Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1012

After that, Han Li thoroughly searched the main hall, but other than the purple cabinet storing the statue and the remnants of fruit in front of it, nothing remained.

Naturally, Han Li turned his gaze to the purple cabinet. Inside the cabinet, about the size of an arm, was a jade-colored statue carved from the highest grade jade.

The statue, dressed in a green robe and holding a pure white horsetail whisk and an amethyst gourd, had a long beard, exuding the air of an immortal.

However, upon examining the statue, Han Li couldn’t help but be surprised. No matter how wide he opened his eyes and stared, he could only see a shimmering jade color, unable to properly discern the statue’s face.

He blinked and activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their maximum, examining the statue’s features. This time, it seemed to work, as the jade-colored aura covering the statue’s face gradually thinned.

‘Ugh…!’

However, just before the face was revealed, chanting and Buddhist sutra sounds echoed in his mind, making him dizzy. His vision turned black, and he nearly stumbled to the ground.

Han Li quickly circulated the Great Development Art [a cultivation technique] to clear his mind and regain his balance. Then, his eyes, as he looked at the statue, were filled with suspicion.

If even with his cultivation, it was difficult to grasp its true nature, it was likely a powerful treasure, and it must have been made and enshrined as a statue by someone of considerable status in the True Immortal Realm.

Originally, statues themselves were very mysterious objects. Even in the Spirit Realm, some powerful individuals could use the power of statues to manifest their nascent souls or split souls from a distance.

Of course, he had never heard of a True Immortal Realm immortal descending to the Spirit Realm using such methods, but carrying around an unidentified statue was an invitation to danger.

Han Li pondered for a moment, then sighed and suppressed his greed. Without any lingering attachment, he left the statue behind and turned towards the side door, with the monkey puppet closely following behind.

In the end, nothing remained in the main hall except for the purple cabinet containing the statue.

Beyond the side door, a corridor with about a dozen rooms appeared. After sending the monkey puppet to open each door and confirming there were no issues, he entered one of the middle rooms.

The door of the room was a small half-moon shape, with a space divided in the middle. The outer part was a reception room with a table and tea sets. After quickly scanning the interior with his spiritual sense, he realized that all the furniture was made of rare, high-grade materials.

However, Han Li went straight into the inner room, which appeared to be a bedroom. There were quite a few items in the bedroom as well.

Next to a faint green bed was a table, and on the table were a brush, an inkstone, and layers of thin cloths. He approached the table, examined the brush and inkstone, shook his head, and put them back down.

Then, he looked at the thin cloths, but there were no words written on them. Han Li carefully looked around the room to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, then left the room.

In this way, he quickly searched about a dozen rooms. Other than a few jade slips with ancient characters that he couldn’t understand, there were no significant gains. Those jade slips were also just lying carelessly next to the bed, so they weren’t valuable items.

However, he was very curious about the True Immortal Realm, so he took the ancient characters with the intention of studying them. He returned to the main hall and entered another side door. Unlike before, the rooms were quite far apart.

However, what caught Han Li’s attention were the silver-glowing magic characters on the surface of the square doors. They were familiar silver glyphs.

“This is…”

He examined the doors closely and became certain that each room was a secret chamber with a specific purpose. If so, there would still be useful items left inside the secret chambers.

However, with the silver magic characters covering them, his expression was extremely cautious. Usually, the formations set up in secret chambers were of the type that blocked sound or energy, but considering what had happened at the main gate, he couldn’t afford to be careless.

Han Li didn’t send the puppet; instead, he created a defensive barrier and threw a blue flying sword at the secret chamber’s stone door. The flying sword, transformed into a blue streak of light, cleaved the secret chamber’s door.

*Clang!*

Silver light burst from the secret chamber’s door, and a clear, ringing sound spread out. The seemingly ordinary silver light had blocked the Azure Bamboo Cloud Sword. The silver light of the restriction didn’t even create a ripple.

Han Li was relieved to see that. The fact that it didn’t counterattack even when attacked meant it was a common restriction.

‘It would have been impossible to set up powerful restrictions in every secret chamber.’

He raised his black hand and sent a small mountain flying.

*Thud!*

The small mountain, which was the size of his palm, quickly grew dozens of times larger and collided with the silver light. Then, unable to withstand the enormous weight of the Yuan Magnetic Mountain [a magical artifact], the silver light, as well as the secret chamber door, split in two and fell apart.

Han Li retrieved his treasure and immediately headed inside. Inside the secret chamber, there was only a cushion made of Jia Yi grass. There was no need to scan it with his spiritual sense.

Han Li took the cushion and left the secret chamber. There were still many secret chambers left, so it was too early to be disappointed. However, he broke into six more secret chambers in a row, but they were all the same.

He was a little discouraged, but he couldn’t give up hope for the remaining secret chambers.

*Bang!*

The moment he broke into the seventh door, he was startled. Unlike the previous ones, there were three jade boxes and two small bottles on a table. But what stood out even more was a golden, shimmering painting hanging on the wall.

Han Li activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes and examined the golden painting, then flinched. The painting was densely filled with countless golden flying swords. The flying swords, all the same shape, were of various sizes; the large ones felt like pillars, and even the very small ones had clear patterns, which was quite amazing.

Even though so many swords filled the painting, it wasn’t chaotic, and each one revealed its unique energy.

‘Such a bizarre Myriad Swords Diagram!’

Han Li stared intently at the painting with a hint of joy on his face.

Not long after, he suddenly stepped back and turned his head away from the painting. His face was unnaturally flushed.

