Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 748

Not long after the palace-dressed woman disappeared, a small tree under the bushes warped and unexpectedly transformed into a gloomy old man wearing a black robe.

‘Hmph, so it was a vixen from the Black Wind Clan. Her cultivation seems far superior to this old man’s, and it would have been a disaster if she had carelessly released her consciousness. But to think that a half-demon with the blood of the Black Wind Clan is living in Anwon City! This is truly a once-in-a-millennium opportunity! I must make use of that corpse.’

The old man chuckled lowly, then levitated the withered corpse of the giant into the air and spread his arms.

Then, a gray aura enveloped the corpse and was absorbed into it. The shriveled body writhed and pulsed, filling with blood and flesh, and the severed arm grew back perfectly.

‘If I use this corpse to find the child first…’

‘Find the child, then what?’

The black-robed old man was grinning when he heard a cold voice from behind him. His expression changed drastically, and he was startled, turning into a gray blur as he flew into the air.

A sharp scream was heard, and the black flames surprisingly transformed into a jet-black, glossy, one-zhang [about 3.3 meters]-sized monstrous bird. The monstrous bird spread its wings and crossed thirty zhang [about 100 meters] in an instant, then pounced on the old man from behind.

However, the black-robed old man was no ordinary person. Without even turning around, he assessed the situation and flicked one sleeve backward while striking his own skull with his other hand.

Then, a small gray flag and a cyan jade fan appeared behind him, condensing into a gray and green light that enveloped him. But a mysterious thing happened.

The black monstrous bird pierced through the condensed aura and turned back into black flames.

*Chwa-reuk!*

The two thick shields burned like paper, and even the protective barrier created by the old man’s magic power turned into a black, demonic light as soon as it touched the flames. The black-robed old man was reduced to ashes without even his nascent soul escaping.

After finishing its work, the black flames swirled in the air and turned back into a black monstrous bird, then changed direction and flew back.

A spatial ripple occurred next to the purple-robed giant’s corpse, and a slender figure appeared, gesturing towards the monstrous bird. The monstrous bird turned into smoke and disappeared into the figure’s sleeve.

The figure was none other than the palace-dressed woman who had already left this place. She looked back and forth between the place where the old man had died and the strangely floating corpse, and sneered.

‘A mere Nascent Soul cultivator [a stage of cultivation] from the Corpse Valley, who can’t even withstand my spirit beast, dares to plot behind my back! But the Corpse Valley’s corpse transformation technique is quite useful.’

The palace-dressed woman opened her mouth and blew a black light into the purple giant’s body. Then, she formed hand seals and began to chant a spell.

After a while, the black lights that had been circling the corpse gradually faded, and the giant’s body twitched and stood before the woman. However, his eyes were vacant.

The palace-dressed girl flipped her hand and took out the crimson bead again, then flicked it towards the giant. The purple-robed giant blankly opened his mouth and swallowed the bead.

Seeing this, the woman’s lips moved with a strange light, but no sound was heard.

At the same time, the giant in front of her made a similar expression to the woman and spoke in the same voice he had when he was alive.

‘Good, it’s done. As long as there are no cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage, no one will notice anything strange. Even a clone can handle the situation.’

The woman chuckled softly and disappeared into the air. Now, only the purple-robed giant remained in place. After a while, the giant’s eyes lit up, and he began to walk into the bushes.

* * *

At the same time, in the wooden building where Madam Fang and others were staying, Han Li was listening to the situation and lost in thought.

‘So, what Madam is saying is that I should follow Senior Jin and the others to the demon beast’s lair to retrieve a spirit herb called the Seven-Leaf Yin Blood Grass. The only passage to that place is blocked by a metal-attribute restriction set by the demon beasts, so a physically strong and powerful body refiner must first enter to remove the restriction. Is that correct?’

‘That is correct, Brother Han. Although cultivators can forcefully break the restriction, if they use magic power, the demon beasts guarding the place will notice in advance and devour the spirit herb. Therefore, we need the help of a mortal who can quietly remove the restriction without using magic power. However, please don’t worry, Brother Han, we will reward you handsomely after the task is completed, so you won’t have worked in vain.’

The gold-robed man pleaded in a sincere tone.

‘A handsome reward?’

‘Yes, have you perhaps heard of our sect’s Nine Profound Jade Pool? The water in this lake has a peculiar effect that is very helpful for body refinement techniques practiced by mortals, though not for cultivators. It stimulates the entire body, allowing one to overcome bottlenecks in cultivation. Although it only works once when you first immerse yourself in it, many body refiners, including mid- and high-level ones, have formed friendly relationships with our sect for this reason. If you help us obtain the spirit herb, our brothers will work together to secure you an opportunity to immerse yourself in the lake.’

The gold-robed man looked at Han Li with expectant eyes.

‘The Nine Profound Jade Pool, I’ve never heard of it before.’

‘It’s not strange since you’re not from this area! The Golden Jade Sect isn’t a large sect either. But any body refiner in the vicinity would know about it, and you can confirm it by asking a few people.’

‘…If I remove the metal-attribute restriction, I don’t have to get involved in anything else?’

‘Of course. My brothers will take care of everything else. The number of beasts gathered around the demon beast’s lair has decreased significantly due to the demon beast’s chaos, so it will be much easier to infiltrate at this time. Unfortunately, Anwon City fell too early, so the demon beasts guarding the cave probably didn’t come out much.’

The gold-robed man explained excitedly when he saw Han Li showing interest.

