Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 255

As Han Li appeared, a look of joy flashed in Extreme Yin’s eyes, and Manhoja and Qingyi also exchanged glances, their faces becoming much more relaxed.

As soon as Han Li stepped out of the teleportation array, he saw Won-yo in front of him and paused for a moment. He smiled calmly and went to where Extreme Yin and the others were, offering his greetings.

Extreme Yin seemed satisfied with this courteous behavior and nodded. He refrained from immediately demanding the return of the Para-Jade. Moreover, Manhoja and Qingyi also pretended to have forgotten that they had lent him armor and a talisman.

Although Han Li had appeared, the old monsters remained seated, showing no movement. It seemed they were waiting for something to happen.

Han Li, however, was astonished by the massive tower before him.

‘It’s so different from what I imagined.’

He also glanced towards Hyun-gul when he had the chance.

He was sitting quietly at the very back, his face showing no sign that he had noticed Han Li’s gaze.

Hyun-gul’s voice echoed in his ear.

‘Stop looking, you fool, before that traitor finds out! I’ve already planned how to deal with Extreme Yin, so don’t worry. We’ll move after acquiring the treasure with the Blood Jade Spider, so until then, follow their lead. Don’t send any transmissions carelessly and get caught.’

It was a warning while also reassuring him.

Han Li listened to his transmission without any change in expression and naturally shifted his gaze elsewhere. However, a doubt arose in his mind.

‘Move after acquiring the treasure? Could it be that the old demon is also after the Heavenly Essence?’

Whether he succeeded or failed in acquiring the treasure, his fate was uncertain. At that moment, a chilling voice was heard.

‘The opening time for the inner hall is almost here, but the Star Palace fellows are nowhere to be seen. It seems they won’t be joining this fray. What do you think, Brother Man?’

Mancheonmyeong, who was sitting between the other two cultivators, opened his eyes and spoke to Manhoja.

Manhoja stroked his beard and replied leisurely.

‘Hehe! Are you perhaps nervous? We’ll know if we wait. The Star Palace’s cunning is well known, so they might appear at the last moment. Perhaps they’re hoping the two of us will fight first.’

Mancheonmyeong scoffed at his words but nodded in agreement.

*Kukukung.*

After more than an hour, the ground suddenly began to shake, and the massive stone gate of the inner hall opened, revealing a limestone passage.

Even from afar, it was vast beyond measure. As soon as the inner hall’s gate opened, the teleportation array among the cultivators disappeared.

Before Mancheonmyeong could speak, Manhoja provoked him.

‘Haha! It seems the Star Palace fellows really aren’t coming. Then, Brother Man, how about we two compete first, and whoever loses won’t enter the inner hall at all?’

To everyone’s surprise, Mancheonmyeong flatly rejected his proposal.

‘Well, I no longer have any intention of doing that with Brother Man.’

‘No intention? Are you admitting defeat without even fighting?’

‘There’s no way I’d admit defeat. But isn’t it ridiculous to fight before even finding the treasure? How about we agree not to interfere with each other until we find the treasure!

After all, our biggest enemy right now is the Star Palace, not each other, and even if we came here so confidently, there’s a fifty-fifty chance we won’t get the treasure. If that’s the case, there’s even less reason to fight.’

Extreme Yin, Manhoja, and Qingyi looked surprised, then exchanged glances and moved their lips.

Mancheonmyeong, Cheon-ohja, and the other righteous cultivators had already finished their discussion and were waiting calmly for the demonic cultivators’ response.

After a while, Extreme Yin frowned and asked.

‘Your words sound reasonable, but how will we decide who goes first? And how can we guarantee that one side won’t steal the treasure if the other finds it? Surely you’re not asking us to trust your silver tongue.’

Mancheonmyeong replied without hesitation.

‘Extreme Yin, don’t talk nonsense. Of course, if you find the treasure first, we’ll try to take it, and if we find the treasure, you’ll do the same. I’m saying it’s not too late to compete after we’ve at least found the treasure.’

