Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 438

The demon had two curved horns on its head, a horse’s tail, and enormous, sharp fangs. Its thick, log-like arms were covered in translucent scales, and its ten fingers ended in nail-like blades.

The demon made a strange scraping noise as it dragged its nails against the stone man’s legs, sending large pieces of rock flying.

Seeing this, the two Peony Clan commanders couldn’t stand idly by. They struck the demon with the stone man’s massive fists. The blood-red demon was hit by the rapidly flying fist, and half of its head was crushed.

However, a moment later, the demon twisted its body to dodge, and the crushed skull was restored to its original state as the blood-red color spread. The fleeing Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators also returned and relentlessly attacked the stone men and Peony Dharma practitioners.

Surprised by the demon’s renewed attack, the Peony commanders were filled with rage and began to counterattack, mobilizing their spirit beasts and Dharma treasures [magical artifacts].

*Kukukung!*

The sounds of their attacks clashing echoed, and blood-red flashes of light flickered. The evil woman watched this, narrowing her eyes but saying nothing.

As a high-ranking commander of the Peony Clan, she knew the power of the stone men well, but it was unexpected that the opponent had summoned a demon to fight on equal terms. However, she couldn’t focus solely on the stone men.

The battle would be decided if the Peony Clan’s Sacred Ancestor could defeat the Cheonnam cultivators and break free.

She turned her gaze to the giant bird in the distance.

The peacock, also aware of the critical moment, was turning the entire area within a hundred *zhang* [approximately 330 meters] radius into a sea of blue flames.

The Sacred Ancestor’s wing movements repeatedly broke the alliance of the seven elders and the Yin-Yang Twin Devils.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief and watched the nine oil lamps. There was still half the oil left.

Suddenly, her eyebrows shot up, and she reached out like lightning to the flame of one of the lamps. The lamp flashed blue and disappeared, and a blue light flickered about thirty *zhang* away.

“Huh!”

A figure with a blue glow was trapped in the barrier made of the oil lamps.

Without even looking up, she cast a spell, and a blue flame burst out with a ‘poof.’ Then, only a terrible scream was heard.

“How dare you try to approach the Yuanming Lamps secretly! You must have a death wish!”

The woman muttered without even examining the dead person. It didn’t matter as long as the opponent was a Cheonnam cultivator.

She had already killed several people who had tried to do something to the lamps after she lit them.

After the giant peacock was summoned through the oil lamps, the nine lamps did not go out, so everyone thought it was strange and tried to extinguish them.

Of course, they all lost their lives at her hands.

Han Li watched from a distance of several hundred *zhang* as an unknown cultivator was killed.

Han Li stroked his chin, looking at the oil lamps from afar. It seemed that the oil lamps had hidden abilities besides summoning the demonic beast.

Han Li pondered for a moment, then took something out of his storage pouch and reached out towards a certain spirit beast.

At this time, the evil woman was on high alert, her eyes fixed on the oil lamps.

Then, a white light spread out from a hundred *zhang* away, and about a dozen giant monkey puppets appeared.

The giant monkeys did not approach but stood in a line, emitting various colored light pillars from their hands.

“Puppet Technique!”

The evil woman recognized the puppets and carefully looked around. Although she couldn’t see it, there must be someone controlling the puppets.

She didn’t care much about the light pillars, and as she formed a hand seal, a lotus illusion lightly blocked the light pillars.

Then, the woman moved her body and drew a strand of flame from the oil lamp, which floated gently onto her palm.

Her expression changed from moment to moment, and she exhaled spiritual energy between her lips. The blue lamp flickered and disappeared somewhere.

The evil woman turned her head and looked dozens of *zhang* away.

*Poof!*

Someone appeared, surrounded by a blue flame barrier. As the woman formed hand seals with both hands, the flames blazed. The evil woman, who had been raising the corners of her mouth, froze and shouted.

“Why isn’t it disappearing yet?”

Unlike the previous cultivators who had turned to ashes and disappeared instantly, someone in the blue flames was still holding on.

The woman quickly took a closer look.

“P-puppet!”

What was burning fiercely in the flames was a fake that looked like Han Li.

