Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 819

Han Li, his face pale, sat cross-legged on a pile of rocks a thousand miles away, controlling the Gold Devouring Beetles. The mental strain was severe. Only after confirming the return of the golden beetles did he finally clutch his throbbing head and let out a painful groan. He writhed in agony for at least a quarter of an hour before he could finally straighten his body.

‘That was close. I almost had my consciousness absorbed! My mind will be slightly damaged.’ For safety’s sake, he shouldn’t overexert himself with the beetles in the future. However, if the Gold Devouring Beetles hadn’t chased the high-level Wood Spirit away, he might have been counterattacked.

Mu Xu was already severely injured, and having been badly hurt by the beetles, he wouldn’t dare to seek him out again. Han Li rolled up his sleeve, caressed the spirit beast ring containing the beetles, and let out a long sigh.

* * *

Deep within the jungle, tens of thousands of miles away, the green giant that Mu Xu had transformed into sat beneath a massive tree. One of his arms and half of his torso were missing, but countless green dots flew from the surrounding trees, filling the gaps. The giant’s missing body parts rapidly regenerated. After a short while, the green dots dispersed, and the giant opened his eyes. He looked much darker and lifeless than before. He formed a hand seal, and a phantom emerged from the giant’s body, transforming into a pale-faced Wood Clan member.

Then, the Human-Tree Unity giant transformed into a massive ancient tree and scattered. Mu Xu, back in his original form, turned his gaze towards the direction where Han Li had disappeared.

“That guy actually had Gold Devouring Beetles. And hundreds of them! If my body were intact, I would have killed him to prevent the spirit insects from being controlled, but now I’ve been severely injured twice, and my natal spirit beast must be damaged as well. If I encounter the beetle swarm again, I might lose my life. This time, I have no choice but to let him go.” Mu Xu shook his head, muttering to himself with a dark expression. Then, he turned into a silver streak and returned towards the Black Leaf Forest.

Not long after, Han Li, who had somewhat recovered his consciousness, couldn’t stay there for long either. He endured the terrible headache and turned into a blue streak, flying away. He was heading towards the First Line Sky.

Two months later, Han Li arrived in a desolate plateau region. He found a secluded dirt hill, flashed a yellow light, and burrowed into the ground. There, he dug out a secret chamber about a dozen zhang [approximately 3.3 meters] in size, postponed all other matters, and began to recuperate after swallowing several pills.

More than a month passed before he opened his eyes again, his face full of vitality. However, he didn’t get up immediately but remained lost in thought. Then, he flicked his sleeve and held a blue ring in his hand. It was the storage ring of the Black Phoenix Clan’s Xiao Hong. Han Li’s face brightened as he examined the ring with his consciousness.

‘There are quite a few precious items!’ Regardless of anything else, the monster beast materials that occupied half of the storage ring were things that couldn’t be easily found in the market. They were indeed the possessions of a member of the Seven Great Monster Clans. And in a corner of the storage ring, there were about a dozen high-grade spirit stones of various colors. This was very welcome news. Although they weren’t as precious as treasures in the Human Realm, they were definitely not consumables to be used carelessly. For high-level cultivators, the more high-grade spirit stones, the better. Especially one of them, a rare white wind-attribute spirit stone, made Han Li happy. He had been trying to find a wind-attribute high-grade spirit stone since the Heavenly Origin City, but he hadn’t found one until now.

There were other magic tools and ancient treasures, but none of them caught his eye. In terms of power, they were far inferior to his Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain or Void Sky Cauldron. However, there were quite a few spirit medicines and pills in the storage ring. Most of them were for monster beasts, but some were pills that helped with cultivation and rare pill refining materials. The divided earth dragon and the wooden armor were also well-preserved. Han Li took the items without hesitation. Then, a strange silver bottle with a black fire phoenix engraved on it caught his eye. It was sealed very carefully with a golden talisman. Han Li didn’t hesitate to tear off the talisman and open the silver bottle.

“Huh!” Han Li was startled but immediately released a gray aura, enveloping the three small phoenixes. The three black phoenixes spun a few times in the gray aura and turned back into pitch-black pills. The gray aura gently placed the pills on Han Li’s hand, and he picked them up with two fingers, examining them slowly. If the pills could transform on their own, they were no ordinary items. Han Li, with a serious expression, compared the pills with the ones he knew.

“Black Flame Pills!” Han Li’s face broke into a smile as he instantly recognized them. Among the monster clans, only the Black Phoenix Clan could refine Black Flame Pills with their natal flames. Otherwise, it would be impossible to refine such spirit pills. Considering that there weren’t many high-level cultivators in the Black Phoenix Clan, one could imagine how precious the Black Flame Pills were. Moreover, the reason why these pills were famous among both the human and monster races was that they were particularly effective in helping cultivators who had reached the Great Accomplishment of the Transformation Stage break through the bottleneck to the Void Refinement Stage.

The three Black Flame Pills in front of him would increase his chances of overcoming the Void Refinement Stage bottleneck by at least 20%. Han Li couldn’t contain his joy. After confirming that the pills were indeed Black Flame Pills, Han Li suppressed his excitement, put the pills back into the silver bottle, and carefully sealed it with the golden talisman. The most important thing to reach the Void Refinement Stage was to achieve the Five Elements Unity within the body, but with the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light, he didn’t need to worry much about that. Now that he had obtained the Black Flame Pills, all that was left was to find other spirit medicines and secret techniques to further increase his chances of success in overcoming the Void Refinement Stage bottleneck.

