Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 418

The middle-aged scholar was intrigued by the coexistence of blue and purple flames on Han Li’s giant sword but chose not to comment on it.

“Hahaha! It’s been ages since a cultivator dared to speak so boldly in my presence. Ak Shangsa, will you deal with that one-armed fellow? I’ll handle the one with the Lightning Escape Technique.”

The middle-aged scholar didn’t even bother to draw a magical treasure. Instead, his figure blurred, swaying left and right before splitting into two identical figures.

The three middle-aged scholars stared at Han Li as if he were already dead.

Han Li took a deep breath, trying to use his spiritual sense to distinguish the real body from the clones. However, their cultivation and aura were identical, making it impossible to tell them apart.

Despite his alarm, Han Li patted Eunwol’s head and shoulder with one hand, whispering something to her.

Eunwol nodded obediently. With the restriction lifted, she transformed back into a small fox and hid in his sleeve.

At this moment, the three middle-aged scholars flicked their sleeves and slowly approached Han Li. Though their movements seemed leisurely, they closed the distance of about ten yards in just a few steps.

Alarmed, Han Li spread his silver wings and vanished.

“Did you think we’d let you escape?”

The middle scholar chuckled sinisterly, took a few steps, and then disappeared into the void.

Seeing this, Old Man Ma, who had been silent as if dead, quickly turned and fled in the opposite direction from Han Li.

The Ak woman sneered and pursued him.

Han Li didn’t need to worry about the divine master chasing him. A Tiannan cultivator who couldn’t even use the Lightning Escape Technique was as good as caught.

Now, breaking through the stronghold’s barrier, which had lost its Nascent Soul cultivators, was a piece of cake.

* * *

In the darkened sky, thunder rumbled across the wasteland, and silver light flashed.

Han Li, his face slightly pale, stopped and looked back, his expression tinged with anger.

“Eunwol, how many days has it been?”

“We’ve been running for about four days and nights. Perhaps because he’s a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he catches up every time Master stops to rest, even for just fifteen minutes. Is there no way to evade his spiritual sense? This is too dangerous. Even if we replenish our magic power with the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk, we don’t have much Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning left. How can we outpace his Shrinking Earth Technique [a technique that allows one to travel great distances in a short time] without the Lightning Escape Technique? It’s almost like teleportation. It’s fortunate that Master was quick-witted and ran away immediately, or we would have been defeated instantly if we had engaged in combat.”

Eunwol replied, her voice filled with worry.

“A late-stage Nascent Soul’s spiritual sense can detect any aura within hundreds of miles. Although my spiritual sense surpasses that of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the gap is still significant compared to a true late-stage cultivator. I haven’t fully mastered the Great Evolution Technique, and I haven’t even obtained the most advanced cultivation method yet.

I didn’t focus on strengthening my spiritual sense before. Once this is over, I need to head straight to the extreme west region to find the secret formulas.”

Han Li smiled bitterly, criticizing his past complacency.

“Then what should we do? Master’s Blood Shadow Escape can only take us a hundred miles at once, which is still within the divine master’s spiritual sense range.”

Eunwol muttered anxiously.

“That’s true if we use it once. But if we use the Blood Shadow Escape two or three times in a row, there’s a higher chance of escaping with the remaining Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning. Although I have high magic power for an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the consumption of essence blood is still high, which is dangerous. Even if I survive, I’ll have to recuperate for a long time to restore my vitality. But this is the only way for now.”

“But Master, you might…”

Eunwol was about to voice her concern, but Han Li’s expression changed.

“He’s caught up again! The gap is getting smaller each time, so we can’t waste any more time. It’s time to take a risk.”

Eunwol couldn’t stop him as he muttered with a grim face.

Han Li took a deep breath and moved his ten fingers in a strange pattern, forming hand seals.

Blue light surged from his body, and a tremendous amount of spiritual energy fluctuated. He opened his mouth and spat out bright red essence blood. The blood droplets scattered, and the red energy seeped into the blue light.

