Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 83

The Heavenly Firmament Fortress disciple’s eyes rolled back, and he died before he could even understand what had happened.

“Senior Brother Yan!”

The whiskered man from Spirit Beast Mountain, who was watching from the side, was so shocked that he screamed.

In his eyes, Han Li had simply waved his hand lightly, and the Heavenly Firmament Fortress disciple’s neck had snapped before he fell to the ground. He had directly witnessed the separated body stagger backward, spraying a massive amount of blood as it collapsed.

His hands and feet turned cold, and a chill ran down his spine. The way the opponent had killed his friend was too bizarre.

To kill someone from such a distance without using any magic was simply unbelievable.

“You bastard! If I get out of here, I’ll tear you to pieces!”

Although cold sweat was pouring down his body and he was grief-stricken by his friend’s death, the whiskered man shouted fiercely, not wanting to lose his momentum.

However, he had already decided to flee as soon as he escaped the Lightning Net Technique. A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years, right?

The guy in front of him was too mysterious. He had a high-grade Lightning Net Technique talisman and even possessed an invisible killing weapon, making him difficult to deal with.

Although avenging his friend was important, it was not more important than his own life. Han Li had only confirmed that he had taken out a pangolin-like beast and was using it to attack the yellow barrier along with the monster snake he had seen earlier. Moreover, he had also taken out a mace-like magical tool and was helping the two beasts by striking at the barrier, causing its light to flicker and fluctuate.

‘The Lightning Net Technique won’t last much longer!’

Han Li immediately took out the Golden Light Brick and focused his mind. He couldn’t feel at ease with ordinary magical tools.

The opponent was a master of the thirteenth level, so if he couldn’t subdue him at once and he escaped the Lightning Net Technique, it would be a big headache. He still vividly remembered the hardships he had gone through when fighting the Lu family, and they were only at the twelfth level.

Although he had dealt with the twelfth-level guy using the transparent thread, it was not certain whether he could kill the whiskered man, who already had a thorough defense, in the same way.

As the whiskered man, trapped in the Lightning Net Technique, saw Han Li holding something like a talisman and preparing something, he increased the speed of his mace strikes.

However, the yellow barrier of the Lightning Net Technique was slowly losing its shape and turning dark, but it still maintained its form. The whiskered man was on the verge of going crazy with impatience.

At that moment, he felt a shocking surge of spiritual energy erupting from where Han Li was. When he looked up to confirm it, he saw a golden light erupting from Han Li’s hand, and a rectangular object filled with golden light was slowly rising. The sky-piercing spiritual energy was coming from that object.

“A magical treasure!”

The whiskered man’s face turned pale as he spoke in terror. He had surprisingly recognized the Golden Light Brick.

However, he didn’t realize that Han Li was also pale. The object floating leisurely was desperately sucking away Han Li’s magical power.

The constant draining of magical power seemed like it wouldn’t stop until he was completely dried up. Han Li was suffering from the pain of his magical power being drained and was cursing the Myriad Treasures Pavilion for selling him this thing.

‘What kind of magical treasure is this! It’s a blood-sucking vampire!’

The magical treasure, having absorbed a third of his entire magical power, finally stopped its insane suction and stabilized.

Now, all control had returned to Han Li. Without wasting any time, Han Li immediately unleashed the Golden Light Brick towards the whiskered man, who was still trapped in the Lightning Net Technique.

It was only natural that the whiskered man’s face turned ashen and he was terrified.

The Golden Light Brick cut through the wind and grew in size, instantly becoming as large as a house. Spiritual energy swirled on its surface, and golden light radiated in all directions, making it terrifying just by its aura.

When it reached the top of the whiskered man’s head, it had become as large as a small hill and crushed him without hesitation.

“Aaaah!”

The whiskered man’s scream shook the entire mountain. Han Li’s expression was strange. He hadn’t expected to eliminate a thirteenth-level figure like this.

As he retrieved the magical treasure, the Golden Light Brick immediately returned to its original form and fell into Han Li’s hand.

A huge crater had formed where the Golden Light Brick had crushed the ground. Naturally, the whiskered man and his spirit beasts were crushed together, becoming unrecognizable.

‘I really killed him.’

Han Li was momentarily stunned. It felt like he had thrown a punch but hadn’t hit anything. He couldn’t tell if the whiskered man was weak or if the Golden Light Brick was too powerful. However, it was clear that he shouldn’t stay here for long after making such a loud noise. He snapped out of his daze, quickly disposed of the corpse, and after collecting half a dozen storage pouches, he left the One-Line Sky area.

‘There’s a dense forest ahead that’s good for ambushes. If I enter, there might be another fierce battle waiting for me, so let’s find a suitable place to rest for a while. I need to replenish my lost magical power and recover my body.’

* * *

While Han Li was recovering his energy under a leafy giant tree near the forest, the first major massacre of this Blood Gold Trial was reaching its peak throughout the forbidden area.

Various individuals were revealing their true colors and eliminating the weaker ones around them, and the closer they got to the center of the forbidden area, the more frequent the massacres became.

When skilled masters encountered each other, they tacitly pretended not to see each other and passed by. It wasn’t yet time for them to fight each other. The disciples of each sect in the center of the forbidden area could be roughly divided into three categories.

