Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1035

“Haha! With these spirit herbs, I can finally overcome the cultivation bottleneck that has been holding me back for so long,” Dan Tianren muttered contentedly as he gathered the jade boxes.

“He should still have some spirit herbs left. Aren’t you interested in those?” Tian Qizi, his plump face twitching, suddenly brought up this topic. Dan Tianren and Cai Liuying immediately understood his meaning but seemed reluctant.

“The three of us working together could easily deal with him. But have you forgotten the orders Senior Bi personally gave us? He specifically told us to release the transmission array blockade and let him go. He probably has some connection with Senior Bi.

Moreover, judging by the size of the medicinal herb field my disciple mentioned, what we got is almost everything he had. Even if he kept some, it would be a tiny amount. It would be foolish to anger Senior Bi for that. Besides, his divine abilities are quite impressive, and he’s quick-witted, so there’s a chance we could mess things up.” Dan Tianren, who had been wavering, shook his head and refused.

“I also think Dan’s words make sense. If we upset Senior Bi over this, it would be difficult for us to handle, even as members of the Sacred Clan,” Cai Liuying cautiously supported Dan Tianren’s opinion.

“In that case, let’s pretend I didn’t say anything. I was just being greedy,” Tian Qizi laughed it off nonchalantly and changed the subject.

* * *

Han Li, his blue robe fluttering, was descending the mountain path. Despite his calm exterior, he was mentally calculating the gains and losses of this transaction.

On the surface, he had exchanged a large quantity of immortal spirit herbs for just a few materials and pills, which seemed like a huge loss. But in reality, he hadn’t lost anything at all. In fact, it was a very profitable deal.

He had carefully set aside each of the spirit herbs he had collected from the Guanghan Realm. Once he returned, he could cultivate them in large quantities using the mysterious bottle. He wasn’t sure if the mysterious bottle would work on the Red Luo Fruit and the Poison Eater Grass, so he only offered a few and kept most of them.

Moreover, he hadn’t even taken out the single unique spirit herb and the mysterious silver lotus. Han Li felt quite pleased. He found another nearby mountain peak and settled into an inn.

For three days, he busily visited various material shops in Fuxiao City, purchasing large quantities of materials. They weren’t particularly rare, but they were unique products that could only be found on the Thunderclap Continent. He wasn’t sure when he would be able to obtain them again once he returned to the Fengyuan Continent, so it seemed wise to stock up.

On the morning of the fourth day, Han Li left the inn and headed out of Fuxiao City. Qingjiao Peak was a mountain peak not far from the west of Fuxiao City.

Within the vast mountain range, Qingjiao Peak was not particularly noticeable. If it weren’t for the winding trees that resembled flood dragons growing on the mountain, no one would have paid it any attention.

Having retracted his blue escape light and appearing in the sky above Qingjiao Peak, Han Li scanned the area below with his powerful spiritual sense. It seemed that Xiang Zhili hadn’t arrived yet.

He pondered for a moment and then shot out a dozen or so formation flags from his sleeve. The flags seeped into the mountain peak and disappeared. Only then did he descend. Han Li found a clean rock, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

“……”

Several hours passed, and Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, looking towards Fuxiao City. A beam of light was flying in from the horizon.

“Junior Brother Han, I’m a little late. Have you been waiting long?” The light dissipated, and Xiang Zhili, wearing a yellow robe, landed next to Han Li with an apologetic expression.

“I haven’t been waiting long. Let’s get to what you wanted to say.”

“Indeed! But first, take a look at this.” Xiang Zhili pulled out a jade box that shimmered with a green light from his large sleeve.

“Is this the item you said you would give me? I’m curious what it is.” As Han Li tried to examine the jade box, his spiritual sense was unexpectedly repelled. There was a profound restriction placed inside the jade box.

“Hehe, you’ll naturally find out once you open it.” Xiang Zhili gestured for him to open the jade box. Han Li nodded and weighed the green jade box in his hand. It felt as light as if it were empty.

