Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 169

Suddenly, a furious roar erupted from the dark crimson aura, and the Black Blood Blade’s energy exploded. Yellow and red lights clashed against it, then dissipated. Jin Qiaotian and Zhong Weilang, who were controlling their talismans beside Han Li, turned pale.

“Junior Sister Zhong, are you alright?” Song Meng quickly checked on Zhong Weilang.

“I’m fine. Since his Black Blood Blade destroyed my and Junior Sister Zhong’s talismans, we’ll have to rely on Junior Brother Han’s talisman,” Jin Qiaotian replied, taking out a blue pill from his pouch and swallowing it. He then handed another one to Zhong Weilang. Zhong Weilang swallowed the pill and barely regained her color, her red lips moving slightly.

“I think that fiend’s wicked blade might be a fragment of a magic treasure.”

“A fragment of a magic treasure? That’s impossible.”

Jin Qiaotian seemed surprised by the mention of a magic treasure.

At that moment, a series of earth-shattering sounds echoed, drawing everyone’s attention. Beyond the five-colored barrier, blue and crimson lights mixed, creating a dazzling spectacle.

Soon, the crimson light noticeably diminished and was completely consumed by the blue light. Now, only the Emperor of Yue remained.

With no means to defeat the blue talisman with his bare hands, he wore a look of despair. Moments later, pieces of flesh, like shattered porcelain, began to fall.

Han Li’s fellow disciples were excited by the long-awaited sight, and Song Meng immediately turned to look at Han Li.

“Junior Brother Han killed the demon! I knew you could do it!”

“I just released the remaining power of the talisman all at once. Otherwise, it would have been a long battle,” Han Li said with a smile. In truth, gathering the remaining power of a talisman and releasing it all at once was not something an ordinary cultivator could do. He had only gained this understanding after encountering many talismans.

Although this method greatly reduced the lifespan of the talisman, its power was immense. It was a very suitable attack against a powerful enemy like the one they had just faced.

Han Li had only come up with this method a few days ago, and he had tested it against a powerful enemy, successfully eliminating an opponent whose vitality was already severely depleted.

However, the most important thing for Han Li was to obtain the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill, so he casually answered Song Meng’s question and immediately sent his puppets to the pile of corpses.

No one objected to this. After all, Han Li was the one who had essentially killed the Emperor, so no one could say anything even if he took all the spoils.

Zhong Weilang, having avenged the person she cared for, felt much better and thanked Han Li with a smile. According to her, Senior Brother Liu and the others would also be grateful to Han Li.

Han Li, who had joined this mission with other intentions, felt a little guilty.

Han Li changed the subject, suggesting that the others scatter and investigate the entire palace. They also needed to check if any remnants of the Black Fiend Sect were hiding. He, on the other hand, had to stay behind to retrieve the formation.

The Huangfeng Valley cultivators were not fools and understood the meaning behind his words. There would surely be many spoils in the Black Fiend Sect’s lair, and he was offering them to the others.

Song Meng’s face brightened, but the other three looked apologetic.

“I also need to retrieve the formation artifacts, and what I obtained from the Black Fiend Sect Leader is enough,” Han Li said with a calm smile. His words made sense, and no one refused his offer. After all, they had all been completely drained in this battle.

Once the formation was deactivated, the four Huangfeng Valley cultivators ascended on their magic tools. Only after they had completely disappeared did Han Li relax and summon his puppets.

Han Li was retrieving the storage pouches that the puppets had brought back and examining their contents. He immediately found the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill inside one of them.

Judging by the immense spiritual power contained in the pill, it was definitely not a fake. He took out a good jade box and carefully transferred the five pills into it.

Although he did not know the specific effects of the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill, judging by how precious the Emperor of Yue had been with it, it was likely related to the Core Formation stage, as the Young Lord had said.

Now it was time to look at the other items. Inside the storage pouch were an ink-black bowl, a short, crimson awl, and a jade book emitting a grayish-white light.

Han Li felt a chill just looking at them.

They were clearly magic tools that would be used by demonic or heretical cultivators, and they might be imbued with some forbidden curses or strange tricks. Han Li sighed and first coated his hand with a faint blue light.

This way, he could examine the items in detail with peace of mind. He first picked up the jade book.

Apart from emitting a strange aura, it did not seem to be cursed. Reassured, he slowly inserted his consciousness into it.

As he deciphered the contents of the book, his expression changed in various ways. He was first surprised, then saddened, and finally, he became thoughtful and even showed a hint of fear.

After a while, Han Li withdrew his consciousness. The contents of the book were very different from what he had expected.

The book contained the cultivation methods that the Black Fiend Sect disciples had practiced. For example, the Young Lord had practiced the Black Fiend Asura Art, the Four Blood Guards had practiced the Fiend Slaughter Art, and the Emperor of Yue had practiced the Blood Refinement Divine Light.

The surprising thing was that all these cultivation methods had originated from this one book. Han Li quickly searched through the contents of the jade book, but he could not find any information about the origin of the book.

Disappointed, he turned his attention to the secret spells other than the cultivation methods.

Some of the secret spells not only resolved several of Han Li’s questions but also mentioned the use of the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill.

It turned out that the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill was similar in nature to the inner core of a demon beast, which could only be condensed within the body of a cultivator who had mastered the Fiend Slaughter Art. It was no exaggeration to say that the Fiend Slaughter Art was created for the sole purpose of creating this pill.

