Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 776

“Was it a transformation or a change through a technique?” Han Li couldn’t help but ask the question that had been bothering him the most. However, the black-robed Han Li only opened and closed his mouth, seemingly unsure of what to say. Soon, Han Li chuckled wryly. Even if the Soul Devourer had gained intelligence, it wouldn’t be able to understand everything immediately. As Han Li brushed the back of his head, a black light appeared, transforming into a one-inch-sized nascent soul [a newly formed soul]. It was his second nascent soul. As soon as his magic power recovered, he condensed his second nascent soul again. Although it was still in the early stages of cultivation and useless in battle, it was enough to be used to inhabit a puppet. The nascent soul’s body blurred and entered the black-robed figure. The black-robed Han Li’s entire body shimmered with black light, and his face contorted as if in pain. Han Li controlled his second nascent soul, slowly injecting the necessary information, such as language and cultivation techniques, into the Soul Devourer’s consciousness. This was possible because he possessed the second nascent soul and the Soul Devourer was under his control. After a full hour, the black-robed Han Li’s dazed eyes became clear. Han Li released his hand seals and gestured. The second nascent soul emerged from the Soul Devourer’s body, its light dimmed, indicating a significant loss of vitality. The nascent soul instantly disappeared into Han Li’s body. “Can you answer now?” Han Li asked calmly again. The Soul Devourer blinked and slowly replied, “I imitated Master’s appearance and transformed into a human form. I can also perform other transformations.” It knew much more than before, but it still couldn’t think for itself or lie. Moreover, thanks to Han Li’s long nurturing, it had initially tried to escape instinctively, but now that it had gained intelligence, it became very respectful without any resistance. The reason why the demon beast had taken on Han Li’s appearance immediately after evolving was similar. Because their consciousness was linked through the Soul Calling Bead, he could guess the Soul Devourer’s state. Han Li smiled and turned the Soul Calling Bead into black smoke, sucking it back into his mouth. “A transformation technique, you say? Show me once?” He wanted to test the Soul Devourer’s abilities. At Han Li’s words, the Soul Devourer nodded, then suddenly roared. Its black robe tore, long fur grew all over its body, and its body swelled to almost twice its size, transforming into a giant ape. Han Li silently raised his eyebrows. ‘This isn’t a transformation technique, it’s just returning to the Soul Devourer’s original form!’ As he was feeling disappointed, the giant ape snorted, causing wind to blow in all directions and black lightning to flash. Then, the giant ape’s body began to swell again. The black fur turned red, and three curved horns slowly emerged from the top of its head. The space between its eyebrows bulged and split open, revealing a blood-red demon beast’s eye, and its fangs grew longer, making it look ferocious. Surprisingly, it had transformed into the demon depicted on the Soul Devourer’s back. Its height grew to six or seven zhang [about 20-23 meters], filling the stone chamber. Even more astonishing, three black bone protrusions like thorns had emerged from the Soul Devourer’s back. The pitch-black protrusions were surrounded by a dark aura, giving off an eerie feeling. There was nothing like this on the demon pattern, but it seemed related to the two hands of the Ghost King it had eaten before, which had changed in a similar way. While he was lost in thought, the demon-like Soul Devourer’s body blurred again, turning into a dark cloud before shrinking into a small baby monkey that jumped down. It ran to the black cocoon and began to devour it without hesitation. Han Li, who was watching, smiled lightly. Wooh! Soon, the baby monkey, having devoured the entire giant cocoon, chattered happily and jumped onto Han Li’s shoulder. It was an unreserved and affectionate gesture. Han Li stroked the Soul Devourer’s fluffy head and sent it back into the Spirit Beast Pouch. Having finished his task, he left the secret chamber to check on the Gold Devouring Beetles. The beetles had grown to about half a zhang [about 1.6 meters] in size, and their eyes were sparkling. He flipped his palm and took out the green bottle, touching its surface with his fingertip. In fact, the mysterious bottle’s effectiveness had increased even more in the Spirit Realm. Originally, he could only obtain one drop of green liquid after