Han Li glanced at Xiang Zhili, who was staring intently at him, and suddenly tossed the jade box into the air, releasing a blue sword qi from his sleeve to slice it open.

“Ah!” Xiang Zhili was startled but didn’t have time to stop him.

*Swoosh!*

The jade box was sliced open by the blue sword qi, and a golden talisman flew into the air. The talisman, covered in silver patterns, had faint golden and silver incantations floating around it, giving it a mystical feel.

“This Giant Spirit Talisman was something I accidentally obtained in the mortal realm. Only beings above the Transformation Stage [a high cultivation stage] can use it. I also relied heavily on this talisman when passing through spatial junctions. But now that I’ve fallen to the Nascent Soul stage [a lower cultivation stage], what use do I have for it? I’ll give it to you, Junior Brother Han. When you return to the human race, please do me a favor. I promise it won’t be difficult!” Xiang Zhili didn’t say a word about Han Li’s sudden action and made his request with a sincere tone. However, Han Li frowned and reached out to pull the golden talisman towards him.

He emitted a few strands of crystal silk from between his brows due to the pure spiritual power he felt from the Giant Spirit Talisman.

“Spiritual Sense Crystallization!” Xiang Zhili exclaimed in surprise. Just then, an anomaly occurred.

*Buzz!*

The Giant Spirit Talisman, which had been filled with spiritual energy, vibrated and gradually changed from gold to black. Then, a clump of grayish-white threads shot out from the talisman and rushed towards Han Li at an extremely fast speed.

However, Han Li, as if he had expected it, showed no sign of agitation and instead created a thick golden protective barrier. It looked very sturdy and was indeed extremely strong.

The barrier created by the Profound Heavenly Devil Art was impenetrable by anything less than a top-grade treasure. Yet, strangely, the grayish-white threads passed through the barrier without any resistance and burrowed into Han Li’s body.

The moment he felt a cold sensation spreading, his entire body stiffened, and he couldn’t move.

*Bang!*

At that moment, Xiang Zhili, with a cunning smile, formed a hand seal and detonated his own body. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and a bloody shadow emerged from within and lunged at Han Li.

The scene was filled with a bloody stench.

Black energy billowed from Han Li’s body, transforming into a pitch-black armor. Countless black incantations emerged from the Heavenly Devil Armor, colliding with the strange bloody light. The bloody light staggered and was repelled, revealing its true form.

Han Li, his eyes flashing with a navy blue light, saw through the true form of the bloody shadow.

‘That’s!’ His expression changed drastically. A demon with sharp teeth, which had Xiang Zhili’s face, was vaguely changing into another man’s face.

The last man was Hu Noma, who had entered the spatial junction with Xiang Zhili. The bloody demon’s face changed like flowing water, repeatedly revealing three different appearances.

“Heavenly Devil Armor? Impossible. How can you be wearing armor that only a Heavenly Devil can possess!” The bloody demon steadied itself and roared. It was clearly Xiang Zhili’s voice, but it sounded very unfamiliar. Han Li snorted and covered his skin with golden scale armor.

“Do you think I can’t do anything to you just because I’m wearing the Heavenly Devil Armor!” The bloody shadow made a strange sound and began to spin in place. A bloody whirlwind formed, rising high into the sky. Within the whirlwind, bloody lightning flashed with a rumbling sound.

The bloody shadow muttered strange sounds, and the whirlwind contracted, transforming into bloody incantations that floated in the air. A violent fluctuation could be felt within them. The bloody talisman transformed into bloody lightning and tore through the void.

*Bang!*

The collision of the lightning and the black incantations caused a dazzling display of spiritual energy. Unexpectedly, the black incantations scattered first, clearing a path for the bloody lightning.

*Boom!*

The bloody lightning created a palm-sized hole on the surface of the pitch-black armor. The bloody shadow revealed a cunning smile and rushed into it. However, ripples appeared in the nearby void, and a giant golden hand appeared, grabbing the bloody shadow like lightning.