“Could it be!”

The woman sensed danger and turned her head to look at the oil lamps. It was only for a brief moment, but she had failed to keep an eye on the oil lamps.

A blue light flashed about twenty *zhang* away, and a thunderous sound was heard. Then, someone disappeared into the silver lightning.

The evil woman was furious and tried to form a hand seal, but it was already too late.

A light flashed next to the oil lamp, and a figure appeared. A huge, dark red hand was fiercely bending its fingers, aiming for one of the lamps.

‘How did he find the real oil lamp!’

The woman’s hand seal and the giant hand collided with the oil lamp almost simultaneously.

The blue light of the oil lamp was about to show some change, but the giant hand grabbed the oil lamp and forcibly extinguished the flame with black energy.

At the same time, the other eight oil lamps reacted to it and went out one by one.

“No!”

The Peony Clan’s top female commander’s face turned pale.

She gritted her teeth and sent a large number of lotus illusions towards the giant hand. She had to retrieve the oil lamps first. However, the dark red giant hand, as if it had known all along, took the oil lamp and immediately fled towards Han Li.

When the giant hand disappeared, someone was floating next to the puppet trapped in the blue flames, holding the oil lamp. It was Han Li, who had been lying in wait.

“You will never escape!”

The evil woman shouted, her eyes frantic as she confirmed that the Sacred Ancestor had not yet disappeared.

At the same time, the woman transformed into a streak of blue light and began to chase like the wind.

Han Li immediately released a white light from his hand, put the oil lamp into his storage pouch, and used the Wind Thunder Shift [a movement technique] to appear dozens of *zhang* away.

At that moment, the wind that the woman had transformed into arrived at the spot where he had been standing. Han Li suddenly formed a hand seal with one hand.

“Explode.”

The puppet in the blue flames spat out a blue bead, and with a ‘bang!’ golden lightning and blue flames intertwined and exploded.

As a result, half of the puppet’s body was blown away, and the evil woman nearby was also caught in the aftermath.

The lotus that bloomed from the woman’s body automatically tried to block the attack, but her body was knocked back several *zhang* by the impact.

Han Li was disappointed that she was unharmed, but he immediately used the Wind Thunder Shift to flee far away. By the time the evil woman regained her composure, Han Li had already fled a hundred *zhang* away.

The woman, who was about to chase after Han Li, was startled and turned around when she sensed a strange sound from the remains of the puppet that was left behind.

It was natural to be nervous after being ambushed. The lower half of the puppet was disintegrating, scattering into three-colored spirit insects that floated up.

The evil woman quickly defended herself with a lotus and attacked. However, the spirit insects instantly condensed into a huge three-colored shield and collided with the woman.

The evil woman used wind escape to flee and attacked with spiritual techniques, but she could not break the momentum of the spirit insects. Puzzled, she took a closer look and noticed that the colors of the three-colored spirit insects were different. They looked the same, but they seemed to be strangely mutated spirit insects.

Surprised, she took out a wood-attribute treasure from her storage pouch and tried to trap the spirit insects, but the spirit insects immediately scattered in all directions.

Only then did the woman try to find Han Li’s whereabouts, but it was difficult to find him as he had already disappeared using his concealment technique.

The evil woman’s face turned red and blue as she floated alone in the air.

At that moment, the sound of the blue peacock firing flames and breaking the barrier created by the elders with their treasures rang out loudly.

The peacock was delighted and was about to completely kill the cultivators when it suddenly realized that its spiritual power was draining from its body.

Startled, the bird turned its head without even having time to harm them, and the oil lamps that should have been floating in the air had disappeared.

The giant bird cried out in panic, and its size rapidly decreased. The fire-attribute spiritual energy it was holding onto also lost control and scattered.

As a result, the sea of blue fire that had been spewed out below also disappeared. A moment later, seven bewildered elders appeared from within.

While they were dumbfounded, the Yin-Yang Twin Devils, who had escaped the pressure of the fire, transformed into a green whirlwind and fiercely attacked the blue bird.

*Poosh!*

As the Yin-Yang Twin Devils attacked, the bird’s body exploded and turned into countless blue lights, disappearing.

