Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 820

As they approached the snow-covered mountain, the bone-chilling wind howled like blades, but Han Li, protected by his barrier, advanced without any discomfort. As he entered the mountain, two beams of light shot up from somewhere on the ice-covered slopes, stopping about thirty zhang [approximately 100 meters] away from Han Li. Han Li dispersed his own light first, revealing his form.

‘Haha, Fellow Cultivator Han has arrived. With your abilities, I expected you would complete the mission safely.’

The beams of light in front also faded, revealing two men. One of them recognized Han Li immediately and smiled. The white-haired old man was Fellow Cultivator Liu, whom Han Li had met at the Heavenly Star Flying Spirit Hall.

Beside him stood a sickly-looking scholar, also with a friendly expression.

‘Fellow Cultivator Liu and Fellow Cultivator Ouyang, it’s you. Didn’t you two arrive before me? It seems your missions went quite smoothly.’

‘Our missions are nothing compared to yours, Fellow Cultivator Han. I, this old man, was merely assisting the Golden Guards in subduing the alien races. It was a mission where, if one moved cautiously, there was no fear of losing one’s life.’

Old Man Liu shook his head.

‘Are the others not here yet?’

‘Of course, there are more. This task requires quite a few people. From the start, we assumed that about half wouldn’t arrive on time, so we recruited generously. We’ve almost reached the required number. Come with us.’

‘Then, I’ll be in your care.’

Han Li cupped his fist in thanks as Old Man Liu explained with a smile. Guided by the two cultivators, Han Li entered the ice mountain.

Soon after, Old Man Liu took out a jade pendant from his robes and shone it into the air, emitting a white light that formed a white lotus in the sky.

Old Man Liu increased his speed and disappeared into the white lotus first, and Han Li followed closely, his eyes gleaming. Surprisingly, a rather sophisticated illusion array was deployed here.

Ordinary ancient beasts wouldn’t detect anything unusual even if they passed through this place.

The three beams of light circled the mountain peak and landed in front of an ice pavilion. Next to it was an ice building, where a man and two women were sitting and talking.

The appearance of the three drew everyone’s attention to Han Li. The man was wearing a gray robe and looked sturdy, with thick sideburns that covered half of his face.

One of the women was an ordinary-looking lady in a blue skirt, and the other was a young woman in a turquoise dress with a veil covering her face.

Han Li recognized the veiled woman immediately.

‘I didn’t expect Fellow Immortal Yu to be here as well.’

‘I knew you would come, Fellow Cultivator. I am one of the organizers of this gathering.’

The veiled woman smiled at Han Li. It was Fellow Immortal Yu, who had suggested they work together on a mission at the Ascended Cultivator gathering.

‘I see.’

Han Li smiled calmly. His gaze shifted to the other two cultivators. He had seen them in passing a few times at the Ascended Cultivator gathering, so their faces were familiar, but he had no particular acquaintance with them.

They were all cultivators at the mid-Nascent Soul stage or higher, and the woman in the blue skirt was a late-stage cultivator. Han Li cupped his fist towards them first, and the burly man and the woman returned the gesture.

Fellow Immortal Yu asked him to talk for a moment, but Han Li hesitated and shook his head.

‘I sustained a minor injury during a mission and had to rush here, which depleted my magic power. I need to rest first. If my memory serves me right, there are still more than fifteen days left until the scheduled departure, right?’

‘Haha, we hadn’t considered that. You must be tired from coming all this way, so please rest first. You can choose any of the rooms there to rest. Of course, if you’re not satisfied, you can arrange accommodation elsewhere.’

Old Man Liu stroked his beard and said gently at Han Li’s words.

‘Then, I’ll go rest.’

Han Li didn’t waste any time. He greeted the cultivators and then, with a flash of his figure, chose an empty room and disappeared.

‘Going to rest so urgently, could he have sustained a major injury?’

‘It’s unlikely. He probably depleted his magic power and wants to replenish it quickly.’

