Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 565

“Brother Han, isn’t it strange? There’s so much spiritual energy here, yet there isn’t a single spiritual herb, let alone a spiritual beast. It’s bizarre that it’s all just ordinary vegetation.”

Bai Yaoyi hesitated before speaking.

“The spiritual energy here is indeed dense, but it grows even stronger as we ascend. That’s similar to other spiritual mountains. Perhaps the cultivators who lived here found it more effective to cultivate spiritual herbs higher up.”

“The spiritual energy is even more abundant higher up?”

“Brother Han, this place seems ideal for cultivation with its abundant spiritual energy. Is there a need to leave so hastily?” Old Man Bu subtly expressed his desire to stay.

“Brother Bu, do you really think this is just an ordinary spiritual mountain? If it were truly a good place for cultivation, the cultivators wouldn’t have abandoned it. Moreover, considering the restriction surrounding the entire mountain, the nature of this place is highly suspicious.”

At those words, the old man’s expression shifted several times before he finally gave a wry smile.

“You’re right. I was momentarily greedy and spoke nonsense.”

“It’s not just you, Brother Bu; I felt the same way. If we could cultivate in a place like this, wouldn’t our cultivation improve faster?”

Han Li chuckled and was about to say something when he suddenly froze, stopping in his tracks. His dark blue eyes were fixed on a point in the void.

The old man and Bai Yaoyi, looking puzzled, turned their gazes to where he was looking.

“Let’s take a look. There might be something useful there.”

Han Li’s eyes gleamed as he changed direction and entered the thick fog. The old man and Bai Yaoyi were puzzled, but knowing that he didn’t speak carelessly, they followed without hesitation.

They were dumbfounded when they entered the fog.

A massive white stone staircase stretched endlessly, connecting the bottom and top of the mountain. And where they had descended, a white stele stood.

Han Li stood with his hands behind his back, examining the stele, which was more than a dozen feet tall.

“What is it?”

“I know where this place is. Come and see for yourselves.”

Han Li said softly as the old man showed curiosity.

“Oh, is that so?”

The old man seemed to snap out of his thoughts and strode forward, with Bai Yaoyi following behind. The two cultivators also recognized where they were at once after seeing the stele.

Only two characters were inscribed on the stele in a grand script.

“Kunwu! Could this be the legendary Kunwu Mountain!” the old man exclaimed in surprise as he read the ancient characters. Bai Yaoyi also covered her mouth with one hand, unable to hide her shock.

“So, it was Kunwu Mountain. It’s said that in ancient times, countless cultivators gathered here to cultivate. Judging by the massive mountain and dense spiritual energy, it must be Kunwu Mountain. However, according to the stories, it was either taken to the Spirit World by the ancient cultivators or sunk into the Yellow Springs [the underworld] during the battles between cultivators. How is it here?”

Bai Yaoyi murmured in disbelief.

“To think it was sealed here! Since so many ancient cultivators stayed here, we could obtain countless treasures just by entering anywhere.”

Old Man Bu’s face was filled with joy.

“That might be the case. But judging by the sealing barrier, they must have left this place after making sufficient preparations. I doubt we’ll find a lot of valuable items just by searching their residences. However, this stele, though crude, has become a treasure after absorbing spiritual energy for tens of thousands of years.”

Han Li shook his head and approached the stele, touching it.

“You’re saying this stele is a treasure?”

The old man and Bai Yaoyi looked at the stele with surprise. The very ordinary stele made of bluestone did emit spiritual energy, but it was similar to a crude, low-grade magical artifact.

They looked at Han Li with puzzled expressions.

“You might not believe it, but it is. I’m going to take this.”

Han Li calmly said with a slight smile, but they were still confused. He, too, didn’t feel anything special about the stele, just like the other two cultivators.

If the Earth Armored Dragon in his spirit beast pouch hadn’t reacted to the stele, he wouldn’t have even glanced at it.

