Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 342

While listening to the sounds around him, Han Li narrowed his eyes, carefully assessing his opponent.

The young man, dressed neatly in a blue shirt, didn’t seem to possess any magical artifacts, except for a measuring rod at his waist.

The opponent’s youthful face was etched with caution, likely due to the commotion he’d heard earlier.

Although Han Li’s brow furrowed slightly at the sight of the boyish young man, he immediately reached into his storage pouch upon hearing a sound from the void.

At the same time, the young disciple facing him extended both hands, shooting out two white pillars of ice. Then, with a blue light flickering around his body, he charged towards Han Li like a gust of wind.

Unexpectedly, he had copied Han Li’s tactic, first throwing two Ice Cone Talismans to attack, and then suddenly rushing in with a movement technique. Seeing this, Han Li paused, then unconsciously smirked.

His figure swayed, and the ice pillars brushed past him.

Seeing this, the young man’s face lit up with joy, and he shot a yellow light towards Han Li, who was now off-balance from dodging the ice pillars.

At that moment, Han Li’s body blurred, and he used the Roving Shadow Step to disappear from the spot.

The young disciple, having struck only empty air, looked around for Han Li’s trace, unable to retrieve his magical artifact. Suddenly, he felt an intense pain in the back of his head, and his vision went dark.

He lost consciousness and fell to the ground!

“Thousand Heavens Peak’s Han Li wins!”

This time, even the dry-looking cultivator’s eyes flickered with surprise.

He had seen Han Li completely vanish, then reappear behind his opponent and strike him with a palm to finish the match.

Soon, several cultivators came in, checked the fallen young disciple’s condition, and then bowed slightly towards the dry-looking cultivator in the air, indicating that there was nothing seriously wrong.

As the young man was carried away, those who had been watching in a daze began to chatter.

“He disappeared and reappeared! Even watching from outside, there’s no way to track him.”

“What was that? What kind of magic did he use to vanish so completely!”

“How foolish. That’s not magic. He clearly mastered a martial art from the mortal world. But I’ve never seen such a high level of mastery before.”

Only a few with worldly experience recognized that Han Li’s movement technique was a type of martial art, not magic.

On the 13th day of the Falling Cloud Sect’s internal competition, the final day of the preliminary matches finally arrived.

Inside a pavilion halfway up the main peak, the elder-level Core Formation cultivators gathered to discuss something. Besides the Thousand Heavens Peak’s Peak Lord, the middle-aged man Shin, and the Deputy Peak Lord, Elder Woo, there were several other figures with extraordinary auras.

An old man with a white beard, wearing blue robes with wrinkles on his face, spoke first.

“Who will lead the tournament? Are there any disciples who volunteer?”

A middle-aged man with a goatee grumbled lazily.

“Elder Pung, although three sects are jointly hosting this, isn’t it always a tournament where our two sects only boost the arrogance of the Gogeom Sect? This time, especially since Kang Woon is leading the Gogeom Sect, I have no desire to shorten my lifespan by getting angry at his venomous tongue.”

An old man with a yellowish complexion also shook his head.

“That’s right! A few years ago, there were rumors that a disciple with the Nine Spirit Sword Body had joined the Gogeom Sect. He’ll probably participate in this tournament as well. If that’s the case, what’s the point of waiting for the tournament results?

No matter how many disciples with special talents we send from our sect, they’re nothing compared to that guy. Moreover, I heard that the Baekgyowon Sect is sending a direct descendant of a great family, a skilled cultivator who has already defeated a family elder using a self-forged magical artifact at the Foundation Establishment stage. We have no chance this time!”

Elder Pung, with his white beard, tried to persuade them.

“Both of your points are valid. The sword tournament has long been a stage for the Gogeom Sect to show off their power. However, if we don’t participate, we won’t even get a quarter of the spirit stones, will we?

