Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 191

The middle-aged man spoke to the old man with a serious look, causing Wang Zhangqing to glance at them in surprise. Han Li watched them without showing any reaction.

“Senior, my master says that if you agree to take on this task, regardless of the outcome, you will receive a large amount of spirit stones. And if you secure the trade rights, he will act as your guarantor, allowing you, a foreigner, to settle on Ghost Cry Island.

This would grant you the official qualification to become a resident of Ghost Cry Island. Furthermore, no matter what position you hold in the future, he will offer you one-tenth of the profits from long-distance trade for three years.”

Wang Zhangqing spoke with a worried expression, as if his master was making promises he shouldn’t. Han Li was slightly taken aback and asked with a puzzled look,

“A guarantor? Why didn’t you mention that a guarantor is needed to reside on Ghost Cry Island?”

His voice was gentle, but Wang Zhangqing felt cold sweat running down his back.

“Please don’t misunderstand! There are two types of foreign cultivators who stay on Ghost Cry Island. The first type are those who temporarily stay on the island without holding any position, for a few years. The second type are those who obtain the qualification to stay on the island permanently through the guarantee of a local magnate [a powerful and influential person].

In this case, the amount of spirit stones to be paid annually is much less, and you can also take on a suitable position on the island. You also gain the right to participate in the spirit land competition held every ten years.

If you achieve good results in this competition, you can occupy a residence with dense spiritual energy suitable for cultivation. However, it is very difficult for a foreigner to find a guarantor on Ghost Cry Island, which is why the old man didn’t mention it.”

Wang Zhangqing, being quick-witted, immediately understood Han Li’s misunderstanding and explained. Han Li’s face darkened.

“So, cultivators who don’t live on Ghost Cry Island have no place to cultivate?”

“That’s not quite right. Those who reside on other small islands also hold such competitions to determine their residences. However, Ghost Cry Island has better spiritual veins and denser spiritual energy compared to other islands, making it a much better place for cultivation.”

This unexpected information made Han Li a little uneasy.

This regulation was a policy to keep only those with high spiritual power on the main island. In fact, which cultivator wouldn’t want to cultivate in a place with dense spiritual energy?

He also needed an area with rich spiritual energy to grow spirit herbs and cultivate.

He looked up at the middle-aged man, whose face was full of anticipation. Han Li eventually sighed and opened his mouth.

“Haa, explain the level of your opponents. If they are truly worth fighting, I might consider taking it on.”

He gave the impression that he was reluctantly giving them a chance out of consideration for their face. Wang Zhangqing was overjoyed and relayed Han Li’s words to the middle-aged man.

‘If the opponent isn’t a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I can try to fight them using puppets and top-grade magical artifacts. If things go well, I can settle on Ghost Cry Island and cultivate the Three Revolutions Heavy Yuan Technique. I should also prepare the Body Double Technique and the Great衍 Technique just in case.’

* * *

Four days later, the people on the ship cheered as they arrived at Ghost Cry Island.

With the help of Mr. Gu and Wang Zhangqing, Han Li had to go through the procedures to enter the island. After all, when a stranger entered the island, they had to report it at the port.

The port he landed at was so large that the materials on the ships and the massive ships themselves were incomparable to the ships he had seen in the Tiannan region.

There were at least six or seven ships larger than Mr. Gu’s huge ship, and countless smaller ships. Han Li didn’t count them in detail, but there seemed to be at least two or three hundred.

With such ships constantly coming and going, the actual number was bound to be even greater.

Han Li was amazed by the sheer number of ordinary people and, at the same time, sensed the aura of cultivators everywhere in the port. They must have been tasked with maintaining order in the port.

Lost in thought, he followed the two men with Gu Hun to a stone chamber on one side of the port.

The structure of the room was very simple, with only a wooden table and chairs. An old man with a sallow face was sitting with his eyes closed.

The sallow-faced cultivator opened his eyes at the sound of them entering.

At the same time, Han Li felt a chill run through his body, which surprised him a little. He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and even before he lost his magic power, he was not inferior to this person.

The old man ignored Mr. Gu and Wang Zhangqing and first examined Han Li and Gu Hun.

However, after realizing that Han Li was only a low-level Qi Refining cultivator, he quickly lost interest and focused a little more on Gu Hun. He said with a truly annoyed expression,

“What is it? Don’t disturb my rest, and speak quickly.”

Han Li, using his extraordinary mind, had learned the local language from Old Man Wang in a short time, so he could understand to some extent, even if he couldn’t speak it.

However, he had no idea how to greet a local cultivator, so he simply smiled and watched what Mr. Gu and Old Man Wang did.

Mr. Gu respectfully greeted him, calling him Master Yang, and then carefully approached and explained something in a low voice. He pointed at Han Li from time to time, as if he was talking about him.

Soon, several spirit stones that Mr. Gu had taken out were passed to Master Yang.

Master Yang, holding the spirit stones, looked much more relaxed and took out a green jade pendant from his pocket and asked Han Li,

“What is your name?”

“Han Li!”

A green light flashed from Master Yang’s hand and covered the jade pendant. When the light disappeared, a strange symbol that Han Li couldn’t recognize was engraved on it.

The sallow-faced old man gave the jade pendant to Han Li.

“Keep the spirit pendant with you, and if you lose it, you must report it here immediately. Otherwise, you will be punished for violating the rules. Of course, if you officially reside on Ghost Cry Island, you won’t need this spirit pendant. Also, the zombie behind you doesn’t need to have a spirit pendant.”

