Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 988

Han Li didn’t awaken the Earth Immortal. Instead, he sent out a thin beam of sword light, slicing off a small, purple root. As the blue light passed, the wound opened, and a few drops of milky liquid flowed out, filling the secret chamber with a strong medicinal fragrance.

Han Li’s eyes flashed. He produced a small, prepared bottle and exhaled a blue aura. The milky liquid flowing from the root was completely drawn into the bottle, and the wound, infused with the blue aura, shimmered purple as it healed.

He pulled the bottle containing the milky liquid closer and sniffed it. He could sense a very pure spiritual power, but it wasn’t particularly special. He sighed softly and took out a silver bowl with beautiful patterns on its surface.

*Pah!*

He tilted the small bottle, pouring a drop of the milky liquid into the bowl, and then summoned various containers from his storage pouch. As the various containers were placed on the floor, Han Li began to add something to each one…

Three hours passed, and the secret chamber was filled with the scent of various medicinal herbs. Han Li silently observed the silver bowl with his dark blue eyes. He smiled wryly and flipped his palm, putting the bowl away.

“Using the Earth Immortal’s blood as a refining material is effective, but it wouldn’t be enough to attract the attention of a being at the Fusion stage [a high cultivation level]. There must be another use…”

Han Li stroked his chin as he looked at the Earth Immortal floating in the air. Suddenly, silver threads shot out from his ten fingers, disappearing into the Earth Immortal’s body. Han Li withdrew his hands and stood still, watching the Earth Immortal.

Soon, a purple light flickered on the Earth Immortal’s body, and the motionless spirit slowly opened its eyes, meeting his gaze. Its pale green eyes shone with a silver light, making it look very strange.

“So, I’ve been caught by you after all. Can you tell me where this is?”

The Earth Immortal was very calm, showing no signs of anger. It was as if they had just met on the street!

“This is Yun City, not far from the Demon Forbidden Mountain Range! Seeing that you’re not panicking in this situation, it seems your intelligence has developed quite a bit.”

“What’s the point of making a fuss? It’s not like you’d let me go if I begged.”

“That’s right! You must know that a heaven-and-earth spirit medicine that has transformed into a human form is rare even in the Spirit World.”

Han Li smiled. The Earth Immortal seemed puzzled by his relaxed reaction. However, it soon glanced at the root where Han Li had made the wound and closed its eyes as if it had nothing more to say.

“I’m curious. What abilities do you have besides being used as a material for spirit medicines or pills that make high-level beings covet you?”

The Earth Immortal clearly heard his words but remained silent, sneering.

“Since you’ve developed intelligence, you must also have a nascent soul [a soul formed after reaching a certain cultivation level] and a spirit soul. Are you hoping I’ll use my Soul Extraction Technique?”

“If you believe you can learn something from me by using the Soul Extraction Technique, then go ahead.”

The Earth Immortal sneered at Han Li’s threat. Although there weren’t many techniques in the Spirit World that could seal a spirit soul like the Universal Devilish Art, there were still quite a few. It wouldn’t be strange if the Earth Immortal, who had lived for so long, had mastered one of them.

“Even if I don’t know your other uses, refining you will still give me a top-grade pill. However, I know that a heaven-and-earth spirit with a nascent soul is very useful to cultivators who have mastered special secret techniques or cultivation methods. You’ve endured arduous training for so long to gain spirituality. I wonder how much suffering you’ll endure if you fall into the hands of such people.”

“Are you threatening me!”

The Earth Immortal trembled and shouted, its eyes wide open.

“Rather than a threat, I’d say I took a great risk going to the Demon Forbidden Mountain Range. If I don’t get a reasonable reward, I’ll have to think of a solution, won’t I?”

Han Li was smiling, but there was no emotion in his eyes.

“Are you saying that if I tell you the truth, you’ll release my nascent soul? How can I trust you to do that?”

The Earth Immortal asked coldly, having read his intentions.

