Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 351

Han Li also diligently practiced refining pills. He needed to be fully prepared to refine pills using the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng later.

Time flowed by with cultivation and pill concoction. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Han Li didn’t step a foot outside his residence.

When his cultivation reached a critical point and he had to enter secluded training, he would have Yin Yue take on his appearance to deal with his fellow disciples.

This was because Yin Yue, borrowing the body of a fox demon, had diligently cultivated by consuming large amounts of pills, resulting in a rapid increase in her cultivation and her illusion techniques becoming so skillful that no one noticed.

Initially, the woman surnamed Mo had been suspicious, but after Han Li consistently stayed in the remote herb garden of the Falling Cloud Sect since the sword competition, she seemed to have finally dropped her doubts. She treated him as just another ordinary Qi Refining stage disciple and didn’t interfere with him any further.

With this, Han Li was able to live more peacefully in the Falling Cloud Sect, and he lived as a Qi Refining stage disciple for twenty years.

The day he would condense his Nascent Soul [a stage in cultivation where one forms a spiritual core] was finally approaching.

* * *

Inside the pill refining room of his cave dwelling, Han Li was exhaling a finger-thick blue flame from his mouth, burning a half-inch-sized silver-white cauldron.

The three-legged pill refining cauldron floated above the formation in the center of the stone chamber, spinning ceaselessly. Han Li, with a tense expression, was also glowing all over due to his spiritual power.

As time passed, a faint scent of herbs filled the stone chamber, and a slight hint of joy appeared on Han Li’s face. When the scent became stronger, he suddenly formed a hand seal with both hands, and the flame instantly disappeared.

“Go!”

At the same time, the hand seal shot out and landed on the formation on the floor of the stone chamber.

The formation rumbled for a while, and then red and green lights alternately shot out, heading towards the silver-white cauldron. The small cauldron trembled, its lid opened, and a milky-white pill emerged from within.

It was a thumb-sized pill that shimmered like crystal. A white halo surrounded it, exuding the aura of a spiritual medicine.

Seeing the pill, Han Li was filled with undisguised joy.

He had finally refined the pill made from the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng! He had already failed several times, and if he had failed this time as well, he would have truly run out of the Mano Horn or the Half-Demon Grass, and there would have been no guarantee of another chance.

When refining the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng into a pill, Han Li didn’t use the entire root but only the small roots. This greatly damaged the spirit of the white rabbit, the incarnation of the pill, leaving it barely alive, but it gave it a way to survive.

After contemplating this for several days, Han Li eventually set up several layers of restrictions and dripped green liquid onto the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng to make it grow. To be safe, he initially used a very diluted liquid, gradually increasing the concentration.

In any case, a spiritual object that was so miraculous that it could create its own incarnation was definitely different from ordinary herbs.

As a result, as soon as the green liquid was injected, the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng recovered a considerable amount of its spirit and showed no other abnormalities. Only after trying this did he feel relieved and began to freely give it the green liquid.

By using the small roots to make pills and then waiting for the spirit to recover, the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng became a material that could be supplied continuously.

Now, Han Li picked up a milky-white pill with his finger and observed it in detail.

On the surface, the scent was the same as described in the pharmacopeia, but he would have to take it himself when forming the Nascent Soul to know its specific effects. He took a light breath, carefully placed the pill in a jade box, and left the stone chamber.

He had already reached the fourth level of the Great Evolution Technique five or six years ago, and his consciousness had grown significantly once again. Furthermore, he had also perfectly completed the ninth level of the Azure Essence Sword Technique a few months ago, and in terms of cultivation, he had reached a level close to the Nascent Soul stage.

Now, he had completed all preparations in terms of pills and techniques. However, he didn’t plan to rush into condensing the Nascent Soul. Instead, he left his residence alone and headed to a scenic and secluded area near the eastern mountain range of Yunmeng Mountain.

And there, he sat quietly, reflecting on his life so far.

He slowly recalled the happy times he had spent with his family under his parents’ care, the memories of playing with his younger sister, his entry into the Seven Mysteries Sect on the recommendation of his third uncle, his encounters with Li Feiyu and Master Wen, and how he had learned the Evergreen Technique and truly entered the cultivation world at the Tiannan Assembly.

The memories that had been blurry gradually became clear, and Han Li’s expression fluctuated with joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure before returning to its original calm.

Only after three days did Han Li’s eyes suddenly open. He now clearly remembered even the smallest ups and downs of his life and had quietly sought enlightenment on the ways of the world.

Another month passed, and when he emerged from the secluded space he had secretly prepared, he was in a state of complete physical and mental fulfillment.

Han Li’s mind was as calm as a lake that wouldn’t even ripple if a stone was thrown into it. He immediately returned to his cave dwelling in the herb garden and set up all the powerful formations and restrictions layer upon layer.

Then, he left only two words for Yin Yue.

“Guard the door. No matter what happens, do not disturb me.”

With those words, Han Li disappeared into the secret chamber, his blue robes fluttering. Then, the silently closed stone chamber door glowed, and symbols and incantations appeared. He had set up a separate restriction inside the stone chamber.

Although Han Li didn’t say what he was going to do, Yin Yue couldn’t possibly not know his next step. A complex look appeared on her face.

There was a mixture of envy, longing for a higher realm, and all sorts of other emotions. After watching the quiet stone chamber for a long time, Yin Yue sighed deeply and left her post.

Since she was sharing her fate with Han Li, even if she had selfish desires, she could only hope that he would safely enter the Nascent Soul stage.

* * *

Three months later, a woman was slowly flying in the air about a hundred miles away from the herb garden.

Her face clearly showed that something frustrating had happened. Several elders of her family had sent letters ordering her to marry a man from the Yan family, and her future had become bleak.

