Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 508

Han Li had spent the past few months gathering a good understanding of the Great Jin cultivation world through her. Although there were quite a few pills suitable for Qi Condensation cultivators, he couldn’t easily give them to anyone in his current situation. This was because the Great Jin cultivation world was full of people who wouldn’t hesitate to kill for treasures, and such incidents happened more frequently than in Tiannan. Then, a few days ago, Jo Mongyong had received news from her sect and, surprised, came to find him. She said there was an opponent at the eighth level of Qi Condensation and that she had a problem to solve, so after hearing her story, he decided to help. He planned to handle this matter for her and then leave. The two men before him had dazzling magical artifacts, but they were only at the eighth and tenth levels of Qi Condensation. Naturally, they didn’t impress him. While the three women were surprised, he calmly got up and left the pavilion. “I’m going to take on the duel in place of Fellow Cultivator Jo. Which of you two would like to test your skills against me? After all, we can’t just have a free-for-all, can we?” As soon as Han Li finished speaking, the two men appeared in the air and descended to the ground. “It’s a good thing I came along. If Junior Brother Oh had come alone, he would have been in trouble. This cultivator has a strange face, but his cultivation is decent. I’ll step forward, so let’s have a match.” A middle-aged man with small eyes answered, holding a wooden board-like magical artifact in one hand. The other man was a burly man in his thirties who was coldly staring at Han Li. He seemed to be Oh Hyoyoo. “Ma Okrim! As a law enforcement disciple of the Seoryeong Sect, are you allowed to participate in personal duels like this?” the older female disciple asked, her face changing color. “It seems Senior Sister Ro doesn’t know, but Junior Brother Oh and I are not strangers. What’s wrong with relatives helping each other?” the middle-aged man retorted expressionlessly. At those words, Senior Sister Ro was at a loss for words and looked anxious, and Jo Mongyong’s face also darkened, not knowing what to do. “Shall we start right away? I have other things to do after the duel.” Han Li, who had looked up at the sun to gauge the time, stepped forward with an ambiguous expression. The middle-aged man sneered, put away the wooden board-shaped magical artifact, and took out a small, pale yellow harpoon from his storage pouch. As the two cultivators were about to start their duel, the others stepped back a few paces. It was a duel between cultivators with high cultivation among Qi Condensation cultivators, so everyone watched with excitement. However, Han Li simply stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for his opponent. Ma Okrim, feeling displeased by Han Li’s calm demeanor, immediately began chanting incantations while holding the small harpoon, and then released a hand seal. Soon after, the small harpoon trembled, emitting a light of spiritual energy, and turned yellow as it flew towards Han Li. Han Li expressionlessly raised one hand without taking out any magical artifact. Then, a dozen or so talismans flew out, turning into fist-sized fireballs that met the yellow light. Ma Okrim sneered inwardly at the sight. His magical artifact, the Yellow Wind Harpoon, was a mid-grade magical artifact he had received from his sect, and those small fireballs could be easily blocked. However, not wanting to damage his magical artifact by colliding with the fireballs, he formed a hand seal to quickly make the yellow light go around the fireballs and attack his opponent. At this, Han Li smiled and pointed to the sky. Then, the fireballs merged into one, blazing and turning into a fire serpent that twisted its body flexibly. It quickly caught up to the harpoon and wrapped around it. Panicked, Ma Okrim released all his spiritual power to try and free the harpoon. However, as the fire serpent wrapped around and squeezed the yellow light-emitting magical artifact, it quickly dimmed and even began to hum lowly. “Wait a minute! Since your cultivation is so strong, I’ll admit defeat.” the middle-aged man shouted urgently, trying to save his magical treasure as the situation took an unexpected turn. Hearing those words, Han Li smiled and pointed to the sky again. *Bang!