Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 615

The Nascent Soul appeared vibrant and energetic, exploring the secret chamber for over half an hour before showing signs of fatigue and returning to Han Li’s body.

Han Li, who had been keeping his eyes closed, opened them with satisfaction.

He had heard that only upon reaching the late stage of the Transformation Realm could the Nascent Soul fully solidify and move freely even when separated from the body. This was why one could ascend to the Spirit Realm in the late Transformation Realm.

After refining the Embryonic Pill, the most surprising thing was that he felt confident he could raise his magic power to the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage with just over a hundred years of cultivation.

Although his magic power had greatly increased, he was still far from reaching the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage, but thanks to the Embryonic Pill, it seemed possible without any bottlenecks.

This was something Han Li had been eagerly anticipating.

After returning his Nascent Soul to its place, he calmed the vital energy within his body and opened his mouth, spitting out two golden lights. The golden flying swords that appeared, circling in the air, had lost their luster and were much dimmer.

These were the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords that Goma had taken to try and corrupt with demonic energy for a period. Although their spiritual nature remained, allowing them to form the Great Geng Sword Formation, their power was clearly not what it used to be.

He planned to take some time to reforge the two flying swords. He opened his mouth and released a blue glow, and the golden flying swords were instantly engulfed in flames.

Watching the blue flames flicker, he flicked his sleeve, and small jade boxes appeared, their lids opening on their own.

First, a small amount of powder entered the flames, and the two flying swords began to fuse. Han Li didn’t even blink as he continuously cast hand seals to control the refining process.

The flying sword refinement continued for three days and nights.

When his face turned pale and he spat out a mouthful of blood, the refinement ended as the blood split into two and disappeared into the flying swords. Now, the Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords shone brilliantly in gold again, and all traces of demonic energy had completely vanished.

Han Li, having swallowed the two flying swords, immediately sat in a meditative position to rest. It took a full day for his magic power to recover.

Feeling his magic power restored, Han Li pondered for a moment, then with a flash of green light, he took out a half-foot-long jade-colored wooden ruler.

He stroked the ancient patterns on the surface of the ruler with his fingertips. It was the Eight Spirit Ruler, a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure [a treasure of immense power].

He had thought it was mysterious when he first saw it in the True Devil Pagoda because it didn’t react to ordinary spiritual power.

Of course, he didn’t have time to think deeply about it back then due to the urgent situation. Han Li held the Eight Spirit Ruler and infused blue energy from his five fingers, but there was no reaction.

After injecting one-tenth of his spiritual power without any effect, Han Li stopped and pondered.

After a while, he suddenly extended one finger.

Seven-colored light flashed from his fingertip, which was the Buddhist light emitted through the Vajra Bracelet. The Buddhist light flashed and instantly disappeared into the wooden ruler.

Suddenly, the Eight Spirit Ruler, which had shown no change, emitted a blue light and began to write jade-colored characters in the air. It was as if it was forming some kind of incantation.

Han Li was startled and immediately focused his mind.

“Indeed!”

After examining it for a short while, he roughly understood what was going on. The Eight Spirit Ruler was a Buddhist treasure, so it was not strange that it could be activated with Buddhist light.

The jade-colored characters created after absorbing the Buddhist light were the Eight Spirit Ruler’s activation incantation.

Han Li’s cultivation methods had always been primarily Taoist, and he had also learned some demonic secret techniques. The only Buddhist technique he knew was the Mingwang Incantation.

Although the Mingwang Incantation was the highest-grade Buddhist technique, it focused on physical training and was extremely difficult to cultivate. Han Li had only mastered the second level, so he had no way to produce Buddhist light.

Fortunately, the Vajra Bracelet’s Buddhist light was abundant enough to learn the first level of the Eight Spirit Ruler’s activation incantation.

Han Li quickly made a decision. Even if he could only use a small portion of the Eight Spirit Ruler’s divine abilities, the power of a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure was beyond imagination.

He injected more Buddhist light into the wooden ruler, and the jade-colored characters became clearer. He focused his mind and began to memorize them.

After memorizing them, he flicked his sleeve and retrieved the Eight Spirit Ruler with blue energy. Then, he flipped his palm and took out the broken Black Wind Banner.

The banner pole was mostly cut off, and only a small part of the banner remained, making it completely damaged. However, it still flickered with black light, showing how strong the spiritual nature of the treasure was.

Han Li had taken out the Black Wind Banner not to restore it, but because he was interested in spatial-type treasures.

Spatial-type treasures were rare, even ordinary ones, let alone Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasures.

Unfortunately, even if he examined a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure, it was difficult for him to gain any insights. He spent several days pondering over the remains of the Black Wind Banner, but he couldn’t figure anything out.

Han Li regretfully retrieved the banner and then took out the giant cauldron he had obtained from the Fire Spirit Palace to observe.

The giant cauldron had accidentally gained spiritual nature, making it a rare, top-grade ancient treasure. The thousands of fire crows it produced were incredibly powerful.

Of course, the unknown transparent material he had obtained from the cauldron, the dozen or so fire pillars, and the three large and small black crystals he had found in the Yin-Yang Cave were all just materials, and he didn’t have the time to examine them now.

The scroll he had obtained from Kunwu Palace and the yellow-earth demon-subduing seal he had obtained from Old Devil Gan’s storage pouch were all treasures of the Kunwu Three Elders, so their power would be extraordinary.

However, the blood-colored blade he had been looking forward to was a disappointment.

The blood-colored blade was indeed refined with Demonic Beast Essence, and he must have used one of the two Demonic Beast Essences he had purchased at the underground auction.

However, the blood-colored blade, which had devoured the blood, flesh, and souls of Nascent Soul cultivators and displayed terrifying power, had now become just an ordinary treasure.

