Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 236

The moment the gray shadow tried to pierce through the black-robed man, a dazzling white light blocked its path.

Kieeeek!

As if terrified by the light, the gray shadow retreated into the ghostly mist. The black-robed man, barely escaping death, was momentarily bewildered before showing a relieved expression.

Without a second thought, he flew to Han Li’s side. Han Li looked at him with a slightly strange expression. Clearly, a white bird-like creature had flown in and repelled the gray shadow.

He couldn’t help but be curious about what it was. The black-robed man had no time to pay attention to Han Li.

Recalling how he had just narrowly escaped death, he was terrified and regretted pushing aside those who tried to stop him and coming to the Illusionary Sky Hall. However, thinking about the white light that had just saved his life, something came to mind.

The black-robed man hurriedly rummaged through his robes and took out a seemingly ancient bronze mirror. Han Li also glanced at the mirror. The mirror was very peculiar and seemed to emit spiritual energy, making it look like a treasure.

Clang-

Suddenly, a strange sound came from the mirror.

The old-looking mirror shattered without any warning, and even the spiritual energy it contained scattered, turning it into junk. The black-robed man looked down at the bronze mirror with a pitiful gaze.

Only then did he raise his head and meet Han Li’s eyes.

However, remembering that he had been made to wait instead of being immediately rescued, he snorted and turned his head away. Han Li was a little dumbfounded by this.

But as if something had occurred to him, he chuckled and, ignoring the man, focused on the ghostly creatures in front of him. Fairy Ja-ryeong also seemed to be lost in thought, observing the black-robed man’s physique.

At this time, Jae-hon had already climbed onto the black-robed man’s shoulder.

Hoo-hook-

And next to the black demon, the gray shadow that had appeared earlier emerged, making strange noises, and then seven or eight more demons of the same form appeared.

Han Li could recognize these ghostly creatures at a glance.

The vengeful spirits called ‘Wio’ [a type of malevolent spirit] were known to cause chaos even when only one appeared, so the sudden appearance of a group of them was not a good sign.

The horned demons with sharp claws were not as strong as the two original zombies, but they were comparable to a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator [a cultivator at a relatively advanced stage of cultivation].

They quietly lurked around, waiting for Han Li and the others to gather in the center. Han Li decided that a forced breakthrough was necessary and immediately spoke.

“If the two of you can handle the Wio, I will deal with the demons. Please buy me as much time as possible.”

At Han Li’s serious words, the black-robed man had no choice but to suppress his dissatisfaction. After all, the situation was becoming dire.

As soon as he finished speaking, the vengeful spirits in front of them revealed their ferocious aura. Han Li did not hesitate to release the spirit beast bag.

A large number of Gold Devouring Beetles rose into the air, scattering gold and silver. The surrounding vengeful spirits, as if they had received an order, rushed towards the three of them maliciously, spewing ghostly flames from their mouths.

The black-robed man and Fairy Ja-ryeong immediately used their magical treasures and artifacts to block them. Jae-hon was even more impressive, devouring nearby vengeful spirits every time a light flashed from his nose.

But that was all they could do. Two green-furred ghost yakshas [a type of malevolent spirit] threw the bone sickles they held, blocking Jae-hon.

Han Li, as he had mentioned, ignored the Wio group and turned into a streak of light, flying towards the two black and gray demons.

‘Weng weng weng weng…’

The Gold Devouring Beetles also followed closely behind, making a tremendous noise.

The black shadow, seeing Han Li coming directly, flashed its green eyes and opened its mouth. It was trying to take out the green bead again to block Han Li.

The gray shadow next to it flickered and disappeared. Han Li frowned and stopped, not approaching further.

He flicked his fingertips, and two Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords turned into green light, flying in a crisscross pattern. At the same time, the Gold Devouring Beetles scattered and surrounded him, following Han Li’s command.

Bang!

The green light collided with the bead. The bead quickly emitted a cold aura, and the chill enveloped the green flying swords.

Han Li’s two hands formed a hand seal.

In response, the two flying swords grew several times larger, transforming into blue flood dragons that rotated as if biting their tails, soon breaking free from the cold and attacking the green bead again.

At this sight, a strange glint appeared in the black shadow’s cold eyes.

The green bead was a magical treasure of a cultivator who had died here, but the demon had cultivated it for hundreds of years using ghostly energy, and now it was displaying incredibly mysterious abilities. Once a cold aura enveloped a magical treasure, it could not escape and would soon lose its spirituality.

However, Han Li’s flying swords were not afraid of the black aura at all, and their sword energy, like blue flood dragons, tore through the cold aura. The black shadow increased its vigilance towards Han Li.

The demon had existed for hundreds of years, but this was the first time it had encountered such a situation.

It hesitated for a moment and then gestured towards the bead floating in the air.

Then, the green light of the bead grew larger, spun in the air, and suddenly transformed into a black tiger demon beast.

‘Khaaaang!’

The black tiger had a huge body and two bell-like eyes, and every time it opened its mouth to roar, it spewed out cyan-green ghost flames.

The strangest thing was that the huge black tiger was not just a flood dragon shape like Han Li’s flying swords, but it was clearly alive.

‘Spirit of the Artifact’

Han Li was momentarily surprised, then narrowed his eyes and observed the black tiger.

Obtaining a so-called spirit of the artifact was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all magical treasures. By injecting the soul of a demon beast or other entity into a magical treasure and unifying it, its power would greatly increase, and it could transform into the spirit’s former appearance and use its magical abilities. It was the fastest way to increase the power of a magical treasure.

