Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 631

Lady Mi remained alone in the main hall, lost in thought, her expression troubled as she sat on the chair.

“You don’t seem pleased with the plan you set yourself? Are you perhaps feeling uneasy?”

A strange woman’s voice echoed in her consciousness.

“Yellow Spring Ghost Mother, if you don’t want to experience the pain of having your soul pierced, it would be best to stay quiet.”

“If you’re worried about the Myriad Demon Banner, this old one could step in. If you release me from my confinement, that mere Myriad Demon Banner is nothing…”

“Release you from your confinement? Don’t even dream of it!”

“I’m thinking of you, but if you don’t want it, so be it! The way these demon beasts have gathered this time seems different from before, so hiding in the Void Palace isn’t the best option. In my view, it will be difficult for your Small Extreme Palace to avoid a great disaster this time.”

The woman’s voice in Lady Mi’s consciousness let out a sinister laugh.

“No matter what nonsense you spout, I have no intention of releasing you from your confinement. Releasing a ghost cultivator like you would only bring greater disaster. Just stay quietly in the Dark Ghost Token.”

Despite the other’s coaxing and threats, Lady Mi remained unmoved.

“If I hadn’t helped you, would you have been able to reach the late Nascent Soul stage [a high level of cultivation] in just 50 or 60 years? Moreover, if I hadn’t saved you from danger several times, you would have died long ago and wouldn’t have been able to become the Palace Lord of the Small Extreme Palace.”

After a moment of silence, the woman shouted sharply.

“That’s true, but don’t forget this either. If I hadn’t taken the Dark Ghost Token out of the Myriad Year Ice, you would still be in a deep sleep. The reason you helped me reach the Nascent Soul stage was to gain the ability to undo the Shared Life Curse, wasn’t it? Saving me was no different from saving yourself.”

“But didn’t you promise to release me?”

“I did promise. But didn’t I also tell you to find a secret technique so that you could cultivate the Dark Yin Ghost Qi? If you help me reach the Transformation stage [a very high level of cultivation], the curse of your Shared Life Curse will be resolved on its own.”

“Lead you to the Transformation stage? Do you think I’m some kind of true immortal who fell from the sky! If I had the ability to reach the Transformation stage back then, how would I have become a ghost cultivator!”

The woman’s voice was furious.

“Then there’s no other way. I will re-seal you before I die.”

“Hmph! You don’t even know if you can overcome the obstacle in front of you, yet you talk so much. You must have used up all the soul stones you had gathered, right? Give up on the idea of controlling me without soul stones.”

“I may not have soul stones, but how can those monsters harm the Void Palace? You won’t have to interfere in the affairs of our Small Extreme Palace, so don’t worry.”

Lady Mi spoke with a dark expression, then formed a hand seal and activated a magic seal. Soon, the voice of the woman called Yellow Spring Ghost Mother was cut off in her mind.

* * *

Two days later, most of the lower-level disciples who had remained to maintain the barrier had retreated, and the large army of demon beasts outside was advancing rapidly towards the Ice City.

The cultivators of the Small Extreme Palace had to prepare for a final battle with the demon beasts, leaving behind a few powerful final restrictions. The child, a transformation of the Tea Monster, had recovered in a few days and was floating in the sky with the Vice Palace Lord, an old man, and the Transformation stage demon beasts, with an imposing aura that seemed to cover the sky.

After a fierce battle, both sides suffered casualties, but the demon beasts were still stronger. The child used the Myriad Demon Banner to swallow two elders of the Small Extreme Palace whole, and Lady Mi had no choice but to personally go into battle and use the final restriction to block the demon beast army’s attack.

However, the Tea Monster saw this and used the Myriad Demon Banner’s divine power to create a huge number of demon beast transformations to attack the final restriction. As a result, all the cultivators of the Small Extreme Palace retreated and fled to the Void Palace in the Hanryeo Secret Realm.

Following Lady Mi’s orders, the restrictions within the Hanryeo Secret Realm were immediately activated.

Kuurung!

