Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 490

491. The Abyss of Demonic Energy

Merchant Zhiyang believed that even if Han Li reached the late Nascent Soul stage, he wouldn’t waste time and energy on futile endeavors like unifying Tiannan. In fact, with his current strength, he could probably rule the entire Gui Kingdom, not just the Falling Cloud Sect.

According to reports from the spies the Righteous Alliance had planted in Gui Kingdom, Han Li had focused solely on cultivation from the early to mid Nascent Soul stage, showing no desire for power.

Another half-hour passed, and Han Li estimated that he had descended nearly ten thousand zhang [approximately 33,000 meters]. Judging by the pressure felt by the flying swords circling him, he could only have descended this far because he had reached the mid Nascent Soul stage.

At that moment, Merchant Zhiyang, who was descending alongside him, spoke up.

“Fellow cultivator Han! We’ll be reaching the bottom soon, so be careful.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Han Li also quickly focused his mind and looked below. Indeed, a blinding white light appeared several dozen zhang below, as if a thick curtain of light had been drawn.

Han Li slowed down, and Merchant Zhiyang also stopped about five or six zhang before the curtain of light. With the help of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li could see the immense flow of demonic energy writhing behind the curtain of light.

“This must be the sealed demonic energy. It’s quite troublesome.”

Han Li muttered, staring at the curtain of light.

“There’s so much demonic energy that it’s practically an abyss of demonic energy. To be honest, I’ve also cultivated a technique to repel demonic energy to some extent, but I could only withstand about a hundred zhang before having to retreat.

The demonic energy here is incredibly potent and abundant, making it unbearable for ordinary cultivators. Even demonic beasts who have mastered ancient demonic arts would soon lose their minds if they entered.”

Han Li nodded at Merchant Zhiyang’s words, his gaze fixed on the demonic energy behind the curtain of light.

“Brother Zhiyang, please wait here for a moment. I’ll go down and check the power of the demonic energy myself.”

“Please be very careful.”

Merchant Zhiyang wasn’t surprised at all, as if he had already expected Han Li’s words.

Han Li immediately moved closer to the curtain of light. A blue sword aura erupted from his toes and pierced through the curtain of light.

“……?”

Han Li was startled, but unexpectedly, the curtain of light was designed to only restrict demonic energy. This meant he didn’t need to waste energy using secret techniques to enter the barrier.

Soon, golden sword lights swirled around him, and the sound of thunder echoed. The golden lightning that appeared from the flying swords soon formed a large net, enveloping him.

As he formed a hand seal, the golden net rapidly shrank, clinging to the protective barrier created by the blue shield, forming a massive sphere. Then, the flying swords shrank again and disappeared into Han Li’s sleeves like a school of fish.

Soon, Han Li’s figure sank into the curtain of light and entered the demonic energy.

Krrrr!

The pitch-black demonic energy rushed at him, but scattered at the sound of thunder, only to rush at him again. Han Li didn’t move immediately, quietly observing the demonic energy scattering and reforming around the golden lightning.

He was calculating the rate at which the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning was being consumed. Since entering this place, he hadn’t dared to send out his spiritual sense to survey the surroundings. Demonic energy this dense would corrupt even a cultivator’s spiritual sense.

Now, his only reliance was his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. However, it wasn’t easy in the pitch-black abyss of demonic energy. He looked around for about two hundred zhang before stopping to survey his surroundings.

Then, without a second thought, he immediately turned around and retraced his steps.

“The Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning is indeed powerful. To remain unscathed after enduring for so long. There’s a reason for its reputation.”

Merchant Zhiyang smiled as he saw Han Li emerge from the curtain of light.

“It’s not that. It was easy to scatter because no one was controlling the demonic energy. Otherwise… Shall we discuss the rest upstairs?”

Han Li’s words made Merchant Zhiyang nod, and the two of them soon ascended.

* * *

“How was it? With Fellow cultivator Han’s Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, you must have been unharmed in the demonic energy?”

The cultivators who had been waiting appeared as Han Li and Merchant Zhiyang flew out of the vortex.

“I can give it a try. But before that, I have a question. Where should the formation disk be placed? If I have to go too deep, even the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning won’t hold up.”

Han Li calmly replied to Wei Wuya’s question.

“Let’s discuss the specific location when we return. The formation disk is also in the hands of the formation masters, so it would be best to find them and discuss it first. The formation disk was also quite difficult to refine, so we can’t afford to fail.”

Harmonious Old Devil said.

At Harmonious Old Devil’s words, the cultivators hurried back to Spirit Turtle Island.

Back on Spirit Turtle Island, the cultivators gave Han Li a private room to rest, while the other cultivators went to find the formation masters and retrieve the formation disk.

The next morning, Han Li received a sound transmission from Merchant Zhiyang and immediately headed to the main hall. The cultivators were gathered in the main hall, talking amongst themselves. When they saw him enter, Wei Wuya flipped his palm and placed a faint red jade slip on the table.

“Fellow cultivator Han, please have a seat. This is the location where the formation disk should be installed.”

“Let me take a look.”

Han Li reached out, and the jade slip flew up with a ‘whoosh,’ and he immediately poured his spiritual sense into it. After examining it for a while, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense with a dark expression.

“Asking me to go this deep to install the formation disk is practically telling me not to come back.”

“That can’t be. The place where the formation disk needs to be installed is a bit deep, but with Fellow cultivator Han’s Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Harmonious Old Devil was completely unfazed.

“Is that so? It seems Harmonious Fellow thinks my Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning is limitless. Or is it that once the formation disk is properly installed, you don’t care what happens after that?”

