Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 117

Looking at Han Li’s respectful posture, Senior Uncle Lei began to speak.

“If you refine pills using these ancient recipes, they’ll all become top-grade elixirs of immense value. However, the real challenge lies in finding all the necessary ingredients. Of course, the raw materials for these recipes must exist somewhere in the world. But I’m concerned about whether you have the means to gather them all, so I’m telling you this.

It’s not like other lost recipes that call for ingredients that have vanished completely. In fact, newly developed recipes often focus on finding substitute herbs for ingredients that are no longer available in the ancient recipes. Naturally, the effectiveness of these substitutes is much lower than the original elixirs, which is a major problem facing the cultivation world.”

Han Li, who had been listening intently, quickly grasped his meaning.

“So, what Senior Uncle is saying is…?”

“In short, if you can’t find the original ingredients after obtaining the recipes, try experimenting with other substitute herbs. There’s a chance you might succeed.”

Han Li, like a well-behaved disciple, assured him that he wouldn’t regret it and would work diligently.

Seeing his obedient demeanor, Senior Uncle Lei felt pleased, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that, due to his position, his own sect’s disciple was getting the short end of the stick in this trade.

“Alright then, let’s do this. Since you have two spirit herbs, I’ll exchange each of them for a recipe. It wouldn’t be right for me, as your Senior Uncle, to ask too much of you.”

At these words, Han Li was so surprised that he was momentarily stunned. But soon, he was so excited that he felt like he could fly. He repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Senior Uncle Lei, and this time, every word was heartfelt, without a trace of insincerity.

“Here’s a list of recipes. Take a look and choose. The efficacy of the pills and the required ingredients are briefly noted, so look it over, and I’ll copy the actual recipes for you.”

He immediately produced a jade slip and handed it to Han Li. Han Li, upon receiving the list, had a slightly strange thought. How could he have prepared a list in advance, as if he knew this would happen? But he decided to ponder that later and first opened the slip to examine the contents in detail.

“I’ll take the Spirit Gathering Pill and the Qi Refining Powder.”

“Spirit Gathering Pill and Qi Refining Powder?”

Senior Uncle Lei nodded and took out two jade slips from his storage pouch.

“Well, it’s getting late, so I’ll be going now.”

Senior Uncle Lei carefully put away the spirit herbs and immediately stood up. Now that he had all the ingredients, he was eager to go and refine pills. Han Li also quickly got up to see him off.

However, just as Senior Uncle Lei was about to leave his residence, Han Li suddenly had a thought. He hadn’t asked about the location of Master Li’s residence yet. He quickly inquired about Master Li’s current situation and whereabouts.

Senior Uncle Lei was surprised to hear that Han Li was a nominal disciple of Master Li, and after providing the necessary information, he vanished like a flash of light.

After confirming that Lei Manxue had completely disappeared, Han Li took out the recipes he had obtained, a happy expression on his face.

As he was examining them, about to return to his residence, he hadn’t even taken two steps when a nearby scene caught his eye. Senior Brother Lim’s corpse was lying there in the same spot where Senior Uncle Lei had thrown it earlier.

Without hesitation, Han Li began to search Senior Brother Lim’s body.

As expected, he found a storage pouch on the corpse. But the more he examined the pouch, the more his smile faded.

He couldn’t find any puppets at all, and there were only a few spirit stones, some ordinary pills, and some unremarkable books.

‘He used so many puppets that day, how can there not be a single one? Could he have lost them all during the battle?’

Disappointed, Han Li casually opened the books and glanced through them. But then his gaze sharpened, and he was jolted awake.

As soon as he focused his consciousness on it, the words ‘Great Evolution Technique’ appeared in his mind.

It was only a few hours ago that Senior Brother Lim had tried to trade his life for the Great Evolution Technique, and it was absurd that he had found it so easily. He couldn’t understand why Senior Brother Lim would carry the Great Evolution Technique so carelessly in his storage pouch.

It was hard to tell if he was too foolish or too cunning. After Han Li quickly scanned the contents, he found that it contained the cultivation methods up to the fourth level, just as he had said.

But right after the end of the Great Evolution Technique up to the fourth level, the scriptures of the Puppet True Understanding appeared.

It detailed how to create puppet demonic beasts and puppet soldiers of each grade.

The baseless rumor that mastering the Great Evolution Technique would increase the probability of success in forming a core [a stage in cultivation] wasn’t even worth considering. But since it had fallen into his hands anyway, there was no need to rush to a conclusion.

After calming his excitement, he decided to consider it later. Then something else came to mind.

Although Huang Long and the others were hit by Lei Manxue’s lightning attacks and their storage pouches were completely burned, the puppets they hadn’t managed to retrieve should still be there.

He hurriedly left the formation and searched for the puppets that had turned into palm-sized dolls. Contrary to Han Li’s expectations, most of them had been destroyed by Lei Manxue’s sword light and turned to ashes, but about 20 of them were still intact. Excited, Han Li quickly moved to gather them.

He planned to return to his residence and examine the two recipes first. As planned, he needed to visit his master, Li Huayuan, tomorrow at dawn to obtain a useful cultivation method.

* * *

The next morning, Han Li, riding the Windwing Shuttle [a flying magical artifact], flew to the eastern part of the Taiyue Mountain Range. Yesterday, he had learned from Lei Manxue that Master Li’s residence was located below a mountain peak in that area, and that he could meet him if he went to his residence. Riding the Windwing Shuttle, he quickly arrived near the area that Lei Manxue had mentioned. The scenery was beautiful, and it was quite secluded.

