Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 131

Wang Seon, unfazed by Han Li’s simultaneous attacks, commanded the skeletons to unleash their black aura once more. However, for some reason, his expression suddenly changed, and he leaped out of the blood cloud.

‘Thwack, thwack!’

At the same time, the yellow light shattered the skeletons one after another, and the fire dragon engulfed the crimson cloud, piercing through the spot where Wang Seon had been leisurely sitting. Through the hole, a white light shot out and quickly fled, and the small blade, now transformed into a yellow light, also followed Han Li.

“You…”

Wang Seon shouted, enraged. Due to his carelessness, Han Li had used the blue mist to buy time to activate the Wind Rider Boots.

However, befitting his status as the Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect, he also possessed two Wind Rider Boots, one of which had a truly rare special attribute. Under these circumstances, there was no way he would let Han Li escape.

Wang Seon, his anger reaching its peak, plunged into his crimson cloud, gathering momentum and chasing after him like the wind. Han Li, who was fleeing on the Wind Rider Boots, saw the blood cloud closely tailing him again.

He reached out and turned the yellow light that was following him to attack his pursuer. The target was the Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect within the blood cloud.

However, Wang Seon threw the skull in his hand. It gradually increased in size and, surprisingly, bit the yellow light in one gulp, preventing Han Li from advancing. Startled, Han Li tried to retrieve it, but the yellow light writhed a few times in the skull’s mouth before losing its power.

Wang Seon’s cunning laughter echoed, and the crimson cloud grew in intensity, making Han Li feel a chill. He was about to be trapped in that crimson cloud again.

But then, the blood cloud, which had been bubbling wildly, suddenly stopped moving, and Wang Seon, who was sitting in the middle, also had a drastic change in his expression. Not only did his flying speed decrease, but a faint dark blue light appeared on his face.

Han Li, who had been watching his opponent, flinched at the sight. Wang Seon, with a look of surprise and fear, did not even pay attention to the golden skull he had released and struggled to escape from the blood cloud.

Confused by the unexpected turn of events, Han Li could only watch blankly. He grabbed the spot where the golden skull and his golden light had simultaneously turned into talisman papers and fell, and then the Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect disappeared like lightning.

‘What is going on?’

Unable to figure out the reason, he did not have the courage to counterattack. However, realizing that his opponent had disappeared with a sharp sound, Han Li, for some reason, immediately changed the direction of the Wind Rider Boots and vanished in an instant.

* * *

After traveling for a long time, Han Li reviewed the situation from the beginning and had a major realization. He had done something truly regrettable.

He finally understood why his opponent had chased him and then fled; he had been poisoned. It was the extremely potent poison of the Black Dragon!

The cause of everything was that his opponent had absorbed a large amount of the Poisonous Azure Fire Mist [a toxic mist] , which contained the poison, into his blood cloud. Han Li had asked for the Black Dragon’s poison to be added when refining his magical artifacts, and the blood cloud had swallowed the mist containing it.

And the Young Master, who had been circulating his energy within the blood cloud to amplify his magical power while chasing Han Li, realized he had been exposed to the poison and fled in a panic.

The more he thought about it, the more regretful he felt, but going back now would be insane. He had missed an opportunity to kill a formidable enemy and seize his numerous treasures. However, it was strange that he had disappeared without even retrieving a valuable treasure like the golden skull.

At the same time, the Young Master was now furious. Beside him were the two Core Formation stage cultivators, the Lee brothers, who were cautiously watching him, aware of his anger.

It turned out that the reason Wang Seon had returned the way he came with a sharp sound was to call for the two elders of the Ghost Spirit Sect who had been tasked with eliminating the cultivators of the Seven Great Sects.

They had been following him, albeit belatedly, out of concern for the Young Master’s safety. As soon as they saw the poisoned Wang Seon, they used their profound magical power to expel the poison from him.

