A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248

by Translator: Johnchen

  Inside the counter, there was a large variety of items. From the style of the items, it seemed like they were things that only cultivators would use. From the lowest grade raw materials to the commonly used talismans and magic tools, the Myriad Store had everything.

  Han Li smiled. It seemed like he had really found the right place.

  At this moment, a servant in blue came over and said with a big smile, “Esteemed customer, what are you looking for? Do you want me to help introduce you to something? This store’s goods will definitely satisfy all of our customers’ needs!”

  “I want to look at magic tools and talismans, but I only want the best. Do not show me inferior goods!” Han Li spoke softly through his cloak.

  The servant in blue was slightly stunned by this remark, but then he carefully looked and judged Han Li’s manners. After making sure he wasn’t joking, the smile on his face grew even wider. He knew he must be a big customer, so he quickly invited Han Li in and personally led him to the VIP room on the second floor.

  The furnishings upstairs were different from the decor downstairs. Not only was the scale of the second floor a lot smaller, but there were some antique furniture on the second floor. It was decorated in an elegant, comfortable, and cozy manner. The most surprising thing was that there was a precious incense burner and a bundle of burning incense in the corner of the room that filled the room with a faint smell of sandalwood.

  A gentle-looking, middle-aged man holding an old book was standing in the room, reading its contents aloud. He seemed to not have any magic power like a completely ordinary man.

  Han Li was somewhat stunned. This place did not look like a place to do business. Instead, it looked like some rich person’s home. The person who was reading saw Han Li come in and calmly closed the book. The servant in blue who had escorted Han Li quickly walked up to the man and whispered a few words.

  After the middle-aged man finished listening, he cupped his hands and said with a smile,

  “I am Myriad Treasures Store’s shopkeeper, Tian Buli. How should I address you?”

  “Li Feiyu,” Han Li unceremoniously borrowed his good friend’s name.

  “Oh it’s Brother Li. Brother, please sit down!”

  The middle-aged man led Han Li to sit down, then ordered the servant, “Go brew a pot of our best Jade Cloud Tea!”

  After Han Li sat down, the middle-aged man started asking politely. “This is the first time Brother Li came to this store, right?”

  “Hehe! Shopkeeper Tian is really observant. This is indeed the first time I have visited this store.” Han Li deliberately changed his voice and made himself sound like a tough man with a deep voice.

  “It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time visiting this place. As long as you are willing to come here, it shows your favour to our Myriad Treasures Store. This store will definitely satisfy Brother!” Shopkeeper Tian confidently said.

  “I wouldn’t want to go through the trouble of going to multiple stores if I could just find all the items I need at one store! I hope this store’s goods are really exceptional,” said Han Li in a dubious tone.

  “Hehe! Brother Li can rest assured about that. Our store’s credibility is definitely one of the best on this street. If this store can’t satisfy Brother, then there’s no need to bother checking out the other stores!” said the shopkeeper unhurriedly, exuding confidence.

  At this moment, a serving maid came upstairs with a teapot and several teacups. The refreshing smell of tea filled the room before she had even approached the two of them.

  Shopkeeper Tian waited for the serving maid to set up the tea set and took a sip first. While smiling, he said, “This is a special tea made here in the store. It’s rare in other places. Not only does it smell refreshing, but drinking it can make people energized. Brother Li can give it a taste.”

  Han Li looked at the fragrant tea in front of him. He shook his head lightly and said in a slightly impatient tone,

  “Shopkeeper Tian, we can drink tea later. First, let’s get down to business!”

  “I never thought Brother would have such an impatient personality! Very well! Please wait a moment, I will be right back!” Shopkeeper Tian stood up with a slightly disappointed expression. He cupped his hands towards Han Li and went downstairs, leaving Han Li alone.

  After approximately the time to brew a cup of tea had passed, Shopkeeper Tian once again appeared before Han Li. However, this time he was carrying a few brocade boxes that were in different sizes.