seven days, but in the Spirit Realm, it had been reduced to three days. However, what surprised him even more was that the phenomenon of the liquid forming at night had changed. The strange phenomena that had appeared while absorbing moonlight had now changed to a faint white light enveloping it. If one didn’t look closely, they would surely think it was a low-grade magic tool. Han Li thought that the seven moons of the Spirit Realm and the concentration of spiritual energy, which far surpassed that of the Mortal Realm, were related to this. In any case, it was good for him. The time it took to mature spirit herbs would be much shorter, and he could use the mysterious bottle more secretly and safely. Even outside the cave, he wouldn’t be noticed by others if he was careful. After organizing his thoughts, Han Li put away the small bottle, placed the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Ice-Scaled Flood Dragon into the Spirit Beast Pouch, and left his residence. Knowing that someone was eyeing his territory, he couldn’t leave anything important behind. Shortly after, a blue streak of light pierced through the colorful poisonous fog and flew towards the Heavenly City. The blue streak of light soon passed by the tens of zhang-high [hundreds of meters] city walls and arrived in front of the blue tower where the teleportation array was located. There weren’t many cultivators entering and exiting the tower, so Han Li walked in leisurely with them. According to Zhao Wu Gui, he first had to receive a set of Clear Sky Armor at a place called the Heavenly Armor Hall. He had personally experienced the power of this battle armor thanks to Elder Weng, so he immediately put it on and walked towards the location of Squad 56 of the Bing division. He went straight up the upper passage, and after going up seven or eight floors, he stopped in front of an ordinary-looking hall door. Above it, the ancient characters ‘Bing 56′ were written. Han Li flipped his hand towards the door, where a white restriction of spiritual energy was flashing, and a blue jade token appeared. As the jade token emitted a blue light, the white light on the door immediately disappeared. Han Li lightly pushed the door open and entered. Inside was a large hall with chairs and tables, and the passages on both sides seemed to lead to other places. Inside the hall, two cultivators wearing black armor were talking quietly. They looked at Han Li with surprise as he entered. Han Li also looked at them, his eyes gleaming. One of them was the tall, blue-eyed man named Zhuo who had taken him to the Flying Spirit Hall. They recognized Han Li’s face and quickly stood up and bowed. “Senior Han, have you arrived? Are you perhaps the new captain of this squad?” “Yes, I have been appointed as the captain of Squad 56. I look forward to your cooperation.” Han Li smiled and tossed the jade token in his hand. The blue-eyed giant flinched, took the jade token, examined it carefully, and returned it with both hands. “Zhuo Chong of Squad 56, greetings, Captain.” “Dong Guo Feng, greetings, Captain.” The gaunt-looking man also bowed respectfully after confirming Han Li’s identity. Han Li waved his hand and looked around the room. “Are you the only ones here?” “Reporting to Senior, Cultivator Ma and Immortal Xu have not yet arrived, and the rest of the cultivators are resting in their rooms. We were waiting for the higher-ups to inform us of our next patrol area. Should we gather all the cultivators?” The blue-eyed giant said. “That’s fine. Then I’ll wait with you. I’ve just arrived in the Heavenly City and am not familiar with everything, so you can explain the situation of this squad to me in the meantime.” “It is my duty to do so, as it is Senior’s command.” The blue-eyed giant replied cheerfully to Han Li’s words and began to talk about the members of the squad and the patrol duties that Squad 56 mainly performed. While Han Li was listening, a golden light suddenly flew in from outside the door towards the three of them. Zhuo Chong and Dong Guo Feng exchanged glances but did not do anything, and Han Li naturally caught it. The golden light turned into a small golden sword in his hand. It was a flying sword letter with a red jade slip. Before he could even take out the jade slip, someone opened the door and entered, speaking in a gentle voice. “Haha, I saw the golden sword letter entering, but the frequency was slow… Who, who are you…?” A refined-looking cultivator entered and was taken aback when he saw Han Li wearing the Clear Sky Armor. “Brother Ma, this is the newly arrived Senior Han. He has been appointed as the captain of this squad.” Zhuo Chong quickly explained Han