Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 79

This Uncle Master’s face relaxed again as he continued,

“Alright. The reason I’ve explained all this is because I was worried you might act recklessly without understanding your place. In the cultivation world, if you lack strength, abandon the foolish notion that you’ll be respected simply as a human! That’s only a sentiment shared among cultivators of similar power. If you act with such an idea at any time, you’ll only be courting death. Heh heh, anyway, I wonder how many of you will survive long enough to truly grasp my words.”

At this, the disciples, including Han Li, couldn’t help but feel unsettled. All of this was far more than they had expected.

“Now, it’s time to discuss the bet, right? You’ve all heard how crucial this bet is! If we win, I absolutely won’t treat you poorly. Anyone who helps me win this time will receive a great reward, and the one who makes the greatest contribution, if they succeed in Foundation Establishment [a key stage in cultivation], I will take them as my personal disciple.”

The Huang Feng Valley disciples hadn’t even recovered from the shock of the ‘advice’ when they were further overwhelmed and excited by the enormous promise that followed.

What did it mean to become a personal disciple of a Core Formation [a higher cultivation stage] cultivator? It was a privilege enjoyed by only a very few individuals with exceptional luck within Huang Feng Valley, a chance that might occur once in a thousand years.

Seeing the crowd filled with fervor, desire burned in everyone’s eyes. This Uncle Master curled his lips, satisfied. If he won the bet, taking in three or four more nominal disciples was nothing.

He just needed to find a suitable place to take them and impart a few superficial things, right?

Han Li’s heart was also greatly moved by this. Walking the path of a cultivator, even if a proper master guided him on the right path once or twice, he would be able to navigate a path that would otherwise be full of twists and turns with greater ease.

However, this Uncle Master was not an easy person to deceive. He had so many secrets he was hiding, and if he spent too much time interacting with him, he might get caught someday. If this Uncle Master started questioning him, the end could be a trip to the underworld.

Considering what he had said was advice, he was definitely not someone who was attached to things like the affection between master and disciple.

Perhaps even between master and disciple, the law of the jungle he emphasized would apply, and harming a disciple for treasure wouldn’t be difficult. After carefully considering the situation, his agitated heart quickly calmed down.

The other disciples didn’t have the same concerns as Han Li, so they were all raising their spirits.

Glancing at Senior Sister Jin, she also had flushed cheeks and clenched fists, looking like she had made up her mind.

Han Li grew tired of watching the Huang Feng Valley disciples and turned his gaze towards the Qingxu Sect.

The Daoist was passionately shouting at the crowd, clearly not the first time he had incited people.

Thunderous cheers poured out from the young Daoists, and everyone was emotionally charged.

Still, some of the older Daoists maintained their composure, as if they hadn’t heard anything. He was briefly interested in the amusing sight when someone raised their voice.

“Look over there! The people from the Yan Yue Sect are coming. Is that the Heavenly Moon Divine Ship?”

At those words, Han Li also looked up at the sky. A white light brightened the sky and was approaching rapidly.

Its speed was so fast that it wasn’t long before it arrived in the void above Huang Mountain.

It was a huge ship made of jade, and its surface was extravagantly decorated with gold-plated dragons and phoenixes. Soon, a huge white light emanated from inside the ship, creating a curtain of light.

The ship was filled with men and women dressed in white, and in front of them, Madam Mi was so alluring that her every action seemed to captivate their souls. The woman removed the light barrier as the jade ship touched the ground.

“Junior brothers and Uncle Master Gong, I greet you.”

As Yeon-yi’s red lips opened, this Uncle Master and the Daoist also hurriedly bowed. However, Senior Gong just smiled and disappeared back into the void. Although he had disappeared, his words echoed in everyone’s ears.

“See you here again in seven days. This time, my victory is certain, so prepare your items in advance!”

The Daoist and this Uncle Master were bewildered, not knowing why Old Man Gong was so confident. They had just assessed the strength of the Yan Yue Sect disciples, and although they were much stronger than their disciples, it wasn’t to the extent that he could boast like this.

Madam Mi rolled her beautiful eyes and asked something, and the contents of the bet could be heard. She couldn’t help but burst into laughter, a sight that would make even flowers hang their heads in shame.

At her expression, many men from the three sects widened their eyes and opened their mouths.

However, this Uncle Master and the Daoist, as if they didn’t care about the enchanting scene before them, hardened their faces at her laughter. They felt like they had been greatly deceived, and their stomachs even ached.

Could it be that the Yan Yue Sect had a hidden move this time to suppress both sects at the same time?

Both of them were in positions of authority, so even though they were filled with gloom, they couldn’t question Madam Mi about the details.

And Madam Mi, the Immortal Ye, enjoyed their reactions and pretended not to notice, changing the subject.

The gazes of Han Li and the other Huang Feng Valley men had already shifted to the newly appeared group of female disciples.

As the rumors said, the Yan Yue Sect emphasized dual cultivation [a practice involving both male and female energies], so half of the new disciples were always women, and they were even filtered out if their looks weren’t outstanding.

As expected, the Yan Yue Sect women were all exceptionally beautiful, worthy of the term ‘flower-like beauty.’ The Huang Feng Valley disciples couldn’t take their eyes off them.

