Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 442

Han Li didn’t know what the Seven Dragon Pillars were, but just hearing Eunwol’s terrified voice made his heart turn cold.

He flicked his sleeve, and 36 Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords soared into the air.

Knowing his opponent was no ordinary demonic beast, he had no intention of testing the waters with moderate techniques. He planned to use his newly refined flying swords to kill the enemy in one go.

The 36 golden lights floated above Han Li’s head as he shot out hand seals. At the same time, the golden lights trembled, creating over a hundred identical sword lights.

Just as Han Li was about to form the Great Geng Sword Formation with the sword lights, the seven pillars of light attacked from all directions.

The silver flood dragons climbing the pillars simultaneously turned their heads, preparing to spew something.

Without hesitation, Han Li created a water barrier with his azure shield, tightly enveloping his body, and threw out a silk handkerchief, creating a white mist.

At the same time, a white light escaped from Han Li’s sleeve and fell to the ground, instantly transforming into a captivating woman. It was Eunwol.

Eunwol, ignoring Han Li’s questioning gaze, raised her hand and shot out a purple light. It was the Violet Cloud Pouch he had given her.

As Eunwol directed, the pouch transformed into a crimson net, forming another protective barrier on the outermost layer. Han Li was startled by the sight.

Even with his protective barriers, Eunwol was still worried enough to step forward; just how dangerous were the Seven Dragon Pillars? As he was thinking this, the seven silver flood dragons silently emitted light.

Silver light pillars, as thick as bowls, instantly struck the net formed by the Violet Cloud Pouch.

The silver and crimson lights struggled against each other, but the Violet Cloud Pouch couldn’t withstand it for long, and seven holes were torn through it.

Even after that, the silver light pillars didn’t lose any power as they attacked the mist formed by the white handkerchief. The mist was clearly faltering and wouldn’t last much longer.

Han Li gasped at the astonishing sight. At this rate, all three protective barriers could be breached in an instant. However, Eunwol’s expression had improved.

“Turns out they were just imitations.”

She muttered, forming a hand seal, and then opened her mouth, spitting out a pink pearl enveloped in a fragrant aura. The scent of the fingernail-sized pearl was pungent.

Bang!

As Eunwol chanted a low incantation, the pearl exploded on its own, scattering into beautiful powder.

The countless powder particles flew towards the azure water barrier, but Han Li just watched. The water barrier absorbed the powder and emitted an intense light.

At this moment, the silver light pillars relentlessly pierced through the white mist and attacked the final barrier. However, the black lights circling above his head were disappearing one by one.

The silver light pillars that collided with the water barrier vibrated and, surprisingly, bounced back, returning to their original pillars.

This attack was unexpected even for Han Li, so the black-clad youth was naturally caught off guard. He had been completely distracted since the appearance of the stunning woman beside Han Li.

Moreover, after hearing Eunwol belittle his treasures as imitations, he was even more disoriented.

Kuururung!

A massive tremor was heard, and the seven flood dragons disappeared. It was unbelievable that such powerful-looking treasures could be destroyed so easily. Eunwol licked her red lips and smiled pleasantly.

“They were imitations, and not even in good condition. I thought I was going to die of fright earlier.”

Eunwol laughed, patting her chest.

“How did you break the Seven Dragon Pillars!”

The black-clad youth’s face darkened after the Seven Dragon Pillars were broken, and he immediately shouted at Eunwol’s muttering.

Eunwol turned to him with moist eyes and gestured towards the water barrier. At the same time, the water barrier flickered, and a pink mist seeped out, turning back into the original pearl.

Eunwol opened her mouth and exhaled the mist, and the pearl was sucked back into her stomach.

“A fox demon! Hahaha, you’re a fox demon! What a stroke of luck! In the Great Jin [a fictional kingdom], many cultivators are clamoring to take fox demons as concubines. Their prices have skyrocketed, almost matching those of treasures. It was worth coming all this way!”

The black-clad youth, forgetting his anger, looked at Eunwol and laughed like a madman.

“This humble one would love to follow the esteemed cultivator, but I already have a master, so I cannot.”

Eunwol’s face initially hardened, but she soon returned to her usual playful expression and smiled.

“You have a master? What does a master who’s about to die matter? If you follow me, I’ll spare your life. Leaving with me would be better than being stuck in this backwater.”

The youth scanned Eunwol with a greedy gaze.

“Are you out of your mind? I’m standing right here, and you’re trying to take what’s mine. Look around you.”

Han Li, who hadn’t moved an inch, mocked him.

“I’ve been watching those pathetic sword lights around me. It’s surprising that you’ve refined so many magic treasures, but you’ve done something foolish. A natal magic treasure [a magic item bonded to its owner] needs to be nurtured with one’s own essence for a long time to unleash its full power, but what are you going to do with so many magic treasures…? Can these sword lights even touch a hair on my head?”

The youth wasn’t afraid at all, even as he looked at the sword lights densely surrounding him.

“That’s a valid point, but before that, I have a question. Are you a cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage [a high level of cultivation]? …If not, then be prepared!”

Han Li revealed his killing intent at the last moment and activated the Great Geng Sword Formation he had prepared.

The black-clad youth was startled, realizing something was wrong, and he spat out a short hatchet-like object from his palm.

The hatchet’s surface was engraved with the face of a demon.

At that moment, the golden sword lights resonated clearly and disappeared one by one into the void. The black-clad youth hurriedly searched for the sword lights with his consciousness, but he couldn’t find the vanished ones.

Without delay, he activated the pitch-black hatchet. A black light flashed, and the hatchet grew to a length of seven or eight meters, looking incredibly sharp.

The massive hatchet cleaved through the air. At that moment, faint golden threads appeared and disappeared in the void.

Sack!