He stretched out his palm towards the stele, emitting a blue aura. The stele trembled greatly and shrank within the blue aura, becoming about half its original size. He then reached out and pulled it towards him.

But the moment he lifted the stele, something strange happened. The seemingly ordinary stele trembled and emitted a white light. At that moment, Han Li couldn’t control the blue aura.

Thud!

A loud sound echoed as the stele fell back to its original spot, as if it weighed tens of millions of pounds. The stele cracked as it hit the ground.

‘This is?’

Han Li narrowed his eyes in delight.

“Huh! The surface of the stele…”

Before Han Li could see properly, Old Man Bu, who was standing next to him, exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the back of the stele. Han Li raised his eyebrows. If his memory was correct, there shouldn’t be anything on the back of the stele.

However, the old man wouldn’t act like that for no reason, so he quickly moved and examined the back of the stele.

Surprisingly, a blue light, sparkling like crystal, was visible through the crack. Han Li’s eyes gleamed, but he couldn’t tell exactly what was shining inside the stele.

‘A spirit stone?’

He suddenly flicked his ten fingers, releasing a dozen blue sword energies, which crisscrossed and shaved off most of the stele. Fragments of the stele scattered, and the surroundings instantly became hazy.

And after a while, a dark blue object quickly revealed itself. Han Li stopped his hand, and the blue sword energies disappeared, revealing a deep blue crystal stone embedded inside the stele.

Although the entire thing wasn’t visible yet, the clear blue crystal stone seemed to be square-shaped.

“It’s not a spirit stone, but it looks very similar to a water-attribute spirit stone. But it doesn’t contain any water-attribute spiritual energy.”

“It’s definitely not a spirit stone. No one would engrave anything on the surface of a spirit stone.”

At Bai Yaoyi’s words, Han Li sighed as he examined the uneven characters that appeared on a part of the crystal stone.

He soon concentrated all his magic power, summoned a blue hand, grabbed the crystal, and lifted it with all his might. It was still incredibly heavy, but Han Li, who had prepared in advance, pulled out the crystal with tremendous force.

As the blue crystal stele came into view, he could see that the characters on its surface were emitting a deep light. Han Li, as if struck by an idea, immediately formed a hand seal and pointed at it.

In response, the crystal stele trembled and shrank before disappearing into his sleeve with a whoosh. The old man and Bai Yaoyi were curious about what it was, but they didn’t ask further when Han Li didn’t seem inclined to show them.

Afterward, they decided to ascend the stairs. The faint roar was coming from the top of the mountain.

Unknown to Han Li, the roar was the sound of the Ye family cultivators breaking through the restriction somewhere on the upper part of the stairs. The distance between them was quite far, and they had to pass through another restriction to reach them.

The cave where they had been teleported was located much lower than the place where the Ye family cultivators had entered through a gap in the sealing barrier.

Next to the Ye family cultivators, the strange man and the Great Elder were watching as the Ye family cultivators used the power of the formation to attack a massive gate. Goma was also mixed among them with a blank face, attacking the gate with his black flying sword.

The faintly visible massive gate emitted an enormous light, blocking all attacks.

“How much longer will it take to break the Mansu Gate?” the strange man asked, looking down at the gate where various spiritual energies were exploding, and turned his head to the scholar.

“I think we can do it by staying up all night. The Mansu Gate is more difficult to pass than I thought. I understand its great reputation now.”

“We’ve already wasted too much time here. If we stepped in, we could reduce the time.”

“Now that we know that ancient ferocious beasts like the Sagums exist here, we must prepare for any eventuality. Even if it takes a day or two longer, you and I shouldn’t waste our magic power. Please be patient. It’s only been a few days since we entered this place, so we still have time. There’s a saying that you should go the long way around when you’re in a hurry.”

