Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 567

Several Core Formation cultivators also dispersed, lost in thought. The disappearance of the group blocking their way had, paradoxically, complicated their minds.

“Instead of that, how about we join hands and go in together?”

Amidst the murmuring cultivators, Daoist Sasan appeared before a burly giant, a sly smile playing on his lips.

“Join hands with you and go in there? No thanks. I’ve heard enough about your reputation as a cultivator.”

“Hey, there’s no need to be so jumpy. Besides us, there are three more unfamiliar Core Formation cultivators here. If the five of us join forces, would we need to worry about those old devils or the Poison Sect cultivators?”

Daoist Jeongwi, unperturbed, persuasively spoke to him with an affable manner.

“Hmm, I’ll consider it after I’ve spoken with the other cultivators.”

“Very well. Leave the task of persuading the others to me.”

Jeongwi thumped his chest, making a bold promise, and approached an old man enveloped in a purple aura.

“Would you be willing to enter the barrier with us? We’ve already spoken with that cultivator over there. If we can persuade the other two, the five of us can move much more safely, don’t you think?”

Jeongwi asked, a wide smile on his face, before the old man could even open his mouth. The old man narrowed his eyes, looked at Jeongwi, then glanced at the giant standing far away. Their eyes met.

Soon, five cultivators, who had never met before, formed a group and entered the illusionary formation. Only Nascent Soul cultivators remained in the underground space.

* * *

When the Core Formation cultivators jumped into the gap in the barrier, Han Li was observing his surroundings with his navy-blue eyes.

He was now standing alone in a strange space, with no distinction between sky and earth, only clouds of various colors filling all directions.

“No matter how much I fly, I can’t escape. It’s not like an illusionary technique. Am I supposed to be trapped here forever?”

Han Li muttered with a gloomy face. It had already been several days.

A few days ago, while climbing the stairs, the three cultivators had discovered an extremely rare spirit herb on a certain rock. Old Man Bu, overcome with greed, hastily tried to collect the herb, which triggered some kind of restriction, trapping them in this strange space.

He had no idea where Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Bu had gone. At first, Han Li hadn’t paid much attention, but as time passed, he realized that the situation was strangely off.

No matter how much he flew, the same scenery repeated itself. He had continuously scanned his surroundings using his Spirit Eyes, but he couldn’t figure anything out.

He had also tried attacking various places with his flying swords and magical treasures, but they would just extend far out and disappear. In this boundless space with no substance, even the sharpest attacks were useless.

After pondering for a long time, he finally sat cross-legged in the void and closed his eyes. He calmly recalled the bizarre ancient formations he knew, trying to find something similar.

How much time had passed? He suddenly opened his eyes and looked around at the clouds.

“So that’s how it was. I didn’t realize it until now…”

Han Li slowly rose and waved his hand in the air. A blue hand appeared in the void and grabbed a red cloud.

Han Li looked at the giant hand and chanted an incantation, forming a bizarre hand seal. The blue light from the giant hand spread greatly, transforming into a ball of light that emitted a brilliant glow.

Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a streak of blue light. The light floated and touched the ball of light, bursting into flames and engulfing its surface.

Only then did Han Li stop his busy hands and stare blankly at the ball of light.

As time passed, he raised the corners of his mouth and suddenly flicked his sleeve, releasing a blue aura. The flames that had been engulfing the ball of light subsided, and a red bead appeared from within.

“Indeed, this method was correct! To hide it in such a clever way, only an ancient cultivator could have done it. If I hadn’t seen a similar restriction in the scriptures left by the Divine Sound Sect long ago, I wouldn’t have had a clue how to escape. I need to put more effort into enhancing the power of my Spirit Eyes. If I use the Spirit Cleansing Liquid to wash my eyes for another hundred years, I’ll be able to see through even the most advanced illusionary formations.”

