Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 177

As the Soul Capturing Bell appeared, a flustered look flashed across Gokhun’s eyes, quickly replaced by a venomous glare. Then, he suddenly struck his own stomach, spitting out a jade-like pellet. This pellet, emitting a faint green light, immediately enveloped Gokhun’s entire body, forming a protective barrier.

At that moment, the Soul Capturing Bell began to hum, its sound growing louder. Han Li wanted to weaken Gokhun, rendering him completely immobile. However, despite the Soul Capturing Bell’s continuous ringing, the opponent remained standing, unaffected.

Han Li’s expression turned serious. It was clear at a glance that the protective barrier emitted by the green pellet was negating the Soul Capturing Bell’s effects.

With a darkened face, Han Li unhesitatingly retracted the Soul Capturing Bell and, with a wave of his hand, released over a dozen puppets accompanied by a white light. These were the last of Han Li’s second-grade puppets; if these were destroyed, only his inferior puppets would remain.

As if not wanting a prolonged battle, the puppets immediately began to unleash pillars of light and light arrows as soon as they took their positions. Faced with the surprising attack, the opponent hastily cast several spells on the green pellet, causing the barrier to rotate and protect him flawlessly.

Soon, the colorful attacks detonated on the barrier, emitting a dazzling light, and Gokhun was pushed back by the impact. However, Han Li was astonished by Gokhun’s appearance before the next attack began. However, since he was once a Core Formation cultivator [a high-level cultivator], it wasn’t strange for him to unleash one or two ultimate techniques.

The opponent, having blocked Han Li’s attack with his hidden reserves, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was racking his brain, trying to find the right words to appease his opponent and stop the onslaught. In truth, it was difficult for him to keep defending against the attacks with his meager magic power.

However, before Gokhun could even open his mouth, Han Li was already preparing his next attack. Something red and piercing flashed on his hand as it brushed past his storage pouch, then disappeared. Before he could figure out what was happening, the green pellet floating in front of him exploded. An intense pain shot through the depths of the Nascent Soul cultivator’s [a very high-level cultivator] soul, and Gokhun’s body collapsed to the ground, limbs twitching.

With the green glow that had been protecting him gone, the pillars of light and light arrows rushed in without hesitation. The green short sword, having lost its master’s control, seemed ready to be broken by Han Li’s Five Dragon Rings.

Han Li was delighted by the unexpected result. He hadn’t expected such a risky attack to work so well. Even if he pierced Gokhun’s heart or head with the Blood Spirit Needle, he wasn’t sure if he could defeat what was essentially a walking corpse. So, he had attacked the green pellet, the core of the opponent’s defense, with the Blood Spirit Needle instead.

He had not anticipated that such a significant anomaly would occur in the opponent’s body when the green pellet exploded. It seemed that the green pellet and the opponent’s Nascent Soul were connected. ‘Could it have been the Golden Core that a Core Formation cultivator condenses within their body?’ He could only make such guesses. Han Li stopped the puppets’ attacks and examined the opponent’s condition.

When the chaotic lights disappeared, a dark, charred corpse was revealed lying on the ground. It was strange that it hadn’t turned to ash from such an attack. ‘Is it because of Gokhun’s body?’ He hesitated for a moment, looking at the corpse, but didn’t approach it. He traced a trajectory in the air with his hand, and half a dozen fist-sized fireballs appeared, shooting out like arrows at his command.

‘Puff! Puff! Puff!’ Han Li watched the corpse burning, emitting smoke, without blinking. Just as the entire body was about to be engulfed in flames, an egg-sized, turquoise light suddenly escaped from Gokhun and tried to flee. Han Li moved like lightning, grabbing the turquoise light, and a dazzling light erupted from his hand. The more he squeezed, the more desperate the screams became, until finally, his hand, imbued with spiritual power, crushed the light.

Han Li immediately turned and waved his arm, extinguishing the intense flames that had surrounded Gokhun. “To be tricked by such an illusion and jump out of your body, even a Core Formation cultivator is helpless.” He lowered his head and sneered at Gokhun’s body, which was still lying there intact. He examined Gokhun and was surprised to find that, apart from the charred exterior, his muscles and bones were undamaged.

He knew it was just an empty shell without a soul, but in his heart, Gokhun was a loyal subordinate. Moreover, he was essential to the plan he had devised. Han Li took out the Soul Capturing Bell and rang it, and Gokhun, who had been lying on the ground, opened his eyes and stood up. Although his skin was badly damaged, it was clear that the body of a Jiang Shi [a type of reanimated corpse], with its monstrous regenerative abilities, would recover soon.

Now, Han Li’s gaze shifted to the green short sword floating in the air. First, he used the Five Dragon Rings to subdue it, then carefully tried to inject his consciousness into it, but as expected, the magic treasure did not accept it. ‘Those who haven’t reached the Core Formation stage can’t freely control even masterless magic treasures.’ It was a bit unpleasant. In the end, it meant that magic treasures were just eye candy for Han Li right now. However, after testing it several times to ensure it was safe, he began to examine the magic treasure closely.

The short sword was about an inch and a half long. Although its light had diminished greatly after losing its master’s spiritual power, its beautiful green color remained. Moreover, ancient characters were engraved on the sword. “Green Radiance (Nokhwang).” Han Li fiddled with the Green Radiance Sword for a long time before carefully placing it into his storage pouch with a face full of regret. The Green Radiance Sword was the first magic treasure he had ever obtained.

Then, he looked around again, checking if he had missed anything, when a faint green light caught his attention. Upon closer inspection, it was the light emitted by the fragments of the green pellet that had been shattered by the Blood Spirit Needle. Han Li bent down and began to collect the fragments. If his guess was correct, these were related to the Golden Core of a Core Formation cultivator.