In an instant, blue and red light flashed simultaneously, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Han Li’s skin turned red, and countless blood vessels suddenly bulged, as if they were about to burst. However, Han Li’s face remained expressionless as he sped up the hand seals.

The blood-red mist, which had absorbed two mouthfuls of his essence blood, completely enveloped him. At that moment, three silver streaks were slowly approaching from the distant sky.

It was the divine master who had created two incarnations.

“Hmm?”

One of them showed a glint in his eyes.

He heard a strange sound coming from the distant blue light and blood-red mist, and a blinding blood light was emitted.

Han Li, looking coldly at the Peony Clan’s divine master from within, flapped the Wind Thunder Wings with a thunderous sound. In an instant, a spatial rift formed, and Han Li’s figure disappeared from that spot.

The sound of thunder echoed faintly from afar again, but then no sound was heard.

The three middle-aged scholars, with surprised expressions, suddenly merged into one in the middle. He opened his eyes in the silver light and looked in the direction where the sound was last heard.

“To escape a hundred miles away, what kind of escape technique is that? It’s similar to the Demonic Blood Escape, but the travel distance is so long.”

He was puzzled by Han Li’s escape technique. In fact, Han Li had been surprising him for days. Contrary to his expectations, Han Li had flown this distance without sleeping or resting properly.

Normally, an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, even if they had mastered the Lightning Escape Technique, should have been caught already due to the depletion of their magic power. It seemed that he possessed a treasure that instantly restored magic power or had used a secret technique that greatly reduced his vitality.

But to hide such an amazing escape technique and only use it now meant that his escape techniques for the past few days were not his best.

But it didn’t matter. Even if he escaped a hundred miles at once, he was still within his spiritual sense range, so it would only take a little longer to catch up eventually.

He coldly identified Han Li’s location and turned into a white streak of light, flying again. At that moment, Han Li suddenly disappeared from his spiritual sense range.

The middle-aged scholar stopped in surprise. Even if his spiritual sense was strong, it only extended about 200 miles. Beyond that range, it was difficult to pinpoint a specific person.

It would be possible if the opponent waited quietly in place, but that was not the case now.

‘That cunning fellow… he escaped like this?’

It was the first time in a long time that he had been outmaneuvered like this. How embarrassing would it be if rumors spread that the dignified Peony Clan’s divine master had failed to catch an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and let him escape!

However, he didn’t move again right away.

Since it was already impossible to track him with his spiritual sense, there was no way to chase after the opponent’s strange escape technique. Moreover, he had already wasted several days trying to catch one person, so continuing the pursuit during the war was also a burden.

In any case, since a divine master from the Peony Clan had stepped forward, the few late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators of Tiannan would not sit idly by. He had to return to the other two divine masters and prepare defenses in advance.

He quickly sorted out his thoughts, turned his streak of light around with a dark face, and disappeared.

* * *

Han Li, who had escaped 300 miles away, immediately changed direction and flew away as a streak of blue light.

As he flew, he kept taking out medicine bottles from his storage pouch and pouring all the elixirs that were good for restoring vitality into his mouth.

His pale face and dim eyes showed how exhausted he was and how much his vitality had been damaged.

“Master, are you alright? You used the Blood Shadow Escape three times in a row; it was almost a disaster. If you hadn’t consumed the elixirs along the way, perhaps…”

Eunwol’s concerned voice echoed in Han Li’s mind.

“I’m fine. Although I’ve consumed a lot of essence blood, I still have some pre-refined elixirs left, so I should be able to recover my cultivation after a few months of rest.”

His tone was the same as usual, but his voice lacked strength.

“Are you going back to the All-Heaven City?”

Eunwol, relieved by Han Li’s words, hesitated and asked.

“No, my condition is terrible, so I need to recover my cultivation at least before returning to the Righteous Alliance. Otherwise, I might be ambushed by the Ghost Spirit Sect or those who hold grudges against me in this chaotic situation.

