Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 898

After about an hour, the two women opened their eyes, their complexions much improved.

“It seems to be quite a rare elixir. It has restored most of the yin energy that my junior sister and I had depleted,” Lian Li said cheerfully.

“I’m glad it was helpful to you both.”

“Brother Han! We can’t stay here long, so what are your plans for the future? We escaped the clutches of the Demon Kings as planned, but we haven’t discussed our future plans,” Yuan Yao asked worriedly.

“Miss Yuan is right. This is not a place to linger, so we must leave immediately. The moment we removed the mark, the Demon Kings would have sensed our general direction. Our plan is, of course, to escape this place and return to the Spirit Realm. I have a rough plan, but we need to discuss it carefully, so it’s best to leave first.”

“Yes, let’s leave as soon as we dismantle the formation!”

Yuan Yao and Lian Li immediately transformed into streaks of black light and began to retrieve the formation tools they had set up around the area.

Han Li raised his head and let out a long whistle. The whistle echoed and spread around, and the nearby Soul Devourer and Bloodscale immediately returned and entered his sleeves.

Shortly after, they chose a direction and flew away with all their might.

* * *

About half a day later, a green light flashed and landed on the hill where Han Li and his group had been. A slender figure floated within the green light. After circling the area, the woman who landed on the hill was none other than Mu Qing.

Her expression grew darker. It was an ordinary landscape, but it looked different in her eyes. Traces of a massive formation were left everywhere, and abnormally concentrated yin energy still lingered in the air.

“I’m too late. They used the power of the formation to remove the mark. If they’ve already escaped, it will be difficult to find them again…”

Mu Qing was lost in thought.

“Hmph! I had to go this far for Ma Fen’s treasure. If I had known this would happen, I should have placed another restriction on that Han brat’s body!”

She immediately transformed into a streak of green light and flew up, stopping not far away. Half an hour later, the green light landed in a valley with a very ordinary small mountain range.

The yin energy there was thinner than in other places, and not a single ghost could be found. She looked around, confirmed that there was nothing unusual, and then shook her sleeves.

Poof poof poof!

Numerous green light orbs flew in all directions. The light orbs fell in various places in the valley and disappeared without a trace. As Mu Qing stood on the ground, her lower body shimmered with spiritual energy, and root-like structures grew from her body, digging deep into the ground.

Kwarururung!

As she chanted a spell and formed hand seals, the entire valley shook violently. Then, from the ground where the green light orbs had been scattered, blue sprouts pierced through the earth and grew wildly.

In a short time, each sprout had transformed into a giant tree, each reaching dozens of feet in height.

The entire valley was turning into a dense forest, and the wood-attribute spiritual energy was becoming thicker. What was even more astonishing was that each giant tree moved freely according to Mu Qing’s hand seals, shifting across the ground.

After a while, a huge and bizarre formation spread out from Mu Qing, covering the entire valley.

Mu Qing opened her mouth and spat out an egg-sized bead. The bead, with golden patterns, floated in front of Mu Qing and slowly rotated. After carefully examining it, Mu Qing sighed softly and reached out her hand.

Bang-

The bead made a light sound and released a green aura. What appeared after the aura disappeared was, unexpectedly, a pitch-black pine tree.

The pine tree was as if there was an invisible boundary in the middle; one half was lush with leaves and full of life, while the other half was withered and devoid of any sprouts.

It was the main body of Mu Qing’s spirit tree.

The woman, with a complex expression, looked at the tree and flicked her ten fingers. Hand seals flew out one after another and were absorbed into the black tree.

Thud!

The tree trembled and fell to the ground, half of its trunk buried in the soil. Mu Qing stopped moving her hands and opened her mouth, spitting out jade-colored blood. Her essence blood flew to the black tree and was absorbed.

Mu Qing chanted a spell and spread her hands, shooting out pillars of green light. After a while, the place where the blood had seeped in shimmered with green light, and the shape was distorted in various ways.

The writhing form seemed to be in pain, and it also seemed to be a living creature. And that form was exactly the same as the face of the old monkey, Jin Ling.

“Arise!”

Mu Qing raised her eyebrows and threw the last hand seal.

Chwa-reuk.

The black tree split open, and a monkey with golden fur jumped out from within.

“Greetings, Master. Did you call me for…”

The monkey prostrated on the ground as soon as it emerged from the tree.

“Old Jin, get up. It’s fortunate that I created an avatar before leaving and left it in the main body. Since the main body has perished, you will now be Jin Ling.”

Mu Qing sighed.

“So that’s what happened. I couldn’t sense the main body’s presence… Since it has come to this, this Jin Ling will do his best for you, Master. Did you summon me using your essence blood because you need me somewhere?”

The old monkey steadied his wavering gaze and asked respectfully.

“The mark I left on that Han brat’s body has disappeared. Therefore, I need to use the ‘Domain of Trees’ to find his whereabouts, but to do that, I have no choice but to draw on the power of the main body. In the meantime, you will protect the main spirit tree. I have already set up the Azure Wood Heavenly Array [a powerful defensive formation] around the area, so even if the Six-Legged Tribe invades, they won’t be able to break through for a while. That will buy you time to escape with my main body.”

“The Domain of Trees? That technique requires the consumption of your main source of power, and once cast, you won’t be able to use it again for a thousand years. Are you sure you want to use it?”

The golden-furred monkey was startled.

“I must do it! When I saw that bead in Ma Fen last time, I knew that the power contained within it was the same as my main source of power. Its purity and quantity were more than ten times that of my main body’s power. If I can get my hands on it, I can overcome the current crisis and reach a higher realm. So, it is more precious to me than the Myriad Spirit Jade [a highly valuable treasure].”

