Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 185

The western peak of White Pond Mountain was wider than Han Li had anticipated. In the center stood an ancient temple, and scattered around it were a dozen or so stone pavilions. Several groups were already seated within, engaged in conversation. Of course, outside the temple, many cultivators were also milling about, talking amongst themselves.

Han Li surveyed the mountain peak, then landed in a secluded corner. Taking Qu Hun with him, he headed towards the nearest pavilion. His powerful spiritual sense quickly picked up the cultivators’ conversations. One pavilion, occupied by four cultivators, particularly caught his attention.

They were discussing the war in the Yue Kingdom’s cultivation world. It was now dominated by six great immortal sects, not seven. A middle-aged man, looking pale, sighed.

“…It’s said that the six immortal sects of the Yue Kingdom were utterly defeated in their battle against the Demonic Path, and they’re all scrambling to escape. It seems our Yuanwu and Zijing kingdoms won’t be able to avoid the chaos either. It’s obvious that the Demonic Path will attack our Yuanwu and Zijing kingdoms after the Yue Kingdom.”

“That’s right. In the last battle, many Yue Kingdom cultivators died, and more than half of the cultivators from both our kingdoms who were sent to help also perished. The Heavenly Star Sect and other cultivation sects in the Yuanwu Kingdom are in a state of panic.”

A young man, around twenty years old, spoke with a slightly gloating tone. The two older men didn’t react to his tone, but the middle-aged man who had spoken earlier was about to say something when an unfamiliar voice interrupted from the side.

“It’s not just the large sects like the Heavenly Star Sect; hermits and solitary cultivators will also suffer if the Demonic Path invades. The Demonic Path follows the law of the jungle, so how can we live such free lives?”

Han Li slowly approached them, voicing the words the middle-aged man was about to say. The four people looked at him and immediately fell silent.

They assessed Han Li’s cultivation and, showing signs of unease, bowed respectfully to him. The middle-aged man spoke first, trying to defend the young man.

“Senior, please understand that my junior brother’s words were not intended to disrespect any sect.”

They assumed Han Li was a high-level cultivator from a sect in the Yuanwu Kingdom. The young man’s face was filled with apprehension. Han Li smiled calmly and said,

“Haha, you’ve all misunderstood. I’m just a solitary cultivator myself.”

At his words, the four people’s expressions relaxed. They couldn’t be sure if he was telling the truth, but it was clear that he didn’t mind the young man’s rudeness.

The four respectfully made room, and Han Li sat down with them. The oldest of them, who had the highest cultivation, cautiously asked,

“It is our honor to have a senior like you visit this place, but may I ask why you have come to such a small gathering?”

It was natural for them to find it strange. There was no reason for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to attend a small gathering like the one at White Pond Mountain. High-level cultivators had their own separate gatherings.

“I was cultivating in the Huangshan Mountains not far from here until recently, and I just heard the news that our cultivators were defeated in the Yue Kingdom. I came to gather information. Do you happen to know anything?”

At his calm explanation, they exchanged glances, and their gazes naturally turned to the lean old man.

“When it comes to being well-informed, no one is better than Jeong Hyeong. After all, everyone knows that the Jeong family has expanded their secular businesses to the Yue Kingdom!”

When the oldest man spoke, the other two agreed. A troubled look appeared on Old Man Jeong’s face, and he had no choice but to speak.

“My Jeong family disciples who were dispatched to the Yue Kingdom sent news a few days ago. However, the family is not keen on this information leaking out, so please don’t tell anyone else.”

At Old Man Jeong’s words, the other three naturally promised to keep it a secret, and Han Li nodded as well. Then, after clearing his throat, Old Man Jeong began to share what he knew.

“According to the information we received a few days ago, the Yue Kingdom is in complete chaos right now. Although the Demonic Path has defeated the allied forces of the six sects, a considerable number of Yue Kingdom cultivators have not retreated and are still ambushing them.

There are even a few Core Formation cultivators among them, which is causing them considerable trouble. Anyway, Core Formation cultivators are difficult to deal with, and the Yue Kingdom cultivators are using their familiarity with the terrain to attack, so the Demonic Path people are having a hard time.

Also, the Yue Kingdom’s cultivation families are currently taking three different paths. The first are the families that surrendered to the Demonic Path immediately after the allied forces were defeated. The second are the families that had close ties with the six great immortal sects and have retreated from the Yue Kingdom for fear of retaliation from the Demonic Path. And the third are the families that have not yet made a decision and are watching the situation.

The strongholds of the Yue Kingdom’s large sects have all been occupied by the Demonic Path, except for the Yanwu Sect and the Giant Sword Sect, which are still holding out. But I heard that they didn’t find much there. The four sects took all their valuable items with them when they retreated.

The longer the Demonic Path fails to pacify the Yue Kingdom, the more time our country and the Zijing Kingdom will have. No matter how many people they have, they can’t invade multiple countries at once, can they? It seems it will take some time to deal with the six sects of the Yue Kingdom, who are fiercely resisting.”

Old Man Jeong stated the facts and added his own opinion at the end. The old man who had been listening chimed in.

“So, we’ve bought ourselves some time to prepare for the Demonic Path’s invasion, but do you think we’ll be able to stop them?”

“That’s hard to say. Anyway, what I’ve heard is just surface-level news, so I can’t be sure what’s really going on in the Yue Kingdom. Perhaps the higher-ups know the exact situation.”

Old Man Jeong shook his head and glanced at Han Li, still suspecting that he might be a member of a large sect in the Yuanwu Kingdom.

