Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 703

Han Li felt the magical power within his body surge violently and let out a low shout.

The giant sword trembled, scattering spiritual light, and like a coiling dragon, it stretched out a long golden beam of light and struck the pillar.

*Kukwakwang! Kururung!*

With just a single deafening roar, the golden beam of light sliced through the massive pillar. The red pillar split in two, collapsing powerlessly to either side.

It was a truly magnificent sight, as if the sky were falling and the earth were rising.

The tremendous roar caused not only the Inverse Star Alliance cultivators floating in the surrounding sea but also the Star Palace cultivators to look in that direction.

Shortly after, they spotted Han Li floating in the air, his robes fluttering.

The cultivators who saw him reacted in completely opposite ways, their faces changing drastically. Some froze in place, while others laughed and cheered like madmen.

However, not everyone was idly watching.

The Nameless Twins, whom Han Li was observing, were too busy fighting, surrounded by five giant skull heads, to pay attention to the roar.

Coincidentally, the demonic energy and pink mist released by the Nameless Twins seemed to be the opposite of the gray-white demonic flames emitted by the Five Auto-Heart Demons, and they seemed to be struggling to hold on.

Old Man Cho and the purple-robed giant were delighted to see this and took out their treasures to join the attack on the demonic beasts.

In addition, the dozen or so swarms of Gold Devouring Beetles that Han Li had released were also wreaking havoc.

Under the command of Han Li’s clone, they targeted only the Inverse Star Alliance cultivators. Anyone who heard the buzzing sound was instantly covered by the golden beetle swarms, which devoured everything, including magical treasures and protective barriers.

Thus, in an instant, dozens of cultivators became food for the Gold Devouring Beetles. The Inverse Star Alliance cultivators were in chaos, desperately trying to avoid the swarms of beetles.

Furthermore, Han Li had even damaged the eye of the Wind Transformation Heavenly Severance Formation, causing the morale of the Inverse Star Alliance cultivators to plummet. In an instant, the Inverse Star Alliance cultivators began to look for opportunities to flee.

At first, there were only a few, but suddenly, dozens or even hundreds of people began to scatter in different directions.

Now, even without Han Li’s intervention, the defeat of the Inverse Star Alliance was a foregone conclusion.

Even Old Man Yung and the old woman disappeared, abandoning their enemies and vanishing without a trace as the situation turned unfavorable.

The Nameless Twins also realized that the situation was dire and tried to escape by detonating powerful treasures one after another, breaking through the encirclement of the Five Auto-Heart Demons.

Seeing this, Han Li narrowed his eyes and flapped the wings on his back, blending into the wind.

The next moment, just as the Nameless Twins escaped the encirclement of the five demons, a flash of blue lightning appeared, and Han Li appeared in front of them, blocking their retreat.

The Nameless Twins’ hearts sank as they met Han Li’s cold gaze. However, they were also renowned demonic cultivators, so they could not simply wait for death.

They exchanged glances and simultaneously released various treasures, charging fiercely at Han Li.

***

A few days later, shocking news shook the entire Chaotic Star Sea.

The large-scale battle between the Star Palace and the Inverse Star Alliance, which was a matter of survival for both sides, had taken place sooner than expected and had ended with an overwhelming victory for one side.

Furthermore, it was said that the Master of the Myriad Laws Sect, Man Chunmyung, had died in battle, many of the high-level cultivators of the Inverse Star Alliance had lost their lives, and the Nameless Twins, who had been notorious hundreds of years ago, had reappeared but were eliminated by the Star Palace.

Han Li’s name was now known to every cultivator in the Chaotic Star Sea.

Even the fact that he had entered the Illusory Heaven Palace before condensing his Nascent Soul [a stage of cultivation] and had obtained the Illusory Heaven Cauldron, which led to the Inverse Star Alliance issuing a kill order, spread, astonishing countless cultivators.

Now, no matter how bold a Nascent Soul stage old monster was, they would not dare to think of snatching the Illusory Heaven Cauldron from his hands.