He left the red bead floating in the air and turned his gaze towards the navy-blue clouds. He stretched out his hand, and a giant hand, identical to the previous one, appeared and grabbed the navy-blue cloud. Once again, he spat out a streak of light.

However, this time the cloud disappeared into the flames. He failed twice in a row, but undeterred, he targeted another navy-blue cloud and obtained a bead.

In this way, he spent half a day successfully creating three more beads, yellow, blue, and gold, in succession. Afterward, he carefully gestured towards the beads, and the beads floating in the air flew away somewhere.

Han Li flicked his fingers as if playing an instrument, and the beads began to rotate, creating a mystical sight as they drew five-colored rings.

“Go!”

At Han Li’s words, the five rings of light scattered and then reappeared in various places, drawing strange trajectories. Suddenly, the beads, which had taken their places at a certain point in the void, began to stretch and shrink incessantly.

Kwakwakwang!

The moment Han Li narrowed his eyes, a series of loud explosions erupted, and the five beads exploded, emitting an enormous light. It was as if five suns had risen in the void.

The five-colored light spread out, engulfing the entire space. The surroundings brightened, and familiar stone steps appeared. Not far away, he could see the rock where he had collected the rare spirit herb.

“Cultivator Han!”

“Brother Han!”

The surprised voices of the old man and the woman came from beside him.

Han Li turned his head and saw Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Bu, who had fallen a few steps away, looking at him with haggard faces, filled with joy.

“You two have also escaped.”

“Isn’t it thanks to Brother Han that you broke this strange restriction? I’ve lived quite a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a terrifying formation. I thought I was going to be trapped here and die!”

Old Man Bu gritted his teeth as if the thought alone was terrifying.

“I was just as helpless as Brother Bu inside. I really benefited greatly from Brother Han this time.”

“I had previously heard of a similar restriction in some scriptures, so I was barely able to break it. There are hardly any opportunities to actually see such ancient restrictions. If my guess is correct, the spirit herb that Brother Bu collected was an illusion created by a magical treasure. You’ve been greatly deceived this time.”

“An illusion? That can’t be. It was clearly… Oh!”

Old Man Bu was startled by those words and hastily took out the jade box from his storage pouch. However, the spirit herb that should have been inside was nowhere to be found, and instead, there was an ordinary jade scepter.

The old man couldn’t close his mouth.

“In fact, the three of us were already under an illusion the moment we stepped onto the stone steps. Brother Bu touching the spirit herb only caused a more powerful illusion to appear. Look around you.”

Han Li pointed to the area around the rock.

When Old Man Bu and Bai Yaoyi heard those words, they saw other purple fruits and spirit herbs that they hadn’t seen before.

“The methods of ancient cultivators are truly insidious. They set up traps upon traps, just waiting for someone to fall into them!”

The old man immediately realized that he had been deceived and became disheartened. Bai Yaoyi was also gaping in surprise.

“There’s no need to be so surprised. Although it’s a powerful restriction, the cultivator who set it up must activate it directly to exert its maximum power. However, I’ve only temporarily escaped the illusion, not eliminated the entire restriction, so we must be careful.”

“Everyone praises Mount Kunwu as a sacred mountain, but it’s nothing more than a tiger’s den.”

The old man seemed unable to shake off his anger, having suffered so much only to lose the spirit herb.

“You must be more careful in the future. This is not the ruins of an ordinary ancient cultivator, so it wouldn’t be strange if any bizarre things were to happen. This time, I happened to find a solution and escape, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to do so next time. …Do you both understand what I mean?”

“Of course, I understand. I will never act recklessly again.”

Old Man Bu replied with an embarrassed chuckle. In fact, he realized that recklessly collecting the spirit herb this time was a huge mistake. Bai Yaoyi also nodded immediately.

“Since you both understand, let’s go. The noise from above has stopped, and several days have already passed, so other cultivators might have reached the summit.”

Han Li raised his head and looked upwards, taking the first step, and the other two cultivators followed closely behind.

