Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 331

After setting up the formation, Han Li, showing no signs of resting, carefully planted the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng in the small herb garden inside the cave and placed a powerful restriction on it. The Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng was an essential item that he absolutely could not afford to lose in order to form his Nascent Soul [a stage of cultivation].

Following that, he placed the gold and silver Devouring Gold Beetles in the breeding room. The three-colored Devouring Gold Beetles could not be grown into the Expected Grass, so they were simply kept in the storage pouch. Next to the insect breeding room, he had prepared a special room for refining souls.

The monkey, who had fallen into a deep sleep after consuming a large amount of Yin Underworld Water in Stormwind Mountain, did not wake up even when he tried to rouse it. This was different from its previous habit of simply sleeping a lot. It seemed that after absorbing a large amount of souls, it was trying to evolve again.

Therefore, as soon as he secured a safe space, he had arranged for it to rest comfortably. At the same time, he thought that he should thoroughly refine the Underworld Soul Pearl he carried before the spirit beast woke up.

He was worried that if the spirit beast continued to grow like this, it would eventually escape his control. In fact, even when the silver giant monkey was rampaging in the Yin Underworld Land, there were frequent signs that the Underworld Soul Pearl inside his body was trying to stir.

The side effects of refining the Underworld Soul Pearl that Yuan Yao had mentioned did not seem to be a big problem for him, as his consciousness was stronger than hers.

Moreover, since the soul refining itself had evolved twice, those side effects might have disappeared, and since he had overcome the hardships with that tremendous power, it was worth taking the small risk to control the spirit beast.

Besides this, there was still an important matter to deal with. It was the wind energy that still remained in his body!

Although he didn’t believe that the Wind Chasing Hand, Feng Xi, would chase him all the way to Tiannan, it would still be a problem to keep such a hidden danger in his body.

The problem was that it was impossible to refine this evil energy through cultivation right now. Now, the only method left was the simplest and most brute-force way of forcibly pushing it out of his body using his magic power.

This was also a task that could not be completed in a short time, so he had postponed it until now. Now that he had found some stability, it was time to deal with it.

First, Han Li released a few giant monkey puppets from the herb garden to act as his eyes and ears, preparing for anyone’s visit, and then he went into the training room.

Sitting cross-legged in the quiet space, Han Li examined the situation inside his body.

A golden bead-like object was located around his dantian [energy center], but it did not show any particular abnormalities. After taking a moment to regulate his breathing, he released the golden Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning that was surrounding the evil energy, one by one.

Then, the evil energy immediately wriggled, as if it was about to burst out through the gap. When a very small amount of the evil energy escaped, he firmly sealed the rest with the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning again.

He had no idea what this turbid evil energy, called the wind energy, was made of, but even a tiny amount of it caused Han Li to tremble in pain.

He endured with his strong willpower and began to push it out using the magic power of his entire body. Although he seemed to be sitting still, large drops of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his complexion turned pale in an instant.

Without realizing how much time had passed, two hours had flown by.

Han Li’s eyes opened, and when he spread his palm, two drops of gray liquid were released from his middle finger. And two very small holes were carved into the wall he was facing.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, his expression became a little more relaxed. It was a very painful and demanding task, but he had successfully done it. If he did this for a certain amount of time every day, he would be able to completely remove the evil energy from his body in half a year.

He had taken care of one thing that had been bothering him.

After taking a rest, Han Li calmly took out a black book from his storage pouch.

It was a book containing information about the Nine Spirits Formation, which he had wanted to look at for a long time, but had not had the time.

After that, Han Li spent his days dividing his time precisely.

Two hours were spent driving out the evil energy, and the rest of the time was focused on researching the Nine Spirits Formation and refining the Underworld Soul Pearl. Meanwhile, the puppets carried out his orders and handled external affairs.

In addition to this, he did not forget to continuously use the green bottle to grow the Expected Grass and feed it to the Devouring Gold Beetles. The day when they would breed and evolve was not far off.

Several months passed like that.

During that time, Mo Peiling had only visited twice, and after confirming that he was doing the work he had ordered, he did not ask about or pay attention to anything else.