After a few months, the Star Palace successively dispatched cultivators to reclaim their lost territories and pursued and killed the retreating high-level cultivators of the Inverse Star Alliance, attacking their headquarters in one fell swoop.

The Nascent Soul stage elders of the Inverse Star Alliance, fearing they would be pursued forever, gritted their teeth and fought back, engaging in a large-scale battle with the Star Palace at the Inverse Star Alliance headquarters, but they were defeated without a fight.

Three Nascent Soul stage mid-stage cultivators joined forces to fight Han Li, but two were killed instantly, and one barely managed to save his life using a secret technique, but his body was split in two.

Even if he succeeded in seizing another cultivator’s body through soul possession, it would be difficult for him to recover his original cultivation.

Thus, in just half a year, the Star Palace regained control of the Inner Star Sea, and other forces began to submit again.

And Ling Yuling seized the opportunity to encourage the low and mid-level cultivators from the Inverse Star Alliance to surrender, while she pursued and killed some of the Nascent Soul stage elders to the end.

Now, the Inverse Star Alliance had disappeared into the darkness forever, like a setting sun.

***

Half a year later, in the underground of the Heavenly Star City’s sacred mountain.

A man and a woman were walking along a long passage, one after the other. The passage, made of carved jade, was spotless. The woman and the young man were none other than the Star Palace Master, Ling Yuling, and Han Li.

“I didn’t expect the Magnet Mountain to be in a place like this. Is it such a fearsome object?” Han Li, who was walking behind, asked calmly as he looked at the passage made of large amounts of jade.

“It’s not exactly fearsome, but if cultivators below the Core Formation stage [a stage of cultivation] approach it, they risk losing their lives due to the backlash of their spiritual power. Of course, even Nascent Soul stage elders will suffer harm to their bodies or their cultivation if they stay here for too long.”

“Hearing you say that makes me even more curious about the Magnet Mountain. I don’t know how you found such an object.”

“I heard from my father that he found it in an exploding underwater volcano when he went out to the Outer Star Sea. He suffered quite a bit trying to move the Magnet Mountain here. Some of the Core Formation stage disciples even had their cultivation greatly reduced because of this. My parents started cultivating the Magnet Divine Light and gradually refined the Magnet Mountain, but the process was so slow that they had only refined half of it before they passed away.”

“If they had completely succeeded in refining it, the Twin Stars would have been able to break free from the limitations of the Magnet Mountain.”

The woman nodded at Han Li’s words but did not say anything else.

They soon turned a corner in the passage and stopped. There, a huge, colorful jade door with many golden talismans attached to it stood.

“This is where my parents used to cultivate in their lifetime. They installed several special golden restrictions to barely block the Five Elements power of the Magnet Mountain,” Ling Yuling said, raising her hand holding a pure white jade pendant.

At the same time, a mass of white energy threads extended from the jade pendant and wrapped around the golden talismans on the cyan jade door.

The silent door suddenly vibrated and roared, beginning to shine brightly. The woman opened her mouth with a serious expression and spat out a navy blue hook made of jade.

The hook turned into a navy blue beam of light, circling around Ling Yuling and protecting her. Only then did the woman turn her head and look at Han Li.

“The Magnet Mountain is least affected by magical treasures that do not possess the Five Elements attributes. I know that Brother Han’s divine abilities are great, but you must be careful when you go inside.”

“I will be careful, so you don’t have to worry,” Han Li responded with a smile and summoned a golden protective barrier around his body. It was the Vajra Shield.

Although it was not made of jade, it did not possess the attributes of the Five Elements.

Ling Yuling, who had paused at the sight of the golden protective barrier, smiled again and threw the jade pendant into the air, beginning to chant a spell.

Then, the jade pendant trembled, and various colored spells flew from its surface and were absorbed into the cyan jade door. The vibration of the jade door stopped abruptly, and it slowly opened outward, emitting a milky white light.

‘Hah!’

The moment the jade door opened, Han Li felt a chill run down his spine, and the pure wood-attribute spiritual power within his body suddenly surged, feeling like a wild horse running across a prairie, madly rushing through his meridians.