Within the giant golden hand, the bloody shadow revealed its true form and fiercely spewed out bloody flames from its mouth. However, Han Li was unable to move and had no way to avoid the bloody flames flying towards him.

A cold smile appeared on his face as he curled the corners of his mouth. A black light flashed between his eyebrows, and a long, narrow, pitch-black pupil appeared. From within, a black light extended and attacked the bloody flames.

*Pshhh!*

The nearby space warped, and the bloody flames and black light simultaneously disappeared. The startled bloody shadow tried to use another divine ability, but it had already missed its chance.

Silver flames flowed from the giant golden hand, engulfing the bloody shadow with a *whoosh!* The bloody shadow let out a terrible scream and writhed persistently in the silver flames.

It stretched out as if it had no bones, then balled up into a circle. It was a complete mess. But no matter how it changed, the power of the giant golden hand didn’t weaken, and the silver flames burned fiercely.

In an instant, the screams stopped, and the bloody shadow disappeared.

The bloody shadow was originally a formless entity, so it couldn’t be contained by ordinary treasures or divine abilities. However, the giant golden hand created by the Profound Heavenly Devil Art had displayed an unfathomable power and captured the bloody shadow.

The Spirit Devouring Flame was originally good at devouring anything, and after absorbing various types of flames, it showed a dramatic effect on demons and evil spirits, so there was no need to mention it. The Eye of Destruction slowly closed and disappeared from between Han Li’s eyebrows.

He emitted a golden light all over his body, chanted an incantation, and spat out a fist-sized ball of light from his mouth. Inside the light ball, wrapped in gold, was a clump of grayish-white threads.

He had just forcibly pushed out the foreign substance that had seeped into his body using the power of his true essence. Once the grayish-white threads were expelled, his body regained its freedom.

Han Li didn’t hesitate and used the silver flames to burn the clump of threads inside the golden ball. Then, he turned his head and looked down at the scattered remains, letting out a long sigh.

He didn’t know what had happened to Xiang Zhili that he had such an evil entity like the bloody shadow within him, but his body was definitely his. Judging by the strange facial changes of the bloody shadow, Xiang Zhili’s consciousness had likely already been devoured by the demon’s primordial spirit.

When Han Li first saw Xiang Zhili in Yun City, if the Soul Devouring had not been restless and warned him, Han Li wouldn’t have noticed anything strange about Xiang Zhili. At first, he had intended to leave him alone as long as he didn’t cause any harm, but he had revealed his dark intentions every time they met.

So, he had deliberately made an appointment to meet here to find out what his intentions were. With his increased cultivation in the Guanghan Realm, there was no reason for him to fear the bloody shadow’s ambush.

The bloody shadow had detonated Xiang Zhili’s body and absorbed his essence blood, gaining strange abilities in a short time, but it was not enough to do anything to him. Standing there, looking at Xiang Zhili’s remains, Han Li felt uneasy.

‘To think that Xiang Zhili, who had stood at the pinnacle of the mortal realm, would have such a miserable end!’ Whether he and Hu Noma had been harmed in the spatial junction or had been captured and devoured by the bloody shadow after arriving in the spirit realm, it was a sigh-worthy matter.

Han Li sent a red fireball to turn Xiang Zhili’s remains into ashes and turned away. The talisman that had been disguised as the Giant Spirit Talisman had long since turned to ash and disappeared after the bloody shadow was gone.

It was a shame that he couldn’t study the powerful force of the grayish-white threads. He retrieved the formation flags he had placed around the area. The formation that had been concealing the spiritual energy fluctuations dissipated.

The moment Xiang Zhili had landed on the mountain peak, he had activated the formation to prevent the energy from leaking out while dealing with the bloody shadow. Otherwise, someone in the city would have noticed since Qingjiao Peak was too close to the city.

*