Han Li was very satisfied with Mo Peiling’s attitude, which was neither overly friendly nor dismissive. It was better for him to be completely forgotten so that he could focus on his cultivation.

After another month had passed, and he had gained some understanding of the Nine Spirits Formation, he immediately set up the Nine Spirits Formation in front of the cave. Now that the formation was concealing even the fluctuations of spiritual energy, no matter how much one examined the stone mountain, they would not be able to find anything unusual.

It was a satisfactory result.

Another three months passed, and the work of refining the Underworld Soul Pearl and removing the wind energy also achieved their goals in quick succession.

Surprisingly, he did not feel any headaches until the Underworld Soul Pearl became almost one with his consciousness. He could only guess that the soul refining had evolved, and the Underworld Soul Pearl had also changed as a result.

The wind energy was also exhausting only at first, and after removing more than half of it, it became much easier. The pain that he felt when the evil energy flared up also weakened, and the time it took also shortened. He was able to easily push out the last remaining part.

Han Li explored his body several times, and when he found nothing wrong, he finally felt completely at ease. Having finished the urgent matters, he now turned his attention to cultivation and refining pills using the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng.

In the case of cultivation, after much deliberation, he decided to proceed with both the Great Stellar Connection Technique and the Azure Essence Sword Technique at the same time. Based on his experience when making decisions, he knew that the stronger his consciousness, the more beneficial it would be to break through the boundaries of cultivation.

The Great Stellar Connection Technique would not be easy, but it was worth trying.

In any case, even if a strong consciousness did not help with the condensation of the Nascent Soul, it would certainly help in dealing with enemies. Even if this delayed the increase of his magic power, it was a choice he would not regret.

And he could not neglect the matter of the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng. Leaving aside the other ingredients, the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng, the Eighth-Grade Demonic Grass, and the Agate Horn were things that could never be found here in Tiannan.

If he failed in pill refining, it would be the end of it. So, in between his cultivation, he studied the pill recipe for the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng and frequently practiced refining other pills that required similar processes.

Time passed like this again.

During that time, Han Li learned the language of the demon race in order to understand the contents of the copper coins and leather books he had in his possession. The demon race technique called the Nine Transformations of Gale, written in the book, was for avian demon cultivators and consisted of a magic seal, a movement technique, and two types of secret techniques.

The magic seal and movement technique were completely for demon cultivators, and it was clear that one’s body would collapse before they could even master them if they did not have an incredibly strong body.

And among the two types of secret techniques, the Concealing Wind Technique was the nameless incantation he had learned before, and only the Blood Shadow Escape Technique caught Han Li’s attention.

As the name suggested, it was a strange flying technique that allowed one to instantly escape over a hundred miles by borrowing the power of essence blood. This kind of mysterious secret technique was mainly used by demonic cultivators. However, the Blood Shadow Escape was different from the secret techniques used by human cultivators.

First of all, the distance could not be adjusted, so once it was activated, one had to transform into a blood-colored shadow and appear over a hundred miles away.

And the amount of essence blood needed to use the technique was fixed and automatically depleted from the body. If it was insufficient, one’s body would explode and die on the way. It was an extremely dangerous secret technique.

Finally, one had to have wings to use this secret technique.

The Blood Shadow Escape had a special technique that made the body lighter, so if one did not maintain balance with wings during the extremely fast movement, the direction could be changed by even a small force, and one could fall somewhere.

It was suitable for him to learn. Didn’t he have wings that others didn’t have?

Although they were only magic tools, they were no different from real wings since he could control them freely. Moreover, if it was really this miraculous, it would be perfect for escaping when facing a powerful enemy. In any case, even the lightning-like movements using the Wind Thunder Wings could only be used repeatedly within a narrow range, but they could not completely disappear like this.

He memorized the training method of the Blood Shadow Escape and then examined the copper piece.

The copper piece did not have the name of the technique written on it, and it contained only a single passage of incantation without any explanation. Along with the strange training posture, it was completely incomprehensible.

Thinking about it, he remembered that the Poison Sect had mentioned that the Law of the True Scripture had been fragmented and lost long ago. He could not do anything with the incomplete incantation, so he had no choice but to put it back.