In front of a huge waterfall cascading down the mountain peak, Han Li took out a message talisman. After whispering something, he released it, and the talisman immediately turned into light and disappeared through the waterfall.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the waterfall parted, revealing a large cave. Then, a very thin man in his thirties, dressed like a scholar, appeared. He greeted Han Li warmly.

“Are you Junior Brother Han Li? I’m Wu Gun, the eldest disciple under Master’s tutelage. From now on, call me Senior Brother Wu.”

“Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother.”

“There’s no need to call me Eldest Senior Brother, just call me Senior Brother Wu. I heard about you from Master. I heard that Junior Brother Han made great gains in the Blood Gold Trial [a dangerous competition] and made a great contribution, right?”

Han Li responded with a smile to Wu Gun’s friendly attitude. However, he felt uneasy that the other party was being so friendly to him, a mere nominal disciple.

“I heard that Junior Brother Han’s aptitude wasn’t outstanding, but you’ve already succeeded in Foundation Establishment [a major step in cultivation], which is even more commendable. Oh, right. Master is waiting for you, so let’s go into the Green Wave Cave first.”

After passing through the water, the scene in front of them brightened, revealing a mountain valley. The scenery was beautiful, with birds chirping and lush trees and flowers, and even rare small animals were playing around.

“This is…”

The scene in front of him was somewhat strange. It was unexpected that Li Huayuan would like cute animals and raise them.

“Haha! Junior Brother is surprised, right? Not only you, but all the guests who come here for the first time are surprised. Those guys aren’t raised by Master, but are treasures of the Mistress, so you must never harm them. The Mistress will never forgive you, you know?”

Wu Gun chuckled, and Han Li could see that he had anticipated this reaction.

“Mistress?”

“Yes. Our Mistress is at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, but she has a very good relationship with Master. She’s also kind and treats us well.”

Wu Gun shrugged his shoulders. As Han Li followed Wu Gun into the large cave, Li Huayuan and a beautiful woman were together in the main hall.

His master still had a cold expression, but he made something resembling a smile when Han Li entered.

The woman next to him was very beautiful in Han Li’s eyes, but how could he stare at her in front of Li Huayuan! He just glanced at her quickly and then bowed respectfully.

“Disciple Han Li greets Master.”

“Rise! This is your Mistress, so greet her.”

Li Huayuan, satisfied with Han Li’s attitude, pointed to the woman next to him.

“Greetings, Mistress.”

“There’s no need to be so formal. Rise.”

The woman said softly as she looked at Han Li, who was bowing.

“Han Li, I received a report a few days ago that you succeeded in Foundation Establishment. To be honest, I was so surprised that I couldn’t believe it.”

“I was fortunate to succeed in Foundation Establishment, but to be honest, I was also very surprised.”

“Luck is also a talent. Those who are born with outstanding talent are just lucky in the end.”

“Ah! That is…”

Li Huayuan shook his head and said that, so Han Li couldn’t find any more words to be humble.

“That’s enough. Are you scolding a disciple you haven’t seen in a long time?”

“I understand, my wife. Anyway, he’s the benefactor who saved your life, so we must reward him.”

Li Huayuan looked at the woman with a gentle gaze and then turned his head.

“I have something to say to Han Li, so you guys go out first.”

“Yes, I understand!”

Wu Gun bowed respectfully and looked at Han Li with envious eyes before backing out.

“A benefactor? A reward…”

The woman couldn’t help but laugh when she saw Han Li muttering like a fool.

“Husband, you have to explain it properly. He doesn’t know anything yet, so how long are you going to keep him confused?”

“Now that I think about it, there was another reason why I accepted you as a disciple. I coveted your Heaven and Earth Spirit Herb [a rare and powerful herb], so I accepted you as a nominal disciple. Of course, I took half of your spirit herb, and the original reward of two Foundation Establishment Pills was reduced to one, but since you can rely on my name, others won’t dare to treat you carelessly, so it’s not a loss for you either. Anyway, with your aptitude, it didn’t seem like you would succeed in Foundation Establishment even if you had one more Foundation Establishment Pill.”

Li Huayuan, with a calm face, was acting as if he had handled things very rationally.

“However, not long after you brought me the spirit herb, my wife had a problem during cultivation and was in a life-threatening situation. Fortunately, we were able to use the Heaven and Earth Spirit Herb you found to overcome the dangerous situation. After that, we used other spirit herbs to create an antidote over several years, and my wife finally recovered her health a while ago.

But my wife said that we must reward you. Anyway, the spirit herb you brought saved her, so you can be called her life’s benefactor.”

When he was talking about how his wife’s life was in danger, Li Huayuan’s expression changed, and his eyes became fierce. It seemed that the two had a deep relationship.

“After listening to my wife, I thought it was definitely the right thing to do. So, even if you were a disciple who hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment, I was going to accept you as a formal disciple. But when I heard the news that you had succeeded in Foundation Establishment, how surprising was that? Since I promised you before that if you succeeded in Foundation Establishment, I would formally accept you into my sect, that can’t be considered a reward. I guess I’ll have to think of a new reward.”

When he finally revealed all the circumstances, Han Li’s eyes widened. Han Li hadn’t even brought it up first, but it was unbelievable that the word ‘reward’ had come out of Li Huayuan’s mouth.

“Let’s do this. Judging by your expression, you seem flustered by the sudden story, so take a good rest for a day, and tomorrow morning, tell your master what you want. Your master is not usually a very generous person, so you have to think carefully about what you say.”

The woman looked at Li Huayuan playfully and then spoke warmly to Han Li. Her words seemed to have embarrassed Li Huayuan quite a bit, as he let out an awkward laugh.

Han Li hesitated for a moment, but it was difficult to refuse when the Mistress said that, so he agreed. After that, Li Huayuan called Wu Gun and ordered him to show Han Li around the place.