Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 230

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Han Li looked at Moon Jang and spoke,

“Elder Moon, as you are also a member of the Myo Eum Sect, you must know that I am merely an elder in name only. If it is clear that Fellow Disciple Sa-wol is suffering, I can mention it to Fellow Disciple Ja-ryeong, but whether she will listen is unknown.”

Moon Jang was a little disappointed.

However, he knew that his relationship with Han Li was not deep, and that Han Li had only helped today out of a sense of past acquaintance, so he did not feel resentful.

Moon Jang expressed his gratitude, and at the same time, Moon Sa-wol also tried to pay her respects to Han Li, but Han Li stopped her with a smile.

“If Fellow Disciple Sa-wol is a disciple of Tak Woo-sa, why didn’t you tell her about this matter?”

At Han Li’s questioning gaze, Moon Sa-wol’s expression darkened.

“This matter was ordered by my master’s relative. My master also wants me to marry that person, so she is very angry with me.”

The woman’s face was so pitiful and beautiful that Han Li was momentarily captivated. He couldn’t look at her any longer and turned his head to Moon Jang.

“Then, I have other matters to attend to and cannot return with you. I’ll take my leave first.”

At Han Li’s words, Moon Jang added a few more words of thanks. Han Li smiled at him and immediately transformed into a streak of blue light, flying into the sky.

Long after he disappeared, the father and daughter remained silent. Then, Moon Sa-wol looked at Moon Jang with a dissatisfied expression.

“Father, why didn’t you tell me that you knew Elder Han? From what I heard, it seems you knew each other before he succeeded in Core Formation [a major breakthrough in cultivation], so please tell me about it.”

Moon Jang sighed.

“Senior Han and I only met a few times in passing, so there was no real relationship. Besides, when I met him, our cultivation was similar. But then, Senior Han’s portrait suddenly appeared in the Hall of Contributions [a place where the achievements of sect members are recorded], so how could I not be surprised? I couldn’t believe that the fellow disciple I knew had succeeded in Core Formation, and I couldn’t calm my mind for several days. Moreover, to become an elder of the main sect was even more mysterious.”

Moon Jang stopped speaking as he recalled his memories of encountering Han Li. Moon Sa-wol waited silently, watching her father lost in thought.

With the voices gone, only the sound of the wind filled the surroundings.

One month later, the vast, endless sea was bustling with people. Over time, cultivators flew in, excitedly soaring high into the sky.

Surprisingly, a magnificent palace was floating in the air. The entire palace, made of white jade and exquisitely crafted, was about a hundred *jang* [approximately 3.3 meters] high and emitted a soft glow.

Also, a thick golden barrier surrounded it, floating a thousand *jang* high. Any cultivator could easily pass through the barrier and enter the palace.

A blue light flew in and stopped in the sea below the palace. As the blue light disappeared, Han Li appeared, holding a map.

He looked back and forth between the map and his surroundings with a suspicious gaze. The sea was empty. No matter how hard he stared at the map, he found nothing.

Han Li’s doubts grew. Then, suddenly, as if struck by an idea, he raised his head and looked up.

“Huh!”

Only then did he discover the palace floating high in the sky, and he was startled. After staring blankly at the palace, Han Li finally regained his senses and looked around.

Then, suddenly, his expression changed, and he vanished in a flash of blue light. A moment later, something like a red cloud quickly flew up and stopped not far from where Han Li had disappeared.

As the red cloud dispersed, a red-haired old man appeared, also holding the same silk handkerchief.

The old man looked at the map, then without hesitation, he shifted his gaze to the sky and revealed a look of joy. Without a second thought, he transformed into a red cloud and soared into the sky.

Only after confirming that a white light was emitted from the old man’s body and the golden barrier disappeared did Han Li reveal himself.

Han Li raised his eyebrows. After patiently waiting for about seven or eight days, he saw two Core Formation cultivators entering the palace with the same map.

Now it was Han Li’s turn. He immediately approached the golden barrier and held the map in his hand. As he injected spiritual power into the map, a white light rose and enveloped Han Li.

Then, he walked forward lightly, and as if there was nothing there, he was able to pass through the barrier. He immediately began to fly towards the palace again.

Upon reaching the entrance, the words “Void Sky Hall” were written in ancient characters, about ten *jang* high. The characters were not only huge, but each stroke was extremely sharp. After looking up at them for a while, his eyes felt sore.

He gritted his teeth and went inside. Once inside, he was even more dumbfounded. There was a very straight passage in front of him, so deep that the end could not be seen. It was narrow and made of jade.

Moreover, although the width was narrow, the height was high, making those who passed through it feel uneasy. Han Li frowned and tried to spread his consciousness, but his expression changed.

The moment his consciousness touched the walls, it was invariably bounced back. He couldn’t even explore the passage, let alone the entire palace. He carefully observed the jade walls again.

The walls had a faint shimmer, as if they were covered in a restriction. Han Li reached out and touched the jade wall. He didn’t know the type or purpose of the restriction, but the immeasurable spiritual power contained within it surprised him.

“…”

Han Li withdrew his hand and stroked his chin, lost in thought. As he moved forward again, his eyes quietly scanned his surroundings.

The fact that there was a restriction meant that there was no need to worry about others hiding and attacking, so he boldly moved forward. It was only after a long time that the end of this passage came into view.

A blue light was leaking from the exit. Han Li was startled and quickly moved forward. Then, an amazing sight appeared. Unexpectedly, there was a huge main hall in the blue light.

