Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 316

Zi Ling’s expression returned to its usual coldness, betraying no reaction. Wen Quan, observing this, spoke with a sinister tone.

“Is it because you believe my cultivation is too weak for me to prevail? Or are you plotting a rebellion? Don’t forget that our Reverse Star Alliance has already seized most of Nanseong; there’s nowhere for a Core Formation cultivator like you to escape! If you obey my orders now, I’ll overlook your insubordination.”

Faced with his threat, Zi Ling’s resolve wavered slightly this time.

Before she could make a decision, she noticed the maids who had been guarding the carriages approaching from a distance. Wen Quan was greatly pleased, but Zi Ling couldn’t conceal her bitter feelings.

The Foundation Establishment female cultivators were not much help in a direct fight, but in the current situation, they could have been useful. However, her bitter smile quickly vanished.

From a different direction than the maids, a dozen or so cultivators appeared.

When some of them cast lecherous glances at his maids, a vicious look flashed across Wen Quan’s face, but his expression swiftly changed as he became fixated on another area of the island.

Then, everyone else couldn’t help but look in that direction as well.

“What’s happening…”

The darkness that covered the distant sea was rapidly approaching them. Someone cried out in a trembling voice.

“Isn’t that a Ghost Demon!”

The one who spoke didn’t even look back as they turned and began to flee. The other cultivators, realizing that the darkness was actually a dense, black Ghost Demon, also frantically scattered.

Wen Quan and Zi Ling were equally surprised.

Then, without hesitation, Zi Ling stomped her foot, transforming into a streak of red light and attempting to pierce through the air.

Wen Quan, also looking tense, glanced at the Ghost Demon and the golden flames beneath his feet. He gritted his teeth and spat out a mouthful of blood.

In an instant, the flames grew larger, and using that opportunity, he also turned into a streak of golden light and tried to escape. Naturally, his maids quickly followed behind him.

However, at the same moment, a strange phenomenon occurred.

Before the group of cultivators who had left first could even escape the island, they began to plummet. Wen Quan and the others, seeing them falling like arrows, also lost their balance and followed suit.

All of their flying artifacts had lost their spiritual energy.

Thanks to their Core Formation cultivation, Zi Ling and Wen Quan lasted a little longer, but eventually, they too lost their light and fell into the deep sea.

At the same time, the golden barrier and flames surrounding Han Li flickered and disappeared, revealing the eight small mirrors in their original form.

“……!”

When Han Li, with a surprised expression, appeared after the gray protective barrier also vanished, he too was unable to use any of his magic power and fell downwards.

Just as Han Li was about to crash into a pile of rocks after falling fiercely from the sky, his body began to move violently.

His waist twisted at a strange angle, and his two feet crossed, changing his trajectory in mid-air and landing gently on the top of a nearby giant tree.

Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

Fortunately, he had learned the martial art, the Raging Swallow Step, allowing him to survive without using any magic power. However, the other Foundation Establishment cultivators who had fallen on the island were unlikely to be as fortunate as he was.

Before he could calm his surprised heart, a terrifying sound came from afar. Startled, he quickly looked around and saw the two sets of Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords that he had not yet recalled lying on the ground. Next to them were eight golden mirrors, a basket treasure, and a silver paper.

They all looked dark and gloomy, as if they had lost their spiritual energy and no longer resembled magical treasures. Startled, he immediately tried to spread his consciousness to recall the treasures, but his heart turned cold.

His strong consciousness did not extend from his body as if it did not exist.

Han Li took a deep breath and thought. If he could no longer use his consciousness after losing his magic power, he would be no different from an ordinary mortal.

In this state, not only would he be unable to use magic power to wield magical treasures or techniques, but he would also be unable to open his storage pouch to take out items or summon the spirit beasts inside his spirit beast pouch.

He turned his head and looked at the black fog approaching with terrifying momentum, his face turning pale.

Considering the speed of the Ghost Demon, it was impossible for him to escape with a mortal body. He jumped down from the tree and grabbed all the scattered treasures on the ground. Fortunately, they were all small enough to fit in his pockets.

Just as he had finished gathering all the treasures, the black fog began to descend on the island. And his body began to be pulled towards the Ghost Demon by an unknown force. He twisted his body and used the Raging Swallow Step to try to escape the force’s influence, but it was completely useless.

Soon, he completely disappeared into the murky fog where black lightning was crackling. And then, both he and the Ghost Demon soon vanished from sight.

* * *

Buzzing.

Pulled somewhere, Han Li’s head was ringing from the unknown noises that were rushing at him, and he couldn’t distinguish anything in the darkness before his eyes.

Suddenly, his body fell from the empty air.

Thud.

However, the place he fell was not the ground. A strong fishy smell assaulted his nose, and when he felt around his body, he found that he was covered in something sticky and liquid.

After staring into the darkness for a while, he realized that he was surrounded by countless fish. They were still jumping around. When he tried to get up, he was hit by a severe headache and nausea, and his limbs gave way, causing him to fall again.

It seemed to be the result of being forcibly teleported without the protection of magic power. He probably wouldn’t be able to move his body for a while. Since it had come to this, Han Li simply lay down comfortably on the pile of fish.

He decided to rest for a while to replenish his strength and wait until he could feel strength in his hands and feet.

At that moment, something like black lightning flashed above his head. When he looked around, guided by the light, he saw that there were stalactites hanging everywhere, and it seemed to be inside a cave.

