Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1048

“If it’s Fellow Daoist Yeongrong, isn’t she the consort of the Heavenly Wolf God who returned from the Lower Realm? I heard that Fellow Daoist Yeongrong isn’t a direct descendant of Senior Oso, and she was quite favored by the Wolf King.”

The purple-haired woman asked in surprise, clearly aware of the matter.

“That’s right. When Fellow Daoist Yeongrong returned from the Lower Realm, she only had the cultivation of the late-stage Transformation Realm [a cultivation stage], but when I last saw her, she had already reached the peak of the mid-stage Void Refinement Realm [another cultivation stage]. It seemed likely that she would overcome the bottleneck and reach the late stage before the Demonic Calamity arrived. Originally, her innate talent was famous even within the Silver Wolf Clan. If she hadn’t been trapped in the Lower Realm for so long, she would have reached the same realm as us long ago.”

The masked woman sighed, as if feeling sorry for her.

“No matter how outstanding her talent is, if she hadn’t stayed by Senior Oso’s side for hundreds of years, she wouldn’t have been able to improve her cultivation so quickly. It means that Senior Oso’s divine abilities are truly great. More than that, why did Senior Oso bring the Wolf King’s consort to his side?”

The purple-haired woman seemed very interested in this matter and continued the conversation.

“I don’t know about that either. There’s a rumor that after returning from the Lower Realm, a conflict arose between Fellow Daoist Yeongrong and the Heavenly Wolf cultivator, and Senior Oso took her away. Perhaps she was dissatisfied that the Wolf King didn’t help her while she was trapped in the Lower Realm for so long.”

The masked woman hesitated and answered in an uncertain tone.

“If Senior Oso is safe, nothing else matters. Now, let’s talk about the envoys sent by the Yaksha and Wood Clans. It’s probably related to the Demonic Calamity…”

The white-robed old man immediately changed the subject, and the other elders also perked up and joined the discussion. The Heavenly Origin Sect elders stayed in the main hall for almost half a day before dispersing.

* * *

Two days later, a light flashed from a teleportation array somewhere in the Heavenly Origin Sect, and two figures disappeared.

Whoosh!

At the same time, in the main hall of a large city far away from the Heavenly Origin Sect, a teleportation array vibrated.

“… !”

The soldiers who were loitering around were startled and looked at the source of the disturbance. Although the high-level cultivators in the city valued the teleportation array and guarded it daily, the teleportation cost was so high that very few people actually used it.

However, once the teleportation array was activated, most of those who appeared were high-level cultivators, so everyone straightened their backs and put on respectful expressions.

“Is this Maple Forest City?”

The young man who appeared from the teleportation array calmly asked one of the soldiers.

“Yes, this is Maple Forest City. Senior, welcome to Maple Forest City.”

The soldier scanned the people who appeared from the teleportation array, but he couldn’t gauge their cultivation, so he became very nervous.

“Maple Forest City, that’s good.”

The young man smiled and, without further interaction with the soldiers, took the woman and left the main hall.

They were Han Li and Xu Tianyu, who had been teleported from the Heavenly Origin Sect. Maple Forest City was the closest city to the Xu family. As they exited the building, a plaza made of bluestone unfolded before them.

The plaza was simple, with no other decorations except for the blue bricks laid on the ground. There were also a few pavilions and halls around, but there were hardly any people coming in and out except for the patrolling soldiers.

Han Li spread his spiritual sense a little further and found that the plaza was built on the mountainside of a huge mountain peak, with houses densely packed below the mountain and neat roads well-maintained.

He raised his head and looked at the top of the mountain peak. The small palace towering at the top was very magnificent, and he could feel the aura of Void Refinement cultivators inside.

‘Those must be the high-level cultivators in charge of this place,’ Han Li thought.

Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense and wrapped the woman in a blue aura, then flew up.

Inside a side hall of the palace at the top of the mountain, three Void Refinement cultivators were chatting in front of a table laden with fruit wine and snacks. Suddenly, they looked at each other with surprised expressions.

“Just now, a powerful spiritual sense swept through this place. Which Integration Realm [a high cultivation stage] senior has come to our city?”

The old man in a light-colored robe murmured.

