Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 455

The once lush and ordinary mountain was now shrouded in a gray mist, with fist-sized white stones scattered across the two peaks.

The gray mist lingered within a hundred-zhang [approximately 330 meters] radius, surging like a river toward the crimson barrier. However, it couldn’t advance even a bit, as if it had encountered a cliff, and simply dissipated.

“Is this the passage?”

“Yes, is there something strange about it?”

“The crimson mist seems to be the barrier surrounding the center, but this gray mist here also seems unusual. Did Merchant Changgon mention anything about it?”

“No, perhaps it wasn’t important enough.”

“Still, it’s best to be cautious.”

Luo Weiying shook his head, speaking carefully.

“We’ll know if there’s anything strange if we test it.”

Han Li, who had been standing to one side, finally spoke.

“Fellow cultivator Han is right. I have a few Oriole Spirit Beasts that I use to find spirit herbs. I’ll release them.”

Soon, Nam Long-hu tossed his spirit beast pouch into the air, and a beautiful bird with a golden body soared out.

Nam Long-hu shot a blue talisman into the small bird’s body, and the oriole spread its wings, entering the blue protective barrier. Then, following his will, it flew into the gray mist.

The moment the bird was about to touch the gray mist, a navy-blue light flickered in Han Li’s eyes. He casually scanned the surroundings, and his expression subtly changed.

The bird disappeared into the gray mist, and Han Li shifted his gaze to Nam Long-hu.

He had his eyes closed, seemingly controlling the bird, and his expression was calm, as if nothing had happened yet. But suddenly, Nam Long-hu trembled and opened his eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?”

Luo Weiying, startled by his pale face, quickly asked.

“Something in the mist devoured the Thousand Li Oriole. It seems….”

Nam Long-hu trailed off, as if he couldn’t believe it, and Han Li and Luo Weiying exchanged glances.

“It seems to be a giant serpent, and the gray mist seems to be demonic energy emitted by the beast.”

“A giant serpent? Why didn’t Merchant Changgon mention it?”

“Perhaps it came to the passage after Merchant Changgon left?”

Nam Long-hu nodded at Luo Weiying and Han Li’s words.

“You two are probably right. However, a serpent that survived in the Chuma Valley is definitely not an ordinary demonic beast. It must be a beast that has survived since ancient times, which is troublesome.”

“It’s alright. If the gray mist is just emitted by a demonic beast and not a barrier, there’s no reason to fear it. If the three of us attack together, we can catch it quickly.”

Luo Weiying’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“It seems we must kill that serpent beast and pass through this path.”

Nam Long-hu concluded and spat out a golden, dazzling sword from his mouth. Luo Weiying also rubbed his hands together, revealing a white flag between them.

Han Li smiled wryly at the sight.

“I have no other opinions. But it seems there’s something we need to deal with first. If you’ve been hiding long enough, come out now. You’ve seen enough.”

Han Li suddenly stared at a point in the air and flicked his finger, releasing a blue sword qi. The sword qi tore through the air for dozens of zhang [approximately 33 meters].

Inside, someone emitting a yellow light all over their body was hiding with a huge shield.

Nam Long-hu and Luo Weiying widened their eyes in surprise.

“It’s a misunderstanding! Seniors, please calm your anger. I was just passing through this place.”

A gaunt man in his forties bowed, trembling with fear.

“Huang Cheon-myeong, you!”

“Do you know him, fellow cultivator?”

Luo Weiying immediately recognized him and muttered, and Nam Long-hu’s face flashed with killing intent.

“He’s a cultivator belonging to the Heavenly Dao Alliance. I heard he’s great at concealment techniques, having saved an ancient cultivator tribe. But to think he was so good that we couldn’t even detect him!”

Luo Weiying’s expression darkened, and he spoke coldly.

“I was just passing by and stopped out of curiosity. Please forgive me!”

The gaunt man’s face turned pale as the expressions of the Nascent Soul [a high level of cultivation] old monsters changed.

“You secretly snuck in and followed us, and now you have the nerve to talk back. Brother Luo, he’s a cultivator from the Heavenly Dao Alliance, so you deal with him.”

Nam Long-hu sneered and turned his head toward the old man.

“My opinion is… of course, we should eliminate him.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the old man disappeared from his spot. The gaunt man, hearing those words, was terrified and transformed into a streak of light, flying away.

At that moment, the old man, using some kind of secret technique, instantly appeared where the man had been and threw his flag.

The flag created a white whirlwind, and a scream was heard from the streak of light that had flown a dozen zhang away. Soon, something shattered, and a mangled corpse fell like rain.

“That was a fitting end. This way, secrets won’t leak out.”

Nam Long-hu smiled lightly, looking at the other.

“It’s wrong for a Core Formation [a mid-level of cultivation] cultivator to use concealment techniques to follow us. He sought his own death.”

Luo Weiying spoke indifferently. Then, he clenched his palm in the air, and something flew out of the crimson puddle.

It was the gaunt cultivator’s storage pouch and a yellow jade talisman. The old man unceremoniously put them into his storage pouch.

“By the way, we caught that guy thanks to fellow cultivator Han.”

Nam Long-hu turned his head and smiled at Han Li.

“It was just luck.”

“It’s not good to waste time, let’s move!”

At that moment, Luo Weiying suggested with a serious face, and Han Li also nodded, summoning his formation flags.

“Before killing the giant serpent, we should set up a sound-concealing formation so that nearby cultivators won’t hear us.”

Han Li said, stroking his chin.

“You are indeed meticulous. That would be even better.”

The old man smiled and agreed with his words. Han Li transformed into a blue streak of light and planted the flags in the middle of the mountain peak. Soon, a large-scale formation was prepared.

