Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 513

‘I’ve temporarily sealed his memories with the Silent Dream Needle, so there shouldn’t be any problems for a while. It’s quite inconvenient not being able to use Dream Manipulation due to my weakened cultivation.’

Han Li shook his head and retrieved the formation flags, leaving the pavilion. It was time to leave this place.

Since it wasn’t uncommon for cultivators to leave midway through the exchange, the cultivators guarding the main gate of the manor didn’t find it strange when he flew away on his magical artifact.

He flew towards the small city that the blue giant had mentioned. It wasn’t far from the Seolreung Mountain Range, and he soon found Seolgang City.

It was three or four times larger than Jeonun Town, and although small, it could barely be called a city. By the time Han Li entered the city, it was already dusk, and there were few people on the streets.

As he walked through the streets, he spread his senses. There were cultivators in the city, but most were low-level cultivators. The highest cultivation was a Core Formation cultivator in a manor somewhere in the southwest.

Even when Han Li’s powerful senses swept over him, the other cultivator didn’t notice anything. Han Li confirmed that there were no threatening presences here and began to look around the streets.

Soon, he reached a wide, cross-shaped intersection and stopped, looking at an inn nearby. The inn had the silver characters ‘Joyful Arrival’ written on it. There must be hundreds of inns with such ordinary names in the Great Jin alone.

Han Li looked around to make sure no one was watching, then quietly entered. The inside of the inn was dark and quiet. There were no customers, and it seemed to be temporarily closed.

The owner of the Joyful Arrival Inn was a lean old man in his fifties, and he was considered quite wealthy in the city. He was lost in a sweet dream with his concubine, whom he had brought in less than a year ago.

Suddenly, a cold needle swept through his body, and he woke up. The inn owner opened his eyes, drenched in cold sweat.

Then, he realized that someone was coldly looking down at him beside the bed.

“You are….”

The old man tried to shout, but his vision flashed, and no sound came out.

“There’s no need to shout. Even if there are no cultivators in the inn, we can’t let others in the city notice. First, look at this.”

The shadow in the darkness showed the inn owner a silver, shining key. The inn owner trembled at the sight of the key, then his face relaxed, and he showed a welcoming expression.

Of course, the one who had snuck into the inn owner’s room was Han Li.

The inn owner hurriedly jumped out of bed and mumbled something, but still no voice came out.

Han Li smiled and waved his hand, and something silver came out of his neck. It was a thin silver needle.

“May I take a closer look at the key?”

Han Li tossed the key to the inn owner in response to his question. The old man carefully examined it, then respectfully returned the key to Han Li with both hands and bowed.

“Are you the First Young Master?”

“Do you still doubt me after seeing the key?”

Han Li didn’t answer the question but asked back.

“No, I don’t doubt the identity of the person who came to me with the key. However…”

The old man glanced at the concubine on the bed without realizing it.

“Before waking you, I put her into a deep sleep with a spell, so she won’t hear you even if you shout in her ear.”

“I see. I was very worried because the family head hasn’t contacted us for several years. I couldn’t move carelessly, fearing that I might attract the attention of other cultivators if I asked about the news. I feel much relieved that you have come to me today, Young Master.”

“Something has happened to the Feng family, and I need to open the secret cave to take a few things. The location of the secret cave can only be found on the map you possess, except for the family head. Bring it to me!”

Han Li gave the order without hesitation.

“Yes! The Young Master who possesses the key is fully qualified to open the secret cave. I will go get it right away, so please wait a moment.”

The inn owner hurriedly put on his clothes and led Han Li out of the room towards the back of the inn. At the bottom of the back wall, the old man dug with a pickaxe and unearthed an ordinary-looking blue brick.

The old man wiped his sweat and turned to Han Li.

“The map is sealed here. There is a restriction on it, so I cannot open it. You should be able to break it, Young Master.”

“Of course. You should not stay here any longer. Leave immediately, change your name, and live elsewhere.”

“It seems that something big has really happened to the Feng family. Don’t worry, Young Master! I will pack my things and leave within a few days, and I will keep silent about you.”

The inn owner’s face darkened, but he answered without hesitation.

“You have been loyal to our family, so take this. If you take these pills, you will live a long and healthy life.”

Han Li retrieved the brick and, seeing the old man’s expression, took out a blue medicine bottle and gave it to him.

“Thank you, Young Master!”

“I have things to do and must leave immediately, so take care of yourself from now on.”

Han Li said expressionlessly and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The old man was startled and looked around. After confirming that Han Li had left, he looked at the medicine bottle in his hand.

After a while, the old man let out a long sigh.

As soon as Han Li left the Joyful Arrival Inn, he immediately left Seolgang City and headed to an empty mountain. He turned his palm over and took out the blue brick.

Han Li held the brick in his hand and examined it. Then, he raised a blue aura on one finger and poked the brick. A white spiritual light spread out, creating ripples.

He nodded with a satisfied expression.

The blue brick was not an ordinary object, as Feng Chim, the eldest grandson of the Feng family who used the alias ‘Feng Ak,’ had said. Magical artifacts similar to the Twilight Jade had to be opened by learning a specific magic seal, and if one tried to open them by force, the contents inside would turn to ash and disappear.

Han Li chanted a low spell and opened his mouth, emitting a blue aura. Then, he formed hand seals and poked several places on the brick with his fingertips. With a ‘pop’ sound, a circular black hole appeared on the surface of the brick.

