Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 87

In the southern part of the central area, a region covered in sand, a pair of disciples from the Hidden Moon Sect, a man and a woman, were using their Ice Pick Technique to scour the vast area. It seemed they were searching for something, but after a long time, they had found nothing.

“Where the hell is that bitch hiding! If I catch her, I’ll gouge her eyes out!”

The female disciple was beautiful, like a delicate flower, but her language was incredibly harsh. The man listening to her felt a chill run down his spine.

“Junior Sister, let’s leave it for now! The time set by the sect is almost up, and if we don’t leave now, we’ll be late.”

From the man’s tone, it seemed he was afraid of the woman he called Junior Sister.

“Hmph! It’s all because of you, you useless fool! You couldn’t even keep an eye on a girl who had only reached the tenth level of cultivation, and now she’s escaped. If anyone finds out, it’ll tarnish the reputation of me and my sister, the Hidden Moon Twin Beauties! How could the sect pair me with an idiot like you as a cultivation partner!”

The woman was somewhat composed until the man spoke, but after hearing his words, she flew into a rage and berated him. The man, hearing this, blushed and didn’t know what to do.

The female disciple looked up at the sky, giving up on the idea of searching further. If she messed up the sect’s important mission, even with her special status and connections, she wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences.

However, she wasn’t one to leave in such a defeated state. After hesitating for a moment, she gritted her teeth and took out a blue talisman. Looking down at the talisman, she shot it behind her, then moved far away from that spot.

The male disciple, with a distressed expression, followed her without delay. By then, the talisman had already transformed into a massive dark cloud, completely blocking off the area. The temperature nearby plummeted rapidly, and an extreme cold began to set in.

Soon, countless ice spears rained down from the dark cloud, filling the surrounding area. Only after about a quarter of an hour did the dark cloud gradually dissipate, and the entire ice desert sparkled due to the ice. They carefully surveyed the area from afar, but nothing seemed to have happened.

Her venomous face darkened, and she called out to the male disciple, then stomped away from the area. The man, her so-called cultivation partner, naturally followed closely behind her.

The Hidden Moon Sect female disciple, who had already left, didn’t notice, but in a secluded area of the ice desert, a faint red liquid was spreading. However, it was too faint to be seen from afar, so it escaped her notice.

About half an hour later, as the dark red color deepened, the sand in that area suddenly surged up, gradually forming a small, round pouch that grew in size. Eventually, the sand pouch burst open, and a woman in green robes tumbled out. An ice spear was lodged in her shoulder, and she was covered in blood, her body already soaked in it.

She was clutching a yellow handkerchief in her hand, which shone brightly, indicating it was no ordinary object. Slowly getting up, she checked the wound on her shoulder, and her brow furrowed.

“Ugh!”

She gritted her teeth and pulled it out, and a groan escaped her lips as if the pain was severe. At the same time, tears streamed from her beautiful eyes, and blood poured from the wound.

Without even wiping away her tears, she rummaged through her storage pouch, took out a bottle with a flower pattern, and applied yellow powder to the wound to stop the bleeding.

Once everything was done, the woman in green robes wrapped her arms around her knees and sat down on the sand, suddenly covering her face and sobbing.

However, she suppressed her sobs, afraid that others might discover her. Only after a long time did this female disciple of Spirit Beast Mountain stop crying and lift her head to look at the empty desert. She was trembling, unable to control her emotions.

She bit her lip and struggled to stand up. After hesitating for a long time, she began to walk unsteadily towards the central area.

Traces of tears still lingered on the woman’s face, but her expression showed a strong determination. Surprisingly, this woman was the same girl who had sold Han Li the Golden Bamboo Pen.

Injured, she walked alone and quietly through the sand desert. Her appearance was pitiful and evoked sympathy. Her back, as she pressed on her wound, gradually receded into the distance.

* * *

After Han Li hurried for about half a day, he finally reached the outskirts of the central area. Surprisingly, nothing had happened during that time, and no one had attacked him. He didn’t know that those who had rushed in this direction earlier had all been killed by the elite disciples. Those who came later had been cleanly killed by the white-robed woman and Bongak.

As a result, the disciples who had barely escaped the net realized there was no hope and hid themselves.

Hiding like turtles was the best way for the weak to survive in the Blood Gold Trial.

Han Li, who needed to obtain the three main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill, naturally didn’t act like them. He was now carefully examining a stone wall.

Not far from the stone wall where he stood was an ancient, gleaming bronze gate. The language engraved on it was an ancient script that looked like nothing more than patterns to Han Li.

The bronze gate was wide open, meaning someone had already entered. According to the information he had memorized, there were four such bronze gates, and they were the only entrances to the central area.

If anyone tried to bypass the bronze gate and enter the forbidden area by climbing over the stone wall, they would face the misfortune of being torn to pieces by the Wind Seal Restriction on the wall. The reason Han Li was carefully examining the wall was that it was different from the other walls, and there were even strange ‘things’ on it.

On the wall, three people in different attire were impaled on thick ice spears, their limbs spread out in a large X shape. They were no longer breathing, having been dead for a long time.

The blood that had flowed from their arms and legs had already solidified and turned dark red, forming streaks of blood from the top of the wall to the ground. Han Li guessed that they had still been alive when they were impaled on the wall and had died from massive blood loss.

