Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 160

Jong Wi-rang, having regained her senses, followed Song Meng. Liu Jung smiled at the two of them, then turned his gaze to Han Li and Mu-hyeon.

“What about you two? If you don’t want to or think it’s not right, I won’t force you.”

While Han Li was pondering, Mu-hyeon, whose face was flushed, gritted his teeth.

“I cannot recklessly violate the ban unless Master directly permits it. If Senior Brother insists on invading the imperial palace, I will not participate. Seeking Master’s permission is our priority!”

The reason he gave was quite reasonable.

“How can you be so…”

Jong Wi-rang was about to retort, but Liu Jung stopped her.

“Third Junior Brother’s words also make sense. What we are about to do could bring us trouble even if we are doing good. There is no reason to blame him for refusing.”

Liu Jung’s face remained unwavering.

“Then what about Junior Brother Han? Surely, being at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment [a stage in cultivation], you’re not as timid as some senior brothers, are you?”

Junior Sister Jong made a childish provocation to draw Han Li in. Of course, Han Li only sneered at her inwardly and did not react at all.

He did not answer immediately but lowered his head for a moment to contemplate. Senior Brother Liu also did not rush him and quietly waited for his decision on the side.

“I will join as well. I can’t possibly back out when I’m the one who started this. Besides, I’d like to meet this mysterious Black Blood Cult leader.”

After a while, Han Li suddenly raised his head and smiled brightly.

Upon hearing Han Li’s decision, Jong Wi-rang’s eyes crinkled as she praised him repeatedly, and Liu Jung also seemed relieved. And Song Meng slapped Han Li’s shoulder rather painfully.

“I knew I hadn’t misjudged you. Junior Brother Han has guts! I would have broken off our friendship if you had said you wouldn’t go.”

Seeing Song Meng look at Mu-hyeon with cold eyes after speaking, it was clear that Mu-hyeon was not well-regarded among the senior and junior brothers.

“Then I will stay elsewhere and not hinder everyone’s mission. I will report today’s events to Master, and I can only hope that you will not receive a great punishment!”

Mu-hyeon immediately left the room with a blank face and flew away from the Jin family’s residence on his magical artifact.

“Sixth Senior Brother is really impossible to reason with! A cultivator who retreats before a battle is a disgrace to the title of senior brother!”

Jong Wi-rang grumbled.

“Enough. Everyone has their own will, so we cannot force them. The sooner we move, the less danger there will be, so we must quickly make a plan and move. The Black Blood Cult leader’s great achievement might be hastened.”

“Senior Brother is a master at raiding villainous dens, so I’ll do as you say. Anyway, just leave all the fighting and smashing to me!”

“Junior Brother Song…”

Liu Jung made a helpless expression as Song Meng shouted excitedly at his words. Seeing this, Jong Wi-rang’s eyes turned into crescents again, and she let out a sweet smile.

Liu Jung, who quickly returned to his serious demeanor, looked at Jong Wi-rang.

“Seventh Junior Sister, you are acquainted with Junior Sister Jin from Master Hwimyeong’s lineage, so go to Namoseong and ask for help.”

“Junior Sister Jin is here too? She and I are close, so she will surely come running right away!”

Jong Wi-rang was confident. However, Han Li’s heart sank when the name Junior Sister Jin was mentioned.

‘Surely it’s a coincidence. It can’t be that Junior Sister Jin!’

While he was hesitating, Liu Jung’s voice echoed in his ear.

“It seems we will have to stay at the Jin family’s residence for a while, so Junior Brother Han, contact the family head and have a suitable place prepared.”

It was natural for Han Li to immediately respond to his Third Senior Brother’s words.

“Then what should I do?”

Song Meng asked with anticipation, as if he couldn’t wait for his turn.

“While I go out into the streets to scout the Black Blood Cult’s movements, you can stay at the Jin family’s residence and prepare for enemy ambushes. Han Li’s face has been exposed, so it will be difficult for him to go out for the time being.”

“Understood.”

Song Meng replied, slightly dejected.

The following days were as peaceful as usual.

Except for Jong Wi-rang, who had gone to Namoseong to seek help, everyone else focused on their cultivation at their residences. Third Senior Brother went out to scout the enemy’s movements several times, but he did not find any significant information. It seemed that the Black Blood Cult disciples were thoroughly hiding themselves.

Mu-hyeon was staying at an inn in Wolgyeongseong and seemed to have sent a letter to Yihwawon, but the contents were unknown. After that, he wandered around the downtown area, seemingly having no intention of returning to the Jin family’s residence.

Namoseong was indeed close, and on the third day, Junior Sister Jong returned with three men and two women. The fact that one of the women was indeed Junior Sister Jin, Jin Gyo-cheon, made Han Li uneasy.

She also seemed a little surprised to see Han Li, but she did not express it outwardly. From Jin Gyo-cheon’s perspective, Han Li was not a cultivator she was meeting for the first time, but they had never exchanged a single word.

The others were Jin Gyo-cheon’s fellow disciples, two at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment and one at the early stage. They all seemed to know Liu Jung, as they were having a pleasant conversation with him.

When Jong Wi-rang introduced Han Li, the youngest junior brother, the three people except for Jin Gyo-cheon looked surprised. Senior Sister Seol Hong, Jin Gyo-cheon’s fellow disciple, smiled as she looked at him.

“Junior Brother Han is indeed not old as I’ve heard. I’ve heard about how you single-handedly eliminated dozens of demonic cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage in the confrontation area.”

She was a beautiful woman in her late twenties and seemed impressed by Han Li’s reputation. Liu Jung and Jong Wi-rang were even more surprised by Seol Hong’s words.

