Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1054

‘Just like last time, the thunder spiritual root has disappeared.’ This had happened ten days ago as well. It was a strange occurrence. He had never heard of a spiritual root disappearing and reappearing in such a short period. In this state, no matter how much magical power one possessed, they would be unable to use any techniques while their spiritual root was gone. “Brother Han, why are you spacing out? You don’t look well. Should I get you some of the tea from the Carefree Pavilion? In return, please give me some of those spirit fruits we had last time. Their taste is unforgettable.” Qi Lingzi, with his keen senses, noticed Han Li’s change and gestured with his eyes. “Ah, that’s right! The spirit fruits Brother Han gave us were amazing.” Hai Daixiao also smacked his lips, his eyes sparkling at the mention of the fruits. “Hmm, I knew you two were captivated by the spirit fruits. However, the Coagulated Pearl Fruit tastes good, but it contains a lot of pure spiritual power. If you consume too many at once, it could damage your meridians [energy channels in the body]. How about this? I’ll take out six, and you can each have two.” Han Li, seeing Hai Daixiao and Qi Lingzi suddenly in sync as they eyed his spirit fruits, cleared his throat and spoke. *Pah!* From his sleeve, a jade tray containing egg-sized, jade-colored fruits appeared. “Haha, even two is more than enough. For some reason, after eating three of the fruits Brother Han gave me last time, my stagnant magical power increased! Instead of that, please tell me where I can get more Coagulated Pearl Fruits. I’d rather just eat delicious spirit fruits every few days to increase my magical power than take pills or anything else.” Qi Lingzi said happily, looking at the jade-colored fruits that sparkled like beads. But before he could finish his sentence, someone *whoosh!* took two fruits from the tray. *Crunch! Crunch!* Qi Lingzi quickly turned his head to see Hai Daixiao holding a fruit in each hand, alternating bites. “What a waste!” Qi Lingzi shook his head at the sight. However, Hai Daixiao, regardless of the young Daoist’s lament, enjoyed the juice bursting in his mouth, completely immersed in the taste of the Coagulated Pearl Fruit. Han Li watched silently, secretly smiling. He wondered if they would still eat so heartily if they knew that each spirit fruit was worth over a thousand spirit stones. Han Li shifted his gaze to the young Daoist. From what he had observed, Qi Lingzi was also extraordinary. He certainly possessed an ordinary three-spiritual-root constitution. However, upon closer inspection, Han Li noticed a bean-sized bead hidden in his dantian [energy center below the navel], enveloped in a glow of spiritual energy. Out of curiosity, he had tried to discern the bead’s identity, but he sensed a powerful sealing force. ‘A Legacy Artifact!’ Some cultivators, fearing the loss of their lineage, would seal what they had learned into a legacy artifact using special secret techniques. The legacy artifact implanted in the body of a descendant or disciple would usually only appear when certain conditions were met, remaining hidden until then. Most of the time, when one’s cultivation reached a certain level, they would acquire the secret techniques or cultivation methods within the legacy artifact. Of course, it was also possible for a predecessor to use their unique secret technique to implant a legacy artifact into another person’s body before they died. Additionally, if someone tried to forcibly seize a legacy artifact, it would explode and disappear along with the original owner. Such legacy artifacts were rare, as few knew the method of refining them, and the refining process was complex. It was unexpected to find one within Qi Lingzi’s body. It seemed that the founder of the Carefree Pavilion was not an ordinary ascended cultivator after all. However, Han Li, having mastered many powerful divine abilities, was not particularly interested in other cultivators’ secret techniques. He paid more attention to Hai Daixiao than Qi Lingzi. A spiritual root that could appear and disappear was truly fascinating! They savored the spirit tea that Qi Lingzi had brought out, finished the remaining fruits, and then boarded the flying chariot again, heading towards the Profound Martial Territory. The Profound Martial Territory was quite different from the Celestial Origin Territory. The number of cultivators was less than in the Celestial Origin and Celestial Spirit Territories, but the number of body refiners was far greater. The customs were also more aggressive, with even the