Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 277

“This is!”

With surprised expressions, they examined the contents and, as if in agreement, their faces lit up with delight. It seemed the bald cultivator’s heart had been swayed.

“You intend to give us these treasures?”

The middle-aged man in blue robes smiled and immediately replied,

“As the seniors know, no matter how precious a treasure is, it’s useless without sufficient cultivation. I only wish to go to the outer sea and focus on my training.”

The old man Go, in his excitement, agreed without consulting the other cultivator.

“Hahaha! Since you’ve shown such sincerity, we are not so heartless. We will allow you and the other six to use the transfer array.”

Cultivator Geon was also displeased, but he was equally tempted by the treasures and thus acquiesced. Those who watched this scene became curious about the contents of the jade boxes.

They dared not risk exploring items offered to a Core Formation cultivator. However, only Jang Han, in gold, seemed to have noticed something just by looking at the jade boxes.

Although he couldn’t confirm it, based on the conversation between the old men and the middle-aged man, the term ‘magic treasure’ began to resonate in his mind.

‘Did he offer a magic treasure?’

The Core Formation cultivators who received the treasures immediately took out white jade pendants from their robes and placed them in the designated positions on the transfer array.

As the two began to chant, the others showed no particular reaction, but the middle-aged man in blue robes secretly exhaled in relief.

‘So, they did tamper with the transfer array! It would have been a disaster if I had entered without knowing. A few magic treasures that I didn’t need but couldn’t bear to part with made things easier.’

The one thinking this was Han Li, who had disguised himself as another person while concealing his magical power.

Inside the jade boxes were flying sword magic treasures, each with a brilliant red glow. He had used the magic treasures of Ho Wol, who had died at the hands of Hyun-Gol in the underground cave.

Ordinary magic treasures with no special functions were of no use to Han Li, but they were precious treasures to ordinary Core Formation cultivators.

The Saint Palace was powerful, so they would have many magic treasures, but there were also many Core Formation cultivators, making it difficult to obtain one without making a significant contribution. This was why the two cultivators were so pleased with the flying sword magic treasures.

Refining them to make them their own would be useful in actual combat. However, the reason the gaunt man had given up his seat was because Han Li held a fatal weakness over him.

Han Li, bothered by the change in the man’s expression he had seen yesterday, had secretly infiltrated his residence at night and used a soul-charming technique to extract information.

Although it wasn’t a powerful technique that could completely control the opponent, the gaunt man was asleep, and with the help of Han Li’s powerful consciousness, it wasn’t difficult to learn his secrets.

Luckily, the secret he was hiding was that he was colluding with the Saint Palace cultivators to deliberately inflate prices and exploit other groups.

With a suitable threat and the lure of spirit stones, the gaunt man had no choice but to agree. As the chanting finished, the transfer array emitted a white light, humming before the light and sound faded.

The bald old man, having confirmed that the restriction he had placed on the transfer array was lifted, spoke without hesitation.

“Normally, one more person guards this place, but consider it your good fortune that he went to handle external affairs for two days. Otherwise, it would have been impossible even with a large amount of spirit stones. Now, everyone, hand over your spirit stones.”

Everyone handed over one of their storage pouches to the old man. Han Li also took out two spirit stones, drawing the bald old man’s attention.

The bald old man nodded in satisfaction after checking each storage pouch, and then Cultivator Geon stepped forward to hand out a transfer talisman to each of Han Li’s group.

“You can proceed with the transfer talisman on your person.”

He pointed to the transfer array, and while the others still hesitated a bit, Han Li took the lead.

As the saying goes, ‘if you have the skill, you become bold.’ It wasn’t that he was brave, but rather that he had already explored the transfer array using his consciousness and concluded that there were no issues.

On the stone monument in front of the transfer array, two characters were engraved: ‘Giyeon’ [a place name, likely a port or island].

It seemed to be a memorable name, suggesting that there was something special on the island connected to the transfer array.

Jang Han, in gold, also followed Han Li after seeing him go first. As everyone stepped onto the transfer array, Cultivator Geon made a hand seal and muttered.

He stared at the white light in his hand and opened his mouth.

“You won’t go around telling people that we privately transferred you to the outer sea, will you?”

Jang Han, in gold, replied smartly.

“Of course not. We are grateful for your accommodation, so why would we do that? Besides, even if we did, it wouldn’t cause any great harm to you seniors.”

Cultivator Geon stared at Jang Han, in gold, and spoke coldly.

“That’s good. We also have positions in the Saint Palace, so if we get caught, we’ll just receive a reprimand from the higher-ups. But you know what will happen if you speak carelessly and we catch you. Besides, I heard that you all have ‘sensing beads’ in case we suddenly turn on you, but would cultivators like us tarnish our reputation just to get a few spirit stones?”

His gaze swept over each member of the group, threatening them, but surprisingly, Han Li was not included. Jang Han, in gold, forced a smile, but cold sweat was running down his back.

“Senior, you are indeed wise. You know that we are always careful and act without malice.”

“Humph! I don’t have time to listen to your useless chatter. Don’t forget to be discreet.”

Cultivator Geon flicked his finger, sending a white light into the transfer array. At the same time, white light burst out from the spirit stones placed throughout the transfer array, and the seven cultivators disappeared into it.

As soon as they vanished, the bald cultivator changed his demeanor and questioned the refined cultivator.

“We agreed to give them fake transfer talismans, so why did you give them real ones? This is very different from what we initially discussed!”

Cultivator Geon sneered, then took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said,

“If we could have, why wouldn’t we have done so! The guy who gave us the magic treasures was actually a Nascent Soul [a high level of cultivation] old monster. Should we have given him a fake one and died together?”

