Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 885

The puppet carefully held the small bottle and spoke confidently.

“This is the Yin Water Sunflower Essence that the elders bestowed upon me before I was dispatched here. I wish to trade with you using this.”

“Yin Water Sunflower Essence.”

“It’s a rare treasure, with only a small amount produced every ten years, making it hard to find even if you searched the entire Spirit Realm.”

The puppet added an explanation when it saw the other party hesitating.

*Swish*-

A black aura flew from the cave, took the bottle the puppet was holding, and returned.

“Indeed, it is the Yin Water Sunflower Essence. It seems your elders intended to use me from the start.”

“Then, do you permit it?”

“This old one made a pact with the Floating Clan elders. It was to manage the Yin energy in the space where the Floating Clan resides, preventing it from running wild. Lately, the Yin energy here has been unstable, so I cannot move directly. I will lend you the Five Dragon Guillotine, so go and take care of it!”

“Thank you, Senior! With the Five Dragon Guillotine, there’s no reason we can’t handle them.”

“That’s good then. Here, take it!”

Something sharp shot out from the cave and stopped right in front of the Blood Armor Puppet. The ordinary-looking silver-white guillotine seemed unremarkable except for its mirror-like, shiny surface.

“Senior, is this… the real Five Dragon Guillotine?”

The Blood Armor Puppet, holding the guillotine and examining it closely, asked with a puzzled expression.

“Heh heh, why does it not seem so? Would this old one play tricks on you?”

“No, it’s not that…”

The Blood Armor Puppet hurriedly tried to explain, but the guillotine in its hand trembled, broke free, and flew into the air. It spun once in the void and transformed into five illusory dragons, coiling around the guillotine, revealing sharp teeth and claws.

“The Five Dragon Guillotine is a treasure this old one refined from the remains and souls of five evil dragons, each with different divine powers, after wandering other continents. As soon as it was refined, it was listed on the Chaos Myriad Spirit Board [a ranking of powerful spiritual treasures] and is a top-tier treasure among the Heaven Piercing Spirit Treasures [a category of extremely powerful spiritual treasures].”

“I have shown a foolish appearance before you, Senior. I will return it as soon as I deal with the intruders.”

Seeing the guillotine’s strange power, the Blood Armor Puppet immediately dropped its suspicion and formed a hand seal. The guillotine turned into a silver beam of light and entered its sleeve.

“The Five Dragon Guillotine has reached the level of mind-body unity with me. Even if it is hidden by piercing through space, I can retrieve it with a thought. And since you are a puppet, I will teach you a hand seal to activate your consciousness and control the Five Dragon Guillotine. Although you won’t be able to exert its full power for long, it will be enough to deal with a few intruders. However, using this hand seal will greatly damage the consciousness within the puppet and may even affect the main body. Will you still learn it?”

The puppet’s eyes wavered at his words.

“If we fail to stop the intruders, we will not escape severe punishment even if we return to our clan safely. In that case, we should do our best, even if it means sacrificing some consciousness.”

“Since you think so, I understand. I will impart the incantation, so listen carefully!”

After a while, the Blood Armor Puppet concentrated as if reciting something. The puppet took a deep breath and bowed towards the cave.

“Thank you for imparting the hand seal. I will now retreat and prepare.”

“Wait! Take this elixir and feed it to the other ghost creatures. Even if it only restores the resentment of the ghost creatures, it will be helpful to you. This old one is not the type to take advantage of juniors.”

A strange wind swept into the cave, and a white jade bottle appeared in front of the puppet. The Blood Armor Puppet, unable to hide its joy, took the jade bottle, bowed repeatedly, and retreated.

* * *

At the same time, the group led by the Six-Legged was passing over the dry, old trees when a large army of bone creatures flew up above them. They looked like the remains of various insects and beasts, with unusually large and sharp, blade-like front legs.

The bones, enveloped in a yellow aura, attacked the puppets and ghost creature soldiers.

