Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 725

The demon beast was completely immobilized, its body stretched taut by an immense force, and its magical power seemed to have solidified. Terrified, Feng Xi finally looked down and saw a silver lotus, about the size of a ship, slowly blooming, its seven-colored light enveloping him. Startled, the demon beast hurriedly tried to activate a hand seal to escape. However, the twelve centipedes were already rushing in from all directions, emitting a chilling aura. Soon after, Feng Xi’s miserable screams echoed, surrounded by the pure white cold. Han Li stood at a distance, examining the Eight Spirit Ruler, not even glancing in their direction. Everything was proceeding as he had anticipated. But then, the Golden Flood Dragon King’s screams in the sea of fire ceased. Han Li raised an eyebrow and turned his head. A tremendous roar, like the sky collapsing and the earth shattering, came from within the sea of fire, and something shot out, tearing through the flames. Han Li’s face hardened, and he vanished from his spot, leaving behind a thunderous sound. The next moment, Han Li appeared in the sky above where the thing that had escaped from the flames had been, crackling with blue and white lightning. What had escaped was surprisingly a tiny, skeletal dragon, but even in that state, its entire body was shining with a brilliant golden light. This small dragon held a fingernail-sized golden bead in its mouth, and its eyes flickered with a deep green light. Following it, a chilling wail echoed, and the five demon heads burst out of the sea of fire in a rage. They all looked unwell, as if their energy had been damaged. The golden skeletal dragon trembled at the appearance of the five demon heads, then instantly turned into a golden streak and vanished into the void. Han Li, watching this, snorted and flashed a black light between his eyebrows, revealing his third eye. The black light shot out from his third eye and disappeared into the void. A heavy boom sounded, and golden and black lights clashed in the empty space. The dragon was knocked back with a thud, spinning uncontrollably. Knowing its situation was dire, the dragon tried to escape again as soon as it regained its senses. At that moment, a blue light flashed nearby, and a bundle of blue threads flew towards it. Now, the dragon was tightly bound and completely unable to move. At the same time, a sword light the size of a palm flew in and sliced the dragon in half. A streak of green fire rose from the remains and tried to flee, but this time, Han Li grabbed it with a giant hand formed in the air. Then, Han Li approached with a flash of light, flicked his sleeve, and tossed out a small green bottle. The magical artifact turned upside down in the air, pouring out black energy, and flew into the giant blue hand, enveloping the green fire and returning into the bottle. Han Li retrieved the green bottle and, after checking its contents with his consciousness, looked satisfied. The soul essence of a Level 10 demon beast was an extremely rare material. Having secured the small bottle, Han Li now summoned the golden bead and the skeletal remains of the dragon. Without needing to examine it closely, the bead was the demon core of the dragon, which possessed metal properties. However, the skeletal remains of the dark blue dragon were intriguing. In the sea of fire, the Golden Flood Dragon King had been bound by the Fire Spirit Lock and devoured by the Five Offspring Demonic Heart, yet he had managed to escape by exploding his flesh and blood. The demon beast had instantly severed the fire ropes, repelled the Five Offspring Demonic Heart, and then shrunk his soul and bones to escape. If this was true, then the Golden Flood Dragon King was essentially in possession of two bodies. After all, once the soul and bones remained, it wouldn’t be difficult to restore the flesh and blood. It was not strange that the Golden Flood Dragon King, a renowned Level 10 cultivator, had been defeated by Han Li. Han Li possessed two spirit treasures, and with the Five Offspring Demonic Heart, which was comparable to a Grand Cultivator, assisting him, the difference was like a fight between an adult and a child. The Golden Flood Dragon King was a demon beast with an incredibly tough body, but he had no choice but to lose his life in front of the sturdy Eight Spirit Ruler, the Fire Spirit Lock, a treasure renowned even in the Spirit Realm, and the Five Offspring Demonic Heart, which devoured anything, be it human or demon. Han Li, who had been examining the golden bones out of curiosity, hesitated before placing them into his storage pouch along with the demon core. Meanwhile, Feng Xi had long been sealed in a block of ice by the chilling aura emitted by the twelve Six-Winged Frost Centipedes after being captured by the Eight Spirit Ruler. Han Li looked at the powerful enemy who had once made him tremble, and immediately sent out his flying swords to cut him down. Feng Xi was shattered into pieces along with the ice block, and the green demon beast’s soul hurriedly flew away. However, in its haste, the soul rushed towards the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, and the pure white centipedes opened their mouths without hesitation and swallowed it whole. Having dealt with the two demon beasts, Han Li picked up the remaining storage pouches and checked their contents. Fortunately, the pouches contained things that satisfied him. In Feng Xi’s storage pouch, he found an ancient jade slip, which contained not only the cultivation methods of the demon race but also information about the Dragon Scale Fruit. It detailed the true purpose of the spirit fruit and how to transplant the Dragon Scale Fruit tree, as well as how this secret technique could be used on other spirit trees. Han Li was greatly pleased by this. And in the Golden Flood Dragon King’s storage pouch, he found an intriguing cultivation method called the Bone Tempering Art. It was a strange technique that allowed both humans and demon beasts to temper their bones like magical treasures, making their bodies even stronger. Unfortunately, it required a long time to cultivate, so he didn’t have time to learn it right away, but Han Li carefully stored the jade slip in his storage pouch. He immediately retrieved the Five Offspring Demonic Heart and the spirit insects, then turned into a streak of blue light and plunged into the sea. Now that he knew the strange effects of the Dragon Scale Fruit, he couldn’t leave it behind. Han Li broke through several restrictions in the underwater cave around the island and found the tree bearing the fruit. Since Feng Xi had come here to transplant the tree, all the necessary materials were prepared in his storage pouch. Han Li used the materials according to the method written in the demon beast script, shrunk the tree, and carefully stored