This mysterious box attracted the various gazes of those in the room. These experienced cultivators naturally knew that this box was certain to hold a precious item. Seeing this treasure being exchanged at the very start of the trade meet was cause for excitement.
The embroidered-robed man swept his eyes past the crowd in a display of pride. He then pointed at the two talismans on the box, and the box opened by itself once the talismans flew off. Suddenly, a glowing red spirit mushroom slowly floated from the box.
The spirit mushroom was only a few inches large, but the scorching heat that it emitted and its sparkling exterior revealed it to be a divine object - not to mention the red mists that spiralled around it.
As Han Li was dumbstruck from the sight of it, there were already others calling out its name.
A black-clothed sighed and muttered, “Scarlet Essence Mushroom! A three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom! It only grows where lava flows. It cannot ordinarily be spotted, let alone acquired. Fellow Daoist must be truly skilled!” It was unknown whether he was envious or impressed by his tone.
An uproar was raised among the cultivators. They even began to talk amongst one another.
“Scarlet Essence Mushroom? This is one of the ice-fire spirit mushrooms. It is clearly worthy of its reputation from the impressive Fire Spirit Qi that its emitting.”
When the embroidered-robed man heard that its name was mentioned, his eyes betrayed surprise, but he soon recollected himself and said, “Since Fellow Daoist has recognized this item, there is no further need for me to speak of it. It is a three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom, a top grade material for fire attribute medicine pills. I will exchange it for either a hundred thousand spirit stones or its equivalent in earth attribute materials.”
‘A hundred thousand spirit stones?’ Han Li was astonished and his heart began to stir. This price was far lower than Han Li expected. This mushroom wasn’t something that could be compared to high grade demon cores; it was on the level of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng itself.
Not mentioning his many precious treasures, Han Li had acquired several hundred thousands of spirit stones from the storage pouches that he looted. The disciple of Archsaint Six Dao in particular possessed three thousand mid grade spirit stones, enriching Han Li greatly. It was a sum that was comparable to the entire wealth of many Nascent Soul cultivators.
Of course, these spirit stones were far inferior in value to spirit tools, magic treasures, and even ancient treasures. After all, there were precious items that couldn’t be bought. If he could spent all of his spirit stones on ancient treasures similar to his flower basket and small bell, he would do so without question.
Just as Han Li mused about this, other cultivators were also tempted by the item. Several cultivators promptly stepped forward and sent a few voice transmissions to the embroidered robed cultivators. Afterwards, they took out several items for the cultivator to see.
While the others couldn’t see these items clearly, the embroidered-robed cultivator bluntly refused them each with a single glance, causing them to resentfully withdraw.
“Is there anyone else? This three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom was acquired over six years of immense toil, and it is being sold for only a hundred thousand spirit stones. It definitely isn’t expensive. However, I also wish that this item may be exchanged for some suitable earth attribute materials. Even if it is somewhat inferior in comparison, I will still take it. But if there is too much of a difference in value and you merely wish to take advantage of me, don’t bother wasting my time.”
As if truly wishing to trade with the item in his hand, he grew impatient from seeing that no one was stepping forward.
Han Li swept his gaze past the other cultivators and noticed that many wore expression of greed, yet none of them stepped forward. It seemed that they didn’t believe the price to be too expensive but that they didn’t have anything suitable to trade for it.
Even the Child Fire Dragon wore a face of regret. He cultivated a genuine fire attribute cultivation technique, and it would prove incredibly useful towards him.
Seeing that there were no further offers, he helplessly grasped the lid of the wooden box and was about to close it when Han Li sent him a voice transmission, “Don’t be so hasty Fellow Daoist. Would you be interested in an earth-attribute demon core?”
The embroidered robed man stopped upon hearing Han Li. With slight surprise, he replied to Han Li through voice transmission, “You have demon cores? However, my Scarlet Essence Mushroom must be exchanged for a grade seven demon core or several grade six demon cores at the very least.”
