Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 889

The Nether Lightning Beast reappeared in the distance.

However, the Nether Lightning Beast was in terrible shape. Its skin had turned dark, and some parts were even charred black. Only the silver horn protruding from its head remained intact, emitting thin streaks of lightning. The thick lightning bolts that had engulfed and destroyed the thunderclouds seemed to have originated from the Nether Lightning Beast’s horn.

Even more astonishing was that as soon as the Nether Lightning Beast escaped the thunderclouds, it immediately opened its mouth and spat out a stream of blood. Within it, the shimmering objects were, of course, the Gold Devouring Beetles. Unexpectedly, it had forcefully expelled the Gold Devouring Beetles using its magical power.

Han Li’s heart grew cold at this sight. When the Gold Devouring Beetles had entered the Nether Lightning Beast’s stomach, he had held onto a sliver of hope that he might be able to kill it. But that was nothing more than a foolish delusion.

He turned his gaze to the Azure Bamboo Cloud Sword floating beneath the Nether Lightning Beast’s feet. The Nether Lightning Beast, preoccupied with the raging thunderclouds and the biting Gold Devouring Beetles, had forgotten about the small sword. It must have deemed it no threat.

The Nether Lightning Beast’s eyes were filled with venom as it stared at Han Li. However, Han Li ignored the Nether Lightning Beast, reaching out to retrieve the Gold Devouring Beetles from the blood. The small golden sword trembled and disappeared.

Whoosh-

The golden light hummed softly as it vanished into Han Li’s sleeve. Enraged, the Nether Lightning Beast began to thrash about, attempting to do something.

But at that moment, a silver light flashed above the beast’s head, and a massive light formation silently descended. The Nether Lightning Beast, startled by the immense pressure of the formation, looked up in confusion, but immediately released a thick silver lightning bolt from its horn.

Kukukung!

The lightning struck the bottom of the light formation. However, the silver light faded, and the lightning disappeared, but the light formation remained intact. Sensing an ominous feeling, the Nether Lightning Beast tried to flee, its four legs flashing with silver lightning. But it was too late.

Whooong!

The light formation in the void spun around and instantly vanished. The Nether Lightning Beast’s eyes widened, and the surroundings were enveloped in mist. As it looked around, it saw tall palace walls and buildings layered around it.

The Nether Lightning Beast was startled but quickly calmed itself. For a beast that had lived for so long, being trapped in someone’s formation was a common occurrence. If it was a typical restriction, there was no reason to fear it.

After tilting its head and thinking for a moment, the Nether Lightning Beast leaped up and swung its two front paws.

Chichichik!

More than a dozen blue lights fiercely attacked the silver light barrier.

Thump thump thump.

Dull thuds echoed one after another, but the silver light barrier only trembled for a moment before returning to its original state. The Nether Lightning Beast stopped its attack, its face complex. The power of the restriction was far greater than it had imagined.

The light formation surrounding it was a set of ‘Nine Palaces Heavenly Dry Talismans’ that Han Li had painstakingly refined. The 108 talismans, intricately changing, possessed a miraculous effect in trapping enemies.

However, Han Li’s expression also changed from moment to moment. A moment ago, when he had infused magical power into the edge of the light formation to counter the Nether Lightning Beast’s attack, he had felt an immense force and had taken two steps back.

Fundamentally, his cultivation was far inferior to the Nether Lightning Beast. If the Nether Lightning Beast started to rampage, he didn’t know how long the formation would last. But in any case, the purpose of using the Nine Palaces Heavenly Dry Talismans was to buy some time.

He withdrew his hand, which had been infusing magical power, and flapped his wings, transforming into a streak of blue light and flying away. His destination was the direction from which he had come. But then, his expression suddenly changed.

“……!”

Whoosh!

He extended a hand and sent out dozens of golden flying swords, and an anomaly occurred. A woman in a white robe appeared in the void that the golden flying swords had cut through. One of the woman’s sleeves fluttered weakly.

It was Bai Gui. She was clearly flustered at having her identity exposed by Han Li, and her lips moved as if she was about to say something. However, Han Li’s expression turned cold, and a black light shot out from his sleeve.

The small, black monkey was the Soul Devourer. Han Li had no intention of wasting time with her.

Kieeeek!

