Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 570

Seeing the Mansu Gate, Noma and the others were now certain that this was Mount Konoh. Except for Han Li’s group, everyone else was clearly excited.

They quickened their pace up the stairs and naturally encountered the restrictions left by the Ye family cultivators.

The restrictions set up by the Ye family cultivators became more powerful as they went higher. Noma and the others, in their haste, were using their magic power to forcefully break through, but they were still getting delayed.

It was a full day later that they finally arrived at the hall where countless stone puppets had poured out.

“Everyone, be careful. There might be restrictions here as well. To prepare so many formation tools, they must be a very powerful group,” Hwacheon-gi said, looking at the ancient-looking hall.

“Among the restrictions we passed, there was even the Ice Flame Dual Extremes Formation. To be so extravagant, I really wonder what kind of group they are,” Geon Noma coldly agreed.

“Still, they must have struggled to break through the restrictions of Mount Konoh itself instead of us. Although we were delayed by the restrictions they left behind, we will surely catch up.”

“I hope so.”

With Geon Noma’s calm reply, a dozen or so cultivators entered the hall. Everyone was surprised by the remains of countless puppets and looked around.

“I don’t feel any fluctuations of restrictions. It’s a good place to set up a formation, but it’s unexpected.”

“The opponents must have already used up most of their remaining formation tools. It’s not that strange.”

Hwacheon-gi immediately used his senses to examine the area and looked suspicious. Old Man Bu smiled and said, “What are those? Can they even make puppets out of stones?”

Among the five mountain cultivators, the giant frowned as he looked at the stones scattered on the floor.

“They are not puppets, but rather, Stone Spirits. It’s a secret technique of inserting the souls of demonic beasts into stone statues, which was popular in ancient times but was lost for unknown reasons,” someone calmly said, bending down to examine a piece of stone. Unexpectedly, it was Han Li, who had not said a word since they had set off.

“Oh, does Fellow Daoist Han know about such ancient secret techniques?” Hwacheon-gi looked at Han Li with a curious gaze.

“It’s nothing much. I’m interested in puppetry. If they weren’t completely broken, I would have taken them to study, but it’s a pity,” Han Li said, throwing away the stone fragment he was holding.

Looking at the remains of the Stone Spirit, it was indeed just an ordinary stone. The important thing was the bizarre formation and spells engraved on the surface, but they were so shattered that it was impossible to make sense of them, making them useless to take.

“Fellow Daoist Han, if you want a complete Stone Spirit, try going into the collapsed passages. There might be a few left intact,” one of the cultivators said, gesturing towards the collapsed passages on the side with a smile. When Han Li turned his gaze, it was Sasan Jin-in, Jeongwi.

He was not from Daejin, so he didn’t know the notoriety of Sasan Jin-in, but he had enough experience to not judge someone by their appearance alone! Han Li was about to reply with a smile when Geon Noma shouted, “Do you want to die!”

Five white shadows simultaneously spread their hands and shot out ten streaks of gray light, striking the nearby void.

*Kwakwang!*

A loud explosion was heard, and a purple light flashed, revealing a four-winged monster bird with a lion’s head and an eagle’s body, glaring at the cultivators.

It was the Lion-Bird Beast that had attacked the Ye family cultivators before. The suddenly appearing monster was trying to secretly attack Geon Noma’s Five-Phase Heart Demon [a type of mental defense].

Surprisingly, the half of its claw that had been cut off by the Ye family’s Great Elder had been restored to its original state.

However, the monster had also been severely injured by the cultivators, so as soon as its location was exposed, it flapped its four wings and instantly turned into a streak of purple light and disappeared.

“Lion-Bird Beast! There’s such a monster here!” Hwacheon-gi sighed and muttered. If he had encountered such a ferocious demonic beast alone, he didn’t know how dangerous it would have been.

At that moment, Old Man Bu and Baek Yo-i exchanged glances, showing worried expressions. They already knew that Eunshiyacha was roaming around here, and now another dangerous demonic beast, the Lion-Bird Beast, had appeared.

However, for their own reasons, the three cultivators, including Han Li, did not inform the others about Eunshiyacha’s existence.

The other cultivators also looked uneasy at the sudden appearance of the demonic beast. Such ancient ferocious beasts were more terrifying than even late-stage Nascent Soul [a high cultivation stage] cultivators.

With the appearance of the Lion-Bird Beast, Han Li gave up on his intention to explore the collapsed passages as Sasan Jin-in had suggested.

In a situation where not only Eunshiyacha but also another monster had appeared, it was better not to wander around alone, even for him.

Unbeknownst to them, the Lion-Bird Beast quickly left the hall, changed direction, and descended for half an hour before landing on an unusually large blue-green tree. The Lion-Bird Beast cried out with a hideous screech, sounding like a ghostly wail.

“Enough with the crying! Even if you keep muttering, it’s just you asking me to take revenge for you. Do you think I’m interested in that? I barely escaped from that long confinement in the pitch-black darkness, and I have no intention of causing trouble again. Besides, if both groups of cultivators are all Nascent Soul stage cultivators, there’s no point in messing with them!” a voice was heard, and the giant tree flickered, revealing a hole the size of a hand on the tree’s surface. A woman dressed in black, with an annoyed expression, walked out from within.

She was an ugly woman with a thick waist and dark skin. As the woman appeared, the Lion-Bird Beast’s red eyes flashed with anger at her words, and it wailed pitifully.

“Wake up from your dream! You were careless and had half your claw cut off, and now you’re asking me to take revenge… Besides, the descendants of the Konoh Three have confined us here to protect this mountain on their behalf. Why should we move according to their wishes!” The woman crossed her arms and glared at the Lion-Bird Beast.