Li’s identity to him. “Greetings, Senior Han.” “Cultivator Ma, there’s no need to be so formal. You’ve already reached the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, so the Transformation stage must be just around the corner. Congratulations!” Han Li said with a smile as he carefully examined the cultivator. “Senior Han, you have a discerning eye. However, I have been unable to take that last step for hundreds of years, so I don’t know if I will be able to fulfill my wish in this lifetime.” The cultivator chuckled bitterly. Han Li smiled faintly and silently released the red jade slip, injecting his consciousness into it. After a while, Han Li withdrew his consciousness and uttered a place name. “The Burying Marsh…” “Is it really there?” The blue-eyed giant raised his voice when he heard Han Li’s murmur, and the other cultivators’ expressions also changed. “Is there a problem?” “That place is where the spies of the alien races often appear. It is the most dangerous area where casualties occur every year.” The blue-eyed giant sighed deeply. “Is our squad the only one patrolling that place?” “No. The Burying Marsh is very large, and even if we fly non-stop, it takes more than half a month to complete one circuit. Usually, four squads are dispatched to help with the patrol.” This time, Cultivator Ma explained. “If we’re not the only squad going, then what’s the point of complaining? We just need to be more careful.” “Senior Han, you may not know, but two years ago, Squad 12’s captain, Senior Xian Yan, was attacked by an alien race in the Burying Marsh and died. Two of his squad members also died. At the time, Senior Xian Yan was in the mid-Transformation stage, and yet that happened.” Dong Guo Feng added to the others’ words with a fearful expression. ‘A cultivator in the mid-Transformation stage suffered such a fate!’ Han Li’s expression finally changed slightly. At that moment, footsteps were heard from both passages, and cultivators walked in. There were five men and one woman. Two old men, a middle-aged couple who seemed to be married, a teenage boy, and a burly man with a red aura on his face. They were the squad members who had been resting and had gathered after hearing the news that the golden sword letter had arrived. They were surprised to see Han Li, but after the blue-eyed giant introduced him, they bowed respectfully. Han Li also greeted them naturally. Han Li glanced at them with his consciousness and paused for a moment on the boy with the surname Ying. It was because the boy, like Cultivator Ma and the giant Zhuo Chong, had reached the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm. The weakest in cultivation were the two old men who had a divine aura. However, their expressions also changed when they heard that their next patrol area was the Burying Marsh, and they expressed their reluctance. “We have already been assigned an area, and we cannot change the orders. We just need to be more careful. We will depart tomorrow, so go back and prepare.” Han Li gave a brief order and then went to find an empty room and did not come out. The others exchanged glances for a moment after he disappeared, and finally looked at the blue-eyed giant. “Brother Zhuo, did you tell Senior Han how dangerous the Burying Marsh is?” The boy with the surname Ying asked. “Of course, I told him. I don’t know if Senior Han listened to me or not.” “Even if he listened, what can he do? Is he going to defy the orders from the Elders Council?” The middle-aged woman said as if it was inevitable. “We can’t defy orders. But we should let him know how dangerous it is so that he can act more cautiously. Even if we encounter a strong alien race, we need to be at the Clear Sky Guard level to be able to fight them one-on-one.” Cultivator Ma stroked his long beard, revealing his concern. “Let’s not worry too much. Although the Burying Marsh is dangerous, we already discovered the Shadow Clan last year. What are the chances that we will encounter another alien race? The Burying Marsh is a Level 1 danger zone, so after this patrol, we will receive a generous reward and a long rest. Perhaps after enduring here for a few years, we won’t be assigned to such dangerous areas in the future. As Senior Han said, let’s all prepare for departure.” The blue-eyed giant pondered for a moment and concluded the conversation. The others didn’t have any other solutions, so they soon dispersed and headed to their respective rooms. At that time, Han Li was sitting cross-legged, forming hand seals. His body was shimmering with a faint golden light, and especially behind his head, a faint golden halo was flickering, creating a very mysterious atmosphere.