Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 951

After a while, Han Li, having gained nothing, decisively turned around and headed back to the entrance he had originally come from. Whether by chance or not, when he returned to the entrance, he was the only one there.

As he passed through the passage, Han Li shook his sleeve and took out a black handkerchief.

*Poof!*

Black mist enveloped him, and with a flash of light, he was wearing a pitch-black robe. Han Li lowered his head and checked his body, noticing that his aura had become extremely faint, almost nonexistent.

When he raised his head again, his face had transformed into a pale, unfamiliar one. Han Li, having changed his attire and appearance, calmly walked out of the entrance, passing by the Yi Clan people.

The navy-robed soldiers guarding the entrance merely glanced at him and paid no further attention. Han Li confidently headed towards another side hall.

Soon, an equally vast plaza appeared, but unlike the place where goods were sold, this one was filled with cultivators. There, rows of blue stone walls, each over a dozen feet high, stood, their surfaces shimmering with silver characters. The Yi Clan people were carefully looking up at the stone walls, deep in thought.

Behind the stone walls, a dozen or so rooms were gathered around a bright red pavilion. The doors of the pure white rooms shone with a white light, and a curtain of light hung over them, while the bright red pavilion was surrounded by a faint blue smoke, emitting a strange fragrance.

The cultivators who were looking at the stone walls frequently went into the pure white rooms, and when they came out, their expressions varied. Some were dejected, while others walked out excitedly.

Han Li carefully observed the cultivators before walking towards one of the stone walls. But then, a slender figure turned and walked in the same direction. Han Li unconsciously looked at them and was startled.

“… !”

His face was filled with undisguised surprise. The woman, with her beautiful features and long black hair, was wearing a navy-blue robe, and her expression was extremely cold.

She didn’t notice Han Li’s expression and walked straight to the stone wall, her brow furrowed.

‘It can’t be her. It’s impossible. How can there be someone so similar in this world!’

Han Li stood there, unable to take his eyes off the navy-robed woman. Then, as if sensing his gaze, the woman turned her head and met Han Li’s eyes.

The woman couldn’t hide her displeasure at Han Li’s staring. However, when she scanned him with her spiritual sense, she felt a chill in her heart.

She couldn’t sense any spiritual energy fluctuations from Han Li. Feeling uneasy, she quickly turned her head away, and Han Li, finally regaining his composure, fell into thought.

The navy-robed woman reminded him of someone in his heart.

‘Jin Qiaotian!’

The face and voice of the beautiful woman who had smiled at him long ago vividly resurfaced, shaking his heart. The navy-robed woman’s appearance was too similar to Jin Qiaotian, who had died in the human realm.

If it weren’t for her cold expression, he would have believed she had been reborn. When he had heard of her death, he had appeared calm on the outside, but he had felt an inexplicable sense of emptiness and strange emotions.

It wasn’t love, but as a man, he couldn’t easily forget a woman who had liked him. However, it was impossible for Jin Qiaotian to have died and come back to life, or to have been reborn in the spirit realm. No matter how similar she looked, she was just a stranger from the Yi Clan.

Han Li quickly calmed his turbulent heart and walked towards the stone wall as planned. The navy-robed woman felt him approaching from behind and frowned before leaving her spot.

Han Li nonchalantly took her place. Without even looking, he could feel the navy-robed woman glaring at him fiercely as she passed by.

Most likely, she thought of him as a shameless lecher. Han Li chuckled inwardly and focused on the stone wall in front of him. As expected, the silver characters were the names of various materials and treasures.

The strange thing was that the prices of the items were not listed, only numbers from 1 to 13 were written behind them.

Han Li suddenly shifted his gaze to the distance. There were exactly 13 jade rooms surrounding the bright red pavilion in the distance. And on each of their roofs, golden numbers shimmered.

Only then did Han Li understand the meaning of the writing on the stone wall. He calmly scanned the stone wall and walked to the next one. He was able to examine most of the stone walls in an instant, but his face remained expressionless.

*Rumble.*

Just then, a roar echoed from the bright red pavilion, followed by an angry shout that reverberated loudly.

“What did you say! Song Old Freak, are you saying this is fake? That can’t be. How hard do you think it was to get this? I almost died among the Golden-Winged Giants to obtain it!”

“Making a fuss won’t turn a fake into a real one. If it were real, would I refuse to buy it? The appraisal is complete, so please leave, Fellow Daoist Dan.”

“To think I spent seven or eight years in the East for this kind of thing! If I ever meet the bastard who gave me false information, I’ll wring his neck!”

He couldn’t contain his anger and even infused his voice with spiritual power, making it clearly audible to everyone.

However, most of them were not locals of Yun City and merely looked at each other cautiously. A red light flashed from the red pavilion, and a huge figure jumped out and landed on the ground.

*Thud!*

His landing caused the surroundings to shake greatly. The people gathered in the plaza gasped in surprise as they looked at him. The person who appeared from the red light had a head that was half flesh and half metal.

His nose and eyes were twice the size of a normal person, and his head was pointed upwards with sparse green hair growing on it.

Han Li scanned the strange man with his spiritual sense, and his expression changed drastically. Judging by what he could sense, the man seemed to have reached the peak of the Composite Body stage, just like Tian Qizi. Of course, just because Han Li didn’t know the strange man’s identity didn’t mean that all the other Yi Clan people were ignorant.

The moment the strange man appeared, a dozen or so people jumped out from the crowd and bowed respectfully.

“Greetings, Elder Dan.”

“Greetings, Third Elder.”

As he appeared, the cultivators greeted him one after another. They were the Stone Insect Clan cultivators, known for their large size and steel-like bodies. The strange man was a renowned elder of the Stone Insect Clan.

