Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1053

After finishing her business, the woman bid farewell to Han Li and walked out of the pavilion’s main hall, with Xu Jiao quickly following behind. Once they had left the pavilion and disappeared, Han Li let out a long breath. Suddenly, the answers to the questions he had wanted to ask the Blood Spirit didn’t seem so important anymore. Also, handing over the Void Heaven Cauldron to the woman made him feel much more at ease. The unease that it might become an obstacle to his cultivation someday had vanished, and he was also free from the influence of the demonic oath he had made to the young man from the Bi clan. There might be other uses for the Void Heaven Cauldron that he didn’t know about, but in terms of power, the treasures he already possessed far surpassed it. He felt a little regretful, but not to the point where he couldn’t part with it. This transaction had not only eased his mind but also allowed him to form friendly relationships with the Blood Spirit, the Xu family, and the Ice White Immortal, making it a worthwhile exchange. Besides, he had also obtained the Demonic Jade Flower, which he had only heard about until now.

‘It’s about time I left the Xu family.’

With the Myriad Treasures Assembly not far off, he planned to spend a few years traveling around the Heavenly Origin Realm and slowly make his way towards Mount Nine Immortals.

* * *

A day passed, and a streak of blue light soared above the mountain range. Han Li, within the streak of light, glanced at the Xu family for a moment before disappearing into the distance. After that, he spent several years wandering around the Heavenly Origin Realm, visiting large and small cities. He would go to renowned sects or clans in the cities to share insights on cultivation with high-level cultivators, and sometimes he would just observe quietly before leaving.

Although he had only covered less than a fifth of the Heavenly Origin Realm, it was enough for him to understand the situation of the human race. The number of human Nascent Soul stage cultivators was far too small compared to not only the Horned-Chi Clan but also the Bi-Ling Clan. Besides the Nascent Soul stage cultivators possessed by the Heavenly Origin City and the Three Sovereigns, the number of Nascent Soul stage cultivators in clans or sects was not very high. Moreover, there were very few Nascent Soul stage rogue cultivators who lived as freely as he did.

He had heard that the situation of the demon race was slightly better than that of the human race, but even if the entire human-demon race was combined, their power would only be comparable to that of a mid-sized alien race on the Fengyuan Continent [a large landmass in the Spirit Realm].

The fact that they were located in a corner of the Fengyuan Continent and were not surrounded by powerful alien races was the reason why the two races had survived in the Spirit Realm until now.

As far as Han Li knew, many alien races that were much stronger than the human-demon race had disappeared from the Spirit Realm over time.

In any case, in this situation, there were few who could threaten him, a human Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and after killing a few evil cultivators he had encountered by chance, his name was gradually becoming known within the Heavenly Origin Realm.

Now, many small and medium-sized sects and clans knew that a young-looking early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator had appeared among the human race. Even the Profound Martial Realm and the Heavenly Spirit Realm had sent people to try to recruit him, but Han Li had refused them all.

Five years passed like this.

* * *

Somewhere in a scenic mountain range between the Profound Martial Realm and the Heavenly Origin Realm, three human cultivators were sitting in a stone pavilion, chatting.

The handsome cultivator in white robes looked refined, and next to him, a Taoist in a yellow robe with an old wooden sword on his back looked like a young boy. The last cultivator was Han Li, wearing a blue robe, with an ordinary face except for his dark skin.

Han Li was listening to the young Taoist opposite him, a smile playing on his lips.

‘I’m not bragging, but when our Misty Sea Temple’s founder was in the Lower Realm [the mortal world], the Misty Sea Sect was the number one sect in the world. They dominated the human realm, and even the demon beasts were afraid of them! The founder, Master Xuan Ling, was naturally the best in the world.

Now that I, Qi Lingzi, have taken over the Misty Sea Temple, if you two join our temple, it will be like a tiger growing wings. If the three of us achieve great success in cultivation, it will be enough to make the Misty Sea Temple the number one sect of the human race.’

‘Haha, how many times have you said that on the way here! I know that the Misty Sea Temple only has a few young Taoists, and you want me and Brother Han to join? Even if your founder was a big shot in the human realm, he would have been just an ordinary Spirit Transformation stage cultivator in the Spirit Realm.’

