With that said, after a moment of thought, he continued with a sincere tone, “Brother Li can trade this spiritual herb for any of the two items from the brocade box that I have previously showed you, or you can trade it for only the item in the last brocade box. If none of the items satisfy you, then this store can also pay you with enough spiritual stones to buy the spiritual herb. Brother Li, what are your thoughts?”
Han Li felt the sincerity in the other party’s words. After pondering it over and over again in his heart, he felt that the price was reasonable, and since it was not beyond his bottom line, he was on the verge of accepting the deal. But before that, he still wanted to see the item in the last brocade box.
But it turned out that Han Li didn’t even have to ask. Shopkeeper Tian had already opened the last brocade box and pushed it in front of Han Li, as he said with a smile, “The item inside this box is this store’s most precious treasure. However, whether you like it not will depend on if Brother has good taste!”
Hearing this, Han Li’s curiosity increased. He looked inside the box, and immediately he was stunned. Inside the brocade box, there was a single, lone talisman inscribed with the image of a golden brick. The image shimmered with a golden light and looked realistic.
After taking a good look at the item, Han Li’s thoughts couldn’t stop spinning. He immediately thought of his talisman, the one with a small gray sword drawn on it. Could it be the same thing?
“Treasure talisman?” Han Li took a deep breath and asked in an uncertain tone.
The shopkeeper showed an expression of astonishment. He exclaimed in surprise,
“I did not expect that Brother Li would actually recognize this item! Usually, very few cultivators know about this treasure. Brother is truly knowledgeable, I am impressed!”
After Han Li listened to what he said, he laughed bitterly and shook his head. With a sigh, he replied, “You look too highly upon this man surnamed Li. I merely heard about the treasure talisman; I actually don’t know much about it. Since Shopkeeper Tian was able to take this item out, you must know a bit about this treasure talisman. I hope you will teach me about it!”
Han Li’s remarks were all spoken from the bottom of his heart. He wanted to take the opportunity gain a thorough understanding of the treasure talisman and avoid being confused about it further down the road.
Shopkeeper Tian was surprised as he looked at Han Li. He felt like this wasn’t something that needed to be kept as a secret, it’s just that not a lot of people knew about it. Even so, it wasn’t worth the effort to offend the big customer in front of him, so he agreed very easily and explained everything he knew about the “treasure talisman”.
The “treasure talisman” was an item with great background, a special item that could only be made by cultivators above Core Formation.
The high-level cultivators who refined magic treasures would insert some of the magic treasure’s power into special talisman paper so that other cultivators could temporarily use the power of the magic treasure from this special talisman. It had the characteristics of both a talisman and a magic treasure. Cultivators who were aware of their existence jokingly called them “fake magic treasures”, but even so, they still deeply coveted them.
This type of “fake magic treasure” was very special. Even though it must be made by cultivators above Core Formation, any cultivator could use it, regardless of skill level. Even Monk Golden Light, the cultivator whom Han Li had killed, could use it well despite having cultivated only three or four layers.
However, cultivators below Foundation Establishment couldn’t use condensation techniques, so they could only use ten to twenty percent of the treasure talisman’s power. Compared to top magic tools, this didn’t seem to be much higher.
After Foundation Establishment, however, cultivators would be able to use Mind Condensation Arts and make full use of the treasure talisman’s might. Even though its power didn’t resemble the earth-shattering, sea-roaring, mountain-shattering might of a true magic treasure, it was enough to disdain any other magic tool. Hence, cultivators after Foundation Establishment all wished to have a “treasure talisman”. This would give them an advantage in battles and let them disregard other cultivators.
Even though a “treasure talisman’s” powers were astonishing, it would keep on consuming the magic treasure’s power that was held within. If the powers were exhausted, then the treasure talisman would be completely useless. Therefore, the question of the treasure talisman’s usage was something that could not be taken lightly.
Furthermore, the creation of the “treasure talisman” was not a simple matter.
Because magic treasures were objects that could inherently be refined only by Core Formation cultivators, they were incredibly rare. They also needed to be refined day and night within a cultivator’s true essence to increase its power and could not lightly be shown to others. As a result, the same could be said as to which magic treasure the ‘‘treasure talisman” was created from.
Creating a “treasure talisman” was equivalent to harming the magic treasure since it siphoned off a portion of its power, and the owner of the magic treasure must refine the magic treasure for a long time to recover its might. Such actions were typically self-harming. Therefore, under normal circumstances, no cultivator who was above Core Formation would do such foolish actions.
But as the old saying went, the affairs of the world were in constant flux. The seemingly foolish action of refining a “treasure talisman” would be done continuously by most of the high-level cultivators when their times were almost up. It was for the sake of the younger generations and juniors, a small fortune in power and assistance.
As for the magic treasures left behind by predecessors, after a long amount of time of being refined and inherited by successors, the magic treasure would no longer be completely compatible with the new owner’s mind. In addition, half of the magic treasure’s original power would be lost, so it required the user to also achieve Core Formation or else the magic treasure would only be wasted and rendered unusable. Therefore, compared to keeping the magic treasures, refining “treasure talismans” for the younger generation was more suitable.