Several hours later, they arrived at the stone pavilion where Xiang Zhili had vanished without a trace.

Han Li’s eyes gleamed as he walked towards the pavilion, and the old man and Bai Yaoyi also hurriedly examined the area. However, there were faint footprints on the ground. They were traces that one might miss if not carefully observed.

“So, other cultivators have passed through here as well.”

“Not only that, look over there!”

At Bai Yaoyi’s words, the old man glanced at the rock beside the pavilion.

There were very thin and shallow scratches on the rock, which were the traces left by the seventh uncle of the Ye family when he had unleashed his yellow sword energy a few days ago.

“It seems like it happened recently. Cultivators fought here. Could it be the Yin Fiend Sect?”

Bai Yaoyi’s eyes gleamed.

“Perhaps. It seems that the cultivators who were here also went up the stairs, which is great. Someone will be clearing the path for us.”

Han Li calmly assessed the situation.

Old Man Bu was about to say something when suddenly, a white light flashed in the surrounding void, and a white shadow emerged.

The void where the shadow had emerged was directly in front of the three cultivators, and Han Li and Bai Yaoyi immediately showed signs of joy. They had never imagined that the exit they had been searching for would be so close.

However, Old Man Bu, recognizing the white shadow, immediately changed his expression.

“Five Phase Heart Demons! They are one of the demonic incarnations of Old Devil Geon!”

Han Li was momentarily stunned by those words. He felt like he had heard of the Five Phase Heart Demons somewhere, but he couldn’t recall who Old Devil Geon was for a moment. Upon hearing those words, Bai Yaoyi’s face immediately turned pale.

Pat! Pat! Pat pat!

Four more identical white shadows appeared in succession from the white light barrier in the void. The five faint shadows stood in a row, and all ten eyes stared at Han Li.

‘The Great Elder of the Yin Fiend Sect!’

Seeing the five white shadows, Han Li finally remembered the owner of the Five Phase Heart Demons, and his expression darkened instantly.

“It’s a coincidence that I’ve met Cultivator Bu here. I’ve been searching everywhere for you, but it seems you were here first. Judging by your attire, you seem to be a cultivator from the Northern Night Palace. I’ve known Madam Ryu of your palace for a long time. …And is that Cultivator Han Li from Tiannan? The efforts of our sect and the Heavenly Orchid Holy Temple to find Brother Han have been immense.”

The avatars of Old Devil Geon did not take their eyes off Han Li, and maniacal laughter echoed in the void.

At Old Devil Geon’s words, surprise flashed across the faces of Old Man Bu and Bai Yaoyi. However, Han Li only stared at the five white shadows floating in the distance, not saying a word.

He had killed an elder of the Yin Fiend Sect and possessed the Ghost Luo Banner, a treasure of the Yin Fiend Sect, so it was not a situation that could be resolved amicably. Moreover, he had to find a way to undo the Soul Sealing Bead, and only the Great Elder of the Yin Fiend Sect knew how.

He had been planning to find the Sect Master of the Yin Fiend Sect somehow after this matter was over, but he had unexpectedly encountered him in such a place. Since the opponent was the highest authority of the Yin Fiend Sect, there would never be another chance to face him alone.

He had even fought against a Yin Fiend, who was beyond the Nascent Soul stage. Although the opponent had been trapped underground for a long time and did not possess proper magical treasures, Han Li had not fought with all his strength either.

He still had the human-shaped puppet as a last resort, so he had nothing to fear even if he faced a Nascent Soul stage demonic cultivator. Moreover, no matter how famous the opponent’s Five Phase Heart Demons were, he possessed the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning, which was the nemesis of demonic arts!

While Han Li was pondering how to deal with his encounter with the Great Elder of the Yin Fiend Sect here, one of the five shadows formed a hand seal, and a gray aura flashed across its entire body. Suddenly, a cultivator wearing a gray robe appeared in front of the white shadow.

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