Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 835

On the third day after entering the mountain range, they encountered a Sky Peng Clan patrol, a group of about thirty approaching them. Each wore white armor and held a gleaming silver spear, most of them fluctuating between the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation stages [cultivation stages].

They were quite an elite force for patrol duty. The middle-aged man who seemed to be their leader greeted Feng Suo’s group with a welcoming bow.

“Greetings, Spiritual Generals Feng and Bai. The elders have ordered that you three report to the Myriad Peng Pavilion upon your return. Ah, and this person….”

The Sky Peng Clan member, who was in a hurry to deliver the message, looked at Han Li with a puzzled expression.

“This person is one of our clan! He has been cultivating far away and is returning to the clan for the first time. I apologize, Brother Han. We must see the elders first, so please rest at the guest house on the sacred mountain for now. With your skills, I am sure the elders will want to meet you in person.”

Feng Suo’s expression changed upon hearing that the Sky Peng Clan elders were looking for them, and he asked for Han Li’s understanding.

“It’s alright. It’s my first time in the clan, so I’d like to look around. Don’t worry about me and go take care of your business.”

“The sacred grounds of our clan are magnificent, so it will take some time to get used to them. This is my spirit token; except for a few restricted areas, no one will stop you. One of you, take Brother Han to the guest house!”

Feng Suo thought for a moment, then took out a wooden token from his pocket, tossed it to Han Li, and turned to instruct the middle-aged Sky Peng Clan member.

“Understood!”

The Core Formation stage patrol leader bowed his head with utmost respect at Feng Suo’s words.

“Thank you for your consideration, Brother Feng.”

“It’s nothing. I am only sorry that I cannot guide you myself. I will attend to you as soon as I finish my work.”

Han Li smiled and greeted him, and Feng Suo spoke with an apologetic look. The Bai siblings also bowed to Han Li and immediately transformed into giant silver birds, soaring away.

“Hwa-woo! Escort the esteemed guest to the guest house. You must serve him with utmost care.”

As Feng Suo’s group moved away, the middle-aged Sky Peng Clan member pointed to the youngest-looking man among his subordinates and gave him the order. Then, he bowed to Han Li and continued his patrol.

Han Li followed the man’s guidance and flew deeper into the mountain range. This young Sky Peng Clan member was very polite to Han Li and did not speak carelessly unless Han Li asked him something first.

However, there was little information that could be gleaned from a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, so Han Li also kept his mouth shut after asking a few questions. After flying for several hours, following the man, a dozen or so low mountains suddenly appeared, blocking their path.

The mountains were low, but dark clouds covered them, and lightning flashed, making it seem impossible to pass easily. Han Li’s eyes lit up. He then realized that the mountains and dark clouds were all illusions created by the harmony of restrictions [magical barriers]. Someone had placed a powerful restriction.

Indeed, Hwa-woo went ahead of Han Li, reached one of the mountains, and flapped his wings. Then, a milky white feather flew from his body and pierced the air.

Bang!

A dull sound was heard, and the small mountain distorted and blurred like a shadow. Eventually, it completely disappeared, revealing a hidden white passage. The young man entered it without hesitation.

Han Li, raising an eyebrow, also transformed into a streak of blue light and followed him. After passing through a passage several hundred feet long, the scene in front of them brightened, and a huge castle and moat that were hard to take in at a glance appeared.

The castle was built against a mountain, surrounded by blue mountains ten thousand feet high on all sides, and the castle walls were built with white bricks and were not very high.

What was unique was that there were no walls, and several huge pillars rose above the walls, emitting colorful lights and spreading a thick curtain.

Many Sky Peng Clan members passed through the castle walls between the huge pillars.

“Esteemed guest, please come inside.”

The young Sky Peng Clan member, Hwa-woo, said politely to Han Li. Han Li nodded and spread his wings, approaching the nearest huge pillar.

On the way, Hwa-woo explained.

“You must be careful not to stray too far from the Sky Pillar. You can only enter the Holy City without being affected by the restrictions within fifty feet of the pillar. The Sky Peng restrictions of this city are famous among the 72 races. With these restrictions alone, we can face enemies several times our size, and it is said that we avoided several extinctions in ancient times thanks to them.”

Hwa-woo’s words were filled with pride.

Han Li could not recognize what kind of restrictions they were at a glance, but he finally understood the enormous pressure of spiritual energy emanating from the spiritual energy barrier. When he used his Brightsight Spirit Eyes [a special vision technique], he could faintly see threads of blue and silver light fluttering in the high sky.

They were extremely thin threads, but most of the felt spiritual energy pressure was emanating from those threads. Han Li examined them closely and followed Hwa-woo past the pillar called the Sky Pillar.

Soon, they were inside the giant castle. There were many buildings on the streets, which were slightly different from those in the human cities. The buildings were all round and conical, becoming narrower as they went up.

The heights varied, from over a hundred feet to just a few feet, but all had semicircular doors and windows. The strangest thing was that half of the buildings were clustered on the cliff of one side of the giant castle, and there were many caves like a honeycomb.

“Esteemed guest, the guest house is in the center of the city. How about staying in the closest place?”

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s do that.”

“Yes!”

Hwa-woo took Han Li down and slowly moved forward. Thanks to this, Han Li was able to see various scenes in the city and passed by many men and women flying at low altitudes.

