Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1063

Han Li was also speechless at Hai Da-Xiao’s words, but he tried to keep a straight face to hide it.

‘Did someone really pick him up…’

In the distance, the giant turtle let out an earth-shattering roar, then hid its limbs and head inside its shell. Now, it looked like a towering black mountain peak.

The lightning guards flying above the black castle descended in droves, and the black-armored soldiers took out spirit tools from their pockets and busily ran around the black mountain peak.

*Wooong!*

After a while, the formation around the black mountain peak was completed, and a thick black fog rose, concealing the black castle and the mountain peak. Just then, a sound like a dragon’s roar was heard from another peak, and a golden light soared up, floating above the black fog.

The golden light faded, and a huge golden flood dragon appeared. The man smiling on top of it was none other than the Celestial Origin Holy Emperor.

“It’s been a while, Mystic Turtle Fellow! May Celestial Origin request a brief meeting?”

“Hmph, who else would it be but that old familiar face. If you want to come in, just come in, why all the formalities? Come in. Do you think this mere illusion can stop the Holy Emperor’s visit?”

Unexpectedly, a cold voice from within the black fog replied with an unceremonious tone.

“Hehe, then I’ll take my leave.”

The Celestial Origin Holy Emperor did not get angry at the other party’s rude words and disappeared into the black fog on his golden flood dragon. The cultivators who had been watching the Celestial Origin Holy Emperor’s appearance also returned to their respective residences.

Han Li also clasped his fist at Liu Qing and was about to leave when the woman smiled and made an unexpected suggestion.

“If Fellow Han doesn’t mind, how about we have a brief chat at my residence? Someone you know is waiting.”

“Someone I know?”

“That child is also the daughter of my old friend. I happened to meet her on the way here and brought her to the Spirit Immortal Palace. If you’re curious who it is, why don’t you come with me?”

“Since Fellow Liu says so, I am curious who is waiting. Then, I’ll trouble you for a moment, Fellow.”

Han Li quickly thought it over and replied without hesitation.

“I’m glad you said that. I’m staying on the floor above Fellow Han, so we don’t have to go far.”

The woman’s slight upturn of her lips did not make her seem like a puppet at all. It seemed that her reputation as the second-best in the Human-Demon race’s puppet art was not for nothing. Moreover, wasn’t she now the number one in the Human-Demon race’s puppet art after the Celestial Cataclysm Emperor died from fear?

“Understood. You guys take the golden spirit token and return to your residences first.”

Han Li threw the silver spirit token to Hai Da-Xiao and Qi Ling-Zi and followed the woman to the Spirit Immortal Palace first.

An hour later, in a jade-colored palace on the sixth floor of the Spirit Immortal Palace, he met a familiar white-clothed girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old.

“Fellow Ye!”

Han Li recognized the girl with her beautiful features and sparkling eyes at once.

“Ye Ying greets Senior Han. I had been looking forward to the day we would meet again after parting in the Wood race territory, but I never expected you to have already become a late-stage Integration cultivator.”

The white-clothed girl revealed her complex feelings and was about to pay her respects as a junior.

“I also didn’t expect to see Fellow Ye Ying here again.”

Han Li smiled and used an invisible force to stop her from bowing, then scanned her with his spiritual sense.

As expected of a cultivator with the Celestial Phoenix bloodline, the Ye family woman’s cultivation speed was extremely fast. She had already broken through the Void Refinement stage and was in the early stage of Void Refinement cultivation.

The Celestial Phoenix True Blood he had obtained was originally the girl’s, so he couldn’t treat her carelessly.

“My mother is friends with Fellow Liu, so I was able to enter this place thanks to my aunt.”

“Ying, your mother and I are like sisters. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my friend’s daughter, so I’m happy, and of course, I should grant such a request.”

Liu Qing, who was standing beside her, said kindly as she looked at the girl.

“However, it doesn’t seem like the reason Fellow Ye asked Fellow Liu to bring me here was just to see my face and exchange greetings.”

“Since Senior is asking directly, how can I delay and hide my purpose?”

Ye Ying flinched and replied with a slightly hesitant face.

“It seems that Ying has something to discuss with Fellow Han separately, so I’ll excuse myself.”

“Wait a moment! It’s also related to my aunt.”

Ye Ying stopped Liu Qing, who was about to leave first.

“Hmm? It’s related to me too, tell me quickly.”

“The reason I came here to find you two seniors is twofold. One of them is related to Senior Han, but it’s even more directly helpful to my aunt.”

“To me?”

“Yes, I heard that my aunt has been in secluded cultivation ever since Senior Emperor passed away. She must have already made up her mind to compete for the Emperor’s position.”

Ye Ying began to speak calmly. At the girl’s words, Liu Qing’s expression changed, and she sighed and nodded.

“Yes, I inherited the previous Emperor’s puppet art and succeeded in refining a few powerful puppets separately, so I judged that I could compete with other late-stage Integration cultivators. If I’m lucky, I might be able to inherit the Emperor’s position.”

The woman spoke quietly, but she seemed quite confident.

“I knew it. However, my mother told me to tell my aunt that she should never participate in the Emperor’s competition a hundred years from now. She said that if you take the Emperor’s position now, it will bring disaster, not fortune.”

“Did she really say that? I know that your mother is excellent in strategy and has the ability to predict the future, but how can she be so sure about something that hasn’t even happened yet? She must have heard some information separately, right?”

“As expected, my aunt is extraordinary. You’re already predicting what I’m going to say even though I haven’t finished speaking. Senior Han, can you keep the information I’m about to tell you a secret for a while?”

Ye Ying, who had been hesitating, turned her head and asked Han Li. Han Li nodded at her cautious attitude.