The woman frowned and spoke, and the gray-robed burly man shook his head.

‘It’s not certain. With Fellow Cultivator Han’s skills, even if he used a secret technique to make his complexion look better, there’s no way for us to know. Speaking of which, just the fact that he arrived here by the appointed time shows that he’s no ordinary person, right? Even if he’s injured, he’s not the kind of cultivator who would be a hindrance to this mission. And Fellow Cultivator Yuan and Great Master Jeong, who arrived earlier, also went straight to their rooms to rest.’

Fellow Immortal Yu seemed to think highly of Han Li’s abilities.

‘Fellow Immortal Yu is right. Although Fellow Cultivator Han’s cultivation is at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, from what I know, his skills are among the top three of those gathered here.’

The sickly scholar chuckled and said this.

‘Aren’t you exaggerating too much, Fellow Cultivator Ouyang? A mid-Nascent Soul cultivator being among the top three here?’

‘Fellow Cultivator Jo, you’ve been focusing on cultivation in the Heavenly Star City and haven’t attended our gatherings much. So, it’s understandable that you don’t know about Fellow Han. Fellow Cultivator Han has recently become famous among the Ascended Cultivators for killing or capturing several alien races of the same level. Moreover, he has mastered a special divine ability that is very effective against the Shadow Clan. That’s why we invited Fellow Cultivator Han this time.’

Fellow Immortal Yu explained leisurely instead of Fellow Cultivator Ouyang.

‘Fellow Immortal Yu’s words… are you saying it’s because of the Shadow Insect Beasts?’

Lady Jo also suddenly remembered something.

‘Yes, that’s right. The Shadow Insect Beasts are quite difficult to deal with, so we invited Fellow Cultivator Han.’

Old Man Liu smiled. At that, Lady Jo nodded in agreement. Afterward, they exchanged various stories, and Han Li entered his room, sat cross-legged, and remained still.

* * *

Whistle!

About ten days later, a long whistle was heard outside the ice building. It wasn’t very loud, but it was enough to wake Han Li, who was resting with his eyes closed.

He opened his eyes, lowered his head, thought for a moment, and then got up and left the room.

In the open space in front of the ice building, an ice palace about a hundred zhang [approximately 330 meters] in size had been erected. The thick ice pillars looked a bit crude, but their sparkling appearance under the light was acceptable.

Inside the palace, a couple stood. A young man with silver hair and a striking appearance and a beautiful woman with black hair piled high and a voluptuous figure.

Strangely, the woman stood with her arms and fair feet exposed despite the cold of the ice mountain. The one who had whistled was the silver-haired man, who was at the mid-Void Refinement stage, and the woman was also a Void Refinement stage cultivator.

At the sound of the whistle, cultivators began to appear one after another. Suddenly, more than twenty cultivators gathered at the mountain peak.

All of them were cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or higher, and they entered the palace with various expressions, bowing respectfully to the man and woman standing on the ice platform.

‘Greetings, Senior Chu and Senior Qing.’

‘Have the seniors arrived?’

‘Greetings, Senior Chu, Senior Qing.’

After greeting them, Han Li also found a spot to stand that wasn’t too conspicuous. The man and woman were the Golden Guards from the Heavenly Star City who had initially approached him to suggest working together on this mission.

It was the first time they had talked, but the stories about them were not bad, and they were also Ascended Cultivators who had come from the lower realms. If it hadn’t been for this background, he wouldn’t have accepted the proposal so readily, no matter how valuable the reward was.

The man with the surname Chu stopped whistling and responded to the cultivators’ greetings with a smile.

‘It seems that most of you have gathered, so please take a seat. We need to discuss how to subdue the Blue-Eyed Toad’s lair.’

At the man’s words, the beautiful woman beside him sent a magic seal down below the ice platform. Then, white lights flashed on both sides of the ice palace, and jade chairs appeared.

The Nascent Soul stage cultivators sat on the nearest chairs and looked up at the Void Refinement couple on the ice platform. The silver-haired man smiled and opened his mouth after everyone was seated.

