Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 332

After listening to everything, Han Li remained expressionless and silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“I have two Yellow Essence roots that are over 50 years old in the garden. However, I don’t have the authority to dispose of spirit herbs arbitrarily. If it’s discovered that spirit herbs are missing, my martial uncle will be furious.”

At the cold reply, the young man couldn’t help but look disappointed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll return the spirit herbs I borrowed from you within a few days. If you carefully replant the roots, it’ll be as good as new. And if you lend me the spirit herbs, I’ll make sure to give you a share too.”

“Even so, I cannot give you the spirit herbs here. However, if you are short on spirit stones, I can lend you some.”

The young man’s face, which had been gradually darkening, brightened at the last words.

“Really? If I can borrow spirit stones, there’s no reason to borrow the spirit herbs here. But spirit herbs that are several decades old would cost at least 30 spirit stones. Do you really have that many spirit stones, Junior Brother?”

The young man’s doubt was understandable. It was a considerable amount for a Qi Condensation cultivator [a cultivator in the early stages of cultivation].

“I saved up that much before entering the sect. And since you said you’d return them in a few days, there’s no reason not to lend them to you.”

“Haha! So Junior Brother Han is the calculating type. If I have the Yellow Essence, it’s as good as catching that Snow Cloud Fox, so don’t worry about it.”

Kyu Hwan knew that Han Li was sincere and grinned broadly. Han Li, with a smile, immediately handed over twenty or so spirit stones he had on hand.

Kyu Hwan put the spirit stone pouch in his chest and confidently told him to trust him. After exchanging a few words, he soon left.

Watching his disappearing figure, Han Li stopped smiling and shook his head.

After all, twenty or thirty low-grade spirit stones were nothing to him, so he had only done it to avoid making an enemy in the Falling Cloud Sect.

Also, it wouldn’t hurt to know someone who was well-informed and liked to socialize like him.

* * *

Three days later, Kyu Hwan stood before Han Li with a deeply apologetic expression.

He hadn’t come to return the spirit stones, but to ask him to come along and help catch the Snow Cloud Fox.

“Did the senior brothers gather and still fail to catch a single low-grade demonic beast?”

Kyu Hwan replied with an embarrassed smile.

“That fox is so cunning and fast that ordinary magical artifacts can’t even keep up. So, I went to a core disciple and borrowed a formation artifact, but one of the people forming the small formation had to leave for a mission.

If we bring in another disciple, the share each of us gets will decrease, so I thought it would be better if Junior Brother could help.”

Han Li hesitated, stroking his chin.

If he had come at another time, he would have avoided wasting time, but now he was stuck trying to master the Great Stellar Connection Technique [a powerful cultivation technique] and was feeling frustrated.

It was probably a sign that he had reached a limit in his cultivation, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a break and clear his head. After all, he didn’t know when or where the opportunity to break through such a barrier would appear.

Having made up his mind, he nodded.

“Since Senior Brother Kyu says so, I’ll go with you. I was also curious about where that swamp is.”

As he spoke, a languid smile appeared on Han Li’s face.

Kyu Hwan was very pleased that Han Li readily agreed. He told him the location and time and then left, beaming.

The next morning, after carefully checking the restrictions on his cave, he headed to the agreed location. Beneath his feet was a flying sword artifact, allowing him to move forward at a decent speed.

A magical artifact, it had been a few years since he had succeeded in his breakthrough!

This upper-grade magical artifact was the most unremarkable item Han Li had found after rummaging through the junk pile. He couldn’t find anything of lower quality even if he tried.

After flying for about half an hour, he landed on the top of a small mountain. He had arrived earlier than the agreed time, so no one was there.

He immediately found a clean rock and sat down, starting to circulate his energy and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

After an hour, as the red sun began to appear, several black dots slowly approached.

“Hmm…”

Han Li couldn’t help but smile wryly at their flying speed. To Han Li, their speed was as frustrating as a snail crawling. Eventually, they arrived at the summit.

“Junior Brother Han! You’re so meticulous to come out and wait so early.”

Kyu Hwan shouted cheerfully, and when he looked down, he saw that he was riding a low-grade disciple’s disc artifact distributed by the Falling Cloud Sect.

Han Li slowly got up and looked at the other three.

“I just arrived as well. But are these all the people gathered here?”

“Hehe, five people are enough to set up the Five Elements Bewildering Formation [a type of formation used to trap enemies] to catch the Snow Cloud Fox. The more people there are, the less spirit stones each of us will get. These are Senior Brother Ma, Senior Brother Seup, and Senior Brother Wang.”

Kyu Hwan introduced them one by one with a smile on his face.

Among them, Senior Brother Wang, who was about thirty-six years old, was the oldest. He wore white robes and looked dignified and refined. His cultivation was also the highest, at the eleventh level of Qi Condensation.

The other two young men were a short, fat one and a sallow-faced one, both cultivators at the tenth level of Qi Condensation. Senior Brother Wang, with a dignified air, was the first to greet Han Li.

“I’ve heard about Junior Brother Han from the other disciples. Thank you for your help. If Junior Brother Han hadn’t lent us the spirit stones, we wouldn’t have been able to catch the Snow Cloud Fox.”

The other two also had friendly gazes, seemingly having a good impression of him for lending them spirit stones and coming all the way here.

“I just lent them to you to earn a few spirit stones.”

Senior Brother Wang shook his head and said sincerely.

“It may not be much to a Foundation Establishment cultivator [a cultivator at a higher stage than Qi Condensation], but we know it’s a lot for Qi Condensation disciples like us. I’ll consider you a friend from now on, let’s get along well.”

