Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 754

‘What kind of identity does he have to be so confident in front of the direct disciples of Venerable Gyu Ryong and the Desolate Spirit Lord!’

While Old Man Seo was pondering this, the young man Jeon’s expression hardened upon hearing Han Li’s words. Ryeo, the woman, seemed to share Old Man Seo’s thoughts, as she suddenly interjected, “May I ask your name and which senior’s disciple you are? Perhaps you might be acquainted with my grandfather.”

“I’m just a lone wanderer, without a master. And even if I told you my name, you wouldn’t recognize it,” Han Li chuckled, replying casually to the woman’s question.

“Is that so? If you don’t wish to say, it’s fine. Then, how about trading a bottle of Heavenly Heart Pill for your Silver Heart Stone? It’s a spirit pill that temporarily enhances the power of consciousness, allowing one to overcome the limits of body refinement and break through bottlenecks.”

Ryeo hesitated, then flipped her hand, revealing a cyan porcelain bottle.

“Heavenly Heart Pill? Junior Sister Ryeo, are you trading a pill made with Senior Desolate’s unique secret method for just a Silver Heart Stone? That’s a waste,” the young man Jin exclaimed, trying to stop her. Even Old Man Seo, who had been listening quietly, showed surprise. Only Jeon Heung looked blank, as if he had never heard of such a pill.

“A pill that temporarily enhances consciousness… It wouldn’t have much effect on cultivators.”

“Cultivators naturally have strong consciousness, so the effect would be minimal,” Ryeo answered honestly, not understanding the reason for the unexpected question.

“In that case, you should keep it, Junior Sister Ryeo. I won’t trade for it,” Han Li said, shaking his head. This time, Ryeo looked troubled. However, Old Man Seo was the most surprised.

The Heavenly Heart Pill was a renowned breakthrough pill among body refiners, and trading for it with spirit materials would be a very profitable deal.

If he hadn’t been afflicted by a strange poison, the old man would have wanted to snatch the Silver Heart Stone and trade for it himself.

Moreover, judging by how casually she offered the Heavenly Heart Pill, the woman must be greatly favored by the Desolate Spirit Lord.

However, regardless of the old man’s surprise, Han Li was already inquiring about the prices of the two materials. Seeing Han Li’s strength, the old man didn’t inflate the prices and stated the original amounts, which were a huge sum for ordinary mortals.

Han Li immediately took out a bracelet-shaped storage artifact and poured out a pile of high-grade spirit stones, enough to buy both materials.

These were the result of exchanging the large amount of low and mid-grade spirit stones he had brought from the mortal realm. The shopkeeper also stored the spirit stones in his storage bracelet, and the transaction was completed.

As Han Li walked out the door with the brocade box, Jeon Heung anxiously followed behind him. The young man seemed deep in thought, but since he couldn’t figure out Han Li’s identity, he simply let him leave.

Ryeo bit her lip in frustration as she watched Han Li’s retreating figure. Conversely, Han Li, having left the Palace of the Jade Rain, was in a good mood, satisfied with all the materials he had obtained.

In fact, the gray ore was the more valuable item. It was a mutated material that could be used as a permanent material, making it extremely rare. Having mastered the permanent refinement technique and most of the books in the Jade Yang Sect, he recognized it. An ordinary refiner wouldn’t even know how to use it properly. It was a material that could be effective in special cases like Han Li’s, so he was very pleased.

After that, for several days, Han Li followed Jeon Heung around other specialty shops in Setting Sun City and managed to acquire a few more types of necessary materials.

Then, after sending Jeon Heung away, he found an inconspicuous refinement shop and spent the whole day refining, not stepping out of the shop.

* * *

One month later, he left Setting Sun City with a calm face and arrived at a huge canyon after more than half a month.

It was the entrance to the Setting Sun Tomb.

The huge canyon was filled with vivid red rocky cliffs, which were astonishing to behold.

Around it, cultivators and body refiners were gathered in small groups, talking amongst themselves or sitting cross-legged, organizing their thoughts.

Most of them were not very high in cultivation, and it seemed they would enter the great canyon once they had gathered enough companions. Of course, those who had already gathered their groups didn’t stop here and went straight inside.

Of course, high-level cultivators and body refiners who were confident in their abilities also moved alone without fear.

And they didn’t fly high here, to avoid being spotted by high-level demon beast cultivators or becoming prey for the numerous bird-type demon beasts that inhabited the area.

* * *

As Han Li stood at the entrance of the canyon, more than a dozen consciousnesses scanned his body.

He refused the requests of those who recognized him as a high-level body refiner and asked him to join their groups, and entered alone.

Originally, this canyon was one of the few entrances from the human territory to the Setting Sun Tomb. The cultivators had sealed off other entrances with various strange formations and were monitoring this place to prevent accidents.

The cultivators monitoring this place usually hid themselves and didn’t reveal their presence. The lowest in cultivation was at the Core Formation stage, and Nascent Soul cultivators often stayed here as well.

As he walked through the canyon, Han Li once again reviewed the information he had gathered about the Setting Sun Tomb.

He was now wearing a dusty, whitish armor under his blue robe, and a long spear was slung across his back. The spear shaft was dark, but several blue crystals were embedded at the end, emitting a deep light.

The spear blade was a faint silver, and it was difficult to determine what material it was made of. He had wrapped a rope made of the sinews of a ground dragon several times around his wrist, well hidden under his sleeves.

