Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 216

As the crimson blade transformed into a purple flame under Gok-hun’s hand seals and enveloped the monster, the Jiang Shi [a type of Chinese hopping vampire] thrashed, unsure of what to do.

Soon, realizing that the purple flames weren’t causing significant harm, the Jiang Shi ignored them and tried to pursue the source of the attack. However, before it could even raise its head, a pure white spider web covered it entirely.

Startled by the massive web spewed by the Blood Jade Spiders, the Jiang Shi hurriedly tried to tear it apart, but suddenly, Gok-hun’s flames transformed into a snake, coiling tightly around the Jiang Shi, rendering it immobile.

Having successfully restrained the Jiang Shi, Han Li didn’t hesitate. He gathered his puppets and demonic beasts, and fled with Gok-hun.

If he wasn’t mistaken, a third scream was coming from the direction of the Extreme Yin Sect. If he missed this opportunity, he would surely be captured by the old devils and become their slave.

Han Li and Gok-hun combined their strength and flew over a hundred miles, then changed direction east and west, eventually finding an unknown small island where they landed.

They immediately descended into the earth, going down over ten yards, covered themselves with a concealing veil, and used the Nameless Incantation to hide their spiritual power.

Even with all these preparations, Han Li was still uneasy. After all, it was too difficult to evade the senses of two Nascent Soul [a high level of cultivation] and Core Formation late-stage old devils.

Poor Han Li had no idea what was happening a hundred miles away, but the Extreme Yin Sect was actually loitering in their original location, with no intention of chasing him.

Beside the Extreme Yin Sect leader stood a giant with a purple face wearing red clothes, along with a dozen or so cyan-green Jiang Shi.

In front of the Extreme Yin Sect leader and the Crimson Fire Old Devil, a middle-aged man was unconscious, pierced by several navy-blue needles, and suspended in the air.

The other sect elders stood behind them, trembling, and even the Core Formation cultivators, let alone the Foundation Establishment cultivators, didn’t dare to breathe loudly.

The Extreme Yin Sect leader spoke in a monotonous tone.

“That Zi Ling girl actually escaped. I was originally going to capture her for Fellow Daoist Crimson Fire, but it seems we’ll have to wait for another opportunity.”

The purple-faced giant chuckled.

“I appreciate your kindness, Senior. Zi Ling offered to give me ten female disciples to help, but I had my eye on her. However, it seems your grandson is interested in her, so I should let you have her.”

“Then I will accept Fellow Daoist Crimson’s kindness. I will send twelve female disciples to Yuanqiu Island as compensation. Now that I think about it, your island master can also be considered our senior, so please send him my regards.”

“It has been a long time since I last saw my master, but if the opportunity arises, I will definitely convey your regards.”

The Crimson Fire Old Devil politely finished his reply, then rolled his eyes and brought up another matter.

“But now that Zi Ling has escaped, won’t it be a problem if the Holy Palace finds out?”

“The Holy Palace? Heh, no need to worry. According to what I know, the few elders of the Heavenly Star Palace are all in secluded cultivation, so they won’t bother with such trivial matters.

And those two old fogeys, the Heavenly Star Twins, can only leave the Heavenly Star Island for half a month each year to practice the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light.

Otherwise, their cultivation will greatly regress. Perhaps the next time we go to the Void Sky Hall, I will have eliminated two major rivals from my share.”

The Extreme Yin Old Man had a gleeful expression, like he was watching a fire from across the river. Crimson Fire pursed his lips, still looking worried.

“I’ve heard from my master that as long as the Heavenly Star Twins don’t leave Heavenly Star Island, they are unrivaled in the cultivation world, thanks to the power of the Yuan Magnetic Mountain Peak. Moreover, once they master the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light, they won’t need to be confined to Heavenly Star Island anymore, and the Chaotic Star Sea will become their domain.”

“Mastering the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light? Heh, that’s just the two old monsters’ delusional fantasy. How many years has the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light been wandering the Chaotic Star Sea, and no one has succeeded.

Of course, the two old monsters were lucky enough to discover the Yuan Magnetic Small Mountain deep in the sea and bring it to Heavenly Star Island, but the success or failure of cultivating the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light can’t be determined by external objects.

I sometimes suspect that the deceased who created that technique was playing a joke. How can any technique control all the five elements of the world? Besides, those two are already highly cultivated, so why are they doing such useless things?”

Even after the Extreme Yin Sect leader finished speaking, the Crimson Fire Old Devil’s worries didn’t completely disappear, but he could only gloss over it.

“I can only hope that what you say is true, Senior.”

The Extreme Yin Sect leader suddenly rubbed his chin, touching his sparse beard.

“But putting aside Zi Ling and her group, it’s really unexpected that two more people escaped from the eighteen Heavenly Capital Corpses.”

“Indeed. Zi Ling has the Wooden Dragon Tablet, a treasure passed down through the generations of the Myriad Sound Sect, so it’s understandable that she escaped, but the other two are strange. From afar, I saw them releasing puppets made of mechanisms. Although their defense and attack power are weak, it’s truly bizarre that they can control over a hundred at once.”

The Extreme Yin Sect leader spoke calmly, revealing that he had no intention of chasing Han Li and Gok-hun.

“Enough. Those two are just small fish anyway. I’m currently using my grandson’s body with the Possession Great Technique, so my magic power isn’t sufficient, and there are other limitations. It’s not the time to go around catching such things. Anyway, we’ve caught the main target, the traitor, so that’s enough. We just need to find out the whereabouts of the stolen Void Sky Remnant Diagram.”

Crimson Fire didn’t bring up any other topics and soon bowed and left. The Extreme Yin Sect leader watched Crimson Fire leave, shrouded in dark clouds, and smirked.

