Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1011

Han Li maintained a considerable distance behind the monkey puppet. However, he soon noticed something odd. Despite the puppet’s long strides, it hadn’t moved from the center of the plaza.

‘A phantom array!’ he realized.

Both the puppet and he had been walking for quite some time, yet they remained within the jade fence surrounding the plaza.

Surprised, Han Li activated his Spirit Eye ability, his eyes glowing with a blue light, and scanned the area. However, even with this ability, he couldn’t discern anything. It was strange that the Spirit Eye couldn’t penetrate the phantom array. But considering it was a restriction set up by an immortal from the True Immortal Realm, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Han Li didn’t give up. He gathered his magic power, focusing it between his eyebrows. Suddenly, a black aura appeared, and a pitch-black demonic eye manifested—the Destruction Dharma Eye, which he had cultivated for hundreds of years.

Having been with him from the mortal realm to the spirit realm, its divine power was extraordinary. It primarily possessed spatial abilities, but it also suppressed illusions and broke mind-confusing techniques.

Han Li had once activated the Destruction Dharma Eye and the Bright Spirit Eye simultaneously during his closed-door cultivation on Thunder Continent. By merging the two divine powers, a completely different dimension of Spirit Eye ability was born.

Its power was immense, but it consumed a considerable amount of magic power each time it was used. Until now, he hadn’t had the opportunity to use it, but now was the perfect time.

As Han Li began chanting a spell in his mind, the blue light in his eyes intensified, and a strange black light flickered in the Destruction Dharma Eye between his brows. From the three eyes, two streams of blue light and a pillar of black light shot out, condensing into a dark blue orb.

The dark blue orb, which grew increasingly darker, resembled a giant eyeball at first glance.

“Break it,” Han Li commanded.

From his sleeve, a blue light flew out and was absorbed into the dark blue orb.

*Paaat.*

The orb emitted light, and two types of spell characters, black and blue, floated up. From the orb, countless dark blue threads stretched out in all directions.

The thin threads were incredibly fast, covering the plaza in an instant. Then, various colored cracks appeared in the plaza’s void, exploding.

As a strange spatial fluctuation swept through the plaza, the surrounding scenery blurred, and a white light gate appeared.

Han Li didn’t hesitate. He transformed into a streak of blue light, entering the light gate, and the monkey puppet leaped and followed behind him. The moment he and the puppet disappeared into the light gate, the dark blue orb in the void emitted a dazzling light and exploded.

As a result, the net of threads surrounding the plaza was torn apart, the blurred scenery of the plaza became clear again, and the white light gate vanished without a trace.

At that moment, Shi Kun, with about a hundred steps left to the summit, was watching the wide-open palace gate from afar. Liu Shui’er was also only a few hundred steps away from the top of the stairs.

* * *

Han Li opened his eyes wide, which had been narrowed, and looked around. After passing through the light gate, he stood before the purplish-gold main hall.

The main hall’s door, made of pure gold, had simple patterns engraved on it, and above it was a large plaque. It was in an ancient script, which looked familiar, like the Silver Seal Script.

‘Golden Seal Script,’ he realized.

Unfortunately, hardly anyone in the Spirit Realm knew the Golden Seal Script, so he hadn’t had the chance to learn it yet. If he knew its meaning, he could have deduced the main hall’s purpose, which was a pity.

Han Li looked at the firmly closed door and moved the puppet with his consciousness. The monkey puppet walked up the stairs and tried to push the door with both hands, but unlike the palace gate, it didn’t budge this time.

*Kuururung kwakwang!*

However, from the seemingly ordinary main hall door, a thunderous sound rang out, and an eerie aura spread. The thunderous sound also resonated in Han Li’s body, which was some distance away, and a blue-white lightning armor formed around him.

“……!”

He hadn’t moved his feet, but the ground beneath him flashed, and he slid backward as if he was slipping. At the same time, a dazzling purple lightning bolt shot out from the main hall door, transforming into dozens of purple snakes and rushing towards the monkey puppet nearby.

