Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 526

“Investigator Son, you’ve got the wrong person. I merely came here chasing a spirit beast. I did see the lower realm spirit beasts causing a commotion just now, but I don’t know who was behind it.”

The masked cultivator chuckled, wary of the old woman.

“You came all the way here chasing a spirit beast? Are you asking me to believe that a cultivator with a mid-Nascent Soul cultivation couldn’t catch a mere spirit beast and ended up here? Besides, I’ve already scanned hundreds of miles around, and aside from you, there’s no one else capable of such a thing.”

A faint purple hue flickered across the old woman’s face.

“Has something happened? Don’t tell me the Evil Yang Palace suffered some damage from the spirit beasts’ commotion just now. And don’t you dare try to pin the blame on me! There are more than a few disciples who saw me heading towards the Cheonak Mountain Range today. Although you have a late-Nascent Soul cultivation, if I’m prepared to die, I won’t be an easy opponent.”

The masked cultivator’s eyes flashed gold, but his fear remained. The old woman narrowed her eyes at the masked man’s words.

“So, you’re really saying you didn’t do it?”

“If you don’t believe me, I can even swear an oath on my inner demon! I just arrived here, so I have no idea what happened.”

“There’s no need to swear. Perhaps it’s as you say. You are a cultivator of some standing, so you probably wouldn’t do such a shameless thing. Besides, I’ve never heard of Investigator Ma having the ability to summon spirit beasts. But to chase a single spirit beast all the way to the Cheonak Mountain Range, it must have been no ordinary spirit beast. May I ask what it was?”

“Ah, that spirit beast is quite rare. It’s a Tortoise-Scaled Dragon that just evolved to the seventh grade. I found it in the nearby Hwangryeo Mountain, and it’s highly intelligent and skilled in earth evasion, so I’ve been chasing it for six days straight. That’s why I didn’t have time to ask for your understanding beforehand.”

Knowing that he couldn’t dispel her suspicion unless he was honest, the masked man readily spoke about the spirit beast he was chasing.

“A seventh-grade Tortoise-Scaled Dragon is indeed a rare spirit beast. No wonder Investigator Ma went to such lengths. Seeing that you’re leaving, you must have succeeded in capturing it. Could you show me the seventh-grade Tortoise-Scaled Dragon?”

“Just when the spirit beasts were causing a ruckus, my secret technique suddenly stopped working. So, I lost track of the spirit beast…”

“But what does that mean?”

“While I was searching for the spirit beast, a tremendously fast blue streak of light flew by. It didn’t seem like a cultivator from the Gui Palace, so I tried to chase it, but unfortunately, it was too fast, and I lost it. And that’s when Investigator Son stopped me.”

The old woman’s expression changed as the masked cultivator spoke with a wry smile.

“A blue streak of light? How long ago did it leave? Which direction was it heading?”

“It flew out of the mountain range. With your abilities, you might be able to catch that person.”

“Thank you for the information. I must leave immediately, so you should leave this place as well. The demonic path is peculiar, so I hope you’re gone when this old woman returns.”

The old woman, having found a clue, immediately chased him away. And before the masked man could reply, she turned into a golden streak of light and shot out of the mountain range.

“That old woman’s personality is as stubborn as I’ve heard. She changes her attitude as soon as she gets the information she wants. She says the demonic path is peculiar, but isn’t she just trying to take the Tortoise-Scaled Dragon for herself! The disappearance of the Tortoise-Scaled Dragon must be related to the person in the blue streak of light… To catch someone who was flying at the speed of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator will be quite a task. Tch, seeing how agitated she was, it seems the Evil Yang Palace suffered a great loss. How delightful!”

The masked man sneered, watching the old woman disappear with a glint in his eyes. Then, he lowered his head to look at the spirit beast pouch at his waist, a faint hint of joy on his face.

