Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 773

With a frosty aura, Han Li watched the black wolf that had been flung away. His figure blurred, leaving afterimages as he surged forward, appearing above the black wolf’s head in an instant.

Having recovered his magic power, Han Li was now surprisingly able to use the Raging Shadow Steps in mid-air. Although it wasn’t as fast as the Wind Lightning Steps, nor did it match the agility of the Swift Wind Nine Transformations, the power of the Raging Shadow Steps, combined with his powerful physique, allowed him to move through tight spaces with incredible skill.

The black wolf, seeing Han Li appear above it, instinctively spat out a black orb from its mouth, aiming at him from close range.

However, Han Li’s golden palm swatted away the black orb as if it were a fly. He then infused his eyes with magic power, causing a burst of navy light from deep within his pupils.

He suddenly vanished, reappearing at the giant wolf’s waist. With his golden hands, he quickly grabbed the wolf’s head and hind legs, rendering it immobile.

“Hmph!”

With Han Li’s immense strength, even a demonic beast made of iron, let alone a monster formed from condensed souls, would have been torn to shreds. In that instant, the giant wolf’s head was forcibly ripped off by Han Li’s hand.

Then, a bizarre thing happened.

The body of the giant wolf, now headless, emitted a black light and scattered into mist, disappearing.

The head, still held in the golden hand, bared its teeth and moved as if alive. Han Li sneered and clenched his other hand in the air, causing a silver flame to appear and transform into a silver firebird.

The silver firebird chirped brightly and immediately flew towards the black wolf’s head.

Bang!

With a terrified howl, the silver flames instantly engulfed the black head, scattering it into mist. The silver flames devoured even the mist before returning to the form of a firebird.

The bird opened its beak and spat out a silver talisman, which Han Li snatched like lightning. It was the talisman that Elder Weng had activated.

The talisman was quite dim, having seemingly lost most of its power. The firebird, meanwhile, was excitedly flying above Han Li’s head, spitting out silver flames.

Han Li’s figure blurred, and he appeared above the cyan puppet, a dozen or so yards away. The puppet was frantically punching at the Void Heaven Cauldron, which was blocking it. With each attack, the cauldron shrank by an inch.

However, the Void Heaven Cauldron had even withstood an attack from the Ancient Devil Ancestor’s clone. When attacked, it would immediately flash with spiritual light and return to its original size.

Han Li didn’t know the puppet techniques of the Spirit Realm, but the contents of the Great Evolution Treasure Scripture of the Great Evolution Divine Monarch were the best secret arts in the Human Realm.

The cyan puppet seemed very strong, but after examining it with his Brightspirit Eyes, he was able to find its weakness. With the silver talisman in hand, Han Li swiftly charged towards the giant puppet.

Sounds like firecrackers erupted from his body as his fist flew towards the puppet’s flank.

Whoosh!

Before the golden fist even landed, it created a gust of wind, leaving a white trail in the air, as if space itself was being torn apart.

Bang!

A deafening roar echoed as a fist mark several inches deep was left on the puppet’s sturdy body. At the same time, the puppet was sent flying, crashing to the ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Han Li showed no mercy, raining down punches on the same spot. In the blink of an eye, the puppet’s ribs shattered with a loud bang, leaving a black hole.

Han Li stopped punching and clapped his hands together, releasing a bolt of lightning. Explosions echoed in succession, and the puppet shrank to the size of a foot, emitting a cyan light before collapsing.

The entire sequence of Han Li’s counterattack against the black wolf’s surprise attack and his defeat of the wolf and the puppet happened in a very short time. Only then did Elder Weng, recovering from the shock of the Yang Spirit [a type of spirit], see Han Li, his body glowing gold, deliver the final blow to the puppet.

“A top-grade Body Refiner who has mastered the Vajra Physique [an indestructible body]!”

He exclaimed in disbelief. Elder Jin, outside the light barrier, didn’t say anything, but he was also quite surprised.

“Elder Weng, is there any need to continue fighting?” Han Li asked calmly, causing Elder Weng’s face to darken.

