Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 227

Han Li let out a long sigh.

He had anticipated that a mere avatar of the Zhiyang Bird wouldn’t be a match for his opponent. It was just an attack to test the opponent’s strength.

However, he hadn’t expected that the treasure he made to ward off evil spirits would be destroyed so quickly. It was now clear that this person was no mere ghost.

Silently, Han Li stared at the turquoise shadow, contemplating his next move.

“You’re not bad. I want your body, so the other two can get lost!”

From the green shadow’s words, Han Li knew he had become the target of the attack.

Gu Hun, of course, didn’t move, but Jin Qing’s complex emotions were clearly visible on his face.

He judged that even if he joined forces with Han Li, their chances of winning were slim, as they couldn’t even gauge the enemy’s strength. And now, he was being told he could leave, so how could he not waver?

Seeing fellow cultivators of his level die before his eyes, even he, who had proclaimed he would live without shame, began to falter. The turquoise shadow snorted and scanned Jin Qing and Gu Hun with a sinister gaze.

“Why do you refuse when a path to survival has opened? Then I shall kill you as I please!”

Jin Qing’s face flushed red, then turned pale, and finally, he clasped his hands towards Han Li and said,

“Brother Han, I must live. I’m sorry!”

He hurriedly ran towards the stone steps, not even glancing back at Han Li.

However, Han Li remained calm, showing no anger at being abandoned. He merely watched Jin Qing’s retreating figure with a cold gaze.

“Heh.”

The red eyes of the turquoise shadow curved into a smile. It was just as Jin Qing passed the shattered white bones.

‘Swoosh!’

The fragmented bones lunged fiercely at him. Jin Qing was startled and created a silver protective barrier, but the bones, emitting a white glow, pierced through his body as if the barrier didn’t exist.

In an instant, Jin Qing’s entire body decayed and rotted, and he collapsed to the ground without a scream. Han Li, who had been staring blankly at the corpse, shook his head.

Then, the Spirit Beast Pouch appeared in his hand, and at the same time, the two flying swords that had been blocking his path emitted a jade-green glow.

“Interesting. You don’t even question why I broke my promise?”

“If I wanted to say something, I would have already said it, and if I didn’t want to, what’s the point of asking?”

The turquoise shadow seemed a little surprised by his attitude, then shouted ominously.

“Impressive! You’re truly to my liking. If I had met you before you became like this, I might have taken you as a disciple, but now I have no intention of taking any disciples for the rest of my life. Moreover, I will crush the bones and extract the souls of all my previous immoral disciples!”

Han Li showed no sign of agitation and waved his hand, placing Gu Hun, who was protected by a blood-red aura, beside him. He had no intention of exchanging empty words with the enemy, so he planned to launch an attack with lightning speed.

The enemy trembled slightly upon seeing Gu Hun’s blood-red protective aura and let out an angry laugh.

“Blood Refinement Divine Light! Very well. Which sect of the Extreme Yin or Extreme Yang do you belong to?”

“Extreme Yin? Are you perhaps referring to the Extreme Yin Ancestor of the Extreme Yin Sect?”

It seemed like he was about to uncover the secrets of the Black Fiend Sect and the Extreme Yin Sect’s techniques. The turquoise shadow, upon hearing Han Li’s reply, revealed a violent aura and shouted.

“Extreme Yin Ancestor? That traitorous disciple dares to call himself an ancestor?”

Han Li was dumbfounded. The ghostly opponent was unexpectedly the master of the Extreme Yin Ancestor.

At that moment, he felt a sudden presence behind him. A chill ran down Han Li’s spine, and he quickly turned his head, but found nothing.

‘Something’s wrong!’

In a split second, Han Li realized he had been tricked and turned his head forward, simultaneously summoning seven more flying swords to protect himself.

As soon as he turned his head, the nine flying swords combined to emit a faint golden lightning, and the fist-sized green light vanished as if struck by lightning.

A chill ran down his spine. His life had been on the line for a moment.

The turquoise shadow also shouted in disbelief.

“Golden Lightning Bamboo! A guy who uses flying swords refined with Golden Lightning Bamboo.”

Just as Han Li was about to mock his opponent, he sensed a strange fluctuation of spiritual power beside him.

He reflexively dodged, but felt an immense pain in his chest. A familiar blood-red object had pierced through his body, and blood was gushing out.

Then, a yellow light attacked him.

A clear collision sound rang out, and the yellow light, blocked by several flying swords, revealed its true form: a Chaos Origin Ball.

“Gu Hun!”

It was a rare display of anger from Han Li.

Gu Hun, who had been standing beside him, shot towards the turquoise shadow as if he hadn’t heard Han Li’s words.

Han Li realized that even though his avatar was still within Gu Hun’s body, he couldn’t control it.

“Hehehe!”

The turquoise shadow also laughed maniacally and shot out a beam of light to meet Gu Hun. Han Li, his face pale, immediately gritted his teeth, chanted an incantation, and shouted.

“Come back!”

A green light escaped from the top of Gu Hun’s head, which had already gone far away, and quickly merged into Han Li’s body.

At the same time, the turquoise beam of light also seeped into Han Li’s body. Han Li used one hand to staunch the wound and glared fiercely at ‘Gu Hun’.

Gu Hun, who slowly opened his eyes again, had blood-red eyes.

Han Li hurriedly took out a navy-blue talisman from his storage pouch and stuck it on the wound. A white light emanated, and the gushing blood finally stopped.

Han Li’s eyes, as he stared at Gu Hun again, were chilling, and a green glow, several meters long, rose from his body, drawing attention along with the nine jade-green flying swords.