Although he had expected it to some extent, he hurriedly used the Azure Origin Sword Art several times to suppress his spiritual power and return it to normal.

Even though he had prepared in advance with the Vajra Shield, it was still this intense, so if someone were to experience this without knowing anything, they would be quite flustered. He regained his composure and glanced at Ling Yuling beside him.

She was also protecting her entire body with a jade hook, but her fair face showed a reddish tinge, indicating that her blood and qi were fluctuating.

Ling Yuling regained her composure and stepped lightly into the jade door, and Han Li followed behind her.

Inside, a vast cave spanning thousands of feet was revealed, with a height that seemed to be over a hundred feet.

The walls were made of blue stones of unknown origin, and milky white, sparkling moonstones were embedded in the ceiling.

However, what caught Han Li’s attention was the ‘small mountain’ located in the center of the cave.

It was called a mountain, but to be precise, it was more like a massive rock of immense volume.

The rock was about 50 to 60 feet high, becoming narrower as it went up, resembling a miniature mountain peak.

The dark, dull mountain looked too ordinary to be the Magnet Mountain and rather resembled a lump of iron.

“Is this the Magnet Mountain?” Han Li stopped at the entrance, narrowed his eyes, and scanned it.

“Yes, it was originally gray-white, but it gradually became like this as it was refined,” Ling Yuling stopped and said calmly.

Han Li, who had been standing there for a while, slowly passed her and approached the small mountain.

With each step he took, the Five Elements power emitted by the small mountain became much stronger, and the spiritual power within his body tried to surge once again.

Continuing to circulate his cultivation technique, Han Li quickly reached the dark, dull mountain.

With his hands behind his back, he narrowed his navy blue eyes and carefully examined the Magnet Mountain.

However, even after examining it closely with his Spirit Vision, it still looked dark and dull, and he could not find anything else.

Furthermore, his consciousness was distorted by the Five Elements power just by getting close.

Han Li, who had been walking around the mountain, stopped and pondered for a moment before reaching out a hand and touching the surface of the small mountain. Then, unlike its rough exterior, he felt a cool sensation at his fingertips.

Then, Han Li’s expression changed slightly.

“Are you worried that it might be fake?” Ling Yuling said from behind with a smile.

“If it’s an object that can interfere with the spiritual power flow of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, it would be a treasure comparable to the Magnet Mountain, so that’s unlikely.”

“I’m relieved that you think so. But if you plan to cultivate the Magnet Divine Light, what should we do with the Magnet Mountain? If you haven’t mastered the Magnet Divine Light, no matter how profound a cultivator’s magical power is, they won’t be able to take this far away. Back then, my father was only able to move it from the Chaotic Star Sea to here after cultivating the Magnet Divine Light and with the help of the Star Palace disciples. Even then, it took ten years. How about you cultivate in our Star Palace for a few years and master the Magnet Divine Light to about the second level before moving the Magnet Mountain?” Ling Yuling made a sudden proposal with sparkling eyes.

“Are you saying that I can’t take this without cultivating the Magnet Divine Light?”

“I can’t be sure either. Brother Han’s divine abilities are already superior to my father’s, so you might have a special secret technique to move the Magnet Mountain.”

“Then I should try it first.”

Han Li, who had been deep in thought, calmly raised both hands and formed hand seals, sending a blue magic seal toward the mountain.

The blue light flashed and was about to be absorbed into the small mountain when it exploded.

‘Hmm.’

Han Li narrowed his eyes and flicked his ten fingers, sending out other magic seals in succession.

However, no matter what magic seal he used, the result was the same; they exploded and scattered near the Magnet Mountain.

With a stern face, he brought one hand to the surface of the small mountain again.

This time, he did not withdraw his hand and began to chant a spell, seemingly trying to forcefully inject the magic seal into the Magnet Mountain through his palm.

But then, something strange happened. Following his magic seal, an invisible force flowed, absorbing the spiritual power within his body that he had been suppressing.