Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 82

Han Li, of course, felt no remorse for the wasted talisman, nor did he realize the mysterious girl had marked him. He was simply relieved to have escaped the situation so easily.

In any case, the closer he got to the center, the more enemies he would encounter, and the higher the likelihood of cunning traps and ambushes. To survive, his immediate plan was to avoid unnecessary conflicts as much as possible. It wasn’t as if Han Li had found nothing on the corpse.

He opened his hand, and a nearly transparent thread lay on his palm. It was the thread-like magical tool that had killed the Sword Sect disciple he had defeated earlier. As he slowly channeled his magical power, the thread gradually stiffened and stretched to nearly ten feet. He tested the tool by swinging it around, examining its use. It was indeed an excellent weapon for secretly harming people.

The combination of its inconspicuous nature, incredible elasticity, and sharpness meant it could sever an enemy’s head before they even noticed. He didn’t know what material it was made of, but if it were longer, there would be countless ways to use it.

He immediately manipulated the thread to cut down a dozen or so nearby trees. Han Li was very satisfied with the result, which he had obtained effortlessly. It was more useful than he had anticipated.

At that time, not far from the center of the forbidden area, a group of Fire Dao Sect and Pure Void Sect disciples clashed, battling fiercely. Both sides had about six people, making their skills roughly equal. This was the first relatively large-scale battle in this Blood Gold Trial.

Since everyone’s goal was to enter the center of the forbidden area and obtain spirit herbs as quickly as possible, wouldn’t it be better to eliminate the surrounding enemies in advance? In the end, the Pure Void Sect Taoists were slightly more skilled, defeating most of their opponents, and the remaining two Fire Dao Sect members fled towards the center, injured.

The central area was not only filled with various strange herbs and fruits but also with powerful demonic beasts that guarded them, some of which were capable of fighting even Foundation Establishment stage disciples [a higher cultivation stage]. You had to defeat the demonic beasts to find the herbs. Once a spirit herb appeared, a demonic beast with similar attributes would always appear from somewhere. The elders of each sect had not been able to provide an accurate explanation for this.

For many years, the disciples of each sect had only collected spirit herbs from the outskirts of the central area. If they approached the center, they would fall into forbidden areas or traps, getting trapped or killed. Moreover, the beasts became more ferocious the deeper they went, so low-level disciples who couldn’t break through the restrictions could only wander around the periphery of the center.

“Let’s not worry about the Pure Void Sect disciples for now and go to the center to collect spirit herbs first!”

* * *

At that moment, Han Li faced the greatest crisis since entering the forbidden area. On both sides of a narrow path, people from Spirit Beast Mountain and Heavenly Firmament Fortress blocked his way. Moreover, the burly man from Spirit Beast Mountain was a familiar face to Han Li. It was the man with the sideburns who had glared at him before, now looking at him with eyes that said, ‘You’re dead.’

It was truly unfortunate. He had been so careful, yet he had still fallen into someone else’s ambush. And it seemed to be the worst-case scenario, a one-versus-many fight. The place he was in was marked as the ‘One Thread Sky’ on the map.

The surrounding environment was extremely dangerous, and without using Qi Flight [a technique to fly using spiritual energy], there was only one narrow path leading to the center. Both sides of this narrow path were steep mountain peaks, and even someone with a strong body like Han Li, who had learned martial arts in the mortal world, could not easily climb them.

Flying through this place on a magical tool would be suicide, as it would make one an easy target for an ambush. This was something that the seniors had explicitly stated as an action to avoid within the forbidden area after years of experience. Han Li also hesitated at this narrow path, but if he couldn’t fly on a magical tool, there was only one way.

He would just have to walk steadily. As usual, Han Li was fully prepared and kept his nerves on edge. He was just about to get out of the path when, without any warning, these two people blocked him from the front and back. Looking at the expression of the man with sideburns, it was clear that talking his way out of this situation was impossible. He immediately cast a defensive spell on his whole body, creating a shimmering water barrier, and then activated his Swift Steps [a movement technique].

In his hands, he still held the Golden Mother-Child Talisman and the Earth Prison Technique, a high-grade low-level talisman. The man with sideburns and the person behind him simply watched Han Li’s actions, showing no intention of stopping him or attacking first. This was something they would only do if they were confident that they could kill him.

It was not strange, as the person behind him was at the late stage of the twelfth level, and the man with sideburns, as he had seen earlier, had reached the thirteenth level. For the two of them to face Han Li, who had only reached the eleventh level, was almost certainly a piece of cake. Han Li licked his parched lips and sneered. If that was how they wanted to play it, he would use it to his advantage.

He silently moved his body, positioning himself so that he, the two men, formed a triangle. This reduced the possibility of being attacked from behind, but the two men still did not take the opportunity to attack him. They were the strongest opponents he had faced since entering the cultivation world, but Han Li was not particularly afraid.

Just because he always avoided unnecessary fights did not mean he lacked confidence in himself. His magical power was far inferior to his opponents, so he couldn’t afford a long battle, but with his top-grade magical tools and talismans, he could make up for the difference. If it came down to it, he could take out the Thunderclap Bead and kill one of them. It was just too precious to use.

But what he was curious about now was how the man with sideburns was with someone from Heavenly Firmament Fortress. It was common for fellow disciples to stick together, but they were clearly from different sects!