“Even if you have mastered both magic and body refinement, it doesn’t mean you are invincible. Even if I have to give up my 100 years of cultivation, I will show you the true power of the Thousand Soul Banner!”

Elder Weng shouted angrily, looking at the black bead surrounded by golden lotuses. As he chanted incantations, a blue aura flashed above his head, and his Nascent Soul [a nascent soul] reappeared.

The Nascent Soul, with a solemn expression, formed a hand seal with one hand and extended the other towards the void. A navy beam of light shot towards the black bead, and at the same time, a mysterious incantation echoed.

The black shadow trembled, and from within it, a black light emerged, revealing the true form of the Thousand Soul Banner.

The bead spun, absorbing the navy light, and Elder Weng flicked his hand from afar.

Ding!

A bell sound echoed, and the inside of the light barrier trembled violently. Without any warning, thin black cracks appeared in the air.

As the black cracks appeared, Elder Weng’s Nascent Soul flicked its fingers repeatedly towards the black bead. With each bell sound, his complexion grew paler, and the black cracks grew larger.

The black cracks were filled with a dark aura, and a cold wind blew, obscuring the view inside. After a while, a strange laughter came from within the semi-circular black crack.

Hehehe.

At that sound, Han Li amplified the golden light around his body, increasing the power of the Origin Magnetic Divine Light by about half.

Then, a bizarre thing happened.

Suddenly, black threads flew around Han Li, circling him. However, they showed no sign of attacking.

Before Han Li could figure out what kind of secret art it was, the black threads condensed, forming a light formation that trapped him.

‘This is ominous.’

Alarmed, Han Li tried to release a gray aura, but it was too late. As the black formation glowed, Han Li felt as if the sky and earth were turning upside down, and he disappeared from the spot along with the golden lotuses.

Shortly after, Han Li appeared, staggering, in a dim space. The surroundings were filled with black shadows, and ghostly wails echoed in his ears. Surprisingly, he had been sucked into the black crack.

Initially surprised, Han Li curled his lips into a sneer.

At the same time, Elder Weng’s Nascent Soul was outside the crack, using magic to empower the black bead. With the sound of the bead, the entrance of the black crack slowly closed, eventually turning into a black line about a dozen yards long.

The Nascent Soul then flashed and returned to Elder Weng’s body. Elder Weng’s eyes gleamed as he smiled slyly.

The black crack was a space created by the Thousand Soul Banner, also called the Thousand Souls, but in reality, there were at least 8,000 souls inside. Moreover, all the souls were ferocious demonic beasts, specially refined to be even more savage than when they were alive.

Even the main soul within the Thousand Soul Banner was a Heaven and Earth Spirit Beast that had been in the mid-stage of the Transformation Realm during its life. His master had only been able to refine the spirit beast’s soul into the main soul of a spirit treasure after a stroke of luck.

The main soul’s divine abilities were amplified when it was with the other souls, and the Thousand Soul Banner’s space itself was special, restricting the magic power of cultivators who were not souls. Even late-stage Transformation Realm cultivators would mostly die if trapped inside.

Elder Jin, outside the barrier, watched the black line with gleaming eyes but took no action. Elder Weng, now sitting cross-legged in the air, waited, anticipating the sight of Han Li being devoured by the Yin souls [souls of the dead] in the space.

After a quarter of an hour, the black bead in the air suddenly began to tremble. Strange sounds echoed, and the black light flickered, showing an unusual phenomenon.

Although Elder Weng was not connected to the spirit treasure through consciousness, how could he not know that something was wrong when he saw it?

The black bead wailed mournfully, and the black shadows it had spread around turned into black aura, disappearing into the bead.

“This, this is impossible! The main soul has disappeared.”

Only now did Elder Weng realize what had happened. At that moment, a black light flashed in the air, and a fist-sized hole appeared, from which a blue beam of light emerged.

Sensing something, Elder Weng looked up.

