Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 842

The owner of the Uh clan, having received the two wooden boxes, turned his gaze to Han Li. At that moment, Han Li’s pupils flickered with a blue light as he stared at the blue fruit.

“Brother Han, is there something wrong with the Azure Fruit?” the owner asked calmly, noticing his expression.

“No, it’s nothing,” Han Li replied, shaking his head. He closed the wooden box and tossed it back. The gaunt man retrieved the box, gave Han Li a meaningful look, and then silently walked out the door. Han Li, the young man, and the giant followed him.

The owner’s flying speed was extremely fast, but Han Li and the others were not far behind, easily leaving the trading battlefield and heading towards a remote part of the city.

After flying for more than an hour, they arrived at a very secluded area of the city. There were hardly any buildings, and not many Heavenly Peng [a race of bird-like humanoids] people passed by, giving it a desolate feel.

The owner landed in front of the most inconspicuous two-story building. As soon as the gaunt man touched the ground, the door opened by itself, and two young men came out and bowed respectfully.

“Master, you have returned!”

“You two guard the outside, and don’t let anyone in unless I give the order.”

“Understood!” the two men replied immediately and stood on either side of the door. The owner entered the building first, followed by Han Li, the young man, and the giant.

The building was not large, and the interior decoration was plain. There were only three square wooden tables and a dozen or so wooden chairs.

On the walls hung some old paintings, landscape paintings of demonic beasts playing, but nothing special.

“Brother Uh, is there really a spirit beast in a place like this?” the giant asked, looking around with a puzzled expression. He found it hard to believe that a powerful spirit beast could be confined in such a small space.

“Do you think I would gather everyone here just to deceive you? Follow me.”

The owner glanced at the giant and walked towards the wall where the landscape paintings were hanging, flicking his sleeve. A scroll flew out from within. The scroll trembled as it unfurled, revealing a picture that was surprisingly identical to the one hanging on the wall.

The giant and Han Li were dumbfounded, not knowing what to make of it, but the young man’s expression changed, and he exclaimed loudly,

“A Sumeru Grotto Heaven Map! You actually possess the supreme treasure of the Five Lights Clan!”

“Sumeru Map? That’s impossible. The Five Lights Clan probably doesn’t even have seven of those treasures, so how could Brother Uh have obtained one?” the giant said, startled and disbelieving.

Han Li, who knew nothing about it, was intrigued by the two words ‘Sumeru’ and carefully examined the painting on the wall.

On the yellowish paper, aged by time, were drawn small dark green mountains and buildings. It was a painting that exuded a hazy and mysterious atmosphere, like moonlight.

“You have a good eye. This is indeed a Sumeru Grotto Heaven Map. It’s not one of the seven treasures the Five Lights Clan cherishes, but merely a flawed Sumeru Map.”

The owner chuckled.

“You mean it’s a fake?” the young man and the giant asked simultaneously, their mouths agape.

“That’s right. This is a fact that few people in the Five Lights Clan know, but back then, the Sumeru Grotto Heaven Maps that the Five Lights Clan refined using the bones of the Five-Colored Peacock were not seven, but ten in total. Unfortunately, three of them were flawed. Their effectiveness was greatly reduced, so those three were hidden and not revealed to the outside world. However, they were leaked out of the Five Lights Clan for various reasons and are now in the hands of other races.”

“Even if it’s a flawed item, Brother Uh, you must have had a great opportunity to obtain a Sumeru item.”

Hearing his words, the giant and the young man showed signs of envy. Han Li was equally covetous.

A ‘Sumeru item’ was one of the treasures he most wanted to obtain since coming to the Spirit World. Unlike the fake Sumeru space he had created using spatial rifts in the Mortal World, it was a true spatial treasure that existed independently and could be carried around at any time.

“Enough talk, let’s go. The spirit beast is inside the grotto heaven.”

The owner’s smile faded, and he flicked the painting he was holding. A five-colored aura of light emanated from the scroll, and a large amount of energy flowed into the painting on the wall.

The owner chanted an incantation and pointed at the painting on the wall with one hand. The painting also emitted a glow of spiritual energy, and a large amount of energy was released.

The five-colored energy, controlled by the owner, instantly engulfed the people, who paused for a moment before surrendering to the energy.

The dazzling light subsided, and when Han Li opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a plaza made of bluestone. Looking around, he saw familiar buildings not far away.

After a moment of recollection, he realized that what was unfolding before him was surprisingly the buildings built on the small mountain he had seen in the Sumeru Grotto Heaven Map.

Han Li looked around and exclaimed in admiration. He had somehow entered the same space as the Sumeru Grotto Heaven Map. Although the space was not large, it was surrounded by five-colored light barriers everywhere.

Not far from him stood the giant, the young man, and the owner. The giant and the young man also looked around with curiosity, while the owner began to head towards the buildings without hesitation.

“Brother Uh, the Sumeru space looks perfect, so what kind of flaw does it have?” the young man asked, following the owner.

“Hehe, do you think I would tell you that? What kind of flaw the Sumeru Grotto Heaven Map has is completely irrelevant to this transaction,” the owner replied coldly, glaring at him.

“Haha, why are you being so sensitive? I was just curious,” the young man said awkwardly, trying to defuse the situation. The owner snorted and said nothing more. After all, they were the ones he would soon be asking for help.

After a while, he appeared at a pavilion about a hundred feet away, stopped in mid-air with his hands behind his back. The three-story pavilion had an antique style and narrowed as it went up.