it in his storage pouch. After about an hour, a streak of blue light rose above the sea and, after flashing a few times, disappeared into the horizon. It was half a year later that Han Li returned to Tiannan through a teleportation array. Having returned from his travels, he suddenly gathered Nangong Wan, his disciples, and Elder Lu and the other elders, who had been in secluded cultivation, for a secret meeting. The secret meeting lasted almost half a day, and everyone returned with serious expressions, as if they had heard shocking news. Soon after, some disciples of the Fallen Cloud Sect noticed that the sect was buying unfamiliar spirit medicines and herbs without regard for cost, and that the high-ranking cultivators were frequently gathering to discuss something. And soon after, the Tiannan cultivation world received shocking news. It was said that the Grand Elder of the Fallen Cloud Sect, Han Li, had returned from his travels with a secret technique that would help him reach the Transformation stage. However, this secret technique could only be cultivated in a special place, so he would leave the Fallen Cloud Sect for hundreds of years to enter secluded cultivation and would not return until he had mastered the technique, unless it was a matter that threatened the very existence of the Fallen Cloud Sect. The reactions of the high-ranking members of each sect to this news were varied. Some were happy, while others were filled with worry and concern that the Tiannan cultivation world would be thrown into turmoil again. One year later, Han Li truly disappeared from the Fallen Cloud Sect, and along with him, Nangong Wan, Mo Peiling, and several direct disciples also vanished. After that, the Fallen Cloud Sect stopped expanding its influence externally and focused on consolidating its foundation. Although other sects were constantly looking for opportunities, they did not dare to act rashly due to Han Li’s reputation. One year, ten years, a hundred years passed, and Han Li did not show his face in the Tiannan cultivation world. Over time, the name Han Li was gradually forgotten in the Fallen Cloud Sect, the Yunmeng Mountain Range, and even in Tiannan, and at some point, the story of the Grand Elder of the Fallen Cloud Sect became a legend. The position of Grand Elder remained vacant for a thousand years before a new Grand Elder of the Fallen Cloud Sect was finally selected. After that, many Nascent Soul cultivators were produced in the Fallen Cloud Sect, and it became a truly massive sect, maintaining its power for over ten thousand years. The outer restrictions of the Chuma Bone Valley gradually disappeared after the battle with the Goma. Now, after a long time, even ordinary cultivators could enter the outer areas. However, as more people went there in search of treasures, the rare minerals, materials, and spirit herbs gradually became depleted, and useful items were only occasionally found in hidden places. As the number of cultivators entering the outer areas of the Chuma Bone Valley in search of treasures decreased day by day, it was now treated as no different from an ordinary spirit mountain. But on the contrary, the central area of the Chuma Bone Valley became increasingly infamous. The restrictions in the central area did not weaken at all over time, and the spatial rifts inside were still dense. Moreover, in the last two or three hundred years, a strange milky white fog had suddenly appeared. This fog did not directly harm cultivators, but once they entered it, their heads would spin, their vision would blur, and their consciousness would be greatly limited. If they went deeper, they would completely lose their sense of direction. This strange phenomenon caused a stir in Tiannan for a while, and many cultivators suspected that it was a phenomenon caused by the appearance of a treasure in the Chuma Bone Valley. However, they did not dare to enter it. But soon after, some Nascent Soul cultivators, blinded by greed, entered the central area with treasures that could dispel the consciousness-confusing fog. The Nascent Soul cultivators entered the fog with great fanfare, but after a few years, they lost all the treasures they had and wandered around, eventually escaping with dejected faces. After that, cultivators who were confident in their abilities entered the central area, but the results were even more disastrous. They were either killed by the spatial rifts in the fog or trapped there for even longer periods of time. The longest someone was trapped in the fog was for fifty or sixty years. Fortunately, they had enough spiritual energy to replenish their magical power from time to time, or they would have all died. After these incidents, even Nascent Soul cultivators no longer dared to enter the central area of the Chuma Bone Valley recklessly. The central area of the Chuma Bone Valley was once again known as a forbidden area in the Tiannan cultivation world, and there were hardly any people lingering around it. As time passed, the Tiannan cultivators lost interest in the fog there, and those who had newly become cultivators thought that the fog in the central area of the Chuma Bone Valley had formed naturally. However, no one knew that there was a small dwelling in a remote mountain valley in the central area of the Chuma Bone Valley. Around the dwelling, there was a seemingly ordinary herb field of about a hundred acres, where countless herbs were planted, which were extremely rare spirit medicines outside. Moreover, the herbs were at least several hundred years old, and many were over a thousand years old, and a deep fragrance permeated the surrounding area. Around this small valley, there were layers of profound restrictions, so even if Nascent Soul cultivators accidentally entered, they would never be able to escape unscathed. And in the center of the herb field, there was a house made of blue stone, with nothing inside except for a cushion. And the slender figure sitting on the cushion was as still as a wooden statue. As time passed, the figure moved, rose, and slowly walked out of the house. Sunlight dimly shone on him as he stepped out of the stone door, and it was a blank and expressionless Han Li. Han Li walked to the herb field and stretched out his hand, and a small green bottle appeared from deep within the ground. He took it and went to a jade-colored wisteria tree, dropping a drop of green liquid onto the roots of the wisteria. The green liquid was quickly absorbed by the roots of the wisteria, and after confirming this, Han Li turned around without hesitation, buried the small bottle back in its original place, and leisurely returned to the house. But then, Han Li suddenly stopped and flicked his sleeve, and a white light flashed as a formation disk flew up on its own. He caught the disk and lowered his head, and blue characters appeared. It seemed that someone had sent him a message.