Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 721

The silver horse, which had reappeared twenty feet away, stared at the bead with wide, suspicious eyes.

However, the Tai Yin Firebird paid no attention, instead swallowing the bead in one gulp, boosting its crimson aura, and fleeing again without looking back.

The silver horse, which had retreated, twitched, then rolled its eyes around to survey its surroundings.

Finding nothing amiss, it flapped its wings and began chasing the firebird again.

However, having absorbed the Solar Essence Pearl containing the Extreme Cold Flame, the Tai Yin Firebird was also exceptionally fast, and the silver horse couldn’t catch up easily this time.

The Tai Yin Firebird abruptly changed direction and rushed towards Han Li.

The silver horse, transformed from the Solar True Flame, spread its two wings and hastily pursued the Tai Yin Firebird. The movements of the two spiritual entities could not be stopped by the earth.

*Puff! Puff!*

Shortly after, the fire spirits soared up from the ground one after another, appearing in the misty void.

The Solar True Flame sensed something amiss as soon as it rose, but the human-shaped puppet had already touched the Great Cold Cauldron a step ahead.

At the same time, a blue flame burst out of the cauldron, transforming into a blue chill as it rushed forward. The fleeing Tai Yin Firebird also changed direction, opening its mouth towards the winged silver horse below and firing the Solar Essence Pearl.

At that moment, the formation was activated by the human-shaped puppet’s gestures, and everything proceeded like clockwork.

Seeing this, the Solar True Flame didn’t hesitate and burrowed back into the ground, trying to escape into the lava.

The spot where the small horse and firebird had emerged was the only place on the volcano not covered in blue ice, but it froze instantly as the formation activated.

However, the Solar True Flame’s speed was not to be underestimated.

A flash of silver, and it burrowed headfirst into the ground, then suddenly spread its wings and vanished, reappearing in the void twenty feet away.

At that moment, five pillars of colored light erupted from the ground, splitting the spot where the small horse had just been.

Then, streams of grayish-white demonic energy burst out, swirling and transforming into five heads of a large, fiendish ghost. It was the Five Demonic Hearts [a demonic entity formed from five hearts].

Han Li also slowly flew up from the ground. Then, a flash of blue light, and the formation froze the ground, blocking it off. Han Li, standing on the blue ice, cautiously raised his head.

The chill dragon transformed from the Great Cold Ice Flame, the Tai Yin Firebird, and the five fiendish ghost heads surrounded the silver winged horse and swarmed towards it like a swarm of bees.

The fire spirit transformed from the Solar True Flame was very intelligent, just as Han Li Shangren remembered, and it turned into a silver light, soaring high into the sky, never staying in one place for long.

Except for the Tai Yin Firebird, neither the Five Demonic Hearts nor the chill dragon could match its speed.

However, the Tai Yin Firebird was now faster than the Solar True Flame, unlike when it was in the lava, due to the Solar Essence Pearl Han Li had given it and the chill of the Great Cold Ice Flame surrounding this place.

If not for the silver horse’s cunning movements and agility, it would have been caught long ago.

The silver horse dodged the crimson flames spewed by the firebird, unable to counterattack for fear of being caught by the fiendish ghost heads and the chill dragon, and could only endure the attacks.

Han Li stood below, looking up with his hands behind his back, while the human-shaped puppet, with a blank expression, controlled the formation from one side, commanding the chill dragon.

At that moment, the small horse seized an opening, endured an attack from the Tai Yin Firebird, then gathered its two wings and turned into a silver light, descending to the ground.

It intended to use its earth escape technique to flee. However, the moment it touched the blue ice on the ground, the silver and blue lights intertwined, and the small horse had no choice but to stop.

The moment the silver light paused, crimson light and blue chill flew in from above, and a strange cry grew closer.

Belatedly realizing it was difficult to evade, the silver horse panicked and flapped its wings even faster, scattering silver petals into the air. It was trying to wrap itself in silver light and withstand the attacks.

*Boom! Thud!*

Two small vibrations echoed, and the crimson light and blue chill fell onto the silver petals one after another, exploding.

