Their exchange of experiences left them with no small amount of gains, especially the means and opportunities used to make a breakthrough by the mid Foundation Establishment cultivators! This alone made this trip worth it for Han Li and the other early Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The middle-aged man surnamed Wu, who clearly wished for this discussion to continue, raised the topic of another meeting. Tomorrow, several of them would meet at a remote location and continue on with their long chat. Furthermore, they would also be holding a small-scale exchange of goods. How could this not be a wonderful opportunity!
This suggestion received everyone’s approval; Han Li naturally did not oppose.
Thus, the discussion was complete, and they left one by one.
Han Li then marked an inn that he passed by on his map. This inn specialized in receiving external cultivators.
This inn was located in the southeast corner of Yan Ling Castle. The rather unremarkable inn wasn’t very large. It was clearly inferior to other inns, so not many cultivators went there.
Despite of this, Han Li sought this place because it was peaceful and less popular. Because there were fewer people, the odds of getting tied up into trouble was also smaller. Furthermore, the close proximity to the city walls meant that Han Li could easily escape if any mishap occurred!
After all, the appearance of the cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect had left Han Li uneasy. Making preparations for the unexpected in advance was a practice he often used to be careful.
This “Pleased Wind Inn” didn’t have many cultivators as expected. It also wasn’t lively, and the people staying there were reclusive. Han Li got his own room without anyone making a fuss, much to his satisfaction. He immediately found a clean spot in his room to sit down.
As for where that Dong Xuan’er was staying, Han Li did not care to look for her. After all, by the time the Treasure Seizing Assembly started, he would be certain to see her. When the time came, he only had to return to Yellow Maple Valley! As Han Li thought this, he fell into a deep sleep.
During the night, while many cultivators started to sleep or sat in meditation to refine Qi, at the tallest building in Yan Ling Tower, inside the heavily guarded room inside the “Wind Cloud Pavilion”, the command center of Yan Ling Castle, there was a red-haired old man who paced back and forth with both hands behind his back and a deadpan expression.
Not far from him stood three gray-robed old men wearing extremely respectful expressions.
“Zi Jun, those Ghost Spirit Sect youngsters truly wanted to come see me this night?” The red-haired elder eventually stopped pacing and faintly looked at the elder in the middle.
“That is right, Venerable Ancestor! After the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect concluded the martial competition, he told me this in private!” This person respectfully answered.
“En!” The red-haired elder expressionlessly nodded his head, but radiance flashed through his eyes.
At this moment, a black-robed middle-aged man walked in and saluted, saying, “Venerable Ancestor, Elders, the guest has arrived! We have already arranged the great hall, but his two bodyguards have said they are unwilling to wait outside the hall. A few guards tried to force them out, but instead they wouldn’t budge; it seems at least one of them is at Core Formation. How do we deal with it? Venerable Ancestor, please give us clear instructions!”
“Core Formation cultivator? That’s not odd at all! Without a bodyguard for a grand young sect master, how could that Ghost Spirit Sect Master feel at ease with him coming here! Let us go and see! I actually was curious to see what this young sect master looks like underneath his mask for quite a while; it turned out to be a sneaky ghost.” After the red-haired elder heard the black-robed man’s report, a trace of a scowl appeared on his face as he unpleasantly said this.
Afterwards, he took the initiative to walk out the room, and the others naturally followed closely behind him.
Upon entering the main hall, the red-haired elder saw a lanky youth wearing a silver devil mask. He was completely still, sitting in the guest seat.
There stood two green-robed men behind him. One of them had a face with many layers of wrinkles and a head of white hair. He couldn’t have looked older. The other was a boy with white teeth, red lips, and two pigtails on his head.
At the center of the hall, there were seven or eight black clothed cultivators lying unconscious on the floor, each with a face filled with black Qi.