In an instant, the massive hatchet was cut in two and fell to the ground.

“This is…”

The black-clad youth, abandoning his disdain for the golden light, became cautious. He raised both hands and launched a cyan flying knife.

Swish swish swish!

But the same thing happened again. The cyan flying sword flew and encountered the golden threads, and was cut into seven or eight pieces, falling to the ground.

“It’s a sword formation!”

The black-clad youth, being well-informed, immediately recognized what it was.

Usually, sword formations were deployed by dozens or hundreds of cultivators, but Han Li was surprisingly deploying a sword formation of immense power all by himself.

As soon as Han Li’s opponent recognized the sword formation, he immediately formed hand seals and used his consciousness to control the sword lights, operating the Great Geng Sword Formation.

Then, a bizarre phenomenon occurred.

Numerous golden threads flickered and appeared around the black-clad youth. The threads only flickered, making no sound, and their movements were very erratic.

The black-clad youth turned pale and brushed his hand over his storage pouch, revealing a dozen or so white pearls with blood-red stripes.

He immediately spun around, throwing the pearls in all directions.

Han Li’s eyes lit up at the sight of the pearls.

‘Could those be something similar to Thunder Pearls?’

This thought flashed through his mind, but the activation speed of the Great Geng Sword Formation didn’t slow down at all. The golden threads were one of the divine powers of the Great Geng Sword Formation.

They were similar to the threads that other sword cultivators created with their swords, but due to the power of the Great Geng Sword Formation and the sharpness of the flying swords enhanced with essence, they displayed far greater power than a sword formation deployed by ordinary cultivators.

Therefore, attacks similar to Thunder Pearls were not to be feared.

As long as the main bodies of the 36 flying swords were well-hidden, the rest of the sword threads could be attacked without worry. The fact that the golden threads could be continuously created as long as the main bodies were maintained was one of the terrifying aspects of this sword formation.

At that moment, the pearls activated the golden restrictions created by the sword formation. Numerous golden threads flickered in the void and exploded as soon as they touched the pearls.

Fortunately, the pearls didn’t contain anything like thunderfire. Instead, they emitted a dense, blood-red mist. The blood mist spread, and a strange, fishy smell stung the nose.

The name of these pearls was Blood Thunder Pearls, rare treasures even in the demonic path, said to be refined by gathering the world’s filth and evil energy.

Any treasure exposed to the blood mist would have its power greatly reduced and lose its spirituality, and it would take several days of re-refining with Nascent Soul flames to restore its original power.

The black-clad youth, an elder of one of the ten major demonic sects of the Great Jin, was knowledgeable and immediately recognized the power of Han Li’s Great Geng Sword Formation. He immediately tried to neutralize its power using the Blood Thunder Pearls.

This method was one of the common tactics used by demonic path cultivators when facing sword cultivators who used sword formations. Han Li didn’t know what was happening when he saw the blood mist, but he had a strange premonition and his heart pounded.

A thunderous sound echoed, and golden lightning flashed in the middle of the blood mist. The blood mist that collided with the lightning immediately exploded, and the evil energy disappeared.

In an instant, the blood mist created by a dozen or so pearls was destroyed by Han Li’s Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning.

“… !”

Han Li was greatly surprised.

It was the first time that the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning had moved on its own, without following his conscious command, and left the flying sword. Moreover, it was also mysterious that the opponent’s evil blood mist and the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning had countered each other and annihilated each other.

Han Li didn’t know, but the Blood Thunder Pearls were specialized in corrupting righteous treasures, and just as the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning was incompatible with demonic techniques, they had properties that suppressed each other.

However, the amount of Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning was greater than the amount of blood mist, so it was able to eliminate it in an instant.

“That much Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning! Then, are all these flying swords magic treasures made of Golden Thunder Bamboo! No way. How could he obtain so much Golden Thunder Bamboo…”

The black-clad youth’s face turned pale, and he shouted without realizing it.

“Go to the next world and find out slowly!”

Han Li mocked his opponent and steadied his breathing. The golden threads, which had momentarily stopped moving due to the appearance of the blood mist, silently gathered in the middle.

The power of the Great Geng Sword Formation was immense, and even with his current cultivation, he was barely able to operate it. The loss of magic power was enormous, and once the sword formation was activated, it was difficult to increase its speed.

If that weren’t the case, he would have killed his opponent in one go and wouldn’t have waited for him to use something like Blood Thunder Pearls.

“Hmph! Did you think you could kill me with just a sword formation! No matter how sharp a sword formation is, it won’t be able to cut through this sect’s treasure.”

The black-clad youth’s face filled with black energy as he muttered ominously.

He watched as the golden threads approached within ten meters and raised one hand, striking his chest.

Thud!

As he spat out dark red blood into the black energy, a one-inch-long green flag appeared from within.

The flag immediately emitted a green glow as it emerged from his mouth, absorbing the surrounding dark red energy. As the black-clad youth gestured towards the flag, which had turned cyan, the flag immediately disappeared into the dark mist.

“Ghost Luo Banner!”

Han Li couldn’t help but recognize it, as it was the treasure of the Yin Luo Sect that the Yin Luo Sect Master had used when fighting the Joyful Union Sect’s Old Devil.

“You’re quite clever! Experience the power of the Ghost Luo Banner’s main flag for yourself!”

The black-clad youth paused for a moment when Han Li recognized his treasure at once, but soon sneered. He seemed to completely trust the Ghost Luo Banner’s abilities. The youth firmly grasped the Ghost Luo Banner and swung it towards the golden threads.

Crack!

A dark cyan mist appeared on the flag and exploded fiercely, enveloping the youth in a protective barrier.

Around him, a chilling wind howled, and dark clouds gathered in the sky, darkening the surroundings.

# 444