Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1023

“Could that treasure be….”

Han Li’s expression shifted rapidly, but he wasn’t without options. He thoroughly scanned the area with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, then focused on a specific point and summoned a black eye from between his brows.

A finger-thick beam of black light shot from the black eye, striking the void.

Thud!

The golden-horned youth staggered and was forced out of the void.

“Destruction Eye!”

The youth exclaimed, recognizing the third eye between Han Li’s brows. He was now clad in navy blue armor, and behind him, a massive navy blue dharma form [a manifestation of spiritual power] reappeared, holding two treasures.

Swoosh.

The golden-horned youth clenched his fist, and seven-colored lights flashed, revealing a small, pure white bell. He held the bell and stared at Han Li with a composed gaze.

In response, Han Li expressionlessly summoned the Golden Deity and the Silver Firebird, and sent 72 blue flying swords towards the golden-horned youth.

Swish, swish, swish.

The flying swords, now transformed into eerie blue lights, flew with sonic booms, relentlessly slashing at the youth. The golden-horned youth, his eyes narrowed at the speed of the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords, rang the small bell he was holding.

Ding!

White shockwaves rippled out, engulfing the blue sword lights. The moment the shockwaves touched the sword lights, dozens of flying swords reverted to their original forms, and the successive waves shattered all the flying swords into dust.

Han Li’s face changed drastically, and his pupils contracted. Using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he clearly saw that what was spreading from the small bell weren’t white shockwaves, but extremely minute spatial rifts.

Unlike ordinary spatial rifts, they appeared and disappeared in an instant. No matter how sharp the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords were, they couldn’t compare to the sharpness of spatial power.

The golden-horned youth, having shattered the flying swords with a single blow, didn’t stop there.

Ding! Ding!

The small bell rang twice, and white shockwaves rippled out again. Simultaneously, the dharma form behind the youth activated two treasures, and tricolored flames and fire clouds surged forth.

The youth spat out black energy that enveloped his body. Within the black energy, which contained thick green threads, a ghostly wail and a fishy stench vibrated. Unleashing so many divine abilities at once was a clear expression of his intent to kill Han Li this time.

Han Li felt a chill in his chest. Regardless of anything else, the spatial divine ability emitted by the white bell was truly unsettling. Moreover, since he hadn’t fully recovered his magic power, he didn’t intend to prolong the fight.

As the Golden Deity dharma form emitted a purplish-gold light, purple spell characters floated up amidst the chanting of Buddhist scriptures. Then, a fragment of a blade appeared in the dharma form’s hand and rang out with a clear sound.

Kuurung.

The surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy surged in as if summoned, and the surroundings were enveloped in a five-colored curtain of light. This phenomenon was possible because the spiritual energy in the Glacial Heaven Realm was abundant.

The golden-horned youth was startled by the immense spiritual power contained in the curtain of light.

Before he could react, the spiritual energy of the Golden Deity’s main body was frantically injected into the golden blade fragment, and the two-zhang-sized [about 6.6 meters] Golden Deity strangely shrunk in size. The fragmented blade vaguely took on a complete form and trembled slightly.

The wailing sound ceased, and the five-colored curtain of light that covered the sky rushed towards the golden blade. In just a few breaths, the golden blade, having completely absorbed the heaven and earth spiritual energy, grew long and silently slashed forward.

Then, a golden light the size of an arm shot out from the blade, extending like a golden stream. The golden-horned youth was terrified by the golden stream, but he didn’t just stand there and take it.

The fire clouds, tricolored flames, black energy, and white shockwaves collided with the golden stream. They created a tremendous explosion but were quickly extinguished.

Only the white shockwaves plunged into the golden stream and were locked in a standoff. Explosions continued to erupt from the clash of the two energies.

“Profound Heavenly Treasure!”

The youth, who already had a suspicious feeling, felt his heart sink. He mistook the blade fragment, a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure [a high-level magical artifact], for a Profound Heavenly Treasure of the same level as the small bell.