But there were a lot of limitations to refining a “treasure talisman”.
Firstly, each “treasure talisman” could seal the power of a magic treasure, but only one tenth of of the magic treasure’s power, and it could only reduce, not increase. Hence, even if multiple “treasure talismans” sealed the same magic treasure, their strengths were uneven and could vary.
Secondly, not only would refining treasure talismans reduce the power of the magic treasure, it would make the owner lose a lot of strength, so continuous refinement of “treasure talismans” was an impossible scenario. Every time a treasure talisman was refined, the magic treasure owner would have to recover for three to five years to regain his strength. And this was in the case that one would not waste true essence and would no longer intend to refine magic treasures ever again, or else the time would be even longer.
Hence, in the cultivating world, there often appeared scenario like these.
When high-level cultivators approach the end of their life, they would prepare to die while sitting proudly and without regrets. They would leave their most valuable items, usually a piece of magic treasure that had its power decreased greatly and several “treasure talisman” that sealed the same power. This must be said to be a helpless matter!
Chapter 165: Night Encounter
After hearing Shopkeeper Tian’s explanation, Han Li had a better understanding about the treasure talisman. He couldn’t help but look at the treasure talisman inside the brocade box once more.
“This store bought the Golden Light Brick treasure talisman from a small family for a substantial price. It’s a brand new treasure talisman, more than enough to exchange for Brother Li’s thousand year-old spiritual herb!” Shopkeeper Tian promptly said in a tone that suggested he was in an unfavorable position.
> Han Li sneered to himself. He did not believe the act the other party was putting on. At most, they were just fulfilling each other’s needs. In Shopkeeper Tian’s eyes, Han Li’s spiritual herb was certainly higher in value than this piece of treasure talisman.
“What do you think? Which item will Brother Li exchange for?” Shopkeeper Tian finally asked with a smile.
Hearing this, Han Li hesitated for a moment and couldn’t make up his mind. He originally wanted to check out a few more stores and see if there were any better magic tools, but the items in front of him were pretty decent and satisfied him. He was reluctant to give up any of the items, especially that Golden Light Brick treasure talisman. That would be of help to him in the future, so he absolutely had to get his hands on that item.
“These few items, I like them all. I am planning to have all of them!” After considering for a while, Han Li made a decision.
He felt like it might not be a bad thing if he just bought everything at the Myriad Treasures Store. At least it would reduce the attention he would receive and limit the impact to only the Myriad Treasures Store.
“All of them? Brother Li must be joking!” After Shopkeeper Tian heard what Han Li said, his face darkened. He thought Han Li was being greedy and unrealistically trying to exchange all of the treasures from the brocade boxes with one spiritual herb.
Seeing this, Han Li smiled. He didn’t offer an explanation, but rather took out an identical box from his storage pouch and put it on the table.
“I will use two thousand year-old spiritual herbs to exchange for all of the treasures in your brocade boxes!” Han Li unhurriedly said with control of the matter.
Shopkeeper Tian was surprised and overjoyed. He couldn’t bother to respond to Han Li’s conditions and hastily checked the newly appeared spiritual medicine. When he made sure the new spiritual herb was indeed the same thousand year-old spiritual medicine as the first, he then looked at Han Li once again with a strange gaze. After all, a person who could bring out two rare spiritual medicines was worth his Myriad Treasures Store’s attention.
Han Li was wearing a cloak, so Shopkeeper Tian wasn’t able to clearly see the other party’s expression. Because of this, the other party felt even more mysterious. Therefore, after a slight hesitation, he said decisively, “Very well. Since Brother Li says so, I will take a step back and agree to your conditions. But this person surnamed Tian has a small attached request. In the future, if Brother Li possesses any more of such spiritual medicines, I hope Brother will prioritize this store. This person surnamed Tian will definitely offer a price that will satisfy you.”
Han Li gave a few dry laughs and nodded lightly without giving an actual response, but in his heart he was already sighing, knowing that the other party still became suspicious. It looked like he should limit these types of deals where he exchanged spiritual herbs for treasure as much as possible in the future, else he might attract a fatal disaster.
Shopkeeper Tian didn’t know Han Li’s real thoughts, but seeing that Han Li nodded and agreed, he was overjoyed. If the person in front of him who was surnamed Li could really give him thousand year-old spiritual medicine, the price of taking a step back today would have been completely worth it!
And so, Shopkeeper Tian and Han Li exchanged, and after putting away each of their items, both of them were happy.
Han Li left the Myriad Treasures Store just like that. He didn’t even dare to stay at the market city for even a second longer. He quickly walked past the market city’s flying limit, and he immediately flew away from this place.
Because he was afraid that the Myriad Treasures Store would sent some experts to secretly track him, he didn’t blatantly fly directly towards Yellow Maple Valley. Instead, he flew straight away from the Tai Yue Mountain Range. After travelling for three or four entire days, he was then at ease, turned around, and flew back towards the Yellow Maple Valley.