“Since you have made your decision, I will follow your orders.”

“Yes, it’s fortunate to have you, Old Jin. Although your physical body has been damaged and your cultivation has fallen to the early stage of Spirit Transformation [a cultivation stage], it would be best for you to have these.”

Mu Qing, after pondering, opened her mouth and spat out a mirror within a blue aura. The back of the palm-sized mirror was engraved with a jade-colored tree pattern, and it shone brightly.

“Isn’t this your Heavenly Wood Mirror, Master! It’s a treasure you’ve been cultivating since the day you started your cultivation. How can I possess it? You will need it when you go to Ma Fen.”

Jin Ling was startled at the sight of the mirror and waved his hand.

“If the main body is not intact, how can I survive? Besides, as Old Jin knows, I have another treasure that I obtained earlier, which will be more useful than the Heavenly Wood Mirror in repelling demonic energy.”

Mu Qing explained calmly. At those words, Jin Ling hesitated but eventually accepted her command. As he reached out his hand, the mirror turned blue and was sucked into Jin Ling’s body.

“In addition to the Heavenly Wood Mirror, take these two Evergreen Spirit Wood Swords. They will be better than the ones you used before.”

Mu Qing waved her hand at the black tree, and two branches trembled and fell off, transforming into blue swords. This time, without any sign of refusal, he happily accepted the twin swords.

After examining the swords for a moment, Jin Ling quickly slung the twin swords behind his back. With everything done, Mu Qing’s expression relaxed, and after giving Jin Ling a few instructions, she returned her lower body to its original form.

Afterward, Mu Qing transformed into a streak of blue light and left the valley alone. As soon as she left, Jin Ling activated the formation restrictions that Mu Qing had left behind.

The valley began to distort hazily, and a different illusion appeared, like a reflection on a lake, making it appear as if nothing was there from a distance.

Mu Qing, without haste, flew somewhere. She was surrounded by green dots, and within the dense wood-attribute spiritual energy, blue illusions of flowers, plants, and trees floated about.

Mu Qing herself was also emitting a green glow, and a giant tree shadow followed behind her. After a while, Mu Qing arrived at the hill where she had initially tracked Han Li and landed.

As she clasped her hands together, a green aura instantly enveloped the entire hill.

Paat.

The illusions of flowers and trees materialized and took root on the hill with a gust of wind. The hill was instantly transformed into a lush green landscape.

At that moment, blue roots grew fiercely from the giant tree illusion behind Mu Qing and dug into the ground. She closed her eyes and began to search for something.

After about an hour, Mu Qing, with a distorted face, opened her eyes and muttered.

“So that’s what happened. The women from the Ghost Sect helped them remove the mark! I didn’t know that the Ghost Sect disciples possessed such secret techniques. But now that I know the direction they flew, it’s only a matter of time before I catch up.”

Mu Qing formed hand seals and gathered the green aura she had spread around. Then, the trees and flowers that had taken root crumbled and disappeared.

She restored the hill to its original state and hurriedly flew in the direction that Han Li and his group had flown.

* * *

Han Li was completely unaware that the Demon Kings were chasing him. However, just in case, he changed directions frequently after leaving the hill.

Han Li was talking with the two women as they crossed the sandy desert.

“What? Brother Han, you’re thinking of finding a spatial node to return to the Spirit Realm!” Lian Li exclaimed in surprise at the unexpected words.

“That’s right. After researching space in both the Human Realm and the Spirit Realm, I’ve concluded that every space has spatial nodes. Moreover, the smaller the space, the easier it is to find a spatial node. Spatial rifts are also a type of spatial node. If we can find a spatial node in the Netherworld, it’s not impossible to return to the Spirit Realm.”

Han Li explained calmly as he flew.

“But I know that passing through a spatial node is very difficult and dangerous. Not only do spatial storms appear, but the exit of the spatial node cannot be controlled at will.”

Yuan Yao said hesitantly.

“We will have to take some risks, but if I guide the way, we can escape safely with at least a 60 to 70 percent chance. The Netherworld is not a true realm but rather a large space belonging to the Spirit Realm. If you two don’t want to leave the Netherworld, then this is the only way.”

“Actually, now that we’ve overcome one hurdle, it might be good to hide here and cultivate for a while. This place is full of yin energy, which is a good place for those of us who practice such techniques to cultivate.”

Lian Li blinked and confessed honestly.

“Perhaps that won’t go as planned. Have you forgotten about the Floating Tribe, Miss Lian? The puppet’s reinforcements could arrive here at any moment. Besides, the Netherworld is their holy land. No matter how well we hide, they know this place much better than we do, so we will be discovered soon. Also, you two need to return to the Human Race and regain your human bodies.”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and revealed his thoughts.

Upon hearing his words, Yuan Yao and Lian Li’s expressions darkened. The thought of hiding here until the danger passed had completely vanished.

“I was short-sighted. Listening to Brother Han, it seems you have passed through a spatial node before, so you can definitely escape safely. My junior sister and I also want to leave this place, but we are not skilled in finding spatial nodes.”

Lian Li said with a wry smile after a moment of silence.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I have a way. However, we can only move directly after the Ghost Sect and others have finished their search. In any case, they won’t be able to stay here long because of the Floating Tribe, so we can find a node and leave before they leave and the Floating Tribe arrives. Let’s find a place to hide for now.”

Han Li’s voice, as he laid out his plans, was filled with confidence. Yuan Yao and Lian Li also thought that it made sense and nodded. After finishing their discussion, the three of them increased their speed and flew towards the horizon.