The white-robed ghost woman shrieked upon seeing it, terrified, and tried to flee. But the Soul Devourer also transformed into a giant monkey in the blink of an eye, and with a snort, a yellow aura turned into a white beam of light, engulfing the fleeing ghost woman.

The white light disappeared, and the white-robed woman reappeared. The woman created a white light barrier with her white robe to protect herself, but for some reason, the Soul Devourer’s Soul-Seizing Divine Light could not penetrate it.

Kuhang!

At this, the Soul Devourer roared lowly, and an eerie wind swirled around it.

In the midst of flashing lightning, the giant monkey’s body expanded again, and its fur gradually turned red. Three curved horns grew on its head, and a crimson demonic eye appeared as its brow split open.

At the same time, its facial features changed, and its fangs grew sharp. A black thorn the size of a palm sprouted from its back, and the sight of the black aura swirling around it was grotesque and eerie.

Khehehehehek!

The ghost woman, even more terrified by the Soul Devourer’s appearance, let out a sharp cry. A stream of formless sound waves flew towards the Soul Devourer and Han Li.

However, Han Li had already anticipated it, simultaneously emitting a gray aura and five-colored flames to protect himself and the Soul Devourer. He felt a slight pain in his consciousness, but he withstood the sound waves without any problems, and the Soul Devourer also glared even more fiercely with its demonic eye.

Bang!

A thick lightning bolt erupted from the crimson demonic eye. The lightning struck the ghost woman, who was trapped by the Soul-Seizing Divine Light, without a single error, and the white barrier was of no help to her.

A miserable scream was heard, and the blood-red lightning writhed like a snake, engulfing her. The ghost woman rapidly contracted within the lightning and was sucked into the Soul Devourer’s mouth.

Pop.

A low explosion was heard from the Soul Devourer’s mouth after it swallowed the ghost woman, and the giant monkey spat out a black jade pendant. Han Li reached out and examined the object.

‘Wanlibu!’

Although its appearance was slightly different from the Wanlibu [a type of magical artifact] of the human race, he immediately recognized the jade pendant’s purpose. His eyes gleamed.

Kwarurung!

At that moment, a roar was heard from within the light formation in the distance, and the roar of an enraged beast echoed. Han Li quickly summoned the Soul Devourer back into his sleeve and transformed into a blue Great Peng [a mythical bird], soaring through the sky.

The Great Peng turned into a blue light, and with each flap of its wings, it shot forward by more than a dozen yards. However, Han Li was secretly operating the Great Connection [a technique to conceal one’s presence] to its extreme. He was using his powerful consciousness to conceal the four marks left by the Demon Kings.

The Demon Kings’ marks were so powerful that even with the few secret techniques recorded in the Great Evolution Treasure Scripture and the power of the Heavenly Peng, he could only hold out for a short time. Perhaps after a day, the seal would break, and the marks would be detected again.

Han Li did this to make the Demon Kings believe that he was dead.

What was important now was to rescue Yuan Yao and Lian Luo from Gui Pa’s hands and find a place with strong Yin energy to remove the marks. Only then could he escape from the Demon Kings without leaving any future troubles.

Normally, this would have been impossible, but if the Nether Lightning Beast drew their attention, the situation would change. However, the time he had bought for the Demon Kings was not much.

They had not been in the sacred pond for long, and even if they knew that the Nether Lightning Beast was returning, they would not easily retreat because of the Divine Mandate [a decree from a higher power].

‘If the Nether Lightning Beast, enraged by being trapped in the Nine Palaces Heavenly Dry Talismans, returns to its lair, it will encounter the Demon Kings.’

At that time, there would be a greater chance of rescuing Yuan Yao and Lian Luo without directly confronting the Demon Kings. He transformed into the Heavenly Peng and frantically retraced his path.

As he entered the gray mountain range, a light explosion was heard from the Heavenly Peng’s body, and the Heavenly Peng transformed back into a human form.

Han Li flicked his sleeve and took out the white jade pendant. The jade pendant, engraved with a palace, was split into pieces from the center. He glanced back unconsciously, then put away the jade pendant and, after brushing past the storage pouch, took out a purple talisman.

It was the Taiyi Azure Talisman.

Without hesitation, he held the talisman and flicked his fingertip. The green talisman exploded, and magical characters floated up, circling around him. The silver aura that the magical characters had transformed into enveloped him.

