Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 786

As Han Li left the Grand Profound Hall, contemplating his next steps and crossing the city walls, two figures were engaged in a secret discussion within a hidden chamber of the hall.

One was the white-robed old man who had presided over the auction. Seated before him on a stone chair was a young man in a purple robe, a striking crimson mark like a drop of blood at the corner of his mouth.

The old man spoke respectfully,

“Rest assured, Young Master! Though she concealed her true appearance, she couldn’t escape my Violet Light Spirit Eyes. The one who won the Yin-Yang Heavenly Extremes Art was a woman, and her face was completely different from the description you provided. She had a very unattractive face.”

The renowned Refinement Grandmaster of Tianyuan City, a Nascent Soul cultivator, was acting as a servant before the young man. If other cultivators in the city witnessed this, they would be utterly astonished.

The crimson-marked young man’s lips curled slightly at the old man’s words.

“Old Man Chi, if a woman could produce so many top-grade spirit stones at once and trade for a cultivation art, she is undoubtedly a member of the Ye or Qu families! Like our Long family, these two families are hidden True Spirit clans passed down from ancient times, and only women inherit the True Spirit bloodline.

Unlike our Long family, which manages auction houses across the three realms, they secretly control vast mines of top-grade spirit stones. Both families have few members and rarely engage in outside activities, so we didn’t know which True Spirit bloodline they inherited. But now it seems that an ancestor from one of their families was a half-demon with the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline. The Heavenly Phoenix bloodline is one of the most powerful bloodlines in the Spirit World, just like our True Dragon bloodline! It seems my gamble with the bait was successful. Indeed, it was wise for the disciples of the True Spirit families to hide their identities and stay in Tianyuan City for a while.”

The crimson-marked young man spoke confidently.

“It is all thanks to your brilliant intellect, Young Master. The Yin-Yang Heavenly Extremes Art is invaluable to someone with the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline. Only a top-grade cultivation art specialized in controlling the five elements can fully activate the Heavenly Phoenix blood. The fact that this woman recognized and bought the art means she has fallen into the elaborate trap we set since ancient times.”

The white-robed old man smiled faintly.

“The wisdom of our ancestors is beyond our comprehension. Moreover, if the True Dragon blood in this Young Master’s body wasn’t far more potent than that of our past ancestors, the old monsters of the family would not have supported this plan. To avoid suspicion, we even had to put up treasures like the Black Qilin scales and the Peace Fruit. Furthermore, if we hadn’t subtly spread rumors among the disciples of the True Spirit families, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly. Fortunately, the winning bid was substantial. And five ten-thousand-year spirit herbs are not a small loss. Have you found out anything about the identity of the cultivator who obtained the True Spirit scales?”

“As you know, Young Master, my Violet Light Spirit Eyes can only be used three times in a lifetime. I cannot waste the last one on that person. However, I did find out that he is not a Void Refinement cultivator but a Nascent Soul cultivator. And I suspect he possesses more ten-thousand-year spirit herbs than the ones he put up for auction. Could he be a cultivator from the Min family, who are known for their expertise in cultivating spirit herbs? Although the Min family’s bloodline is not as powerful as the True Spirit families, they are exceptional at cultivating spirit herbs.”

The old man pondered and then cautiously offered his opinion.

“The Min family, that’s possible. If so, then it’s fine! The Min family is a subordinate family appointed by the Heavenly Spirit Emperor, so it’s not the time to provoke them.”

The young man frowned and said,

“You are wise. Although we do not truly fear the Three Emperors, we shouldn’t make enemies over a few spirit herbs.”

The old man nodded vigorously.

“Using the Violet Light Spirit Eyes for this matter must have damaged your cultivation. Once this is over, I will return and perform a blood sacrifice ritual to enhance your cultivation.”

The crimson-marked young man suddenly smiled warmly at the old man, as if he had just remembered something.

“Thank you, Old Man Chi!”

The old man was overjoyed at those words and quickly bowed. The crimson-marked young man nodded and fell into thought, his mind unreadable.