The area of the main hall was almost three or four hundred *jang*, so it seemed that thousands of people could fit inside comfortably. What was even more bizarre were the dozens of huge jade pillars that were evenly placed in the main hall.

The jade pillars were so thick that it would take several people to wrap their arms around them. Exquisite carvings of rare demonic beasts were on them, looking as if they were alive, and no two of the dozens were the same.

There were dozens of cultivators gathered around the pillars. Except for a few, each person occupied one pillar and did not talk to others, each doing their own thing.

When Han Li entered, some cultivators gave him bored looks, while a few others showed surprise.

Han Li couldn’t help but smile wryly, as those few were all familiar faces.

Not to mention the others, even the Profound Bone Merchant, whom he had parted with not long ago, was there. He was sitting cross-legged on one side of the main hall, looking at Han Li, seemingly a little surprised.

A woman standing behind another pillar also looked dazed when she saw Han Li. She was none other than Ja-ryeong, the fellow disciple of the Myo Eum Sect, and she was with a man wearing a blue robe.

Seeing Ja-ryeong’s expression, the man looked in the direction Ja-ryeong was looking. When he realized that the target was a young man, a coldness flashed in his eyes, and he seemed to ask Ja-ryeong something.

At the man’s question, Ja-ryeong smiled and whispered something. She was probably revealing Han Li’s identity. Han Li ignored the actions of the man and woman and looked in another direction.

He felt a malicious gaze from somewhere. Looking around, he met the angry gaze of an old man.

Han Li recognized the other party and secretly flinched. The other party was Elder Myo of the Six Halls. Even after so many years, seeing that he still held a grudge against him, he must have been close to the deceased Elder Go.

At the unexpected encounter, Han Li’s heart pounded, but he did not take any action. He withdrew his gaze from him and turned his head to look at the other cultivators. The rest were all unfamiliar faces.

Han Li hesitated for a moment, then finally passed through the blue light and entered the main hall. Like the others, he chose a jade pillar and sat cross-legged on it. Then, he turned his gaze to the unfamiliar cultivators.

Because of the restriction in the main hall, he could not spread his consciousness and could not discern the cultivation of others. However, it was clear that most were cultivators above the Core Formation stage, and there might even be Nascent Soul [a higher stage of cultivation] old monsters.

With these thoughts in mind, his gaze naturally turned to the others. After a while, he found two cultivators who he judged to be Nascent Soul cultivators. One was a thin old man with white eyebrows wearing a yellow robe.

He had one hand behind his back and was reading a rather old book with the other, giving off a scholarly atmosphere. The other was a woman in a white skirt who emitted a bone-chilling coldness from her entire body, preventing others from approaching her.

She was wiping a black longsword with an icy expression and did not even glance at Han Li when he entered. While the other cultivators pretended to be relaxed, only these two seemed truly unconcerned.

Moreover, most of the cultivators seemed to fear them, so they were likely Nascent Soul cultivators. Of course, the other cultivators besides those two could not be underestimated.

For example, there was the Profound Bone Merchant!

That demonic cultivator’s cultivation appeared to be in the late Core Formation stage, but if he were to fight a cultivator of the same level, he would surely overwhelm them. He could be considered close to the Nascent Soul stage.

Also, who could say that there were no other cultivators with high cultivation among the others? The more he thought about it, the more cautious he became.

He didn’t even know the real reason why they had gathered here. He didn’t think they had gathered for a friendly meeting.

In any case, everything, from the silk handkerchief to the palace floating in the air, was mysterious, and if even Nascent Soul cultivators had gathered, there must be something that could tempt them.

All of this told him that something was going to happen here. However, Han Li was the only one who knew nothing about it.

For now, it seemed he should just observe and act accordingly. As he was thinking this, the Profound Bone Merchant’s voice suddenly reached his ears through a sound transmission.

“I didn’t know you also had the map to the Void Sky Hall. How about we join forces in this treasure hunt?”

‘Treasure?’

The word ‘treasure’ pierced his ears, making him feel fortunate that he had decided to come here. However, he remained calm and asked in return.

“I would like to hear how you plan to cooperate.”

When he didn’t immediately refuse, the Profound Bone Merchant became excited and was about to say something when the sound of footsteps came from the entrance, and two cultivators entered.

Both Han Li and the Profound Bone Merchant’s expressions changed drastically when they saw the two. Han Li was relatively better, but the Profound Bone Merchant’s face was distorted, and he looked as if he would spit out blood in anger.

Fortunately, the Profound Bone Merchant was not an easy person to deal with. This expression disappeared in a flash, and he returned to his original calm face.

The two cultivators who had just entered the main hall did not notice this change in the Profound Bone Merchant. Han Li smiled wryly inside when he saw the two.

One of the two was unexpectedly Oh Chuk, the young sect leader of the Extreme Yin Sect.

Next to him was a middle-aged cultivator with a face he had never seen before, but judging by his old, slit eyes, Han Li began to regret coming here.

The middle-aged cultivator led Oh Chuk into the main hall and scanned the surroundings with a cold gaze. His gaze stopped on a cultivator with a yellowish face, and he sneered.

“Hmph.”

The yellow-faced cultivator turned pale and trembled, then, as if struck by an idea, he straightened his body.

“This is great.”

The middle-aged man sneered, then this time, he looked at Han Li. Han Li felt a chill when his gaze turned to him. He looked calm on the outside, but he was restless inside.

However, Han Li’s expression became strange.

The middle-aged man’s face revealed an undisguised joy as he looked at him. Of course, it disappeared in an instant, but Han Li, who had been watching him closely, had noticed it.

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