Contrary to Han Li’s expectations, the silver horse was flung out by the immense force, shooting out of the silver petals and appearing ten feet away in an instant.

Then, it turned into a silver light and immediately chose a direction to flee. Its speed was still incredibly fast, but when Han Li looked with his blue eyes, one of its wings seemed shorter than before, and one of its legs was also blurry, flickering with silver flames.

Han Li chuckled and finally began to move himself. He spread his wings on his back and disappeared with the wind.

Seeing the Solar True Flame flee, the Tai Yin Firebird and the chill dragon immediately chased after it, but the silver horse used its earth escape technique to the extreme, and after a few flashes of silver light, it had already reached the edge of the light barrier.

When the blue light pillar blocked its path, the fire spirit tried to avoid it. However, the puppet floating in the air saw this and formed a hand seal, amplifying the light of the pillar, and countless threads shot out from within, blocking the Solar True Flame’s path like a net.

The startled horse moved its two wings, creating dozens of silver petals, which it shot towards the net before diving in without slowing down.

It intended to break through the light net and escape.

However, the fire spirit didn’t know that two white mists had appeared above its head, simultaneously blowing a pale, cold wind, and then two white centipedes rushed in like lightning.

These were the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes that Han Li had sent out in advance. With this, the silver horse could no longer move forward and had no choice but to turn sideways to avoid the two streams of cold wind.

However, the moment the silver horse changed direction, a black light flashed, and a flying dagger instantly slashed the silver horse. Then, a silver line appeared between its eyebrows, and its body was split in two.

*Splat! Splat!*

The two halves each turned into flames, emitting silver light, then condensed in the middle, regaining the shape of a small horse. However, it was much fainter, a stark difference from before.

It must have suffered severe damage to its vitality due to being cut by the Demonic Beast Flying Dagger.

Just then, a faint thunder sound echoed from above, and Han Li appeared, flashing blue lightning, and without hesitation, he flicked his ten fingers.

A chilling sound of air being pierced was heard, and ten fire threads shot out, piercing through the silver horse’s body. At the same time, Han Li chanted an incantation, and the fire threads wrapped around the small horse several times, immobilizing it.

Now, the Solar True Flame’s spirit seemed to have no strength to resist. Seeing this, Han Li was overjoyed. He immediately summoned the pre-prepared golden restriction talismans, and the talismans flew towards the Solar True Flame, emitting various lights.

Once the golden restriction talismans were attached, no matter how powerful a fire-attribute spirit was, it would not be able to escape. But an unexpected thing happened.

The immobilized small horse suddenly cried out and emitted silver light from its entire body, breaking free from the fire threads and reaching out towards the talismans.

A loud explosion was heard, and the ten fire threads that had turned the talismans to ashes flew towards Han Li. Han Li, who had been calm throughout, couldn’t help but show a slight change in his expression at this moment.

He raised one hand and gestured towards the fire threads, slowing their movements and absorbing them into his palm. The small horse took this opportunity to try and flee far away.

However, Han Li, with a darkened expression, snorted and used a secret technique, and the small horse immediately trembled and began to fall. Han Li had used the Yang Spirit Subduing Technique [a technique to subdue spirits].

Flapping his wings on his back, Han Li disappeared from the spot and appeared below the falling small horse. Without using any treasures, he grabbed the void, catching the small horse with a giant purple hand.

A large purple chill erupted, and a giant ice block enveloped the fire-attribute spirit.

And then, the Tai Yin Firebird and the chill dragon, which had arrived just in time, jumped in at once, merging within the purple ice, their spiritual energy shining.

The horse, having recovered from the dizziness caused by the Yang Spirit Subduing Technique, greatly amplified its silver flames, trying to break through the ice block, but how could it break through an ice block fused with the Tai Yin True Flame of the same level!

The chill dragon and the crimson firebird spewed out cold air towards the small horse like fish in water.

Shortly after, the Five Demonic Hearts also arrived. They also opened their grotesquely large mouths and spewed out five types of cold flames, and the combined five-colored cold flame flew towards the horse inside the purple ice.