elderly, children, women, and scholars going out to hunt beasts with weapons. However, there were only a few large cities where mortals resided within the Profound Martial Territory. Most people lived scattered across the vast land in fortresses. Also, as it was the territory that bordered the Seven Lands, the scale of the ‘Demon Beast Uprising’ was larger. The probability of encountering low-level demon beasts was higher than in other places, and high-level Transformation Stage demon beasts would often sneak into the Profound Martial Territory and cause trouble. Therefore, the Profound Martial Territory was the most chaotic of the three territories, and the closer one got to the demon race, the greater the chaos. However, the Nine Immortal Mountains, a massive mountain range between the land of the Celestial Fox and the Profound Martial Territory, was an exception. The mountain range, divided into nine peaks, possessed an extreme-grade spiritual vein and was a habitat for spirit herbs that were of great use to both the human and demon races. Moreover, the Nine Immortal Mountains itself had a rugged terrain and unique topography, and was controlled by the elite forces of both the human and demon races. This meant that even the most daring individuals would not dare to touch it carelessly. In recent years, the Nine Immortal Mountains had become even stricter in managing its surroundings, clearing out the surrounding small and medium-sized forces with bad reputations. In just five or six years, it had been transformed into a paradise that was out of place in the Profound Martial Territory. It was in this Nine Immortal Mountains that the once-in-a-millennium Grand Gathering of Humans and Demons was to be held. * * * Although the Grand Gathering was still a few months away, the area around the Nine Immortal Mountains was already filled with human and demon cultivators who had gathered from the Three Territories and Seven Lands. The cultivators who could not enter the Nine Immortal Mountains had naturally formed a dozen or so large and small markets near the mountain range. Many high-level cultivators appeared, trading rare materials and spirit herbs. Unlike other markets, the human and demon races did not trade separately. Although the number of demon cultivators in the market was smaller than that of the human race, most of them were high-level Transformation Stage cultivators, so their true strength was not inferior to that of the human cultivators. This maintained a certain balance. However, these markets were temporary and lacked proper regulations. As a result, it was not uncommon for the strong to seize or forcibly buy from the weak. That day, a similar incident was unfolding in the Yellow Mountain, which was relatively far from the Nine Immortal Mountains. A gaunt middle-aged cultivator and a girl who looked no more than eleven or twelve years old were surrounded by three black-clad figures. The middle-aged cultivator was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and the girl was only at the third or fourth level of the Qi Refining stage, while the menacing black-clad figures were all at the late-Foundation Establishment stage. “Bai Huaji, are you still not going to hand over the Millennium Blood Ginseng! If you obediently hand it over, we might even let you and your daughter go and give you some spirit stones.” One of the black-clad figures said in a sinister voice. “Shi Lun! I was foolish to be tricked by you and come this far, but if you want the Blood Ginseng, you must send my daughter away first. Otherwise, I would rather destroy the Blood Ginseng than give it to you.” The gaunt middle-aged man took out a box wrapped in silk and activated the spiritual energy in his hand. The expressions of the black-clad figures changed at the sight of this. “No one can leave until you hand over the Blood Ginseng!” “Hmph, how can I believe that you won’t harm us after getting the Blood Ginseng? Don’t even think about making an oath. I will never trust you again!” The middle-aged man resolutely shouted in response to another black-clad figure’s words. “Then don’t even think about getting out of here alive…” “Alright, I promise.” The burly man was about to threaten him again, but the cultivator named Shi Lun interrupted and accepted the offer. “Brother Shi, why…” “Why? Are you saying you won’t listen to me?” Shi Lun glared coldly at the other black-clad figures. “No, that’s not what I meant. We’ll send the girl away as you wish!” The two black-clad figures agreed, watching Shi Lun’s expression. “You heard what we said, right? We’ll send the child away, but you should know what will happen if