The handsome man chuckled and fanned himself with a green fan.

‘Hai Daixiao, what do you know! It’s not that our Misty Sea Temple’s cultivation methods are bad, but that the cultivation conditions for the Misty Sea Limitless Great Method left by the founder are too strict, so we can’t just take in any disciple. If the founder hadn’t been caught in a spatial storm and seriously injured while ascending to the Spirit Realm, he wouldn’t have hastily established the Misty Sea Temple in such a small place.’

The young Taoist’s face flushed red as he passionately argued.

‘It’s not that, but your founder was farsighted. If the Misty Sea Temple had occupied a good position with its strength, would it have been able to survive until now? Brother Han, am I right?’

The handsome man, called Hai Daixiao, closed his fan and turned his head towards Han Li.

‘Hai’s words make some sense, but it’s also true that Cultivator Qi Lingzi’s cultivation method is special and requires special talents to cultivate.’

‘Haha! Did you hear that, Brother Han? The cultivation methods passed down in our Misty Sea Temple are of a different level. As long as you join our temple, I will immediately pass on the Misty Sea Limitless Great Method to you.’

Han Li smiled and replied, and the young Taoist continued to persuade him excitedly.

‘Tsk! This body has cultivated the orthodox body refinement technique and is a talented body refiner, and I’ve already mastered the Vajra Body Art to the third level. What else would I learn from you? The temple master is just a cultivator who recently reached the Foundation Establishment stage, so he doesn’t have the strength to defeat me. If I were to serve a master, I would go to a famous, large sect.

And Brother Han, you shouldn’t be so ambiguous. What do you mean by ‘some sense’? It’s clear that Senior Xuan Ling established the Misty Sea Temple in such a remote mountain valley to maintain its existence, just as I said.’

Hai Daixiao said confidently. Han Li ended up giving a wry smile and didn’t say anything. The two people in front of him were truly comical.

They had met a month ago near a small city, and for some reason, they had offended a small sect and were being chased by several Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. It was a very common occurrence in the human-demon race, and Han Li had no intention of getting involved at first.

However, Han Li had glanced at the besieged people and felt puzzled.

One had the best spiritual root talent but had cultivated a body refinement technique, reaching the third level of the Vajra Body Art with a mortal body, and the other had a very crude spiritual root talent but had mastered a very unique cultivation method, allowing him to fight several cultivators of the same level alone.

The two of them were holding their own against six or seven Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. Curious, Han Li had concealed his cultivation to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage and appeared in front of them.

Even if he concealed his cultivation, it was easy for him to chase away a group of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. So, Han Li had driven away the Foundation Establishment stage group, and Hai Daixiao and Qi Lingzi, who had been helped, were so grateful to Han Li that they had proposed to become sworn brothers before they had even exchanged a few words.

Han Li was truly speechless.

He quickly found an excuse to refuse the sworn brotherhood proposal and told them that he was on his way to participate in the Myriad Treasures Assembly held in the Profound Martial Realm. They said that they were also going there and suggested they travel together.

Han Li was momentarily at a loss for words. The Myriad Treasures Assembly was a grand gathering attended by not only human-demon Nascent Soul stage cultivators but also the Three Sovereigns and the Seven Demon Kings.

‘To think that they would try to go to the Myriad Treasures Assembly with only the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage.’

Moreover, although there were Foundation Establishment stage cultivators participating in the Myriad Treasures Assembly, they usually came as attendants or disciples of high-level cultivators. Foundation Establishment stage cultivators who came alone were usually those who lived nearby and wanted to broaden their horizons. However, Qi Lingzi and Hai Daixiao were heading to the Myriad Treasures Assembly with a few tea jars and some unknown stone fragments.

It was truly a ridiculous situation.

However, Qi Lingzi’s tea was definitely of good quality, worthy of being called a high-grade product, and Hai Daixiao’s unknown stone fragments were a mysterious ore that even Han Li couldn’t figure out.