* At his gesture, the fire serpent released the harpoon and exploded into small sparks. As Han Li defeated his opponent in one move, the three women were surprised and delighted. However, the burly man, Oh Hyoyoo, opened his mouth to his senior brother with a displeased expression. “Senior Brother Ma, how could this…” “Junior Brother Oh, didn’t you see the opponent’s strength? Even though I used the Yellow Wind Harpoon, I was no match for him. It seems your nephew’s luck ends here.” Ma Okrim rebuked him, not giving him any room to argue. He retrieved his magical artifact and, after examining it, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was nothing wrong with it. Oh Hyoyoo was dissatisfied with his senior brother’s words, but there was nothing he could do. If his senior brother, who was at the tenth level of Qi Condensation, couldn’t do anything, how could he? Thus, the two Seoryeong Sect cultivators huffed and puffed as they flew down the mountain on their magical artifacts. After they disappeared, Jo Mongyong and the other two women surrounded Han Li, asking what kind of magic he had just used. Han Li vaguely explained that it was an application of some low-level magic. However, when the women asked about their difficulties in cultivation, he answered them with all his sincerity. As time passed and the day grew dark, the three women couldn’t stay any longer and left. And when they visited the thatched house again at dawn, Han Li was gone, leaving behind only a letter of farewell. * * * Thousands of miles away, Han Li was flying slowly on his magical artifact, talking with the Great Yan Divine Lord. “You’re going to Gangneung Prefecture first to find the Feng family’s secret cave?” “I don’t know when the Five Ghosts Locking Body Technique [a technique that seals one’s body] will lose its effect, so finding a Buddhist technique to resolve the baleful aura is urgent. Otherwise, I won’t be able to recover my magic power with peace of mind.” “Don’t get your hopes up too high. How could a Buddhist disciple from a small family possess a high-level technique that can resolve baleful aura?” the Great Yan Divine Lord poured cold water on Han Li’s plan. “I know. But isn’t the Feng family’s secret chamber the easiest to access? It would be great if I could get a high-level technique, but if not, I’ll have to go to a Buddhist sect. It won’t be an easy journey with my current cultivation.” “Since your cultivation has decreased, everything has become difficult. If you were a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator [a high cultivation stage], even the bald heads of the Buddhist sect might have cooperated with you out of respect,” the Great Yan Divine Lord snorted, and Han Li just shook his head with a wry smile. The Buddhist sects were very exclusive, and even if he went there with mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, they wouldn’t easily hand over a high-level technique. The only way was to infiltrate a Buddhist sect and steal one of the high-level techniques, but that would require shaving his head and becoming a monk, which he wasn’t very keen on. * * * Gwanryeong Prefecture was located at the western end of Ryo Province and was quite far from Ohwon Prefecture. Han Li had to fly for a full fifteen days to finally reach Gwanryeong Prefecture. After flying for a few more days, there were hardly any ordinary people to be seen, and the scenery became desolate. He arrived at a place called Junun Town and got off his magical artifact, walking along a dirt road. This place, which looked much more shabby than other areas, was small, with only three or four intersecting alleys, and most of the buildings were made of mud or wood. Han Li frowned and looked around as he walked along the dirt road of the small village. He was wearing thin clothes in the cold weather, but none of the ordinary people passing by him showed any surprise. At that moment, two cultivators wearing white robes were walking towards Han Li. The two, who looked quite young, were cultivators at about the seventh or eighth level of Qi Condensation, judging by the spiritual energy fluctuations. They were surprised to see Han Li and stopped walking. The tall, thin young man politely bowed and asked, “May I ask for your name, Senior? Did you come to participate in the Ginseng King Gathering?” “Ginseng King Gathering? I don’t know about that. I just heard there were many spiritual herbs nearby and came to take a look.” “Ah, I see. No wonder you’re arriving now when the exchange meeting has already started. If you want to attend the Ginseng King Gathering, you can go to Seolleung Mountain.” “This exchange meeting is hosted by the three families of Gwanryeong, and not only are various spiritual medicines traded, but a dozen or so spiritual medicines that are hundreds of years old and a wild ginseng king that is a thousand years old will be auctioned off. The exchange meeting is already underway, but the final auction hasn’t started