After pondering over his past experiences, Han Li finally understood the reason.

The blood-colored blade, a replica of the Demonic Dragon’s Scale, had rapidly increased in power by devouring cultivators, but it could not maintain that state for long. As a replica, it inevitably had this flaw, unlike the true Demonic Dragon’s Scale.

Greatly disappointed, Han Li put it away.

Lowering his head and thinking about various things, he opened his mouth and spat out a golden bubble. It was the Vajra Bracelet, made from Vajra Relics, and now it contained five golden, sparkling beads.

Han Li looked at the beads in the bubble, his heart heavy.

He hesitated for a moment, then, as if he had another idea, he extended his finger towards the Vajra Bracelet. The golden bubble vibrated and grew larger.

Then, from the five golden beads inside, thunderous sounds echoed, and five skeletons surrounded by talismans appeared within the golden lightning. They were the incarnations of the Five Child Heart Demons that Old Devil Gan, the Great Elder of the Yin Luo Sect, had cultivated.

There was a black skull on the chest of each skeleton, and these were also surrounded by talismans, unable to move.

“Each of the Five Child Heart Demons has the cultivation of an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, and they are skilled in coordinated attacks, so they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even against a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. If I could make them my own, it would be a great help… But they are extremely violent and have already tried to devour their master, so it won’t be easy.”

Han Li sighed and muttered, then glanced at the storage pouch and took out a black jade slip. Unexpectedly, he left the five demons in the Vajra Bracelet and infused his consciousness into the jade slip.

It seemed that the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning had not yet dissipated and had been trapped in the Vajra Bracelet’s Buddhist light for a long time, so their ferocious nature seemed to have been greatly diminished. However, Han Li’s expression was not good after retrieving his consciousness.

The black jade slip was part of an unnamed demonic scripture found in Old Devil Gan’s storage pouch, but it was incomplete due to missing sections.

However, some of the demonic techniques and secret arts recorded were quite powerful, and it also included the cultivation method for the Five Child Heart Demons.

According to the demonic scripture, cultivating the Five Child Heart Demons required five corpses of Nascent Soul cultivators who had died recently. Corpses with intact vital energy after the Nascent Soul had disappeared were even better materials.

The five corpses were refined with various materials for a period, then buried in a place filled with Yin energy. Each month, a cultivator who practiced a cold-attribute technique was killed, and their blood, flesh, and soul were injected into the corpses.

After about a hundred years, the Five Child Heart Demons could move on their own, and then they had to be refined for decades using special secret techniques to complete them.

However, the Five Child Heart Demons created in this way only had the cultivation of a Core Formation cultivator, and increasing their cultivation after that depended on the refiner’s hard work.

Originally, there should be no further progress in cultivation after reaching the late Core Formation stage, but Old Devil Gan had somehow managed to make them have the cultivation of early-Nascent Soul cultivators.

But it was precisely because of this that he was betrayed by the five demons and met his death. If they had only had the cultivation of Core Formation cultivators, Old Devil Gan would never have lost control of them.

Of course, Han Li could not use this method. However, other control secret techniques recorded in the demonic scripture were useful.

By forcibly implanting special restrictions on the bodies of the five demons, nurturing them with his own blood, and then using a special hand seal, he could roughly control the demons.

However, doing so would not allow him to use the five demons as clones like Old Devil Gan, where he could transfer his Nascent Soul to any of the five bodies at any time. Moreover, the possibility of betrayal would increase several times, and if his cultivation weakened or he couldn’t continue to nurture them with his blood, he would be immediately attacked.

The only good thing about this method was that he didn’t need to refine the souls of the five demons with his own Nascent Soul, so if they suddenly turned on him, he could just avoid them. Although there were risks, the benefits of taming the five demons were very great.

After pondering, Han Li finally bit his tongue and spat out blood.

He then cast a series of hand seals, and the blood instantly disappeared into his body. The blood began to emit a golden glow.

Han Li’s face turned pale from losing so much blood, but instead of calming his energy, he immediately waved his hand. A blue light flashed, and the blood turned into a thumb-sized blood-colored bead.

Then, he flicked his sleeve, and the blood-colored bead flew towards the five demons on its own. As he moved his consciousness, the blood-colored bead passed through the golden bubble without any resistance.

The black skulls, barely clinging to life, looked at the bead as it approached, their eyes flashing.

The skulls, transformed from the demons’ souls, seemed to be stimulated by something and suddenly began to move wildly around the chest area of the skeletons. However, they were repelled by the various talismans densely attached to the skeletons, making them even more violent and ferocious.

The skulls began to grind their teeth and make strange noises.

Han Li, with a cold gaze, raised his hand and shot out five golden swords. The small flying swords instantly pinned the black skulls in the air, immobilizing them.

Despite this, the skulls made strange noises, their eyes growing stronger and weaker, which was extremely bizarre.

Han Li, with an expressionless face, formed a hand seal, and thunderous sounds echoed as the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning exploded from the five flying swords. A thin golden light flashed, and the sounds made by the five skulls turned into whimpers.

Their violent momentum seemed to have been greatly reduced. Only then did Han Li, satisfied, send the blood-colored beads one by one into the mouths of the skulls.

The eyes of the skulls that had eaten the blood-colored beads overflowed with green light, and they immediately recovered a considerable amount of vital energy.

Han Li closed his eyes, formed a hand seal, and slowly released his consciousness. He was trying to communicate with the five demons through the power of his blood.

Unexpectedly, the five demons instantly became docile, and their violence seemed to have disappeared.

At this, Han Li rummaged through the storage pouch and took out five needle-shaped magical artifacts. As he extended his hand, five silver rays of light disappeared into the black skulls.

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