Then, he raised one hand and spread his five fingers. In his palm, unexpectedly, were finely cut spider webs.

A meaningful expression appeared on the old man’s face.

“Blood Jade Spider! I never thought I’d see this again. It seems that even if the sky falls, there’s a way out. An opportunity has come.”

The old man muttered, then suddenly looked up at the sky and laughed loudly, causing the sect elders nearby to turn pale.

Suddenly stopping his laughter, the Extreme Yin Sect leader shouted loudly.

“Return to the island!”

He reached out into the air, grabbed the middle-aged man floating in the air, and led his group away.

* * *

Han Li, completely unaware of these events, hid underground on the remote island for a full month before finally emerging from the earth.

He cautiously spread his senses to confirm that there were no ambushes nearby, and then immediately flew towards Heavenly Star Island with Gok-hun. He had almost died after getting caught up in such a huge incident.

The most depressing thing was that even after such a big adventure, he hadn’t even seen the shadow of the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

It must have fallen into the hands of the Extreme Yin Sect leader, so there was virtually no chance of him getting it. He could only return to Heavenly Star Island, dejected.

Heavenly Star Island was still bustling, and the Holy Palace guards at the city gate greeted Han Li as respectfully as before.

However, someone who had just barely escaped death wouldn’t have returned in a cheerful mood. Han Li entered the city with a dark expression.

Just as he arrived at the 39th floor, a sound transmission talisman was floating in the barrier. Frowning, Han Li reluctantly waved his golden restriction token.

Green light emanated from the token, drawing the sound transmission talisman towards him.

Han Li flicked his finger, sending a white light into the sound transmission talisman, and a seductive woman’s voice flowed out.

His expression, which had been blank for a moment, turned to anger. It was none other than Madam Fan’s voice!

‘After making me go through all this hell, she has the nerve to look for me again!’

Enraged, Han Li was about to create a flame to destroy the sound transmission talisman. However, one sentence from the woman made him stop all movement.

After a while, the woman’s voice disappeared, and the flame also died down, but Han Li was still lost in thought.

Right now, he had no intention of showing a good face to the people of the Myriad Sound Sect. However, the other party had sent a sound transmission talisman first, saying that they had information related to the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo and wanted to meet at a certain inn.

Even though he was angry, his heart was tempted. Han Li decided to go and meet them in person before making a decision.

If they said anything ridiculous, like asking for his help in revenge, he would just refuse. He was also willing to pay more spirit stones than the market price to buy the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

In fact, the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo was only about a finger’s length, and it wasn’t very useful to others except for him.

The Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, a rare wood-attribute material, was probably only used for making magic treasures, except for special magical artifacts. If it was only a few inches long, as Madam Fan had described, it would be difficult to even make a proper flying knife.

With these thoughts, Han Li took Gok-hun and immediately flew to the inn.

……

Shortly after, Han Li and Gok-hun appeared at the inn and went up to the third-floor guest room. The first and second floors of the inn were clearly separated for ordinary people, while the third floor was for cultivators who were staying temporarily.

Han Li easily found the room the other party had mentioned, but he could see a faint light flowing on the door, indicating that a restriction had been set up for security.

Perhaps the beautiful women were also greatly startled by the previous incident and were being cautious, just like him. Han Li shook his head and flicked his finger at the restriction, creating a ripple.

There was no sound from inside, but he could sense a cultivator’s consciousness scanning him and Gok-hun before disappearing again.

Then, the light above the wooden door flickered, the restriction disappeared, and Zi Ling’s clear voice was heard.

“So it was you, Seniors. My sisters and I have been waiting for a long time. Please come inside.”

Han Li opened the door without a word, and Gok-hun followed behind him.

The room was very simple, with nothing but a red wooden table and a few chairs. However, what surprised Han Li was that instead of the Myriad Sound Sect women, there was an unfamiliar young girl with a calm face. The girl, wearing yellow clothes and with clear skin, smiled at Han Li with clear, transparent eyes.

Han Li asked with a slightly surprised expression.

“Are you Miss Zi Ling?”

He had never seen Zi Ling’s face, but there was no way that a woman who was said to be a peerless beauty would look like this. The girl in yellow clothes was passable, but she was completely different from the rumored beauty.

‘Could this not be her real face?’

The girl saw Han Li’s expression and smiled lightly.

“It seems that Senior is a little surprised. I don’t know if Wang Ying’s appearance has disappointed you. Unfortunately, this is my true appearance.”

‘True appearance?’

Han Li looked at the other party’s face, shook his head, and remained silent.

Although he didn’t feel like she had cast any magic or that there was anything strange about her, he still couldn’t believe that this was her true appearance.

Zi Ling didn’t try to explain further to Han Li, who had a disbelieving expression, and instead smiled at Gok-hun.

“Senior Gok, you must be Senior’s avatar, an external incarnation.”

At her words, Han Li paused for a moment, then a cold aura emanated from his eyes. After staring at Zi Ling for a long time, he finally spoke coldly.

“How did you know?”

“Haha, there’s no need to be surprised. The technique of refining avatars is also passed down in our sect. However, the effort required is too great, and the probability of success is too low, so no one refines them.

But Senior’s avatar is truly unique. Generally, avatars are much weaker in cultivation than their masters, but yours is also at the early Core Formation stage. I’ve never heard of such a case before.”

Han Li calmly acknowledged it and looked around before asking.

“Since Miss Zi Ling has noticed, I won’t hide it. But where are the other two?”

It was bound to happen that Gok-hun’s identity would be revealed someday, so he wasn’t too surprised.

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