Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 648

The Nascent Soul Late Stage

The Taoist in the navy blue robe and the Confucian scholar were so focused on the colored clouds in the sky that they didn’t even notice the massive waves, the largest they had seen in over a hundred years.

In an instant, beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.

Not only them, but all the cultivators near the port had drastic changes in their expressions. Those with lower cultivation levels even fell from the sky while flying. The pressure of spiritual energy emanating from the beautiful sunset-colored clouds was immense.

Everyone’s hearts pounded at the intense spiritual energy fluctuations, which were clearly felt even from a distance. They wondered if an ancient demon beast had appeared.

Now, not just the port but the entire island was trembling. The Taoist in the navy blue robe and the scholar were so nervous that their mouths went dry. Just then, three beams of light flew from the inner part of the island and landed atop a white pavilion.

When the light faded, there were two men and a woman. They were a burly man in a yellow robe, an old man in a blue robe, and a woman with a seductive aura.

“Greetings, Senior Masters.”

Upon seeing the three cultivators, the Taoist and the scholar immediately hid their surprise and bowed.

“What is going on?”

The burly man in the yellow robe waved his hand to acknowledge their greeting and asked in a serious voice.

“We don’t know what’s happening either. An unknown phenomenon suddenly appeared in the sky, and we were about to send a message to you, Senior Masters.”

As the Taoist in the navy blue robe answered, the three Core Formation stage cultivators were already looking at the sunset-colored clouds.

“Could it be the work of a high-level demon beast?”

The seductive woman raised her eyebrows and asked.

“That’s unlikely. There’s no demonic energy at all. Besides, with that kind of momentum, it would have to be at least a Transformation stage demon beast, and there’s no way such a high-level demon beast would appear in the inner sea.”

The old man in the blue robe shook his head.

“Then, could it be a Nascent Soul [a high level of cultivation] senior using some kind of technique?”

“That doesn’t seem to be the case either… Except for a few Nascent Soul demonic cultivators who use demonic arts, I’ve heard that no one uses a technique that causes such a change in the heavens. Could it be that some treasure has appeared!”

The old man sighed deeply at the burly man’s question.

“If that’s the case, it could be a truly incredible treasure! This is an opportunity that our sect cannot miss.”

The woman’s expression brightened, and the burly man quickly revealed a greedy look.

“No matter what treasure it is, you will only lose your lives if you go.”

A voice suddenly came from outside the window. The three Core Formation stage cultivators were startled and quickly composed themselves. A navy blue light entered through the window, and a gaunt middle-aged man appeared within it.

“Greetings, Uncle-Master.”

The Taoist in the navy blue robe and the scholar bowed even deeper, and the three cultivators also shouted in unison.

The middle-aged man’s pupils were yellow, and his eyes were tinged with a grayish-white color, making him look unexpectedly blind.

“How audacious! If a great treasure has appeared, would there be any chance for you to get it? Even if you were to obtain a treasure that is beyond your station, it would only bring disaster. As far as I know, Old Devil Hun is wandering around nearby, and he wouldn’t let such a rare celestial phenomenon pass him by.”

The middle-aged man, whose face was pale, spoke expressionlessly and stared at the sunset-colored clouds with his grayish-white eyes. The burly man and the others turned pale at the mention of Old Devil Hun’s name.

“We are one thing, but can’t Uncle-Master obtain the treasure either?”

The seductive woman asked, revealing her disappointment.

“If it were truly a treasure, I would go even if it meant fighting Old Devil Hun, but unfortunately, this is different from the celestial phenomenon that appears when a treasure emerges.”

As the cultivators on the third floor of the pavilion were dumbfounded, a blinding white light spread from the other side of the sky, and the cultivators, except for the middle-aged man, involuntarily closed their eyes.

At that moment, a huge ripple appeared in the sky, covering half of it, and the space distorted. An even more powerful pressure of spiritual energy descended, and then a dazzling white structure, like a palace, appeared.