“It’s as if I’ve been cut by a real sword. If my spiritual sense wasn’t strong and I wasn’t well-versed in flying swords, even I would have suffered significant damage to my spiritual sense.”

He quickly circulated his magic power to confirm that there was nothing wrong with his body, and then he was relieved. Then, he calmly calmed his mind and took out various colored talismans and threw them towards the Myriad Swords Diagram.

As the talismans spread into colorful lights and were absorbed into the painting, something strange happened. Colorful talisman illusions appeared on the surface, and the golden light of the painting began to diminish.

Eventually, the golden light, subdued by the talismans, completely disappeared, and the painting was reduced to an ordinary one.

*Swish!*

As Han Li reached out his hand, the painting rolled up and disappeared from view. He didn’t know who had refined it, but even a brief look had revealed profound principles. Whether it was a powerful sword technique or a secret art related to spiritual sense, he would find out as he studied it.

Next, he approached the table and sent out a blue aura.

Han Li checked the contents with his spiritual sense and narrowed his brows. The jade boxes each contained talismans with complex silver glyphs, but they had long lost their spiritual energy and were unusable, and the small bottles only had traces of liquid inside.

The spiritual elixirs that had been stored had all dried up because they hadn’t been properly sealed. After thinking about it, he only took the talismans.

He searched the rest of the secret chamber but couldn’t find anything. Han Li searched all the other secret chambers without missing any. After leaving the last secret chamber, he didn’t stop walking and instead looked at the other two side halls and the main hall.

‘By now, Shi Kun and Liu Shui’er should have reached the top.’

The phantom array spread out in the plaza was powerful, so it would take time to pass through, but even so, he could only explore one more place at most.

Han Li’s gaze shifted between the two side halls he hadn’t visited yet. He suddenly brightened his eyes and looked at the pavilion behind the main hall. The surrounding area was lush with greenery and filled with dense wood-attribute spiritual energy.

He sighed and thought he had been worrying about foolish things. Any cultivator would have a herb garden in the east. For him, True Immortal Realm spiritual herbs were much more helpful than any treasure.

If he could obtain True Immortal Realm spiritual herbs and mass-produce them with his mysterious bottle, they would be worth hundreds of times more than any treasure.

Han Li took the monkey puppet and ran behind the main hall. Fortunately, in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he reached his desired location. Even if he didn’t know the exact location of the herb garden, he could just find the place with the densest wood-attribute spiritual energy.

Up close, he saw a flat area surrounded by three pavilions, and five amethyst pillars surrounded the flat area, creating a five-colored protective barrier.

However, even at a glance, the restriction that was spread out didn’t look simple.

He pondered for a moment, then formed a hand seal and spat out a silver fireball from his mouth. The fireball spun in the air and transformed into a Silver Spirit Firebird. It was capable of devouring various flames and spiritual energy, so it was also useful for breaking restrictions.

“Go.”

The silver firebird obeyed Han Li’s command and rushed towards the five-colored protective barrier.

*Thud!*

The five-colored protective barrier trembled slightly. The silver flames and five-colored energy intertwined, and a series of explosions were heard. Each time the silver firebird flew through the protective barrier, the five-colored energy became fainter.

*Whoosh.*

Han Li was about to increase the firebird’s power with satisfaction when the amethyst pillars vibrated and emitted five-colored light. Then, the fading protective barrier regained its light and returned to its original state.

Han Li’s expression darkened, and without much hesitation, he flicked his ten fingers in succession, sending out magic seals.

The Silver Spirit Firebird, which was the size of an arm, absorbed the magic seals, its eyes became fierce, and it grew in size, spreading its wings wide and flying above the five-colored protective barrier. The firebird cried out and vigorously flapped its silver wings.

*Pee-pee-peep!*

Numerous silver feathers transformed into fireballs and rained down like a storm.

*Crash!*

An explosion rang out from the protective barrier, and the area was engulfed in flames. The five amethyst pillars diligently replenished the five elements’ spiritual energy, but it was not enough. Then, the giant silver firebird folded its wings and fell vertically from high above like a meteor shower.

At this, the five-colored protective barrier could no longer withstand it, and it cracked and shattered into pieces. The moment the protective barrier collapsed, Han Li leaped forward, trying to jump into the herb garden.

‘That was easier than I thought?’

At that moment, the light emitted by the amethyst pillars scattered, and a thunderous sound rang out. Suddenly, purple lightning appeared.

Han Li glanced at the collapsing protective barrier and summoned black energy from his body, donning the Heavenly Fiend Armor [a powerful defensive artifact]. As he poured spiritual energy into it, the black magic characters on the armor’s surface popped out, swirling and rotating around Han Li.

Then, along with the sound of thunder, numerous golden lightning bolts shot out, forming a lightning net to protect him, and he scattered several talismans, creating layers of colorful protective barriers outside the golden lightning net.

Finally, the Yuan Magnetic Mountain flew out from Han Li’s sleeve, grew larger, and blocked his front like a giant shield. Han Li believed that no matter how powerful the purple lightning was, it wouldn’t be able to penetrate all of this.

At that moment, five thick streaks of purple lightning that had shot out from the amethyst pillars merged into a half-palm-sized lightning orb and charged forward.

Han Li’s face turned pale at the sight of the large purple lightning orb, but he still didn’t retreat and placed his palm on the black mountain peak. The silver magic characters on the mountain’s surface shimmered, and a gray aura flowed out to meet the purple lightning orb.

*Crackling! Boom!*

The gray aura was pushed back by the lightning orb. Even though the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light’s power was great, it only had a proper effect on the power of the five elements, so it was not a strange thing. It seemed that it didn’t work against the power of the lightning containing True Immortal Realm secret arts.