And he, freed from the poison, also found the cause of his poisoning. However, he absolutely did not believe that Han Li had done it unintentionally; he thought that Han Li had deliberately set a malicious trap to deceive him. Wang Seon, who had never suffered such humiliation anywhere, felt a deep-seated hatred for Han Li.

He did not even care for his weakened body due to the poison and, accompanied by the elders, chased after Han Li in the direction he had fled. However, Han Li had already escaped in a different direction, so it was natural that they found nothing even after traveling hundreds of miles.

But even more infuriating news awaited him. The Ghost Spirit Sect guard stationed at the western mountain peak reported that people from the Joyful Union Sect (合歡宗) [a demonic sect], one of the Six Demonic Sects, had ambushed them.

No one was killed or injured, but they had taken two female cultivators whom they had been suppressing with a formation. Judging by their outstanding appearance, it was none other than Jeon Bu-gyeol, the second son of the Joyful Union Sect’s leader, a figure whose reputation was comparable to Wang Seon’s.

Upon receiving the report, he did not show it outwardly, but inwardly, he was so enraged that he felt like spitting blood. Han Li and Jeon Bu-gyeol were now on his list of people he would definitely eliminate.

“Let’s go. Tell Elder Yeon to withdraw immediately!”

Wang Seon, after taking a deep breath, gave a cold order. And Han Li was flying towards the Yellow Maple Valley without delay.

However, unexpectedly, he encountered a mixed group of cultivators from the Fire Dao Sect and the Strict Moon Sect along the way, and he was conscripted under the declaration of the Core Formation stage cultivator who was their leader.

Looking at the conscription order signed by the leaders of each sect in his hand, he felt very depressed. The conscription order was probably not a lie. But he did not want to be conscripted so suddenly. He had already learned from the other party that the Six Demonic Sects would invade and that the capital region of Yue would become a battlefield.

It was uncertain whether the capital region of Yue would overcome this crisis. But what was clear was that thousands upon thousands of cultivators would die in the process.

Of course, Core Formation stage cultivators were no exception. So, as soon as Han Li heard this news, the first thing he wanted to do was to immediately enter his residence, go into seclusion, and come out again after several decades. But as he knew, it was difficult for a disciple belonging to a sect to escape from this pit of war.

While Han Li was thinking this, the male cultivator from the Strict Moon Sect who had informed him of the conscription order was smiling and looking at him.

“Junior Brother, if you have finished confirming, please tell me your name and cultivation. That way, it will be easier to fight together in the future.”

He looked at the cultivator who was calculating in his head and then at the thirty cultivators standing behind him. Only three of them had succeeded in reaching the Qi Condensation stage, and the rest were just Foundation Establishment stage disciples. After assessing the situation, Han Li immediately clasped his hands in greeting.

“Han Li of the Yellow Maple Valley, early Qi Condensation stage.”

Since they were all cultivators of similar levels, they could tell each other’s strength without having to say it.

Still, the other party was a late Qi Condensation stage cultivator, so there was no need to make him dislike him. After reporting with courtesy, Han Li opened his mouth.

“How did you confirm my identity and issue the conscription order? Surely you didn’t judge me just by my clothes?”

Originally, he had intended to avoid the group after seeing the cultivators from the Fire Dao Sect and the Strict Moon Sect gathered together. But this guy had deliberately stopped him and issued the conscription order.

“Haha! I saw Junior Brother at the Blood Gold Trial, and I never thought I would meet a Han Junior Brother who had succeeded in reaching the Qi Condensation stage after a few years. First of all, congratulations.”

The Strict Moon Sect man’s words were completely unexpected. Come to think of it, he also seemed a little familiar with the other party; it seemed like he had seen him at the Blood Gold Trial.

“I am Seon Ak, in charge of the Strict Moon Sect’s affairs. I went on the last expedition with Senior Ye Sang-go and saw that Junior Brother Han had made a huge harvest.”

“I also saw that Junior Brother Han was in a hurry to go somewhere, so I thought you had urgent business, but we are really short on personnel for this mission, so I hope you will help us.”