The burly man and the others, who had opened their eyes again, watched the scene with their mouths agape.

The middle-aged man, who appeared blind, twitched his face and shouted.

“The Illusionary Sky Palace, how! It hasn’t been 300 years yet!”

He immediately recognized the identity of the palace that had appeared in the sky. The Taoist in the navy blue robe and the scholar didn’t react much to the name Illusionary Sky Palace, but the Core Formation stage cultivators were startled.

The burly man, in particular, was so surprised that his voice trembled.

“The Illusionary Sky Palace, you say? The place where countless treasures from the ancient era are said to be?”

“What else could it be? It’s strange that it appeared before its time. But even if the Illusionary Sky Palace has appeared, you can’t enter without the Illusionary Sky Token… Hmph, someone passed by!”

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and watched a dark cloud covered in flames fly away at an incredible speed. It seemed to be a high-level cultivator trying to find out what was going on with the strange phenomenon.

The middle-aged man also felt the urge to go immediately, but he suddenly changed his mind and glared coldly.

Before the fiery cloud reached the palace, a multicolored light suddenly poured out from the white light, and a thick blue pillar of light shot out, plunging into the deep sea.

A bottomless hole appeared on the surface of the sea, and the seawater swirled around the pillar of light.

What was even more surprising was what happened next. A white formation, several feet in size, formed in the middle of the blue pillar of light, and a man, a woman, and a blue cauldron suddenly appeared within it.

For a moment, the two stood still, as if trapped in the pillar of light. The fiery cloud also seemed to sense that something was wrong.

A deafening roar erupted from the white light, and the huge palace blurred and disappeared as spatial fluctuations exploded. The blue pillar of light also dissipated, leaving only the man, the woman, and the giant cauldron in the sky.

The cultivator in the fiery cloud also had a bad feeling and immediately tried to change direction and flee.

However, the woman raised her eyebrows and flicked her sleeve. Over a hundred transparent sword energies surged and flew towards the fiery cloud. The fiery cloud couldn’t escape the incredible speed of the sword energies and was eventually cut to pieces.

Someone shouted in anger, and the fiery cloud shook, probably because the cultivator inside had activated some treasure.

The white energy of the transparent sword energies caused the fiery cloud to disappear as if it had met its natural enemy, and several treasures shattered and fell before they could even show their power.

The cultivator in the fiery cloud was terrified and tried to escape, but there was no time. As over a hundred flying swords danced, he was killed without even his nascent soul [the core of a cultivator’s being] escaping. A cultivator was annihilated in an instant, scattering blood and flesh everywhere.

The Core Formation stage cultivators who were watching, as well as the middle-aged man who had been calm all along, were all filled with fear.

“Uncle-Master, could the one who just died be a disciple of Old Devil Hun? Otherwise…”

The burly man barely managed to speak, his lips trembling.

“Disciple, my foot, that was Old Devil Hun himself. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to use the Blazing Fire Great Art so clearly.”

The middle-aged man, who had taken a deep breath, said firmly without turning his head.

“Isn’t Old Devil Hun a Nascent Soul cultivator like Uncle-Master? How could he be defeated so easily? Without even having time to escape with his nascent soul!”

The seductive woman asked blankly. The woman in the blue robe and the burly man also looked incredulous, but the middle-aged man didn’t answer any further and just watched the situation.

The man and woman in the sky seemed to exchange a few words, and then the woman let out a cold laugh, swung her flying swords, and flew away in a transparent beam of light. The man shook his head, looked at the port, and then turned into a blue beam of light and flew towards it. His speed wasn’t very fast, making him look leisurely.

However, the middle-aged man in the pavilion couldn’t be leisurely. He hurriedly gave an order.

“The three of you stay here and don’t act rashly! I’ll be back soon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man turned into a navy blue beam of light, left the pavilion, and flew to meet the blue beam of light.

The middle-aged man in the navy blue beam of light was very uneasy. From what he had seen from afar, the woman was definitely a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator of the Heavenly Twin Stars or the Six Paths Extreme grade [extremely high cultivation levels].