“That’s true! No matter how much the Nascent Soul stage cultivators of other sects hurry, it will take them quite a while to arrive here and find the crack in the seal. But I’m worried that if we’re struggling this much with just the Mansu Gate, there will be other obstacles to follow.”

“Uncle, please rest assured. We’ve been planning this for a long time. Of course, we’ve already found ways to break the restrictions. We have several treasures that can be used to break the restrictions, but we haven’t taken them out yet because it’s not the right time.”

The scholar said confidently with a smile.

“If that’s the case, then I can rest easy.”

The big-headed strange man’s expression improved at those words.

After that, they quietly watched the situation and didn’t talk anymore. However, not long after, the strange man wrinkled his nose and flicked his hand towards the void with a darkened face.

In response, several yellow sword energies shot out and rushed towards a huge tree dozens of feet away. As soon as the sword energies touched it, a light breeze blew under the tree, and a monster covered in green fur with wings appeared.

Bang!

The monster didn’t even move a hand and lightly flapped its wings, deflecting the sword energies.

After that, the monster with pointy ears like a monkey and gaunt cheeks looked at the Ye family cultivators with icy eyes, then looked at the scholar and the big-headed strange man again, and immediately flapped its wings and disappeared into the wind.

“Did I see that correctly? Such a high-level wind escape technique… It concealed its form in the wind. Then that monster must be the legendary Hidden Night Yaksha! If it hadn’t faintly revealed its aura, I wouldn’t have even noticed it hiding.”

“Aura? I didn’t feel anything at all. It’s fortunate that you, Uncle, have mastered the Blood Wheel True Art [a cultivation technique], so you’re so sensitive. But that Hidden Night Yaksha seems to have quite high intelligence.”

The scholar frowned as he watched the direction where the Hidden Night Yaksha had disappeared.

“Kunwu Mountain is a famous spiritual mountain, but how are there so many ferocious beasts like the Sagum and the Flying Sky Corpse! If only one of us had come here, what would we have done?”

“It was a spiritual mountain in the past, but there must be a reason why Kunwu Mountain was sealed. There are many strange things, but the most urgent thing is to obtain the Heaven Piercing Treasure, so don’t worry about anything else.”

“You’re right. No matter how powerful a demon is, if it’s just a beast with low intelligence, there’s nothing to worry about. But if it has high intelligence like that Hidden Night Yaksha, we can’t let our guard down. A moment of carelessness could ruin our plans.”

“Understood, Uncle!”

The scholar bowed respectfully at the big-headed strange man’s warning.

Around the time the Ye family cultivators chased away the Hidden Night Yaksha, a light flashed around the pavilion where they had rested. A head of white hair suddenly appeared, comically turning this way and that, scouting the area.

After confirming that no one was left, he immediately pulled his entire silver body out of the wall and stepped out. He stepped onto a huge disc and climbed to the top of the pavilion.

He was none other than Xiang Zhili, whose identity Han Li couldn’t figure out.

“So, this is Kunwu Mountain. Tsk, tsk, the spiritual energy is indeed extraordinary, but who broke the seal here! If that thing gets out, the entire Great Jin could be finished. What bad luck. I happen to be wandering around this area, so I can’t pretend I don’t know!”

Xiang Zhili, hearing the distant roar, stomped his feet with a frustrated expression.

“Knowing you have bad luck, yet you still appear here, you’re quite bold, aren’t you?”

“… !”

Just as Xiang Zhili was cursing, a woman’s sweet voice echoed in his ear. The gentle and soft voice was very sweet.

However, the moment Xiang Zhili heard that voice, his entire body broke out in goosebumps, and he felt his blood run cold.

“S-Senior! You… you’ve escaped?”

“I escaped tens of thousands of years ago. If it weren’t for the last restriction set up by the Kunwu Three Elders, who gathered the power of over ten thousand cultivators, this concubine would have left this place long ago!”

The woman’s voice was still as gentle as ever, but Xiang Zhili’s face grew paler and paler.

# 567