After a moment, the silver aura dissipated, and nothing was left in its place. Han Li, having concealed himself, slowly descended and hid under a large tree, surveying his surroundings.

After an hour, the faint sound of thunder could be heard from the end of the sky, and soon after, the Nether Lightning Beast, enveloped in lightning, passed by nearby. It didn’t seem to notice Han Li hiding under the tree at all.

However, Han Li still held his breath, his eyes wavering, and waited. Only after half an hour did he shake his shoulders and reveal himself from the silver light. Then, he transformed into a streak of blue light again and flew up.

Not long after, Han Li returned to the place where the black light barrier had been. But before him, thousands of ghost creatures were piled up as corpses, and the smell of burning stung his nose.

Judging by the powerful restrictions left behind, it seemed that they had been ambushed while deploying the restrictions.

Han Li was dumbfounded. The Soul Devourer had devoured the ghost woman in one go, and the ghost creatures had been attacked by the returning Nether Lightning Beast. Han Li circled the basin to see if there were any living ghost creatures.

‘They must have all been killed by the Nether Lightning Beast or fled.’

Han Li didn’t hesitate for long and landed on the ground, looking at the blue passage. After pondering for a while, he flicked his sleeve and took out a large number of talismans. It was another set of Nine Palaces Heavenly Dry Talismans with shimmering magical characters.

They were not easy to refine, and he only had two sets, and this was the last set of Nine Palaces Heavenly Dry Talismans. Han Li formed a hand seal and sent a magic seal towards the talismans. Then, an inexplicable thing happened.

The silver talismans flew to various places at the entrance and disappeared into the nearby void. Han Li withdrew his hand, his eyes shimmering with blue light as he examined the passage, and nodded in satisfaction.

Then, as if something had occurred to him, he flipped his hand and took out two more talismans. Unlike the previous Nine Palaces Heavenly Dry Talismans, these had no magical characters, but instead, they were engraved with human figures.

One was a person wearing golden armor all over, holding a black spear, and the other was holding a saber in both hands. What was strange was that both figures were slowly moving on the surface of the talismans, wielding their weapons from time to time.

Han Li held the two talismans and clasped his hands together. Then, a silver light flashed, and an explosion was heard from the talismans. From within the silver light, golden human shadows shot out, circled in the void, and then rushed towards the ground.

They didn’t go into the ground but into Han Li’s shadow, disappearing without a trace. It was the Armor Origin Talisman that he had refined after reading the Golden Palace Jade Scripture [a cultivation manual].

Those who had entered the black light barrier were all beings above the Fusion stage [a level of cultivation], so it was necessary to prepare thoroughly and prepare for any eventuality.

After activating the Armor Origin Talisman, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out silver flames. The flames rolled and grew, transforming into a large Vermillion Flame Bird. Then, he extended a hand, and more than a dozen blue lightning beads shot out, and the silver flame bird swallowed all the beads.

The flame bird soared high into the sky and hid inside a large tree. Finally, having completed his preparations, he exhaled a long breath and moved one hand, floating a purple talisman into the void. Then, the talisman scattered into mist, enveloping him and erasing his figure.

Han Li slowly entered the blue passage, a dragon’s den and a tiger’s lair. After passing through the black light barrier, he looked around and narrowed his brows.

The inside of the entrance was extremely dark, and if it weren’t for the blue flagstones that were shining at a distance, he would have felt like he had returned to the ground. Of course, he, with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, was not bothered by the darkness.

He clearly checked his surroundings.

The surroundings were very desolate, and apart from the large and small stones on the ground, only grasses and low shrubs could be seen. Han Li, puzzled by the dense spiritual energy, immediately moved forward.

Soon, his vision brightened, and he could vaguely see something like a palace. It wasn’t very large, but it was a building made roughly of ordinary stones, about a dozen yards high.

‘It seems like I’ve come to the right place?’

Han Li increased his speed with a magic seal and flew towards the palace. The entrance to the palace, which was more than a dozen yards wide, was wide open.

Unconsciously, he scanned the area around the gate, and his movements stopped, his eyes showing a different light. Judging by the Yin energy [a type of spiritual energy] gathered on both sides of the stone gate, it seemed that two high-level ghost creatures were hiding there.

Han Li, seeing the numerous ghost creature corpses he had seen at the entrance, suddenly understood the situation.