This was because a fragmented Profound Heavenly Treasure was similar in power to a complete one. The youth floated the small bell into the air and flicked his fingers repeatedly.

Ding, ding, ding….

Each time the clear bell sound rang out, his face became paler, and after the seventh ring, all the color had drained from his face. Ringing the bell was originally very draining on one’s vital energy, and even for him, who was at the peak of the Void Refinement Stage, it was a burden.

However, the effort of ringing the bell repeatedly was worth it.

The moment the first bell rang, Han Li was almost sucked into the void by an unknown force. He was startled and activated a magic seal, causing layers of black spell characters to appear from his Heavenly Fiend Armor.

The spell characters formed a black whirlwind, protecting him from the formless force. The power of the laws of heaven and earth was strange, but it only pressured the black whirlwind and didn’t harm Han Li.

However, when the second bell rang, the black whirlwind emitted by the Heavenly Fiend Armor wailed precariously. Han Li, who had used Profound Heavenly Treasures several times, knew the power of the laws.

He hurriedly formed a hand seal, and a pair of crystal wings appeared on his back. Then, the third bell rang out leisurely. The black energy emitted by the armor condensed and was torn apart as if it had become tangible.

Han Li twitched his lips and flapped his wings, leaving behind a pale blue lightning bolt and disappearing from the spot. The next moment, a large hole was pierced in the spot where he had been standing. Han Li had simply evaded the spatial power of the three bell rings.

When the fourth bell rang, Han Li popped out somewhere in the void, engulfed in lightning. The Wind Escape Technique had been easily scattered by the bell sound.

Then, the fifth bell rang, and Han Li was again surrounded by the power of the laws of heaven and earth, turning upside down. A powerful force was pulling his body from all directions, making it feel like his body was being torn apart.

At that moment, Han Li’s eyes flashed open, and he roared!

Then, a dazzling golden light burst from his body, and golden fur grew, transforming him into a giant ape. The giant ape, with its ferocious appearance, had abnormally thick legs and arms, making it look like it possessed tremendous strength.

The giant ape forcefully stretched out its limbs and snapped the pulling force from its surroundings with a bang! Then, it leaped towards where the golden-horned youth was.

The golden-horned youth’s eyes widened as the mysterious attack of the small bell, which he had unleashed at the cost of his vital energy, didn’t work. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Han Li transforming into a giant ape and overcoming the power of the laws.

However, because the giant ape had appeared so suddenly and swung its massive hand, he didn’t have time to summon the small bell. He had no choice but to quickly form a hand seal and summon the navy blue blades of the navy blue dharma form and throw them.

Two cold navy blue lights flew towards the giant ape’s hand and chest. However, the giant ape didn’t care whether the navy blue lights flew or not, and only focused on grabbing its target with its hand.

Clang!

A clear metallic collision sound rang out. The navy blue light that tried to block the giant hand shattered into dust upon colliding with it, and the navy blue light that aimed for the chest was lightly deflected. It hadn’t even cut a single hair on the giant ape.

“Huk!”

At that sight, the golden-horned youth was terrified and moved the dharma form behind him.

The moment the navy blue dharma form clenched its fists and leaped towards the giant ape, the youth spat out black energy containing thick green threads and tried to ring the pure white bell.

However, the navy blue dharma form shattered into light the moment it touched the giant golden hand, and the black energy was also completely unable to stop it and was extinguished. In the end, the giant ape’s hand pierced through the golden-horned youth’s protective barrier and tightly gripped the opponent’s head.

Crack!

The youth’s head exploded from the ape’s tremendous strength, and the headless corpse fell to the ground.

Thud!

The corpse burst into a large pool of blood the moment it hit the ground. Blood and flesh turned into arrows and flew in all directions, but something quickly cut through the void.

The youth’s nascent soul [a cultivator’s spiritual essence] was flying towards the white bell. The youth had realized that he couldn’t escape Han Li’s grasp only after losing his physical body, and he was trying to escape by relying on the pure white bell.

The giant ape ignored the flying blood arrows and pounded its chest with both fists, roaring. The thunderous roar shook the sky, and the sound waves distorted the space, creating net-like traces.