Old Man Jeong continued to share news, and then he said something that surprised Han Li.

“It seems that the six sects of the Yue Kingdom were so desperate that they all used the same method of cutting their tails and running away, as if they had made a pact. They sacrificed some of their disciples to ensure that only a small number of their elite disciples with outstanding talent could escape.

Among them, the most ruthless was the Yellow Maple Valley. They abandoned almost all of their remaining disciples to ensure that their core disciples could safely leave the Yue Kingdom. Tsk tsk, it was a truly cruel method.”

Even before the old man finished speaking, Han Li’s heart turned cold. The four people were not daring to stare at Han Li, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so they didn’t notice the subtle change in his expression.

“Cultivator Jeong, you said that there were so many casualties in the Yellow Maple Valley. Tell me more about it. It’s quite interesting.”

Han Li suppressed his racing heart and asked as if he were quite amused.

“Haha, since Senior is asking, I, as a junior, must naturally answer. As soon as the news of the great defeat at the front reached them, the higher-ups of the Yellow Maple Valley devised a plan to deceive the enemy, like a cicada shedding its skin and flying away [a metaphor for escaping by leaving behind a decoy].

They sent a group of disciples ahead and deliberately leaked the news to a Demonic Path spy. They made it seem like those who had left were the elite of the Yellow Maple Valley and that they were transporting large amounts of spirit stones and valuable materials, thus drawing the attention of the Demonic Path.

Then, another group used the formation protecting the sect to engage in a full-scale battle with the Demonic Path, while the higher-ups and some of the true elite disciples retreated in a completely different direction, taking with them the resources they had accumulated for over a thousand years.

In this way, the Yellow Maple Valley had the fewest number of people retreating, but they escaped more easily than any other sect. The other sects lost many lives and resources while being chased by the Demonic Path as they tried to escape with their elites.

The Yellow Maple Valley’s strategy caused quite a stir in the entire Yue Kingdom cultivation world for a while.”

“I see. So, the abandoned Yellow Maple Valley disciples were the only fools!”

Han Li replied calmly with an indifferent expression.

Han Li suddenly smiled.

“It seems the Yue Kingdom is a complete mess right now. I’ll go look around some more, so you can continue your conversation.”

“Yes, as you wish, Senior.”

“Farewell.”

The four people respectfully bowed to Han Li.

Han Li waved his hand casually and, taking Qu Hun with him, headed towards another pavilion.

* * *

Han Li was deep in thought, his head lowered. As he went around asking various groups about the situation in the Yue Kingdom, he realized that the situation there was utter chaos.

Now, he had two choices.

The first was to ride his magical artifact and leave the Yue Kingdom and surrounding countries to continue his cultivation in a distant place.

The second was to repair the ancient teleportation array and leave his destination to chance.

Anyway, there was no way that an ancient teleportation array of such great value would have been installed to go just a short distance, so it was clear that it would take him to a much more distant place.

However, when he thought about it, the first method seemed more suitable. No matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t decide where to go.

The east and west of the Yue Kingdom were bordered by the Tianluo Kingdom, a den of the Demonic Path, and the Fengdu Kingdom of the Righteous Alliance, leaving only the north or south.

Although there were a dozen or so small countries north of the Yuanwu Kingdom, the power of their cultivation world was not enough to withstand the attacks of the Demonic Path or the Righteous Alliance.

In fact, some of them had already colluded with one of the two forces and had long been their puppets.

He couldn’t settle down in a place where battles between the Demonic Path and the Righteous Alliance were constantly taking place.

If he braved these dangers and continued north, he would eventually reach the end of the Tiannan region and face the Boundless Sea, which even immortals could not cross.

The water of the Boundless Sea was murky and endless, and there were not many species of fish living there.

The few species that survived were so ferocious that they were comparable to high-level demonic beasts in the mainland, making it a difficult path even for Core Formation cultivators.

In the past, a Nascent Soul cultivator, curious about what was at the end of the Boundless Sea, prepared thoroughly and flew off, but after flying for a year, he still hadn’t reached the end.

At that time, he had only half of the pills and spirit stones he had prepared left, so he had no choice but to return the way he had come.

It was clear that even a Nascent Soul cultivator would die from exhaustion if they continued to fly over a sea where no land was visible. Therefore, Han Li didn’t even consider crossing the Boundless Sea.

This meant that the only remaining path was to flee south.

To the south were nine countries, including the Zijing Kingdom, which were closely connected by forming the Nine Nations Alliance.

This alliance was formed to defend against a powerful enemy: the invasion of an army composed of the Mulan Tribe’s shamans. The Mulan Tribe were nomadic people living in the Mulan Great Plains on the borders of the nine countries.

They were very different from the Yan people of the Yue and Yuanwu kingdoms. The Mulan people were nomadic and had a brave culture, with everyone being skilled in swordsmanship.

They had lived in large and small tribes on the Great Plains for tens of thousands of years.

There were also cultivators within the Mulan Tribe, who were called shamans.

Shamans were generally no different from other cultivators. The way they divided their realms and cultivated Qi was quite similar.

The only difference between them and the cultivators of the other tribes was that before reaching the Core Formation stage, they did not focus on external factors such as magical artifacts or talismans, but instead focused on mastering the five elements of Taoist magic.

Moreover, the unique Mulan Tribe magic, which was combined with secret techniques passed down in the plains, was so powerful and effective that it was even called spirit magic.

With the help of this miraculous spirit magic, Mulan Tribe shamans were superior even when fighting cultivators of the same level.