“Here are the spirit stones.” Although Han Li felt a bit of heartache, he readily handed over a storage pouch containing ten thousand spirit stones.
After counting the spirit stones in the bag, the green-robed cultivator smiled and handed over a plate that had the number three hundred forty-seven written on it. “Here is the jade plate. Please take care of it.”
Han Li glanced at it and raised his brow. “Three hundred forty-seven? Are there that many people participating?”
“Of course not,” the other green-robed cultivator explained, “A portion of these seniors will not be attending the trade fair for various reasons. In my experience, there will only be about two hundred people.”
“Oh, that is still quite a few.” Han Li nodded with understanding.
“Alright, it is about time that we join the trade fair. If I have the opportunity, I’ll give my regards to your master.” Old Man Fu then led Han Li deep into the cave.
As Han Li followed behind him, he said, “Their cultivation wasn’t weak. From your tone, it sounded as if they had the same master.”
Old Man Fu chuckled and asked, “Do you know of the four great vagrant cultivators of the Great Jin?”
“Yes, of course. Is their master one of them?” Han Li asked with a curious tone.
“That’s right. Their master is Fellow Daoist Yi Xitian who possesses the most mysterious abilities of the four. He has already been in late-Nascent Soul stage for many years now, though his cultivation is nearly immeasurable. In the past, I had the opportunity to personally witness him use his grand abilities to slay a grade eight demon beast with ease. It is said that he is one of the two in the Great Jin who possesses the greatest chance of ascending to Deity Transformation stage. Since the organizers of the trade fair had selected the two of his disciples to act as gatekeepers, I reckon they intend on drawing support from their master’s fame.” After Old Man Fu gave Han Li the explanation, he let out a deep sigh of admiration.
“May I ask who is the other Fellow Daoist to have the possibility of entering Deity Transformation stage?”
With a wry smile, Old Man Fu answered, “The other person is the Buddhist Cleansing Fire Sect’s Monk Jademoon. In a sparse four hundred years, he had already entered late-Nascent Soul stage. He is a prodigy that only appears in the cultivation world once every ten thousand years. While I do consider myself one of the outstanding talents, we aren't close to exceptional when compared to those two.”
“But Brother Fu’s cultivation is quite profound and I hold you in quite some admiration. Late-Nascent Soul stage appears to be a single breakthrough away for you.”
“Nonsense, I’ve remained trapped in my stage of cultivation for three hundred years, and have long given up hope of reaching late-Nascent Soul stage. Yet, it appears you’ve achieved mid-Nascent Soul stage not long ago. Perhaps you’ll reach a breakthrough in the near future.”
“Brother Fu is quite funny. How could such a thing happen?” Han Li dryly laughed. Of course, he wasn’t about to take his words seriously.
With Old Man Fu taking the lead, Han Li eventually saw a white light shine in front of him and a large hall bustling with activity from the opening. He couldn’t help but grow excited.
...
In an area over fifty kilometers away, Ge Tianhao wore a fierce expression and black Qi was roiling from his body. He was holding onto the head of an unfamiliar cultivator in a rigid grasp, forcefully extracting the memories of the victim’s soul using secret soul searching techniques.
The victim’s appearance became warped, his eyes flickered, and his body trembled in a display of gruesome agony. The Endless Sky Saintess and a middle-aged black-robed cultivator were watching at the side.
A short moment later, the victim of the soul search suddenly trembled and fell to the ground with a stream of black blood flowing out his nose.
Ge Tianhao frowned and he set the corpse alight in a black inferno, instantly turning it to ash. He then closed his eyes and began to look through the memories he extracted.
When Ge Tianhao eventually opened his eyes, the Saintess asked, “What was his identity? Why was he stealthily following us?”
Chapter 954: Talismans and Spell Formations
“He’s a cultivator from the Ye Clan,” Ge Tianhao said.
“The Ye Clan? The Imperial Ye Clan?” The Endless Sky Saintess said with surprise.
“Does Fellow Daoist Lin know the person who sent them?” Ge Tianhao asked with an odd expression, “He is a Ye Clan Elder surnamed Han. This man has the same appearance as the person we’re pursuing.”
“It was like that?” The Saintess asked with surprise, “Are those two the same person? What does that person have to do with the Ye Clan?”
Ge Tianhao said with a solemn expression, “I’m not sure. The person I soul-searched was only a vagrant cultivator recruited by the Ye Clan. