Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 647

Guided by Han Li’s control, the Void Sky Cauldron flew to the center of the massive formation and landed precisely on the giant cauldron pattern. The pattern immediately glowed intensely, shooting a pillar of blue light that enveloped the Void Sky Cauldron.

Once again, Han Li felt his connection with the Void Sky Cauldron severed, causing a jolt in his mind. He glanced at the silver-robed woman, and seeing no suspicious movements, he refocused on the changes occurring within the formation and the Void Sky Cauldron. A blue protective barrier expanded outwards, and within it, the Void Sky Cauldron hummed and began to grow.

Shortly after, when the cauldron reached the same size as the pattern, phantoms of flowers, insects, fish, and beasts bloomed beautifully on its surface. Unexpectedly, Han Li felt his consciousness reconnect. At that moment, a tremendous surge of magical power flowed from his body into the cauldron.

Han Li’s expression shifted drastically.

At that moment, the woman, who had been observing from the side, suddenly formed a hand seal and pointed it at the center of the formation. White spiritual power coalesced into a pillar of light and was absorbed into the giant cauldron pattern.

Simultaneously, the rate at which magical power was draining from Han Li’s body slowed, allowing him to regain his stability. Had his magical power continued to be siphoned at that rate, the wary Han Li would have retrieved the Void Sky Cauldron long ago.

The Void Sky Cauldron acted like a bottomless pit, relentlessly absorbing the magical power of both him and the woman. Before long, Han Li had lost half of his magical power, and his face began to tighten with concern.

*Koo-roong!*

The formation vibrated, and the incantations flickered faintly, as if they were on the verge of activation.

“This won’t work. With just the two of our magical powers, we won’t be able to activate the formation!”

The silver-robed woman spoke, withdrawing her hand seal. Han Li also frowned and cut off his magical power, immediately reaching out and pointing at the Void Sky Cauldron.

The Void Sky Cauldron blurred, then shrank and flew into his sleeve.

“It doesn’t seem to be a problem of magical power alone. This control formation was originally designed to be controlled by a Deity Transformation cultivator [a cultivator at a very high level of power], so it’s not something that a Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator [a cultivator at a mid-level of power] and a late-stage cultivator [a cultivator at a high-level of power] can handle together.”

Han Li stated his opinion while staring at the formation. When the Void Sky Cauldron disappeared, the blue pillar of light and the flickering light vanished, and the formation lost its vitality.

“…It’s not necessarily true that only a Deity Transformation cultivator can control it. It might be possible if several late-stage cultivators join forces.”

“Are you joking? You know that the gap between a Deity Transformation cultivator and a few late-stage cultivators is enormous, just like how a few late-stage cultivators can’t stop a Deity Transformation cultivator, right?”

Han Li retorted, as if he couldn’t believe what the woman said after her brief silence.

“A Deity Transformation cultivator who can manipulate the natural energy of heaven and earth with divine abilities is unbeatable, but it’s different when it comes to magical power. What if I knew a secret technique that could temporarily fuse the magical power of several late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to move the Void Sky Cauldron?”

The silver-robed woman seemed quite confident.

“You have such a secret technique? Are you saying that the several late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators you mentioned include my Five Devil Puppets and puppets?”

“You’re quick-witted. That’s exactly what I mean. If we add those devils and puppets to me, we might have a chance of success.”

The woman smiled slightly, and her cold face transformed into a radiant one, making her look like a completely different person. However, Han Li was too busy trying to figure out her intentions to pay attention to her beautiful face.

“Why didn’t you mention me just now?”

“You can’t use this secret technique. It’s a technique that can only be used between cultivators of the same level, and the one with the highest cultivation among them must control the combined magical power. Although your cultivation is higher than that of ordinary cultivators, you’re still not a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, are you?”

“If you want to control the Void Sky Cauldron, you must first master the Control Incantation, so isn’t asking me to control the formation the same as asking me to hand over the Void Sky Cauldron?”

