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

by Translator: Johnchen

  “Is there something you need?” Han Li knitted his eyebrows and asked coldly.

  He did not really like people who disturbed him for no reason.

  “This Junior wanted to ask Senior if you came to this market intending to buy something. This Junior’s name is Wang Ziling, and I am often around this market. Perhaps my help can save Senior a significant amount of time!”

  Hearing this, Han Li sized up the Confucian student with some confusion; suddenly, he lightly smiled and asked:

  “Are you a frequent hire?”

  Although the Confucian scholar couldn’t see Han Li’s expression clearly due to the cloak, he could clearly hear the laughter in Han Li’s voice, and his heart loosened up. He immediately replied:

  “Senior guessed correctly; this Junior occasionally spends his time there. I am not exclusively hired by that one store, so Senior can feel free to relax!”

  Han Li somewhat carelessly nodded his head, but he indifferently said:

  “Although I don’t mind whether or not you are specifically hired by the store, this time I want to buy a few formation flags and formation plates. It seems like the best decision is to go to the Stardust Pavilion. I don’t think that I need any help!”

  Chapter 223: Secret Store, Auction

  When the Confucian scholar heard Han Li’s words, he stared blankly for a moment before immediately smiling. Then he joyfully said, “Senior, it is fortunate that you’ve told me this, else you would have gone on a trip in vain! Although the fame of the Heavenly Star Sect’s formation spells is quite renown, this does not apply to the Stardust Pavilion’s top formation flags and formation plates. Although there are many and various formation flags and formation plates inside the Stardust Pavilion, they are only common rubbish sold to small cultivator clans and rogue cultivators. Formation spell tools of true quality are not released by the Heavenly Star Sect. This is because if their finest spell formation items were released to outsiders, the gaps in their formation could be seen through. As they say, the gains do not make up for the losses!”

  As the Confucian scholar was explaining off to the side, he stole a look at Han Li. However, the hood of Han Li’s cloak prevented his face from being seen, and so the scholar couldn’t make out the slightest of emotion, much to his great frustration.

  “From your tone, it sounds as if you know where I can find the items I want!” Although Han Li was greatly surprised from the Confucian scholar’s words, he still maintained his flat, calm tone, completely hiding his inner shock.

  When the Confucian scholar heard this, he first looked left and right several times. After there was no one around, he secretly whispered, “If Senior believes this Junior, he can introduce you to a secret store that very few know about. Although that location has a small issue about its past history, all of its goods are high quality and rarely seen! I believe that Senior will certainly be able to find satisfactory formation spell tools there.”

  “Secret store?”

  Although Han LI’s voice was still low, he was actually inwardly startled by the Confucian scholar’s words.

  In the past several years, Han Li had heard rumors of a secret store once or twice. Han Li knew that if the Confucian scholar spoke truthfully, this would be a truly rare chance to broaden his horizons.

  “It seems that Senior also know a bit about the secret store. Hehe! This is great. In that case, there’s no need for Junior to waste time explaining. There are probably still four to six hours left before the secret store’s monthly auction. If Senior wishes to go, please decide soon. I will be able to immediately show you the way!”

  When the Confucian scholar saw Han Li display no disgust upon the mention of the secret store, he could not help but secretly rejoice. He knew that chasing after this client was most likely the correct course of action for him to take.

  “It isn’t too far?” Han Li suddenly asked.

  “It isn’t far. The secret store is within the market city. Does Senior approve?” The Confucian scholar grew a bit excited. By giving the secret store a potential customer, he was able to reap a significant percentage in spirit stones.

  “Let’s go!” After he let out a relaxed breath, Han Li’s tone was no longer cold.

  “This one will lead the way!” The Confucian scholar had a happy expression and took the initiative to lead.

  After the Confucian scholar turned seven corners, he brought Han Li in front of a small lodge. The door was secured, and there was no sign on the door. It seemed very unremarkable.

  The Confucian scholar lightly knocked on the door with a certain rhythm.In response, the door opened. A woman about thirty years old walked out. This woman’s looks were average, and her cultivation was only at the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Condensation, truly unremarkable.

  “Lady Zhang, this one brings a new customer. He also wishes to participate in the auction.” Wang Ziling did not wait for the woman to speak and hastily introduced Han Li with great energy.

  After Lady Zhang heard Wang Ziling say he brought a customer, she did not show an expression of joy but scowled instead, as if she wasn’t in agreement. But after she took a clear look and saw that this customer was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, her expression changed to a slight smile.

  “This time, you’ve brought a proper customer rather than the trash you previously brought! A Foundation Establishment Senior! Senior, please come in!” Although this woman’s cultivation was very low, she didn’t look at Han Li with any reverence. Instead, she seemed to consider Han Li an ordinary customer.

  “Senior, this one can only bring you to this location. He will first take his leave!” Wang Ziling blushed from the woman’s words and hurried to say his farewell to Han Li.

  After seeing the Confucian scholar’s figure disappear into the distance, the woman stepped to the side, signaling Han Li to enter.

  After he entered, he saw that all sorts of shoddy materials for pill and tool refinement were arranged out for display like an ordinary raw materials shop.

