Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 636

The Great Elder of the So Geuk Palace barely twisted his neck to avoid the Demon Slayer Flying Blade from piercing his head. However, the jet-black blade still sliced through Hanryeo Sang-in’s neck, and his head tumbled down powerlessly.

At that moment, the navy blue ice dragon that had been attacking from afar scattered and disappeared.

‘Hmm?’

Han Li was about to raise the corners of his mouth but froze. Suddenly, golden light poured out from the fallen head, enveloping it and beginning to flee in the form of a Qilin [a mythical hooved Chinese creature] phantom.

Han Li was surprised by the bizarre event, but he immediately understood what was happening. The Nascent Soul [a core of spiritual energy formed in cultivators] was hiding inside the severed head, controlling it. His expression hardened as he emitted an even stronger bluish light.

“Pierce it!”

Han Li muttered quietly, and the consciousness hidden in the head began to feel an intense pain as if pierced by a sharp awl. The severed head cried out miserably, blood pouring from its ears and nose.

Hanryeo Sang-in, having lost his physical body and greatly weakened his vital energy, was bound to be severely impacted by Han Li’s Soul Piercer. The head blurred in mid-air, and a navy blue flame flared up. At that moment, the jet-black blade flashed again, appearing above Hanryeo Sang-in’s head.

The blade, which had disappeared before the terrified head, instantly flashed and flew in. A thin trail of blood appeared on his cheek, gradually thickening.

At the same time, a thunderous sound echoed, and Han Li appeared in the silver lightning, standing a few feet away from Hanryeo Sang-in’s head, his hands clasped together.

Kwagwagwang!

Then, a massive net of lightning poured down. The head split in half, and Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul, enveloped in navy blue light, popped out from within.

The Nascent Soul opened its mouth and spewed out a navy blue flying sword. The flying sword caught the wind and instantly grew to the size of a sheet, flying to cut through the golden net.

However, before the large sword could even touch the net, immense pressure first shook the golden net. Han Li’s expression subtly changed, and the golden lightning emanating from his hands became much thicker.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Navy blue and gold light collided, creating a deafening roar, and the navy blue giant sword, with its considerable power, pierced a small hole in the golden net with several slashes. It was a small hole, about the size of a ship, but it was more than enough space for the Nascent Soul to escape.

Shuk!

The Nascent Soul formed a hand seal with both hands and disappeared from the spot, reappearing a dozen or so feet away from the golden net. It had teleported to escape the net.

The Nascent Soul, having narrowly escaped death, pointed at the giant sword behind it with its plump hand. The navy blue flying sword shrank again, trying to escape through the hole in the net.

Han Li’s eyes flashed as he scoffed at the sight.

As he formed a hand seal, the thunder in the golden net intensified, instantly filling the hole. At the same time, countless golden lightning bolts surrounded the navy blue giant sword and exploded densely.

The giant sword, which Hanryeo Sang-in had cultivated for a long time, was more powerful than ordinary magic treasures, but it gradually lost its light as it was struck by a massive amount of Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning.

Han Li immediately flipped his hand, took out the Void Sky Cauldron, and shot it towards Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul, which was a dozen or so feet away. However, Hanryeo Sang-in, desperate to retrieve his natal magic treasure, gritted his teeth and teleported again, appearing next to the Sky Piercing Cauldron.

This time, he no longer clung to his natal magic treasure and looked at the place where the Qilin phantom was floating. Although the magic seal had been forcibly interrupted and he had lost his physical body, the Profound Jade Pendant within the Qilin phantom was still emitting light.

The problem was that a blue shadow was staring at Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul with a cold gaze next to it. Meeting the opponent’s gaze, Hanryeo Sang-in hesitated and gave up his last hope.

Chwareuk!

The Nascent Soul jumped straight into the cauldron and disappeared. Afterward, the cauldron wailed with a bizarre sound, floated into the air on its own, and soon flew toward the cave entrance.

The blue threads of light chasing the Nascent Soul failed to catch up and disappeared into the air. Han Li, having firmly secured the navy blue flying sword with the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning, watched the fleeing Nascent Soul and raised the corners of his mouth.