yet, so if you’re looking for spiritual medicines, it would be much easier than searching the mountains. Also, we don’t charge any fees for private transactions between cultivators and those from other sects.” The short young man next to him explained enthusiastically, as if trying to lead Han Li to the exchange meeting. Han Li had several storage pouches and spirit beast pouches, making him a good customer at first glance. “The three families, you mean the Gong, Jo, and Dong families?” Han Li asked, his eyes gleaming, as if he was a little surprised. “Yes, we are disciples of the Gong family. We were waiting to welcome any seniors who might have heard the rumors and came to visit, but we were on our way back.” The thin young man replied with a smile. “It seems the Gong family is already managing this place? The ordinary people don’t seem to be afraid of cultivators.” “That’s right. Our three families have been jointly managing this place for the past five or six years. The people living here are all our collateral relatives. So there’s no reason for them to be afraid of cultivators.” “Is that so? Then that’s a problem.” “Yes? Do you have other business, Senior? If you tell us, we’ll help you.” This time, the short young man asked. “No, since there’s an exchange meeting, let’s go take a look.” Han Li said calmly after thinking it over. “Then we’ll escort you.” After the two cultivators finished speaking, they took out a disc-shaped magical artifact and threw it into the air. Han Li threw a flying sword that was noticeably different at first glance and stood in front of them. “Isn’t that an upper-grade flying sword? It seems you’re someone who came out from a large sect to gain experience.” The tall, thin young man exclaimed in surprise after seeing Han Li’s flying sword, and the short young man also looked envious. “According to the sect’s rules, I can’t reveal my sect while gaining experience, so don’t ask any more questions,” Han Li said, and the two cultivators were convinced that he was definitely a disciple of a large sect. The three cultivators flew south on their magical artifacts, passing through the small village. * * * The place called Seolleung Mountain was not far from the small village, and soon the mountain peaks came into view. However, it seemed more appropriate to call it a mountain range rather than a mountain. The mountain range, which was over ten thousand miles long, was one of the largest in Ryo Province. It was said that demons and strange monsters appeared inside, and ordinary people as well as low-level cultivators would sometimes go missing. The missing cultivators’ friends, families, and fellow disciples would form groups to search, but they could not find anything unusual in the mountain range. However, people continued to disappear from time to time. Fortunately, not everyone who passed through the mountain range disappeared, and most of those who disappeared were local low-level cultivators. So, each sect forbade their disciples from going deep into the mountains. After that, the number of disappearances decreased significantly, and people stopped going deep into the mountains. The Ginseng King Gathering hosted by the three great families of Gwanryeong was naturally held on the outermost high peak, not deep in the mountain range. Han Li’s eyes lit up when he saw the magnificent multi-story pavilion in the air. It was a place that looked newly built at first glance. “Senior, this is the place. We provide individual rooms for Foundation Establishment cultivators and individual pavilions for seniors above Core Formation. You can rest comfortably during your stay.” The tall young man said, pointing downwards. Han Li nodded and didn’t say anything, but he spread his consciousness and secretly examined the area, narrowing his brows. There was a Nascent Soul cultivator inside the pavilion. He didn’t know if that person was the Old Monster Gong that Feng Yue had mentioned before he died. However, a faint aura of a corpse was detected from the opponent’s body. It was very subtle and cleverly hidden, but Han Li’s consciousness was superior to his, so he was able to discover it. Could it be that he had learned a demonic or heretical technique? According to his memory, the Gong family was a Confucian sect and was under the Cheonseong Sect, which had a good reputation. He knew that they were still receiving some support, so whether that Nascent Soul cultivator was the Gong family’s old monster or just someone who was there for the exchange, there was definitely a problem. Han Li followed the two cultivators towards the entrance of the manor, and four cultivators wearing blue robes came out to greet them from inside the gate.