“The spirit beast is confined here. Let’s go take a look and talk,” the owner explained calmly to them and descended first. The others exchanged glances and followed him. The owner did not go to the first-floor entrance but stopped in front of a semi-circular window on the second floor. The others were puzzled but also floated at the same height as the second floor.

The window was covered with a silver barrier, as if it had been sealed with a restriction beforehand.

Kwarurung!

Just as the young man’s eyes lit up and he was about to say something, a sudden roar echoed, and the silver barrier in front of them shook. The pavilion trembled.

Kwarurung! Kwakwakwang! Kwakwang! Kurung!

And the sound of thunder continued endlessly, making the four people’s ears ring. It was as if they had suddenly entered a world filled with lightning, and their minds suddenly became dizzy.

‘This is bad.’

Han Li was startled and quickly activated the Great Development Technique [a cultivation technique] to regain his senses. The owner, the giant, and the young man also used various methods to quickly regain their composure.

“Is this the spirit beast that Brother Uh wants to subdue?” the black-armored giant asked, staring intently at the window.

“That’s right. But rest assured, it’s currently trapped by a restriction, so it poses no threat unless I release it with a spell,” the owner said, his eyes showing excitement. He then flipped his hand and took out the scroll painting, the Sumeru Grotto Heaven Map.

This time, he did not unfurl the scroll but held one end and pointed the other end at the light barrier. The light of the window shattered and disappeared like glass.

The owner flapped his wings and disappeared into the pavilion. The giant and the young man followed immediately. However, Han Li paused for a moment before slowly flying into the window.

Thud!

A roar echoed, and the pavilion shook again. The pressure of the lightning-attribute spiritual energy surged in as if it had a physical form.

Han Li’s expression changed slightly as he entered, and he almost couldn’t help but retreat. However, he managed to block it with his gray energy, and only then did the scene before him come into view.

The pavilion was much larger than he had imagined, like a small plaza of two to three hundred feet. In the center, 81 thick pillars, carved with various demonic creatures and beasts, stood emitting a yellowish light.

Kwakwang! Kwakwakwang!

Kururung! Kwakwang! Kwarung!

In the space surrounding the pillars, strange black lightning flickered. The constant sound of thunder made it seem like a large cage to confine something.

In the black mist, silver-white lightning constantly bounced, attacking the surrounding black lightning net, but it only turned into smoke as if it had met its natural enemy.

“Is that the lightning-attribute spirit beast inside?” the black-armored giant asked, pausing at the seemingly unremarkable black mist.

“Are you looking down on that spirit beast right now? Well, it’s hard to imagine the terror of the Thunder Beast,” the owner said, glancing at the giant with a sneer.

“Thunder Beast?” Han Li muttered, narrowing his brows.

“That’s right. That’s the name of this spirit beast! There’s not much to say about the Thunder Beast’s background, but it’s the only one of its kind in the world,” the owner said, staring intently at the black mist, a hint of madness in his eyes.

“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? It doesn’t look that powerful,” the gentle young man said.

“Attack? That Thunder Beast isn’t doing anything right now. Those lightning bolts are something it possesses innately. You’ll see for yourself what the Thunder Beast’s true nature and attack capabilities are like,” the owner said, scoffing as if he had heard something ridiculous.

He stretched out his hand, and a white light flew out from his sleeve, landing on top of the thickest pillar. It was a small beast with a white body and wings. Its entire body was covered in sharp scales about a few inches long, making it look like a winged hedgehog.

The small beast, which had fallen onto the copper pillar as if the restriction the owner had placed on it had crumbled, stretched out its limbs and lay prone, trembling.

“Bristle Mane Beast!” the black-armored giant and the young man exclaimed in disbelief, recognizing the demonic beast famous for its ferocity among the Bi-Ling Clan.

The ferocity of that small beast was so great that even a Void Refinement-level being [a high level of cultivation] would have difficulty handling it. Yet, it had become so weak just by being bound to the copper pillar. It was astonishing.

As they were thinking this, a huge blue hand appeared from the black energy, trying to grab the Bristle Mane Beast. Silver lightning crackled wildly before the five fingers even touched it.

Bang!

The small beast seemed to have no strength to escape, but fortunately, it was outside the net and was safe.

However, a strange sound soon echoed from the black mist. A thunderous sound filled with anger roared, and a dazzling silver light burst out from the mist. The silver lightning expanded rapidly, carrying something, pushing back the black energy, and a demonic creature that looked like a human and a bird appeared.

The demonic creature had a pigeon’s head, blue skin, and dark blue wings, and its lower body was shaped like a bird. Surprisingly, its arms were shaped like a steel hammer and a drill.

The golden eyes of the half-human, half-bird creature gleamed ominously.

The moment Han Li and his group saw the Thunder Beast, they were so shocked that they couldn’t help but gasp. Before their surprise could subside, the Thunder Beast’s pigeon head let out a shriek, and countless white lightning orbs burst out from its mouth, flashing white light.

At the same time, its wings flapped, and hundreds of feathers shot out, turning into half-foot-long blue arrows that densely filled the air.

Kwakwang!

The Thunder Beast’s hammer hand and drill hand collided, and this time, thick golden lightning shot out from the tip of the drill, soon turning into a golden lightning dragon that advanced with a ferocious momentum. In a split second, it had surprisingly unleashed three different lightning-attribute divine abilities.

At the sight of this, the three people were startled and took a step back. They were not sure if the black lightning net could withstand such a powerful attack.

However, the man of the Uh clan smiled quietly and did not move from his spot.