Upon hearing this, Han Li quickly thought it over. Honestly, if he hadn’t heard about the Nine Profound Jade Pool, he wouldn’t have hesitated at all.

The Seven-Leaf Yin Blood Grass they wanted wouldn’t be of any use to him no matter how much he ate. However, if it could help him overcome a bottleneck in body refinement, he could save ten years of time.

He needed to achieve great success in the Vajra Art [a body refinement technique] as soon as possible, so it was quite a tempting offer. Moreover, if it was a metal-attribute restriction, he, who was proficient in formations, could solve it without using magic power.

‘Alright. I will help you obtain the Seven-Leaf Yin Blood Grass, and in return, you will allow me to enter the Nine Profound Jade Pool. If you agree to this, I will accept this task.’

Han Li made his decision in a straightforward manner and stared intently at the Jin-surname man. Since the other party had already noticed that he was not an ordinary body refiner, there was no need to hide it.

His demeanor changed, and Madam Fang and Ban Qing were a little surprised, but she was also a clever person and quickly understood the situation. She maintained her smile and did not interrupt the conversation any further.

‘It won’t be easy to convince Brother Han. Junior brothers, bring them out.’

The Jin-surname man rubbed his wrist bracelet and took out a jade pendant with a white aura. Ban Qing and the other young men and women did the same. The gold-robed man gathered the jade pendants and handed them to Han Li.

‘This is…’

Han Li frowned as he looked down at the jade pendants.

‘These are the Spirit Heart Pendants that all disciples of the Golden Jade Sect must carry. The elders of the sect have cast a spell on them, and each pendant contains a strand of the owner’s soul. They are originally a pair, but when disciples leave the sect, they leave one behind. If they are harmed or go missing, we can track them immediately. Of course, if these jade ornaments are damaged, the owner will also suffer damage to their consciousness, making further cultivation difficult. If we entrust these to Brother Han for a while, we can show our sincerity. If you still don’t trust us, then there’s nothing we can do.’

The gold-robed man explained carefully.

‘Senior Jin seems trustworthy, so let’s do that.’

Han Li couldn’t release his consciousness, but after examining the jade pendants several times with his Bright Sight, he sensed a faint soul aura and smiled.

He put the jade pendants into his chest. Even if there was some trickery in the jade pendants, it wouldn’t be able to withstand his divine abilities.

The gold-robed man and the others were very happy that Han Li had truly accepted the task. After talking for a while, they decided that they would rest for a day and depart the day after tomorrow. Han Li was assigned a small wooden building nearby to rest.

…….

That night passed, and on the second night, the temporary residence suddenly became noisy. The City Lord of Anwon City had appeared at the encampment in perfect condition, attracting attention.

Even Madam Fang immediately left her room to greet City Lord Cho in person. Han Li, upon hearing the news, thought of the girl named Da Ya.

‘She has found her family, so everything should be fine now.’

Soon after, someone came to call for Han Li.

City Lord Cho, after discussing with his subordinates, decided to take his granddaughter to rely on a friend in Heavenly Origin City. However, the girl, Da Ya, insisted on meeting Han Li before leaving.

City Lord Cho also wanted to express his gratitude to his granddaughter’s savior. After hesitating for a moment, Han Li did not refuse and left his room.

‘So, you are the body refiner Han Li who saved Da Ya. If there is anything you desire, please tell me. This old man will do everything in his power to fulfill it.’

The purple-robed giant spoke with a bright face as soon as he saw Han Li. He was with a few body refiners and Da Ya, and they were standing at the entrance of the temporary encampment, seemingly ready to leave immediately.

The girl held onto the giant’s hand with her small hand and looked at Han Li with clear eyes. She still didn’t say anything, but it was clear that she was happy to see him.

‘There’s no need for that. I just happened to save her by chance.’

‘Even so, I cannot not repay the kindness of my benefactor. Then, how about this! I heard that you have mastered the Vajra Art up to the third level. My close friend’s ancestor also mastered the same technique up to the sixth level in the past. I have a token given to me by my friend, and if you take this and find his descendant, they will lend you a book that contains insights into cultivation.’

The robed giant laughed heartily and took out an ordinary-looking dagger from his chest, giving it to Han Li and telling him the location and the person’s name.

‘Insights related to the Vajra Art…’

Han Li hesitated for a moment before accepting the dagger. Thus, City Lord Cho, with the support of Madam Fang, the Jin-surname man, and others, boarded a giant wolf with the girl.

But at that moment, the usually docile Mountain Wolf suddenly raised its head, stomped its feet, and became agitated. The purple-robed giant was startled, and a faint black light flashed from his thigh as he forcefully restrained the wolf, causing it to whimper and obey.

Everyone was surprised, but they didn’t think it was strange.

Since it was a beast, it was not uncommon for the Mountain Wolf to act up, and everyone praised City Lord Cho for subduing the commotion with his thigh strength.

Only Han Li’s expression subtly changed when he saw the black light on the purple-robed giant’s thigh.

As the giant on the Mountain Wolf moved further away, the people who had come to see them off dispersed, but Han Li silently remained in place, watching City Lord Cho’s group.

‘It was clearly corpse energy, but why is he taking the child away… Haa, it’s just a puppet, so I guess I’ll have to help her one more time.’

Remembering the girl’s face as she clung to his sleeve, Han Li sighed and turned back towards the encampment.

Soon after, he disappeared among the temporary wooden buildings.