After thoroughly examining the surroundings to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, Han Li began to ponder how to deal with the giant mantis. He had no intention of letting the monster go. Even if he discarded everything else, the mantis’s twin blades were the best magic tool material, hard to find in the cultivation world. He had long given up on the idea of capturing and taming the monster.

The demonic beasts that Qi Condensation cultivators [low-level cultivators] controlled were tamed little by little from a young age with restrictions placed on them. It was foolish to think he could capture a strong demonic beast he hadn’t raised and do anything with it. And since he couldn’t verify the truth of what the Spirit Beast Sect cultivator had said, he decided to postpone informing the Seven Great Sects Alliance and wait a few days while observing the war situation.

In any case, with his speed, he could join the Seven Great Sects camp within the set deadline, even if he delayed for a few days. Han Li spent an entire day secretly setting up the Five Elements Reversal Formation in the forest where the mantis lived. This time, instead of hastily activating only a part of it like last time, he had deployed a massive formation, so its power was incomparable to before.

Having completed all preparations perfectly, he cautiously infiltrated the cave. However, it wasn’t long before he was speeding out of the cave on the Wind God Shuttle. The black shadow closely following behind him was, needless to say, the giant mantis. Since he had set up the formation very close by, Han Li was able to enter the formation’s range. Even if the mantis demonic beast was intelligent, it couldn’t possibly know about the formation, so it fell into the trap he had laid.

The giant mantis was eventually trapped in the Five Elements Reversal Formation, thrashing wildly, but due to the illusions created by the massive formation, it was only circling in the same space. Only when the exhausted monster stopped moving did Han Li leave the puppets outside the formation and begin to harass the mantis, giving it no time to rest. The giant mantis had excellent attack power but ordinary defense, so instead of blocking the puppets’ attacks, it wildly swung its forelegs to protect itself.

After half a day, the monster’s stamina gradually depleted, and it began to allow the puppets’ attacks. Now, Han Li replaced the spirit stones in the puppets one by one. As he was about to finish, he activated the magic tool he was holding, and a yellow blade with a hilt slipped in among the puppets’ attacks, slicing off the giant mantis’s head. That was the moment the demonic beast met its end.

Excited by the successful attack, Han Li eagerly rushed to the monster’s corpse. He took out a huge silver sword and removed the monster’s incredibly sharp twin blades from its body. Then, filled with great anticipation, he began to cut open the mantis’s abdomen little by little. If it was truly a fifth-grade demonic beast, he would surely obtain a precious demonic beast core.

However, inside the monster’s belly were several white oval objects. “Demonic beast eggs?” No matter how much he wanted to deceive himself, they couldn’t all be demonic beast cores. He took them out and placed them on the ground; there were about a dozen of them. Han Li burst out laughing as he looked at the egg-sized objects. He picked one up and closed his eyes, expanding his senses.

However, he couldn’t feel any living energy from the egg. This was common for demonic beasts. Demonic beasts were not ordinary wild animals, and they couldn’t easily reproduce their species. With a darkened face, he checked all the eggs, but they were all the same. Han Li became truly depressed. Enraged, he was about to burn the eggs immediately, but he hesitated for a moment and then found a jade box and put them all inside. ‘Since the mantis demonic beast was extraordinary, its eggs might be useful for something.’

After removing even the mantis’s gray wings, he turned the rest into ashes and flew to the cave, hoping for other gains. While thoroughly searching the cave, he saw a skeleton covered in a gray robe in a corner, with a storage pouch at its waist. Han Li’s heart began to race as he took the storage pouch in his hand. Without a doubt, this skeleton was the remains of the Spirit Beast Sect cultivator.

The Spirit Beast Sect cultivator had been too severely injured at the time, so he had hastily escaped, taking only the Green Radiance Sword and the green pellet, which was a condensation of some of the spiritual energy within his Golden Core. Seeing the storage pouch that a Core Formation cultivator had possessed, he became very curious about its contents. He barely suppressed his excitement and began to examine the contents carefully by injecting his consciousness. However, before his consciousness could fully explore the storage pouch, Han Li was about to explode with anger.

The vast storage pouch was filled with containers, most of which were labeled as food for demonic beasts or insects, making them completely useless. The remaining containers held various insect specimens, with the names of the species also labeled on the containers. However, it was surprising that most of the insects in the bottles were still alive. They had clearly been without food for several years, so how amazing was their vitality to have survived!

In any case, there wasn’t a single high-grade talisman or magic tool that he had expected, so he was speechless for a long time. However, as he reached the deepest part of the storage pouch, a green jade book appeared, attracting his attention. The book contained the insights that the Spirit Beast Sect cultivator had gained while raising strange insects. It introduced over a thousand insects he had never heard of and left behind the secrets to raising and controlling them. One part that caught Han Li’s interest was the section that ranked the insects according to their power.

The giant mantis was also on the list, and it was strange that the demonic beast’s name was Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis. This Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis was ranked 73rd on the insect list, and having experienced the terror of the giant mantis, Han Li couldn’t believe that there were 72 more powerful insect demonic beasts before it. After examining the contents of the book for about half a day, he withdrew his consciousness and began to compare the contents of the book with the insect specimens he had. As a result, the insects he possessed were too low in rank to satisfy him.

Only two types were in the top 100, and even those were near the bottom. Most were in the 200s or 300s. However, if the Spirit Beast Sect cultivator had heard these complaints, he would have cursed him out. How easy was it to collect strange insect demonic beasts? Not to mention the top 100, even the insects in the 200s and 300s were rare species that were hard to find in the world. He had spent hundreds of years just collecting this much, so what more could be said!

# 179