The bald cultivator was bewildered and quickly asked,

“A Nascent Soul cultivator? Brother Geon, are you joking? That person clearly showed a late Foundation Establishment [a lower level of cultivation] cultivation.”

“Brother Go, you know that I raise a spirit beast called Yeomno [a type of magical creature]. This guy may not have other abilities, but he is very sensitive to the consciousness of cultivators.”

Cultivator Geon took out a spirit beast that looked very much like a young cat and placed it on his palm. The Yeomno, with its ears perked up like a rabbit and its turquoise eyes looking around, was very cute.

“At first, I didn’t notice anything strange because the opponent was hiding his magical power very secretly, but after the restriction on the transfer array was lifted, I realized it when the opponent spread his consciousness to check the transfer array.

The Yeomno can accurately determine the level of consciousness up to a mid-Core Formation cultivator and can roughly tell the level of a late-Core Formation cultivator. But this guy started trembling in my sleeve. This kind of reaction only appears when we meet the elders of the Saint Palace.”

Cultivator Geon stroked the Yeomno’s head as he spoke. He still looked dizzy. The bald cultivator also swallowed hard.

“So, he really was a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

“Even if he wasn’t, he must have had a late-Core Formation cultivation. It wouldn’t have been a problem for him to deal with the two of us.”

The bald old man trembled as if he had finally grasped the situation.

“Brother Geon’s cleverness saved us. If we had given them fake talismans, there would have been a disaster. Now that I think about it, he didn’t seem to regret giving away two magic treasures. If he really is one of the Nascent Soul old monsters, this won’t cause any problems, right?”

“What problems could there be? He probably reached Nascent Soul through self-cultivation and didn’t want to get involved in the conflict between the Saint Palace and the Reverse Alliance, so he headed to the outer sea. However, the news that we sent a Nascent Soul cultivator to the outer sea must never reach the higher-ups. Otherwise, severe punishment awaits us.”

Cultivator Geon, who had been explaining to the bald old man, looked at the gaunt man who had been listening to everything with a sinister gaze.

At that gaze, the gaunt man began to tremble. He quickly stepped back and hurriedly spoke.

“Seniors, I didn’t hear anything. If I carelessly spread rumors, I will…”

Before the gaunt man could finish his panicked words, a yellow light flew and cut him to pieces.

The bald old man muttered as he retracted the yellow light.

“We can’t let even one person know about this. I was going to spare him since he was somewhat related, but he’s just unlucky.”

Then, flames were thrown from his hand, and the corpse disappeared without a trace. Cultivator Geon also nodded in satisfaction.

* * *

On the other side of the transfer array, Han Li and the other six cultivators emerged from the white light and arrived in an old stone chamber.

As Han Li looked around, he saw a gaunt and shabby Saint Palace cultivator in the corner, talking to a gray-robed cultivator whose face was covered in scars.

When the seven cultivators appeared from the transfer array, the Saint Palace cultivator glanced at them but soon continued talking, showing that he didn’t want to pay any attention to them.

“Didn’t I tell you? According to the orders from above, the transfer array can only be used to exit, not to enter. They’ve already sent people to collect the transfer talismans, so I can’t even go back. Why are you doing this?”

“No, I saw someone using it a few days ago. How can it suddenly be like this today!”

“Humph! I’ve explained it enough, so believe it or not, it’s up to you.”

The Saint Palace old man glared at him, then closed his eyes as soon as he finished speaking.

“You really…!”

With the other party acting like this, the scarred cultivator’s face could only turn red with anger. However, he didn’t have the courage to do anything to the other party, so he just paced around.

He saw Han Li and the others walking out of the transfer array and showed a welcoming expression. He then politely asked Jang Han, in gold, who seemed to be the leader of the group at a glance.

“Did you just come from Cheonseong Fortress?”

Jang Han, in gold, confirmed that the scarred man was at the same level as him, late Foundation Establishment, and immediately replied,

“Yes, we did. What’s the matter?”

The scarred man asked with great anticipation.

“I am Heo Woon. I’ve spent several years in the outer sea. Is it true that a force called the Reverse Faction is active in the inner sea and has started a battle with the Saint Palace?”

Just by looking at the other party’s expression, he could tell what kind of answer he wanted, but he had no choice but to disappoint him. Jang Han, in gold, told him the truth without hiding anything.

“The righteous and demonic paths have joined forces to form the Reverse Alliance, and a great war is about to break out. We also didn’t want to get caught up in it, so we came to the outer sea. So, Cultivator Heo, you probably won’t be able to go back for a while.”

The scarred man stood blankly in place, showing a disheartened expression.

“Is that true! I barely gathered enough materials to make a pill and take it, but I’m going to miss the timing.”

Everyone was silent, having nothing else to say.

They had gone through all sorts of schemes to barely arrive in the outer sea, but Cultivator Heo wanted to go back, which was a ridiculous situation.

After a while, Jang Han, in gold, who had been subtly observing, spoke in a gentle tone.

“I am Yeok Gyeong, and the others are my companions. You said you’ve lived here for many years, so if it’s not too much trouble, could you tell us about Giyeon Island? We don’t want to let a cultivator go through unnecessary hardship, so we will reward you with some spirit stones.”

The scarred man still had a disappointed look, but he replied kindly.

“No need for a reward. You answered my question earlier, so I will naturally introduce it to you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

At the same time, the group, including Jang Han, in gold, showed delighted expressions.

It was a good thing to be dropped off in such an unfamiliar place and hear about the internal situation from a local. Han Li also smiled and stood behind the others, listening attentively.