He flapped the Wind Thunder Wings on his back and transformed into silver lightning, directly starting the chase. Hanryeo Sang-in manipulated the cauldron to shoot a navy blue pillar of light, then teleported twice more, getting closer to the cave entrance.

At this point, he and Han Li were about seven or eight feet apart.

The Great Elder of the So Geuk Palace, having barely caught his breath, was about to teleport once more and open the entrance to the Sky Piercing Cauldron when suddenly several streaks of cold light flew from the nearby Profound Jade Vein.

Hanryeo Sang-in thought it was Profound Jade Cold Energy and tried to repel the cold light with the navy blue flames in the cauldron. But something strange happened.

The color of the Profound Jade Cold Energy changed from white to red, and it melted into the Sky Piercing Ice Flame upon contact, then burrowed into the cauldron like lightning. The Sky Piercing Cauldron trembled, and Hanryeo Sang-in’s scream echoed.

Kwakwakwang! Kwang!

A bizarre flame, a mixture of navy blue and red, appeared in the cauldron, intertwining and causing a series of explosions. The small cauldron’s light expanded greatly, suddenly growing to several feet in size, and navy blue and red light divided and occupied the cauldron.

Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul appeared in the navy blue light, staring straight ahead with an enraged face.

In the red flame, a fist-sized fire crow floated, cawing.

Hanryeo Sang-in, on the verge of life and death, screamed and shot forward along the navy blue flames. The fire crow on the opposite side, without any sign of fear, flapped one wing and flew in on the red flames.

A great burst of light erupted, and a fierce struggle began. The fire crow in the red flame was a transformation of a strand of Taiyin True Fire [a powerful, yin-attributed flame]. When Han Li summoned it from within the formation, it had been hiding in the Profound Jade Cold Energy in the cave and launched a surprise attack.

The amount of Taiyin True Fire was too small to control the cauldron at once, but Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul was also helpless against the Taiyin True Fire, so he could no longer control the cauldron.

Han Li immediately used the Lightning Escape Technique to reach the cauldron, and the Nascent Soul in the navy blue flames trembled in terror upon seeing it.

Suddenly, the navy blue light left the cauldron and soared into the air. Unable to move the cauldron, he tried to escape with just the Nascent Soul. Han Li’s eyes flashed, and he flipped his hand, revealing a small cyan ruler.

As he chanted an incantation, seven-colored Buddhist light flashed from his hand, and the cyan ruler trembled, disappeared, and reappeared above the Nascent Soul’s head.

The Nascent Soul was startled and tried to teleport again. However, a bowl-sized silver lotus that bloomed from the green ruler began to spin.

The Nascent Soul, touched by the seven-colored Buddhist light emanating from the lotus, was unable to do anything as if the vital energy within his body had solidified. The Nascent Soul’s small face turned pale.

Silver lightning flashed, and Han Li followed, appearing in the air. The cyan ruler was the Eight Spirit Ruler that Han Li had obtained from Mount Kunwu.

Although he had only mastered the first level of the Tongbo Seal, it was a spiritual treasure with an attack power greater than the Void Sky Cauldron. Because the opponent had lost his physical body and had greatly depleted his magic power and vital energy trying to use a secret technique to gather the Profound Jade Cold Energy, he was able to capture the opponent at once.

Han Li immediately reached out his hand.

Golden light flashed from his fingertips, and golden lightning bolts transformed into snakes, tightly binding the Nascent Soul within the seven-colored Buddhist light.

Not stopping there, he took out several golden talisman papers and stuck them all over the Nascent Soul’s body, then rummaged through his storage pouch and took out a dozen silver needles. With quick movements, he inserted the silver needle magic treasures into the vital points all over the Nascent Soul’s body.

“Heeuk!”

The Nascent Soul’s face contorted, and his eyes became bleak. Confirming this, Han Li finally relaxed and shook his hands.

Seeing Han Li retrieve the cyan ruler, the Nascent Soul’s expression was filled with resentment.

He glared at Han Li with cold eyes but kept his mouth shut. Having reached this point, begging for mercy would be a pathetic act.

His only regret was not using a secret technique to explode his own Nascent Soul before being restrained. Han Li smiled at Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul and took out a cyan bottle from his sleeve, tilting it.