However, for some unknown reason, whether the sealing of the magical treasure failed or succeeded, it could only be attempted once. Once it failed, the opportunity to obtain a spirit of the artifact was lost forever.

Therefore, most cultivators cherished this opportunity and, unless it was a truly urgent situation, they would try to find a suitable target to maximize the chances of success for the sealing ritual.

It was highly likely that Nangong Wan had taken the black flood dragon’s primordial spirit [the essence of a being’s soul] during the Blood Gold Trial to seal a spirit of the artifact. Although the black flood dragon’s grade was not high, it was still a type of flood dragon, so it was very precious.

Han Li had hunted countless demon beasts in the Chaotic Star Sea, but he had never encountered a flood dragon demon beast. Han Li, who also wanted to seal a spirit of the artifact using a flood dragon’s primordial spirit, was very frustrated.

The success rate of sealing a spirit of the artifact was difficult to control and seemed to be without any rules.

However, it was certain that the stronger the primordial spirit to be sealed, the lower the success rate, and that a too weak primordial spirit would not increase the power of the magical treasure enough.

Therefore, most cultivators’ magical treasures ultimately failed to obtain a spirit of the artifact. They either failed to find a satisfactory target or failed after attempting with a too powerful primordial spirit.

Today, such a spirit of the artifact was discovered in the demon’s bead, so Han Li couldn’t help but be surprised.

He licked his dry lips, calmed himself down, and sent the two Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords, which had transformed into flood dragons, towards the black tiger again.

The flood dragons of the flying swords were not real, but it was to explore what kind of power the black tiger’s spirit of the artifact possessed.

The huge black tiger saw the flood dragons transformed from the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords rushing towards it and flashed its eyes.

‘Khaang!’

Soon, with a roar, its mouth opened, and ten head-sized black flames were spewed out. The two flood dragon illusions used their mouths and claws to shatter the flames, but they could not block the seventh flame.

Poof!

The flood dragon illusions were hit by the flames and disappeared, and the flying swords finally revealed themselves.

The two flying swords retreated a dozen feet due to the flames and repeatedly plummeted and rose again. The fact that the blue light had greatly diminished showed that they had lost some of their spirituality.

At that sight, Han Li’s heart ached, and he hurriedly recalled the flying swords and made them recover within his body. At the same time, he released four other flying swords to attack the black tiger.

The black shadow, seeing the situation, sighed softly and then emitted a piercing shriek.

‘Kieeeek-‘

The spirit of the artifact, the black tiger, reacted to this sound, lowered its head, and its neck twisted grotesquely as its two claws dug into the ground.

A strange thing happened!

The side of the tiger’s head bulged, and after a flash of gold and silver light, another head, smaller than the original, grew out.

The two-headed tiger was emitting an even fiercer aura than before. The tiger’s head immediately opened its large jaws and spewed out black flames.

At that sight, Han Li also formed a hand seal, dividing the four flying swords into eight. Then, the sword’s radiance grew, and the eight flying swords merged back into one, transforming into a huge blue sword that was about ten feet long.

Han Li looked at the sword and opened his mouth without hesitation. The blue light that had transformed from his true essence was emitted into the sword’s body.

‘Kwakwakwakwang’

At the same time, a clear sound rang out from the giant sword, and light spread in all directions. The sword, which had grown to a size of about ten feet, fiercely cut through the black flames, and a faint thunder rumbled.

The sounds and fragments created by the collision of black and blue light shook the surroundings. The blue sword cut through the flames like a hot knife through butter, and a terrifying power could be felt.

However, the black flames also gradually increased, pouring out of the tiger’s jaws, and seemed almost endless. This situation was unexpected for Han Li.

While he was contemplating whether to use other magical techniques to annihilate the opponent or to release more Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords, a faint fluctuation of spiritual power was transmitted from about ten feet behind him, and the gray demon appeared.

Except for its blood-red eyes, it had no vitality. Thanks to its quiet appearance, Han Li had not even noticed it.

The gray shadow saw the flying insects hovering around Han Li and shot out like a beam of light. It intended to destroy Han Li’s core in one fell swoop.

It didn’t seem to care about the flying insects. The gray shadow’s technique was specialized in concealment, so it wasn’t worried about being discovered by the flying insects.

Moreover, it was confident that it could kill Han Li in one go before he could even react.

The demon’s cultivated technique was truly special, and even though it shot out as a beam of light, it did not reveal any signs and was incredibly fast.

‘Weng weng!’

In the blink of an eye, the flying insects suddenly flew towards the demon that had come behind Han Li.

The gray shadow was startled and, before it could react, the beetles covered in gold and silver blocked its path and enveloped the shadow.

The demon, which had instantly been swarmed by the beetles, was covered in silver and gold. The greatly panicked gray shadow tried to shake its body to get rid of the beetles, but it had no effect. Instead, a strange sensation began to spread throughout its body.

Startled, it lowered its head. As a result, horror appeared in the demon’s red eyes.

Each of the beetles was biting and tearing at its body, and although it seemed difficult, they were continuously swallowing without stopping. An unbelievable thing was happening: a formless demon was being eaten by living creatures.

The gray shadow was very flustered and began to change its form.

It turned into a thick fog, then into a scaly monster, but no matter how it changed, the beetles that were densely attached to its body could not be removed.

Before long, its ghostly body had been significantly eaten by thousands of beetles. Only then did Han Li turn around and look at the gray shadow with cold eyes.

‘Weng weng weng weng weng weng…’

Then, without saying a word, he released two more spirit beast bags, and a huge number of beetles poured out, flying like arrows and joining the feast.

‘Kieeeek!’

The gray shadow finally cried out in terror. It was as if it was asking the black shadow for help.

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