As a large amount of cold energy surged in, the small horse transformed from the Solar True Flame gradually weakened. Seeing this, Han Li flicked his sleeve and sent out another dozen talismans.

This time, the talismans passed through the purple ice and stuck to the small horse’s body, and the small horse, with a desperate look, stopped resisting. Its silver light dimmed, and it could no longer maintain its original form, turning back into silver flames.

Then, the talismans attached to the horse’s body transformed into a multi-colored light barrier, restraining the silver flames, and the Tai Yin Firebird inside the ice turned into crimson flames, enveloping the Solar True Flame.

At this, Han Li formed a hand seal and threw a magic seal into the purple ice, and the ice sparkled with purple light and shrank. In the blink of an eye, Han Li placed the ice block, now the size of a fist, on his palm.

“To capture the Solar True Flame, you’re quite lucky. If it achieves a balance of yin and yang with the Tai Yin True Flame, it will be of immense help, far beyond what even the so-called Immortal Spirit Flames of the Spirit World can achieve!”

A jealous voice, like that of a young boy, echoed in his ear.

‘Immortal Spirit Flames?’

Han Li’s eyes sparkled at the unfamiliar term, but he didn’t ask further and rubbed his hands together.

Fine golden lightning sparked, enveloping the purple ice bead, and it soon transformed into a golden bead. He flicked his sleeve, and a small blue cauldron appeared, spinning and stopping in front of his chest.

It was the Void Sky Cauldron [a powerful cauldron used for refining].

*Clang!*

He flicked the small cauldron with his fingertip, and a clear chime echoed as the cauldron lid flew off, and bundles of blue threads wrapped around the golden bead and disappeared.

Then, he formed hand seals with both hands and activated the Binding Seal, and the cauldron lid fell back down, closing the cauldron. Only then did Han Li’s eyes show a hint of excitement.

‘With this, I can refine the Rejuvenation Pill.’

If he could gain hundreds of years of lifespan, no matter how difficult the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light [a powerful technique] was, he would surely be able to master it. He then retrieved the Five Demonic Hearts and the human-shaped puppet and dismantled the massive formation he had set up here, erasing all traces.

Only then did he finally leave the volcano entrance with the Solar True Flame. Now that he had achieved his goal in the Great Jin, he planned to return to Tian Nan immediately.

Once he returned, he would first refine the Rejuvenation Pill to extend his and Nangong Wan’s lifespans, and then find the space rift in the Chuma Bone [a rare bone with spatial properties] and create a mustard seed space [a small, portable space].

And finally, he would use the power of the souls in the collected Ghost Banner to create the Crimson Soul Banner, a space treasure.

With that, he could bring the Yuan Magnetic Mountain to Tian Nan and hide it within the mustard seed space, completing all preparations until he reached the Deity Transformation stage by mastering the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light.

He had saved the top-grade wood-attribute spirit stones from the last crisis for this attempt. He would use them when the chances of success were high.

After rescuing Ziling from Mount Mata, he didn’t forget to take the Demonic Essence Pill that Xiang Zhili had mentioned.

He had obtained three from Old Devil Hu using the Ten Thousand Year Profound Jade in his possession, but even now, thinking about that transaction still made his stomach churn.

He didn’t know if the old demon had heard rumors from somewhere that Han Li had left the Soaring Palace with a large amount of Ten Thousand Year Profound Jade, but he had demanded half of it.

It was unclear whether he was confident in the effects of the Demonic Essence Pill or if he was retaliating for having his concubine taken away.

The Ten Thousand Year Profound Jade was an extremely precious treasure, but for Han Li now, it was not as important as the Demonic Essence Pill, which could increase his chances of reaching the Deity Transformation stage. No matter how minimal the effect, he couldn’t give up on it.

In the end, he had agreed to the transaction with a bitter heart in front of Xiang Zhili.

Even now, recalling Old Devil Hu’s triumphant face after the transaction made him feel a little depressed, but Han Li focused his mind and concentrated on planning for the future.