Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 347

“Alright, I’ve finished my business here, so the three of you can go do what you need to do. This old man needs to go back and figure out the gains and losses of this game.”

The boy waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed, and returned to the Go board to study it.

The old man in gray clothes and the others answered without hesitation and followed Elder Wol out through another door in the main hall.

As soon as the middle-aged cultivator from the White Sect came out of the stone chamber, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“How… how could this happen! So, Elder Baek… Elder Wol! Did you know about this beforehand?”

“I didn’t. How could I dare to ask about what Senior Nam is doing?”

As he said this, his complexion was no better than the others, so the middle-aged man didn’t press further and shut his mouth.

The younger disciples behind them naturally couldn’t speak carelessly about what had just happened.

They soon walked along a winding, long corridor and arrived at a yellow stone door. In front of it, a disheveled figure was sitting cross-legged without moving.

Although his face was obscured by his unkempt hair, his gray-white hair indicated that he was quite old. The yellow-robed cultivator approached him respectfully.

“Senior Wi, the disciples from the Sword Tournament have arrived. Is it alright to let them in now?”

“Since they’ve arrived, let them enter. The pure liquid is flowing out slower than expected, so the disciples will have to wait a little longer.”

Despite his disheveled appearance, his voice was very serious. Han Li scanned him quickly, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes before disappearing.

He was almost at the late stage of Core Formation [a cultivation stage], close to the Nascent Soul stage [a higher cultivation stage], which meant he was someone to be even more wary of than others.

Upon hearing the disheveled man’s voice, Elder Woo surprisingly stepped forward and asked anxiously.

“Senior Wi, are you alright?”

The disheveled cultivator lightly cleared his throat and replied calmly.

“So it’s Junior Woo. It seems you’ve aged too, even though it hasn’t been that many years since we last met.”

“Senior, how could you….”

“Yes, it must be fate that we, senior and junior brothers, have met again here. Let’s not talk about what happened back then. I swore to myself that I would not return until I reached the Nascent Soul stage after entering this place. I’ve heard that Junior Poong is managing the affairs of the sect well.”

Elder Woo’s face darkened at the calm tone of the man called Senior Wi, and he swallowed the words he was about to say. The disheveled man stood up.

“Junior brothers, please wait a moment. I’ll open the restriction right away, and then you can take the disciples inside.”

From his sleeve, a hand seal quickly shot out and struck the yellow stone door, and the stone door opened silently.

Before Han Li could even check the situation inside, he sensed a pure and dense spiritual energy rushing towards him. It was indeed the place where the Spirit Eye Tree was located.

Comparing it, the purity of the spiritual energy was definitely not inferior to the Spirit Eye Jade. It even seemed better, so it was no wonder that the Spirit Eye Tree was said to be the best among those that emitted spiritual energy.

Following Senior Wi, they walked into a huge stalactite cave.

This cave was hundreds of feet wide and over twenty feet high, creating an extraordinary sight as if they had suddenly entered an underground world.

What was even more surprising was that the stalactite pillars formed on the ground were so dense that they formed a natural stone forest. It would be difficult to find a path inside, making it no different from a stalactite maze.

As Han Li carefully examined it, he could see a faint glow of spiritual energy from the stone pillars, which meant that someone had definitely placed some kind of restriction on them.

While he was secretly pondering, the disheveled Senior Wi led them to the edge of the stone pillar forest and turned his palm over.

Holding a palm-sized white bronze mirror in his hand, he muttered something, and a hazy beam of light shot out from the mirror towards the stone forest.

*Pajik.*

The beam of light disappeared with a strange sound. While the young disciples were looking on with curious eyes, wondering what was going to happen, the ground began to shake.

*Kukukung.*

As milky light appeared on the large and small stalactite pillars, a huge yellow light rose from the center in succession. The stalactite pillars split apart from the center as if flower buds were bursting open, creating a straight path.

While the other disciples were dumbfounded and lost in thought, Han Li’s expression also changed slightly before returning to normal.

Following the path, they finally saw the long-awaited Spirit Eye Tree in the center of the stone pillar forest. Han Li was slightly disappointed to see an object that was only about a foot tall.

‘Is that the Spirit Eye Tree?’

The straight object, about the thickness of an arm and with a faint green color, seemed more like a stone pillar than a tree. However, it was definitely this ‘blue stone pillar’ that was gushing out an enormous concentration of spiritual energy that filled the cave.

Moreover, a faint golden protective barrier was strictly protecting the outside of the stone pillar from its roots to its top, which confirmed that what was in front of them was indeed the Spirit Eye Tree.

While Han Li was feeling this disappointment, the cultivators, including Elder Woo, were each expressing undisguised desire and excitement.

If they could cultivate under this tree, their cultivation would increase twice as fast, unless they encountered a special bottleneck. Not long after Han Li focused on the Spirit Eye Tree, he discovered a small jade bottle near its roots.

A familiar scent of medicine wafted from the jade bottle, which was about half a foot in size.

It was likely the Brightspirit Dew that was currently being refined. While everyone else stopped several feet away from the Spirit Eye Tree, only Senior Wi walked forward without hesitation.

He freely entered the inside without being resisted by the faint golden protective barrier and looked around the Spirit Eye Tree.

Surprisingly, he stretched out his hand, placed his palm in the middle of the Spirit Eye Tree, and moved his spiritual energy, causing sharp green lights to flash from his five fingers.