“It’s impossible to release your nascent soul. If you take over another being’s body to prolong your life or are caught by another cultivator, you might reveal information about me. Instead, I can ensure that your spirit soul enters the cycle of reincarnation without any pain. Whether you believe me or not is up to you, but you have no other choice, do you?”

Han Li smiled pleasantly.

“Even if I have no choice, I can still set conditions.”

The Earth Immortal opened its mouth, its eyes wavering.

“Let’s hear what conditions you have.”

“The terms of the deal are the same, but the method of the deal must be according to my wishes. If I can scatter my nascent soul and reincarnate as you said, I’ll have a chance to be reborn as a human and continue my cultivation in the next life. If you don’t agree to my method, I won’t say a word, even if my spirit soul disappears.”

“What method is that?”

“I’ll use my innate divine power to split my nascent soul into two. One nascent soul will contain most of my consciousness, and the other will have only a few memories. If you send the main consciousness to me, the remaining nascent soul will reveal the secret as promised. After that, if we scatter the remaining nascent soul, we won’t have to worry about each other’s future actions.”

“That won’t do. What if I send the nascent soul with the main consciousness, and the remaining nascent soul changes its mind? Then I’ll be the only one who loses.”

Although it was a tempting offer, Han Li shook his head.

“Even before you captured me, I was already severely injured. I would have been caught by someone sooner or later. It’s not like I have a grudge against you. I won’t gamble half of my nascent soul for a body that I can’t get back anyway. No one knows how the nascent soul goes through reincarnation, so what if something goes wrong with an incomplete nascent soul?”

The Earth Immortal spoke calmly, not swayed by emotions. Han Li smiled, observing the Earth Immortal’s expression.

“I’ll do as you say.”

“Really?”

The Earth Immortal asked blankly at his straightforward answer.

“Is there a better way?”

“No, there isn’t. I just thought you would consider it a little more.”

“What’s there to think about in this situation? Now that I think about it, capturing you was an unexpected gain.”

The Earth Immortal’s eyes sparkled at his meaningful words, but it didn’t respond.

“How long will it take to perform the secret technique to split the nascent soul? Don’t even think about saying it will take decades.”

“It won’t take that long. I can complete the secret technique within a year. During that time, you’ll have to release some of the restrictions you’ve placed on my body.”

“A year! Alright. I’ll remove most of the restrictions until you complete the secret technique. Don’t think of this as an opportunity to do something else. I made this decision because the remaining restrictions are quite powerful.”

“I was severely injured before I was captured and barely managed to suppress it while running away. How would I have the strength to escape?”

The Earth Immortal smiled bitterly at Han Li’s calm warning.

In response to the Earth Immortal’s answer, Han Li sent out golden and silver petals from his sleeve. They were a golden beetle and a silver firebird. Both were smaller than a fingernail, looking like gold and silver ornaments.

“Serpent Gold Beetle!”

The Earth Immortal recognized the golden beetle at a glance, not the firebird, and cried out in alarm.

“Oh, you recognize the spirit insect and have a deep understanding. If you know the power of the Serpent Gold Beetle, you should be even more careful not to have any other thoughts.”

Following Han Li’s will, the golden beetle and the silver firebird slowly flew towards the Earth Immortal. The Earth Immortal’s face changed with each passing moment.

Moreover, the spirit insect in front of it was a mature Serpent Gold Beetle. If it weren’t for the restrictions on its body, it would have already struggled to escape.

Seeing that the silver firebird, made of flames, was released along with the Serpent Gold Beetle, it was clear that it would have no less power. The Earth Immortal gritted its teeth as the beetle and firebird approached.

The moment the gold and silver light seeped into the spirit’s body, Han Li summoned dozens of silver threads from the Earth Immortal’s body. Then, various energies flowed out of the Earth Immortal’s body, turning into five talismans before disappearing.

*Pah!*

As the restrictions disappeared, the purple light emanating from the Earth Immortal’s body became even more distinct. And the roots on its arms and legs became blurred, taking on the appearance of a perfect human.