“Judging by the spiritual sense, it seems so. I don’t know if they are the great figures beside the City Lord or the elders of the Heavenly Origin Sect.”

A middle-aged man in white armor replied with a slightly surprised face.

“I heard that the great figures are busy preparing something in the Heavenly Origin Sect. They shouldn’t have time to come here. Could it be an elder from the Heavenly Origin Sect?”

A young man with golden hair curled up spoke.

“Hoo, if it’s an elder from the Heavenly Origin Sect, they’re probably just passing by! Judging by how quickly they left, it seems we don’t need to greet them separately.”

The old man in the light-colored robe relaxed and let out a long breath.

“By the way, I don’t know why an Integration Realm cultivator would come all the way to Maple Forest City in a corner of the Heavenly Origin Territory.”

“Haha, how would we know what an Integration Realm cultivator is doing! As long as they’re not looking for us, we should be grateful and just ignore it.”

The golden-haired young man quickly replied to the middle-aged man in white armor.

“That’s true, but we should tell the subordinates to be careful for a while and not cause any trouble.”

The old man in the light-colored robe pondered and replied cautiously.

“Brother, you’re right! Since we’re not under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Origin Sect, it doesn’t matter if their elders come or not, but it’s still better to be careful with Integration Realm cultivators.”

The middle-aged man in white armor nodded. They were the City Lord and Deputy City Lords of Maple Forest City, and they continued their conversation with somewhat uneasy expressions.

At that time, Han Li was flying south with Xu Tianyu’s guidance. They had to travel for about a month from Maple Forest City to reach the Xu family, so they flew in a flying chariot.

Even though it was a remote area, mortals appeared sparsely, and in some small villages, mortals and cultivators lived together.

However, after traveling for more than ten days and entering the hilly area, only herds of beasts living in the canyons could be seen. Moreover, the spiritual energy in the hilly area was very scarce compared to other places.

“Why did the Xu family establish their clan in such a place?”

“You’ll find out the reason soon enough.”

Xu Tianyu smiled and deliberately stalled for time in response to Han Li’s question.

“I wonder what the reason is!”

Han Li was very curious, but he didn’t show it outwardly. After that, they flew for another ten days, and the hilly area, which had been blue, gradually began to turn red.

The mountains, rocks, and even the plants growing on them were tinged with a red aura. Han Li didn’t care at first, but after flying for a few more days, his expression changed.

“I see you’ve noticed now.”

“There’s a significant deposit of refined copper ore. Even if the spiritual energy isn’t sufficient, it’s worth establishing a clan here.”

Han Li smiled in response to Xu Tianyu’s question, which was tinged with laughter.

“There was a debate when our family settled here ten thousand years ago. But in the end, our family’s ancestors decided on this place. Since then, the family has enjoyed wealth thanks to the mine, but the descendants have inevitably been affected by training in a place with insufficient spiritual energy. It’s hard to say which is greater, the gains or the losses.”

Xu Tianyu sighed softly. A few days later, green finally entered their vision.

‘We’ve arrived,’ Han Li thought, his mind clearing with the abundant spiritual energy, and he knew that they had arrived at the Xu family.

Indeed, a small mountain range with lush greenery soon appeared. It had an ordinary spiritual vein, but it was much better compared to the barren land around it.

The mountain range, consisting of a dozen or so peaks, was full of various buildings, and there was a faint, mysterious fluctuation.

“Senior, this is the Xu family. May I inform my father first?”

Xu Tianyu asked as the flying chariot stopped near the mountain range.

“The Xu family has found a decent place. I’ll wait here for a while, so go ahead.”

Han Li scanned the mountain range with his spiritual sense and slowly nodded. The Xu family cultivators, who were on guard below the mountain range, were moving busily at the appearance of an unfamiliar flying chariot.

A golden restriction wave arose, and a dozen or so streaks of light flew from each mountain peak, but they didn’t seem very welcoming. Immediately, Xu Tianyu turned into a white streak of light and flew towards the family cultivators.

The Xu family cultivators recognized her immediately and showed signs of joy. Xu Tianyu, with a smile, exchanged a few words with them and then went down to the mountain range.

Han Li, who was waiting in the flying chariot, heard the sound of music coming from the mountain range not long after.