As a mere early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the gap was too large, and since he had already been noticed by the other party, there was no way to escape.

Since that was the case, he decided that it was better to go and meet them first rather than increase their vigilance.

The two beams of light flew towards each other and met in the sky after a while. The middle-aged man carefully looked at the dark light about a dozen feet away.

A young man with an ordinary appearance, wearing a blue robe, appeared within it. His skin was dark, and he was looking at him with a smile that seemed like he wasn’t smiling. The middle-aged man scanned the other party with his spiritual sense, his pupils contracted, and he quickly clasped his hands in greeting.

“I am Gan Lim, an elder of the Yellow Sand Sect. May I know the esteemed name of the fellow cultivator! If you need my help, I will do my best.”

His tone was respectful, although he was addressing a cultivator of the same level. The young man listened to his words, scanned the middle-aged man, and smiled.

“I am Han Li, and I seem to have heard of the Yellow Sand Sect before, but it was so long ago that I don’t remember exactly what kind of place it is. Is this island within your sect’s territory?”

“We are a small sect in the Chaotic Star Sea, so it’s understandable that you haven’t heard of us, fellow cultivator. If you are alright with it, Senior Han, would you like to come to our sect for a rest?”

The middle-aged man was a little relieved by the other party’s gentle tone, but since the other party was truly a great late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he had to be careful.

The young man in the blue robe was Han Li, who had just escaped from the Illusionary Sky Palace after cultivating there for over 80 years. With the help of the Spirit Eye Spring, he had reached the peak of the mid-stage Nascent Soul in 60 years, and after consolidating his realm for about twenty years, he had broken through to the late stage in one go. It was so easy that even he was dumbfounded.

Compared to the immense effort he had put in to reach the mid-stage, preparing all kinds of precious spirit pills and elixirs, he had succeeded in reaching the late stage with just a few ordinary pills. It was so unbelievable that it felt like a dream.

After reaching the late stage, he had pondered over it several times, but he couldn’t find a definite answer.

‘Perhaps it was thanks to cultivating the Great Development Technique and taking the Embryo Nourishing Pill, or perhaps it was thanks to improving my spiritual root with the Celestial Mending Pill I had taken before. Or maybe it was because I had mastered the Azure Origin Sword Art, or maybe it was because my cultivation was deeper than other cultivators…’

Even after thinking about it, he couldn’t come up with a suitable answer, so Han Li gave up on trying to find the reason. In any case, the conditions for reaching the late stage of the Nascent Soul were too complex and varied from person to person, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact reason.

After reaching the late stage, he immediately refined the Eight Spirit Ruler and the Illusionary Sky Cauldron again, mastered the second level of the Tongbao Art, and then went to find the woman in the silver robe who had been in closed-door cultivation.

Even the level 10 Ice Phoenix was speechless for a while after seeing Han Li, who had reached the late stage in the meantime. As a result, she gave up on the idea of dealing with Han Li and instead taught him a secret technique.

Using the secret technique and combining their magic power, Han Li and she worked together to control the control formation and forcibly made the Illusionary Sky Palace appear in the Chaotic Star Sea for a short time. The two then used the control formation to teleport themselves out of the Illusionary Sky Palace.

The Ice Phoenix was originally of a violent nature, but she had been trapped in the Illusionary Sky Palace for nearly a hundred years for no reason, and she was depressed to see Han Li reach the late stage of the Nascent Soul right in front of her. And then, the demonic cultivator in the fiery cloud had approached them, so she was truly unlucky.

As soon as she escaped from the Illusionary Sky Palace, she killed the demonic cultivator in the fiery cloud to vent her anger and then left to find a way to return to the Great Jin.

Although Han Li’s cultivation had greatly increased, he still didn’t have the confidence to completely subdue the woman, so he let her go. Of course, he didn’t tell her anything about the ancient teleportation array that could take her back to Tiannan.

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