Extreme Yin’s face darkened for a moment, then he suppressed his anger and consulted with Manhoja and the others through telepathy.

Soon after, he coldly shouted at Mancheonmyeong.

‘Then let’s postpone the fight for now and talk after we find the treasure!’

‘A wise choice. Then let’s go in.’

After speaking, he immediately walked towards the massive stone gate, and Cheon-ohja and the farmer-like cultivator followed behind him.

‘Hmph!’

Manhoja snorted as if he was dumbfounded by the other party’s unhesitating actions, then suddenly turned his gaze to Won-yo and another late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

At the same time, the two of them also felt a bad premonition and immediately turned into yellow and red lights, trying to escape through the stone gate.

Manhoja smiled fiendishly.

‘Trying to go where?’

He stretched out his arms, and two streaks of golden light shot out towards them. As a result, one man screamed and fell, his body torn to pieces by the golden light.

The golden light that flew in the other direction also caught up with the red light. However, blinding green flames erupted, scattering the golden light.

The cultivator in the red light seemed to be provoked by the attack and shot out like a meteor, disappearing. Qingyi, who had not paid any attention to Manhoja’s actions, looked surprised when one of them unexpectedly escaped.

‘Hmm? That’s strange.’

Cheon-ohja also looked displeased at this sight and asked.

‘What is the meaning of this! How can you use lethal force against innocent cultivators!’

Manhoja glanced at the old man and replied clearly.

‘What if I killed a few because I was in a bad mood? Surely you don’t want to taste my Takcheon Demonic Art [a powerful demonic technique] in place of the cultivator who just died.’

‘Manhoja!’

Mancheonmyeong turned his head and stopped the old Taoist.

‘It’s alright. Since the cultivators who were attacked weren’t righteous cultivators either, we should focus on our mission now.’

At Mancheonmyeong’s persuasion, Cheon-ohja glared at Manhoja, then eventually turned around and started walking again. Soon after, the righteous cultivators also passed through the gate and entered the inner hall.

Extreme Yin looked at them as they moved away and applauded Manhoja.

‘Well done. It’s just annoying to have rats running around before the mission. They must be trying to take advantage of the situation, so it’s right to deal with them before they cause trouble. But there’s still one more left, why aren’t you getting rid of him?’

His gaze was fixed on Hyun-gul.

Hyun-gul’s expression did not change even after hearing those words. He looked as if it wasn’t even about him. Manhoja unexpectedly said with a blank face.

‘That person is the descendant of my benefactor, so I’ll spare him. You two shouldn’t touch him either, right?’

Extreme Yin looked back and forth between Manhoja and Hyun-gul, then, after confirming that he was not someone he knew, he smiled and replied.

‘How could I touch a junior who has a connection with Brother Man? It’s just surprising that Brother Man also has times when he owes a debt.’

‘Are you trying to test me?’

‘Of course not. I was just curious. But we should be a little careful since the black-clad woman who just escaped is suspicious.’

‘I’m not blind either. Don’t you know that the woman just used the Azure Thunder of the Three Yang Old Demon? There’s no way she could have such a thing unless she was close to the Three Yang Old Demon. If I hadn’t recognized it, would I have let that woman escape alive?’

Extreme Yin cautiously kept his mouth shut as Manhoja showed signs of displeasure. Qingyi, who had been listening to the conversation from the side, opened his mouth.

‘It doesn’t matter what kind of relationship the woman has with the Three Yang Old Demon, does it? Now is an important time for the righteous and demonic factions to compete for dominance over the Star Palace and the Chaotic Star Sea, so there’s no reason to create unnecessary grudges. Although the Old Demon is from the demonic faction, he has maintained neutrality, so let’s leave that woman alive.’

In fact, Manhoja, who was wary of the Three Yang Old Demon, simply nodded. Han Li’s mind became complicated by the series of events, and all sorts of thoughts swirled in his head.

Manhoja’s actions of killing Core Formation cultivators as if they were ants, and Won-yo’s escape from that attack were also questionable. Besides, since when did Hyun-gul involve Manhoja?