  Han Li carefully observed the woman, who closed the door and then respectfully said, “Please follow me, sir.”

  With that said, the woman took a few steps to the corner of the room. She then pressed her hand against the ground.

  Yellow light flashed from her hand, when all of a sudden a large hole opened from the ground. The woman called out to Han Li, indicating that he was to follow her lead.

  After a moment of slight hesitation, Han Li walked into the tunnel and cautiously followed. However, the ever cautious Han Li naturally stayed on guard.

  The tunnel was very short. After about thirty meters, there was a somewhat small stone door. Two black-clothed men stood in front of either side of the door, each wearing a devil’s mask.

  After Han Li took a look at the two black-clothed men, his expression immediately grew heavy. They were actually Foundation Establishment cultivators like him! Furthermore, one of them was mid-stage Foundation Establishment. Han Li could not help but be wary of this store’s strength.

  The woman pushed through the stone door as if she hadn’t seen the black-clothed men and brought Han Li inside. The two black-clothed men also turned a blind eye, neither speaking nor obstructing them.

  After Han Li entered the room, he grew distracted. A large, majestic hall appeared before his eyes.

  Vermillion fur rugs, snow-white jade walls, palace lanterns hanging from the ceiling... all of this gave off an appearance of the greatest wealth from the mortal world. It seemed the owner of this room was quite wondrous!

  The large hall was shaped as an oval with a diameter of about a hundred meters. Seven or eight lines of chairs were arranged in the hall with several tens of uniquely dressed cultivators seated upon them. Across from them was a lone, empty table, not far from which were three sandlewood chairs.

  Seeing Han Li and the woman enter, the people sitting could not help but look in their direction.

  After those gazes swept past Han Li, he felt his body
quiver with a cold sweat. His expression greatly changed. More than half of those people were cultivators in late-stage Foundation Establishment!

  At this moment, Han Li realized why the woman at his side did not show any semblance of reverence toward him. At this place, he was but a common sight!

  “Your esteemed self has come at a good time! The auction was about to start. This small woman will no longer accompany you; I must return upward to take care of a few matters!”

  Han Li helplessly looked at the several cultivators in the hall and silently looked for a remote corner before sitting down.

  At this moment, he already noticed that the cultivators here were concealing their faces like him, using cloaks to hide their true features. It seemed no one was so stupid enough to let others discover their identity.

  Although the people in the hall weren’t few in number, no one was speaking. The incomparable silence caused the air to carry a trace of tension.

  When Han LI saw this, he also remained extremely well-behaved. Aside from some malicious guesses of any acquaintances he would recognize here, he wholeheartedly paid attention to the wooden door directly behind the long table. It seemed that the owner should be preparing behind that door.

  After Han Li sat there for five to six hours, the wooden door behind the table finally opened. Three people walked out one by one.

  From their appearance, they seemed identical to the guards at the stone door. It was unable to see who was master and servant.

  At this moment, they stood behind the long table. The person standing on the right first spoke with a low and hoarse voice, “Welcome to our trade fair, fellow Daoists of the cultivation world. Among our current customers, there are old and regular customers as well as newcomers. But this does not matter, as this store treats everyone equally!”

  When the person on the right finished, the person on the left immediately started talking, “This trade fair is completely fair. When someone shouts out a price in spirit stones, everyone must use spirit stones to compete. If someone doesn’t have sufficient spirit stones, they will be able to use an item of equivalent value as collateral. As for its specific worth, all three of us will jointly evaluate it. In short, the highest price will acquire the item on sale.” This person’s voice was completely different. It was shrill and quiet, very much falsetto, causing those who heard it to feel at great unease.

  “Finally, after all the items in the store have been sold, everyone is free to conduct business during this time. If there are any items you wish to sell or exchange, you will be able to step forward and present them at will and trade them independently. We will not mettle in the slightest and will only offer the place to conduct business. Alright, everything has been said. Let the trade fair begin!”

  The middle person’s voice was actually simple and loud, resonating throughout the room.

  Following these words, the three flashed to the side, appearing on the sandlewood seats behind the table. At this moment, a very tall and thin middle-aged man with a shrewd appearance walked out from the wooden door.

  This man walked to the table and coughed several times before declaring, “This auction will be directed by me. The first item for auction will be the top-grade magic tool, Fire Cloud Sword. This item...”

  Chapter 224: Mechanical Puppet Beasts

  The first item being auctioned was a rather powerful top-grade magic tool, causing Han Li to feel somewhat surprised.

  This was especially because this articulate tall, thin figure had colorfully and dynamically described the magic tool as unparalleled and hard to find on the earth. Even Han Li, when he heard it, had a slight impulse of pulling out his spirit stones to buy it, not to mention other cultivators who desperately lacked top-grade magic tools.

  As expected, the base price of two hundred spirit stones had just been revealed when three or four impatient individuals immediately called out bids. In the blink of an eye, this Fire Cloud Sword’s price had been raised to more than three hundred spirit stones, causing the other cultivators, who had originally also wanted to call out a price, to immediately extinguish this train of thought!