However, the four Great Demon Kings did not step forward to save their magic power, but the puppets and ghost creature soldiers did not hesitate to unleash various attacks. The light of swords flashed, and after the Yin wind passed, most of the bones were shattered.

But soon, a strange thing happened.

Whenever the bones fell into the forest of withered old trees, they would reassemble and return to their original forms.

Han Li and his group’s expressions changed at this. It was fortunate that the puppets and ghost creature soldiers were still there; otherwise, they would have had to face the endlessly resurrecting bones themselves.

This showed why the Demon Kings had focused on cultivating numerous puppets and ghost creature soldiers before coming to the Land of Nether.

*Boom! Thump!*

The bone army was fought by the puppets and ghost creature soldiers, and the Demon King’s group was able to leave the old tree forest after flying for half a day. The bones of insects and beasts that had been chasing them turned into white dust and disappeared as soon as they left the forest.

The bones, seeing this, did not advance further and turned back into the forest. Han Li clicked his tongue in amazement.

‘There’s something mysterious in that forest!’

If the Six-Legged and others hadn’t been in a hurry, he would have wanted to investigate it himself. They soon came to a pitch-black lake. A lake with thick green fog was clearly not a good place to pass through.

However, the Six-Legged entered the fog without hesitation. Soon, shouts and sounds of battle erupted from within the fog.

* * *

One month later, the Six-Legged group discovered a mountain range filled with gray energy in the distance. It was the Yin Bone Mountain Range where the Nether River Divine Milk was hidden.

Won-Yao and Yeon-Ryeo had faced danger several times during their journey, but Han Li had taken care of them from time to time, allowing them to arrive here safely. The group stopped before the mountain range. The Demon Kings gathered with serious expressions and discussed something again.

Han Li’s heart was very heavy as he looked at the mountain range in the distance. He had thought that he would find a chance to escape from the Demon Kings here. However, even when dangerous things happened, nothing occurred that could hold the Demon Kings’ attention.

Moreover, the old monkey seemed to have received separate instructions from Mok-Cheong and never left his side. Also, Geum-Ryeong had mastered some kind of divine power, making it impossible to avoid his surveillance with ordinary concealment techniques.

If he could have left alone, he would have used the Grand Origin Azure Talisman without hesitation to escape far away, but it was impossible because he had to take Won-Yao and Yeon-Ryeo with him.

Han Li was lost in thought as he looked at the gray mountain range in the distance.

From what the Demon Kings were saying, the Nether River Divine Milk was located in the very center of the mountain range. They had not revealed the effects of the Nether River Divine Milk, but if the Six-Legged, who was at the peak of the late-stage Fusion Realm [a high level of cultivation], coveted it, it was clear how precious it was.

However, since the Land of Nether was the sacred ground of the Floating Clan and such a treasure was kept there, it was natural that there would be layers of restrictions.

Han Li glanced at the Demon Kings, and for some reason, their gazes were directed at him. Their expressions were all different, but the atmosphere was heated, as if they were arguing because their opinions did not match.

Mok-Cheong shook his head repeatedly, and the Six-Legged’s green eyes shone with a serious expression. The white-haired beauty hesitated about what decision to make, and the two Blood Fiends’ faces were obscured by blood, making it impossible to know what expressions they were making.

What was certain was that they were talking through telepathy and frequently glancing at Han Li. Han Li’s heart grew heavy.

‘They’re definitely talking about me.’

He pretended not to know anything and turned his gaze to the mountain range, trying to suppress his anxiety.

After about an hour, the Six-Legged’s cold voice reached Han Li’s ears.

“Cultivator Han, come here. There is something you need to do for us!”

Han Li’s lips twitched, but he slowly flew towards the Demon Kings.

“Is there something you wish to command, Seniors?”

The expressionless gaze of the Six-Legged was directed at him, and Mok-Cheong and the beauty had somewhat unpleasant expressions.