Han Li pondered after receiving his reply. He still had a few demon beast cores leftover from refining his medicine pills. Since they came from particularly rare demon beasts, he kept them in case they may have other uses, such as now.
The spirit mushroom could be further matured through use of his green liquid, unlike his demon cores. As for their prices, it was somewhat hard to say. In the Scattered Star Seas, grade seven demon cores were extremely precious, but far less valuable than a Scarlet Essence Mushroom.
However, this was different in the Heavenly South. Not to mention grade six demon cores, even grade five demon cores were rarely seen items. There were few places in the Heavenly South where high grade demon beasts dwelled. In this case, a grade seven demon core was a fair trade for a three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom.
Having came to a decision, Han Li stood up and walked towards the embroidered-robed cultivator.
This came as a surprise to the Child Fire Dragon and Lu Luo, and they looked at him with amazement.
Han Li took several steps towards the embroidered-robed cultivator and summoned a jade box with a flip of his hand. He then tossed it to cultivator without saying a single word.
The embroidered-robed cultivator calmly caught the box and opened it. After carefully examining it for a long while, his gaze revealed delight.
“We’ve reached a deal!” He beckoned to the floating mushroom and sealed it before handing it over to Han Li. At that same moment, he swiftly placed the jade box into his own storage pouch.
Han Li nodded his head and placed the wooden box into his own storage pouch before turning to his original position.
Lu Luo and the Child Fire Dragon were both completely astounded, but the two tactfully avoided asking Han Li any questions and simply sent him a few words of congratulations. Han Li accepted their words with a tranquil expression.
Nevertheless, Han Li could already feel the many gazes of the seated cultivators examining him once more. Obviously, being able to afford the Scarlet Essence Mushroom had attracted much interest.
However, Han Li was unconcerned. With his current abilities, he had no problems escaping from anything short of a late Nascent Soul cultivator.
“Alright, since this Fellow Daoist has finished trading, let’s have the next Fellow Daoist head up,” Daoist Heavencrystal beamingly smiled at a female cultivator sitting nearby the embroidered-robed man and suggested, “How about you?”
The green-robed woman gracefully replied, “Of course, I shall be presenting my treasures next.”
She stood up and slowly said, “I didn’t have such a good opportunity to acquire as rare a treasure as the previous Fellow Daoist; however, I am proficient in tool refinement techniques, and have refined a Immortal Binding Ring that has never been bonded. So long as someone perform the rites to accept a master, one will be able to make full use of its abilities.
I don’t mean to boast, but while this treasure was created with common materials, it’s might is quite formidable. It is remarkable effective at both restraining enemies and protecting its user.”
With a flutter of her sleeve, a fine white ring flew out and began to fluctuate in size and flicker with light.
Without speaking any further, she pointed to the ring and it suddenly trembled before expanding to three meters in length. The walls of the ring were
as thick as an arm and emitted silver talisman characters along with an astonishing spiritual Qi.
Chapter 680: Devilfall Valley
“Since this ring has yet to recognize a master, I am unable to display its full abilities. Of course, you should all know it comes at quite a price. I intend on trading this Immortal Binding Ring for a bottle of Nascent Soul level cultivation pills. If you’re interested in giving an offer, I’ll be taking a look at them.”
Although cultivators present each had their own magic treasures, nurturing multiple magic treasures with differing abilities wasn’t unheard of. Furthermore, this magic treasure was masterless so it can be given to disciples. Of course, magic treasures that were created by Nascent Soul cultivators were far stronger than those created by Core Formation cultivators.
A majority of cultivators also weren’t experts in tool refinement, especially so with Nascent Soul cultivators. Since an expertly refined treasure appeared before them, many grew tempted and wished to trade for them. The woman selected one of the bottles of medicine pills offered to her and smoothly concluded the transaction.
Although this Immortal Binding Ring was far less valuable than the Scarlet Essence Mushroom, it was also much easier to trade for.