Han Li was curious about the two of them, and since he had plenty of time until the Myriad Treasures Assembly, he agreed to travel with them. As he flew towards the Profound Martial Realm with the two of them on his high-grade flying chariot, Han Li couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Without him even asking, Hai Daixiao and the young Taoist Qi Lingzi would chatter endlessly whenever they had the chance, revealing their circumstances.

Hai Daixiao said that he was born into a very famous body refinement family in a mortal city. He had been born with the best spiritual root, but a cultivator had mistakenly judged that he had no spiritual root, and he had lived as a body refiner ever since.

However, he had realized that he had a natural talent for body refinement and had accidentally discovered that he possessed a spiritual root.

He had stopped his body refinement training without hesitation and tried to pursue the path of cultivation. However, there was no proper cultivation sect in the small mortal city, and the weak cultivation sects were not up to his high standards.

After careful consideration, he had secretly left his family to find a large cultivation sect and had encountered the young Taoist from the Misty Sea Temple, who was on his way to the Myriad Treasures Assembly.

They had unexpectedly hit it off in a short time, and Hai Daixiao had been persuaded by Qi Lingzi to become sworn brothers and change his direction to the Myriad Treasures Assembly.

Qi Lingzi had described the Myriad Treasures Assembly to Hai Daixiao like this:

‘There are Spirit Transformation stage cultivators everywhere, and Nascent Soul stage cultivators are not even considered! If you just grab any cultivator there and serve them as your master, it will be much better than trying to find some large sect, right?’

That was how they had ended up heading to the Myriad Treasures Assembly, and fortunately, they had avoided all the dangerous places, even if they had to take a detour.

So, they had been traveling without any major incidents until they had accidentally offended a local cultivation family in the small city where they had met Han Li and were attacked by cultivators of the same level. If they hadn’t met Han Li, they wouldn’t have been able to escape easily.

In Hai Daixiao and Qi Lingzi’s eyes, Han Li was a very mysterious being. Although he was only one step away from the Nascent Soul stage, he had many miraculous magical artifacts and treasures, and his insights on cultivation had reached a level that they could not even fathom.

Just by listening to a few words of advice from him, they had greatly benefited in their cultivation. Moreover, when Han Li had pointed out something about body refinement, Hai Daixiao had been dumbfounded for half a day. It was very rare for a cultivator to have a deep understanding of body refinement.

They felt that there was something profound about Han Li, but they were naturally sociable and easygoing, so they called him ‘Brother Han’ without hesitation and acted affectionately. If Han Li had revealed his true cultivation, they would have shamelessly begged him to be their master.

Even Qi Lingzi, who was always boasting about the Misty Sea Temple, subtly revealed that he wanted to find a good master at the Myriad Treasures Assembly. Unlike his words, he didn’t seem to have any attachment to his position as the temple master of the Misty Sea Temple.

Nevertheless, Qi Lingzi had been constantly trying to persuade Han Li and Hai Daixiao to come to the Misty Sea Temple, which had led to Hai Daixiao’s ridicule and Han Li’s wry smile.

They had been flying for about a month and had landed on a scenic mountain near the Profound Martial Realm to rest for a while.

While Qi Lingzi was endlessly praising the Misty Sea Temple and proposing that they join, and Hai Daixiao was refusing, Han Li’s eyes flickered with a blue light.

Activating his Spirit Eyes [a technique to see through illusions and hidden energies] and staring at Hai Daixiao, he had momentarily caught a strange red light flashing across the other’s face.

‘It appeared!’

Han Li quickly sent out a strand of his consciousness to scan Hai Daixiao’s body.

‘Haha, with my thunder attribute spiritual root, it would be easy for me to become a disciple of a Spirit Transformation or Void Refinement stage cultivator! Once I master immortal techniques, then…’

Hai Daixiao was excitedly talking about his bright future after becoming a Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation stage cultivator. However, the thunder attribute spiritual root he was so confident about had long since disappeared.

If an ordinary cultivator were to examine him, they would surely conclude that he was an ordinary body refiner without a spiritual root. Han Li raised his eyebrows, feeling a slight chill in his chest.