Han Li didn’t put his hand in right away but used the blue aura to take out two items from inside. They were a jade slip and a bundle of miscellaneous documents.

He first infused his senses into the jade slip. Soon, Han Li’s expression darkened.

“Is the location of the secret cave not written there?”

The Great Yan Divine Lord sensed this and asked in his consciousness.

“The location is written in great detail.”

“Then why are you like that?”

“The Feng family built the secret cave deep in the Seolreung Mountain Range.”

“They couldn’t have done that without knowing that cultivators often go missing there…”

The Great Yan Divine Lord was also puzzled by Han Li’s answer.

“Who knows? They might have thought that such a place would be safer to hide treasures.”

“Even if it’s a place used as a secret cave, it shouldn’t be too dangerous, so don’t worry too much.”

“I hope so! Now that I have the map, I have to go there at least once, even if I have to take some risks.”

Han Li retrieved the jade slip and was surprised when he looked through the bundle of documents.

“Aren’t these documents proving ownership of worldly assets and land? This is enough to rival any wealthy family.”

“Is that strange? The aristocratic families of the Great Jin and the cultivation families of Tiannan are quite different. Although the Great Jin has a vast territory, it also has a large population, so most of the spirit stone mines and other resources are distributed in places where mortals live, not in wastelands. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the secular court occupies the majority. Unlike Tiannan, cultivators in the Great Jin often have no choice but to interact with mortals, even if they are not government officials or wealthy merchants.”

“Are you saying that the other sects allowed the king of the Great Jin to occupy so many cultivation resources?”

Han Li was a little confused.

“There’s no need for permission! Unlike Tiannan, where many countries are rampant, the Great Jin has been ruled by a single powerful court since ancient times. No matter how powerful the cultivators are, they cannot openly harm mortals.

Before they can even react in the secular world, the forces of other sects will not stand idly by and will use it as an excuse to attack them. The Great Jin court was created through an agreement between the major forces of the cultivation world, so no one can arbitrarily put pressure on it or try to control it. In order to maintain the dignity of the secular court, the government even has the right to recruit cultivators or for the Great Jin imperial family to train a certain number of court cultivators. Of course, they keep a close watch to ensure that the number of cultivators does not exceed the limit.

It has become common for the cultivation world to secretly gather worldly resources and build relationships with royalty or government officials, but they often use their subordinate aristocratic families to avoid being discovered by other forces. It’s already an open secret in the Great Jin, but seeing these documents hidden like this, it’s likely that they are related to cultivation resources.”

The Great Yan Divine Lord explained what he knew in detail, and Han Li stroked his chin at the unexpected information.

“Seeing that they have set aside such important assets here, it’s possible that the head of the Feng family realized something and prepared it in advance for future generations.”

“That may be the case, but it has nothing to do with us, does it? Hurry to the secret cave and find the Unstoppable Technique to resolve the killing intent.”

“You are right.”

Han Li smiled and put the documents in a jade box, then flew towards the Seolreung Mountain Range.

* * *

Inside a tomb chamber beneath the Seolreung Mountain Range, two figures covered in green aura stood in front of three stone coffins. Suddenly, two green lights shot out from the middle coffin and were absorbed into the heads of each figure.

“Go! Kill that guy and bring back the treasure.”

As the man’s sinister command fell, the two figures instantly turned into streaks of green light and left the stone chamber.

“I have already informed the transformed beings of the appearance of the cultivator who took the Vajra Amulet, and Wang Yi’s aura should remain for a while, so we will be able to find him soon.”

“Thank… you… Father!”

A stammering voice was heard from one of the stone coffins.

“I will let it slide this time, but don’t act arbitrarily next time.”

“Yes! …Next… time… never!”

The tomb chamber became quiet again, but suddenly, with a ‘bang’ sound, a lean figure appeared, kicking open the lid of the middle coffin.

“What is it, Great King?”

“The time has come when the yin energy flowing underground is surging. It won’t greatly reduce your cultivation even if you leave the tomb chamber for a while, so it’s time to deal with the key figures of the other two aristocratic families with the help of General Gwa! When I leave, you must activate all the restrictions of the tomb chamber to prevent anyone from entering.”

“Yes, Great King! Please be careful, Great King.”

The woman hesitated and gave a worried request.

“It will only take a day or two at most, and I will return to the tomb chamber. After that, I will refrain from going out.”

The man nodded, and his figure blurred, turning into a gray aura and disappearing.

* * *

By the time Han Li returned to the Seolreung Mountain Range, the sun had already begun to rise. He entered without hesitation and began to fly low on his magical artifact.

He was being as cautious as possible, completely concealing his aura and releasing his senses to check several miles around, fearing that he might get caught up in troublesome matters.

The Feng family’s secret chamber was hidden deep in the center of the mountain range. After wandering around the mountain range for a day, Han Li finally found a huge waterfall, several hundred feet in size, below a small mountain peak.

It was exactly as described in the jade slip. Looking at the falling water, he formed hand seals and released a blue light.

Kukung.

There was a dull rumble, and the waterfall split open, revealing a huge cave about ten feet in diameter.

Han Li immediately urged his magical artifact and entered. Then, the waterfall returned to its original state and poured down.

The moment he entered the cave, two figures covered in green aura, who were several thousand miles away from the waterfall, lost track of him and went berserk.

They made sharp teeth and growling sounds, making them look like ferocious beasts.

And unbeknownst to those two figures, two other cultivators were hiding several miles away, whispering something.

# 515