During an evening three days later, Han Li entered the outer ring of the Tai Yue Mountain Range. Because the sky was about to darken, for the sake of his safety, he found a hidden cave to spend the night in and decided to head back to Yellow Maple Valley the following day.
This cave happened to be located halfway up a certain hill. There was even a messy pile of rocks blocking the entrance of the cave. From the outside, it was hard to discover the cave. Han Li just happened to be able to stay inside.
After eating something, he changed his clothing, leaned against the stone wall, and started meditating. It unknowingly passed to the second half of the night while Han Li seemed to be asleep, when he suddenly heard the sound of rustling clothes and moving wind. Bang. It seemed like someone outside the cave had landed on the ground on both feet. Han Li was startled and suddenly awoke.
“Could it be that people from the Thousand Treasures Store are coming after me?” Han Li couldn’t help but think of the worst possible scenario.
“Junior Martial Sister, this is a good, remote location. I think this place is it!” A familiar male voice sounded outside the cave.
Han Li was a bit shocked, but he was finally relieved. If it wasn’t the Myriad Treasures Store coming after him for the treasure, then the other party was just passing through. There was nothing for him to worry about.
“Junior Martial Sister, there’s no need to look at me like that. Since you have never enjoyed the feeling of a s*xual relationship between a man and a woman, this Senior Martial Brother will love you dearly so that Junior Martial Sister will not waste her life as a woman. Your beauty will vanish at any moment, which would be a waste of your fair skin.” The man’s voice was neither fast nor slow. It was extremely tender, but the contents of his words were truly obscene and ruthless.
Han Li breathed in a cold breath of air. Who was the person outside? How could he use this kind of tone and say these ‘r*pe first then kill’ words? It was really impressive! Outside, there was only the sound of the man, but not the sound of the woman. This meant that this “Junior Martial Sister” had already been suppressed. She probably wasn’t able to open her mouth right now.
But the man’s voice was so familiar. He should be someone whom Han Li had seen before. Thinking of this, Han Li’s curiosity increased, and he couldn’t help but quietly move towards the entrance of the cave.
Rip! The sound of the woman’s clothing cut through the air, along with the man’s indecent laugh.
“Here, first take a Joyful Meeting Pill! Otherwise it won’t be pleasurable!”
“Cough, Junior Martial Sister! Why do you look at Senior Brother like that? Actually, didn’t you really want to pair cultivate with me after reaching Foundation Establishment?! This could be considered me fulfilling your wish! Haha…” The man seemed to be carried away as he laughed hysterically.
At this moment, Han Li carefully moved to the entrance of the cave and started peaking outside.
A man in white was squatting by a young woman and recklessly caressing her delicate body, pulling down her clothing from time to time.
The woman’s hair was a mess, so Han Li wasn’t able to see her face clearly. But her body was already like a tender-white sheep, half-naked, revealing her white, bouncy skin, especially her half-hidden and half-revealed bosom. Her breasts were capable of elevating people’s blood pressure and deeply evoking a man’s natural instincts.
“So it was him!”
After clearly seeing the man’s face, Han Li was somewhat surprised but also suddenly realized.
The man was the narrow-minded “Martial Brother Lu” who fought against the Murong brothers. He was a malicious, two-faced person. All Han Li wondered was exactly which poor Martial Sister had become the tiny white sheep underneath his claws!
Han Li didn’t know if it was because this “Martial Brother Lu” had heard what Han Li was thinking, but he unintentionally moved aside the messy hair in front of the woman’s face. It revealed a beautiful yet extremely vicious face.
“How could it be her?” After Han Li saw the woman’s face
clearly, he almost bit his tongue.
Wasn’t this the “Junior Martial Sister Chen” who had shown affection for “Martial Brother Lu” from the very beginning?! She was already in a relationship with that “Martial Brother Lu”, so why would this “Martial Brother Lu” go out of his mind and play the act of raping and killing his own partner? But as Han Li examined “Junior Martial Sister Chen’s” glaring, fire-shooting eyes, it didn’t seem like the normal teasing between couples!
Han Li blinked his eyes and was feeling a bit confused.
“Found it.”
Suddenly, “Martial Brother Lu” stopped pawing the woman and yelled in glee. A tiny, delicate storage pouch appeared in one of his hands.
“Martial Brother Lu” stopped paying attention to “Junior Martial Sister Chen”. Instead, he poured the storage pouch, and out came a large pile of items, such as magic tools, talismans, and private items like the woman’s clothing and underwear.
“Martial Brother Lu” ignored everything else, and instead went through the items among the jars, bottles, and boxes, as if he were searching for something.
Chapter 166: Savage
“Haha! I found it! I knew that Junior Martial Sister was certain to carry it with her, and sure enough, I was right!” Senior Martial Brother Lu was wild with joy, finding a small red wooden box after rummaging through her things.
He had already opened the lid, but because of Han Li’s angle, Han Li could not clearly see what was within the box. His curiosity was extremely great, but he didn’t dare to act blindly.
It should be known that since this person was so savage as to able to act against his own female companion, if he were to discover this Junior Martial Brother, he was certain to kill Han Li in order to silence him. He would not be left alone.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 80