“What happened?”

The elder who had narrowly escaped death shouted in joy.

“Look over there. It seems there’s a problem with the treasure that summoned the demonic bird.”

The leading elder took a long breath.

The cultivators and Dharma practitioners on the battlefield also noticed that the Peony Clan’s Sacred Ancestor had disappeared.

Then, the Dharma practitioners’ expressions changed drastically, and the cultivators’ morale rose as they launched a fierce attack. The skinny elder and Jeon Jong also saw this and were lost in thought while fighting the cultivators.

The disappearance of the Sacred Ancestor meant that someone had extinguished the Yuanming Lamps.

They had been holding back all the Nascent Soul stage cultivators, so they had no idea who had broken through the evil woman’s defenses and done such a thing.

Han Li had already quietly returned to Jehon’s side.

The giant monkey that Jehon had transformed into had turned most of the zombies into ashes, and the remaining armored zombies were being hastily retrieved by the black-robed men.

Otherwise, the armored zombies would have been annihilated.

Having absorbed the energy of so many zombies, Jehon’s already huge body had become even larger, and its fur had become as black as ink. It seemed to have grown once again.

Of course, several black-robed men and Dharma practitioners had tried to eliminate Jehon during that time. However, Eunwol, who was hiding near Ryongham and Jehon, used illusions and bewitchment techniques to kill them silently.

Han Li returned and watched Jehon’s hand destroy the last armored zombie, then immediately gestured and called it into the spirit beast pouch.

Eunwol immediately moved behind Han Li.

He was about to say something to Eunwol when suddenly a deafening roar was heard from above, and an eerie cloud rushed down. Green lightning writhed within a radius of several hundred *zhang*.

Han Li immediately looked up at the sky.

“Who is it! Who killed my consort! I will drag out their very soul and kill them miserably!”

The one shouting like thunder from within the eerie cloud was the Yin Fiend Sect’s Sect Master. Han Li’s heart sank, and his face darkened.

“Why are you in such a hurry without even settling the score? I was just getting used to your demonic arts!”

The voice of the man in the black robe was that of the Joyful Union Sect’s Old Devil. A gray-white mist descended from the sky, blocking the eerie cloud.

“Get lost! If you don’t get lost now, you’ll see what happens!”

The voice of the Yin Fiend Sect’s Sect Master from within the eerie cloud was chilling.

“I’d really like to see what happens! Go ahead and do whatever you want.”

The Joyful Union Sect’s Old Devil sneered and did not back down. The black-robed man was silent, then muttered eerily.

“If you don’t know your place, then I, the Sect Master, will show you the power of the Ghost Luo Banner!”

The Yin Fiend Sect’s Sect Master was so enraged that he burst out laughing.

“Ghost Luo Banner?”

The Joyful Union Sect’s Old Devil was slightly surprised by the opponent’s words, then became a little excited. However, those who were listening to their conversation from below were even more surprised.

The cultivators now knew that the Yin Fiend Sect’s Sect Master’s consort had been killed by a Cheonnam cultivator, so they secretly wondered who had killed her.

Han Li remained expressionless, but he was greatly relieved that the Joyful Union Sect’s Old Devil was facing the Yin Fiend Sect’s Sect Master.

He had no desire to be chased by a Nascent Soul stage cultivator until he died. Just as the Yin Fiend Sect’s Sect Master and the Joyful Union Sect’s Old Devil were about to clash, another incident occurred.

Sharp sounds were heard from the Dharma practitioner camp, and about a dozen streaks of light flew rapidly. Even before they arrived, they shouted.

“Esteemed Sirs, something terrible has happened! There’s been an incident at the Peony Plains!”

It seemed that they had deliberately amplified their voices with a secret technique so that everyone could hear. The cultivators and Dharma practitioners all stopped attacking for a moment and hesitated.

The skinny elder’s heart grew heavy at those words, and the faces of the Ryongham cultivators brightened as they had an idea of what had happened. The elder boldly turned his body and flew towards the dozen or so Dharma practitioners.

Ryongham hesitated and did not pursue.

If there was an incident at the Peony Plains, it could be related to Dolol In.