Won-yo seemed to be related to someone called the Three Yang Old Demon, but who was he that even Manhoja didn’t want to easily create a grudge with him?

The continuous questions failed to find answers and circled in his head. He quietly listened to the demonic cultivators’ conversation, focusing on gathering the necessary information.

‘Let’s go into the inner hall! It’s unusual that we can’t sense the righteous fellows.’

Unfortunately, Qingyi wrapped up the situation. At those words, Manhoja also looked at the stone gate and immediately moved his body. Extreme Yin and Qingyi followed behind him.

Han Li, Oh-chuk, and Hyun-gul did the same.

As soon as everyone passed through the stone gate and disappeared, light burst out from the teleportation array that had lost its light after they left, and two cultivators walked out.

They were the white-clad elders of the Star Palace! After looking around, they seemed relieved that no one was left.

One of them chuckled softly and said.

‘It seems they’ve all gone in. No matter how cunning the old monsters are, they wouldn’t know that the Star Palace has been undoing the restrictions on this teleportation array since a thousand years ago. Nor do they know that we can enter the inner hall at any time.’

‘Let’s go! We must move carefully. We mustn’t be discovered as long as the Heavenly Essence doesn’t fall into their hands.’

‘Of course, we must.’

The two of them also turned into white light and passed through the stone gate.

* * *

Han Li was walking behind Extreme Yin, so he naturally had to walk side by side with Oh-chuk.

Han Li’s heart was uneasy, but Oh-chuk’s attitude had changed so much after whatever Extreme Yin had said to him. He was very friendly, chatting about this and that, and treating Han Li intimately. The previous jealous and hateful gaze seemed to have disappeared.

However, Han Li’s heart grew colder at this obvious act.

‘Did Extreme Yin tell Oh-chuk that he would get rid of me later? There’s no other way he could have changed like this.’

Although his heart was full of worries, Han Li smiled and responded to Oh-chuk’s questions. Extreme Yin and Manhoja were listening to their conversation, but after entering the inner hall, they didn’t say a word and wore serious expressions.

The strange thing was that even though they had been in the tower for quite some time, nothing had happened.

……

Han Li looked around with a question in his mind.

They were currently walking through a kind of maze.

They were surrounded by high, thick walls, and there were intersections and round stone gates. The shapes and sizes of the stone gates were consistent, but sometimes they were open to the south and sometimes to the north, so there was no pattern to be found. Moreover, the white light on the upper part seemed to indicate that there were restrictions.

Although cross-shaped paths did not appear often, they had passed at least six or seven round stone gates. If you include the doors on the paths they didn’t take, there were quite a few doors.

As they moved forward again, another round stone gate appeared.

Unlike the other doors, it did not emit light on the upper part where ancient characters were engraved. It seemed that the restriction had been broken. As he examined the stone gate with a curious gaze, Oh-chuk noticed Han Li’s expression and explained.

‘Junior Brother Han, it seems someone has already taken the treasure from that stone gate. Everyone has a Heavenly Essence map in their possession and can only open one stone chamber. Whether they succeed or fail in obtaining the treasure, they are teleported out of the Heavenly Essence, so they can’t re-enter the inner hall.

If that weren’t the case, I would have tried one of the stone gates myself! Moreover, in the case of Core Formation cultivators, they can only try the treasures on the first floor. The higher the floor, the higher the chance of dying while trying to obtain the treasure.’

‘Junior Brother Han?’

It wasn’t the first time he had heard that title, but it sounded so unfamiliar and uncomfortable coming from Oh-chuk’s mouth. However, Han Li, who was excellent at managing his expressions, maintained his usual smile.

‘Brother Oh, then why don’t you choose one and try it? After all, if you go up to the second floor, you’ll lose your chance forever, won’t you?’

‘Huh, that’s why I shouldn’t. But my grandfather told me never to leave his side. Maybe there’s something I can do to help him acquire the treasure?’

Han Li spoke while carefully observing the stone gates with his eyes. If they were teleported out after taking the treasure, he might be able to use this to survive later.

# 257