“Although I missed the Tortoise-Scaled Dragon, catching the Black Blood Spider makes this trip worthwhile. But how did that person make the spirit beasts go berserk? The fact that there’s a way to lure spirit beasts is not something to take lightly. I need to go back and talk to Senior Brother Mok.”

He looked around and then emitted a green light from his entire body, turning into a streak of light and flying away.

* * *

Old Woman Son flew for half a day, scanning tens of thousands of miles around with her consciousness, but she couldn’t find any suspicious individuals. She had no choice but to return to the Evil Yang Palace and issue a gag order to the related disciples. If this news spread outside, the Evil Yang Palace would surely become the laughingstock of the Great Jin Cultivation World.

It was fortunate that they only took the Howling Yang Bird’s feathers and didn’t kill the spirit beast to take its core. If they were given tonics and spiritual herbs, they would recover their vitality within a few decades.

The old woman, having suffered an unspeakable humiliation, secretly dispatched elite disciples to investigate whether any forces or old monsters above the Nascent Soul stage were refining treasures in various places. If they followed the vine, they might find the fruit.

Her reason for trying to find that person was not only because she was angry that they had harmed the Howling Yang Bird but also to find out how they had gathered the spirit beasts. With that knowledge, whether it was killing spirit beasts to take their cores or capturing spirit beasts to tame them as spiritual beasts, it would be much easier.

She wasn’t the only one thinking this way. The Demon Wood Sect was also secretly releasing disciples to find out if there were any high-level cultivators who had recently appeared in Long Prefecture.

As the two major forces of Long Prefecture moved simultaneously, the families and sects that were well-informed began to feel uneasy. They suspected that the two forces, which had maintained a balance for a long time, were about to clash and start a war.

The panicked small sects and forces reacted to their movements by forming alliances or lying low. As a result, the atmosphere throughout Long Prefecture became tense.

Han Li, unaware that he was the cause of all this, was examining his spoils in a stone chamber on a nameless mountainside.

Holding five long, colorful feathers, he spoke with the Great Yan Divine Lord.

“It seems the old woman who was chasing you was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator from the Evil Yang Palace. Her cultivation was deep, but her consciousness was ordinary. It’s fortunate she couldn’t find you, who concealed your aura; otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome.”

“Well, if I had been discovered, I would have used the Blood Shadow Escape. Besides, would a clone of an Upper Realm Saint Beast really be able to find me? Still, the speed of the escape technique they used was too fast, so I should hide for a while.”

“Even so, you gained quite a lot for taking a brief risk. So many feathers and even a rare Tortoise-Scaled Dragon! If you can tame it as a spiritual beast, it will be a great help in finding heaven and earth treasures.”

“That’s true, but subduing a spirit beast that has already fully matured is not an easy task. Whether I succeed or not will depend on luck.”

“It doesn’t matter. In fact, taming a fully matured spirit beast isn’t that difficult. Especially if it’s a highly intelligent one.”

The Great Yan Divine Lord spoke casually, as if he had experience in this area.

“Oh, is that so?”

“You’ll see when the time comes. The Tortoise-Scaled Dragon seemed quite intelligent, so it probably won’t be difficult to tame.”

“I hope so. But for now, I’ll suppress the spirit beast’s nature and try later when I have time. Right now, I need to deal with the feathers and check out the auction in Great Capital.”

“I’ve been to Great Capital before. Although it’s a market for mortals, it’s certainly extraordinary.”

“That makes me even more curious. Great Capital is quite far from here, so give me just one day. If I deal with the materials and leave right away, three months should be enough.”

Han Li calmly explained and then, with a blue light from his hand, put all but one of the long feathers back into the storage pouch.

He floated the feather in the air and then blew out a blue flame. As the feather, surrounded by the blue flames, emitted its natural red flames, its mysterious beauty caught the eye.

However, Han Li simply sat down, closed his eyes, and focused.

