Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 282

In the other stone chambers, the Blood Jade Spider, now only one remaining, the infant ape spirit, and the silkworm Gold Thread Silkworms collected from the Illusionary Sky Hall each occupied their own space.

The Blood Jade Spider was one thing, but even though the ape spirit possessed the Soul-Nourishing Pearl, something about it still made him reluctant to refine it.

And the Gold Thread Silkworms weren’t brought with any grand intention. He had simply taken them because they were a strange insect listed in the insect demon beast rankings.

While they were in their silkworm state, their ranking was low, not even comparable to the Blood Jade Spider, but there was an evolution stage that almost no other cultivators knew about.

Given enough time, the Gold Thread Silkworms would evolve into moths called Illusionary Flame Moths, and their power was incomparable to that of silkworms. They were strange insects ranked 17th in the insect demon beast rankings, and they were born with the ability to cast illusions.

How powerful they were was vaguely recorded in books, as they were a rare species even in ancient times.

Still, he figured there must be a reason for their high ranking, so he had brought the Gold Thread Silkworms despite the glares of many old monsters.

Of course, the silkworms that Mancheonmyeong had discarded without hesitation had severely damaged vitality and were on the verge of dying. Han Li had constantly given them rare elixirs like the Spirit Feeding Pill, barely keeping them alive.

However, it was inevitable that their condition was gradually worsening. Han Li headed to the stone chamber where the Gold Thread Silkworms were. As he entered the chamber, his brow furrowed.

The giant, blue-green silkworms were lying on the floor, motionless. If he hadn’t sensed even a faint trace of spiritual energy, he would have thought they were already dead. Without delay, he went inside the chamber to take a closer look.

After looking around for a while, Han Li selected a pair, the largest and most vigorous male and female. He took out a jade box from his pocket, gave them each an iridescent bead, and then left the chamber again.

Since they were unlikely to survive anyway, he thought he would test the efficacy of the beads. Given the great reputation of the Heaven Mending Pill, wouldn’t its medicinal properties be extraordinary?

If these beads were indeed condensed with the medicinal properties of the Heaven Mending Pill as he thought, then even if they couldn’t save the silkworms, they shouldn’t harm them.

In the following days, he processed special harvests like the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng.

Since it was essential for condensing the Nascent Soul [a stage of cultivation], it needed to be stored carefully. He prepared a special space in the center of the herb cultivation area.

Using several formation tools, he firmly sealed the area, and the surrounding ground was entirely replaced with a gold-like substance. Then, he replanted the ginseng, the main body of the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng.

The white rabbit, his clone that had been confined in the jade box, was not meant to stay there for long. If too much time passed, it could affect his main body.

Han Li placed the jade box, covered with all sorts of talismans, next to the main body of the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng and tore off all the talismans. Before Han Li could even open the jade box, a white light shot out and disappeared into the ginseng.

It seemed that after being captured once, the white rabbit had become even more timid.

His gaze fell on the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng, and he wondered what would happen if he used the mysterious green liquid from the bottle.

This question had been on his mind since he first acquired the main body. However, since the green liquid was needed in many other places, he decided to postpone this for later.

Besides, if he used the green liquid, the miraculous power of the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng might increase, and it could break through the formation and escape. How regretful would that be!

It wasn’t just an ordinary weed; it was a spiritual medicine of the immortal family with a transformation body outside the body, so he had to be very careful. After carefully arranging the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng while pondering these thoughts, he withdrew his attention.

He now intended to pour all the green liquid produced into the Soul-Nourishing Wood, one of the Three Great Divine Trees.

It was just a stump now, but given a few years, the day he would see the ten-thousand-year-old Soul-Nourishing Wood again wouldn’t be far off.

He was about to examine the Illusionary Sky Cauldron in detail, but he became intrigued after unconsciously discovering a rib fragment in the Demonic Treasure Pouch.

It was strange, the more he thought about it, that only this rib fragment had remained intact even amidst the immense power of the Asura Sacred Flame. Lying on his bed, he stared at the pure white bone, his curiosity burning.

This rib was probably not a bone of a true immortal. Judging by the situation, the old monster had only disguised it that way to avoid the attention of others.

Judging by its special material and the faint spiritual energy it emitted, it wasn’t a magical treasure, but something that someone had refined and created.

However, no matter how much he injected his consciousness or poured spiritual power into it, there was no reaction.

“Hmm…”

After much deliberation, he remembered that the old demon had learned techniques related to ghosts. Perhaps the rib bone could only be made to react by using yin and ghostly energy.

Han Li didn’t possess dark energy, but suddenly, the Soul-Devouring Bowl came to mind. The ghosts in the bowl had been completely consumed while refining the puppets, but the dark energy that had permeated it remained.

His hand brushed against the Demonic Treasure Pouch, and a jet-black bowl appeared. A blue light flashed from Han Li’s finger as he looked at the Soul-Devouring Bowl.

Yin energy was absorbed into his body through his palm and slowly transferred to the other hand holding the rib bone.

The cold yin energy emitted a black light and quickly enveloped the bone. Han Li watched the scene without blinking.

The rib bone finally reacted, and its pure white surface began to turn black. Even though only a small amount of yin energy had been injected, half of it had already turned black.

Han Li wasn’t surprised; instead, he raised the corners of his eyes. He closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before getting up from the bed. Then, a blue aura exploded from the hand holding the Soul-Devouring Bowl.

“Kieeeek!”

At the same time, a ghostly cry echoed from his other hand, and an even larger black aura gathered. The rib bone greedily absorbed the yin energy.