He had resolved not to retract the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords until he escaped this place alive. The old monster’s attack could happen at any moment.

To be honest, this was the first time since entering the cultivation world that he had been so startled. If he had reacted even a little slower, his heart would have been pierced.

It meant that if his consciousness hadn’t been more sensitive and stronger than other cultivators, he would have died from Gu Hun’s attack. The Blood Spirit Charm was so optimized for attacks that there was almost no way to prepare for it.

However, no matter how great the Blood Spirit Charm was, there was no reason to worry anymore. The Blood Spirit Charm used in the attack was the last one that Gu Hun had prepared beforehand.

He was now very angry.

According to the External Avatar Technique [a technique to create a body outside the body], which was called a body outside the body, he and Gu Hun were clearly already in a state of oneness, so how could he have been unknowingly taken control of by the old monster!

Moreover, without any warning. If he hadn’t quickly retrieved his separated consciousness, he would have been swallowed by the opponent. If that had happened, things would have become even more serious.

However, the fact that the opponent had taken refuge in another’s body was proof that he was not a human but a sinister spirit entity like a soul or a nascent soul [a nascent soul is a spiritual entity formed after reaching a certain level of cultivation].

The fact that he had taken over Gu Hun’s body might actually be an opportunity to destroy him.

Having made his decision, Han Li turned his palm over, and a delicate bronze bell appeared in his hand. It was the Soul-Calling Bell, which had not seen the light of day for a long time.

Since this bell was soaked in Gu Hun’s blood, it might not be able to subdue the opponent, but it might create a small opening.

At this moment, the Gu Hun in front of him seemed to be adapting to his body, flailing his arms and legs. He merely smiled at Han Li’s actions, showing no sign of fear.

Han Li’s face darkened, and he immediately rang the bell.

Ding, ding.

At the continuous ringing of the bell, Gu Hun’s red eyes blinked a few times, but nothing happened.

Han Li was now inevitably disheartened. Gu Hun’s hoarse voice slowly reached him, clearly full of sarcasm.

“I don’t know what tricks you’ve played on a body that has undergone the Core Formation [a stage in cultivation], but now that I’ve taken it over, did you think that your restrictions would work?”

“How do you know about the Core Formation?”

“Hehehe! The Core Formation and the Avatar Technique were what I taught to those two traitors, so how could I not know? How dare you present an avatar before me!

Could it be that you didn’t know that I could control a body refined in this way? Didn’t your master warn you?”

Gu Hun leisurely twisted his neck and arms. Han Li was quite surprised, but he said with an expression of ignorance.

“Master? What are you talking about? I only learned about the Core Formation and the Avatar Technique from a book I happened to find.”

Han Li couldn’t take the blame for the Extreme Yin. However, Gu Hun didn’t seem to believe him at all.

“A book? If you’re not a disciple of those two traitors, do you think I’ll let you live? If I capture you and extract your soul, I’ll know everything then!”

Immediately, he gestured towards the white bone pile, and the fragmented bones rose up, instantly returning to their complete form, and flew towards Gu Hun, emitting a white light.

He didn’t know what the opponent’s intentions were, but he couldn’t let him do as he pleased. Without even a moment to think, he flicked his fingers, and three streams of blue energy shot out.

It was the Azure Origin Sword Light.

“You worm, how dare you!”

Gu Hun opened his mouth and shot out a pillar of blood-red light.

Kuwakwang.

The pillar of blood-red light and the blue light collided, creating a tremendous roar, and Han Li’s attack was deflected in all directions.

Han Li’s brow furrowed, and a sense of tension arose. The Gu Hun possessed by the ghost had changed to an unbelievable degree, even for a late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

‘Something’s wrong?’

However, he was even more surprised by Gu Hun’s next action. The white bone corpse flew towards Gu Hun and merged with his body without hesitation.

“Kuhahaak!”

Then, Gu Hun raised his head and howled, and various lights emanated from his body. Among them were turquoise flames, pitch-black ghost energy, and even Gu Hun’s original red aura.

The three different lights intertwined and eventually formed a protective barrier around his body.

‘Crack. Crack. Crack.’

Sounds of his body breaking apart echoed from all over, and Gu Hun painfully bent over. Then, his bent body and limbs slowly contracted.

All sounds subsided, and when he straightened his body again, the original giant figure was nowhere to be seen, and he had transformed into an average build.

Surprisingly, even his face had changed into that of a handsome young man with refined features, and the red tinge in his eyes had greatly faded.

In an instant, he had become a completely different person. Han Li, who had been stunned, gave a wry smile.

Since the opponent was using his techniques in front of him, he had originally intended to take the opportunity to attack. But how could he have known that everything would end so quickly!

Looking at the young man, Han Li asked dryly.

“Did you borrow the body, or did you completely take it over?”

“You underestimate my Profound Soul Refining Demon Great Art. It’s a secret technique that can only be mastered by Nascent Soul [a higher stage in cultivation] cultivators, allowing me to possess another’s body without any restrictions. I’ve already completed the Profound Soul Bone Solidification Technique, which changes my appearance, so all that’s left is to offer you as a sacrifice for my reincarnation.”

Instantly, turquoise fingernails, several inches long, grew from the tips of his ten fingers.

Seeing the sharp tips, Han Li’s face darkened, and he stopped wasting words.

He lightly shook the Spirit Beast Pouch in his hand, and thousands of Silver Devouring Beetles flew up like a swarm of bees, creating a magnificent and beautiful spectacle of glittering gold and silver.

Then, he waved his hands, and forty-odd puppet monkeys appeared in all directions, staring at the young man with cold eyes.

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