  Shopkeeper Tian patted the brocade boxes and spoke with a grin. “I heard that Brother Li wants the best magic tools and talismans from the servant downstairs, so I went downstairs to the collection room and brought up a few pieces of treasure that I have collected for a long time for Brother to see. I hope Brother Li is happy with them!”

  Han Li’s eyes widened when he heard this. He was very curious about the content in the brocade boxes. He wondered what rare items they would have to be in order for them to be called treasures by the shopkeeper, and whether or not the content would be above his expectations.

  Shopkeeper Tian had already placed the brocade boxes on the table and opened each of them for him to see. However, Han Li noticed that as soon as the brocade boxes were opened, two magic pressures that were definitely stronger than him came out of nowhere and tightly locked onto his every move.

  Han Li was surprised at first, but quickly understood that this was a security measure that the Myriad Treasures Store had employed to secure the treasures in case he were to suddenly steal the items inside the brocade boxes. He then relaxed and had a deeper understanding of the Myriad Treasures Store’s ability.

  Chapter 163: Brocade Treasure Box

  At this moment, Shopkeeper Tian started to present the item in the small brocade box.

  “A set of Gold Beetle Swarm Blades, with one mother blade and eight children blades. It was created from fine iron and gold. Refined by a Foundation Establishment expert for three days and three nights. So long as one holds the mother blade, one can simultaneously control the eight children blades to attack the enemy, causing the enemy to be unable to defend against these incomparably sharp blades.” He introduced the set of peculiar light gold blades while pointing to its case.

  Han Li did not speak and carefully examined the handle for a moment. He nodded his head and put it down.

  “Flying Dark-Iron Shield, a very scarcely seen defensive magic tool. It was refined from a large chunk of Cold Yin Earth. Not only is it incomparable solid and indestructible, it’s also embedded with a spell. It can revolve in any direction and automatically defend,” said Shopkeeper Tian while picking up a tiny shield the size of a palm. Then he passed it over to Han Li to let him carefully look over it.

  Han Li took the shield into his hand and lightly stroked its decorative design. After he muttered to himself for a moment, he asked, “Can I try out the spell for a moment?”

  “Of course you can. Brother Li, please do not hesitate to use it!” Shopkeeper Tian said in a relaxed manner.

  Since he said as such, Han Li was not polite and slowly poured magic power into the shield in his hand.

  As a result, the metal shield shined a black light. In a blink of an eye, it enlarged several times over, and it even flew out of his hand and floated in the air. Furthermore, it slowly began to circle around him. Its size seemed just enough to cover a few vital points on the body.

  Han Li was pleased. After attentively controlling it for a moment, he could control its movement as he pleased, much to his expectation; it was quite nifty and agile.

  After trying it out, Han Li was very pleased with that magic tool. What he was currently most lacking was this kind of life-saving magic tool. With this shield, his odds of surviving the Forbidden Trial of Blood and Fire was surely to increase quite a bit.

  However, Han Li hadn’t immediately express anything. He simply returned the iron shield to the box without speaking. Then he waited for the other party to continue t
heir presentations.

  Shopkeeper Tian was not at all discontented with Han Li’s method of handling things and continued to enthusiastically recommend the next article, a blue ball the size of a pill.

  “Heavenly Lightning Seed. Several hundred years ago, after a mysterious expert accidentally severed heavenly lightning, he managed to successfully condensed it. Each grain possesses great power. It is said that even if a Foundation Establishment expert resisted this lightning head-on, he was certain to turn to ash and smoke. There were originally seventy-three grains. However, after the passage of time, there are not many left. This one grain cost this store a great amount to take possession of it.”

  After Shopkeeper Tian said this, he could not help expose a somewhat complacent expression. This lightning bead was clearly a precious rarity.

  When Han Li heard this, he was emotionally moved. It could actually kill a Foundation Establishment expert! Something of such great might couldn’t be found by chance! If he could acquire it, then it would be equivalent to a trump card for his trip to the forbidden area. However, he feared the price would be high enough to scare people away! Why else would they not have sold it until now?