“You dare to laugh at me outside the forbidden area? And you even dared to make eyes at that lowly wench! You’ll pay for that with your life!” the man with sideburns shouted with a ferocious expression.

“Brother Yan, I have a score to settle with this guy, so leave him to me. I’ll teach him that the cultivation world is not to be trifled with! So he won’t make the same mistake in his next life!” the Heavenly Firmament Fortress man said, shrugging his shoulders.

“I’ll stay out of it, so do as you please. Just don’t owe me your life again like last time!”

“Haha. That was really an unexpected incident last time. This time, he’s just a newbie, so I can handle him with half my strength.” The man with sideburns, his face slightly flushed, grumbled.

“Well, I don’t want to hear about your funeral, so do a good job. After all, it’s hard to find a drinking buddy who gets along with me.” The Heavenly Firmament Fortress man shook his head, as if the man with sideburns’ temper was giving him a headache. Still, he didn’t think his opponent would be a match for his old friend, so he agreed with his words. Listening to their conversation, the doubts in his heart were resolved.

The two were friends, and they were very close. This meant that their combined attack would be more difficult to deal with than a temporary alliance. Also, judging by their tone, it seemed that this was not the first time they had teamed up. ‘I need to take out one of them quickly and then deal with the other. All the disciples from each sect are scattered, but these two have managed to meet up and stick together. That’s just too much!’

Han Li doubted the luck of the two men falling in similar places, and he cursed the heavens. At the same time, the Heavenly Firmament Fortress disciple was thinking something similar. He watched the man with sideburns approach Han Li and thought of the Spirit Fusion Talisman, the biggest contributor to their meeting. The high-grade Spirit Fusion Talisman was truly amazing. If they used the talisman at the same time when they entered the forbidden area, their spiritual energy would be temporarily connected, causing them to fall in the same place. However, the success rate was only about half.

It was much more expensive than other low-level high-grade talismans, but they had already sent several people away by ambushing them, so the gains were significant. Yan was a clever man. He had come here at great cost not to seek spirit herbs like others, but to steal other people’s treasures and make a fortune. If they teamed up and avoided a few powerful experts, they could easily achieve their goal without leaving any trouble behind. ‘Isn’t this a perfect plan! Who else but me would think of this?’

The Heavenly Firmament Fortress disciple’s mind wandered as he thought about the beautiful future after the expedition, and he paid no attention to the battle in front of him. At this moment, the man with sideburns opened a green leather pouch with a sneer and approached Han Li. It looked like he was about to attack. However, perhaps his friend’s words had had an effect, as he stopped halfway and took out a talisman, casting a green defensive spell on his body. Han Li’s eyebrows twitched at the sight.

Originally, he had planned to take advantage of the Spirit Beast Mountain disciple’s carelessness to eliminate him, even if he was skilled, but now that he had cast a defensive spell, it wouldn’t be easy. Of course, if he activated the Thunderclap Bead, such a defensive spell would be useless, but it was a one-time use item. He didn’t plan to use it unless he was in a truly life-threatening situation. Han Li’s attention shifted to the other man. He was standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky, seemingly not paying any attention to what was happening here. Han Li was quite pleased with that attitude.

Without further thought, he threw the Earth Prison Talisman at the man with sideburns. The talisman emitted a yellow light in the air and burst onto the man’s body. Unexpectedly, a huge yellow cover appeared over the man’s green barrier, trapping him. The man with sideburns wasn’t worried when Han Li threw the talisman. The wood-attribute barrier he had cast was so effective that it couldn’t be broken by ordinary attacks. Moreover, it was unlikely that a newbie with only eleventh-level power would have a talisman with great power. At best, it would be a low-level mid-grade talisman.

For this reason, he didn’t pay any attention and took something out of his pouch. However, after being trapped in the yellow cover and realizing it was the Earth Prison Technique, the man with sideburns’ expression changed subtly, and he felt that things were not going as planned. What he pulled out of the pouch was a long, purple, monstrous snake with wings that made a strange ‘quack’ sound. It was very bizarre. As soon as it escaped his hand, it attacked the yellow cover, and each time they collided, the cover shook violently, showing that it was not to be trifled with.

The man with sideburns laughed and released another demonic beast from his pouch. If these two attacked together, it would only be a matter of time before they broke the Earth Prison Technique. Once he got out of here, he would tear out his opponent’s ribs to repay this humiliation. However, Han Li didn’t pay attention to the man with sideburns. Unexpectedly, Han Li’s figure flashed and shot straight towards the Heavenly Firmament Fortress disciple. His speed was so fast that it was almost invisible, and he even created afterimages. At the same time, he lightly tapped the storage pouch, and another magical tool of similar size appeared in his hand.

The Heavenly Firmament Fortress disciple finally snapped out of his daydream and noticed Han Li approaching with strange movements. His expression changed immediately, and he quickly retreated, while a talisman appeared in his hand. At this time, there was still some distance between Han Li and him, so the Heavenly Firmament Fortress disciple thought he had enough time to use the talisman to cast a spell. However, before he could inject spiritual power into the talisman, he saw Han Li’s face with a strange smile. Han Li waved his hand at him as if to greet him, and at the same time, he felt an itch on his neck, as if he had been bitten by a mosquito.