“The way you speak makes it sound like even with the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, you can only barely make it in. But if I remember correctly… when you fought Goma in the Chuma Bone Valley, you had a considerable amount of Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, didn’t you?”

Wei Wuya frowned.

“It seems you cultivators haven’t been to the depths.”

Han Li looked at everyone with a strange expression.

“What do you mean…”

Wei Wuya was stunned. Harmonious Old Devil’s eyes gleamed, but he didn’t speak, and Merchant Zhiyang was also silent, as if something had occurred to him.

“If you had gone deep, you would have known that the demonic nature intensifies as you descend further into the abyss of demonic energy. I only realized that the consumption of Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning was accelerating after going down about two or three hundred zhang. No matter how much Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning I had, it wouldn’t last long thousands of zhang below.”

Han Li placed both hands on the table and analyzed the situation calmly.

“Did that happen? Brother Zhiyang, you went the deepest among the three of us, so please confirm.”

Wei Wuya frowned and looked at Merchant Zhiyang.

“That’s right. Even when I used secret techniques to enter deep into the demonic energy, I felt my magic power being consumed faster. If Fellow cultivator Han hadn’t noticed it, I would have warned you first.”

“That means that even if a cultivator takes treasures effective against demonic energy, as originally planned, they would likely become demonized.”

Harmonious Old Devil’s expression also changed slightly.

“That’s why I wasn’t very keen on the previous plan. But until Fellow cultivator Han returned, there was no other way, so I didn’t stop it.”

Merchant Zhiyang gave a wry smile, and Han Li coldly observed the expressions of the three cultivators, feeling gloomy inside. He didn’t know if they were genuinely unaware of this fact or if they had deliberately deceived him, but it was not something to be taken lightly.

The main hall fell silent for a moment. Who would volunteer to go when it was clear they would die?

No matter how grand the cause they used to persuade Han Li, it was nonsense. Everyone gathered here knew that even if half of Tiannan, or even all of Tiannan, was contaminated by demonic energy, they had no reason to sacrifice their lives to save it.

They could simply leave and move to another region. With their cultivation, they could survive anywhere.

At that moment, Han Li’s eyes lit up, and he spoke in a much softer tone.

“Everyone must be in a difficult position. Since this is a serious matter, I do have a plan that I can try.”

“What kind of plan? Please, speak freely.”

Merchant Zhiyang said quickly. Wei Wuya and Harmonious Old Devil also seemed to perk up.

“It’s simple. I can barely install the disk with the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, but the problem is returning. So, please lend me the treasures that are effective against demonic energy that you were planning to use before. Of course, it will still be quite dangerous, but…”

Han Li paused here, taking a breath.

“No problem. If we can properly install the formation disk, we should naturally lend you the treasures.”

Wei Wuya’s expression brightened, and he quickly replied.

“Of course, we wouldn’t just let Fellow cultivator Han take such a risk without any compensation. Isn’t that right, Fellow cultivator Harmonious?”

Merchant Zhiyang suddenly smiled at Harmonious Old Devil. Harmonious Old Devil was momentarily flustered, but soon nodded.

“That’s right. In fact, even if nothing else had happened, the three of us were planning to transfer one of the Seven Spirit Islands to Fellow cultivator Han.”

“One of the Seven Spirit Islands?”

At those words, Han Li’s pupils contracted.

“Although the Seven Spirit Islands are divided among seven sects, most of them are ultimately held by our three major forces. There happens to be one island left that is difficult to divide, and we were originally going to entrust it to the couple Long Han and Feng Bing, but coincidentally, the couple went into closed-door cultivation at the same time.

If Fellow cultivator Han is willing to take the risk, we will give that island to the Falling Cloud Sect. Who could complain about that?”

Merchant Zhiyang replied cheerfully.

“Is that what happened?”

Han Li was stunned. The Seven Spirit Islands were extremely valuable, not only because they had high-quality spiritual veins but also because they had a large amount of buried spirit stones.

“If the Seven Spirit Islands are part of the sealing barrier, won’t they disappear back under the sea after the barrier is repaired?”

“Don’t worry. The method we use to repair the barrier is different from the original sealing barrier, so the islands won’t sink. Of course, the cultivators of the sects that own the islands will have the duty to protect the sealing barrier in the future.”

Wei Wuya explained to Han Li’s question.

“Since the three cultivators are giving me such a precious gift, I can’t refuse to go. But I will not participate in any other matters after installing the formation disk.”

Han Li, after some thought, clearly stated what he wanted.

“Installing the formation disk alone is already a great achievement, so why would we ask you to do anything else? Leave the rest to us.”

Wei Wuya laughed loudly, as if it were nothing, and answered immediately. Harmonious Old Devil and Merchant Zhiyang also seemed relieved, although he didn’t know what they had been thinking before.

At that moment, Wei Wuya took out a white circular object from his storage pouch.

Han Li took it and examined it. It was a white jade disk. It was radiating spiritual energy, and the complex spells engraved on it looked extraordinary.

“Now, everything is ready. When do you plan to start, Fellow cultivator Han?”

Wei Wuya asked with satisfaction.

“The sooner the sealing barrier is repaired, the better. I’ve mostly recovered the magic power I consumed last night while resting. If the three of you have the treasures, I can go right now. We don’t know what kind of accidents might happen if we delay.”

The other cultivators had no objections to Han Li’s words. The cultivators took out the demonic-repelling treasures they had painstakingly gathered from their storage pouches and gave them to Han Li.

They were a jade scepter in the shape of a dragon’s head, a red Bagua mirror [a traditional Chinese octagonal mirror used in Feng Shui], golden armor, and a pitch-black flag.

# 492