  After Shopkeeper Tian presented the blue lightning bead, he spoke no further. Instead he looked at Han Li with great anticipation. Then he lifted the cup of fragrant tea and took an unhurried taste. Although the table had a tightly-closed brocade box that had yet to be introduced, he hadn’t spoken even a single word about it.

  Han Li faintly smiled, fully aware of this Shopkeeper Tian’s intention. He knew this was the time that he should show the other party his own strength. Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to easily see the treasure in the final brocade box.

  Before he came, apart from the two-thousand year-old spiritual herbs, he also brought along all of his spirit stones, comprising of two mid-grade spirit stones and nearly a hundred low-grade spirit stones.

  However, Han Li was not likely to lightly make use of these spirit stones. He was only relying on those two spiritual herbs.

  Frankly, although Han Li knew that spiritual herbs of over a thousand years of age were extremely rare in the cultivation world and that their value should be high, he didn’t know the concrete cost in spiritual stones for these magic tools. He did not have a true estimate.

  However, he understood that by using the herbs to obtain that small shield and the Gold Beetle Swarm Knives, he should have some extra spirit stones left over. As for that Heavenly Lightning Seed that he further wanted to acquire, he was not very hopeful.

  He didn’t suddenly take out both of his spiritual herbs. Instead, he took out a small wooden box with something seemingly precious and exceptional inside.

  The reason why Han Li acted as such was because he was fully aware that “A man wants to be adorned with clothes, but a Buddha wants to be adorned with gold”. He knew that if this presentation went well, the value of his medicine herbs should somewhat increase, thereby making the chances that he would suffer losses unlikely.

  Han Li did not open the lid of the small box but rather passed the case to the man in front of him.

  Shopkeeper Tian had secretly paid close attention to Han Li’s actions all along. When he saw this scene, he did not speak any objections and accepted the box. After a moment of careful observation, he carefully opened the lid.

  “Yi!”

  Once he clearly saw what was within the box, Shopkeeper Tian was somewhat amazed. However, his expression grew displeased soon after.

  “Brother Li plans to use this Yellow Essence Mushroom to exchange for this store’s treasures? How is this rare? Unless it is a great item of two to three hundred years or more, it fundamentally isn’t worth anything,” Shopkeeper Tian coldly uttered.

  Han Li coldly chuckled several times and didn’t say anything else. He was studying the other party’s recent appearance at his own pace while tasting the fragrant tea that had been poured for him a moment ago.

  Having seen Han Li’s fearless actions, Shopkeeper Tian was somewhat doubtful. He mustered all of his spirit and lowered his head, carefully examining the spiritual herb in the box once more.

  “Xi!”

  Shopkeeper Tian took a good look at it and suddenly breathed in a cold breath of air. Immediately, he stood from his chair in excitement and moved the box to a more adequately-lit portion of the room. He excessively examined it and then muttered to himself, “Impossible. Could it truly be over a thousand years old? Or is it simply resembling it?”

  Han Li clearly saw the other party’s expression and heard his words, causing his heart to finally grow calm. He was now certain that the value of his thousand year-old spiritual herbs was greater than his previous estimates, not lower. In addition, it seemed that he had a good chance of acquiring that lightning bead.

  After a moment of examination, Shopkeeper Tian suddenly became aware of his lack of manners and the fact that he revealed information about the true circumstances to the other party.

  However, he was unable to change anything now. The object before his eyes was completely embedded in his state of mind. So long as this object were truly that thousand year-old item of the highest quality, he would overpay to have this thousand year-old spiritual herb remain in the Ten Thousand Treasures Store. Doing so would give his Ten Thousand Treasures Store countless benefits.

  However, he was currently embarrassed as he had never seen a thousand year-old spiritual herb before. He only knew of its reputation, and hence, he was truly unable to be give a certain estimation of the maturity of that herb inside the box. He only knew that if the Yellow Essence Mushroom before him didn’t have a medicinal potency of a thousand years of more, it should absolutely be of seven to eight hundred years or more. It would still be a very precious object; he was certain of least that much.