It was a barrier that concealed the fluctuations of spiritual energy and sound, so it didn’t take long.

When he returned to the two cultivators, Luo Weiying looked at the flag in his hand and said,

“Then, I’ll use the Gale Flag to blow away the mist.”

After speaking, the old man threw the flag into the air and chanted an incantation. At the same time, Nam Long-hu gestured toward the small golden sword, and soon, a huge sword that had grown to about six zhang [approximately 20 meters] in size floated in front of him.

Luo Weiying stopped chanting and pointed his finger at the flag, and the flag trembled, emitting a powerful light that seemed to pierce the eyes.

Then, a much stronger gale blew out, and a dozen wind dragons charged into the mist.

The golden giant sword also hummed and disappeared into the mist, vanishing without a trace. Nam Long-hu seemed to be planning to attack as soon as the mist cleared and the monster appeared.

Han Li quietly flicked his sleeve and sent out a silver bowl. It was one of the ancient treasures he had obtained while fighting the Moth Clan mage, and he intended to test the demonic beast’s abilities with its ordinary power.

As the dozen wind dragons plunged into the thick mist, a large amount of gray mist surged and disappeared.

Then, a strange ‘hissing’ sound was heard from within, and a huge snake tail emerged from the mist, attacking the dragon-shaped gales.

The giant serpent shook its tail a couple of times, and the wind dragons disappeared without a trace. Luo Weiying’s expression changed for a moment, and he immediately cast a spell, shouting,

“Explode!”

Bang!

The remaining gales exploded, emitting a white light. The gale caused the mist to scatter violently, and the demonic beast’s true form finally appeared.

The giant serpent was coiled up like a small mountain peak, staying in place. As the demonic beast’s form was revealed, the golden giant sword silently tried to cut the giant serpent.

Han Li also cast a spell, enlarging the silver bowl to the size of a zhang [approximately 3.3 meters]. The golden giant sword and the silver bowl rushed toward the giant serpent, attacking simultaneously.

The serpent slowly wriggled, and even after seeing the approaching golden sword and silver bowl, it remained in place. But before the attacks could reach the beast, a strange green mist appeared from the serpent’s entire body.

Kukwakwang!

The golden and silver attacks clashed with the mist and were weakly repelled.

At this, the three cultivators were surprised and became more vigilant, and the giant serpent finally seemed to wake up from its slumber, raising its head and staring at the three cultivators.

Han Li was startled and tried to summon the silver bowl, but the serpent moved first. A long phantom flashed past, and the silver bowl that had been floating thirty zhang [approximately 100 meters] away disappeared.

Han Li was shocked, and before he could figure out what had happened, Nam Long-hu’s giant sword suffered the same fate. This time, he had been watching carefully, so he clearly saw what had happened.

The giant serpent’s body stretched out grotesquely and swallowed the two treasures in succession. Contrary to its appearance, the giant serpent’s speed was incredibly fast.

Han Li’s expression became grave, but Nam Long-hu, on the other hand, looked pleased.

He had thought that its hide was too thick for ordinary magic treasures to handle, but now that the demonic beast had swallowed his magic treasure, it would be easy to tear it apart from the inside.

Nam Long-hu tried to move the golden flying sword magic treasure with his consciousness, but he couldn’t move it at all, as if some kind of restriction had been placed inside the serpent’s belly.

If his natal magic treasure was damaged, the repercussions would be enormous, so Nam Long-hu was very nervous.

“My flying sword is trapped inside the serpent’s belly. It’s not an ordinary demonic beast, so we must be careful.”

Nam Long-hu warned the others and reached out, emitting a cyan ring. And Luo Weiying, who had seen Han Li and Nam Long-hu’s treasures disappear in an instant, quickly retrieved his flag magic treasure.

Then, he threw a few talismans, creating dozens of white flames.

At this, Han Li also released ancient puppets from his storage pouch. They were three white wolves, two red bulls, and one blue serpent that he had exchanged with True Immortal Cheonjeong.

But the giant serpent looked at them with a ferocious gaze and opened its mouth first.

Shhh!

At the same time, a fishy smell assaulted them, and the three cultivators were startled, putting up protective barriers and holding their breath, but it didn’t seem to be poisonous.

While they hesitated, the serpent opened its red mouth even wider, sucking in the surrounding air. In an instant, the surrounding stones floated into the air and were sucked into the serpent’s mouth like crazy.

The three cultivators were quickly drawn closer to the serpent’s mouth, as if someone had pushed them from behind. Among them were Han Li’s puppets.

Han Li was not flustered by the serpent’s attack and bolstered his body’s energy, making his weight heavier. He controlled the puppets that had reached the serpent’s mouth and attacked.

The two red bulls shone their horns, shooting four red beams into the serpent’s mouth.

Perpeopeopeong!

The serpent, which had been sticking out its tongue, groaned in pain after being hit by the red beams. Then, the powerful suction force disappeared for a moment.

At that moment, the three white wolves, having regained control, lunged at the giant serpent’s head, swinging their inch-long claws.

And this time, for some reason, the green mist did not appear, but the wolves’ claws only left faint marks on the serpent’s scales and could not penetrate them.

Two of them immediately changed direction and rushed toward the serpent’s eyes. It was the only area not protected by scales.

Thud! Thud!

The moment the wolf puppets leaped, a purple light flashed past. The serpent had extended its tongue to attack the wolves.

The giant serpent was shaking its head, trying to crush the wolf puppets, when the blue serpent swelled up and attacked, and the red bull puppets shot another beam of light.

At this, the giant serpent seemed to have completely lost its temper and spewed black energy from its nostrils.

And as the wolf puppets tried to escape, two serpent heads appeared from the black energy and bit them mercilessly.

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