“But if we let them enter the Konoh Hall, they will take the spirit tablets that bind us. Then we’ll be reduced to being controlled by cultivators again,” another man’s voice echoed in the air. A blue light flashed, and Eunshiyacha revealed himself from within.

“Hmph! Do you think they can even enter the Konoh Hall with their abilities? What do you think the Konoh Hall’s restrictions are! Especially the Arctic Primal Light, it’s fundamentally impossible for human cultivators to overcome. If they enter the Konoh Hall, they’ll be dead!”

“Fellow Daoist Gyu, we can’t be sure about that. Although the power of the Arctic Primal Light is great, there are late-stage Nascent Soul human cultivators among those who have entered here. We can’t rule out the possibility that they possess magical artifacts or treasures that can block the Arctic Primal Light. Besides, shouldn’t we also take this opportunity to retrieve our life tablets? Otherwise, even if we escape the Spirit Confinement Formation, we won’t be able to leave Mount Konoh,” Eunshiyacha insisted without wavering.

“The spiritual energy is so abundant here, why do we have to leave Mount Konoh in such a hurry? I don’t know how the outside world has changed, but it’s hard to find a place better for cultivation than this,” the ugly woman’s expression changed when Eunshiyacha mentioned the life tablet, but she did not give in.

“Fellow Daoist Gyu, you know that it’s impossible to cultivate here once the seal is completely broken. Besides, we have a kind of bond, so we should overcome difficulties together.”

“It is a bond. You used the body of a human cultivator, and I and the Lion-Bird Beast, although we transformed from demonic beasts to our current forms, we all spent time trapped in the Spirit Confinement Formation [a type of prison formation].”

Gyu Buin did not deny it and relaxed her expression.

“That’s why the three of us must join forces. There are restrictions in the Konoh Hall that prevent us from approaching it normally. But if the human cultivators open the way, we can follow behind and ambush them to take the life tablets.”

“It’s easy to say, but according to the Lion-Bird Beast, there are quite a few human cultivators, and some late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators are mixed in? And there’s also a cultivator who possesses a treasure similar to the Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure [a very powerful treasure]! If they get their hands on the life tablets, I’ll just hide deep in the mountains. If I sleep for another thousand years, I won’t have to face human cultivators again.”

“Fellow Daoist Gyu… You haven’t forgotten that I am also proficient in earth escape techniques, have you?” Eunshiyacha frowned and muttered, unable to bear it any longer.

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it simple? If my life tablet is taken and falls into the hands of human cultivators, then naturally, Fellow Daoist Gyu’s matter cannot be hidden either. Which cultivator would easily give up the demonic core of a tenth-grade Dark Rock Turtle? When that time comes, if I have no choice but to chase after the cultivators, don’t regret it.”

“Then just hide with me!” Gyu Buin retorted, revealing her anger.

“I don’t want to miss the chance to retrieve my life tablet, and I don’t intend to be trapped here for the rest of my life. If I can’t leave Mount Konoh and receive the essence of the Yin Moon, I can never become a Golden Moon Immortal [a high level of cultivation],” Eunshiyacha said coldly, spreading his wings behind his back.

“So, you’re putting me in danger for your own sake!” Gyu Buin jumped at Eunshiyacha’s words.

“Whether it’s a threat or not is up to Fellow Daoist Gyu to decide. But don’t forget that you owe me a debt. When the cultivators tried to turn us into mindless idiots by casting the Blood Frenzy Curse on our bodies, I secretly shared the Clear Void Pill! If not for that, you would have become a blood-crazed beast long ago, and you wouldn’t have achieved your current form!”

“I haven’t forgotten that debt either. But you also shouldn’t forget that there is a fourth one who was transferred here besides us. I don’t know if that person is a demonic beast or a ghost, but if we can win that person over, I will consider it,” Gyu Buin, who had been silent for a while, finally showed a more relaxed attitude.

“I’ve already searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find where the fourth one’s Spirit Confinement Formation is. They might have already died due to bad luck. If they lost their minds without the Clear Void Pill and lived for a long time, who knows what would have happened? Besides, we don’t have time to look for that person now,” Eunshiyacha shook his head. Gyu Buin pondered for a moment, then sighed and said sharply, “Alright. Since the Clear Void Pill has been mentioned, I’ll help you this once. Once we get our life tablets, we’ll go our separate ways. I won’t stay buried in this mountain corner, I’ll disappear to a place where no one is and hide.”

“That’s exactly what I mean. Once we are free, where in the world can’t we go for our cultivation?” Eunshiyacha could not hide his joy, knowing that the abilities of the woman who had transformed from the Dark Rock Turtle were superior to his own.

“We need to plan carefully before we move. The human cultivators already know of our existence, so we need to be even more careful,” the ugly woman accepted the proposal and instantly became calm.

“Of course,” Eunshiyacha agreed without hesitation, and the Lion-Bird Beast, who was listening, also growled softly. The three monsters whispered quietly under the giant tree, and it was a full hour before they flew towards the stone staircase.

The area around the giant tree became quiet again, with only the sound of the wind occasionally heard.

How much time had passed? The surface of the trees next to the giant tree became bumpy, and two blue-green eyes appeared. The crystal-like eyes moved around, then coldly stared in the direction where Eunshiyacha had disappeared.

The tree was surprisingly an unknown monster, and even monsters with outstanding abilities like Eunshiyacha had not noticed it nearby. The monster’s eyes stared intently at the void, then flashed a green light from its entire body and disappeared into the ground in an instant.

# 572