There were no clues or writings near the three corpses, but anyone could understand the meaning with a little thought. Someone had deliberately left these corpses to warn others not to dare enter the gate.

After examining the corpses that had died in agony, Han Li licked his dry lips and walked towards the bronze gate. In fact, after understanding everything, Han Li felt a chill. Seeing those corpses, it was clear that the one who had done this was a madman. It would be better to commit suicide than to fall into that person’s hands and meet such a fate.

Still, he couldn’t be scared away by such a trivial matter after coming this far. Now, a mountain of swords and a sea of fire awaited him, so he had to steel his resolve and enter.

Han Li stepped through the gate with a sense of unease. However, the more uneasy he felt, the calmer and more composed he appeared on the outside.

The moment he stepped inside, a scene that could only be seen in the immortal realm unfolded, with flowers chirping and blooming everywhere. Various strange flowers and grasses were scattered about, and unknown trees caught his eye. Scarlet trees, herbs emitting strange fragrances, and yellow bamboo as thick as a normal person’s waist—all were precious things that could not be seen in the outside world.

Among the rare plants, there was a winding path made of pebbles, hidden by the dense foliage, and no matter how closely he looked, he couldn’t see where it led.

Briefly stunned by this sight, Han Li unconsciously took a deep breath. The spiritual energy was truly dense. As the rich spiritual energy emitted by these mysterious plants permeated his body, Han Li’s mind cleared. It was truly a place where immortals could appear. No wonder heaven and earth spiritual herbs could grow here.

“Boy, have you looked around enough?”

“Who is it?”

A piercing voice suddenly rang out.

“Hehe! If you’ve looked around enough, you can die without regrets now!”

He seemed not to have heard Han Li’s question, muttering to himself. At the same time, two green shadows sprang out from the blooming bushes, silently ambushing Han Li from behind. It was impossible for them to escape the notice of Han Li, who had been on high alert, his mind focused. The green shadows brushed past him.

Even in the midst of the rapid movements, he could see that they were thin, straight objects like chopsticks, entirely green with faint black stripes. He had already easily evaded the attack, but he maintained a serious expression. The corpses outside the gate were still vivid in his mind, so he couldn’t follow in their footsteps.

Han Li, with a dark expression, scanned the area, searching for the hidden enemy. Suddenly, the enemy began to make a strange, hissing whistle. At that sound, Han Li’s expression changed abruptly, and he leaped away with an uncanny movement, stopping far away. What had caused him to do this was the green shadows that had flown past him. They were wriggling their bodies and spreading out faint, translucent green wings.

The green shadows were actually long, winged snakes. Until just now, they had been standing upright, mistaken for objects, but once they spread their wings, their bodies twisted 180 degrees, displaying rapid movements that were no slower than Han Li’s Swift Shadow Steps. How could Han Li’s expression be good!

The two Flying Snakes raised their heads, and their four green eyes gleamed with a sinister light. Their tongues flicked out incessantly, as if they were about to attack again at any moment.

“You’re quite fast. But no matter how fast you are, can you be faster than my Manghuang Mountain Flying Snakes? If you obediently let my cute snakes bite you, you can die without pain.”

The man with the piercing voice was briefly surprised by Han Li’s quick movements, but he still had faith in his Flying Snakes and coldly mocked him.

‘Nonsense!’

These words echoed only in his mind, and Han Li didn’t utter a single word. It wasn’t because he was afraid, but because the snakes were transforming into green nets, leaving afterimages as they flew. In the middle, the two snakes drew arcs, attacking Han Li from both sides. Seeing this, Han Li naturally had no time to argue and leaped backward with a speed that was no less than the green nets. The space wasn’t large, so the green nets spun around several times in an instant, and Han Li moved his feet without stopping.

He was relying solely on the function of his boots to run, and he hadn’t yet used the Swift Shadow Steps or the Wind Riding Technique.

It wasn’t that Han Li was underestimating the Flying Snakes, but he had already fought two consecutive battles and had just obtained the magical boots and tested their function, so his stamina hadn’t fully recovered. Therefore, he didn’t want to use the Swift Shadow Steps unless it was a critical moment where his life was at stake. If he used the Wind Riding Technique or Swift Shadow Steps recklessly, the burden on his body would be too great, and he wouldn’t be able to recover his stamina.

However, Han Li certainly didn’t intend to let the Flying Snakes continue to chase him.

Although he couldn’t recklessly use defensive magic to compare who was stronger for fear of slowing down, he had more than enough means to deal with the two snakes. However, he had been giving half of his attention to the owner of the Flying Snakes, who was still hiding and hadn’t appeared, which was why he hadn’t dealt with the snakes yet. Now that the enemy wasn’t planning to use the snakes to attack, there was no reason not to act.

Having made his decision, he flipped his palm, and a Fire Snake Technique talisman was held between his fingers. He was ready to activate the talisman and roast the snakes alive.

“Cloud Stepping Boots? Wait, I have something to say.”

The man recognized the identity of the spiritual boots Han Li was wearing and spoke in a disbelieving voice. He asked to stop the fight immediately and, using an unknown method, stopped the Flying Snakes. The snakes stopped moving, turned around, and disappeared into the bushes. Han Li raised an eyebrow at the sound, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn’t throw the talisman.

However, he put his other hand into his storage pouch, never letting his guard down.

# 89