“Cultivator Han, take a look at this!”

Suddenly, the Six-Legged took out a dark, round bead and placed it down. Han Li was startled when he saw it. The moment he looked at the bead, a very faint black light shot out like lightning from its surface.

‘This is!’

Startled, he tried to dodge, but the surrounding air held him in place. Mok-Cheong and the beauty beside him simultaneously extended a hand and placed a restriction on him.

No matter how great his strength was, it was impossible for him to escape from the hands of two Fusion Realm cultivators. In the meantime, a black thread of light disappeared into Han Li’s forehead. Then, a black light fell on his face, and his eyes glazed over, and he no longer tried to escape. He was like a person without consciousness.

“Ah!”

Won-Yao and Yeon-Ryeo, who were watching this from afar, cried out in surprise. Then, a blood-red light flashed in front of them, and the two Blood Fiends appeared strangely.

*Flash!*

Two blood-red talismans stuck to Won-Yao and Yeon-Ryeo’s shoulders. The talismans exploded simultaneously, turning into blood-red threads that tightly bound them. One of the Blood Fiends formed a hand seal, and the blood-red threads melted into the two women’s bodies.

At first, their bodies stiffened, and later, they could not feel anything at all. The two women were stunned with shocked expressions.

“My Control Body Talisman can perfectly control another’s body, even the spiritual energy within. If the talisman is not removed, you are no different from a living corpse, even if you have consciousness!”

One of the Blood Fiends muttered calmly. The two Blood Fiends shook their sleeves and took the women away with a blood-red aura. At that time, the Six-Legged was continuously placing hand seals into the black bead and chanting a spell.

*Buzz!*

The bead vibrated lowly and floated up on its own. Then, it flashed and disappeared, taking its place in Han Li’s forehead, looking like a third eye.

The Six-Legged examined Han Li’s condition and was satisfied.

“It is the eyeball of a Crying Beast that I obtained long ago. Because the compatibility between my cultivation method and the treasure was not good, I could not inject it into my body, so I refined it into a Soul-Seizing Bead.”

“Brother Six-Legged! That fellow’s cultivation is not high, but he can use quite strange divine powers. Are you sure you can control him? For this matter, Mok Cultivator and I gave up the treasures of the Demon Tomb. There must be no setbacks.”

The white-haired beauty scanned Han Li with a slightly angry expression.

“Cultivator Nam, you can rest assured. What kind of existence is the Crying Beast? It is a true spirit comparable to a True Dragon. The Soul-Seizing Treasure refined with the Destruction Dharma Eye will seize the consciousness of not only a Nascent Soul Realm [a lower level of cultivation] existence but even an existence of our level. If you don’t believe it, you can experience the power of the Soul-Seizing Bead yourself.”

The Six-Legged said confidently.

“Since you say so, I will believe you. Still, I can’t help but feel regret. Cultivator Nam and I have prepared for a long time for the treasures in the Demon Tomb, and it was all for naught.”

Mok-Cheong sighed and smiled bitterly.

“The Demon Tomb is just a place where the Floating Clan elders joined forces to kill and bury a demon that accidentally invaded the Land of Nether. It is true that these demons possess mysterious divine powers, but the treasures that cultivators desire can only be obtained if they absorb abundant Yin energy over a long period and if some special parts possess spirituality on their own. Such treasures are certainly useful, but they are nothing compared to the Nether River Divine Milk! If you apply the Nether River Divine Milk to your entire body, you will become a Spirit-Connecting Body, and the amount of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy you can manipulate will increase several times. Not only can you improve your cultivation, but if you are lucky, you might even ascend to the True Immortal Realm.”

The Six-Legged said, his compound eyes gleaming.

“I know that well enough, even without you saying it, Cultivator. But one of the treasures in the Demon Tomb is particularly important to me. That’s why I spent so much time trying to recruit Cultivator Han.”

Mok-Cheong still had a regretful expression.