The old man finished speaking and closed his eyes without waiting for a reaction from Han Li and the other two.

Mr. Gu naturally took the hint and began to retreat first. Han Li was a little bothered that the other party had recognized Gu Hun’s identity at a glance, but he also left the stone chamber without saying anything.

As soon as they were all gone, Master Yang opened his eyes wide and muttered something.

“It’s clearly a zombie, but how does it have spiritual energy? Could it be a new technique?”

Then, the sallow-faced old man fell into deep thought.

Outside, Mr. Gu and the others left the port and rented a carriage pulled by two demonic beasts, heading towards the inner part of Ghost Cry Island. There were many people traveling back and forth in such carriages on the road.

However, after passing through several small villages, the number of carriages noticeably decreased, and as they entered a smaller road, there were hardly any carriages or people.

After driving the demonic beasts for half a day, they finally arrived at a farm where Han Li saw a variety of crops he had never seen before.

The grain was similar to rice, but the leaves were thick and purple, emitting a clear fragrance. The vegetables were similar to cabbage but were half the size of a person, with blue flowers blooming on them.

In the fields, ordinary people who looked like farmers were working in groups of three or five, creating a typical farm atmosphere. As Han Li was admiring the scenery, the carriage pulled by the demonic beasts stopped in front of the farm’s gate.

He got out of the carriage with Gu Hun, and the surrounding scenery became clearer. The farm was surrounded by jade-colored pine trees, and there was a low mountain not far away, making the scenery quite beautiful.

A wall as tall as a person surrounded the farm, and inside, there were several newly built houses with gardens.

‘This must be where Mr. Gu lives!’

Han Li concluded that this farm was where Mr. Gu’s family lived and shifted his gaze towards the pine trees.

He could feel a faint formation aura from the pine trees planted everywhere. Although it wasn’t a strong formation, it was enough to prevent the intrusion of low-level cultivators.

As he was pondering these questions, Mr. Gu, who had gotten out of the carriage with him, smiled and spoke to him.

“Senior Han, please come inside and rest. I will immediately have someone bring you some of Ghost Cry Island’s specialty wine and food.”

“That’s not necessary. Why bother people? I will find my own place to stay, so don’t worry about me.”

Han Li refused the offer with a smile and raised his hand, pointing to the low mountain next to the Gu family’s property. Mr. Gu and Wang Zhangqing, following his hand, looked at the desolate mountain, puzzled.

Despite several requests, Han Li moved towards the mountain. The remaining two had no choice but to look at each other and enter the manor.

Having climbed the hill with Gu Hun and reached the top of the mountain, Han Li looked down at the Gu family’s manor. He saw Mr. Gu and a few others who seemed to be of high status entering the huge mansion at the very center of the manor.

Han Li curled up the corners of his mouth and turned around. It was time for him to do his own thing.

He chose a flat area on the mountainside and cut down a few thick trees with his magical artifact. Then, he had Gu Hun build a log cabin. It wasn’t much to look at, but it had everything he needed inside, such as a wooden table and chairs.

For the next month, Han Li continued to take elixirs and practice his cultivation. He needed to recover his original cultivation as soon as possible.

During that time, Mr. Gu and Wang Zhangqing visited him several times to discuss his participation in the competition and then hurried back so as not to disturb Han Li’s cultivation.

Han Li had now reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. He was surprised by his rapid progress, but he felt much lighter. According to Mr. Gu, the cultivators invited by the ten families were not very high in cultivation either.

Most of them were around the sixth or seventh level of Qi Refining, and since the opponents for the matches were determined by drawing lots, he could win the fight if he wasn’t unlucky.

Moreover, Mr. Gu had obtained two or three great magical artifacts to increase Han Li’s chances of winning.

Of course, from Han Li’s perspective, these items were barely considered top-grade magical artifacts, but he accepted them to reassure Mr. Gu.

Two days after he reached the fifth level, Mr. Gu and Wang Zhangqing came to him with tense faces. Without a word, Han Li followed them back into the carriage pulled by demonic beasts.

After traveling for about two hours, the carriage arrived at a fortress built of white stone, and a considerable number of soldiers were guarding the entrance of the fortress.

Those leaving the fortress were not inspected, but those entering had to show something like a spirit pendant to pass.

When Han Li tried to pass, a soldier brought a cylindrical object to his body, and when a green light was emitted from the object, the soldier politely bowed. Then, they checked only Mr. Gu and Old Man Wang’s spirit pendants and allowed everyone to pass.

Han Li looked at the soldiers guarding the fortress. Although he couldn’t sense any spiritual power fluctuations, they were definitely well-trained.

The most eye-catching thing was the cylindrical object, which allowed even soldiers without spiritual power to distinguish between cultivators and ordinary people, which was amazing.

Han Li couldn’t take his eyes off the cylinder. Wang Zhangqing, seeing this, smiled and explained.

“It’s called a Spirit Plate. It allows ordinary people like us to recognize cultivators.”

‘Spirit Plate?’

After confirming that one side of the cylinder was made of jade, Han Li nodded and didn’t say anything more.

There were many people coming and going on the streets, and the inside became more crowded as they went further in.

After a long time, the carriage entered a huge square in the center of the fortress.

The square was literally packed with people, and all one could see were black heads everywhere. However, more and more people were flocking to the square.

The shops around the square were also full of people, and some temporary stalls also seemed unable to take any more customers.