Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1038

‘So, Fellow Immortal Xu is still in the city!’

Han Li’s eyes lit up at Zhuo Chong’s words. As the successor of Ice Spirit Immortal, she was key to completing the task given by the Tianyun Clan’s young master Bi, so naturally, he was interested.

“Like you, Fellow Immortal Xu has reached the Deity Transformation stage and is already a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator. She leads a Black Iron Guard unit. Come to think of it, she has mentioned you several times, Captain. She says that she reached her current level thanks to your guidance.”

Zhuo Chong chuckled, as if he thought there was a special connection between Han Li and her.

“I didn’t really guide her. She must have had great talent to achieve such results.”

Han Li shook his head and said calmly. The four cultivators, including the middle-aged man, who had been listening to their conversation, felt relieved. It seemed that his claim of being from Tianyuan City was true.

They had been worried that he might be a disguised member of an alien race trying to infiltrate Tianyuan City. The middle-aged man, who also knew Zhuo Chong, cautiously cupped his fist.

“Brother Zhuo, you knew Senior Han. We barely survived and returned to the city thanks to Senior’s help.”

“Did you encounter something dangerous?”

“Dangerous? We nearly died when we encountered a Void Refinement-level Stone Ape!”

“Haha, with Captain around, how could a mere Stone Ape be a problem! Our Captain could even kill Void Refinement-level alien races with his Deity Transformation cultivation.”

Zhuo Chong burst into laughter, and the other cultivators nodded repeatedly, praising Han Li’s strength.

“Let’s talk later. I have urgent business, so can I enter the city right away?”

Han Li spoke calmly.

“Oh, my mistake. You must be tired from the long journey. I shouldn’t have kept you standing here.”

Zhuo Chong quickly stepped aside, clearing the way to the teleportation array behind him. Han Li nodded slightly to him and entered the teleportation array without hesitation.

Whoosh!

The teleportation array glowed, and Han Li and the middle-aged man’s group were teleported into the city and disappeared. Zhuo Chong stared at the empty teleportation array with a regretful expression.

“Brother Zhuo, do you know him?”

“Was he really your captain before? And he could kill Void Refinement-level beings with his Deity Transformation cultivation back then?”

“No wonder it was hard to gauge his cultivation. He must have mastered some special divine ability.”

As soon as Han Li left, the other Qingming Guards, who had been unable to interject, bombarded Zhuo Chong with questions.

“Of course! Captain Han was a famous figure among the Qingming Guards back then. Even ordinary Tianyuan Guards were no match for him. I owe him several times over, and if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have reached the Deity Transformation stage yet. It’s been a long time, but he has indeed reached the Void Refinement stage. I can’t even imagine how strong he is now.”

Zhuo Chong answered, inwardly speculating about Han Li’s past. However, he could never have imagined that Han Li had traveled to another continent.

At the same time, the light of spiritual energy faded, and Han Li arrived in an ordinary hall. The middle-aged man and the other cultivators were teleported in shortly after.

“Now that we’ve arrived in Tianyuan City, it’s time for us to part ways.”

Han Li turned around and scanned the four of them with a calm gaze.

“We are truly grateful for your great kindness, Senior. We will be staying at the Chunmian Pavilion temporarily, so please call on us anytime if you need any help.”

The middle-aged man bowed deeply, speaking sincerely.

“Understood. If I need your help, I’ll look for you at the Chunmian Pavilion.”

Han Li nodded, looked at the middle-aged man intently, and then walked out of the hall. The middle-aged man and the other cultivators bowed their heads as they saw him off.

As he stepped out of the hall, a wider main hall appeared, and several people were busily entering and exiting other halls nearby.

There weren’t many people coming and going, but at the exit of the main hall, two groups of Qingming Guards were checking everyone entering and exiting with spirit plates, and a Tianyuan Guard elder in golden armor was watching the main hall with his arms crossed.

‘Mid Void Refinement!’

Han Li, recognizing the Tianyuan Guard’s cultivation, walked towards him.

The Qingming Guards he had met outside the city were mainly responsible for guarding the teleportation array against alien races and monsters, while this place was responsible for officially checking the identities of those entering and exiting.

Originally, Tianyuan City issued temporary passage tokens to all cultivators heading to the Myriad Desolation World. However, Han Li had not returned to Tianyuan City for a long time and did not have a passage token.

The Tianyuan Guard, who had been observing the main hall, noticed Han Li and immediately stared at him. In response, Han Li released the aura he had been concealing with a secret technique. The Tianyuan Guard’s expression immediately changed, and he approached Han Li first.

“I am Yu Lingzi. May I ask for your name?”

The Tianyuan Guard, who called himself Yu Lingzi, politely cupped his fist towards Han Li.

“I am Han Li. Three hundred years ago, I was also a member of Tianyuan City.”

“Are you joking? I have been in the city as a Tianyuan Guard for hundreds of years, how could I not recognize a fellow Tianyuan Guard?”

The Tianyuan Guard’s face hardened.

Whoosh!

At those words, Han Li took out a blue jade token and tossed it. The gaunt Tianyuan Guard caught it and examined it. On one side of the jade token, something was written in silver ancient script, and on the other side, there was a golden character that read ‘Bing (丙) 56’.

It was the Qingming Guard token that Han Li had possessed before.

“Qingming Guard?”

The Tianyuan Guard looked at the jade token with disbelief.

“That’s right. Is there a problem?”

“Not really, but I need to verify it.”

“Go ahead.”

At Han Li’s calm response, the Tianyuan Guard chuckled and placed the jade token between his hands, infusing it with spiritual energy. Soon, a faint blue light flickered.