Most of those standing outside the barrier didn’t even breathe loudly to avoid disturbing Senior Wi. After a while, he shook his disheveled hair and withdrew his hand.

“The pure liquid inside the Spirit Eye Tree has not yet reached the appropriate time. We need to wait about three or four hours, so let the disciples rest nearby.”

“We will do as you say, Senior Wi.”

The middle-aged cultivator and the yellow-robed cultivator answered in a serious voice, and Elder Woo also did not object.

Thus, Han Li and the other lower-level disciples, under the orders of the Core Formation cultivators, each took a seat nearby and closed their eyes to meditate or began circulating their energy.

Senior Wi bent down and shook the jade bottle under the Spirit Eye Tree, and immediately the faint golden protective barrier suddenly became so intense that it was blinding, making it impossible to see the situation inside from the outside.

While the others didn’t seem to care, Han Li twitched one eyebrow. At his call, Eunwol’s soft voice was immediately heard.

“Brother Han, why did you call?”

“Since you are skilled in earth escape techniques, go inside through the ground under the barrier. Refrain from any noticeable actions and just bring a piece of the root.”

“Just a moment! I’ll try it by transforming into a spirit.”

After answering, Eunwol transformed into a small baby wolf about the size of a fist and slipped under Han Li’s feet without anyone noticing. Then, Han Li suddenly narrowed his brows and opened his eyes slightly, moving his pupils.

Among the cultivators, Doo Dong, who was silently bowing his head, seemed to be fully absorbed in cultivation, freely absorbing the pure spiritual energy of this place.

Han Li’s lips curled up slightly on one side.

Even if the others didn’t know, Han Li, who was watching Doo Dong through his consciousness just in case, couldn’t have failed to notice his movements.

Right now, Doo Dong was bowing his head deeply and sitting on the floor, moving his lips very slightly. He was secretly exchanging messages with someone through telepathy.

‘There’s an accomplice of Doo Dong inside.’

He didn’t take the reckless step of eavesdropping on the telepathic conversation to avoid raising the other party’s vigilance, but if there was someone who could do this without being noticed by his consciousness, it could only be one of the four Core Formation cultivators.

Then, Han Li continuously racked his brain and examined them one by one, but he couldn’t find anyone particularly suspicious.

At that moment, Eunwol’s voice echoed in Han Li’s head.

“Brother Han, there’s also a protective barrier around the roots of the Spirit Eye Tree. It’s not impossible to force my way in, but I might be discovered by the other Core Formation cultivators. What should I do?”

“There’s no need to act rashly. Forcing your way in is a last resort. If my guess is correct, this place will become chaotic soon anyway, so it won’t be too late to act then.”

Following his words, Eunwol silently returned to Han Li’s body in the form of a silver wolf. After that, Han Li closed his eyes and did nothing else except monitor Doo Dong’s actions.

However, not long after, Doo Dong closed his mouth and looked around. His face was full of suspicion.

Just as Han Li was about to prepare himself, thinking that he was about to move, Doo Dong bowed his head again and did nothing else.

Things were going strangely.

At that moment, a thunderous roar, as if the sky was collapsing, was heard, causing a gale in the stalactite cave.

The cultivators, who had been sitting quietly, were startled and opened their eyes wide, looking at each other and expanding their senses to grasp the situation.

The three cultivators, including Elder Woo, also had puzzled expressions, and among them, the yellow-robed cultivator frowned and stood up abruptly, heading towards the stone door first.

Before he could reach the door, the main door of the stalactite cave automatically opened, and a long-faced old man appeared with a grave expression.

The yellow-robed cultivator asked urgently.

“Senior Ho, what happened!”

“This place has been exposed! Outside the valley, masked cultivators are attacking the barrier, and there are not only Core Formation cultivators but also Nascent Soul old monsters [powerful cultivators] mixed in. There is no other force that would dare to cause such a big incident, so I suspect they are from the Righteous Alliance and the Six Demonic Sects.

Senior Nam has already begun to support the huge barrier protecting this place, but there are so many opponents that we all need to go out and help! It seems that only Senior Wi needs to remain here. The matter of the lower-level disciples will have to be postponed, so Elder Wol, please take everyone to the secret chamber. If anyone tries to enter this place, Senior Wi, you must immediately cut them down.”

The calm voice of the disheveled old man inside the barrier replied.

“Understood, Senior Ho! Don’t worry about this place and go face the enemy.”

The long-faced old man’s expression brightened slightly, and he nodded before hurriedly leaving the cave with Elder Woo and the middle-aged man from the White Sect.

Seeing this, the yellow-robed Elder Wol turned his head and ordered the group of lower-level disciples.

“You all heard. The matter of washing your eyes with the Brightspirit Dew has been postponed, so follow me and move quickly.”

Following the old man who was striding forward, the young cultivators also followed without delay. Han Li watched Doo Dong also leave the cave with the lower-level disciples, passing through the stalactite forest, and sneered inwardly.

‘Is the commotion outside related to Doo Dong?’

It was too coincidental to say it wasn’t. Could it be that Doo Dong had been communicating with someone outside from this place?

As his suspicions grew, the ten disciples followed the yellow-robed cultivator through winding paths and entered a relatively large stone chamber.

Then, Elder Wol gave a few instructions and immediately left the place.

Even then, the explosions outside were getting louder and louder, and the way the ground was shaking was ominous, as if they were putting up a hard fight.

# 349