The giant ape’s loud roar had vibrated the space and torn it into pieces. As a result, the blood arrows returned to nothingness, and the blurry shadow within the sound wave’s range exploded with a short scream.

The problem was that the pure white bell had self-destructed the moment the youth’s nascent soul disappeared.

‘Hmm….’

At that sight, Han Li’s eyes flashed with a navy blue light, and he showed a puzzled expression.

The giant ape turned its eyes and moved towards the giant serpent and lizard, and struck the lizard monster with its massive fist.

The mid-Void Refinement Stage spirit beast was pitifully covered in blood, had its inner core stolen by Han Li, and even the soul that was trying to escape was eaten by the white serpent. The giant ape completely dealt with the last enemy and then returned to human form.

Han Li stared at the spot where the pure white bell had disappeared, lost in thought.

* * *

At the same time, far away in a palace in the Spirit Realm.

At the top of a tower surrounded by layers of golden restrictions, an angry voice shouted.

“How could this happen!”

The golden-armored soldiers standing at the entrance of the tower remained expressionless despite the sudden roar.

At the top of the tower, Horned-Chi Clan figures were seriously looking at a pure white giant bell on a table. The one who shouted was a jade-horned woman, her face full of anger.

The giant bell on the table was exactly like the one the golden-horned youth had been using, except for its size, and five small golden formations were spread out under the table.

Four of the formations were empty, but only a white light was floating on the small formation closest to the giant bell.

“A Profound Heavenly Treasure has been destroyed, and even the true spirit of the divine bell, which was the main material, has returned! The disciple who possessed it must be dead.”

“It’s not unexpected. Numerous cultivators from different races have entered the Glacial Heaven Realm, so it’s not strange that they encountered an opponent with heaven-defying divine abilities. Or they might have encountered an ancient ferocious beast that lives in the Glacial Heaven Realm and suffered a disaster.”

An old man with a blue spot on his forehead stroked his beard and said in response to the jade-horned woman’s words.

“Still, it’s strange. With a Profound Heavenly Treasure that was a replica of the Bewildering Heaven Bell, they should have been able to survive even if they encountered a Star Realm being. Moreover, we clearly told them not to act alone and to protect the disciple who possessed the Profound Heavenly Treasure. Besides, half a year has already passed, so no matter how far they were teleported, it’s time for them to arrive at their destination and carry out the plan, isn’t it?”

Finally, a middle-aged man in a navy blue robe smiled and expressed his opinion. At his words, the old man seemed to be lost in thought and remained silent.

“In any case, the unit that lost the Profound Heavenly Treasure has failed its mission. This will affect our clan’s grand plan.”

The jade-horned woman, having regained her composure, spoke coldly.

“It’s alright. The items are divided into five parts, so if the other four units succeed in their missions, there will be no problem in carrying out our clan’s plan on the next opening of the Glacial Heaven Realm.”

“I’m worried that the other units might also have problems. We can somehow manage if it’s just one, but if more missions fail, it will disrupt the plan.”

The old man, who had been lost in thought, opened his mouth at the middle-aged man’s words.

“If that happens, we must accept that it is not yet our clan’s destiny to prosper.”

“It’s easy to say, but we have spent a lot of effort and resources for this. The five Profound Heavenly Treasures were made to break the seal, and they will crumble and disappear on their own after a year. If we don’t achieve any results, what will happen to the reputation of those of us who took on this task?”

The old man frowned.

“You don’t have to worry about reputation. It was originally a plan to kill two birds with one stone, so even if the Glacial Heaven Realm side fails, we will most likely succeed in the Spirit Realm.”

“That’s right. It’s time to finish the war with the Heavenly Luck.”

At the jade-horned woman’s words, the middle-aged man smiled as he met the old man’s eyes. The jade-horned woman finished speaking and pointed to the white light mass floating above the golden formation.

Ding!

A clear bell sound was heard, and the white light mass floated leisurely and seeped into the giant bell. The giant bell rang clearly, and layers of silver spell characters floated on its surface.