Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 283

Han Li prepared a separate refining room in his new residence, set up formations, and then entered with the Refined Crystal and the Ten-Thousand-Year Spiritual Liquid.

Thus, the door to the refining room remained firmly shut for a full year. Tasks outside the refining room were handled by controlling the giant ape puppet left outside the secret chamber.

His cave remained orderly, with no chaos. Then, one day, an unexpected event occurred.

Kukwakwakwang.

Without any warning, a tremendous vibration and noise suddenly echoed through the walls of the secret chamber. At the same time, the sound of huge waves and thunder faintly began to be heard, gradually growing louder until it seemed as if the small island had been caught in a storm.

Thud.

Finally, the stone door of the refining room opened.

Han Li, who had rushed out in an instant, was bewildered by what was happening. Then, another tremendous roar came from outside the cave. Hearing the sound, his hand fiercely brushed his waist, and a yellow light soared up.

It was a pale yellow formation flag embroidered with various symbols and patterns. Without much hesitation, he opened his mouth and a blue aura was released into the flag.

As the yellow light shot out, Han Li flicked his hand, and the flag burrowed into the ground and disappeared. Then, a low incantation flowed from Han Li’s mouth.

Then, an amazing thing happened.

All the walls of the residence glowed gold with the incantation, and the tremors and noise disappeared as if they were wearing golden armor.

Everything was restored to its original state.

Sighing, Han Li, with a question in his mind, flew out of the main gate of his residence.

A moment later, he appeared in the sky above the island. Although the barrier that spread the fog was activated, it could not obscure the vision of Han Li, the barrier’s master.

Han Li’s expression changed. Thanks to the golden barrier he had just reinforced, the mountain range where he resided was intact, but the space outside was in chaos.

Several mountains had already suffered landslides, with piles of earth and rocks pouring down, and the ground was cracked from the tremendous vibrations, leaving no bushes or vegetation intact.

However, this was not what surprised Han Li. What surprised him was the surge of waves on the sea surface around the island.

Rough waves, hundreds of feet high, crashed against the island in succession, and the flood of water turned half of the island into a swamp.

The starting point of the giant waves was somewhere in the sea fog of the vast ocean, where thunder and lightning struck and the cries of a strange beast echoed. As the sounds of the beast’s rampage grew louder, the thunder and waves also became more violent.

‘Is a high-level demon beast causing havoc in the nearby waters?’

With this level of impact, it had to be a demon beast of enormous size.

After assessing the situation for a moment, he turned into a beam of light and left the island. To prepare for any eventuality, he concealed his aura and presence, and the light emanating from his body became even fainter.

Once he escaped the sea fog of the island, as he had expected, a demon beast was causing all this turmoil not far away.

Although he had prepared himself mentally, the size of the demon beast was too immense.

It was a turtle-like demon beast he had never seen before, with a length of thousands of feet, and it felt like a giant mountain was writhing on the sea surface.

The turtle, with a jet-black shell and a blue head resembling a dragon, was bellowing, thrashing its four legs, thicker than pillars, and its silver tail. And every time it twisted its body left and right, enormous waves and winds were created, causing the surrounding waters to churn.

However, what caught Han Li’s attention were the thick bolts of lightning falling from the dark clouds formed tens of thousands of miles above. The lightning struck the turtle’s shell relentlessly with tremendous force.

The turtle was using the giant waves and eerie winds to deflect the lightning falling from the sky. It was still holding up well, but its actions were becoming increasingly ferocious, and its eyes, which were originally jade-colored, were turning red.

‘Transformation Lightning Tribulation [a trial of lightning a demon beast faces when evolving].’

Han Li’s eyes also flickered.

Transformation Lightning Tribulation was a heavenly disaster in the form of lightning that a seventh-level demon beast experienced when evolving into an eighth-level.

Only by passing this tribulation could it break free from its original form and have parts of its body transform into a human shape. The degree of change varied depending on the level of cultivation.