* * *

Han Li, having stayed up all night, left the stone chamber and headed towards the center of Great Jin. There, in the mortal world, was Great Capital, the largest city.

Soon, he smoothly left Long Prefecture and took out his Wind-Riding Chariot, flying at full speed.

One month later, he arrived near the Golden River County near Great Capital, where he put away his Wind-Riding Chariot and adjusted his aura to the Core Formation stage.

Since there were many high-level cultivators in the center of Great Jin, he didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention.

Ten days later, a dilapidated carriage pulled by a yellow horse was passing along the official road, a hundred miles outside of Great Capital.

Sitting in the carriage was Han Li, wearing a blue robe.

He had his eyes half-closed, as if he were dozing off, but in reality, he was absorbing the energy of the Snow Soul Pill he had taken a few days ago.

He had consumed a dozen or so of these pills, which contained such cold energy, after coming out of the spatial rift.

As expected of an ancient spiritual pill, he could feel the cold energy of the Refined Azure Ice Flame and the Six-Winged Frost Cicada becoming purer. Also, the impure substances of the Violet Aurora Flame were gradually merging and disappearing, which significantly increased the power of the cold energy.

The only downside was that it wasn’t easy to absorb the pill itself, so he could only take it once every three or four months. Otherwise, he could have taken one pill every month and maximized the power of the Violet Aurora Flame within a hundred years. If that were the case, he might even reach the point of creating an ice wall that stretched for a thousand miles.

Even so, the Violet Aurora Flame was already on par with the top-tier divine powers of both the righteous and demonic paths.

However, there was a reason why Han Li, who had been hurrying on his way, was now leisurely riding in a carriage.

Great Capital was a mortal capital, so there was an unspoken rule in the Great Jin Cultivation World. As a sign of respect from the cultivation world to the Great Jin government, fighting and flying between cultivators were strictly prohibited within a thousand miles of Great Capital.

This meant that cultivators and mortals relied on each other and coexisted. However, this rule was only followed by low-level cultivators, and Nascent Soul cultivators or Core Formation cultivators who were confident in their escape techniques often ignored it.

The cultivators in charge of patrolling Great Capital were hired by the government, so their cultivation was not very high. As long as they weren’t discovered, it was fine, and they only needed to be careful when entering the city by flying at low altitudes.

Han Li wasn’t particularly concerned about such things, but since he had plenty of time and was taking the Snow Soul Pill on the way, he deliberately rode in a carriage from hundreds of miles away.

On his way, he had encountered low-level cultivators riding horses or carriages, but he didn’t want to cause any trouble, so he hid all his magic power and pretended to be a mortal. As a result, the low-level cultivators didn’t pay any attention to him or bother him.

Since Han Li was driving the carriage slowly, six or seven groups of merchants had already passed him.

He was feeling the refreshing sensation of the medicinal effects starting in his dantian [energy center] and spreading throughout his body through his meridians [energy channels] when he suddenly narrowed his brows. The sound of horses’ hooves suddenly echoed from behind the carriage.

Han Li opened his eyes expressionlessly. As he pulled the reins, the old horse obediently moved to the side of the road.

Han Li turned his head to look, and a massive army was rushing towards him, kicking up dust like a yellow dragon.

They soon got closer to Han Li, and the cavalrymen wearing silver helmets and armor emerged from the dust. The soldiers were all sturdy, and the middle-aged man riding a jet-black steed at the front wore a long sword at his waist and a large flag fluttering behind him. The flag had the character for ‘King’ written on it in large letters, and an jade-colored carriage was running alongside them among the cavalrymen.

A faint light of spiritual energy flickered from the carriage, and despite the frantic pace, the carriage itself did not shake.

‘A magical artifact?’

Han Li’s eyes lit up when he saw it.

When he scanned it with his consciousness, he found that most of them were carrying something, and only one carriage faintly emitted the aura of a cultivator. It was a very faint aura, but it was unexpected that a cultivator was mixed in with the soldiers.