Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 707

The young man’s last words were directed at the giant with the pitch-black face, and his tone brooked no argument.

Jo Bong-yu was slightly relieved by those words and glanced at the middle-aged man.

Frankly, he knew that the person in front of him was a Great Cultivator, but shouldn’t he know whether they were friend or foe before dealing with them?

The middle-aged man hesitated, then finally nodded slightly towards him. Seeing this, Investigator Jo immediately replied,

“Of course, I must follow your instructions, Senior. However, our Pavilion Master is currently meeting with a distinguished guest, so how about I report to him first and then guide you?”

“A guest is here?”

The young man paused for a moment, then nodded expressionlessly. Only then did the black-faced investigator feel relieved, taking out a sound transmission talisman from his pocket, muttering, and sending it inside.

Soon after, with a smiling face, he guided Han Li inside the jade gate.

The middle-aged man with the pale face followed them a few steps behind, and unexpectedly, both of them were calmly walking up the jade stairs instead of flying.

‘Anti-air restrictions!’

The young man narrowed his brows and snorted. A blue light flashed all over his body, and unexpectedly, there was no hindrance to his low-altitude flight.

He looked at them walking from below and smiled wryly to himself.

No matter how great the restrictions were, they only affected cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage; it was impossible to restrain a Great Cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage.

However, not wanting to clash with the owner of this pavilion, he slowly moved along with their guidance.

The young man was Han Li, who had flown a long way from Tiannan. Although his cultivation had greatly increased, it had taken him a full half-year to pass through the Peony Grassland and reach this place.

It was rather unexpected that this time he had passed through so smoothly without any problems.

Before, he had almost died while being chased.

In fact, he had intended to teach the Doluo Clan’s Ancestors a lesson if he encountered them, but an unexpected situation had occurred.

During the long flight, except for encountering a few low-level Ancestors, he had not met any Doluo Clan Ancestors above the Core Formation stage.

Later, he learned that for some reason a hundred years ago, the Heavenly Orchid Saintess and the Great Ancestor had ordered all high-level Ancestors to be summoned to the Heavenly Orchid Holy Temple for closed-door cultivation [a period of intense training and seclusion].

Perhaps when the closed-door cultivation ended, the power of the Doluo Clan’s cultivation world would also rise to another level.

Knowing this, Han Li felt a little regretful, but he did not bother to invade the Heavenly Orchid Holy Temple.

Attacking the Heavenly Orchid Holy Temple was not about making enemies with one or two Doluo Clan Ancestors, but about antagonizing the entire Doluo Clan.

Although he had killed a Holy Palace Elder in Heavenly Star City, it did not antagonize the entire Doluo Clan.

Han Li crossed the Great Prairie and entered the Great Jin.

The matter of the mustard seed space [a small, self-contained pocket dimension] seemed relatively simple and could be dealt with quickly compared to other matters, so he came here first.

He went to a market in a certain place in Great Jin and said he wanted to buy the mustard seed space refinement method from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion branch.

The middle-aged man with the pale face would have flatly refused if he were an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

However, how could a Core Formation late-stage cultivator act rashly in front of Han Li, who had revealed his cultivation as a Great Cultivator! He simply explained with a smiling face.

The secret art of refining a mustard seed space was something that he, who only managed a branch, could not know, and it was something that he had to report to the Pavilion Master.

And because the matter was important, he would go to the Heavenly Secret Pavilion’s main pavilion himself, so he asked Han Li to wait for two or three months. Han Li thought it made sense and agreed, but he did not wait and followed him.

He had heard that the Heavenly Secret Pavilion was just an external name, and in reality, it was secretly connected to the Ten Demonic Sects.

Moreover, a Great Cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage was serving as the guest elder, but few knew exactly which sect he was from.

However, it was not a problem for Han Li to worry about. As long as the guest elder was not the Sect Master of the Yin Luo Sect, it did not matter to him if he was a Great Cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Sect or the Taiyi Sect.

This time, he had come to obtain the mustard seed space refinement method through his identity as a Great Cultivator, but he was not going to rob it for free, so he had brought plenty of spirit stones and rare materials.

Since the secret art was a burden to the other party, he thought that if he showed this much sincerity, would they really want to make an enemy of a Great Cultivator and resist?

As he expected, before they had even climbed halfway up the jade stairs, streaks of light flew out from inside the main hall.

More than a dozen streaks of light circled in the air and split to both sides around the entrance of the main hall, and they all seemed unaffected by the restrictions.

Between them, two people walked out side by side and looked down at Han Li. Han Li slightly narrowed his brows and then took a step.

Then, the distance of nearly a dozen feet in the air was instantly closed, and he landed at the entrance of the main hall with a strange trajectory, standing face to face with the two cultivators. The cultivators on both sides were startled and reached for their weapons.

“Stop your useless actions and step back! Ah, you must be Cultivator Han.”

The plump old man on the left of the two cultivators scolded the cultivators on both sides and then spoke to Han Li with a bright smile.

“Are you the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion?”

Han Li also scanned the old man and asked calmly.

“This old man is Chan Go, and I am in charge of this pavilion. I heard from Zhang Gui why you have come here. How about we go inside to talk in detail?”

The plump old man folded his thick hands and spoke respectfully.

On his ten fingers, he wore various rings of different colors, some of which sparkled, while others were extremely crude.

“Very well. But I don’t know how to address this Great Master.”