However, the figure in the blue light had already disappeared, leaving an afterimage as it appeared behind Elder Weng. A shout echoed in Elder Weng’s ears, and a golden fist approached him with a fierce wind.

“Hah!”

In that instant, Elder Weng’s body blurred, splitting into seven or eight afterimages that scattered in all directions.

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

The one who appeared in the blue light was Han Li, whom he had trapped. He snorted and simultaneously created seven or eight afterimages, accurately striking Elder Weng’s afterimage fragments with his fists.

Only Elder Weng’s real body took out a silver shield to block the golden fist, while the rest all dissipated.

Bang!

The silver shield barely held for a moment before shattering into pieces. Then, the golden fist struck the man’s back.

Just as the fist was about to make contact with his back, a blue armor suddenly appeared on the man’s body, colliding with the fist.

Clang!

A loud crash echoed as golden and blue lights clashed. Soon, the golden fist pierced through the armor, and Elder Weng screamed as he was sent flying.

‘Hmm!’

However, Han Li, well aware of the fist’s power, was startled. It seemed that the blue armor had deflected most of the fist’s power. Otherwise, Elder Weng would have been severely injured and unable to get up from this blow.

The moment he was sucked into the Thousand Soul Banner’s space, Han Li had already felt murderous intent towards his opponent. It meant he would no longer hold back.

When his fist failed to exert its full power, Han Li’s figure blurred, and he appeared above Elder Weng’s head.

Han Li slashed through the air, and a foot-long golden sword suddenly appeared in his hand, ready to cut Elder Weng in half.

At that moment, Elder Weng shouted urgently.

“Stop! I admit defeat!”

Han Li clearly heard the words, but he didn’t stop, instead raising the corners of his mouth and swinging the sword. The blade of the sword, blooming with golden light, rushed forward mercilessly.

He was confident that the sharpness of the Azure Bamboo Cloud Sword could cut through even a body wearing the Azure Nether Armor. Then, a sudden surge of energy occurred, and a yellow aura wrapped around Elder Weng like lightning, causing him to disappear.

Han Li’s golden sword slashed through the air.

Han Li twitched his eyebrows and looked around, only to see two figures emitting a yellow light appear in the air twenty yards away.

It was Elder Jin and Elder Weng.

Elder Jin had a blank expression, while Elder Weng’s face was pale, with blood soaking his chest as he glared at Han Li.

The Azure Nether Armor had deflected most of Han Li’s attack, but he had still suffered considerable internal injuries. The fist mark left on the back of his armor was proof of that.

Han Li, with a calm expression, dispersed the long sword and bowed to Elder Jin.

“Thank you for intervening, Senior! I almost lost control and injured Elder Weng.”

He spoke seriously and shamelessly.

“Hmph!”

At those words, Elder Weng’s face turned crimson as if he was about to vomit blood, while Elder Jin’s eyes showed a strange glint, but he replied calmly.

“Such things are common in battle, so it’s nothing. In this territory battle, Elder Weng has declared defeat, and Elder Han has won. The territory will now belong to Elder Han. Is there any objection?”

Han Li smiled and, of course, did not object. Elder Weng’s face was full of displeasure, but he could only move his lips and say nothing.

Seeing that both were silent, Elder Jin nodded and extended his hand towards Han Li.

“Hand over your Azure Nether Token!”

At those words, Han Li unhesitatingly flipped his palm and tossed the blue jade token to the other party. Elder Jin summoned the jade token and tapped it with a thumb-sized jade-colored crystal.

The jade-colored crystal was then absorbed into the jade token and disappeared.

“The territory mark has been injected into the Azure Nether Token, so unless you give up on your own, you cannot participate in the territory battle that occurs once every hundred years. Now, both of you can leave this place. The next battle will begin soon.”

Elder Jin tossed the jade token back to Han Li and waved his hand. As he looked around, the white light that had been blocking the surroundings had opened up, creating an exit.

At Elder Jin’s words, Han Li first cupped his fist in salute and then transformed into a blue beam of light, shooting out and disappearing from sight after a few flashes.