials and refined Spirit General-level treasures.”

Elder Ma sighed with a face that looked like he was about to die of regret.

“Hehe, you should be satisfied with that. Do you know how envious the cultivators of the same rank were of the cultivators who entered the Cold Moon Palace back then? This old man hasn’t even been able to enter it yet.”

The benevolent old man glanced at the middle-aged man and spoke as if scolding him.

“If I were a genius like Brother Tian and reached the Saint Clan [Saint Clan: a very high-level cultivation realm] in just a thousand years, I wouldn’t have entered the Cold Moon Realm. As you know, the Cold Moon Realm is not an easy place.”

Elder Ma made a troubled expression.

“That’s true. There are hundreds of Cold Moon Tokens that appear on Thunderclap Continent, and the number of people each token can bring in also varies depending on the power of the teleportation array! Our Heavenly Luck Clan has always been in charge of the teleportation array, but even with the most powerful array, we could only bring in about a dozen people with one token.

I heard that clans skilled in teleportation arrays can bring in more than thirty people at once. It’s always a shame that our array is inferior to theirs. Anyway, with so many people rushing in at once, you can imagine how chaotic the inside of the Cold Moon Realm must be.”

The benevolent old man nodded in agreement, his face hardening.

“Cultivator Han, did you hear that? What’s even more difficult is that the teleportation location of the tokens is random. If you are teleported to an area similar to an opposing clan, you can’t avoid fighting. The probability of overcoming a bottleneck and raising your cultivation inside is more than 30% higher than outside. Haa, after all, no clan wants the number of high-level cultivators of their enemies to increase!”

Elder Ma muttered towards Han Li. Hearing those words, Han Li’s eyes flickered.