you try anything foolish.” “As long as my daughter can escape safely, I don’t care about giving you this Blood Ginseng.” “Father, no! I can’t leave alone!” The pretty girl grabbed the middle-aged man’s sleeve and shook her head. “Foolish girl! Gua’er, you must find your maternal grandmother and seek help to save your father.” “Ah!” The middle-aged man’s expression changed in an instant, and he quickly moved his lips to send a telepathic message. The girl, called Gua’er, nodded vigorously after hearing his words. “What are you doing, not leaving? What if I change my mind if you keep wasting time!” Shi Lun shouted fiercely, his face annoyed. The girl was startled and froze, but as a cultivator, she knew what to do. *Pat!* The girl glanced at the middle-aged man, seemingly unable to tear herself away, before taking out a white talisman, sticking it to her body, and shooting away. The middle-aged man watched his daughter without blinking. Just as the middle-aged man was about to breathe a sigh of relief after the black-clad figures let the girl pass, Shi Lun’s eyes flashed, and he swung his arm behind him. The girl cried out in surprise, and in an instant, she was grabbed by a black shadow and dragged back, falling into Shi Lun’s grasp. A pitch-black hand gripped the girl’s delicate neck. “What are you doing? Shi Lun! I’ll destroy the Blood Ginseng!” “If you destroy the Blood Ginseng, I’ll break your daughter’s neck, won’t I? Stop talking nonsense and throw the box. If you don’t throw it by the count of three, I’ll kill her. One! Two!” Shi Lun hesitated despite the middle-aged man’s threat and tightened his grip on his fingers. The girl, her neck being strangled, writhed. Only then did the other black-clad figures realize Shi Lun’s intention. He had lied from the beginning, intending to take one of them hostage. The middle-aged man, faced with the urgent situation, trembled all over, his mind going blank. Before Shi Lun could finish counting to three, he hurriedly threw the silk box. One of the black-clad figures chuckled and pulled it over. “Check if it’s the Blood Ginseng!” “It’s correct! It’s the real Blood Ginseng.” At Shi Lun’s command, the silk box was opened, revealing a large, blood-red ginseng. “Now that you have the Blood Ginseng, you can let the child go, right?” The middle-aged cultivator asked through gritted teeth, his face pale. “Heh heh, if we let you go, won’t Immortal Akua come looking for us later!” Shi Lun laughed wickedly at those words. “Did you dare to provoke us even knowing that!” “Do you think we’re just some random thugs who attack anyone without investigating first? I don’t want to mess with a Core Formation cultivator either, but since you happen to have the Blood Ginseng, I have no choice. With the Blood Ginseng, Core Formation is just around the corner, so there’s no reason to fear Immortal Akua. And if we kill you and get rid of your bodies, who would know it was us?” Shi Lun laughed maniacally and activated a black light in the hand that was gripping the girl’s neck. The middle-aged man, enraged, let out a roar and tried to throw a yellow flying sword from his sleeve, but it was too late. Just as Shi Lun was about to twist the girl’s neck, a mysterious scene unfolded. A strange wave was felt, and the moment the girl’s neck hardened, Shi Lun felt an intense pain in his hand. He screamed and quickly turned his head to see a pitch-black steel puppet in the place where the girl should have been. His hand was bleeding profusely from grabbing the puppet, which was covered in navy-blue thorns. Shi Lun angrily threw the steel puppet to the ground and shouted in rage. “Who did this!” Before he could finish speaking, a set of black formation artifacts appeared in his hand. The middle-aged man was dumbfounded at the sight. At that moment, the other black-clad figures also realized the situation and took out a silver axe and a black shield, respectively, scanning their surroundings with their senses. “Daixiao, I can’t watch this anymore. It seems like we’ll have to fight those guys.” A cold voice came from behind a large tree. The black-clad figures glared at the tree with wary eyes. “I’m not one to just let this slide either. If you’re going to rob someone, just take the goods, why touch a child? I can’t stand it unless I beat them to a pulp. But I don’t know if the two of us can properly beat those three…” Another voice spoke from behind the tree, sounding a bit worried. “Hahaha, with Brother Han here, what’s there to worry about! It’s exactly three against three, so even if we can’t win, it won’t be dangerous.” The cold voice from before replied with a mischievous laugh.