  Although the fire cloud attacks of the Fire Cloud Sword weren’t too bad, it was obviously one step inferior to a top-grade magic tool of true quality! Spending three hundred spirit stones for it seemed to be somewhat in poor taste.

  However, even if there were people unwilling to buy it, naturally there were others willing to be taken advantage of!

  To the people who were willing to buy it, although the items that would be auctioned off later would be finer in quality, there was no way for them to obtain it. It was better and more realistic for them to buy the decent top-grade magic tool in front of them.

  Thus, this Fire Cloud Sword reached a price of four hundred spirit stones due to the contentions between a few Qi Condensation cultivators; it was sold off relatively successfully.

  The cultivator wearing a doll mask happily returned to his seat after turning in his spirit stones, holding the sword in his hands. It seemed like he was going to take it home and make it his family heirloom. This caused other cultivators to think that it was somewhat humorous.

  The tall and skinny figure waited for the person to return to his seat, then cleared his throat and said:

  “The second item this store will auction is naturally a tool-refinement master’s greatest love, a top-grade Red Sky Gathering Furnace. This furnace has been passed down through the hands of many great tool-refinement masters; it is an exquisite item that has refined many top-grade items, such as the Phantom Sound Sword, Azure Flood Dragon Banner, Black Flame Pearl, and many others. From hearsay, this furnace has the ability to grant additional properties when refining tools. However, as for whether this claim is true or not, even this store does not know! Thus, the base price is four hundred spirit stones, which is definitely not a high price.

  As the man spoke, he pulled out a fire-red pill furnace from his storage pouch and placed it on the table for everyone to see

  With a boom, the atmosphere in the room erupted even though none of the cultivators in the room had spoken yet. Many people were staring dead-on at the pill furnace with fiery gazes; evidently, they all fancied this item.

  Han Li quietly sat in the corner, coldly watching all of that was happening. When he heard that the Azure Flood Dragon Banner in his hand also came from this furnace, he couldn’t help but feel quite shocked; however, this was only shock!

  He knew nothing about refining tools, so he naturally would not know the price range for this pill furnace. He definitely would not make a move if it was an item that he didn’t know how to use! Han Li could do at least this much. In addition, although the number of spirit stones he had were not low in number, he still had to save them for crucial moments!

  “Four hundred and fifty!”

  “Four hundred and seventy!”

  “I put forth five hundred spirit stones!”

  “......”

  No matter how Han Li thought, the price of this pill furnace, named the “Red Sky Gathering Furnace” skyrocketed to a frightening amount in no time!

  “Seven hundred eighty stones!”

  This was the bid that a fat-figured person wearing a yellow cloak on his head called out, gritting his teeth!

  “Eight hundred!”

  A female cultivator not too far away from the fatty, leisurely called out an even higher bid, causing the fatty to grip his hands tightly together.

  Before his eyes, the prices became sky high. The others had already given up on bidding. They could only look on with unwillingness and watch the two arrogant Foundation Establishment cultivators continue to shout out increasingly large prices.

  “Eight hundred and fifty pieces! If this lady can call out a bid higher by even one spirit stone, this pill furnace will be given to you!” The fatty said viciously as he raised the price again, staring at the female cultivator with an angry expression.

  “Eight hundred and fifty-one!”


  The fat cultivator’s words had just left his mouth when the female cultivator laughed coldly and intentionally called out a number one figure higher. This caused the fat cultivator’s big face, which was hidden inside the cloak, to appear as red as blood. But after furiously shooting a poisonous expression at the other person for a brief moment, he actually did not call out another bid.

  Just like that, this Foundation Establishment female cultivator spent a very high price and bought this famous pill furnace; even so, was it worth the amount she paid?

  Perhaps this time’s bidding was too fierce, and it stimulated the nerves of all of the cultivators. Just like that, the originally cold atmosphere in the room instantly heated up, and all the top-grade magic tools and precious materials were completely gobbled up by all of the enthusiastic cultivators.

  But after twenty or so items had been sold off, Han Li had still yet to see items like the formation flag or formation plate for sale, causing him to grow impatient.

  Han Li couldn’t help but silently think that if none of the items he needed appeared in this auction, he might actually have to make a trip to the Stardust Pavilion. Even buying a few of the most basic spell formation tools was better than having none at all!

  Just as Han Li was thinking, the skinny and tall man in front listed the name of the next item being auctioned.

  “Top-grade magic tool, a pair of mechanical puppet beasts! Its strength is comparable to that of a ninth layer Qi Condensation disciple. In addition, it is completely faithful and will defend its owner to the death! If you buy this item, it’s like having two personal bodyguards around you at all times. The base price is only a hundred spirit stones!”

  “Mechanical puppet beasts? Isn’t my own top-grade magic tool also called a Puppet Bowman? Could they be the same kind of object?” Han Li’s heart moved, and he sat up straight. He began to watch attentively.

  The skinny tall male had already brought out two shiny black doll-like objects! They were only as large as a fist, and their appearance seemed to somewhat resemble a lion or a tiger, but that similarity was limited; one did not know what kind of strange beast they were based on.