Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 294

Han Li waved his hand expressionlessly, and the twelve small swords merged into one before disappearing into his sleeve. He spoke again, clearly and concisely.

“Now, let’s continue our discussion.”

Although he had just attacked and severely injured his opponent, he had only incapacitated him, not eliminated his ability to fight.

After a moment, Yun Cheon-so, his body stained with blood, barely managed to stand up and looked at him with fear-filled eyes.

“Very well. Since I’ve lost, you can take Moon Sa-wol or not as you please. However, a certain senior has already marked her as a cultivation partner, so you should prepare for the consequences.”

With a pale face, he took out a few talismans and stuck them to his body. Soon, a green light emanated, and his wounds visibly began to heal.

‘A cultivation partner!’

Now he understood why Moon Sa-wol had desperately tried to escape. His heart grew cold at the hidden warning in the man’s words.

“Regardless of what others think, I will take this woman, so it would be best to stop threatening me. I’m not in a good mood right now, and I might just stain this place with blood.”

With an emotionless face, Han Li looked around at the cultivators.

It wasn’t just an empty threat. If he were certain that he could kill all the Core Formation cultivators here, he would have eliminated them all to silence them. However, his words alone were enough to terrify the other cultivators.

The cultivators, impressed by his boldness and skill, concluded that he was a Nascent Soul old monster hiding his true identity. The tense cultivators stared at Han Li without blinking.

Yun Cheon-so also found it increasingly strange. A mere early Core Formation cultivator had almost killed him, a mid-Core Formation cultivator, and was searching for some eighth-grade demon beast.

His face twisted in confusion.

Moon Sa-wol had risked everything to avoid becoming another cultivator’s cultivation partner, but now, she was astonished as the cultivator named ‘Ryeo’ had overwhelmed all the other cultivators with his overwhelming power.

The Yun Cheon-so she had feared so much was severely injured, and Madam Beom was pale and speechless. It was all so surprising and new, as if she were in a happy dream.

Han Li sneered at the sight of everyone being wary of him and waved his hand. At the same time, a black cultivator’s coin fragment floated up and landed in his hand.

He examined it closely.

The black cultivator’s lips moved, but he didn’t dare voice his dissatisfaction. He had already seen how Han Li had dealt with Yun Cheon-so, who was at a similar level, and knew he was no match for him.

Han Li put down the coin fragment and calmly asked the owner of the item.

“I’ll take it. How many spirit stones do you want?”

“7… no, 5,000 spirit stones will do.”

The black cultivator was surprised and unconsciously lowered the price. Han Li took out a fifth-grade demon core and tossed it to him.

“Exchange this for what you need. Also, don’t go around saying that I’ve robbed your sect’s female disciple. Consider these materials as payment for releasing this girl.”

Han Li turned his head to look at Madam Beom and slowly began to leave the room. After a moment, Moon Sa-wol, who had suddenly come to her senses, quickly followed closely behind him.

Then, Madam Beom called out.

“Senior Ryeo, please wait a moment!”

Han Li stopped and turned back with a questioning look. He had to admit that the woman had a lot of nerve to stop him in this situation.

However, Moon Sa-wol seemed to be trembling with tension as she moved even closer to Han Li.

“What is it?”

Madam Beom smiled seductively and answered respectfully.

“Are you not planning to return to the Inner Sea, Senior? Our Myoeum Sect is likely to find a way to return to the Inner Sea soon.”

“What do you mean?”

Sensing his displeasure, Madam Beom didn’t beat around the bush and revealed the truth.

“The Myoeum Sect is preparing a teleportation array to return to the Inner Sea, but we are lacking the most crucial material. This exchange meeting was also organized to ask for help from various cultivators. If you help our sect complete the teleportation array, we will send you to the Inner Sea for free.”

Everyone gathered there was surprised by Madam Beom’s words.

Everyone had thought about escaping the Outer Sea, which had already become a demon beast’s domain, and returning to the Inner Sea.

However, without a teleportation array, it would take at least five or six years to reach the Inner Sea, no matter how fast one flew. Of course, no one knew what dangers or demon beasts they might encounter and lose their lives to during that time.

The white-haired old woman questioned in a cold voice.

“You say you have a teleportation array, but what about the teleportation stones? Surely, the Myoeum Sect hasn’t found a way to refine teleportation stones, have you?”

Madam Beom answered with a serious face.

“Senior Cheong, you don’t need to worry about that. Even if our sect cannot refine teleportation stones ourselves, we have already purchased them through some channels before the demon beast rampage. There are enough to send all the cultivators here back to the Inner Sea.

However, the most crucial material for the teleportation array, the Illusion Dream Stone, is very rare. After years of effort, we found a source, but it happens to be near an area inhabited by high-grade demon beasts.

The demon beasts are mostly fifth or sixth grade, and there are quite a few of them, making it impossible for a small number of cultivators to deal with them cleanly. If even one is missed, higher-grade demon beasts will swarm in, leading to disaster. For this reason, we are asking for your help.”

Infiltrating a demon beast’s lair was not an easy decision, so everyone was lost in thought. After a while, the black cultivator asked.

“Wouldn’t it be more likely to succeed if we could invite even one Nascent Soul senior, rather than cultivators like us?”

Madam Beom smiled wryly and glanced at Han Li.

“Do you think I haven’t tried? However, most of the Nascent Soul seniors have disappeared since the demon beast rampage. The only one we managed to contact was Senior Myohak, and what he asked for was Sa-wol. Only with the participation of a Nascent Soul cultivator can we deal with the seventh-grade demon beast among the group.”