“Who am I to compare? So it turned out to be the renowned Li Brothers. It is no wonder that you do not put my Yan Clan into your eyes.” When the red-haired elder saw the two green-robed men, his pupils slightly shrunk, but he still remained expressionless as he said this.
He walked over to the master’s seat, pulled up the sleeves of his jacket, and sat down. He then lightly clapped his hands two times. Several black-clothed men walked into the hall, wordlessly dragging out the unconscious men.
“Hehe, who would’ve thought that our brother’s reputation would be so large. Everyone knows of the Yan Clan’s Venerable Ancestor! Zeze! We are truly honored to have you as our brother! However, right now Big Brother Lia Zhi and I are responsible for protecting the young master, who is carrying out the Master’s affairs! If you have any business, Senior Brother Yan, please discuss it with our young master.” After boy with the innocent appearance smiled, he spoke with a coarse voice like a broken gong. The Yan Clan guards that heard this were greatly startled.
(TL: Zeze is the sound of him clicking his tongue)
When the red-haired elder heard what he said, his heart shivered. He had heard of the impressive reputation of these two devils. With this said, it seems this young master was not a simple character. His gaze then fell on the silver-masked youth.
After sizing him up for a moment, he insipidly asked, “You are the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect? Why do you wear a mask? Could it be you have something shameful to hide?”
“You are wrongly blaming this Junior. This Junior wears a mask for other, more difficult, reasons, not because of something shameful. If Senior truly wishes to see, then this Junior will naturally take off his mask and let Senior take a look,” the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect said with a faintly cheerful voice. His words were neither humble nor arrogant.
“Humph! What is so good about a man’s appearance? This old man has no such inclinations! Why did your people from the Ghost Spirit Sect suddenly come to our Yan Clan from so far away? Furthermore, you’ve clearly shown you wanted to meet with me. My people have arrived as you have seen. Just say whatever superfluous words you prepared as you wish. This old man no longer has the patience to deal with you much longer.” After the Yan Clan’s Ancestor looked at the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect indifferently, he ruthlessly said this, layering his words with a hostility that matched his loftiness.
“Hehe, since Senior Yan has said as such, this Junior will not beat around the bush and speak bluntly. My Lord Father wished for this Junior to deliver a letter to Senior. He also wished for Junior to say two words for Senior to hear.” Even when the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect saw how the Yan Clan Ancestor treated him, he still remained calm and poised.
“What letter! I have never seen your father before. What’s more is that the Yan Clan and your Ghost Spirit Sect never had such friendly relations. What letter needs to be delivered to this old man? You even want to tell me two words in secret. Are you playing with me?” Old man Yan looked at the Li Brothers for a moment and saw that they hadn’t moved in the slightest.
The Yan Clan Ancestor found it hard to truly believe this was the Ghost Spirit Sect’s young master.
Naturally, the Li Brothers saw the doubts of the Yan Clan’s ancestor and looked at him with a smile. They then made no further movements.
At this moment, the Ghost Spirit Sect’s young master took out a jade slip he had on hand, stood up, and walked several steps forwards, but the Yan Clan Ancestor remained sitting and
didn’t have an intention of holding out his hand to receive it. Instead, after he took a look at the jade slip, he said extremely coldly, “I will see this letter later. First say those two words of yours! After this old man hears them, I will decide whether or not I want to look at the letter!”
When the Ghost Spirit Sect’s young master heard those words, he didn’t move. Instead, he sighed behind his mask and slightly moved his lips, spitting out the two words for the old man to hear.
Although those from the Yan Clan could not hear those two words, after the Yan Clan Ancestor heard them, his body suddenly stirred. Letting out a deep breath, he stood from his chair; his expression extremely dark.
“Give me the letter, then follow me to a private room!” After a moment of uncertainty, the red-haired old man said this with fierce resolution.
Thus, in the presence of many Yan Clan Disciples, the Yan Clan Ancestor brought the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect to a private room covered with layers of restriction spells.