“I promise not to easily tell others the story I will hear from you, Fellow.”

His words left some room for interpretation, but Ye Ying was satisfied with just that.

“The second thing I have to tell you is closely related to the first piece of news. Senior Han may not know, but my aunt must have heard of it. It’s the news that a demonic tribulation [a great calamity caused by demons] will arrive in the Spirit Realm within a thousand years.”

“Demonic tribulation!”

Liu Qing was unfazed by the information Ye Ying revealed with a fearful expression, but Han Li was greatly surprised.

Cultivators who had reached the Integration stage for a long time, like Liu Qing, had many acquaintances around them and various channels for obtaining information. However, Han Li, who had only returned to the Human race for a few years and did not have any deeply interacting cultivators of the same level, had no way of knowing about the demonic tribulation.

The details about the demonic tribulation were a secret shared only among Integration stage cultivators, and strict security was maintained. This was to prevent chaos among the Human-Demon race before the ancient demons even invaded.

Han Li had learned about the demonic tribulation to some extent through some scriptures, but he had not expected it to arrive within a thousand years.

‘What bad luck. When I was in the Celestial Origin Star, there was an invasion of different races that happened once every tens of thousands of years, and now there’s a demonic tribulation!’

Now he seemed to understand why so many forces had offered tempting conditions to take him in as soon as he reached the Integration stage.

“Fellow Ye’s words mean that the Emperor’s position has something to do with the demonic tribulation?”

Han Li took a deep breath and looked at Ye Ying.

“That’s right, Senior. In fact, I heard that whoever inherits the Emperor’s position this time is likely to lose their life in the demonic tribulation. As my aunt knows, my mother was once a nominal disciple under Senior Mo Ganli, and even after becoming the head of the family, she treated Senior Mo with the respect of a teacher. Because of that connection, a few years ago, Senior Mo came to the Ye family injured and discussed important matters with my mother all night before quietly leaving.”

This time, Ye Ying uttered words that even made Liu Qing gasp in surprise.

“What, Senior Mo Ganli was injured? That can’t be! Is there anyone in the Spirit Realm who can hurt a senior with heaven-defying divine powers? Could it be…”

The intelligent Liu Qing seemed to have thought of something. Han Li had also heard of Mo Ganli, a Great Ascension cultivator [the highest cultivation stage] of the Human race, so his expression also changed drastically.

“A few years ago, Senior Mo borrowed the power of the Holy Plate to forcibly open an inter-realm passage and entered the Demon Realm. It was to investigate the movements of the demons before the demonic tribulation arrived. Unexpectedly, he was caught in a fight with two demon ancestor-level demons in the Demon Realm. Because he was a cautious person, he borrowed a powerful treasure from the old ancestor of the Demon race before leaving, which allowed him to return to the Spirit Realm with only minor injuries.”

“Senior Mo went to the Demon Realm himself? This didn’t happen during the previous demonic tribulation, so why did he do that?”

Liu Qing frowned, as if she couldn’t understand the girl’s explanation.

“Our Ye family doesn’t know much about that, but we speculate that he must have received some hints from cultivators of other races. He said that this demonic tribulation will be much harder to endure than before, and the Human-Demon race may even face the risk of extinction.

Senior Mo risked his life to go to the Demon Realm and found signs that matched the information. So, as soon as he returned to the Human Realm, he came to the Ye family and obtained some Celestial Phoenix True Blood. He was going to refine a powerful treasure to prepare for the demonic tribulation using the True Blood. If even a Great Ascension cultivator like Senior Mo is worried, you can imagine how dangerous this demonic tribulation will be.”

Ye Ying shook her head with a dark face. Han Li and Liu Qing, who had heard this far, felt their hearts sink.

“Did Senior Mo tell you what he saw in the Demon Realm?”

“I don’t know about that. My mother only discussed it with the elders of the family and didn’t explain the details to me.

Anyway, the reason I was sent this time was to give a hint to my aunt and a few other seniors who are close to the Ye family that they should never participate in the Emperor’s competition a hundred years from now. It seems that this time, the Demon Realm and the Spirit Realm will first come into contact near the Heaven Spirit Realm’s Heaven-Piercing Spirit Tree, and if that happens, the Heaven Spirit Star will become the demons’ top priority target.

Moreover, once the demonic tribulation arrives, the Three Emperors must not abandon the imperial city and flee, right? Senior Mo Ganli and the people of the Holy Island will use the Heaven Spirit Star as bait to attract the demons’ attention. They plan to use the miraculous power of the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Tree and the various restrictions of the Heaven Spirit Star to weaken the demon army as much as possible.

If this happens, the newly appointed Emperor will have to fight the demons on the front lines and protect the Heaven Spirit Star with their lives, and they won’t be able to retreat. I think you know how dangerous that will be without me emphasizing it further.”

Ye Ying smiled bitterly, and Liu Qing and Han Li exchanged glances.

“So this was happening! Fortunately, Senior Mo went to the Demon Realm himself to scout, so we can prepare sufficiently. The elder has really done a great service for our Human race. Then, I’ll take back what I just said. If you hadn’t come and told me this, I would have buried my bones in the Heaven Spirit Star not long after obtaining the Emperor’s position.”

Liu Qing, who had been worrying with a dark face, organized her thoughts. Han Li, who had been listening beside her, also thought that he was lucky. The Ye family cultivators would never have dreamed that a cultivator who had just reached the Integration stage would dare to covet the Emperor’s position, and they would have only delivered this news for the sake of the Heaven Spirit Immortal.

The reason Ye Ying allowed him to hear this information as well was to repay the favor he had done during the Wood race expedition, and also to maintain a good relationship by showing some goodwill at this opportunity.