Upon hearing that, Han Li scratched his chin. He pondered for a moment before stating his opinion.

“Ryeo has no interest in this matter, so everyone should do their best.”

After speaking, he walked towards the door without hesitation. Moon Sa-wol hurriedly followed him, just a step behind. No one stopped him, leaving the others dumbfounded in the main hall.

Madam Beom looked visibly disappointed, but Yun Cheon-so, who had been silent all along, took charge of the situation.

“Since Senior Ryeo has no interest, our sect cannot force him. Then, I will share the information about the Illusion Dream Stone with the others, so each of you can make the right decision on whether you can help with this matter…”

He spoke fluently, as if he hadn’t just been severely injured.

* * *

Moon Sa-wol quietly asked from behind him.

“Senior, do you really have no intention of returning to the Inner Sea?”

“Do you want to go back?”

“It’s not that, but…”

The woman’s voice gradually faded, and she couldn’t finish her sentence. Han Li, who had already left the building, took her and sped towards the exit.

Since he had already achieved his goal, there was no reason to stay there any longer. Ignoring the puzzled gaze of the old man guarding the door, Han Li left the underground passage. He immediately soared into the sky with the woman.

Moon Sa-wol was silent during the flight, leaving everything to Han Li. He didn’t feel like explaining anything, so he focused solely on flying.

Two days later, Han Li and Moon Sa-wol finally found an uninhabited island with dense spiritual energy and slowly descended to the ground.

The island had high mountains with lush trees. Han Li circled a few peaks before landing on the side of a mountain.

Then, Han Li’s flying swords created a small cave dwelling in just a few hours. The cave was much smaller and simpler in structure than the one on the Sea Mist Island.

However, it had a bedroom, a secret room, a place to store magical artifacts, and a herb garden. After briefly looking around the cave, Han Li seemed satisfied. He placed several barriers at the entrance and led Moon Sa-wol inside.

He entered the bedroom and sat on a stone chair he had just carved, looking over the woman.

“You can stay here now. I will teach you the incantation for the formation at the cave entrance, so focus on your cultivation and strive to reach Core Formation.”

“Thank you for your grace, Senior Ryeo.”

She was nervous under Han Li’s gaze, as if she had done something wrong. Suddenly, Han Li smiled.

“Senior Ryeo…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. From now on, I should probably…”

She was surprised and lowered her head, hesitating. She wasn’t sure how to address him if she became his concubine. Han Li scratched his nose and said calmly.

“Just call me Teacher Ryeo.”

He was still talking with the face of a middle-aged man, not revealing his true appearance. Moon Sa-wol obediently replied.

“Yes, Teacher Ryeo.”

He nodded in satisfaction and asked in a gentle tone what he had been curious about.

“When did Cultivator Moon start living in the Outer Sea, and how did Madam Beom become an elder of the Myoeum Sect? I thought the Myoeum Sect was always led by Fairy Jaryeong.”

Moon Sa-wol was quite surprised that he suddenly brought up the Myoeum Sect, as she had expected him to ask about the demon beast lair.

“You seem to know a lot about our sect’s situation?”

After organizing her thoughts for a moment, the woman explained, moving her red lips.

“Before the Myoeum Sect moved to the Outer Sea, the young sect leader was indeed in charge of everything. However, while the young sect leader was away in the Sky Heaven Hall, an incident occurred. When I returned to the sect, Tak Woo-sa had already disappeared, and the sect’s power had long fallen into the hands of Madam Beom and outsiders.

Later, I found out that they were demonic cultivators and that the Myoeum Sect had been subjugated by the demonic path. As soon as Madam Beom became the sect leader, she led most of the disciples here. I was swept away and came here at that time. Since then, our sect has started opening a secret market, and it has continued until today.

Those female disciples who had other intentions have disappeared or been sold off, and I would have become another’s cultivation partner if I hadn’t met Teacher Ryeo today.”

“Why did Sect Leader Beom move to the Outer Sea? It can’t be just to open a secret market.”

“I’m not sure about that. However, Madam Beom and a demonic cultivator with the surname Yun seemed to be gathering various information under the guise of the secret market, as if they were looking for something.”

Han Li stopped asking questions and fell into thought.

According to her words, it seemed that the rebellion in the Myoeum Sect had occurred after he had saved her. It was when Fairy Jaryeong and he were in the Sky Heaven Hall.

And as soon as Madam Beom gained power, she brought a large number of disciples to the Strange Island, and around that time, the Reverse Alliance launched an attack on the Heavenly Star City.

He didn’t know which demonic forces had taken over the Myoeum Sect, but he could tell that they had a significant position within the Reverse Alliance. Otherwise, all these events couldn’t have coincided so perfectly.

When Fairy Jaryeong returned from the Sky Heaven Hall, the Myoeum Sect would have been empty. However, he didn’t know what the demonic path was looking for here by using the female disciples of the Myoeum Sect.

Han Li didn’t want to think any more about matters that were not related to him. Moreover, since the Myohak True Person, who was his enemy, was involved with the Myoeum Sect, he didn’t want to get involved any further. That was why he had rejected Madam Beom’s proposal outright.

In any case, he had no intention of returning to the Inner Sea until he broke through his cultivation bottleneck and reached the late stage of Core Formation. Even though demon beasts were rampant here, it was safer for him, who possessed great treasures, than the Inner Sea.

# 296