In response, the puppet couldn’t resist and melted away into blue smoke. However, the purple lightning didn’t stop there and changed direction towards Han Li.

Han Li’s expression immediately changed. If it weren’t for the metal restriction, he would have used several mystical escape techniques to avoid the lightning, but now it was impossible.

He quickly thought and reached out, blocking the front with a crystal shield and summoning a black aura, putting on black armor surrounded by blue-white lightning. It was the repaired Heaven-Defying Demon Armor.

The purple lightning split into dozens of purple snakes and charged at the crystal shield. Thanks to its divine power to distort and deflect enemy attacks, the shield had been useful in previous battles.

However, only about a third of the purple snakes veered to the side, and the rest poured directly onto the shield. The purple lightning exploded, and hot air rose.

At that moment, a scene beyond imagination unfolded.

The crystal shield, engulfed in purple lightning, melted into a transparent liquid and fell to the ground. Han Li was horrified and made a hand seal with one hand, transforming the lightning armor into a blue-white lightning net and shooting it towards the purple lightning.

The lightning that formed the lightning armor was gathered when he went through the lightning tribulation [a trial by lightning], so its power was extraordinary. However, the moment the two types of lightning collided, the blue-white lightning was devoured by the purple lightning, and only the purple light intensified.

‘This is bad!’

Han Li, his face pale, hurriedly tried to unleash a thick golden lightning bolt from his sleeve. But unfortunately, the purple lightning had already condensed and fiercely struck the Heaven-Defying Demon Armor. A roar erupted, and Han Li staggered, engulfed in purple lightning.

However, the patterns on the surface of the Heaven-Defying Demon Armor rose up as dense black spell characters and clashed with the purple lightning.

Surprisingly, the seemingly insignificant black spell characters exploded along with the purple lightning, leaving behind only a hot wind of black and purple.

Han Li straightened his body and looked at the Heaven-Defying Demon Armor, breaking out in a cold sweat. If he hadn’t repaired and brought the armor, he would have suffered serious injuries from the attack just now. Of course, even so, his appearance, covered in ash, was a mess.

He sighed and looked at the liquid from the crystal shield that had seeped into the ground, feeling regretful.

“…….”

Han Li regained his composure and stared at the main hall door.

The fact that a powerful restriction was in place meant that there was something important to the ancient immortal inside. However, it would take time to break the powerful restriction, so he would end up suffering while Shi Kun and Liu Shui’er, who were late, would not.

He made up his mind and moved along the blue stone brick path towards the nearest side hall. The restriction would be weaker than the main hall, and he thought it wouldn’t take too long to break it and enter.

*Paaat.*

He released another monkey puppet from his sleeve. This puppet, based on previous experience, landed relatively stably without falling over.

The second puppet took the lead under Han Li’s control.

The side hall, which he reached after smoothly passing through the blue stone brick path, was one-third the size of the main hall, and a Golden Seal Script plaque hung on the small door.

This time, Han Li moved much further away, attached various colored talismans [paper charms with magical power] to his body, and made a hand seal, covering his entire body with golden lightning.

He finished all his preparations and moved the puppet, and the monkey puppet stepped forward and pushed the door.

*Squeak!*

However, unexpectedly, the door slowly opened. There was no restriction in place. Han Li was delighted but didn’t move recklessly and watched the puppet enter the door.

The monkey puppet that entered the side hall was fine, and seeing this, Han Li removed the protective barrier made of talismans and entered.

He looked around the side hall next to the puppet, wearing a surprised expression. In the front, a large altar made of white jade was set up, and on top of it was a purple shrine where divine statues were placed.

In front of the shrine, hundreds of light yellow cushions were placed, and a blue incense burner was placed at each of the four corners of the side hall.

The subtle fragrance of sandalwood emanating from the incense burners was very rich.

