Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 763

As Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun’s Nascent Soul [a core of spiritual energy formed in a cultivator’s body] emitted a yellow light, his green sword flashed and shot out.

The small sword transformed into a bizarre spirit beast with a pair of blue wings, rushing towards the giant.

Then, the Nascent Soul gestured towards the large white seal below.

*Thud!*

The seal struck, spinning around and creating a white aura.

Numerous lights gathered around the seal, and the seal’s main body expanded rapidly, becoming several times larger than its original size.

Hwan Cheon-gi withdrew his dull light and stopped dozens of feet away from the giant. He then raised both hands and clasped them together.

*Rumble! Crash!*

A large gray sword appeared between his hands. It was the same divine ability as before, but its power was different.

Hwan Cheon-gi, with his half-demon face, coldly glared at the giant and raised one hand, pointing at the giant moth in the air.

At his gesture, the moth fluttered its wings, emitting various colors, and entered the giant sword.

As the giant blade, now infused with the moth, emitted an eerie light, Hwan Cheon-gi slowly swung the sword towards the giant without hesitation. Then, beautiful and very slender lines spread out one after another.

The giant, with its low intelligence, sensed the danger from Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun and Hwan Cheon-gi’s actions and let out a long roar.

*Khaaaah!*

The giant roared and flashed a white light, and a white bead shot out, colliding with the winged, bizarre spirit beast that was rushing in.

Red light and thin lines crisscrossed, creating a chaotic scene, but no sound was heard.

The giant rotated its body, swinging its stone club towards the white seal above its head.

*Whoosh.*

The illusion of the small mountain-sized stone club created a huge gust of wind as it flew towards Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun. Not stopping there, the giant clenched both fists and relentlessly punched towards the seal.

*Kuaaang!*

A roar that seemed to shatter the sky and earth erupted, and a light that blazed like the sun was emitted from the giant seal. Even Han Li, who was watching from afar, had to close his eyes.

The surrounding air fluctuated from the sky-piercing impact, and Han Li almost got caught up in it, staggering. Surprised, Han Li mobilized all his magic power and barely regained his balance.

He opened his eyes again and stared blankly below. However, due to the billowing yellow dust clouds, he could not see the giant and the Void Refinement cultivators [cultivators who have reached a very high level of power] who were in the midst of battle.

Hesitantly, Han Li slowly released his consciousness to examine the dust clouds.

Inside, the one-eyed giant’s roar and Hwan Cheon-gi’s laughter echoed, mixed with loud and complex explosions.

However, Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun’s voice was not heard. It was unknown whether he was in the middle of casting an important spell or simply keeping his mouth shut.

Han Li suddenly looked at the place where the black shadow had been hiding, and his expression subtly changed.

‘Wook Cheon has disappeared.’

He blinked his eyes, examining the dust clouds, and fell into thought.

After a while, a terrible scream echoed from below, followed by a *thud!* as something heavy rolled on the ground, and then all sounds ceased.

Han Li formed a hand seal and silently began to descend slowly. Then, Hwan Cheon-gi’s triumphant laughter was heard from within the dust clouds.

“It’s fortunate that the giant wasn’t very intelligent. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to catch it so easily. Since it swallowed a traitor of the Spirit Race, let’s cut it open and see what’s inside. I hope it wasn’t a waste of effort.”

“Oh, then please do the honors, Brother Hwan. I’ve subdued the Rakyang Crystal, so I’ll give it to you as soon as this is over.”

Finally, Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun’s voice, which had been silent, was heard. As the dust gradually settled, the scene below was finally revealed.

The one-eyed giant was lying in a pool of blood, covered in wounds, with one of its hands and feet cut off and lying far away.

Moreover, its head was already smashed, with only half of it remaining. A large, palm-sized hole was pierced through the giant’s chest, and the smell of burning flesh emanated from within.

A treasure with strong Yang energy [a concept in Chinese philosophy representing the active, masculine principle] had pierced its heart in one blow. That was probably the final attack that had ended the giant’s life.

Hwan Cheon-gi had already returned to his pure, youthful face from his half-demon form. Except for being slightly pale, he seemed completely unharmed. He was using a white flying knife to cut open the giant’s belly.