It was said that tenth-level demon beasts looked no different from humans.

He had read about the events that demon beasts went through during their transformation in books, but this was the first time he had seen it in person. He didn’t know if this was good luck or bad luck.

If it was good luck, it was reassuring that demon beasts of the eighth level or higher existed in the Land of Opportunities, meaning that finding the Thousand Leaf Dew was not impossible.

However, if it was bad luck, the fact that the giant turtle was evolving here meant that it would stay in the nearby waters, meaning that he was neighbors with an eighth-level demon beast!

It was not too late to run away now that it was just about to evolve into the eighth level.

Even if it hadn’t discovered his residence when it was a seventh-level demon beast, once it reached the eighth level, the situation could change.

That meant that he could be attacked by the turtle demon beast while cultivating in his residence. High-level demon beasts had a clear concept of their territory.

‘I just set up my residence, and now I have to abandon it and run away…’

Han Li was troubled, and the flying swords within his body stirred.

He had completed all seventy-two Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords just before leaving the secret chamber. The difficulty of refining the Refined Crystal had exceeded his expectations, and it had taken him a full year, not half a year, to finally succeed.

And since he was already in seclusion, he was cultivating the flying swords he had finished refining. If it hadn’t been for the commotion just now, he probably wouldn’t have left seclusion for a few more months.

‘If I were to launch a surprise attack while the demon beast’s vitality is greatly weakened, wouldn’t there be a chance of dealing with it? If I succeed, it’s a good thing, and if I fail, I can just find another residence then.’

As this thought crossed his mind, Han Li shook his head.

No matter how weakened it was, it was impossible for him to handle an eighth-level demon beast alone. He didn’t know how powerful an eighth-level demon beast was, but he had experienced the terror of a Nascent Soul cultivator [a high level of cultivation] of the same level.

It was better to give up his residence than to take such a risk.

If the Silver Centipede had not been in a state of cannibalism before laying eggs, he might have taken them out and tried to challenge it.

Han Li sighed as he still watched the lightning pouring down on the turtle. He decided to return to his residence before he got into trouble by hesitating.

Just as he was about to turn around, he heard a sharp tearing sound in the distance, and a faint golden light was detected. Then, from another direction, something like a bird’s chirping was heard, and a red light flew in.

Before Han Li could react in surprise, something even more shocking happened.

On the surface of the water not far from the turtle, a gale arose, and dozens of water pillars shot up. It looked as if something enormous was emerging from the sea.

Too surprised, Han Li quickly used his concealment technique and retreated.

Kuhahaha!

A blue light flashed, and a giant demon beast with a crimson body emerged from the waves. The demon beast let out a strange cry that echoed in his ears.

Han Li was so flustered that he almost fell from the sky, but he pulled up his magic power and calmed his mind. The Great Circulation quickly circulated through his body, stabilizing him, but the surprised look on his face did not fade.

‘A Poisonous Dragon!’

A faint look of fear appeared on Han Li’s face.

It looked exactly like the black dragon he had seen before, but the crimson dragon, over a hundred feet long, was a notorious poison-attribute dragon.

Judging from the glow of spiritual power flowing through the dragon’s red scales, it was undoubtedly an eighth-level demon beast. The unknown pressure emanating from the demon beast was something he had only felt from Nascent Soul old monsters.

The dragon was one of the few celestial spirit beasts passed down from ancient times, and its cultivation speed surpassed that of ordinary demon beasts. Once it reached a certain level, its magic power was also incomparable to its peers. For a purebred dragon, killing even higher-level demon beasts was not impossible.

If the information he had seen in the scriptures was true, then that poisonous dragon, although it was at the eighth level, would not be inferior to a ninth-level demon beast. How could he not be surprised!

The urge to run away immediately surged, but his cold reason restrained him. Two beams of light were approaching this way. There was no way they were flying in with good intentions, so it was a better plan to watch the situation and move than to run away without a plan.

