Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 751

After parting ways with the cultivators, Han Li decided that the Heavenly Cauldron Commerce was too conspicuous. Instead of returning to Madam Fang’s side, he planned to hide in another city.

After all, the Blood Curse Document wouldn’t harm him.

His destination was Uyang City, the closest city to his location.

He considered it a suitable place for cultivation, as it was a city sought after by many body refiners. He had already crushed the token, a short sword given to him by the Black Wind Clan’s demoness, which she used to control corpses, and had forgotten about it.

However, while on his way to Uyang City, just as he was about to solidify his fifth level of the Vajra Art [a body refinement technique], he was suddenly ambushed by several demon beasts.

Although he managed to kill all the demon beasts, he was attacked while circulating his cultivation technique, causing a backlash in his Vajra Art, which put him in danger of losing his cultivation progress.

But at that moment, he coincidentally met Fatty Fan, a merchant from Uyang City, and thanks to a rare elixir he carried, Han Li was able to escape the crisis.

Feeling grateful and also looking for a place to hide, Han Li followed Fatty Fan to Uyang City and helped the Flourishing Auction House grow its influence in the shadows.

With his knowledge of formations and the insights of a Nascent Soul cultivator, he was able to easily create spirit tools after a bit of practice. He stayed in Uyang City, and decades passed like the wind.

During that time, he encountered a hurdle in reaching the sixth level of the Vajra Art. He spent about a year visiting the Golden Jade Sect and met the golden-robed man, who was already a Core Formation cultivator.

The Core Formation cultivator was greatly surprised to see that Han Li had mastered the fifth level of the Vajra Art, but he kept his promise and gave him the opportunity to soak in the Illusory Jade Pool.

Thanks to the mysterious effects of the lake water, he overcame the hurdle in just a few days, and with another ten years of cultivation, he could advance to a higher realm.

He returned to Uyang City and, after more than twenty years of cultivation, faced another hurdle, this time in reaching the seventh level.

The final hurdle would be difficult to overcome through cultivation alone, so he decided to try the unique method of body refiners.

This involved entering the wildlands far from human cities and killing powerful demon beasts to gain enlightenment.

However, before leaving, he first needed to retrieve all the treasures he had hidden in the Azure Sand Desert.

Now that his body refinement cultivation was strong enough, he no longer needed to worry about his life, so he thought it was time to collect his treasures.

* * *

After resting for half a day near the ruins of An Yuan City, Han Li headed back to the Azure Sand Desert.

After walking for more than a month, he reached the gray sand and soon felt a chill in his heart.

The desert was too quiet.

Apart from the sound of sand blowing in the wind, there was no other sound, and there was no sign of any living creature.

The entire Azure Sand Desert seemed dead.

With a puzzled look, Han Li became more vigilant and walked towards the place where he had buried his treasures.

Although the desert’s terrain had changed a lot, he had used a special method when burying the treasures that allowed him to find them without using his magic power, so he had no trouble finding his way.

‘That is…!’

After about ten days, Han Li saw a white object about a dozen feet in size somewhere in the Azure Sand Desert and was speechless.

Unexpectedly, there was a giant insect’s molt, sparkling like crystal. It was the shell of a giant centipede with six thin wings on its back.

“Six-Winged Sand Centipede? No way. There’s no way it could have evolved this quickly.”

Han Li was dumbfounded as he looked at the giant centipede’s molt. He walked around it a few times and then flicked his sleeve, sending out a silver light.

Thump.

A silver rope bounced off the shell with a light sound.

It was a strange weapon made from the tendons of a Ground Dragon, which had helped Han Li kill many beasts and enemies over the decades. It had made great contributions.

Even after learning the spirit tool forging method, he hadn’t improved the weapon made from the Ground Dragon’s tendons. Firstly, his body refinement had greatly improved, so he didn’t need the help of spirit tools. Secondly, he was used to the rope and didn’t want to change it.

