Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 61

Han-lip felt a throbbing, agonizing pain in his injured leg. The intense movements from just now had clearly aggravated the wound.

However, this was not the time to worry about such trivial matters. The man who had risen with him was now charging towards Han-lip, wielding a long blade that emanated a dark aura.

As Han-lip observed the man’s movements, he realized that while his speed was fast, his movements were awkward, clearly relying on some kind of magic. This realization put his mind at ease. In terms of agility and finesse, the man was no match for him.

With this in mind, Han-lip decided to ignore the menacing aura of the man with the blade and instead focused his attention on the yellow-clad man. He was in the process of taking out a bluish-black gourd, its opening pointed directly at Han-lip. It seemed he was about to cast some kind of spell.

“Where do you think you’re looking! Die!”

As the man with the sword approached Han-lip, the yellow light surrounding his body intensified. He swung his sword down at Han-lip with reckless abandon. Han-lip scoffed at the attack, his body shimmering before moving out of the sword’s range.

“You’ve fallen for it!”

At Han-lip’s movement, the sword in the man’s hand emitted a black light and transformed into a long rope, relentlessly pursuing Han-lip like a snake. Startled, Han-lip didn’t stay still, blurring his form and moving left and right, creating the illusion of countless Han-lips surrounding the man.

The bizarre phenomenon surprised the man, but he was not overly concerned as he had already protected his entire body with the Earth Armor Technique. He used the freely extending rope to track down Han-lip’s true form.

Bang! Bang, bang, bang!

Han-lip brushed past the man, firing a series of fireballs. The fireballs collided with the man’s yellow light, creating sparks, but unfortunately, he quickly recovered.

‘How could you possibly break my elder’s protective magic with such petty fireballs!’

A fierce look appeared on the man’s face as his hands moved faster, forming hand seals. This was to ensure the black rope did not slow down.

Han-lip was now growing impatient. Although the rope was slower than him, he couldn’t afford to slow down either.

Otherwise, he would be caught in an instant. He didn’t know what kind of magical artifact the rope was, but it was clearly troublesome, and he couldn’t afford to be captured by it.

In the midst of this, he glanced at the yellow-clad man, who was staring intently at the blue light emanating from the gourd-shaped magical artifact in his hand.

‘No! At this rate, I’ll be killed for sure. It’s time to take a risk!’

As the situation grew increasingly urgent, Han-lip made a firm decision.

Moving at an incredible speed, Han-lip took out the Vajra Talisman he had obtained from the Golden Light Merchant. [Vajra Talisman: A talisman known for its protective properties.]

This was also a type of talisman. He chanted an incantation in a low voice, and the gold paint on the talisman began to glow, emitting a golden light that started to adhere to Han-lip’s body.

Then, golden light was also emitted from his body, forming a golden barrier.

However, this greatly slowed down his movements, and he was now almost within the rope’s grasp.

The black rope wrapped around him several times, but it was all blocked by the golden light. Only then did Han-lip’s anxious heart finally relax. Since the opponent’s attacks were blocked by the golden barrier, this gamble had been a success.

The man growled lowly and strode forward, attempting to strike with his fists. Han-lip immediately bent his knees, crouched down, and placed both hands on the ground. He chanted an incantation in a low voice, and a yellow light spread from Han-lip’s hands.

The man stopped in surprise, but it was already too late. The ground where he was standing had turned into quicksand made of fine sand. Both of his legs were deeply submerged, sinking up to his thighs, and he began to panic.

“Attack!”

At that moment, a sharp voice pierced Han-lip’s ears. He quickly looked at the yellow-clad man and saw six or seven dark spheres being fired from the mouth of the gourd, flying towards Han-lip.

Seeing their unusual appearance, Han-lip hurriedly dispelled the golden light and rummaged through his robes. After wildly flailing his hands, he finally grabbed a wooden armor.

By this time, several spheres were already right in front of him. The spheres struck the golden barrier in succession, creating ripples and making it look as if it would break at any moment.

Even in this crisis, Han-lip didn’t flinch. He sat cross-legged, placed the wooden armor on his knees, and focused solely on forming hand seals and chanting incantations.

‘Bang! Bang! Bang, bang, bang!’

The spheres’ attacks grew more intense, not giving the golden barrier a moment’s rest.

The golden light emanating from Han-lip’s body gradually dimmed, making it seem as if the golden barrier would break and his death was imminent.

Then, Han-lip opened his mouth and let out a loud shout.

“Rise!”

With the shout, a beam of gray light nearly a meter long appeared from Han-lip’s wooden armor. The gray light circled around Han-lip as if it were a dragon rising from the water, and the spheres were cut in half as if they had met their natural enemy, falling into the dust.

“A Talisman Treasure!” [Talisman Treasure: A powerful magical artifact imbued with talismanic properties.]

The yellow-clad man shouted as if he had seen a ghost. Han-lip was concerned by his words, but this was not the time to think about such things.

The man was already out of the sand and relatively close. However, upon seeing Han-lip’s gray light, he was terrified and began to flee as fast as he could.

But how could Han-lip, now filled with murderous intent, let him go? As he pointed at the man, the gray light shot out like an arrow, catching up to Jang-han’s back.

The gray light wrapped around the man’s neck once, and his head instantly fell to the ground. The yellow light that was supposed to protect his body seemed to have vanished.

Watching this scene, the yellow-clad man didn’t hesitate and immediately took out a talisman and attached it to his body.