It was like a temple. The interior was spacious, and doors leading to other places were on both sides. Han Li’s gaze shifted to the wooden shelves on both sides of the main hall. The pure white wood emitted a chilling cold, which was the well-known Snow Wood even in the Spirit Realm.

Snow Wood was the best material for refining ice-attribute treasures, but it was a great waste to use it just to make shelves.

From afar, he could see about a dozen items on the shelves. There were Buddhist alms bowls, a ruyi scepter [a curved decorative object symbolizing good fortune] that a Buddhist monk would hold during sermons, and even an Ingyeong bell that was used to tell time in temples. The types were diverse, and all of them contained powerful spiritual energy.

Han Li examined the items with his consciousness, and his face brightened. They were all unfinished treasures, but if the original owner here had finished refining them, they would have had power comparable to a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure [a very powerful magical artifact].

Moreover, since each had a unique shape, they also had the potential to possess rare divine powers. If he took them and finished refining them, he could create treasures that would be among the highest grade in the Spirit Realm.

Han Li emitted a blue aura and swept away all the items on the shelves. It was lucky that he had gained so many treasures at once. As he looked around the main hall again, his expression changed when he saw the cushions.

*Shwiiik!*

Han Li reached out without hesitation and pulled a cushion towards him. He could feel the elasticity, warmth, and pure spiritual energy.

“This is…….”

It was clearly made by weaving spirit grass, but it still contained spiritual energy even after so much time had passed. Han Li brought the cushion close to his nose and sniffed. There was a faint, unique smell.

Han Li immediately summoned a blue sword energy and shot it at the cushion. But surprisingly, the cushion, which looked like it would be cut in an instant, deflected the attack. As a yellow aura flowed through the light yellow cushion, even the tiny cut marks from the sword energy disappeared. A cushion made of woven grass had blocked the sword energy of the Azure Bamboo Cloud Sword.

“As expected, it was Armor Grass! A spirit grass that can block swords. If you carry it on your body, it would be as good as the highest-grade armor. If it weren’t weak against fire-attribute attacks, it would be even more highly valued… To think that this is an immortal’s residence, even a cushion can’t be taken lightly.”

He looked at the cushion from side to side, his face full of smiles. Now that he knew the value of the cushion, he couldn’t leave it behind. As a black hand moved from his sleeve, a gray aura flew out and silently collected hundreds of cushions in the main hall.

Han Li organized the cushions in his storage bracelet with his consciousness and nodded with satisfaction.

‘It was worth coming all the way to the Glacial Sky Realm to get the rare Armor Grass that has gone extinct in the Spirit Realm.’

As he unconsciously inhaled, the fragrance of sandalwood felt even stronger than before.

“……!”

Han Li was startled and looked at the incense burner shining in the corner of the main hall. There was still a light yellow candle left in the incense burner, but it was impossible to know how long it had been there.

Han Li, who was moving his steps, scanned the incense burner with his consciousness and narrowed his brows. The incense burner was an ordinary object made of bronze and was not a magical artifact. He stood in front of the incense burner and looked at the remaining candle, his eyes shining. The rich fragrance of sandalwood was emanating from the candle.

On the surface, it was nothing special, but the fact that it maintained such a strong fragrance for so long meant that it was definitely something with a history.

Han Li carefully reached out his hand with a cautious expression. Before touching the candle, a blue aura surrounded his thumb and index finger. He carefully examined it, lost in thought.

*Shwiiik!*

He suddenly flicked his fingertip and shot out a small spark. The spark flashed and disappeared in an instant, and the candle did not catch fire.

Han Li, with a slightly excited look, floated a fist-sized red fireball and tried to burn the end of the candle.

However, the candle still didn’t catch fire.

“Black Nether Ice Incense! Isn’t this a sacred object that is said to remove inner demons when reaching the Fusion Stage!” [a stage of cultivation]

Han Li couldn’t contain his joy and took out a pure white jade box, carefully placing the candle fragments inside. And he quickly moved to collect the remaining candles from the other incense burners.