After a short while, the bone had turned completely black due to the continuous absorption of yin energy, and a jet-black light burst out, filling the room with a gloomy aura.

Han Li hesitated for a moment, then withdrew the Soul-Devouring Bowl and released the rib bone from his other hand. The black bone floated away from his hand, and the yin energy that had surrounded it also dissipated in the black light.

Han Li’s eyes gleamed as he watched these incomprehensible phenomena.

However, after howling softly in the air and emitting black light, the bone showed no further changes.

After a while, Han Li reached out his hand towards the air. The rib bone cut through the black aura and returned to him.

Han Li stared at the bone for a moment, then slowly injected his consciousness into it.

“… !”

This time, as if a barrier that could never be passed had been lifted, he succeeded in injecting his consciousness very smoothly.

As a result, a black light flashed, and a series of huge ancient characters and patterns flashed before his eyes.

‘It was a book!’

There was a look of surprise on Han Li’s face. His guess that it might be a book made of special materials had been correct.

Unable to hide his excitement, Han Li began to read each character carefully.

‘Profound Yin Great Method.’

It was a very familiar phrase. Although he had never directly practiced the famous demonic cultivation technique, the Profound Yin Great Method, the Blood Lotus Divine Light that his clone, Gokhon, had cultivated was also derived from this technique.

He examined the initial techniques and read many similar cultivation methods before making a judgment. This rib bone-shaped book was the Profound Yin Scripture.

He was a little disappointed.

Since he had already mastered the Azure Origin Sword Technique, no matter how domineering and powerful the Profound Yin Great Method was, it would be foolish to learn it again.

However, it was possible to learn the demonic secret techniques in the latter part of the Profound Yin Scripture. He examined the secret techniques that had seemed so mysterious one by one, and surprise, joy, complex emotions, and excitement began to show on his face. The power of the secret techniques was beyond imagination.

If he mastered the Azure Origin Sword Technique to its full extent and learned the secret techniques within the Profound Yin Scripture, he might not be a match for a Nascent Soul cultivator, but he would have the ability to preserve his life.

The Extreme Yin Sect’s Heavenly Corpse Transformation was naturally one of them, and the Jiangshi [a type of Chinese hopping vampire], called Heavenly Corpse Fiends, were a refining method that was additionally obtained by mastering this secret technique.

Unfortunately, it was only for Nascent Soul cultivators or higher who had mastered the Profound Yin Great Method, or Han Li would have tried to learn it himself.

He knew the power of the Heavenly Corpse Transformation best, as he had seen it firsthand. And he knew its weaknesses. Having discovered them, Han Li couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

Perhaps if he were to face the Extreme Yin Sect again, he was confident that he could surprise them. He looked at the Profound Yin Scripture again and memorized two or three secret techniques that he liked among those that a Core Formation cultivator could learn.

Then, he carefully put away the bone containing the Profound Yin Scripture. Satisfied with this harvest, Han Li reached into the Demonic Treasure Pouch for the Illusionary Sky Cauldron, feeling a burning passion.

If he could open the Illusionary Sky Cauldron, he would obtain the Heaven Mending Pill as well as many ancient treasures, instantly gaining immense power.

With this hope, he spent his days and nights studying the small cauldron and examining ancient scriptures, except for checking on the Gold Thread Silkworms once a day.

However, unfortunately, after almost a month, he had made no progress. The Illusionary Sky Cauldron, said to be the number one secret of the Chaotic Star Sea, did not easily reveal its secrets to a Core Formation cultivator.

It was truly amazing.

It neither burned in fire nor got wet in water, and no matter what magical treasures or ancient treasures he used, he couldn’t even make a scratch on it, let alone open it. Even when he gathered the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords, which had just recovered their Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, and struck it with lightning, there was no reaction at all.

He tried all sorts of other methods, but it was all in vain. Finally, he calmed his mind and put the cauldron back into the Demonic Treasure Pouch.

He couldn’t even touch the Azure Flame Liquid, which he had expected to be closely related to opening the Illusionary Sky Cauldron.

It was the Azure Flame Ice Flame that even Nascent Soul old monsters feared.

He decided not to try to control the Azure Flame Ice Flame until he reached the late stage of Core Formation or entered the Nascent Soul stage. This level of judgment was only natural.

While he was doing this, the two Gold Thread Silkworms that had taken the iridescent beads showed no particular changes. It seemed that the medicinal properties had not yet manifested.

However, in another secret chamber, tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles had begun a large-scale cannibalistic battle. The day when more evolved Gold Devouring Beetle eggs would be born was not far off.

The most important task he now had before him was to refine the seventy-two Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords once again. He intended to melt the Refined Crystal he had obtained from the lava furnace into all the flying swords.

If he did this, there would be almost no weapon in the world that could damage the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords. It was his greatest weapon for gaining an advantage in future battles with high-level cultivators. The problem was that refining the Refined Crystal was arduous.

Since it was a special material, he estimated that it would take at least half a year to slowly melt it with the help of formations. Moreover, if his magical power was exhausted during the refining process and he had to stop, there was a possibility of ruining the material.

It was not a problem that could be taken lightly.

With his cultivation at the early stage of Core Formation [a stage of cultivation], there was a risk of failure even with the aid of spiritual medicines. However, although he had used some, he still had the Ten-Thousand-Year Spiritual Liquid left, which greatly reduced his worries.

Considering that he would be going out to sea to face unknown demon beasts, it was important to increase the power of his magical treasures.

# 284