Furthermore, if we show this kind of attitude and the Gogeom Sect harbors hostility towards our Falling Cloud Sect, our position within Cloud Dream Mountain will become very unstable. You all know how many families are coveting the position of the three major sects of Cloud Dream Mountain! We must not show even the smallest weakness.”

A red-robed elder sitting opposite Elder Pung spoke up.

“Since Elder Pung has said so much, please include me in the group leading the participants. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Changjeong, an elder of the Baekgyowon Sect, so I’ll go and say hello.”

At his words, Elder Pung raised a doubtful question.

“Elder Dan, you are the Peak Lord of Fire Cloud Peak, with countless disciples under your command. I’m not sure if it’s okay for you to leave your position so easily.”

“There’s Elder Ryeo at Fire Cloud Peak, so what big problem could there be? Besides, we’re not leaving Cloud Dream Mountain, just going to the western mountain range for a day.”

Having said this much, Elder Pung didn’t insist further and nodded in agreement. Soon, his gaze fixed on Elder Woo.

“Elder Woo, I believe you don’t have any particular duties right now. How about accompanying Elder Dan this time? What do you think, Elder Shin?”

Although it was Elder Woo who was going, Elder Pung valued the opinion of the middle-aged man Shin even more. The middle-aged man Shin, the Peak Lord of Thousand Heavens Peak, smiled calmly.

“If Elder Woo is willing, there’s no problem.”

“I will go then.”

Once the matter was settled, Elder Pung calmly concluded.

“The leaders will be Elder Dan, with Elder Woo and Baekbong Peak’s Sister Song assisting. Let’s wait for the selection tournament to end today, and once thirty disciples are selected, let’s guide them well. There are a few disciples among us who are not bad, so we might be able to compete with the Gogeom Sect or the Baekgyowon Sect, don’t you think?”

A sly-looking cultivator who had been silent all along cried out in shock.

“Wait, is Sister Song also participating in leading this tournament? Why didn’t you tell us such an important fact beforehand? In that case, I’ll go instead of Elder Woo!”

Not only him, but the other cultivators gathered in the pavilion also showed signs of agitation. Elder Pung immediately hardened his face.

“Hmph! Elder Maeng, you didn’t say a word when we were discussing this for a long time, but now that you know Sister Song is going, you want to go? To be honest, the condition for Sister Song’s participation in this leadership group was that her participation would not be announced to the other disciples beforehand! Otherwise, given her personality, how could she leave Baekbong Peak so easily?”

Elder Pung was already at the late stage of Core Formation, but the sly-looking Elder Maeng was only at the early stage. His face changed at the old man’s harsh words, and he lowered his head, not daring to argue.

The others also looked at each other, not daring to step forward. At that moment, footsteps were heard from outside the room, followed by the voice of a young man.

“Reporting to the master. The final matches have concluded, and a total of three Foundation Establishment disciples and twenty-one Qi Condensation disciples have been selected. I have brought the list, disciple.”

Elder Pung immediately relaxed his stern face and replied gently.

“Oh, the results are out? Come in quickly.”

“Yes!”

The man who answered respectfully opened the door and entered. He was a late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple in his early thirties, with a handsome appearance and a good physique. The man took out a white jade book from his chest and offered it to the old man with both hands.

“Here are the names and information of the twenty-four disciples.”

“Very well, let me see.”

Elder Pung immediately injected his consciousness into the jade slip.

“Hmm?”

At the old man’s slightly surprised reaction, the red-robed cultivator asked curiously.

“What is it? Is there a problem with the list?”

“There’s no problem. You all should take a look.”

With a calmer face, Elder Pung passed the jade slip to the old man with the yellowish complexion next to him.

Soon, the faces of those who had quietly looked at the jade slip showed a mix of joy and sorrow. Among them, the middle-aged man Shin of Thousand Heavens Peak’s eyes flickered at the unexpected content.

The middle-aged man with the goatee said with a sigh.