Now, he decided to learn the Great Stellar Connection Technique and the Azure Essence Sword Technique at the same time, and to train in the Blood Shadow Escape Technique in between. He probably wouldn’t be able to use the secret technique recklessly even if he fully mastered it.

Another half a year passed like this.

Han Li was training in the Great Stellar Connection Technique in the stone room when he suddenly opened his eyes. He immediately turned into a blue light and left the cave, returning to the herb garden.

After retrieving the puppets, he stood in front of the hut, looked in the southeast direction, and then went inside to brew some tea.

A moment later, a polite voice was heard from outside the herb garden’s restriction.

“Excuse me, is Senior Sister Yuan here? I am Gui Huan from Silver Sword Peak.”

It was a young man’s voice, although a little high-pitched. Han Li calmly took a sip of tea and replied.

“Senior Sister Yuan left this place a year ago, so if you want to find her, you should go to Senior Uncle Mo’s residence.”

“Has the person managing the herb garden changed?”

It seemed that he was not looking for someone but had business here. The man smiled and spoke gently.

“If Senior Sister Yuan is not here, I suppose I should talk to the junior brother. May I come in for a moment?”

Han Li stroked his chin. He had no reason to refuse when a fellow disciple was asking so politely. He left the room and took out his spirit token to dispel the surrounding fog.

Then, a man wearing yellow clothes with a comical appearance was standing in the southeast. His cultivation was at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining [the initial stage of cultivation], lower than Han Li’s apparent cultivation, so he couldn’t understand how such a person had entered the Falling Cloud Sect.

While Han Li was assessing his opponent, the man was already approaching with a beaming smile.

“Junior Brother must also be a disciple of Thousand Bamboo Peak. Seeing that your face is unfamiliar, you must have just entered last year, right?”

“I am Han, and as Senior Brother said, I entered last year.”

“Junior Brother Han, I am Gui Huan from Silver Sword Peak. I am managing spirit beasts with some senior brothers in a small basin a few dozen miles away from here. Come visit when you have time. Although my cultivation is not high, I have been in the sect for seven or eight years, so I know the ins and outs of the Falling Cloud Sect. If you need any help, come find me anytime.”

Han Li smiled.

Gui Huan reminded him of the boy who introduced himself as Xiao Shanban, who knew everything when he entered the Seven Mysteries Sect.

He cupped his fist and asked.

“Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother. But is there any important business that brought Senior Brother Gui here this time?”

At those words, Gui Huan scratched his head with an embarrassed look.

“It’s not really important business. I just came to ask for Senior Sister’s help, but it’s awkward that Senior Sister Yuan, who has been here for over five years, is not here.”

“Help?”

“Actually, as you know, we outer disciples are looked down upon by the sect due to our lack of talent. We hardly get any magic tools or pills. And even if we work all year round and receive spirit stones, it’s not enough to buy pills that would help with our cultivation.

So, some of my fellow disciples and I have been catching Snow Cloud Foxes in the Green Trace Marsh and selling them in the market. Although the small foxes are not great demon beasts, they are intelligent and cute, and they understand what we say, so the female disciples like them quite a bit.

We made a little money from that, and recently, we found a different kind of Snow Cloud Fox. It faintly emitted spiritual energy, and its appearance was a little different. It seemed to have evolved into a low-level demon beast. It was an opportunity to get over a hundred spirit stones, so we did our best, but every time we got close, it would hide in the swamp and disappear.”

The young man looked genuinely disappointed.

“After observing it, we found out that the different kind of Snow Cloud Fox likes Yellow Essence. It seems that we need Yellow Essence that is at least 50 years old to lure it into the trap, but once the medicinal herbs have grown for several decades, we can’t buy them for a dozen or so spirit stones.

But I had already used up the spirit stones I had saved to refine pills, so I was looking for Senior Sister Yuan to see if she had any suitable Yellow Essence. But I never imagined that the disciple managing the place would have changed. Could Junior Brother Han lend me just one root?”

As he spoke, his voice gradually became smaller, as if he knew that he was making an excessive request for the first time meeting someone.