  “Come!”

  After a long moment of inspection, Shopkeeper Tian called a young servant from downstairs.

  “Go and invite Elder Ding to come. Tell him there is a valuable object here that I need him to appraise,” he solemnly ordered.

  Afterwards, Shopkeeper Tian took advantage of this chance to have a completely honest chat. However, they completely avoided talking about the medicine herb, as if the medicine herb in the small box had been forgotten for the moment.

  Not long after, a grey-haired old man escorted by a young servant slowly climbed up the stairs.

  When Shopkeeper Tian saw this, he immediately went to respectfully greet him and offered his seat to this elder before standing to the side. It seemed this Elder Ding was truly a person of reputation.

  However, Han Li had already guessed that this person was like Shopkeeper Tian, a common old man. He didn’t have the slightest trace of cultivation.

  “Shopkeeper Tian, you called this soon-to-be buried old man here. Could it be that there’s something you couldn’t call someone else for?” Trembling, the old man asked after gasping several times.

  Chapter 164: The Secret of the Treasure Talisman

  “Elder Ding, may I trouble you to look at this item? Even though Junior feels like it could be a thousand year-old spiritual medicine, I am not completely sure. I hope Elder Ding can identify the age of this herb.” Shopkeeper Tian requested in a humble tone and handed over the wooden box.

  “Thousand year-old spiritual herb?” Elder Ding found it hard to believe it when he heard it, but he still took the brocade box.

  “Elder, please take a close look! Is it really a thousand year-old Yellow Essence Mushroom?” Shopkeeper Tian suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked rapidly.

  The Elder didn’t respond. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on looking at the shape, color, even the pattern. He even put the box under his nose and sniffed it slightly several times.

  Han Li had hand-raised this medicinal herb with an accelerated process, so he knew very well whether or not this spiritual medicine was a thousand years old. Knowing this, he sat on the side with a leisurely expression and acted as if he didn’t see w
hat the Elder was doing. What he was considering was only how he should bargain with the Myriad Treasures Store.

  Shopkeeper Tian was the exact opposite of Han Li, and he watched the Elder’s each and every single move without blinking. The unfearing manner he carried himself with when he first met Han Li was already completely gone. At this moment, his face was filled with a complicated expression, a mixture of expectations and worry, due to the possible outcomes..

  Finally, Elder Ding placed the box gently on the table, closed his eyes and went into deep thought as he pinched his beard. He then opened his eyes, and said calmly with a very positive tone,

  “Congratulations, Shopkeeper. This is indeed a Yellow Essence Mushroom that is over a thousand years old. It has also just been unearthed not long ago, and the efficacy of this medicine has not detracted at all, so it is a top-quality thousand year-old herb. This Elder can guarantee this!”

  Hearing this, Shopkeeper Tian’s face showed a joyous expression. He then respectfully escorted the Elder down the stairs. Overjoyed, he picked up the box holding the spiritual herb and looked at it several more times.

  “Shopkeeper Tian, shouldn’t you and I start talking about the deal?!” Seeing that the other party seemed to have forgotten that the owner of the spiritual herb was still sitting on the side, Han Li couldn’t help but remind the Shopkeeper of his presence.

  “Oh… Ah!… I am so silly. Brother Li, please forgive me!” Slightly surprised, Shopkeeper Tian then remembered that this spiritual herb didn’t yet belong to the Myriad Treasures Store. He slightly blushed, his face turning red.

  “Hehe, that’s fine! But how do you plan on trading? Seeing how Shopkeeper Tian was fond of this item, I’m sure you won’t disappoint me!” Han Li chuckled and remarked as he slightly mocked the other party.

  At this moment, Shopkeeper Tian’s expression returned to normal. He then put the item that was in his hands back on the table and said, “Since Brother Li can take out a thousand year-old spiritual herb, you must not be an ordinary cultivator. Hence, I will be straightforward to Brother without any of my usual business schemes. I will give you a fair price!”