At one end of the giant’s corpse, Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun was examining a white crystal with a smile.

The Rakyang Crystal, which had been quite large, had become small, thanks to some spell that Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun had cast.

“The two-faced giant we killed together in the Great Desolate World was much harder to deal with. Speaking of which, it’s best not to mess with the ancient giants if possible. Unlike ancient beasts or spirit beasts of heaven and earth, they have nothing useful except for their large bodies. It’s often the case that we use so much effort to kill them and get nothing in return.”

Hwan Cheon-gi clicked his tongue while manipulating the knife.

“That’s true. If we were in the Great Desolate World, we would have gone far out of our way to avoid a giant. But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I heard that among the Seven Great Demon Kings, the Heavenly Wolf King killed a seven-headed giant in the Great Desolate World and obtained the Myriad Dawn Filth from its body. Thanks to that opportunity, he refined the Myriad Dawn Demon Tower, which rose to the Chaos Ranking, and became the first Demon King among the wolf clan.”

Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun shook his head.

“Well, that’s also true. Since ancient giants like to swallow all sorts of things, it wouldn’t be strange to find something in their stomachs if you’re lucky. But who would fight a giant because of such a low possibility? Especially since all ancient giants are monstrous creatures that live in groups. Surely you haven’t forgotten already? We ran away and jumped into the sea after killing the two-faced giant and being chased by the three-headed giant.”

Hwan Cheon-gi smiled wryly, recalling that time. Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun also chuckled at the old memory but didn’t say anything more.

*Sploosh!*

As Hwan Cheon-gi’s flying knife cut open the giant’s belly, a pile of objects spilled out. They were all dimly lit, but only a navy blue jade bowl and a small, sparkling crimson bottle retained their spiritual light.

The jade bowl created a faint blue light, enveloping the small bottle.

“That must be it.”

Hwan Cheon-gi recognized that the navy blue jade bowl was the main body of the Spirit Race’s artifact. However, seeing that the jade bowl had lost its spirituality despite retaining spiritual energy, it seemed that the Spirit Race was dead.

If the bottle that the Spirit Race had protected even as they were dying wasn’t the item they were looking for, then what else could it be? Hwan Cheon-gi, filled with joy, was about to pick up the small bottle when Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun shouted from afar.

“Be careful!”

As Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun shouted, he sensed with his consciousness a cold light trying to ambush him from behind. He immediately kicked off the ground and soared up like an arrow.

As soon as he disappeared, a streak of blood-red light brushed past where his feet had been. Then, a figure about a foot tall vaguely appeared nearby and rushed towards the small bottle.

“How dare you!”

Seeing this, Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun shouted and flicked his ten fingers.

*Ping! Ping! Ping!*

Sharp sounds of air being torn apart rang out, and a dozen yellow sword energies flew out. But it was too late. The figure smiled contentedly, sucked up the small bottle, and transformed into a blood-red cloud, fleeing.

“Wook Cheon! Where do you think you’re going!”

Hwan Cheon-gi turned his body to confirm the figure’s identity and shouted. As he moved his consciousness, the blood-red cloud’s wave suddenly changed.

A giant moth the size of a palm fluttered its wings, its cyan eyes gleaming.

At the same time, the dozen yellow sword energies controlled by Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun flew in with a fierce momentum, and Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun also transformed into a yellow beam of light and soared up.

Wook Cheon in the blood-red cloud felt his heart sink. Then, a familiar voice was heard in his ear.

“Lord Wook Cheon! Please give me the divine blood quickly. I will use my stealth technique to escape with the treasure.”

Wook Cheon, who had been startled, was greatly delighted.

‘So it was Seo Yeom who was hiding!’

Wook Cheon could subtly sense the movements of his own kind with his innate divine ability.

Until just now, he wasn’t sure, so he pretended not to know, but hearing the familiar voice, there was no room for doubt.

He stretched out one hand towards the incoming sword energies and took out the small bottle with the other. Then, he flicked his wrist, causing the small bottle to fly towards the direction where the voice had come from.