The next cultivator stood up before Daoist Heavencrystal called out to him, “I am offering Starsteel Sand for trade. It can be used for...”
The trade meeting went smoothly with each Nascent Soul cultivators taking out their own items, each an undoubtable rarity. They were far beyond what Han Li had previously seen offered at markets, and couldn’t be afforded even with the entirety of a common Core Formation cultivator’s wealth.
When a cultivator’s turn arrived, they naturally took out an item suitable for a cultivator of their rank.
But of course, not everyone made a successful trade. There were a few items that were too unfamiliar, along with those that were desirable but had an unfulfillable price. Nevertheless, these Nascent Soul cultivators were each brimming with experience; there was no possibility of trades with a large disparities in value.
The Child Fire Dragon and Lu Luo were both in front of Han Li and each took out their own items first.
The Child Fire Dragon took out a bowl-sized, tri-colored flower, an ingredient for pill refinement. Although it couldn’t be compared with the Scarlet Essence Mushroom, it was still a rare item. However, since there was no one that possessed the item he was looking for, the Poisonmark Wood, he could only sit back down with disappointment.
As for Lu Luo, he ended up with a rather successful transaction. He traded a bottle of something Han Li had never heard of before, Spirit Herb Extract, for a small fire-red sword that hadn’t yet recognized a master. It was unknown who he was giving it to, as there was no possibility of refining it for himself given his age.
With Lu Luo’s successful transaction came Han Li’s turn. Because he successfully traded for the embroidered-robed cultivator’s Scarlet Essence Mushroom at the beginning, there were many that were particularly focusing their attention on Han Li.
Han Li calmly stood up and took out two white jade boxes that he had previously prepared, “I have grade six water attribute demon cores and two stalks of thousand year old spirit herbs. I will exchange them for a piece of Auric Essence. But if I can’t, I will trade one of the boxes for the whereabouts of Auric Essence as well.”
Once Han Li said this, his hands trembled and azure light flickered. The two jade boxes opened at the same time. A red and blue demon core, and two glistening, jade-green spirit herbs were revealed.
‘Auric essence?’ All cultivators around them revealed an odd expression. While these demon cores and the thousand year spirit herbs were precious, they was still a great difference in value in between them.
If he were to truly trade for them, it was quite likely he would only be able to pay for only a small iota of it, nowhere near enough. But if it were information on the whereabouts of Auric Essence, a grade six demon core or a stalk of thousand year old spirit herbs was rather generous.
After all, everyone knew that information alone wasn’t anywhere near as valuable as having the item on hand. Ancient cultivator ruins and areas of value were known by many, but these areas were extremely dangerous to the point where vastly skilled cultivators would find it difficult to escape even with grave injuries.
The most notable example of this would be the Devilfall Valley at the center of the Heavenly South Continent.
Legend has it that it was ancient battlefield from the time of antiquity where any fantastical restrictions were placed by the Devilish cultivators of long past. Perhaps due to the vast damage from the climax of the battle, there were even slim crevices in space itself, destabilizing the entire valley. As a result, the ancient battle had ended in mutual destruction.
The spacial tears and ancient restrictions caused the ancient battlefield to be extremely dangerous. Over the countless years, it was unknown just how many overly confident entered those ruins seeking treasures only to never return.
Any treasures these cultivators may have acquired were always left behind in the valley. After nearly ten thousand years of this continued, no other cultivators dared to try their luck, earning Devilfall Valley the title as deadliest region in the Heavenly South. Despite the knowledge of many treasures contained deep within the valley, they would only exist in dreams as none dared to seek their own death.
In any case, Auric Essence wasn’t something that was commonly known about. As such, each of the cultivators merely glanced at Han Li without sending him any voice transmissions.