And after a while, two groups of mysterious women in palace attire, one in white and the other in red, flew over. Their cultivation was only at the Core Formation or Foundation Establishment stage [lower cultivation stages], but they were all exceptionally beautiful.

Behind them, three people followed closely: Xu Tianyu, a man in white, and a burly man with a curly beard were coming this way together.

The women in palace attire stopped quietly some distance from the flying chariot, and Xu Tianyu’s group approached Han Li.

“Xu Jiao greets Senior Han! I apologize for not coming out to greet you earlier.”

The young man in white with an ordinary appearance was a late-stage Transformation Realm cultivator.

“Is Fellow Daoist Xu Jiao the head of the Xu family?”

Han Li’s eyes sparkled as he scanned the man in white.

“Yes, I have been the head of the Xu family for a thousand years, taking care of the family’s affairs!”

“Fellow Daoist Xu Tianyu must have already told you about the purpose of my visit?”

“It is an honor that you have come all this way for the sake of our ancestors! If you don’t mind, please come inside and let’s talk.”

“Alright.”

Han Li nodded without refusing the man in white’s words.

Han Li retrieved the flying chariot and went down, with the man in white and the burly man flanking him. And Xu Tianyu followed quietly a few steps behind.

On the mountain range, Xu Jiao took out a cyan spirit tablet and slowly drew it in the air.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, a strong spatial fluctuation occurred in the mountain range, and the dozen or so mountain peaks distorted, completely changing the scenery. The mountain peaks were still there, but their positions had completely changed.

Even if an enemy attacked the Xu family’s mountain peaks with powerful divine abilities, they would never be able to destroy the main buildings with a single blow.

“A Bewildering Mirage Environment! I didn’t expect that the legendary ancient restriction would be deployed here.”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and said.

“Haha, it’s embarrassing. Ten thousand years ago, our family had a formation master with innate talent. That formation master spent his whole life restoring about 70-80% of the ancient illusion formation. It’s a pity that he died early due to his low cultivation. If he hadn’t, this ancient formation would have been perfected.”

Xu Jiao, who was explaining with a light smile, seemed to have great pride in his family.

“Excellent. The Xu family must be very secure.”

Han Li smiled and didn’t say anything else besides a simple compliment. Xu Jiao was a little disappointed at this. Since they had the rare opportunity to host an Integration Realm cultivator, he had wanted to hear a detailed evaluation of the restriction formation.

“Senior, do you think this formation can block the attacks of an Integration Realm cultivator?”

At that moment, the burly man next to him asked loudly.

“The attacks of an Integration Realm cultivator? Haha…”

Han Li glanced at the burly man and chuckled without giving a clear answer.

“Does that mean this formation is useless against an Integration Realm senior?”

“There are some weaknesses because the ancient formation hasn’t been fully restored. If it’s a cultivator who is weak in formations, it might take some time to break through, but if it’s an Integration Realm cultivator who is somewhat proficient in formations, they would never be stopped by an incomplete Bewildering Mirage Environment.”

Han Li, after briefly looking around the formation, pointed out a few places in the mountain range where the restriction was deployed.

“Are you pointing out the flaws in the formation?”

The man in white exclaimed in surprise, and Xu Tianyu and the burly man’s expressions changed.

“It’s nothing. I just remembered reading about a similar formation in a scripture, so I pointed out the differences.”

Han Li raised the corners of his mouth and replied nonchalantly. The ancient formation called Bewildering Mirage Environment had been lost for a long time among the human race, but while traveling across the Heavenly Origin Continent, he had read scriptures about the ancient formations of the human race in some markets of other races.

They were written in the ancient script of the human race, and since the races didn’t value formations, no one bought them even when they were piled up in general stores. It was unknown how the ancient scriptures of the human race had ended up there.

Han Li would never miss such a windfall, and he bought all the scriptures about ancient formations at a bargain price and studied them throughout his journey.

So, when he saw the Xu family’s formation today, it was very easy to find the flaws compared to the complete ancient formation in the scriptures.

Xu Jiao didn’t know about this, but from Han Li’s words, he guessed that the other party knew how to deploy a complete Bewildering Mirage Environment, and his expression changed. If that was the case, the incomplete restriction formation protecting the Xu family was no different from child’s play in his eyes. Xu Jiao’s smile became awkward.

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