And of course, Han Li’s last resort and the trump card that would protect his life in the Setting Sun Tomb, the Immortal Slayer Pearl, was also inside his storage bracelet. With the Immortal Slayer Pearl, he could escape alive unless he encountered a Void Refinement cultivator.

The canyon widened as he went deeper, and after walking for over a hundred miles, even the path disappeared. Han Li stood there, looking around, and sighed softly.

‘It’s so inconvenient not being able to release my consciousness.’

Since he couldn’t sense the surrounding environment, he had to choose a direction and walk as he pleased.

For several days, he didn’t encounter any other people or demon beasts, except for the occasional small animals, snakes, and insects. It was not unusual, considering how vast the area was.

However, five days later, a primeval forest began to unfold before him.

The trees were all 30 to 40 feet tall, and the leaves were so large that no sunlight penetrated, making it dark and cool. Moreover, faint sounds like animal cries could be heard from time to time.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and observed the primeval forest. After a few flashes, he disappeared into the bushes.

With his strengthened body, he used the Luo Yan Step [a movement technique] he had practiced in his mortal days, allowing him to move freely like a ghost even in the jungle overgrown with tree roots and vines.

If other body refiners or cultivators had seen this scene, they wouldn’t have dared to touch him in the bushes. As Han Li moved swiftly, a silver light flashed and shot out a long object.

As the silver thread wrapped around a thick tree, a chilling howl was heard from behind it, and the smell of blood filled the air. A yellow bear with horns appeared from behind the tree and charged towards Han Li.

Han Li still flashed his figure and moved a few feet away.

*Puhak!*

At that moment, the huge bear couldn’t take a few steps before it spurted blood and its waist was severed. And behind it, the huge tree where the bear had been hiding split in half and fell on the bear. Han Li had simultaneously cut down the huge tree and the bear with one blow.

This was possible because the silver thread made by refining the sinews of a ground dragon was extremely sharp.

Han Li disappeared back into the bushes.

Three days later, a series of loud noises echoed deep within a mountain range, followed by sharp screams and roars, and then a *thud*! At the source of the sound, Han Li, with his hands behind his back, was standing on top of a tree over ten feet tall, looking down.

Below the tree, the corpses of over twenty blue apes were scattered haphazardly. The apes had round, large faces and very tough fur. And their long fangs, several inches long, gave them a menacing appearance.

The corpses were all in pieces, or had large holes in their chests or necks, and the ground was covered in blood.

However, the most gruesome sight was a giant three-headed ape with red fur, its heart pierced by a black spear, impaled on the trunk of a thick tree about a dozen feet away.

The giant ape, with one large head and two small heads, seemed to have just died, with blood flowing from every hole in its body.

“To encounter a Core Formation demon beast here, the reputation of the Setting Sun Tomb is not in vain!” Han Li muttered as he looked at the giant ape’s corpse, then stretched his hand into the air. A blue light flashed from the ring on his finger, and the black spear vibrated and returned to him.

As the spear disappeared, the giant ape’s corpse also fell to the ground.

Han Li caught the spear with one hand and moved his figure, leaping into the bushes like a shadow. And now, the place was as quiet as if nothing had happened.

After a while, a blue light flashed from a nearby giant tree, and a jade-colored light mass popped out. Surprisingly, it was a very small person, only a foot tall.

The small person was a beautiful woman with a green skirt, a beautiful face, and a curvy figure, as if a person had been shrunk to one-tenth of their size. She frowned as she looked in the direction where Han Li had disappeared.

“Cheon-aeng, why didn’t you attack? He’s just a high-level human body refiner. If we joined forces, we could have easily killed him.”

Another yellow light floated leisurely from the bushes. Inside it was an old man of similar size, wearing a yellow robe and holding a white cane.

“Hwang Seok-gong! We are not here to capture humans or demon beasts. Our top priority is to capture the traitor of our clan and recover the divine blood. It’s best not to cause unnecessary trouble,” the woman in the green skirt replied calmly, looking at the old man.

“At best, he’s only at the Nascent Soul stage. If two of us, spirit generals, go out, killing him would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it? The spirit race, humans, and demon beasts are all enemies, so we should kill them when we have the chance,” the old man in the yellow robe expressed his dissatisfaction.

“If it were that easy to kill him, I would have gone out myself. But I hesitated because I was worried that we might cause trouble by touching a suspicious person.”

“Suspicious? Did you find anything strange?” the woman, her eyes sparkling, asked meaningfully.

“Or what? He killed a Core Formation demon beast with a spirit tool, and no spirit power fluctuations were felt. If he’s not a body refiner, then what is he?”

“You know that my true form is a cherry tree, so I’m a bit sensitive to energy. That person’s consciousness was powerful, even more so than mine. Is it possible for a human body refiner to have such consciousness? He would have to be at least a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

“Are you saying that a Nascent Soul cultivator is pretending to be a body refiner and wandering around here!”

“I didn’t say that. After all, no spirit energy was felt from his body. But many of the human cultivation techniques are comparable to our spirit race’s innate divine powers! It wouldn’t be strange if he used some strange trick to hide his spirit energy. Anyway, our goal now is to find the traitor and recover the divine blood, so let’s not cause unnecessary trouble,” the woman urged seriously.

“That’s right. Even if we join forces, it’s hard to guarantee that we can kill a Nascent Soul cultivator. If we attack and miss, it would be a big problem. But if the speculation is true, he’s very cunning. The mid and high-level demon beasts will have a headache. Even if they are of the same level, if a Nascent Soul cultivator is pretending to be a body refiner, they will be in big trouble if they are careless,” the old man in the yellow robe said with a gloating expression.

*