“Even if a Heaven-Reaching Treasure [an extremely powerful and rare treasure] is precious, it’s better than being trapped in this place forever.”

“That won’t happen, so don’t think about useless things. I will never agree to such conditions.”

The woman was puzzled by Han Li’s straightforward answer. A venomous expression appeared on her face, and she was about to snap at him when Han Li spoke again.

“Let me tell you one thing in advance: this place automatically opens once every 300 years anyway. That means that even if we do nothing, we can safely escape after time passes! I’ve changed my plan and decided to just wait for the time to come and cultivate here instead of rushing to leave. If I happen to reach the late-stage Nascent Soul realm before then, I’ll come looking for you. So, do as you please, Fellow Daoist Feng!”

After speaking, Han Li turned into a streak of blue light and quickly disappeared down the path.

“It opens every 300 years?”

The woman was delighted by the good news and swallowed the threatening words she had originally intended to say. Although she had lost the opportunity to easily seize the other party’s treasure, she no longer had to be trapped here forever.

She didn’t think that Han Li would tell such an easily exposed lie. After all, 200 or 300 years was nothing to a celestial spirit beast like her.

She could have temporarily raised her cultivation to the Deity Transformation stage, killed Han Li, and taken the Void Sky Cauldron, but doing so would have greatly damaged her nascent soul [the core of a cultivator’s spiritual power], and her cultivation might have dropped to the 9th or even 8th level.

That was too harsh for a cultivator who was on the verge of reaching the Deity Transformation stage. She was also in a frustrating situation. She had originally been deliberately delaying reaching the Deity Transformation stage to extend her lifespan, but that demon had lured her with a spatial junction and dragged her into the war with the Small Polar Palace.

If she became a Deity Transformation cultivator right now, she could kill Han Li, take the Void Sky Cauldron, and escape this place, but the Ice Phoenix Clan, with their various divine abilities, could only reach the Deity Transformation stage after performing a certain ritual in the Ice Phoenix Island, their clan’s sacred ground.

Of course, Han Li didn’t know this, so he deliberately leaked the news that the Void Sky Hall opened once every 300 years before she did anything rash out of desperation.

If there was a glimmer of hope, she wouldn’t recklessly try to kill him, would she? However, his last words about coming back to find her if he reached the late-stage Nascent Soul realm were just empty words.

If only it were that easy to surpass one’s realm! Many mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators spent their entire lives without taking a single step forward.

The silver-robed woman pondered for a long time before muttering to herself.

“Since I still have a few secret techniques that I haven’t finished cultivating, I might as well cultivate them thoroughly during this time. That way, I’ll be in a better position when I face that person again.”

She turned into a streak of transparent light and disappeared in the opposite direction from Han Li. She planned to find a suitable stone chamber and enter secluded cultivation.

Half a day later, Han Li was also sitting cross-legged in a secret chamber about 30 to 40 feet in size. Beside him was a milky white pond about a dozen feet in size, from which dense spiritual energy rose, and a clear fragrance pierced his nose.

It was the secret chamber on the second floor where he had met Yuan Yao before. It was very secretly hidden and had a large spiritual eye spring, making it the perfect place for cultivation.

Furthermore, he had sealed the teleportation array to disable it, and he had covered the entire secret chamber with formation artifacts. As long as the restrictions that suppressed consciousness within the tower were in place, even a 10th-level Ice Phoenix would not easily find this place.

Han Li had no intention of staying here for hundreds of years. He wanted nothing more than to return to Tiannan right away and release Nangong Wan’s Soul Sealing Curse.

However, handing over the Void Sky Cauldron to the Ice Phoenix woman was tantamount to suicide.

The Ice Phoenix was a late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivator, so she could master the second level of the Control Incantation, and at that point, she would become an opponent that he could not defeat even with the help of his puppets and five devils. Therefore, he would never do such a foolish thing.

Fortunately, Nangong Wan had already consumed the inner core of the ancient demon beast, the Fire Silk. Even if the seal didn’t break on its own, it would postpone the onset of the curse, so she wouldn’t have to worry about losing her life for 200 or 300 years.