I can’t afford any risks in my current state. But since I have enough elixirs for recuperation, I don’t need to find a place with spiritual veins to recover. I can just find a secluded place and go into closed-door training for a while. Also, the Azure Bamboo Peak Cloud Swords have been contaminated by the blue flames, and although I’ve temporarily stopped them from worsening with the Violet Aurora Flame, it will be a big problem if I don’t resolve it. I need to resolve that first before returning.”

Han Li explained the reasons why he couldn’t return, as if he was in a difficult situation.

“If the gourd treasure is a treasure passed down in the Peony Clan, its power must be great. But I believe that if Master spends enough time refining it, you will surely be able to eliminate it. Master’s Violet Aurora Flame is also a flame with extraordinary power.”

Eunwol smiled and comforted Han Li.

“Since it has come to this, let’s resolve it step by step.”

Han Li smiled bitterly and didn’t give a definite answer. After that, he squeezed out the remaining spiritual power in his body, and Han Li’s blue streak of light increased its speed.

After flying all day in a set direction, Han Li finally stopped and landed in a small, inconspicuous mountain valley. The Peony Clan’s divine master wouldn’t be able to find him even if he wanted to kill him, at this distance.

Han Li looked around.

It was a small valley between desolate mountains with few plants and trees, where the spiritual energy was weak, and there was nothing but rolling stones.

Han Li spread his spiritual sense and scanned the surrounding hundred miles, but he couldn’t find any traces of cultivators or mages.

Reassured, he flicked his sleeve and released Eunwol, saying something to her. The small fox that Eunwol had transformed into immediately turned into a yellow aura and wrapped around Han Li.

The light disappeared, and they vanished into the mountainside, leaving no trace in the valley.

Using Eunwol’s earth escape technique, Han Li entered the center of the mountain and quickly carved out a simple stone chamber about ten yards in size with blue sword energy.

His figure swayed, and Han Li entered the stone chamber and sat down in a cross-legged position.

Blue energy was circulating around his closed eyes, and a dozen or so medicine bottles were placed in front of him. He had to properly refine the elixirs he had swallowed haphazardly to avoid the immediate danger before he could take other elixirs.

Thus, Han Li quietly began to recover his vitality in an unknown small mountain. However, the damage to his vitality was more severe than expected, and the time naturally became longer.

Half a year passed unknowingly while he was taking elixirs and meditating. However, Han Li was still holed up in the mountains and did not come out.

During his stay in the mountains, the life-and-death battle between cultivators and mages was almost at a breaking point. Moreover, the reputation of Elder Han of the Falling Cloud Sect was growing day by day, not only in the Tiannan cultivation world but also among the mage armies.

High-level cultivators and mages knew that he was a person with power close to the mid-stage Nascent Soul and possessed many treasures.

It had only been half a year since that happened.

* * *

After the battle at Yellow Dragon Mountain, with the three great divine masters of the mages leading the way, the mage army advanced to the front of All-Heaven City in just ten days.

Inevitably, the Righteous Alliance had to fight alone without the support of any other forces.

Fortunately, Wei Wuai, the Grand Elder of the Alliance and one of the three great cultivators of Tiannan, had just arrived after hearing the news. Relying on the massive restrictions of All-Heaven City, they managed to hold off the mage army’s fierce attacks for nearly a month.

However, the Peony Clan also gathered their three divine masters, and with the help of the black-robed figures and the appearance of seven or eight large demonic beasts, the restrictions were broken, and even All-Heaven City fell into the hands of the mages.

The main force of the Righteous Alliance retreated hastily without suffering much damage and fled to the Northern Liang Kingdom near the Woo Kingdom. And at this time, cultivators from the Righteous and Demonic Paths and the Heavenly Dao Alliance arrived to provide support.

With the four major forces of Tiannan united, they were able to temporarily suppress the sharp momentum of the Peony Clan after several small-scale battles.

However, both sides knew that the true life-and-death battle had not yet begun.

# 420