“Oh, so you’ve come to participate in the auction as well. I hope you get what you’re looking for. I was tricked by a fake and have lost all interest in participating.”

The strange man looked at the cultivators’ faces and then walked towards the entrance. The people made way for him with awe-filled gazes. But coincidentally, he was heading towards Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li quietly moved back to give the strange man space to pass. But then, something shocking happened.

“Hmm?”

The strange man, who was about to pass by, wrinkled his large nose and stopped in disbelief. He stared directly at Han Li.

Confused by the strange event, the surrounding cultivators moved away from Han Li.

“Senior, do you have any instructions for me?”

“What is your name, and which clan do you belong to?”

At his sudden question, Han Li hid his real name and made up a false identity, calling himself Fellow Daoist Lyu.

“Good! I am Dan Tianren of the Stone Insect Clan. If you ever have any difficulties in the Heavenly Fortune, you can use my name.”

After hearing Han Li’s answer, his figure blurred and then returned to normal. Han Li’s expression changed drastically.

In the moment when the strange man blurred, he clearly felt the man’s hand on his shoulder, but even though he saw the hand coming, it was too fast for him to dodge. A strange spiritual power flowed from the strange man’s palm, swirling around his shoulder before dissipating.

“Senior, why are you doing this?”

Han Li’s face turned slightly pale.

Only a dozen or so Yi Clan people had seen the strange man touch Han Li’s shoulder with his palm. Most of them would have found Han Li’s sudden words strange.

The strange man scanned him with sharp eyes and chuckled.

“It seems that this fellow Daoist has mastered a body refinement technique, which has piqued my interest. If we have the chance, I would like to discuss the relevant techniques with Fellow Daoist Lyu!”

In the moment the strange man’s gaze swept across his face, Han Li felt a faint pain. He had been concealing his appearance with an illusion, but the difference in their cultivation was too great, and it didn’t work. Moreover, he suddenly wanted to discuss some technique, so he didn’t know what his intentions were.

‘Why did he touch my shoulder?’

Han Li searched his memory with a dark expression. No matter how much he thought about it, he had never met the strange man before.

“Boy, don’t think strange thoughts and come to the Chunxiang Pavilion across the way later. Don’t even think about running away! I’ve already placed a mark on you for the past few hours so I can track your location.”

The strange man’s voice echoed in his ear. Then, without any explanation, he burst into laughter and turned to leave the plaza.

After the strange man disappeared, Han Li felt uneasy and found it difficult to maintain his composure. Sensing the gazes around him, he immediately turned and walked towards the entrance.

He had intended to conceal his identity and quietly sell some spirit herbs to gather spirit stones. But because of the strange man, everyone was watching him, making it difficult to conduct secret transactions.

Han Li immediately canceled his plan and, with a calm face, left the side hall and looked up at the area beyond the open space where the carriages were gathered. Then, the ‘Chunxiang Pavilion,’ which he hadn’t paid much attention to when he arrived, caught his eye.

It was a three-story building, not very large, but it was located opposite the auction house, and a plaque with magnificent calligraphy hung on it. However, unlike the surrounding buildings with many people coming and going, the entrance of the pavilion was deserted.

The strange man named Dan Tianren was waiting for him inside. Although he was reluctant, there was still time before the auction started, and besides, he couldn’t focus on the auction without figuring out the intentions of the Stone Insect Clan strange man.

Han Li suddenly flicked his sleeve, revealing one of his hands. The pitch-black skin was the hand fused with the Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain [a powerful artifact].

Although Dan Tianren tried not to show it, Han Li sensed through his Spirit Eye [a technique to see through illusions] that the man’s gaze was directed towards his sleeve. However, he couldn’t tell if the man was interested in his palm or his entire arm.

‘If it’s the former, he’s interested in the Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain, and if it’s the latter…’

Han Li felt a chill in his heart.

Thinking of his arm, he unconsciously stroked the arm hidden in his sleeve with his other hand. There was no particular sensation, but it was the area where the sword transformed from the Heavenly Treasure [a powerful artifact] was sealed.

‘Could he have sensed this?’

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

He still didn’t know how the human and Bi Ling clans had been affected by this Heavenly Treasure. Of course, he didn’t know that some minority clans had become sacrifices to the Blood Sacrifice because of it.

However, having directly witnessed the power of the sword, he vaguely knew that if he reached a level where he could wield it freely, he could roam freely in the spirit realm.

After using the sword, the Heavenly Treasure had become his second greatest secret, after the mysterious bottle. It held even more importance in his heart than the mature Xujin Insects [a type of magical insect].

However, it was unlikely that the Stone Insect Clan elder had recognized the Heavenly Treasure. If that were the case, Tian Qizi would have recognized it long ago. The Heavenly Treasure could not be sensed unless it was activated. Of course, if the opponent had mastered a heaven-defying technique, there was a possibility that they could sense the Heavenly Treasure, but that was unlikely.

In any case, he was in no position to disobey a Composite Body stage cultivator [a high level of cultivation] right now. Putting aside the spiritual power that had been injected into his body, it was impossible to escape through the heavily guarded Yun City. He had to face it head-on.

Han Li stood still for a moment before finally walking towards the Chunxiang Pavilion. When he reached the front door of the Chunxiang Pavilion, a handsome Zheng Clan youth greeted him from inside.

“Are you Fellow Daoist Lyu? Elder Dan is waiting for you in VIP Room 4. Please follow me.”

“Lead the way.”

Han Li scanned the pavilion and nodded. The Zheng Clan youth led him to a staircase on one side.