However, considering Han Li’s immense strength, if it had been an ordinary insect’s shell, it would have been shattered in one blow. It was indeed the molt of a Six-Winged Sand Centipede.

Han Li hesitated as he looked around.

‘There were a total of twelve Six-Winged Sand Centipedes, but there’s only one molt. Where did the others go?’

“Could it be…”

Han Li’s expression changed as a thought flashed through his mind.

At that moment, a strange cry was heard from afar, followed by thunder, dark clouds, lightning, and a violent storm. Seeing this, Han Li’s lips twitched, and his eyes narrowed.

Even though he couldn’t release his consciousness, he already knew that the being causing the strange weather phenomenon was the Six-Winged Sand Centipede, as their consciousnesses were linked.

After becoming a six-winged adult, the spirit insect had gained the ability to control wind and rain. Han Li was speechless.

To be able to manipulate the natural energy of heaven and earth so skillfully meant that it had reached the Great Accomplishment stage of the Nascent Soul realm [a high level of cultivation], surpassing its master’s cultivation.

But soon, another insect cry was heard, and from the opposite side of the dark clouds, a colorful cloud flew in rapidly.

Han Li’s face turned pale.

The colorful cloud was created by a swarm of scorpions with a pair of wings, and the palm-sized scorpions with colorful spots covered half the sky.

Even more astonishing was that in the very center of the scorpion swarm, a scorpion king, more than twenty feet in size, was flying. This scorpion had no wings, but its massive body was supported by colorful venomous mist, and it swung its venomous stinger, which was more than a dozen feet long, with a strange green glow.

Han Li, who was watching from below, gasped in surprise. The scorpion king was surprisingly formed by the condensation of tens of thousands of small scorpions.

Before Han Li could figure out what was going on, a strong wind blew from afar, and a snow-white centipede, more than a dozen feet in size, revealed its ferocious appearance from within the dark clouds.

At the same time, the faint connection of consciousness became clearer.

‘So that’s what it was!’

Surprisingly, all the original spirit marks that he had placed on the twelve centipedes were detected within the Six-Winged Sand Centipede.

It was either that the twelve had merged into one, or that one had devoured all the others.

‘Assuming that the adult Six-Winged Sand Centipede evolved like this, then where did the countless scorpion swarms come from?’

If such a swarm of insects had appeared, the Heavenly Cauldron Commerce’s transport convoy would not have been able to cross the desert safely. While he was pondering the situation, the dark clouds and the colorful mist collided in the distance.

Thud! Thud!

The cries of the spirit insects mixed loudly, and the scorpions froze and fell as they were hit by the white gale that erupted from the dark clouds.

However, the remaining scorpions madly charged into the dark clouds, spewing colorful venom from their mouths.

Then, the dark clouds thinned, and the upper body of the snow-white centipede, which had been hiding inside, was revealed.

The Six-Winged Sand Centipede was smaller than the scorpion king, which was formed by the winged scorpions, but it was still huge compared to most demon beasts.

The huge, ferocious head opened its mouth from deep within the dark clouds and emitted a large pillar of light.

A cracking sound was heard in the air as the white pillar of light passed through, and a hole the size of a palm was pierced through the giant scorpion king’s body as the light flashed.

The giant scorpion king was a mass of countless winged scorpions, so it didn’t writhe in pain or die.

Instead, it cried out sharply, as if its eardrums were about to burst, and moved its stinger-tipped tail towards the Six-Winged Sand Centipede.

A green light exploded, and the tail, like a phantom, crossed dozens of feet and rushed sharply towards the centipede’s head.

And the hole in the giant scorpion’s body quickly closed through peristaltic movement.

The Six-Winged Sand Centipede didn’t care about the giant tail flying towards it. It subtly flapped its six translucent wings and disappeared from its spot. At that moment, the stinger-tipped tail pierced through the air.