The reason why the Four Blood Guards could transform into the form of a Fiend Slaughter and reach the Foundation Establishment stage without taking Foundation Establishment Pills was because they had formed this pill.

However, if one practiced the Fiend Slaughter Art, it would be impossible to form a core, even if one sacrificed offerings to cultivate their inner power. The Foundation Establishment stage was the highest level they could reach.

Not only the Fiend Slaughter Art but also most of the other cultivation methods had the fatal flaw of not being able to reach the Core Formation stage. Of course, the speed of achievement was surprisingly fast when the nature of the cultivation method itself was combined with the auxiliary effect of using other cultivators as sacrifices.

The Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill was developed to compensate for the shortcomings of these cultivation methods. To understand this, one had to know the secret technique called the Fiend Pill Art, which was recorded in the book.

Even a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator with poor aptitude could, by following this technique and taking the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill, have a one-third chance of reaching a state similar to a Core Formation stage cultivator.

If a true Core Formation stage cultivator formed a golden core within their body, they would form a fake golden core, a Fiend Pill.

Although the power of a Fiend Pill was not as great as that of a true golden core, it was not inferior, and it also had the effect of extending one’s lifespan.

When Han Li first read this, he felt like jumping for joy.

A one-third chance of succeeding in Core Formation was an incredible effect. He had the urge to swallow all five pills and try it out right away.

However, after reading about the disadvantages of the Fiend Pill, he lost his enthusiasm.

First of all, forming a Fiend Pill was an artificial way of entering the Core Formation stage, so one could never improve their cultivation. They would remain at the early stage of Core Formation for the rest of their lives. If this was the only drawback, it would not be enough to make him give up.

In fact, the method of the Three Revolutions Heavy Yuan Art, which he was practicing, was too difficult and distant, as it required him to accumulate and disperse his magic power three times before forming a golden core again.

Moreover, even if he really did it three times, there was no guarantee that he would actually reach the Core Formation stage.

This cultivation method was based on the speculation of the ancient creator of the Azure Origin Sword Art, so no one had ever tried it! However, judging from the tone in which the Fiend Pill Art was written in the book, it was clear that someone had tried it.

The one-third probability was too tempting. The fact that he could never reach the Nascent Soul stage if he formed a Fiend Pill was not even worth considering.

The Nascent Soul stage was like a dream or fantasy for Han Li. Forming a core was his goal in life, and thinking about the Nascent Soul stage after that was a luxury. What really stunned Han Li was something else.

If one formed a Fiend Pill, they would constantly emit the aura of a Fiend Slaughter, which would gradually affect the cultivator’s mind.

It was not to the point where they would lose their minds and not recognize their family or relatives, but they would inevitably become duller and more foolish.

The thought of it was too terrible. He had always relied on his clever mind to survive in the harsh world of cultivation.

Therefore, the second drawback caused a conflict in his mind, and he eventually completely gave up on the idea of using the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill.

It was a depressing conclusion. He had gone through all this trouble and finally obtained the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill, but now he had no use for it.

However, after thinking about it again, Han Li realized that something was strange.

If the contents of the book were true, why did the Emperor of Yue cultivate these things? A cunning person like him would not have tried to take it even if he knew the drawbacks.

He looked at the secret spells again and became engrossed in the External Avatar Technique, which had caught his interest. Han Li had heard of this famous top-tier demonic technique.

Regardless of the specific effects of the avatar-type techniques, they were something that demonic cultivators valued as much as their lives. They were also the exclusive property of the highest echelons of any sect.

The seven major immortal sects of Yue had tried to collect information about it from all over the place, but they had given up without any results.

Han Li quickly skimmed through this technique and felt like laughing out loud. He had finally found a way to use the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill.

As he had expected, the Emperor had also tried to use this method to cultivate the Blood Coagulation Five Elements Pill within the Four Blood Guards.

The middle-aged man who had his magic power absorbed by the Emperor and died by Han Li’s Heavenly Thunder was his avatar.

In this light, it made sense that he had readily given up his cultivation. Han Li suppressed his distracting thoughts and looked through all the remaining secret techniques.

Techniques such as the Marrow Cleansing Pill and the method of increasing cultivation by sacrificing offerings were not of much interest to him, as he had not even practiced demonic arts. However, he memorized the method of condensing the Blood Spirit Drill.

He withdrew his consciousness from the book, organized what he had seen, and turned his attention to the remaining items.

The red bowl was a rare magic tool called the Soul Gathering Bowl, which was specifically used to deal with cultivators’ nascent souls [souls that have reached a certain level of cultivation].

If a nascent soul was trapped in this magic tool, it would lose its ego and become an ordinary soul, which could be used for evil spells or sacrificed as offerings.

It was useless to him, as he had not specifically learned the related techniques, and he did not know how many souls were already trapped inside. It would be lucky if he did not get a serious illness just by holding such a thing.

* * *

Han Li, having collected the items, looked up at the five-colored barrier and moved to one side of the bamboo forest. He pulled out the blue flag that had been planted at the root of the bamboo, and the five-colored barrier that had covered the sky disappeared.

He smiled contentedly and headed in another direction. Soon, Han Li, having gathered all the flags and discs, carefully placed them in the storage pouch as if they were precious treasures.

As he was about to leave this place on his magic tool, he noticed the lumps of flesh that seemed to be the Emperor’s corpse. They had fallen to the ground as the barrier was removed.

He sighed and sent a fireball to burn the corpse. It was a strange feeling that someone who had once ruled the world had ended up as ashes after death.

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