Han Li scanned the other party’s rings and then turned his gaze to the monk.

A boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a yellow monk’s robe and with a clear impression, was emitting an enormous pressure of spiritual energy.

“Great Master is too much. Just call this humble monk Yeomjuk.”

“Yeomjuk…”

Han Li recited his name, but he did not remember it at all.

Half of the high-level cultivators of the Four Great Buddhist Sects were not well known to ordinary cultivators, and Han Li was not originally from Great Jin, so there was no way he could know all of them.

However, the plump old man was slightly surprised at Han Li’s expression, but soon erased that look. But how could Han Li, with his cautious nature, not have read that expression?

‘Is he a famous cultivator from a Buddhist sect? Otherwise, there’s no way the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion would find it strange.’

However, the boy next to the plump old man was just smiling, exuding the demeanor of a benevolent high monk.

At that time, the middle-aged man with the pale face and Investigator Jo finally arrived in front of the main hall and hurriedly paid their respects to the plump old man.

Chan Go gave a few instructions and sent Investigator Jo away, but he kept the middle-aged man, Zhang, with the pale face.

They entered the Heavenly Secret Pavilion and took their seats in what appeared to be a main hall, with the remaining Core Formation cultivators, including the middle-aged man Zhang, standing on both sides.

“I heard that Cultivator Han has come here to purchase the secret art of refining a mustard seed space. Is that correct?”

“That’s right. That’s why I came all the way here.”

Han Li also did not like to beat around the bush, so he admitted it plainly.

“The reason you want the secret art is probably because you have found a space crack and want to turn it into your own mustard seed space so that no one knows its location, right?”

The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion was a person who controlled a force with his mid-Nascent Soul cultivation. He treated Han Li politely, but he was not servile.

“You have guessed my intentions correctly.”

“There have been more than one or two people who have come to this pavilion with the same purpose as you. They wanted to find a space crack themselves and refine their own mustard seed space, but they were reluctant for others to know its location. Moreover, some of them were Great Cultivators of the same level as you.”

“Then, have you ever given out the secret art?”

“No! Although they all vowed never to reveal it to others, if this pavilion had given out the secret art to just anyone, we would not have been able to monopolize and sell things like the Heavenly Secret Jade and Heavenly Secret Talisman a long time ago.”

“The reason you were able to do that must be because you had another solution.”

“You are right, Cultivator Han. The Heavenly Secret Pavilion could not have survived if it had made enemies with so many cultivators of the same level. We were able to meet their demands without giving out our unique refinement secret art, by using something else instead.”

“Something else?”

This time, even Han Li was slightly surprised.

“This pavilion has already researched a set of formation magic tools a long time ago. It creates a kind of restriction that temporarily transforms a certain space to be similar to a mustard seed space. Although it cannot be said to be exactly the same as a mustard seed space, it is almost the same.”

“So, there was such a thing. But a mustard seed space formed only by the power of restrictions would have many shortcomings.”

Han Li frowned and shook his head.

“There are shortcomings, but they are not something that would harm a cultivator like you, Cultivator Han.”

Chan Go said, unconcerned about the other party’s reaction.

“Let’s hear it.”

“The previous Pavilion Master collaborated with several formation masters to create the Mustard Seed Formation based on the principle of refining a mustard seed space. If the space is not too large, the restrictions can be deployed with formation magic tools.

Of course, more than 10,000 spirit stones are needed every year to form a mustard seed space. If there is a spiritual vein flowing through the space itself, the number of spirit stones needed will be reduced. Also, the temporary mustard seed space created through the formation can only be maintained for 2,000 to 3,000 years at most, and after that, when the formation magic tools lose their effectiveness, they will collapse along with the space itself.

Of these two shortcomings, the former is not a concern considering the wealth you possess, and the latter is more than enough considering your lifespan! Unless you are going to pass it down to your family or sect, the lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator who has not reached the Transformation stage is only about 2,000 years.”

Chan Go explained skillfully. Hearing that, Han Li stroked his chin and fell into thought.

“Let’s do this. If Cultivator Han is interested in our Mustard Seed Formation, this pavilion will sell it to you at a particularly low price.”

The old man smiled and scanned Han Li with the eyes of a seasoned merchant. He seemed confident that Han Li would accept this condition.

However, the next moment, Chan Go’s smile froze.

“…I think I’ll just have to buy the refinement secret art of the mustard seed space.”

Han Li, who had been deep in thought, shook his head.

The middle-aged man with the pale face, who had been standing respectfully with his hands folded, also changed his expression slightly.

And the monk named Yeomjuk, who had not interfered all along, also looked up at Han Li as if surprised.

“There must be a reason why you insist on the secret art. May I ask why?”

The plump old man’s eyes wavered, and he sighed. He was unconsciously tapping the armrest of the chair with his plump hand.

“The reason is simple. The space crack I found is already unstable, so I cannot block it with just formation magic tools. That’s why I must know the refinement secret art.”

“You want the refinement method of the mustard seed space… Let’s have a match with this old man first and then talk.”

Just then, a very old voice was heard from somewhere, and a streak of light flew in from outside the main hall, shimmering with silver light. When the light faded, a silver-robed old monk appeared.

Seeing the old monk, Chan Go and Yeomjuk, who were sitting, hurriedly got up to greet him, and the plump old man also revealed an undisguised look of joy.

“Great Master Wonji, you’ve arrived!”

“Greetings, Senior Brother Wonji.”