‘As my wife and I expected, about 40% of the requested cultivators have gathered! The other cultivators must be unable to arrive on time due to their missions. In any case, all the cultivators gathered here must cooperate with all their might to subdue the Blue-Eyed Toad. After the mission is completed, the gathered cultivators will receive the Blue-Eyed Toad’s blood, and my wife and I will obtain a few Thousand Heart Flowers guarded by ancient beast groups. There shouldn’t be any objections to this, right? Of course, the Blue-Eyed Toad’s blood will be distributed differently depending on how well each of you performs. I hope that no one wastes time and fails to get what they want.’

Senior Chu finished his words of caution and exposed the pressure of a Void Refinement cultivator’s spiritual energy. The atmosphere became solemn, and no one dared to object.

‘Since everyone seems to understand, let’s talk specifically. First, Fellow Immortal Yu discovered the Blue-Eyed Toad group, so please speak.’

Senior Chu smiled contentedly and turned his head to look at Fellow Immortal Yu. Fellow Immortal Yu smiled and stood up, scanning the others before opening her mouth.

‘I won’t go into detail about how I discovered the Blue-Eyed Toad’s lair. The important thing is that there are almost ten Blue-Eyed Toads, and among them, a pair of adult Blue-Eyed Toads have mid-Void Refinement stage cultivation. And the young toads have cultivation comparable to Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

The Blue-Eyed Toad group usually stays deep underground and doesn’t show itself easily. If we have to invade their lair and subdue them, the surrounding environment will be unfavorable to us, making it difficult.’

Fellow Immortal Yu paused for a moment before continuing.

‘Of course, if it were just this, we wouldn’t have invited so many cultivators. The key is that two types of powerful beasts inhabit the area around the Blue-Eyed Toad’s lair. The first is the Black Blood Ants, and the other is the Shadow Insect Beasts.’

‘Black Blood Ants!’

‘Shadow Insect Beasts…’

‘Oh no, those things.’

At the same time, the cultivators sitting on both sides were startled and murmured. Some couldn’t help but whisper to the cultivators around them.

Indeed, the two spirit beasts were worthy of such reactions.

If they were surrounded by a swarm of Shadow Insects, even a Void Refinement cultivator couldn’t guarantee a safe escape. After finishing her words, Fellow Immortal Yu bowed to Senior Chu and returned to her seat.

‘There’s no need to worry so much. When we called so many cultivators, we must have already prepared a solution, right?’

Senior Chu was calm.

‘Senior Chu! It’s not that we don’t trust your words, but the ferocity of the Black Blood Ants and Shadow Insect Beasts is well known. Could you tell us specifically how you plan to deal with them?’

A gray-haired old man wearing a bamboo hat stood up from his seat and bowed, asking. The old man was one of the few late-Nascent Soul stage cultivators gathered here.

‘Fellow Cultivator Yu, you can sit back down. I was about to explain even if you hadn’t asked.’

A handsome young man smiled and said. At his words, the old man cupped his fist and sat down.

‘The two spirit insects are troublesome, but my wife and I have already obtained Sandalwood Crane Incense. This incense is excellent at attracting Black Blood Ants, so we can easily lure the Black Blood Ants to the surface and eliminate them. And we borrowed a set of Mystic Azure Heavenly Thunder Flags from a friend. If we use this treasure to maintain the Heavenly Capital Thunder Ring Array, it will be enough to trap the Shadow Insect Beasts. In addition, we have invited Fellow Cultivator Han and Fellow Immortal So to deal with the Shadow Insect Beasts professionally. If the two cultivators assist with the formation, we can prepare for any eventuality. The rest of the cultivators can join forces with my wife and me to deal with the Blue-Eyed Toads. What do you think?’

Senior Chu finished his long speech in a clear voice. Although his voice wasn’t loud, it was clearly heard by everyone gathered in the palace. After hearing his name mentioned, Han Li looked around the palace and met someone’s gaze.