Then, huge wings sprouted from his body, and he began to fly away. Han-lip gestured for the gray light to chase him, but the yellow-clad man increased his speed, making it impossible to catch up.

Frustrated and angry, Han-lip poured all of his remaining magical power into the gray light, and it pierced through the yellow-clad man’s chest.

The yellow-clad man fell from the sky with a miserable scream. Finally relieved, Han-lip retracted the gray light and ran to capture the yellow-clad man to find out what was going on.

Unfortunately, the yellow-clad man had died from the fall. Since there were no survivors, he would have to search their bodies for clues.

After searching the bodies of the yellow-clad man and the man with the sword, he found no clues, but surprisingly, they had over fifty spirit stones and several talismans and magical artifacts between them.

Although he was frustrated that he couldn’t figure out why he had been attacked, he had a feeling that this attack might be related to the disappearances of the wandering cultivators he had heard about before.

Han-lip swallowed a pill to recover his magical power and immediately set off again.

* * *

Jianzhou was located in the northern part of Yue State. It was the second largest of the thirteen states, but due to its mountainous and hilly terrain, it had a small population and bordered the neighboring Yuanwu State.

Moreover, the Taiyue Mountain Range covered thousands of miles of western Jianzhou, forming a primeval forest where various wild beasts and birds of prey constantly appeared.

There were even rumors of woodcutters and hunters seeing immortals and monsters, making it an even more mysterious place.

Mortals were unaware that Huangfeng Valley, one of the Seven Great Immortal Sects, had been located in the center of this mountain range for thousands of years. [Seven Great Immortal Sects: The most powerful and influential cultivation sects in the region.]

When viewed from above, the area where Huangfeng Valley was located was no different from any other mountain range, with only rugged mountains and dense forests visible.

However, this was just an illusion created by a massive gate. In reality, it concealed countless pavilions and grand halls, as well as cultivators flying through the sky on leaf-shaped magical artifacts.

Zhong Yingdao, the current sect leader of Huangfeng Valley, was over 100 years old, but he still appeared as a middle-aged man with three long strands of beard.

He had already reached the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, and he was also naturally prudent and skilled in organizing, which made him highly respected within the sect. He also had the support of his fellow disciples. [Foundation Establishment realm: A significant stage in cultivation, marking a major increase in power.]

However, the sect leader, who was always calm and confident, was frowning today, sitting in the grand hall and watching two people arguing.

Besides them, there were a dozen or so cultivators with various expressions in the grand hall, all of whom were officials of Huangfeng Valley.

“Senior Brother Mo, didn’t we decide on the recipients of the Foundation Establishment Pills a few months ago! How can you take my grandnephew’s pill and give it to a wandering cultivator!”

The old man was furious, shouting at a man with a pale face and no beard.

This old man clearly seemed much older than the middle-aged man, yet he was addressing him as Senior Brother.

“Junior Brother Ye, what can we do about the unexpected events that have occurred? It’s something that happens once in a few hundred years.”

“But that person is not even from a cultivation family! How can you give him a Foundation Establishment Pill when he’s just a wandering cultivator? In my opinion, simply allowing him to join the sect is more than enough for him.”

The middle-aged scholar tried to appease the old man with a calm demeanor, but the old man’s ears turned red as he retorted.

“Junior Brother Ye, you shouldn’t say that. How can you be so sure that his ancestors were not from a cultivation family? It’s not uncommon for families to decline and for their descendants to become wandering cultivators. Besides, who can be sure that their family will prosper forever? If Junior Brother Ye were to fall from grace overnight, and his descendants came to Huangfeng Valley with a Spirit Ascension Token, would you be satisfied with just letting them join the sect without giving them a Foundation Establishment Pill? If Junior Brother Ye swears that in front of everyone, I will leave this place immediately and never mention the Foundation Establishment Pill again!” [Spirit Ascension Token: A token that grants entry to a cultivation sect.]

The middle-aged scholar’s confident and calm words made the old man’s face turn pale, and he shut his mouth tightly.

How could he publicly declare such a terrible thing in front of everyone! Besides, even if this man, who was constantly obstructing him, stepped aside, there was no guarantee that others wouldn’t step forward.

“Then why does it have to be my grandnephew’s pill? Can’t you really give someone else’s?”

“That’s because your grandnephew is lacking, what can we do?”

In the end, the old man took a step back, and the middle-aged man shook his head as if he was sorry. As the other party became arrogant, the old man gritted his teeth and suppressed his anger, reasoning calmly. His grandnephew’s fate was at stake, so he had to remain calm.

“It’s true that my grandnephew is at the bottom of the list, but he’s not the last among those who were supposed to receive the Foundation Establishment Pill. I know there are two more people behind him.”

“Junior Brother is right. There are two more people behind your grandnephew. But their situations are special.”

“How are they special? I won’t tolerate it if the reason isn’t convincing!”

The old man couldn’t help but shout at the middle-aged man’s tone, which was only outwardly regretful.

“Nonsense! What is there to tolerate or not! Those two are truly special cases, and I agreed to give your grandnephew’s Foundation Establishment Pill, excluding those two. I thought you understood the reason without me having to ask.”

Zhong Yingdao’s face hardened at the old man’s words, and he rebuked him. The old man was taken aback by Zhong Yingdao’s words.

He only knew that there were two more people with poor test results behind his grandnephew, but he didn’t know who they were.

Who were they that even the sect leader, who was always fair and just, was defending them?