After half an hour, they stopped in front of a three-story circular building. As they landed, a girl with white wings came out and bowed.

“Oh, it’s you, Brother Hwa-woo! Is the esteemed guest staying at the guest house?”

“Baek-chwi, this is Esteemed Guest Han. He is a guest of Spiritual General Feng Suo, so you must treat him well.”

Hwa-woo recognized the girl and spoke carefully.

“A guest of Spiritual General Feng Suo? I will be sure to serve him well.”

The pretty girl was startled and became even more polite when the name ‘Feng Suo’ was mentioned. Han Li, who had examined the girl, realized that she was a Qi Refining cultivator [a lower cultivation stage] and entered the building.

The girl bowed her head and followed him, but Hwa-woo did not dare to enter and waited outside. After a while, Han Li’s calm voice was heard from inside the building.

“It’s fine. I’ll stay here, so you can go back.”

At those words, the young man bowed and left.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the window on the third floor of the building, watching the young man move further away. A few feet behind him, the girl named Baek-chwi stood with her hands clasped.

“About how many of our clan members reside in the Holy City?”

The girl was stunned by Han Li’s sudden question, then hurriedly answered.

“This city is so large that there is no exact count, but about 30 to 40 million people reside here.”

“30 to 40 million? Is the population that small?”

“Esteemed guest, you misunderstand. Only those of our clan who can transform into human form through cultivation can enter the Holy City. Those who cannot transform due to low cultivation are not qualified to enter this city. Our clan is a minor one among the Winged Spirit Race, but we still maintain a population of about 1 billion.”

“I see.”

“Is this your first time visiting the Holy City, esteemed guest?”

The girl glanced at Han Li, hesitated, and then couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“Are there many guests like me who visit this place for the first time?”

“Ah, there are quite a few people staying at the guest house. Most of them are either external members of our clan who have entered this place for the first time or people from other races who have been temporarily dispatched to this city.”

“There’s nothing strange about it. I’ve been cultivating alone far out at sea and have entered for the first time. By the way, is there a place nearby where I can get a map of this city? If there is, I’d like to get one, so please tell me the location.”

“Esteemed guest, you don’t need to buy a map from outside. There is a special map prepared for guests at the guest house, which is much more detailed than what you can find outside. I will bring it to you right away.”

“Oh, that would be even better. Bring it to me.”

Han Li nodded immediately at the girl’s words.

“Yes, esteemed guest!”

The girl quickly went downstairs like a swallow. Han Li, still leaning against the window, looking at the scenery outside, reviewed his plan.

His purpose for infiltrating the Sky Peng Clan this time was to obtain various rare materials possessed by the Winged Spirit Race.

Seeing the Winged Spirit Race fighting among themselves, they did not rely much on magical treasures. He didn’t know if the Winged Spirit Race itself was not skilled in alchemy or if the high-level beings did not need the assistance of ordinary artifacts at all.

The only treasures they used, such as the Kunma Net or the Fire Dragon Pearl, were all just auxiliary treasures. While he was thinking this, the girl came back up to the third floor and presented a jade-colored bamboo tube.

The bamboo tube, only as thick as a thumb and a few inches long, was glowing with light.

Whoosh!

Although a little surprised, Han Li calmly summoned it, then waved his hand to dismiss the girl. Baek-chwi politely bowed and went down the stairs.

Han Li stroked the small bamboo tube, showing curiosity. When he infused his consciousness into it, a very clear, huge map appeared. It was similar to the jade slips commonly used by the human race.

It was made to have the same effect as jade slips through special refining.

‘The alchemy skills of the Winged Spirit Race are by no means lacking. They possess their own unique techniques.’

He was immersed in the map, and after half an hour, he withdrew his consciousness from the bamboo tube and pondered.

The area of the city was a little smaller than he had expected, but it was still enormous compared to human cities. It would probably take about fifteen days just to fly from one end to the other. Han Li was more interested in the trading market located within the city than the buildings.

The so-called trading market was marked on the map as a huge mountain located on the edge of the city. The place located on the mountainside looked no different from the markets of the Human-Demon Race.

The only other place that piqued his curiosity was a place called the Spirit Transmission Hall. It was a training place for mid- and high-level cultivators, provided for the Sky Peng Clan members.

Of course, he had also taken note of some of the restrictions marked on the map, but he had no intention of going to see them in person.

Han Li recalled the contents of the map, then spread his wings and silently slipped out of the window. He was heading in the direction of the trading market. Given the current situation of the Sky Peng Clan, it was best to quickly gather good materials and leave.

‘Let’s leave before getting caught up in any troublesome matters.’

He slowed down to avoid being conspicuous and flew at a speed similar to that of other Sky Peng Clan members.

The trading market was located quite far on the edge, and it took him half an hour to finally arrive. Not far away, a strangely large tower-shaped building caught his eye. It was not conical but octagonal, with special patterns and symbols engraved on it.

The faint black energy emanating from the magic characters was surprisingly familiar, and seven colors of light were emitted from a bizarre crystal embedded at the top of the tower, enveloping it.

The black energy was surrounded by the seven-colored energy and could not escape the tower. Han Li stroked his chin with a surprised look. If he remembered correctly, that place was also one of the restrictions marked on the map, and it was only written as the Spirit Sealing Tower, with no other explanation.

However, it was clear that the Sky Peng Clan members did not go near it, so it was definitely not a simple place.