Then, it was better for him to quietly cultivate here. Now, Han Li closed his eyes and sat still, looking like a dead person except for the rise and fall of his chest.

However, the milky white spiritual energy emitted by the spiritual eye spring, as if alive, swarmed towards him like clouds.

A day, a month, a year.

Time continued to pass, and the milky white spiritual energy mist continuously swarmed in, surrounding him in a circle. In the blink of an eye, 80 years had passed.

* * *

At a port on an island in the Chaotic Star Sea, large and small ships and cultivators bustled in and out. Except for the island’s only entrance, the entire island was covered by restrictions, indicating that it was a prosperous island.

On a small mountain on the inner side of the island, there were several buildings, and among them, the largest and whitest pavilion had a delicate and elegant feel.

On the third floor of the pavilion, a cultivator wearing a navy blue robe and a white-robed scholar wearing a scholar’s cap were chatting while looking at the port.

“Senior Brother Ming, I heard that the Rebel Alliance and the Star Palace had another major battle near Falling Star Island. This time, a Core Formation cultivator [a cultivator at a lower level of power] from the Rebel Alliance was killed, so it seems like they were the ones who suffered.”

“The clashes between the Star Palace and the Rebel Alliance have become more frequent in the past few years. A major war is not far off. Now that I think about it, the Rebel Alliance has already grown to its full strength and has already occupied more than 20 of the 36 islands in the inner sea! Yet, there are more stories of the Star Palace winning in battles, which is strange.”

The Taoist in the navy blue robe muttered as if sighing at the scholar’s words.

“There’s nothing strange about that! As long as the Twin Saints of the Heavenly Stars don’t leave the Heavenly Star Island after cultivating the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light, they are practically invincible. There are also rumors that in the recent large-scale battles, the Six Paths Extreme Star and Man Sangu were defeated by the Twin Saints of the Heavenly Stars near the Heavenly Star Island. However, the Twin Saints of the Heavenly Stars cannot leave the Heavenly Star Island for long. Otherwise, their cultivation will greatly decline. Because of this, only small sects like us suffer.”

“That’s right. It’s still okay that both sides are constantly recruiting cultivators. We can just send a few low-level cultivators. But now that both sides are taking tribute, which used to be only once, it’s really hard to survive!”

The Taoist in the navy blue robe grimaced, expressing his displeasure.

“Senior Brother Ming, do you even care about such things? Such matters are for our grandmasters or grand uncles to consider, not for us Foundation Establishment cultivators [cultivators at a very low level of power]. As long as our grand uncle is here, neither the Star Palace nor the Rebel Alliance will be able to do anything to our sect. Anyway, my two-year term as a steward is coming to an end, so I’m feeling energized. I had quite a bit of success in my last secluded cultivation, so I think I’ll be able to reach the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment soon!”

“Is that so? To reach the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment in just over a hundred years, your talent is truly outstanding. I’ve been stuck in the mid-stage for decades without any progress, which is a pity.”
The Taoist in the navy blue robe couldn’t hide his envy at the scholar’s words.

“Everyone knows that it’s much harder to overcome the bottleneck in cultivation after reaching the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment than it is to go from the early stage to the mid-stage. I’ll probably be in a similar situation as you when I reach the mid-stage.”

The Taoist in the navy blue robe was about to open his mouth with a wry smile when a thunderous roar echoed from the sky, and the scene in front of them lit up brightly.

The two cultivators were startled and looked towards the port.

In the distant sky, about ten miles from the port, faint, beautiful colored clouds spread out, and something seemed to be bursting out of the sea, creating a tremendous roar and causing waves over a hundred feet high to surge on the surface of the sea.

The ships that were entering and leaving the port were in chaos, desperately trying to return to the port, and countless mortals jumped off the ships and rushed to the shore. However, most of the ships were smashed to pieces by the rough and violent waves, and the mortals died.

# 649