When Han Li saw this, he grew somewhat disappointed. In order to hide his wealth, he didn’t take out any of his more precious items, preventing him from trading for anything he needed. Nevertheless, he was quite disappointed that nobody knew of any related information, despite the many Nascent Soul cultivators present.
He inwardly sighed and swept his gaze past the group of cultivators. He unconsciously frowned before sitting down with an odd expression flickering from his eyes.
The following cultivator immediately took out black tool refinement materials and began to introduce it.
Han Li half-heartedly listened to the cultivator and closed his eyes.
If Han Li wasn't mistaken, Daoist Heavencrystal betrayed hesitation from his eyes despite his calm expression. While Daoist Heavencrystal might not possess any Auric Essence, it seemed he did have information on where he could get some.
Without much thought, Han Li immediately came to a decision. But as one possessing patient temperament, he left the matter alone for now and simply feigned ignorance. He was confident that with just this clue, he will eventually have an opportunity to acquire the information he needed.
A long while later, the last cultivator finished exchanging for the materials they required.
Daoist Heavencrystal then walked to the center of the floor and smiled, “Fellow Daoists, it appears a majority of you had traded for the materials that you required. Even if you didn’t, it doesn’t matter. Our little gathering is merely a tenth of the Nascent Soul cultivators that have arrived at the city. There will be more opportunities to come. While I can’t say this for anybody else, I may be holding an even larger trade meet. I hope you Fellow Daoists will be able to participate in it. But before we come to a close, I also have a few items I wish to put up for trade.”
Once the old Daoist finished speaking, his hands began to sparkle with white light and he summoned even items from his storage pouch, filling the table.
When the other cultivators saw the items in the table, they were left amazed. Once Han Li saw these items, his expression also greatly changed.
Eight varying monstrous beast puppets were arranged on the table, including a white wolve, azure pythons, and even a red bull.
Although these items were entirely still, they contained astonishing spiritual Qi equivalent to early Core Formation cultivators. They were far more powerful than the huge ape puppets in Han Li’s posses
sion, and they weren’t recorded in Han Li’s puppet sutras either, much to Han Li’s bewilderment.
Could this person also be a cultivator of the Thousand Bamboo School? But the Thousand Bamboo School shouldn’t have any cultivators at Nascent Soul stage. Could there be another group cultivating their own style of puppets?
As Han Li’s mind stirred, he couldn’t help but gaze at these puppets, hoping to make out any peculiarities.
But before he could do so, the fatty from the Harmonious Bond Sect smiled and yelped, “Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal, since when did you start cultivating puppet techniques? Did you plan on abandoning your Crystal Light Arts? If that’s the case, you have my wholehearted admiration!”
Daoist Heavencrystal grinned, “Brother Ju jests. With my weary body, how could I possibly change my cultivation art. These puppets were merely something I found in some ruins with some other Fellow Daoists. As am I embarrassingly short on money as of current, I must use them for trade. Although their might isn’t great, they will be particularly effective in certain situations.”
Chapter 681: Soul Stone
A cultivator with an elderly appearance twirled the beard in his hand and said, “Oh, I am rather interested in these puppets. It is a good life-saving item to give to my youngest disciple, but what does Daoist Heavencrystal want for it?”
Daoist Heavencrystal calmly said, “Hehe, this humble Daoist is looking for particularly rare items from the time of antiquity known as soul stones. Each soul stone may be exchanged for a single puppet beast. These puppets were personally refined from cultivators of antiquity. I reckon that there are no other high grade puppets in the entire world.”
‘Soul stone?’ Upon hearing this unfamiliar name, the cultivators present wore doubtful expression. This was something they had never heard of before.
Daoist Heavencrystal wasn’t surprised by this. He slapped his storage pouch and summoned a thumb-sized jade-green gem into his palm. At first glance, it appeared similar to be wood-attribute spirit stone, but once the cultivators swept their spiritual sense past it, they discovered that the spirit stone emitted an unfathomably cold fluctuations, completely different from that of a wood-attribute spirit stone.
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