At the same time, the ground shook around the three Void Palaces, and the ground inside the Hanryeo Secret Realm split open, revealing a hidden, massive formation.

The formation was studded with countless spirit stones at a glance. Most of the thousands of spirit stones were of mid-grade or higher, and the ten that infused the core of the formation with spiritual power were rare high-grade spirit stones.

Spells floated and sparkled in the formation, looking very mysterious. After a while, the lights condensed into a silvery, brilliant energy that covered the entire Hanryeo Secret Realm.

Then, bright lights burst out from the three main halls, and pillars of light shot up from the roofs of each building.

Kuururung Kwakwang!

A roar was heard in the sky, and the space where the pillars of light gathered became strange. The lights fluctuated as if boiling, then drew white arcs hundreds of feet long.

A huge gale began to blow in the Hanryeo Secret Realm due to the arcs of light that appeared in the void. Many towers collapsed in the vortex, and it gradually became desolate.

The three palaces glowed even brighter, as if resonating with the spatial rifts, and the silvery-white arcs in the void widened. When the spatial rift occupied half of the sky above the Hanryeo Secret Realm, a silver energy poured out from within and enveloped the three palaces.

Kukung!

One of them trembled first and slowly rose from the ground, then ascended into the spatial rift. As the silver light flashed and the huge palace disappeared in an instant, the second palace rose.

However, as the third palace was rising from the ground, a white light flashed from somewhere in the Hanryeo Secret Realm, and a pure white ice peak the size of a palm appeared.

The demon beast’s green eyes flashed as it saw the strange sight of the Hanryeo Secret Realm, then it opened its mouth and shot out a white light towards the last Void Palace.

She didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping the spatial rifts from swallowing the palaces.

After the three palaces disappeared in succession, the spatial rift in the void slowly closed, and finally, it flickered with silver light and became invisible. Then, the strange events within the Hanryeo Secret Realm disappeared at the same time.

Only then did the ice peak let out a clear cry and spread its wings, then flashed white light again and left the place.

Kwakwakwakwang!

And not long after, the entire mountain trembled for a while at the earth-shattering sound. The demon beast army had finally broken through the last restriction of the Ice City.

The old man, who had transformed from the Azure Sea Canglang, and the child, who was the transformation of the Tea Monster, were the first to fly into the mountain. At this time, Hanryeo Sang-in of the Lower Jade Cave was reaching the final stage to transcend his realm.

Inside the formation, Han Li had already stopped the injection of the Purple Pole Flame and was looking into the distance. Not only that, but the old woman and Baek Mong-hyung were also looking at the huge rock in the center of the formation, unable to hide their surprise.

The white light orb on the rock had long since disappeared, and in its place, a milky white lotus was blooming.

Hanryeo Sang-in was sitting neatly on it, enveloped in the cold air emanating from the lotus leaves, his figure blurred. A six-colored lotus mark had bloomed between his brows, flickering faintly and uneasily, with a peaceful expression on his face.

What was strange was that a faint scent of sandalwood was emanating from Hanryeo Sang-in’s body. It smelled like clear wood, and also like a strong medicinal scent, which stung the nose. And there was also a faint fishy smell mixed in it.

Very few people in the cultivation world had witnessed the process of reaching the Transformation stage, but there were a few stories passed down.

“The saying that the body transforms like sandalwood was not just a rumor. Judging by the strange scent, hasn’t Fellow Cultivator Hanryeo succeeded in transcending his realm?”

The old woman, who had been watching with wide eyes, murmured with an envious expression.

“Well, Fellow Cultivator Hanryeo’s energy seems unstable. It seems that his body has reached the Transformation stage, but the change in his Nascent Soul [the core of a cultivator’s power] is not going smoothly. Otherwise, the lotus mark condensed by our Cold Flame wouldn’t be shaking like that.”

The old monk narrowed his brows and pointed out.

“It can’t be helped. Fellow Cultivator Sa forcibly grew his Nascent Soul by borrowing the power of various Cold Flames, but it is not the result of his own cultivation, so it is bound to be unstable. Still, it is a great achievement to have reached this point.”