However, the two Core Formation Cultivators who had accompanied him stayed outside. The slightest of unease could not be seen. It was as if they had full confidence in the security of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s young master.
All of them waited through the entire night.
Chapter 255: Secret Meeting
Han Li glanced at the expert’s pill formula before him and wrinkled his eyebrows, speechless.
This was the second afternoon since Han Li had arrived at Yan Ling Castle.
After participating in a fervent discussion with some newly joined members from morning till noon, the ten or so cultivators from their various sects within the room began to exchange for items that they each needed. Every person took turns listing what items they required and what items they were willing to trade to see whether or not there were other cultivators present willing to exchange.
In fact, even in this kind of a small-scale exchange meeting, there were a few cultivators who took out some high-quality items.
For example: the woman from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress surnamed Fang pulled out a Heavenly Flower Stone. This was the best material to refine a top-grade earth attribute magic tool. It could also be used to refine average earth attribute magic treasures.
Another new addition, a cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain, pulled out the egg of an advanced grade one demonic beast, Whistling Wind Eagle. After it hatched, it would be a rather useful assistant to a cultivator, capable of both acting as a sentry and searching for objects.
The items the other people took out, although they were not as impressive as the previous two, were materials and items that would be quite hard to find in a market city.
Among all of these items, Han Li actually did find a medicinal herb necessary to refine the Spirit Gathering Pill; this exceeded Han Li’s expectations, causing him to excitedly exchange it for seven or eight elementary high-grade talismans. Of course, as its age was not sufficient, he would need to return to mature it. However, this trade left both sides grinning from ear to ear.
When it was Han Li’s turn to speak, he bluntly brought out his own elementary high-grade talismans for trade. He mentioned the medicine ingredients he was lacking for the two medicine pills, and after a moment of hesitation, he also mentioned that all sorts of pill formulas were available for trade.
Han Li was not able to acquire all the materials required for the ancient pill formulas, but it was only natural since they were rarely seen. The majority of these cultivators had never even heard the names of the materials Han Li listed. Although a few had heard one or two of those names before, they had none of those materials on hand. As for pill formulas, these cultivators naturally would not exchange them for talismans. They all knew that Han Li had said it without much thought.
Han Li, seeing that he had talked for a long time, yet no one stepped forwards to make an exchange, knew that he didn’t have much hope. Thus, he disappointedly decided to sit back down when all of a sudden, someone unexpectedly opened his mouth and said:
“Are you accepting all pill formulas? I have a pill formula here, but it’s somewhat strange. Can you take a look and judge how many talismans it can be exchanged for?”
Hearing this, Han Li became happy in his heart, and without thinking any further, he opened his mouth and said:
“Of course it’s fine! As long as it’s a pill formula, I am willing to make a trade.”
After this was said, Han Li took note of the person who had wanted to trade a pill formula. It was actually that cold, reclusive Daoist Priest, Wu Youzi.
After Wu Youxi heard Han Li’s words, the trace of a rarely-seen smile appeared on his face. Then he took out an azure jade slip and gave it to Han Li. When the other cultivators saw that there was someone who had exchanged a pill formula for talismans, they couldn’t help but whisper for quite some time with astonished appearances.
Wu Youzi’s Senior Martial Bother Wu Fazi then unexpectedly turned a blind eye and closed his eyes to rest.
After Han Li scanned through the pill formula, he somewhat understood why Wu Youzi had taken it out to exchange with him.
This was actually an ancient pill formula. Not only that, but a pill used by ancient cultivators specialized in raising spirit beasts, the “Spirit Feed Pill”. According to what was written on the formula, not only did a majority of demonic beasts greatly love to eat it, but after prolonged consumption, it would have the wondrous effect of promoting the spirit beast’s grade. It was the optimal medicine pill to nurture spirit beasts.