The blood-red cloud writhed like a vine, then transformed into a blood-red lotus, sucking in the dozen sword energies. And the small bottle flew a dozen feet away, disappearing into the void.

Seeing that, Hwan Cheon-gi paused for a moment, then immediately spat out a gray demonic wind, riding the wind towards the direction where Han Li was hiding.

Although he couldn’t see Han Li, he sensed that someone was hiding there, trying to take the small bottle and escape. Han Li’s expression changed at the force of the approaching demonic wind.

There was no way to escape the attack while using his concealment technique. If he were caught in that, even the power of the Taiyi Azure Talisman [a powerful magical artifact] would immediately dissipate.

In a split second, Wook Cheon formed a hand seal with one hand and stretched his finger towards the rushing demonic wind.

*Psh!*

A long, blood-red sword light shot out from the tip of Wook Cheon’s finger, cutting through the demonic wind and aiming for Hwan Cheon-gi. Startled, Hwan Cheon-gi hurriedly grabbed the air.

The claws of a gray demonic beast appeared in the air, and gray and red lights clashed. Han Li, filled with joy, maintained his concealment technique and soared higher into the sky.

Just then, a cold snort was heard from behind Han Li.

“Hmph, where do you think you’re going!”

The sky turned yellow, and a white jade seal appeared, transforming into a giant figure the size of a dozen feet, pressing down on him.

“Hah!”

Even Wook Cheon was surprised by the lightning-fast attack and let out a gasp.

Han Li knew the power of the jade seal well. It was a treasure that had remained unscathed even after being struck by the one-eyed giant’s stone club. Han Li’s expression changed rapidly in a short moment, and he let out a light sigh.

As the jade seal struck the empty air, a silver light flashed, and Han Li appeared. He summoned a small cauldron wrapped in blue light, which had brushed past the back of his head.

The cauldron lid opened, and countless blue threads stretched out with a clear cry, pushing up the seal like a net. The giant seal fell mercilessly onto the net of blue threads.

*Rumble.*

Explosions continued for a while, and the blue net was gradually torn apart by the jade seal. However, since the Heaven Piercing Cauldron was also a Heaven Piercing Treasure, it did not easily give way to the enormous momentum of the seal. Taking advantage of that gap, Han Li formed a hand seal.

Thunder rumbled behind him, and blue and white wings unfolded.

Then, his figure seemed to twist, and he transformed into a white thread, disappearing along with the small cauldron above his head. Only then did the giant seal break through the blue net and fall down.

At that moment, blue lightning flashed thirty feet away, and Han Li appeared silently.

“How do you have such a treasure! You, you’re not Seo Yeom!”

Wook Cheon shouted from the blood-red cloud, as if he couldn’t believe it. Then, the cloud writhed, and a small figure a few inches tall appeared above the cloud.

Wook Cheon’s Nascent Soul glared at Han Li with a furious expression.

“You’re not a Spirit Race, but a Human Race cultivator!”

A yellow light flashed right behind where Han Li had been, and Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun appeared.

He also had a surprised look on his face.

Hwan Cheon-gi, in that gap, moved his giant claws, grabbed and shattered the red sword light, and then moved next to Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun in a flash of light.

Regardless of whether the Void Refinement cultivators were watching or not, Han Li had no intention of responding. He formed a hand seal and opened his mouth, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Then, a thick, blood-red mist enveloped him.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Wook Cheon immediately recognized it as a high-level escape technique and shouted. Then, he moved the blood-red cloud beneath his feet, intending to charge forward.

“Cultivator Wook Cheon, where are you rushing off to? I’d like to try my hand against the renowned Blood Fiend Spirit Lotus. Brother Hwang, if it’s a Human Race cultivator, please handle it yourself.”

Hwan Cheon-gi immediately transformed into a half-demon and rushed towards Wook Cheon.

“Don’t worry. No matter how powerful a Spirit Treasure a Soul Transformation cultivator [a cultivator at a lower level than Void Refinement] possesses, it’s still within my grasp.”

Hwang Ryang-yeong-gun replied calmly, not taking his eyes off Han Li. He had immediately recognized that the Heaven Piercing Cauldron was a Spirit Treasure.