“How about we help the Great Elder stabilize his Nascent Soul?”

At Han Li’s sigh, the middle-aged man in the blue robe asked with an anxious look.

“Absolutely not. If reaching the Transformation stage were that simple, how wonderful would it be. We already expected this unstable state, didn’t we? If we interfere, we might worsen the situation.”

Baek Mong-hyung opposed with a cold expression. Han Li smiled at his words and did not object, and the others looked at each other and then fell silent. It was definitely not the stage for others to interfere.

After manipulating the Cold Flame day and night for two days, the other cultivators were also visibly tired, and their consciousness and magical power were extremely depleted. The cultivators could only wait for Hanryeo Sang-in to break through the realm on his own.

However, unlike the others, Han Li was observing the flow of magical power and the changes in Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul in detail, with his navy blue eyes flickering. If he examined it in advance, it would be of great help to his own cultivation later, and this alone was a sufficient reason for him to risk staying here this time.

The other cultivators had similar thoughts, so they were observing with their consciousness raised to the maximum, but they were no match for Han Li, who used the divine power of the Bright Eye.

As time passed and Hanryeo Sang-in, who was sitting on the milky white lotus, trembled, the strange fragrance suddenly became several times more intense, and the mark between his brows also grew larger.

“Hup!”

At the same time, the cultivators who were watching also came to their senses and focused on what was about to happen.

Then, Hanryeo Sang-in, who was sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes, and his pupils flashed surprisingly with a reddish-gold color, and his body slowly floated upwards. Hanryeo Sang-in also looked around in surprise, then formed a hand seal and created an unknown magic seal.

Then, Han Li felt the spiritual power remaining in his body suddenly stir and begin to move wildly. Han Li, greatly surprised, used his cultivation technique to barely control the spiritual power in his body, but the other cultivators also seemed to be experiencing something similar, their faces changing rapidly.

Then, the surrounding formations suddenly resonated at the same time, and the protective barrier thickened. Light gathered from above and shot towards the center of the formation, and the lights reached Hanryeo Sang-in’s body and disappeared without a sound.

“He’s drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!”

In someone’s low murmur, a complex mix of emotions such as envy and awe was felt. Han Li was also startled by the words.

At that time, Hanryeo Sang-in was constantly sucking in cold air like a leaky water jar, the gold in his eyes brightened, and the mark between his brows became even darker.

This strange phenomenon continued for a long time, and the sound of bones and flesh bursting from Hanryeo Sang-in’s body was faintly heard, and his figure was growing by a few inches.

The light of the mark on his brow grew, covering about half of his head, then rapidly contracted again and embedded itself in his brow like a small crystal. The swirling energy of light everywhere stopped for a moment and scattered around.

The turmoil of spiritual power that Han Li and the other cultivators had been feeling also disappeared, and everything seemed to have returned to normal. Hanryeo Sang-in carefully formed a hand seal and slowly opened his eyes again, and the light from the six-colored lotus between his brows disappeared.

‘Has he already reached the Transformation stage?’

Everyone was thinking the same thing, and the faces of the middle-aged man in the blue robe and Baek Mong-hyung lit up with joy.

“Kuh!”

However, before they could open their mouths, Hanryeo Sang-in’s face suddenly contorted, and he grabbed his head with both hands. It was a sight of someone writhing in pain, and everyone’s eyes widened.

“Fellow Cultivator Hanryeo! What’s wrong?”

The middle-aged man in the blue robe asked anxiously, but he couldn’t recklessly approach. Hanryeo Sang-in heard the voice and barely raised his head to look at the middle-aged man.

However, before he could open his mouth, the lotus mark between his brows, which was already unstable, emitted light and fell down, exploding and scattering into six lights and disappearing.

“Keuh!”

The Great Elder screamed and fell from the void, writhing in the lotus.

“Great Elder!”

Now, Baek Mong-hyung could no longer wait and flew towards the lotus with the middle-aged man. However, Han Li and the other three cultivators only looked at each other and did not approach.