“Since Senior Seon has said so, I will naturally obey the order. However, I also have urgent news to report to my sect leader, so Senior Seon should send someone to deliver it.”

Then, Han Li told the other party what had happened at the Yeon Ga’s spirit vein. Of course, he glossed over how he had escaped.

Naturally, the cultivators, including Seon Ak, who heard the story, were shocked and immediately sent two Foundation Establishment stage disciples to deliver the information to each sect.

The group’s expressions darkened, but with their strength, they could not directly go and punish Yeon Ga and the demonic sects for their conspiracy.

They could only hope that each sect, upon hearing this news, would select other disciples and send a rescue team. Of course, they would also send people to verify whether the information Han Li had provided was true.

While traveling together, Han Li learned about the group’s mission from the other cultivators.

They were going to guard a mine with relatively abundant spirit stone deposits, and they said that the people who had been stationed there in advance were not enough to stop small-scale raids by the demonic sects. Han Li was relieved that the mission was not to engage in a full-scale battle with the people of the Six Demonic Sects.

After that, he built a rapport with Seon Ak and the other cultivators over several days. After flying for many days, they finally arrived at a vast wilderness within the borders of Yue.

The spirit stone mine was located in a large canyon within the wilderness. Following Seon Ak’s guidance, the group flew into the large canyon hidden by a formation, and several cultivators from the Seven Great Sects who had been waiting greeted them.

The leader of the group that had originally been guarding the mine was an old man in the early Qi Condensation stage belonging to the Iron Hawk Fortress, and the other six were Foundation Establishment stage disciples.

Since the defense was so weak, the Seven Great Sects had hurriedly dispatched others. The old man, who introduced himself as Yeo Heung, led them to their residence inside the cave and gave them a detailed explanation of the spirit stone mine. After hearing this, Seon Ak quickly assigned each of them their duties.

He also took out a dozen formation artifacts and placed them under the illusion formation. He had deployed the Four Fiends Formation (四煞陳) [a defensive formation], which was capable of both attack and defense.

At the same time, he divided Han Li and the others into several groups to patrol the vicinity of the spirit stone mine in shifts, and those who were not on duty were allowed to cultivate and replenish their magical power. Han Li was very satisfied with Seon Ak’s arrangements.

Through his battle with the Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect, Han Li had clearly realized that speed of movement or tactics alone could not defeat an opponent with a vastly superior level of power.

If the poison of the Poisonous Azure Fire Mist had not worked by chance, he might have already been buried there, leaving only his bones behind.

He had come to know the fear of the Blood Spirit Great Art (血靈大法) [a powerful demonic technique], a top-tier secret demonic technique.

He was certain that if he were to face the Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect again in this state, he would surely die under the attack of that secret technique. Unless he reached the Core Formation stage, there was no way to counter his opponent’s technique with the Azure Origin Sword Art.

Now, he had to put aside long-term plans and make a plan to become stronger as quickly as possible so that he could preserve his life in the midst of the chaotic situation. The training plan he had initially set had become unavoidable to revise.

He would temporarily suspend the training of the Azure Origin Sword Art and prioritize learning the Great Evolution Technique (大衍決) [a powerful cultivation technique], which would increase his strength in the short term.

He had already seen the terror of the puppets firsthand, so if he could learn even a single aspect of the Great Evolution Technique, it would be of great help in preserving his life. Besides, he already had several puppets prepared, didn’t he?

Naturally, he needed to look into whether there was a simple and quick way to produce puppets through the Great Evolution Technique, and it was also urgent to make the Great Evolution Technique a technique that would be helpful even at the Qi Condensation stage.

After revising his plans several times, he finally set his goals in this direction. When he was not on guard duty, he would learn the Great Evolution Technique and, at the same time, practice making low-level mechanical beasts using the simple materials he carried with him.

He had to gradually improve his skills, starting with puppets that could move enough to rush at and bite an opponent.

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