However, he couldn’t just wait, so Han Li quietly took out the red Blood Cloak and put it on, and held the Five Elements Rings and the Basket Artifact in both hands.

He felt a little more at ease now.

The dragon stopped roaring and turned its head, discovering the turtle that was still suffering from the lightning strikes.

Then, a sinister blue light emanated from its body, and the dragon’s huge body began to shrink.

A moment later, a humanoid dragon with the physique of an ordinary person appeared in its place. Its head was still that of a ferocious dragon, but it had human arms and legs. The humanoid dragon, covered in crimson scales, was constantly wagging its thick tail.

Han Li was speechless when he first saw the dragon transforming.

The humanoid dragon stood on the waves with bare feet, as steady as if walking on flat ground.

“…”

The poisonous dragon’s dark blue eyes slowly turned towards the direction where Han Li was hiding. Feeling the sinister aura in its gaze, Han Li felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat formed on his hands holding the artifacts.

Fortunately, the golden and red lights arrived in succession not too late. The dragon’s cold gaze turned away from Han Li and towards the three cultivators who had appeared in the sky.

A Taoist elder with a divine appearance, wearing a golden Eight Trigrams robe, with a sword on his back and a horsetail whisk in his hand, stroked his beard. The elder seemed a little surprised by the appearance of the dragon, but soon showed a greedy look.

Not far from him stood two middle-aged men who looked similar. They had pale blue faces like corpses and wore flamboyant red robes, but they had different items. One had a large gourd-like bottle on his back, and the other held a long skull staff.

They looked at the giant turtle and the poisonous dragon below, but they remained expressionless and silent when they saw the Taoist.

The elder was at the early stage of Nascent Soul cultivation, while the other two middle-aged men were only at the late stage of Core Formation [a stage of cultivation]. However, strangely, the middle-aged men in red robes did not seem at all intimidated by the dragon or the elder.

The elder rolled his eyes and thought for a moment before greeting the middle-aged men with a smile.

“Hehe! I didn’t expect to meet Fellow Daoists Guan here. This humble Taoist has been rude.”

The middle-aged man with the gourd bottle on his back twitched his face and replied with the same unchanging expression.

“We also did not expect to meet Senior Jin here. If you intend to hunt these two demon beasts, my brother and I will yield.”

At those words, the elder felt frustrated.

One of the two was a poisonous dragon that was almost at the ninth level, and no matter how arrogant one was, how could one hunt it alone? In fact, if he didn’t trust the power of his magic treasures, he wouldn’t have even thought of challenging it.

The elder coughed a few times and then proposed directly.

“How can this humble Taoist defeat the poisonous dragon alone? Even if you two have the Heaven-Breaking Divine Sand, you won’t be able to trap and kill that demon beast. If we join forces, it might be possible. Are you interested? Eighth-level demon beasts haven’t appeared for many years. If we succeed by chance, I’ll give up the demon core and only take the dragon’s soul.”

Surprised by the proposal, the two middle-aged men exchanged glances. After discussing it in some way, the middle-aged man with the skull staff nodded and replied.

“Since Senior has said so, then we will! This is an opportunity we don’t want to give up, so we will do our best.”

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the middle-aged men flipped his hand and summoned the red gourd bottle from his back.

The elder was also pleased with the other party’s acceptance and took out a blue jade ring from his sleeve.

The poisonous dragon, who had been watching the three cultivators from below, seemed to have understood their words. It opened its mouth and shot a blood-colored beam at the elder, then disappeared from the sky.

And a moment later, the poisonous dragon appeared behind the two middle-aged men and extended its blue-tinged ten fingers.

Thump!

With a loud reverberation, a huge blue hand blocked its attack. The skull staff held by the middle-aged man had transformed into a demon on its own, saving their lives.

Even so, the Guo brothers couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spines.

However, at the same time, their red gourd bottle activated, emitting a clear sound and countless crystal formations. The red crystals, which seemed to cover the sky, dyed an area of a hundred feet in radius red, and the poisonous dragon was trapped inside.

# 285