A few days later, Han Li arrived at the mountain range where his cave dwelling was located.

And about a thousand miles away from there, two people were facing off in a low-lying area.

* * *

“Brother Jin, what is the meaning of secretly following me all the way here! Have I done something to displease you?”

The speaker was Cultivator Ong, and the one facing him was the plump cultivator with the surname Jin whom he had first met at the Jade Tower Pavilion. Although they seemed to be on friendly terms, they were now on the verge of a confrontation.

“Brother Ong, why do you speak so coldly? I just happened to be passing by and saw you here, so I thought I’d come over to say hello.”

“You happened to be passing by? Do you take me for a fool? Who would follow someone for tens of thousands of miles using stealth techniques just to say hello!”

Cultivator Ong retorted coldly.

“Hehe, that is indeed a curious thing. Why is Brother Ong in such a remote place instead of his own cave dwelling? If I remember correctly, you even fought desperately to claim this place.”

Cultivator Jin narrowed his small eyes, revealing his cunning nature.

“What? Do I have to explain to Brother Jin where I go?”

“Now, now, there’s no need to get angry. If you make a fuss in someone else’s territory and leave traces, what will happen! Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for here, and we can move together?”

Cultivator Jin smiled nonchalantly, probing Cultivator Ong. However, Cultivator Ong sneered in disbelief, his eyes gleaming menacingly.

*Whoosh.*

Suddenly, a jade-colored light flashed in the air behind Cultivator Jin, and a thin green thread trembled, transforming into a massive net. Everything happened without any warning, not even a sound of wind.

Cultivator Jin, seemingly unaware of this, was still smiling and staring at Cultivator Ong. Cultivator Ong, though he didn’t show it, was overjoyed and moved his hand into his sleeve.

A transparent blue dagger would appear and cut the net the moment it restrained his opponent. However, when the net reached above Cultivator Jin’s head, an anomaly occurred.

*Bang!*

A burst of spiritual energy erupted above Cultivator Jin’s head, and golden energy surged out, blocking the net. A strange sound came from the clash between the golden and green lights.

“Old Man Jin, you!”

“As expected of Grandmaster Ming, you’ve come out yourself.”

Different voices came from the green and golden lights. The former sounded surprised, while the latter was calm, as if expecting it.

A giant golden hand and a green net simultaneously emerged from the air, and after the light faded, they transformed into a small figure and a small jade-colored dragon, respectively. The jade dragon was naturally the incarnation refined by Cultivator Ong’s master.

The small figure, only half a foot tall and wearing a golden robe, had a blurry face, making it impossible to identify.

“Soul Division Technique! Old Man Jin, you even used the Tribulation-Passing Soul Division [a technique to split one’s soul to avoid tribulations] to avoid the Heavenly Tribulation. Aren’t you afraid that you won’t be able to pass the next great tribulation because of this?”

The jade dragon sneered, glaring at the small figure.

“That’s not something Grandmaster Ming needs to worry about. Who is the Heavenly Treasure Merchant? He is someone who has wielded power for tens of thousands of years among both humans and demons, possessing immense treasures. Even obtaining two or three of them would be enough to not worry about the next tribulation.”

The small figure chuckled softly.

“How do you know about the Heavenly Treasure Merchant!”

The jade dragon exclaimed in shock. Meanwhile, Cultivator Jin and Cultivator Ong stood dumbfounded, not daring to interfere.

“Do you need to know how I found out? But rest assured, no one else knows about this except the two of us. Why don’t we join forces to obtain the treasure?”

“Join forces? If you really have specific information, you should be able to find it yourself.”

The jade dragon sneered at the small figure’s words.

“I only know the news through my disciple, so I don’t have specific information. Isn’t that something I can get from Brother Ming?”

The small figure was unhurried.

“Are you threatening me!”

“How could I dare? When I propose a collaboration, it means I have something that can be helpful. If we find the treasure and divide it fairly, there will be no hard feelings, wouldn’t that be great?”