If she were a Core Formation stage cultivator, the family elders wouldn’t have been able to make such a decision. In a sect or family, Core Formation stage cultivators were valuable assets and were treated with respect and courtesy.

The head of the Mo family had offered her marriage as a price to marry his grandson to the tyrannical woman of the Yan family. She was being forced into such an absurd marriage, so she was furious, even though she only showed a cold face on the surface.

Outwardly, she pretended not to care much because of her pride, but who could know the turmoil and frustration in her heart?

Originally, her plan was to not openly refuse the family’s decision and do her best to postpone the wedding. If she was lucky enough to succeed in Core Formation [a stage in cultivation], then such a marriage contract would be nothing to worry about.

However, despite her frantic cultivation, she had only reached the late stage of Qi Refining. She would need at least another 20 or 30 years to reach the peak of Qi Refining and truly attempt Core Formation.

She could wait, but the elders of the Mo family couldn’t. They were now openly threatening to set the wedding date immediately. Otherwise, they would not only stop providing any spiritual stones needed for her cultivation but also inflict disadvantages on her close relatives.

Although she was a strong-willed woman, she didn’t have the power to resist the family’s orders.

Although she was trusted by the Peak Lord and other fellow disciples within the Falling Cloud Sect, it was difficult for anyone to interfere in a private family matter involving a major cultivation family.

What was even more annoying was that the cunning Yan family had heard some news and had recently started coming to the Thousand Heavens Peak every day to pester her. If her achievements had not been higher than the Yan family’s, she would have already suffered some harm.

The woman wanted to get rid of that rat-like guy right away.

Today was the day to collect herbs from several herb gardens, so the woman surnamed Mo used this as an excuse to leave the Thousand Heavens Peak early and shake off the Yan family guy. She had already visited two places, and the next one was the herb garden managed by Han Li.

Han Li was a strange person.

He was clearly just a Qi Refining stage disciple, but he always seemed to have a penetrating gaze. Moreover, after the sword competition, she had suspected that he was hiding his cultivation level or had another identity.

So, she had observed him for a long time, but even after several years, he had followed the sect’s rules well, and no suspicious circumstances had been detected. Moreover, he had almost always been holed up in the herb garden and rarely came out, and the number of disciples he interacted with was also very small.

Thus, after twenty years, the woman had completely abandoned her suspicions.

He was, at best, just an introverted and socially awkward ordinary disciple, and his talent was so poor that he hadn’t even reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

As the woman surnamed Mo flew another ten miles, an unknown feeling suddenly pressed down on her body, making her tremble as if an invisible but enormous storm of spiritual power was raging.

Caught off guard, she was momentarily startled and almost fell off her magic tool. Greatly surprised, the woman surnamed Mo hurriedly gathered all her spiritual power to barely regain her balance and quickly looked around.

Strange phenomena were captured in her eyes!

Numerous orbs of light had appeared in the sky, hundreds of feet high, shining in five colors and flickering. The orbs of light contained very pure spiritual power and were beautiful to behold.

The woman surnamed Mo’s beautiful face was filled with shock. The flow of these orbs of light was endless.

‘What’s going on?’

She floated in the air on her magic tool, mesmerized by the bizarre sight before her.

These strange orbs of light surrounded an area of about a hundred miles around Han Li’s residence, so not only the woman but also thousands of other Falling Cloud Sect cultivators could sense this strange change.

Most of them were dumbfounded, but they were not pleasantly surprised.

Those who were at the Foundation Establishment stage or higher were only slightly uncomfortable and could find stability by gathering their spiritual power, but the Qi Refining stage disciples had difficulty even breathing due to the immense pressure.

Cultivators who were training deep in the mountains, and even those thousands of miles away, watched this scene with astonished eyes. Many of them were seeing such a sight for the first time and didn’t know what it meant.

However, some who understood the meaning of this unusual scene were greatly surprised, delighted, or burning with jealousy!

In a certain place on the main peak of the Falling Cloud Sect, an old man with silver hair was sitting cross-legged, breathing deeply with an unpleasant expression.

The moment the orbs of light appeared hundreds of miles away, the old man’s white eyebrows twitched, and he widened his eyes with disbelief.

Without hesitation, the old man immediately stopped his cultivation technique and instantly turned into a white beam of light, leaving the cave and ascending to the peak, staring blankly in the direction of Han Li’s residence.

At that moment, a yellow beam of light appeared from somewhere in the sky and shot down towards the old man’s residence. Seeing him standing there, it changed direction and landed.

When the light disappeared, a middle-aged man with a pale face appeared and asked in disbelief.

“Senior Brother Zheng, did you feel it? I’m not mistaken, am I? Someone in our Falling Cloud Sect is condensing their Nascent Soul!”

“How could I mistake such a thing? As we have already experienced, it is certain that a cultivator who has succeeded in the Nascent Soul stage will appear somewhere within the sect. It’s already the final stage, and the goal is just around the corner.”

The middle-aged man muttered to Senior Zheng, narrowing his eyes.

“But it’s strange! Among the late-stage Core Formation cultivators in the sect, there’s only Senior Feng and Senior Hu, who was attacked by spies. Senior Feng only reached the late stage two years ago, so he wouldn’t have accumulated enough magic power to be close to the Nascent Soul stage.”

“Hmph! Do I not know Senior Feng’s cultivation? Although that cultivator is condensing their Nascent Soul within our Falling Cloud Sect, they are definitely not a member of the Falling Cloud Sect. Some daring fellow must have sneaked in or infiltrated while hiding their identity. The spiritual energy of Yunmeng Mountain is abundant, so it’s definitely the best place to form a Nascent Soul.”

The middle-aged man immediately frowned, displeased.