Something was inside the black mass of light that had just appeared. The black light flashed and disappeared, and the object inside fell straight towards Han Li.

Startled, he desperately wanted to avoid it, but he couldn’t because he still didn’t have any strength in his body.

“Ah!”

As a result, a woman’s small scream and a plump, soft body fell on top of him. Unexpectedly, there was someone who had been teleported with him.

She had also lost her senses and was so flustered that she struggled to get up, grabbing Han Li’s hair in the process.

Unable to help it, Han Li let out a sigh at the sudden pain.

“Haa. Who is it?”

Only then did she realize that she was crushing a strange man. She was so surprised that she tried to get up immediately, but she fell right back down.

As a result, her eyes met Han Li’s, completely overlapping with him. Even though it was dark and she couldn’t see clearly, it was clear that she was a young woman.

“Who are you?”

“A man you don’t know!”

It was a pleasant voice, but it was clearly the voice of a stranger he had never heard before, so Han Li had made a joke for a moment.

The woman glared at Han Li, feeling embarrassed and dumbfounded by his words. Then, she flailed her hands and feet, trying to get off Han Li’s face, but it was no use.

As the woman breathed and wriggled her body, which was completely pressed against him, Han Li naturally began to feel uncomfortable.

“…What are you doing?”

The woman, flustered by the changes she felt in Han Li’s body, glared at him, but somehow, she looked cute.

He muttered as if he couldn’t help it.

“It’s not that I’m doing something, but it’s a natural reaction for a normal man. I’ve already lost my magic power and consciousness, so what can I do if I’m not a saint?”

“Huh!”

It was clearly a dumbfounded reaction, but she seemed to agree with Han Li’s explanation. What could she do when she couldn’t move either?

For a moment, only the heartbeats of the man and woman echoed in the darkness. It was a strange experience. Lying on a pile of countless fish with a strange woman!

After a moment of silence, the woman spoke again.

“Are you one of the cultivators who entered the island first?”

“You could say that.”

From this question, Han Li thought that the woman had come with the group of Foundation Establishment cultivators he had seen before the Ghost Demon had attacked.

“Hmph, what do you mean by ‘you could say that’?”

Just as he was about to gloss over it with a smile, he heard the flickering of flames and several signs of people from afar.

Han Li was startled.

There were unexpectedly other people here, but they didn’t seem to have been swept away by the fog like they had. They were quickly closing the distance.

Finally, five sturdy men appeared with torches. They were all about a head taller than Han Li and looked to be in their thirties or forties.

The men, wearing green clothes and holding white swords in one hand, were running hastily while carrying large leather sacks on their backs.

As he was surprised and trying to guess their identities, black hair blocked his vision. The woman in his arms had also turned her head to check on the approaching people and was trembling with anxiety.

Han Li moved his fingers and toes at her movement and predicted that his body would soon return to normal.

Eventually, the group with torches arrived in front of them. As the torches approached, his vision widened a little further.

Han Li was surrounded by pale fish, and he and the girl were on top of them. However, the distance was still dark, so he could only guess that there was a large space.

The men stopped about thirty feet away from Han Li. Then, they quickly untied the leather sacks on their backs and began to frantically scoop up the fish.

It was an unexpected action.

The woman, who was still in his arms, also gasped, but it was such a small sound that the men had not yet noticed. Only then did Han Li turn his head to the woman.

A beautiful face was revealed in the dim red light.

The woman, feeling Han Li staring at her, blushed and turned her head away. Now, only her eyes, illuminated by the light, sparkled in her face, which was once again hidden in the darkness.

At that moment, the man on watch suddenly turned his head and called out in a low voice to the others.

“That’s enough, let’s go back quickly! The Fire Scale Beast is coming.”

The others, who had been working busily, immediately put on their sacks and ran in another direction. Only two torches that they had not yet picked up remained there.

Shortly after, a long howl was heard from the distant darkness. A crimson body, about a foot tall, passed through the darkness and disappeared.

In that short time, Han Li clearly saw the appearance of what they called the Fire Scale Beast. The ferocious-looking monster, with a leopard’s head and covered in red scales, had sharp teeth growing all over its mouth.

In the blink of an eye, silence returned. Han Li let out a long breath. It was fortunate that the monster had not found them.

After a little more time, he slowly clenched his fist and gently lifted the woman in his arms, slowly raising his body. His body had finally returned to normal.

The woman muttered in a flustered voice.

“O-oh, let me go quickly. I’ll be fine soon too.”

“If you want to stay on the pile of fish, I’ll do that for you.”

At Han Li’s calm words, she hesitated for a moment and then closed her mouth. Han Li lightly lifted her up, jumped off the pile of fish, and walked towards the light.

He didn’t know where this place was, but it would be difficult to move around without light.

He bent down and picked up one of the torches, looking around and lost in thought. After a while, the woman in his arms opened her mouth, looking embarrassed.

“I can really move now. Please put me down.”

Han Li gently put her down, and the woman, after adjusting her skirt for a moment, picked up a torch and looked around. Han Li suddenly began to walk towards the direction the men had come from.

“Where are you going?”

“The monster from before might come back, so I’m trying to find a safe place first.”

He answered without turning his head, despite the woman’s anxious voice. The woman, showing fear at the mention of the monster returning, hesitated for a moment before quickly following him.

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