“What is that… Huh, someone is coming.”

The jade dragon, about to retort angrily, suddenly changed his expression and looked up at the sky. The golden figure’s eyes also turned to where the jade dragon was looking.

“It seems the owner of the land is returning. Cultivator, you must decide quickly whether to collaborate or not. If we make a fuss and attract the attention of the old monsters in Tianyuan City, we will fail. You know that according to Tianyuan City’s rules, any treasure found in a territory belongs to its owner, right?”

The golden figure’s playful tone became serious. The jade dragon rolled his eyes, pondered, and then let out a long sigh.

“…Alright, let’s join forces for now! But it’s absurd to say we’ll divide it equally. Let’s move to another place to discuss the specific terms of our collaboration. According to my disciple, that Nascent Soul cultivator’s spiritual sense is quite powerful, so we shouldn’t stay here for long.”

“Hehe, I was waiting for you to say that. Let’s go!”

The golden figure nodded with satisfaction and grabbed the air, causing a purple umbrella to appear. With a light shake, the umbrella turned into a purple glow, enveloping him and Cultivator Jin before disappearing.

“The Purple Maple Umbrella! Old Man Jin even brought out such a spirit treasure, he must have come well-prepared. Let’s go too!”

The jade dragon muttered, looking at the purple umbrella, then called his disciple with a gloomy face and took out five small, colored flags. The low-lying area returned to silence as if nothing had happened.

* * *

After a short while, a blue streak of light cut through the sky and landed, revealing an ordinary-looking young man. It was Han Li.

The blue streak of light circled above the low-lying area a few times before stopping. He looked slightly puzzled.

He had felt a very faint fluctuation of spiritual energy a moment ago, and although it had disappeared quickly, it was definitely not a mistake.

The main bodies of the small figure and the jade dragon were Void Refinement cultivators, but those who had appeared here were only their divided souls and incarnations.

Han Li, who had mastered the Great Evolution Technique, had a spiritual sense that far surpassed Nascent Soul cultivators, almost matching that of an early Void Refinement cultivator. Therefore, no matter how quickly they had escaped, it was difficult for them to avoid being detected by him.

Han Li had arrived several times faster, but it seemed he was still a step too late. He immediately spread his spiritual sense, searching within a hundred miles, but found nothing.

His face darkened for a moment. After pondering in the air, Han Li chuckled and suddenly turned into a blue streak of light, flying towards his cave dwelling.

At this time, the jade dragon and the golden figure, already tens of thousands of miles away, were unaware that their actions had been discovered and were negotiating on a small mountain.

And as soon as Han Li returned to his residence, he activated all the nearby restrictions and then went into the refining room with his belongings.

After three days and nights of seclusion, he emerged with a strange, octagonal-shaped formation disc, shimmering with silver light, in his hand.

And from his storage pouch, he took out countless pea-sized jade beads. These beads, of various colors, had one or more silver characters inscribed on their surfaces.

The beads inscribed with the ancient immortal script, Yin and Wen, were a special magical artifact called the ‘Myriad Dragon Beads’ that Han Li had created by applying one of the techniques he had learned from the incomplete Golden Jade Book when he was in the mortal realm.

They were not difficult to refine, but they had no offensive or defensive capabilities. Instead, they were combined with the talisman techniques of the Golden Jade Book, allowing him to monitor an area of tens of miles around the beads.

If any spiritual energy fluctuations occurred within the monitoring range, Han Li could pinpoint their approximate location even from millions of miles away through the formation disc. Of course, it wasn’t as simple as just burying the beads randomly.

The formation disc had to be installed within a special formation, and the Myriad Dragon Beads had to form a complex array around the disc, creating a massive formation.

The size of the formation depended on how many beads Han Li could bury. Usually, monitoring such a vast area would require an enormous consumption of spirit stones to maintain the formation.

Even Han Li, who had a considerable amount of spirit stones, would deplete his wealth within a few years if he continuously activated the monitoring formation.