Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 599

As the monster risked losing its magical power to form a seal, the light of the blood-red blade intensified, transforming into the visage of a massive demon. The demon intended to swallow the young man from the Seo clan, who was trapped in the sea of blood, in a single gulp.

As it transformed into a demon, the surrounding blood-red mist surged like waves. The young man from the Seo clan, facing certain death, was startled and used his blue bead and silver hook treasures to block the demon’s attack.

However, the demon spat out a mass of blood-red threads, ensnaring the two treasures and swallowing them whole, causing the young man from the Seo clan to be horrified. And when the demon opened its mouth again, an eerie laughter escaped from between its sharp fangs.

Seeing this, the young man from the Seo clan gritted his teeth, and the nascent soul [a spiritual form of a cultivator’s soul] within his body widened its eyes, trying to escape his physical form.

*Kwakwang!*

At that moment, a golden lightning bolt suddenly flew from afar and struck the demon.

*Kwang!*

Once again, golden light spread out. The demon was instantly half-destroyed. However, the demon did not give up and lunged at the young man from the Seo clan, trying to bite his neck.

It was trying to engulf the young man from the Seo clan in red light and swallow him whole. The young man from the Seo clan also quickly felt himself being consumed by the blood-red light and frantically chanted a spell.

Then, a yellow light burst out from his body that had not yet been consumed, and exploded. While the blood-red light was being pierced by the yellow rays, the nascent soul, only a few inches tall, teleported into the air a dozen or so feet away and flickered.

It was trying to escape, covered in a yellow shield and transformed into a beam of light.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear snorted and grabbed at the air. Then, a black light flashed above the nascent soul’s head, and a giant hand descended.

The young man from the Seo clan despaired at this.

He, in the late stage of the nascent soul realm, could use the nascent soul to teleport and employ several profound secret techniques, but he had already exerted himself to escape the blood-red energy, leaving him with little magical power.

At this time, Han Li stood with his hands behind his back, dozens of feet away. His calm face showed no intention of helping, even after the golden lightning attack. However, the young man from the Seo clan had no choice but to risk his life on him.

He frantically mobilized his remaining magical power and ejected a metal spirit tablet from the nascent soul’s mouth.

Just as the young man from the Seo clan was about to launch his final attack with his natal magic treasure, a shadow suddenly appeared in the air, and as it raised one hand, a cry was heard and a green light flashed. The green light, tinged with gold, attacked the giant hand that had transformed from black energy at an extremely fast speed.

*Kwakwang!*

The giant hand was pierced by the golden attack, engulfed in thin lightning, and scattered. And the figure in silver instantly leaped over a dozen feet and approached the nascent soul of the young man from the Seo clan.

The nascent soul of the young man from the Seo clan, who had been saved from the brink of death, was startled and, without thinking, transformed into a beam of light and flew away. Although his life had been saved, he could not hand over his nascent soul to someone else.

Fortunately, the figure in silver ignored him as he fled and looked at the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear, who was floating far away.

At this moment, the Spirit Bird Peacock, under the command of the young man from the Seo clan, suddenly shook its body. Then, several tail feathers were instantly plucked and flew away, exploding.

As the five-colored light scattered in all directions, the Sand Gold Beast flinched and retreated. The purple mist was broken down by the explosion of the five-colored light, creating a large space several feet in size.

Taking advantage of this gap, the spirit beast escaped the purple mist in a strange trajectory and shot straight towards the nascent soul of the young man from the Seo clan without hesitation.

The young man from the Seo clan was also greatly pleased to see this and flew towards the spirit beast. But then, a mysterious thing happened. Surprisingly, the spirit beast opened its mouth and swallowed the nascent soul of the young man from the Seo clan, then raised its remaining tail feathers high.

Five-colored light burst out brilliantly, and the Spirit Bird Peacock disappeared into it.

At the same time, when the Silver Yaksha and Im Eun-byeong were engaged in battle, a black and white energy suddenly intervened.

The Silver Yaksha immediately hardened his face when he saw Gyu-ryeong. However, Gyu-ryeong did not take any particular action, but looked at him expressionlessly and moved his lips to send a telepathic message.

In response, the Silver Yaksha’s expression subtly changed, and he let out a long sigh. Then, he retrieved the Soul-Slaying Thread that had been imprisoning the Heavenly Orchid Saintess.

As the Soul-Slaying Thread disappeared, Im Eun-byeong, who was about to flee, was now faced with Gyu-ryeong, who suddenly appeared in front of her.

Startled by Gyu-ryeong’s sudden attack, the Heavenly Orchid Saintess immediately used her handkerchief treasure to block the attack. However, a strange light flashed, and a giant tiger phantom with horns emerged from the axe, enveloping her.

*Chwajak.*

The handkerchief was torn into two pieces in the silver light, and the tiger phantom turned into a yellow energy, engulfing her. By the time Im Eun-byeong felt an ominous premonition, she had already dropped her head and collapsed.

Gyu-ryeong decisively formed a seal, tightly wrapping her in yellow energy.

After that, black and white energy surged and disappeared with Im Eun-byeong, and a moment later, they appeared next to Han Li.

However, unexpectedly, the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear only watched what they were doing and did not intervene.

The human-shaped puppet also flew after Gyu-ryeong and returned behind Han Li. Han Li did not even glance at the captured Heavenly Orchid Saintess, but looked elsewhere with a curious expression.

There, the Spirit Bird Peacock, shining brilliantly with five-colored light, was twice as large as before.

“Cultivator Han! What are you doing? What does this mean?”

The voice of the young man from the Seo clan was heard from within the five-colored light. It was a much thicker, rougher, and more ferocious voice than before.