“Six disciples from Thousand Heavens Peak have been selected this time. It’s embarrassing and shameful for the other peaks. It seems Elder Shin has put a lot of effort into educating his disciples!”

“That’s right. It seems Elder Shin has high expectations for this tournament. That’s why he has been so diligent in training his lower-level disciples.”

There was jealousy in the tone of the sly-looking Elder Maeng. Only three disciples had been selected from his Silver Sword Peak, so he had lost face.

The middle-aged man Shin was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“That can’t be. Even I am surprised that so many from our Thousand Heavens Peak have been selected. Even if the others are understandable, two disciples at the 10th level of Qi Condensation have been selected. Han Li and Du Dong, I remember them as having joined not long ago. It’s strange how they were selected. Elder Go, how did these two disciples win?”

The Foundation Establishment youth who had entered the room immediately answered his senior’s question.

“There was nothing special. Disciple Du Dong possesses a top-grade ice-attribute magical artifact. I don’t know the name of this artifact, but it is strong in both offense and defense, making him invincible. Most of his opponents were frozen by this artifact without knowing what happened and fell to the ground.”

“Oh! What kind of magical artifact is so miraculous? Please explain in detail.”

The middle-aged man with the goatee also showed interest.

“It’s a wheel-shaped artifact, about a foot in diameter, with a crescent moon engraved on the surface. When activated, it emits a white light, instantly forming an ice-attribute barrier and attacking with a cold aura in the shape of a giant bird.”

“Isn’t that the Han Moon Wheel, the heirloom of the Du family that was annihilated 200 years ago? Could Du Dong be a descendant of the Du family!”

At the words of the middle-aged man with the goatee, Elder Pung also stroked his white beard and nodded leisurely.

“That’s highly likely. The Du family was quite prosperous at the time, so one or two direct descendants might have escaped the disaster and survived. Perhaps, after so much time has passed and the enemies are no longer pursuing them, they have reappeared in the world.”

“Elder’s words make sense. If Du Dong possesses the Du family’s Han Moon Wheel, it’s not strange that he was selected. Then, what about this Han Li?”

At the question of the middle-aged man with the goatee, the late-stage Foundation Establishment man smiled awkwardly for a moment before answering.

“I don’t know what kind of magical artifact Disciple Han possesses, but what is certain is that he is very generous.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that? What does being generous have to do with the selection tournament?”

“In every match, Disciple Han scattered dozens of fire-attribute talismans, defeating his opponents before they could activate their magical artifacts or complete their protective barriers. In several matches, he also used worldly martial arts and clever techniques to control flames, using talismans to overwhelm his opponents.”

Elder Pung asked with a serious face.

“Martial arts or unique techniques are not uncommon, but to use so many talismans in a match means he has a lot of spirit stones. It’s not a small amount for a low-level Qi Condensation disciple. Have you investigated him?”

The young man answered respectfully.

“I have investigated him. According to other disciples who have interacted with him, he was already proficient in making talismans when he was wandering as a mountain hermit and had accumulated considerable wealth. That’s why he was able to use a large number of low-level talismans.”

Elder Pung returned to his usual gentle face.

“Oh, then that explains it. It seems there’s no problem with either of them. Wait, since he’s skilled in talismans, it might be good to bring him to Fire Cloud Peak to teach him.”

At those words, the Shin family cultivator smiled slightly and said.

“Elder Pung, you can’t say that. There are many disciples in our Thousand Heavens Peak who are also proficient in talismans. We have the capacity to teach a Qi Condensation disciple. Elder Dan, you wouldn’t be thinking of taking a Thousand Heavens Peak disciple, would you?”

The red-robed elder waved his hand and retorted with a boastful tone.

“Haha! Our Fire Cloud Peak is overflowing with disciples who are talented in talisman making. Why would we be so desperate as to steal Elder Shin’s disciple?”

The middle-aged man Shin smiled knowingly and said no more. Then, the Core Formation cultivators discussed other internal sect matters and then got up.
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