The two of them had been carrying out external missions and had not participated in the great battle between the Seven Great Sects and the Six Demonic Sects. Therefore, they had no way of knowing about Han Li’s achievements.

Third Senior Brother had been going around eliminating villains, but among them, there were only two or three cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, and he had barely managed to gain the upper hand after risking his life in every battle.

But Han Li had killed over a dozen cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, which was astonishing. They looked at Junior Brother Han with different eyes than before.

“Fourth Senior Brother, you must have known, why didn’t you tell us beforehand!”

Jong Wi-rang, surprised, questioned Song Meng, who was chuckling to himself as if he had remembered something.

“You didn’t ask me, Junior Sister. I explained how powerful Junior Brother Han’s magic power was, and I thought you already knew about it.”

He replied playfully. She glared at Song Meng and was about to say something when Liu Jung burst out laughing.

“Haha! I didn’t know Junior Brother Han had such abilities. Then you must have some ideas on how to deal with the Black Blood Cult leader as well?”

While Liu Jung was rejoicing at the good news, Han Li was rather restless.

‘Surely they don’t mean for me to take on the Black Blood Cult leader alone?’

It was an absurd thought, and Han Li immediately dismissed it from his mind.

Following this, Han Li and the others held a small banquet for Junior Sister Jin and her group. How long had they been cultivating, having cut off grains [a practice of abstaining from eating grains] and reached the Foundation Establishment stage! Now that they had stepped into the mortal world, it was not a bad thing to enjoy some of the wealth and glory of ordinary people.

After finishing the meal and having the servants clear the table, they began to seriously discuss the Black Blood Cult.

When Liu Jung declared that he would take responsibility for everything, Junior Sister Jin and her group also decided to participate without hesitation.

According to Han Li’s information, apart from the Four Great Blood Guards, there was almost no possibility of branch leaders who handled the cult’s affairs in each region appearing within the imperial palace.

Therefore, Liu Jung and the others judged that the capabilities of those gathered were sufficient to deal with the Black Blood Cult, and they decided to deal with them as soon as possible to prevent them from doing anything strange.

Everyone agreed with his opinion, and since Junior Sister Jin and her group had come from afar, they decided to rest for a day and then eliminate the evil group the following night.

However, Han Li could only scoff at their attitude. He thought that the Black Blood Cult leader was not a clay doll and could not be dealt with so easily.

He would not have taken such a risk if he had not learned the secret from the young prince, which would have a decisive impact on his future decisions. In fact, what did it matter to him if they sucked blood or killed people? If he informed the families or friends who had been harmed, he would have done his duty.

If there was no danger and no need to put in any effort, he would gladly step forward to do good, but if the opponent was strong and it was unrelated to him, he had no intention of risking his life.

It was wise of Sixth Senior Brother Mu-hyeon to realize this principle and avoid danger by making a suitable excuse. It was a hundred times better than risking his soul with a moment of recklessness.

Han Li’s aptitude for spiritual roots was too poor, so he could not easily give up if there was even a slight chance of increasing the possibility of his breakthrough.

Although infiltrating the Black Blood Cult’s lair this time went against his usual principle of prioritizing his life, it was an attempt worth making.

Moreover, he had prepared a special ultimate move to save his life in times of crisis. Otherwise, there was no reason for a meticulous person like Han Li to get involved in such a troublesome matter.

* * *

As night deepened, Han Li secretly slipped out of his room and headed towards the imperial city without the others knowing.

He scoffed at the majestic gate of the imperial city, which boasted a huge presence like a black dragon on the Divine Wind Shuttle [a flying magical artifact], and then fearlessly crossed the wall.

The Seven Great Sects’ ban on entering the imperial city had no binding power on him. If it was beneficial to him, he would follow the order, and if it was harmful, it was just absurd noise.

He was not a docile man from the start. While thinking this, he was already located in the sky about a hundred yards away from the imperial city.

His gaze, which was scanning everywhere under the cover of darkness, reached a secluded place. His body flashed, and he flew to the Royal Garden, where blue bamboo grew densely.

Having arrived right above the bamboo forest, he carefully examined every corner and then slowly descended, concealing the spiritual energy within his body.

Even if the Black Blood Cult had occupied the imperial palace, they could not monitor every area. Moreover, he was skilled at hiding his body after mastering an unknown incantation, so it was unlikely that he would be easily discovered.

In addition, he had learned the locations of the Black Blood Cult’s guard posts from the young prince, so he believed that even if there were some changes, they would not have made major changes to protect the important places.

This place was one of the forgotten areas of the imperial palace, with bamboo branches rotting from damage or overgrown leaves that had not been pruned. Han Li was satisfied after looking around this place.

He formed a hand seal and cast a soundproofing barrier over the entire bamboo forest, and then took out the magical artifacts for the Reversal Five Elements Formation [a type of magical formation] that Je Wun-so had given him from his storage pouch.

“With the Reversal Five Elements Formation, even if the Black Blood Cult leader is powerful, I can’t fail.”

Han Li, who had entered the dark bamboo forest with the magical artifacts in his hands, walked out with a tired look after two hours.

He had only completed a part of it due to time constraints, but it seemed sufficient. After checking his surroundings again, he silently boarded the Divine Wind Shuttle and left. His solo infiltration of the imperial palace and deployment of the formation were done so secretly that it did not catch anyone’s eye.

The Four Great Blood Guards had strengthened their security according to the cult leader’s orders, but as Han Li had thought, they had only meticulously set up guard posts near the area where the cult leader was in secluded training, while other parts of the imperial palace were rather vulnerable. This was also one of the reasons why Han Li’s infiltration was so easy.

Even after returning to the Jin family’s residence, it was not yet dawn, but Han Li sat on his bed and cultivated his energy, welcoming the morning.