Seeing this, Han Li was startled! How could this cultivator trade such a valuable pill formula? But when Han Li took a look at the materials required for refining it, he suddenly mocked himself. Now he knew why the other party didn’t value this formula in the least.
For average cultivators, the materials required to refine the “Spirit Feed Pill” were truly astonishing. It required nearly as many precious and rare materials as Han Li’s own “Qi Refining Powder”.
As for the materials that were hard to gather, even if one gathered enough of these rare materials, who would use them to refine this “Spirit Feed Pill”? Naturally, a cultivator would keep the materials for use on his own body; after all, the progression of one’s own magic power was more important than that of a spirit beast.
“Benefactor, you said that any pill formula is fine. You can’t go back on your word!” Although this lanky Daoist Priest showed a trace of shrewdness, the originally honest and sincere impression he had given Han Li caused Han Li to bitterly smile.
However, while this pill formula was of not use to others, it held obvious value to Han Li. Naturally he wouldn’t let it slip by.
Han Li lowered his head in thought. He then took out ten elementary high-grade talismans from his storage pouch and gave them to the Daoist Priest. This should be enough to satisfy him; after all, common cultivators would have regarded this recipe as trash, else this Daoist Priest would have long traded it with Spirit Beast Mountain instead of keeping it among his possessions to this day.
As expected, Wu Fazi took the talismans and did not speak further, satisfied.
After Han Li sat down, a cultivator immediately stood up and said somewhat impatiently, “I have iron wood, aged a few several hundred years. This...”
The trade for this item caused the room’s atmosphere to become even more fervent!
Meanwhile, inside the Yan Clan’s Wind Cloud Pavilion’s official hall, a secret clan assembly had convened.
All of the stewards and elders who held power all sat down in two rows, attentively listening to the Yan Clan Ancestor. Beside the Yan Clan Ancestor stood an absolutely peerlessly stunning woman who appeared seventeen or eighteen years of age, beautiful as a fairy should be.
“The Ghost Spirit Sect raised conditions for the Yan Clan’s return. They are rather generous. Not only will they lend us the 《Thousand Spirit Sutras》 to the Yan Clan, but they will also promise that a person from our Yan Clan will serve as their deputy
sect master. Their only request is that Yan’er must marry their young sect master and pair cultivate the Great Blood Spirit Arts with him. Furthermore, the position of the Yan Clan Master must be succeeded by their children. Naturally, the position of the Ghost Spirit Sect Master must also be succeeded.similarly.” The Yan Clan Ancestor calmly said this. Although his voice wasn’t very loud, it had clearly reached everyone’s ear, as if he were speaking right next to them.
(TL: The Yan of the Yan Clan and the name of the girl Yan’er have the same sound but are written differently.)
“Everyone, speak. What path should our Yan Clan proceed? You should all know that our late Yan Clan ancestors were originally cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect who were at discord with other cultivators within the sect and established our estate in the State of Yue. The current Ghost Spirit Sect Master can be regarded as my Martial Nephew. Because of this, everyone shouldn’t have any misgivings on those sentiments. Focus and consider only the benefits and losses to our Yan Clan.”
“Furthermore, the Ghost Spirit Sect’s Young Master brought some information. The Six Devil Sects of the State of Tian Luo will invade the State of Yue in five days. The States of Jiang and Che Ji already surrendered half a month ago, and most of the two country’s sects have been extinguished. The small portion that surrendered has become subordinate sects to the Six Devil Sects. Thus, even if our Yan Clan doesn’t agree to the Ghost Spirit Sect’s conditions, we must consider what happens after the Seven Sects of the State of Yue are extinguished and how our Yan Clan will survive. This is the problem that should be at the forefront of our consideration.”
Without waiting for the rest of the Yan Clan to address the previous question, the Yan Clan Ancestor threw out an even more astonishing matter, causing everyone to madly comment on it.
“What?! The cultivation worlds of the States of Jian and Che Ji have already been taken over? This is impossible!”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 135