“It is indeed a Qingming Guard token. However, the cultivator’s Qingming Guard number was deleted over a hundred years ago. The cultivator is already free.”

The Tianyuan Guard confirmed the token with a puzzled expression.

“I heard that if I completed a difficult mission back then, I wouldn’t have to serve anymore.”

“A difficult mission three hundred years ago…”

“Do you remember that?”

“So, you were one of the cultivators who took on a special mission back then! I apologize for my rudeness. Since there is no problem with your identity, you may pass. However, I will have to collect the Qingming Guard token.”

“Understood. I’ve been away from the city for a long time, so I only presented it because I had no other way to prove my identity.”

Han Li replied nonchalantly, and the gaunt Tianyuan Guard raised his hand, causing the Qingming Guards to step aside.

A blue beam of light shot out from the top of a stone tower where the main hall was located. The blue beam flickered a few times and disappeared from sight.

“The spirit plate should be fine, right?”

The gaunt old man opened his mouth with a dark expression after confirming that Han Li’s light had disappeared.

“There’s no problem. Senior Han is definitely a human.”

A Qingming Guard answered confidently.

“Where did he go without returning his Qingming Guard token? Could he have been wandering around the Myriad Desolation World all this time! Well, to go from Deity Transformation to late Void Refinement in 300 years, he must have had some incredible opportunities… Tsk, it’s enough to confirm that he’s human, so there’s no need to worry about unnecessary things.”

The gaunt Tianyuan Guard shook his head, taking his eyes off the blue light.

There were no cases of cultivation levels rising so rapidly in hundreds of years, but considering the numerous opportunities, it was not impossible. If the other party had not been a Qingming Guard before, he would have suggested that he join the Tianyuan Guard, but there was no way he would be willing to be recruited after finally regaining his freedom.

The gaunt Tianyuan Guard noticed the four Deity Transformation cultivators walking out of the main hall.

* * *

Inside the city, Han Li continued to look around.

Three hundred years had passed, but Tianyuan City had hardly changed. Soldiers in black and white armor were still patrolling in low-altitude flight, and some buildings were bustling with people coming and going.

Han Li headed towards the Tianyuan City market with a relaxed mind. Although he had returned after much hardship, he did not plan to stay in Tianyuan City for long.

He had strengthened his will by crossing the threshold of death for a hundred years while traversing the Fengyuan Continent, and he had also completed the conditions to reach the Fusion stage. He planned to accumulate his energy for a certain period and then attempt to break through the bottleneck.

Considering his powerful divine abilities and treasures, he would be able to compete with late-Fusion stage cultivators once he reached the Fusion stage. This meant that no one in the Human-Demon Alliance could do anything to him.

Han Li planned to replenish the materials he had consumed over the past hundred years before finding a quiet place near Tianyuan City to enter secluded cultivation. Although he had obtained some necessary items in the alien race areas, he had only traveled around the outskirts and had not found a sufficient quantity.

If he had not prepared the items in advance before leaving the Thunder Continent, some of his cultivation and research would have been disrupted. The Tianyuan City market would have enough materials.

Having been there several times before, Han Li arrived at the market in half an hour. Han Li looked at the distant hall, recalling the vague figure of the demoness. He had often obtained precious seeds through transactions with the nameless demoness.

If it weren’t for her, he would have wasted a lot of time collecting seeds. She seemed to be a demon cultivator with some background.

Even back then, she had known about the alien race invasion and had left Tianyuan City! Han Li turned his gaze away from the hall and entered a relatively large material store.

“Our store handles all kinds of materials. Please tell us if you are looking for anything.”

There were about six or seven clerks in the store, and a clean-looking young boy quickly approached Han Li.

“You step back. I will guide this guest.”

Before Han Li could speak, the owner, who had been sitting on a bamboo chair, stood up and approached. The store owner, a Core Formation cultivator, greeted Han Li politely.

“Oh, I didn’t know that someone like you would visit. I apologize for not greeting you properly.”

Han Li was slightly puzzled by his cautious attitude. Although he had not concealed his cultivation level since entering the city, there was no way a Core Formation cultivator could properly recognize his cultivation. However, the moment he saw the formation disc magic tool in the old man’s hand, everything became clear.

“You have a spirit pressure disc. I’m going to buy a large quantity of materials, so gather them.”

Han Li took out a white jade slip and tossed it to the old man. The old man received the jade slip, checked its contents, and was surprised and delighted by the quantity.

“Do you want this many materials? Our store can supply most of them, but some will have to be obtained from other places. Please wait a moment!”

“Understood. Give me an incense stick’s worth of time.”

Han Li ordered calmly. The old man led him to a seat and busily called other clerks to gather materials from the warehouse. He then went to nearby stores to find the other materials Han Li needed.

At the owner’s enthusiastic response, the clerks also realized that he was an important figure and looked at him with respectful eyes. Han Li took a sip of tea and waited with his eyes closed.

Before an incense stick’s worth of time had passed, the owner came running in excitedly with a storage bracelet. The clerks had also piled up large and small boxes and containers.

They were very ordinary materials for Han Li, but they were high-priced items that were treated as precious in material stores.

Han Li scanned the contents of the storage bracelet and containers with his consciousness and asked for the price. The old man grinned and presented an astronomical number.

However, Han Li nonchalantly took out a pouch and tossed it to him, and the owner thanked him repeatedly.

He took the items and immediately left the market, flying to another part of Tianyuan City. Several hours later, he confidently left Tianyuan City and crossed the endless mountain range.