“Haha, heaven-and-earth spirits are different. Even with serious injuries, you’ve already recovered this much.”

“There must be a medicinal herb garden here, right? I need to plant my main body in the herb garden so that I can recover faster with the help of the surrounding spirit medicines. That way, the work of splitting the nascent soul can be completed that much faster.”

“Follow me.”

Han Li nodded without any hesitation.

If it wanted to stay in the herb garden, he could have Wa Wa monitor it. Its cultivation wasn’t that high, and it was under the strict restrictions of the eastern region, so Wa Wa, who was at the early stage of the Void Refinement realm [a high cultivation level], would be able to manage it sufficiently.

Han Li cleared away the containers he had placed on the floor and walked towards the stone door of the secret chamber. As Han Li went first, the Earth Immortal hesitated for a moment before following behind him.

Outside the stone door, a woman with an expressionless face was waiting, emitting a cold aura. The Earth Immortal lowered its head blankly when it saw her. Han Li didn’t say anything and headed towards the herb garden. Since the eastern region that could be obtained in Yun City was limited, the herb garden wasn’t very large.

However, the Earth Immortal looked satisfied after looking around inside.

“It’s not large, but the spiritual energy is dense. You’ve chosen a good place to live.”

“Haha, there’s no need to choose a good place. All the spiritual mountains here are like this. Choose any place you want and plant your main body.”

“Understood.”

The Earth Immortal nodded and walked ahead of Han Li towards the herb garden. Han Li didn’t rush and followed behind, and Wa Wa also followed silently.

As the Earth Immortal carefully looked around the herb garden, it felt something was strange. More than half of the garden was filled with spirit medicines that were over ten thousand years old. If one were to pluck a handful, they could obtain a large number of spirit medicines that were thousands of years old.

If a mortal were to stay in this place filled with the fragrance of medicine for a while, they wouldn’t live longer, but they wouldn’t have any incurable diseases. The Earth Immortal was surprised and changed direction, intending to examine the herb garden thoroughly.

The herb garden wasn’t very large, and the end was visible along a small path. Just then, a white object hopped out. The snow-white jade rabbit was the transformed nascent soul of Han Li’s Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng.

“That is…”

The Earth Immortal looked at the jade rabbit and showed a delighted expression.

“Why are you so surprised? Is it the first time you’ve seen a fellow spirit who has achieved transformation?”

“Yes, it’s the first time I’ve seen one. We originally live in very remote or rugged terrains. There are many natural enemies that hunt us, and we don’t have the ability to resist before we transform. Only a few out of thousands of spirit medicines are lucky enough to gain spirituality.”

The Earth Immortal hurriedly replied and walked in the direction the rabbit had hopped. After walking for a while, it saw the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng planted in a corner of the herb garden.

The white rabbit, the incarnation of the Nine-Crooked Spirit Ginseng, was lying down nearby, gnawing on a strange stalk it had picked from somewhere in the herb garden. It didn’t care that Han Li and the other cultivators were approaching and focused only on eating.

The sensitive and timid appearance it had before was nowhere to be seen. Seeing this, Han Li scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

The Earth Immortal approached with a gentle face and reached out its hand.

A purple aura wrapped around the white rabbit and the stalk on the ground, bringing them together. Even while this was happening, the rabbit was still busy chewing on something. The Earth Immortal looked at the white rabbit and tried to stroke it with the purple aura.

“… !”

Before its hand could touch it, the rabbit bristled its fur and disappeared into the air, leaving behind an afterimage. And the next moment, it landed on the ground and stood on its hind legs, barking sharply at the Earth Immortal.

It was angry that it had tried to touch it carelessly just now. In response, the Earth Immortal smiled and changed the aura of its body from purple to jade green, and a dense wood-attribute spiritual energy spread around it.

The rabbit, which had been baring its teeth and making a fierce expression, sniffed the energy with its pink nose and immediately relaxed its expression. There was even a hint of affection in its eyes towards the Earth Immortal.