And a moment later, the space above the giant scorpion was distorted, and the snow-white centipede appeared, twisting its body like a dragon.

Then, the six wings flapped again, and its form became blurred as it shot out, plunging its head into the giant scorpion king’s body and biting with its sharp teeth.

Then, a milky white light began to spread across the surface of the giant scorpion king, and it froze transparently in the blink of an eye.

The giant scorpion king, which had been frozen, shattered, and countless scorpions fell like rain.

The remaining scorpions could no longer gather and scattered in all directions.

Suddenly, the colorful venomous mist disappeared.

The Six-Winged Sand Centipede didn’t chase after the scorpions. It simply opened its mouth and blew out a white gale. It was to engulf and devour all the corpses of the winged scorpions that had fallen around it.

Han Li, who was watching from afar, was a little relieved.

‘Now I understand why the Six-Winged Sand Centipede evolved so quickly.’

It must have eaten more than just one or two scorpions that were left behind after he left. The winged scorpion spirit insects also seemed quite special, so eating them in large quantities must have helped accelerate its evolution.

And the reason why he hadn’t seen a single living creature, let alone an insect, since entering the Azure Sand Desert was probably because the scorpion swarms and the Six-Winged Sand Centipede had eaten them all.

While Han Li was lost in thought, the giant centipede devoured all the scorpions that had fallen on the sand and then looked coldly in the direction where Han Li was.

At that gaze, Han Li’s heart sank, and he thought that what he had been worried about might happen.

The Six-Winged Sand Centipede howled for a while, then flapped its six wings at the same time, turning into a white afterimage and flying towards where he was.

And in just a few breaths, it arrived above Han Li’s head and glared at him with an unfriendly gaze.

The fangs that were exposed rubbed against each other, making a terrifying sound.

Han Li stared at the spirit insect with a strange gaze, without blinking, but he flicked his sleeve behind his back and quietly grasped two Extinction Pills.

However, the snow-white centipede in the air cried out lowly, then suddenly turned around and flew away into the distance, disappearing into the horizon. It was as if it was treating Han Li like a passerby.

Leaving him behind, the Six-Winged Sand Centipede left alone.

Han Li sighed and relaxed his tense face, but he couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

He had never imagined that the spirit insect would undergo such a heaven-defying change as it evolved from four wings to six wings.

The ancient spirit insects that had been passed down since the Desolate Era were different from ordinary demon beasts. Although they didn’t take on a human form when they reached the Transformation stage, their basic intelligence seemed to have developed.

If he had any magic power left, he could have used the restrictions he had placed on the spirit insect’s body to subdue it, but now he had no magic power left, so even if he knew ten thousand secret techniques, they were useless.

In this situation, it was not uncommon for a spirit insect that had changed to devour its master. But fortunately, he had raised the centipedes with great care since they were eggs, and that had been for hundreds of years.

Also, the connection of consciousness between the spirit insect and Han Li had become very strong, and moreover, as the twelve had become one, their consciousness had also merged into one, so it would not be easy to break free.

That was why the Six-Winged Sand Centipede had hesitated for a while before leaving without harming Han Li.

He watched the dark clouds recede in the distance and was speechless.

The spirit insect that he had painstakingly raised in the human realm using a mysterious method had now become an adult and was uncontrollable!

It was a depressing situation. But he soon regained his composure. Although he couldn’t control it now, he might be able to subdue it again once he recovered his magic power.

The only worry was that the spirit realm was so vast and there were so many cultivators, so the Six-Winged Sand Centipede might disappear without a trace or be captured by another cultivator first.

Han Li stood there for a long time, pondering, then shook his head. Suddenly, he thought of the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Soul Devouring Spirit.

With a dark face, he walked away quickly, and after a while, he arrived at a place about a hundred feet away.

Han Li immediately clenched his fist with one hand, and the moment a golden light flashed, he struck the ground.

Thump!

* * *