However, the first thing he needed to do was to raise his cultivation to the late-stage of the Transformation Stage. With a large number of pills, it was only a matter of time before he surpassed the peak of the mid-stage of the Transformation Stage. The problem was that once he reached the late-stage of the Transformation Stage, the effects of the pills he possessed would drastically decrease, and he would need even higher-level pills. There weren’t many pills that had a significant effect on late-stage Transformation Stage cultivators, and one of the most commonly known was the True Essence Fluid. The reason he had taken on the Wood Clan mission this time also included the True Essence Fluid.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, recalling the visitors who had suddenly come to him before he left the Heavenly Origin City. If things went smoothly as they said, he would be able to obtain a considerable amount of True Essence Fluid. Although it couldn’t be supplied continuously like pills made from spirit herbs or spirit trees, that amount would significantly reduce his cultivation time. Han Li let out a long sigh, recalling their promise, and pushed the matter out of his mind.

*Paah.* He rubbed the storage ring with one hand, and another important gain from this mission appeared in his hand. The dazzling five-colored feather was the Heavenly Phoenix’s feather he had obtained from Ye Ying and Ye Cao. Han Li held the feather in his hand and lightly shook it, causing a five-colored aura to flash and cover the secret chamber. As expected of a True Spirit-level Heavenly Phoenix’s natal feather, the aura it emitted was a higher level than the Kun Peng’s feather he had obtained in the Human Realm. He stared at the feather with a serious expression and opened his mouth, spitting out a cyan-white lightning bolt.

*Kkwag.* A low thunder sound echoed, and the lightning condensed into a pair of cyan-white wings a few cun [approximately 3.3 centimeters] in size. Han Li opened his palm, and the miniature Wind Lightning Wings landed in his hand. However, his expression was not good as he examined the wings. There were tiny holes in each wing. These were the holes created by the green giant’s fingernails when Mu Xu had transformed. ‘Since I was going to refine them again anyway, I can just repair the damage this time.’ According to the Heavenly Origin Saint’s clone, the Wind Lightning Wings hadn’t transformed into a spirit treasure even after adding the Kun Peng’s feather. This was because the wind-attribute laws of heaven and earth contained in the Kun Peng’s feather could only be triggered by a wind-attribute high-grade spirit stone. This was why he had been searching for a wind-attribute high-grade spirit stone all this time. But now that he had found the Heavenly Phoenix’s feather, he needed to adjust his plans. He wanted to put this feather into the Wind Lightning Wings.

Unlike the Kun Peng’s feather, the Heavenly Phoenix’s feather contained the space divine ability that everyone yearned for. If he gained a space-type divine ability, he couldn’t imagine how much the power of the Wind Lightning Wings would increase. The next time he encountered a terrifying existence like the Silver Wood Spirit, he could just run away without having to fight dangerously. Han Li held the cyan-white wings and the five-colored feather, lost in thought. It was fortunate that he had experience refining the Wind Lightning Wings with the Kun Peng’s feather, or else he wouldn’t have known what to do with the Heavenly Phoenix’s feather. Having made up his mind, he took out six high-grade spirit stones from the storage ring. Five of them had the five elements of water, metal, earth, fire, and wood, and the remaining white one was a wind-attribute high-grade spirit stone. With Han Li’s current abilities, he no longer needed the help of earth fire. The silver flames that Han Li spat out from his mouth condensed in the air, miraculously forming a huge furnace. Han Li threw the Wind Lightning Wings into it and pointed at the wind-attribute spirit stone.

*Shuk! Shuk!* The wings and the spirit stone entered the furnace one after another. Then, a blue aura flowed out, carrying a large amount of materials. These were the auxiliary materials needed to refine the Wind Lightning Wings again. Since he had always kept the refinement of the Wind Lightning Wings in mind, he had prepared all the necessary materials. Han Li threw a mercury-like liquid into the furnace and then chanted a spell, flicking his ten fingers. Then, various colored magic seals flew into the furnace one after another. After several dozen days, Han Li’s clear laughter echoed in the secret chamber. He stood in the center of the chamber, holding a pair of crystal-like wings, delighted. One of the wings had a blue glow, and the other had a five-colored aura, but both were as transparent as crystal, making them difficult to see unless one looked closely. Han Li had already tested the power of the Wind Lightning Wings, which had reached the spirit treasure level, and its mystique exceeded his expectations. This was because either the Kun Peng’s feather or the Heavenly Phoenix’s feather was a precious material that could create a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure if properly refined and refined. Han Li threw the crystal wings and spat out a blue aura, swallowing them. And for the rest of the time, he took out the damaged Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords and began to refine them one by one.

* * *

One year later, above an unnamed mountain range in the Savage Wild World, a faint blue light was flying, barely visible. The young man with a calm face and his hands behind his back within the light was Han Li, who had been secluded in the mountains for several months. Having finished repairing his flying swords, he no longer stayed there and set out on his journey. Han Li was even more cautious when traveling alone, and thanks to that, he had been safe for more than half a year. The unnamed mountain range also looked very ordinary on the surface. Low shrubs were densely spread all the way to the mountain peaks, and a thick humidity could be felt when flying a little lower. There were also large and small lakes in the low-lying areas, the largest of which had a circumference of several thousand miles, and the smallest were just puddles. Han Li became tense and looked around whenever he passed a lake. There could be powerful ancient beasts living in the lakes or other races lurking. After flying for another half a day, the mountain range changed, and two mountain peaks, each a thousand zhang [approximately 3.3 kilometers] high, stood straight up. ‘I found it.’ Han Li’s eyes lit up, and he smiled as he looked at the two mountain peaks. One of the two mountains was peculiar, with half of it covered in ice and snow, making it look very cold. The other was entirely purple. The leaves of the vegetation covering the mountain were faintly purple. The two mountain peaks were only about a dozen zhang apart, and their shapes and sizes were almost identical, but their environments were completely different. “It seems that such mountain peaks really exist, so they weren’t lying.” Han Li muttered and flew towards the ice mountain.