Han Li nodded inwardly.

His character was good, his cultivation was not bad, and he was even upright, so he was the type to become a leader of a group wherever he went.

At that moment, Kyu Hwan interrupted and reminded everyone.

“Senior Brother Hwang, Junior Brother Han, let’s talk while we go. If we delay any longer at our speed, we won’t have much time to catch the Snow Cloud Fox. None of us can be away from the sect for too long.”

“As Junior Brother Kyu said, we don’t have much time, so let’s all set off. There will be another chance to talk with Junior Brother Han.”

Everyone got on their magical artifacts and flew into the air. As soon as they rose into the sky, Kyu Hwan saw Han Li’s flying sword and was so surprised that he couldn’t take his eyes off it as he flew.

“Huh? Junior Brother bought a mid-grade or higher magical artifact himself? What family are you from?”

Even a mid-grade magical artifact was difficult for Qi Condensation disciples to obtain. Senior Brother Wang didn’t say anything, but he had a strange look in his eyes, and the short, fat man and the sallow-faced cultivator were the same.

Han Li, who had already expected this, smiled and explained.

“A cultivation family? No, I just learned talisman crafting and saved up some wealth during my mountain training, which is why I had spirit stones to lend to Senior Brother Kyu.”

At those words, everyone looked at him with envious eyes. Senior Brother Ma, the short, fat one, openly showed his curiosity.

“If you’ve made enough wealth with talismans, that means your level is quite high. I wonder what kind of talismans you can make?”

“I mainly make low-grade, low-level talismans, but I can also make two types of low-grade, mid-level talismans, but the success rate is too low.”

This time, Senior Brother Wang’s gaze towards him changed.

“You can really make mid-level talismans?”

“I can make Thunderfire Talismans and Vajra Talismans, but I only succeed about once every six or seven attempts, so there’s nothing left after deducting the cost of the materials.”

Senior Brother Wang sighed.

“Junior Brother Han is too humble. As far as I know, there are only a few outer sect disciples in Fire Cloud Peak who can make mid-level talismans. You won’t have to worry about spirit stones in the future. It’s a different world from those of us who have almost no way to earn spirit stones.”

At those words, the others’ faces darkened.

“I don’t make high-level talismans, and I only make a small amount of money with low-level talismans that I don’t know when they’ll sell. In my opinion, the senior brothers’ Snow Cloud Fox trade seems like a better way to make money.”

While everyone was smiling wryly, Senior Brother Wang was the first to speak.

“This will probably be the last time we catch and sell Snow Cloud Foxes.”

“Why is that?”

Kyu Hwan stepped forward to explain.

“We’ve already caught almost all the Snow Cloud Foxes around the swamp, and there aren’t many female disciples who want foxes as pets anymore. The senior sisters with higher cultivation want to take real demonic beasts and make them their spirit beasts.”

“Then the senior brothers will have to find another way in the future.”

With Han Li’s sympathetic gaze, the group, who had lost their words, left the Falling Cloud Sect’s restriction range and flew towards the middle of Cloud Dream Mountain.

On the way, Senior Brother Wang suddenly gave Han Li a small green bottle.

“Junior Brother Han, the Green Bell Swamp is located on the border between our Falling Cloud Sect and the Ancient Sword Sect. It’s a secluded place with poisonous fog in the swamp, so no one goes there. Once you go inside, you have to take this medicine every certain period to prevent vomiting and diarrhea.”

“Thank you.”

He took the medicine bottle without refusing, but with his late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, there was no reason to fear the poisonous fog that gathered in the swamp.

After flying for several hours, they passed over a huge mountain peak and reached a basin with lush greenery.

“Everyone, be careful and descend!”

After warning them, Senior Brother Wang was the first to descend into the fog.

He smiled as he watched the others who had come with him hurriedly take pills to dispel the poison. With his breakthrough, his constitution had changed, and he could scatter the naturally formed poisonous fog with a single breath.

The group, now flying about ten feet above the ground, headed towards the center of the basin. Senior Brother Wang explained the plan.

“The fox is very cunning, so if we don’t catch it at once, we’ll fail. We need to set up a formation in a wide area where it can’t escape, and there’s a relatively solid place over there, so let’s go there.”

Everyone followed his lead without any objections. After a while, the five cultivators arrived at a green plain surrounded by low shrubs.

Following Senior Brother Wang’s instructions, they examined the grassland, dug a hole in the center, and carefully planted the prepared Yellow Essence. Immediately, the faint scent of medicinal herbs began to spread.

Kyu Hwan, who had finished his work, stood up with satisfaction and immediately took out a white formation flag from his storage pouch and gave it to Han Li.

“That’s it! The Snow Cloud Fox has a sensitive sense of smell, so it will definitely detect it. Keep this formation artifact safe.”

Han Li received the flag with a calm expression, and Senior Brother Wang instructed everyone.

“Everyone, hide in the air, and when the fox appears, throw the flag with the signal. The formation will temporarily seal off the entire grassland, so the fox, which has just become a demonic beast, won’t be able to escape.”

The group nodded, looking at each other with serious faces. Once again, they got on their magical artifacts, used stealth techniques in the air, and held their breaths.

Kyu Hwan and the others were all tense, not even blinking, as this was a matter of a large sum of money. Senior Brother Wang’s eyes were also intense, but Han Li was calm.

In fact, he could sense even the leaves swaying within a radius of several hundred feet, so he couldn’t be tense. Thus, the wait began in silence.