Then, a white aura leaked from the bottle’s mouth and sucked in Hanryeo Sang-in’s Nascent Soul. He then gestured towards the Sky Piercing Cauldron in the distance. The cauldron, engulfed in Taiyin True Fire, flew straight over and disappeared into his sleeve.

Han Li retrieved the cyan bottle magic treasure and immediately turned into a streak of light, descending below.

A moment later, he landed on a pile of rocks, narrowed his brows, and looked around.

Baek Mong-hyeong, who had been trapped in the silver barrier, was lying in a corner, covered in blood, with a bowl-sized hole in her abdomen. The fact that the vital essence and consciousness had disappeared from the woman’s corpse showed signs of the Nascent Soul’s escape.

Next to the Qilin phantom in the air, a puppet was floating closely, with the Yuan Gang Seal and the Demon Slayer Flying Blade shining in front of it.

About forty or fifty feet away, five skeletons were floating side by side. The grayish-white demonic energy that had covered the skeletons had already disappeared, and one of them was holding a blue storage pouch with its bony hand, while another was playing with a black flame mass with both hands.

Han Li, having quickly understood what had happened through the divided soul in the humanoid puppet, relaxed his expression. Baek Mong-hyeong, seeing Hanryeo Sang-in’s physical body being attacked, had been terrified and detonated several of the high-grade treasures she possessed.

Seeing her trying to escape through the silver barrier created by the Yuan Gang Seal, the humanoid puppet, following Han Li’s prior instructions, had stopped her.

It had pierced her abdomen with the Demon Slayer Flying Blade, and when the Nascent Soul escaped, it had used the Thunderfire Bow to eliminate it as well.

The middle-aged man in the blue robe was even simpler. Unable to withstand the combined attacks of the five demons, his body, Nascent Soul, and even the treasures he possessed were completely devoured, leaving only a storage pouch and an extreme flame behind.

Having grasped the situation, Han Li sighed softly and gestured to the Five Heart Demons, taking the storage pouch and the black flame into his hands. He casually examined the storage pouch and put it away, but he looked at the black flame with interest.

After hesitating for a moment, he brushed his hands together, and a thin golden lightning bolt popped out, rolling the black flame into a bead.

Han Li took out a cold Profound Ice Box with one hand, put the golden bead inside, and stored it with the storage pouch. Now, his gaze turned to Baek Mong-hyeong’s corpse.

“…….”

After a moment of silence, he flicked his sleeve and sent out a bright red fireball.

Bang!

As the corpse was hit by the fireball, a white flame rose from within, extinguishing the fire and then trying to disappear as a white fireball. The Phoenix Departure Ice Flame that Baek Mong-hyeong had cultivated remained in the corpse even after its owner’s death.

However, Han Li, who had been prepared, would not let the white fireball hide inside the corpse. As he clenched his fist in the air, a giant hand transformed from the Purple Aurora Extreme Flame appeared in the air and snatched the fireball like lightning.

The giant hand, having instantly grabbed the white flame, immediately returned. Han Li reached out his hand and sucked in the white fireball along with the storage pouch that the corpse possessed.

He sealed the Phoenix Departure Ice Flame with the Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning in the same way as before, then stored it in the Profound Ice Box. Although most of it had scattered due to the death of its original owner, the remaining flames were quite pure, and if he melted them into the Purple Aurora Extreme Flame later, he could increase its power.

Finally, Han Li dealt with Hanryeo Sang-in’s corpse with even more caution. Surprisingly, the spirit beast pouch containing the pair of Golden Wind Leopards that he had been most wary of was nowhere to be seen.

He did not know the reason, but now was not the time to dwell on such details. Having roughly finished his work, he looked at the Qilin phantom in the air and the Profound Jade Pendant within it with a cautious expression.

It was not a living creature, but it contained an enormous amount of spiritual power, and it seemed to have been formed by the condensation of some kind of cold energy. After pondering for a moment, he flicked his fingertip, trying to test the phantom with sword energy.

But then, a flame suddenly flashed from his sleeve, and the fire crow transformed from the Taiyin True Fire flew into the Qilin phantom. The fire crow flew happily within the Qilin phantom, then began to absorb the phantom’s white energy, its fur shimmering.