“It doesn’t mean anything special. I just helped the cultivator and rescued Cultivator Im.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

The voice of the man from the Seo clan subsided slightly at Han Li’s words.

Then, the five-colored light faded, revealing a strange shape. The Spirit Bird Peacock had not only grown in size but also had a human face floating above its head, which was the face of the young man from the Seo clan.

He looked worried as he saw Im Eun-byeong, who had collapsed and lost consciousness.

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to do anything to Cultivator Im. I just want to discuss a few conditions in advance. Surely you won’t disappoint me?”

“Are you threatening me now!”

“It’s not a threat. Have you forgotten what you promised earlier? I’ve kept Cultivator Im by my side just in case.”

Han Li sneered and responded in a sinister voice.

“Anything is fine, so let’s get rid of those monsters first and talk again!”

“Alright! I was going to do that anyway.”

Han Li stroked his chin and agreed to the young man from the Seo clan’s proposal. The young man from the Seo clan was flustered by his nonchalant attitude.

Han Li smiled and gave instructions to Gyu-ryeong, then flew up alongside the human-shaped puppet.

When they reached the vicinity of the sea of blood, Han Li addressed the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear.

“Vice-Chief of the Myriad Demon Valley, you must have come all the way here because you have important business in Kunwu Mountain, right? I believe you won’t stop me from taking these cultivators, as I need them.”

His tone was that of someone who had come to discuss, but it was more like a notification.

“Are you the cultivator from Cheonnam called Han Li?”

While the Silver Yaksha and the Sand Gold Beast were inwardly furious at Han Li’s strong attitude, the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear, who had been silent all along, asked an unexpected question.

Han Li’s expression hardened for a moment, but he soon asked calmly.

“That’s right. Are you planning to seek revenge in Cheonnam later?”

“I have no interest in things like revenge. This time, since Brother Han wants the Heavenly Orchid cultivators, I’ll give them to you. But this is only this once! If you interfere with the affairs of our Myriad Demon Valley again, you won’t be able to leave Daejin alive, no matter how much help those two provide.”

Green flames flared in the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear’s eyes and disappeared in an instant. Han Li’s lips twitched, but he just smiled calmly and said nothing.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear calmly formed a seal and reached out towards the blood-red energy. The blood-red light flashed and swirled in the air, disappearing into the sea of blood in the form of a giant blade.

The face of the demon, which had been scattered by Han Li, reappeared in the thick blood-red energy. The demon grinned eerily and opened its mouth, absorbing the entire sea of blood.

However, the blood-red blade became even darker, emitting a bloody stench that made one feel nauseous. The Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear said something to the Silver Yaksha and the Sand Gold Beast, then immediately flew towards the palace.

The three monsters disappeared into the palace without looking back, as if they had some other purpose. However, it was unknown what the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Bear had said to persuade the Silver Yaksha.

As the three monsters disappeared, Han Li turned his head and asked the Spirit Bird Peacock behind him.

“Now, shall we talk?”

“Go ahead.”

The young man from the Seo clan looked at Im Eun-byeong, who had fallen into the hands of the human-shaped puppet and Gyu-ryeong, and said with a bitter smile.

“Listening to your words, it seems there’s some secret to evolving the Gold Devouring Beetles into their adult form, but it feels strange. As far as I know, the ancient spirit insects have been famous for a long time, and they are feared because they can devour anything and cannot be killed without a master. The Gold Devouring Beetles of the Heavenly Orchid Sacred Hall must have been raised by inheriting the eggs of spirit insects passed down from ancient times.”

“If you can wait tens of thousands of years, the Gold Devouring Beetles will surely slowly reach their adult form. But our cultivators have limited lifespans, so we can’t wait that long. No matter how long it has been passed down through families or sects, it is very difficult to endure for tens of thousands of years.

Moreover, the time it takes for the Gold Devouring Beetles to evolve in the final stage is too long. As a cultivator who raises spirit insects, you know that the difference between the adult form and the non-adult form is like heaven and earth.”

“That’s right. My Gold Devouring Beetles have also not changed at all in the past few years since reaching their current state. How much can the evolution period be reduced if we use the method of cultivating Gold Devouring Beetles into their adult form in the Heavenly Orchid Plains?”

“It can be reduced by almost a third. Moreover, if you use precious materials without hesitation, it can be even faster.”

“A third! It was worth coming here. But aren’t you worried about how I will deal with you in the future if I learn the secret of the Gold Devouring Beetles’ adult evolution?”

“You’re a good joker! Brother Han’s Gold Devouring Beetle swarm is already on a scale that I can’t imagine. But the evolution to the adult form hasn’t even started yet. Even if you get the secret, you’ll have to cultivate them for thousands of years. Why should I worry about something that will happen thousands of years from now?”

The young man from the Seo clan answered honestly to Han Li’s question.

“You’re very candid. It’s impossible to know who will have the Gold Devouring Beetles thousands of years from now. And the Heavenly Orchid Sacred Hall may have countermeasures in advance.”

Han Li raised the corners of his mouth.

“There’s nothing I can do if you think that way. Then, do you not want this secret technique? Changing the conditions is also something I can do……”

“I want it. There’s no reason not to want it. Even if I can’t evolve them into adult insects in this lifetime, learning the secret technique will be helpful in cultivating other spirit insects. I’m very interested in raising spirit insects.”

“Alright, then! If you wait a moment, I’ll copy the secret technique onto a jade slip for you. Since you’ve been raising spirit insects for a long time, you’ll be able to tell whether it’s real or fake at once.”

The young man from the Seo clan had a puzzled expression, but he answered without hesitation. A white light spread, and the face created as an illusion disappeared into the Spirit Bird Peacock’s body.

Han Li smiled and looked at the palace in the distance while waiting. It was strange that it was still so quiet after the three monsters had entered.

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