Han Li’s eyes also wandered there for a moment, but he regained his composure and maintained his calm.

The Yan Yue Sect female disciples were used to being the center of attention, so they didn’t change their expressions and smiled.

Moreover, they made eye contact with those gazes, which was perfect for stealing men’s souls.

However, the male disciples, on the contrary, were each filled with anger and glared. Especially those who looked at the women beside them, they didn’t forget to send fierce glares.

Han Li raised the corners of his lips. The arrangement of men and women meant that they were pairs, probably determined during their cultivation.

The male disciples were angry, treating the female disciples they were paired with as if they were their own women, but the female disciples didn’t seem to care much.

Moreover, Han Li felt that the people the male disciples were glaring at were unexpectedly from the Qingxu Sect as well.

Curious, he turned his head and saw that the young Daoists, full of vigor, would occasionally steal glances at the Yan Yue Sect women and then quickly turn their heads as if afraid of being seen.

Their unnatural behavior was strange to anyone who saw it. Han Li barely suppressed his laughter.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but the Yan Yue Sect women were making eye contact to seduce their targets, and the frequency was more skewed towards the Qingxu Sect, where there were young Daoists, than Huang Feng Valley.

Then, thinking a little differently, Han Li felt a chill. These disciples weren’t here to find a lover.

The real goal was to enter the forbidden area and survive the bloody battle.

If the young disciples of each sect faced the Yan Yue Sect female disciples, it was as good as losing from the start.

In fact, it wasn’t easy for ordinary people to cruelly slaughter such beautiful women.

What made Han Li even more puzzled was that the Yan Yue Sect disciples were all young, regardless of gender. The fact that there wasn’t a single older person didn’t make sense.

They couldn’t be old monsters who had stopped their faces from aging. Each one’s movements were agile and full of vigor, looking no more than twenty-something years old.

However, the Blood Gold Trial was known as a death march for disciples, so how could so many young disciples have volunteered?

Moreover, they were all paired up. No matter how strong their feelings were, it was hard to believe that they were all in a relationship where they would risk their lives for each other. Huang Feng Valley and Qingxu Sect had some older people included.

From their perspective, they wouldn’t live much longer anyway if they didn’t participate in the forbidden area march, so they participated as a last resort.

If they were lucky enough to get a Foundation Establishment Pill and enter the Foundation Establishment stage, they would change their fate.

They were already well past the appropriate age, so they wouldn’t be able to achieve anything beyond the Foundation Establishment stage no matter how much they cultivated, but living for another hundred years was enough!

There weren’t many old people who would take such a reckless gamble, but there were about seven or eight of them combined from Qingxu Sect and Huang Feng Valley. But the fact that there wasn’t a single one in the Yan Yue Sect was too unsettling.

This Uncle Master and the Daoist also seemed to have noticed this fact, and their expressions darkened further. Even though they were talking to the Immortal Ye of the Yan Yue Sect, anyone could tell that their minds were elsewhere.

After a while, the remaining four sects arrived one after another, and among them, the ones that left the biggest impression on Han Li were the people from the Giant Sword Sect and the Spirit Beast Mountain.

The Giant Sword Sect were all male disciples, each wearing black clothes and carrying huge sword sheaths on their backs, their expressions murderous and already filled with a fierce aura.

And the disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain were wearing colorful, flashy contrasting colors, but they all carried huge pouches or bags on their bodies, and something alive was wriggling inside, making the other sect disciples who were watching feel eerie.

The people from the Knife Transformation Dock and the Heavenly Fortress were different in their attire, but they looked relatively normal in Han Li’s eyes.

There were also occasional whispers and some disciples who were clearly nervous.

* * *

As the leaders of each sect discussed the procedure to break the restriction, Han Li looked around, examining those from each sect who seemed to have sharp skills.

He planned to hide and run away if possible from those whose cultivation had already reached the peak of the thirteenth level.

If he had no choice, he would secretly ambush them, but he would never create a situation where he would exhaust all his magic power like in the battle with the Lu family.

This time was completely different from the battle with the Lu family. He wasn’t fighting against one person, but against a group of cultivators who were blinded by greed.

If he didn’t always reserve some strength to counterattack immediately, he would be the first to be defeated.

Just as he was looking around at the skills of others, he suddenly felt a gaze watching him.

Han Li, whose heart had turned cold at the gaze, quickly looked in the direction of the gaze.

The owner of the gaze was a female disciple from the Spirit Beast Sect, and her face looking at Han Li was somehow familiar.

Unexpectedly, a face he knew appeared, and as he searched his memory, a slender woman came to mind.

‘It’s her? The girl who sold me the Golden Bamboo Pen at the Tai Nan Small Gathering has entered the Spirit Beast Mountain. And she’s participating in the Blood Gold Trial!’

Han Li, who finally remembered the girl who looked more beautiful than before, was slightly embarrassed. The way she blushed easily still lingered in his mind, and he had a good feeling about her. He smiled at her.

Perhaps his smile caught her eye, as the girl’s cheeks flushed red again. She was truly a shy person.

A man with sideburns standing behind her noticed their actions and hardened his face.

He soon said something sternly, and the girl’s face immediately turned pale and she lowered her head, and after that, she didn’t dare to look in Han Li’s direction again.