The first category consisted of those with weak skills, whose cultivation was at the tenth or eleventh level. Their reasons for entering the forbidden area varied.

Some had their own difficulties and had no choice but to enter, while others might have been hoping for a stroke of luck and trying to take advantage of the chaos. However, whatever their purpose, they were at the bottom of this Blood Gold Trial.

After the first day in the forbidden area, this group was almost entirely eliminated, except for those who were very clever or had special means to protect themselves. Of course, those like Han Li, who had various strange treasures to deal with their enemies, were exceptions.

The second category consisted of those who, like the whiskered man, were not weak in magical power but were not considered masters due to various factors, and had given up on the idea of obtaining spirit herbs.

Instead of risking their lives to compete with top-level masters for spirit herbs, they were the type who decided to kill people and take their treasures. However, they were very active during the first two days of the Blood Gold Trial, and then disappeared from the third day onwards.

They also knew that after the third day, the masters would go crazy and engage in battles, and they wouldn’t survive if they encountered them during this period.

Of course, some were arrogant or didn’t properly assess their own abilities and jumped into the fray for spirit herbs, only to end up as corpses.

Most of the second category moved quickly and had the highest survival rate in the Blood Gold Trial. It was ironic that even those with stronger skills than them were dying.

Finally, the third category was the smallest.

They were the top of the pyramid in the Blood Gold Trial, the elite forces dispatched by each sect, and the only group that the sect’s higher-ups had expectations for.

The other disciples were merely bait to draw the attention of other sects. These elite forces had profound magical power and possessed top-grade magical tools that suited them well.

Their only goal was to kill the members of other sects and secure enough spirit herbs!

Therefore, the first massacre proceeded as if it were a promise, weeding out the disciples who were stirring up trouble and looking for opportunities, eliminating any unexpected situations.

They didn’t panic or become impatient even if others entered the central area first. It was easy to enter, but wouldn’t it be more difficult to safely leave with spirit herbs?

Even though the massacre was constantly ongoing, Han Li was still far from the central area and was not affected. Most of the other weaker individuals were suffering in the massacre due to bad luck.

And Xiao Yi of the Fire Dao Sect was one of them. Xiao Yi was now staring at his opponent with a pale face. The man was a barefoot giant with a huge silver sword on his back.

He had already killed two of Xiao Yi’s fellow disciples from the Fire Dao Sect in front of him. In front of that huge silver sword, even excellent magical tools and defensive barriers were cut like paper, and in the end, people were also cut in half.

After his other fellow disciples had held his attention, Xiao Yi, who was the weakest, had a chance to escape. He ran through the wilderness, trying to get away.

Unfortunately, the giant had no intention of letting him go, and after chasing him for several hours, he had caught up with him here. It was devastating news for Xiao Yi.

“If you surrender, I’ll preserve your corpse!”

“You… you die!”

In response to the giant’s cold words, Xiao Yi, knowing that his death was near, activated both of his high-grade magical tools with all his might.

“Foolish.”

The silver sword on the giant’s back soared up, easily shattering both magical tools, and then cut Xiao Yi in half. After finishing his work, he left without even checking the corpse. It was clear that he had no interest in the other’s storage pouch.

‘This silver giant sword is enough. Other magical tools will only distract me and hinder my cultivation!’

Such killings of the weak by the strong were constantly occurring. Even Han Li, who hadn’t seen it, could feel the faint smell of blood spreading in the air. However, without even having time to figure out the cause, Han Li was sitting motionless on the giant tree. He was gradually replenishing the magical power in his body.

Time flew by like an arrow, and half of the first night in the forbidden area had already passed. However, the night inside was as bright as day, and the sky and earth were constantly gray.

When Han Li had almost recovered his magical power, he heard hurried footsteps and panting breaths in the distance. It sounded like someone was running towards the giant tree where Han Li was.

Han Li’s lips twitched, and although he wanted to curse loudly in his mind, he had no choice but to open his tightly closed eyes.

He still needed more time to fully recover his magical power, but he couldn’t just sit leisurely when someone was approaching. Especially when he didn’t know the situation of the person running towards him!

“Which senior brother is it? Please, save me!”

A woman wearing yellow clothes stumbled to the base of the tree, looking very surprised and confused as she cried out to Han Li for help. It was as if she believed that the person above would appear like a comet and definitely save her.

Behind her, a figure in white clothes was slowly walking, looking very relaxed, in contrast to the woman’s desperate state.

Seeing how things were turning out, Han Li was about to lose it. He was quite displeased that this female disciple had brought disaster upon him, but he didn’t question how she had found his hiding place.

The reason was that before they had set off, all the Yellow Maple Valley disciples had been affected by a kind of tracking technique cast by the sect leader, Zhong Yingdao. If they entered a certain range, they could sense the location of their fellow disciples.

Of course, the magic had its limits, and its effect would disappear after ten days. It was meant for the disciples to cooperate and obtain more spirit herbs and gain an advantage. He had heard that the disciples of other sects were also affected by similar types of magic.

Reluctantly, Han Li’s gaze turned to the woman. It was a familiar face. She was the female disciple who had been standing with Senior Sister Jin. Aside from her good figure, her appearance was quite ordinary.

Even after seeing the woman’s desperate pleas, Han Li didn’t immediately jump down from the giant tree. He simply observed the white figure approaching behind her through the gaps in the leaves.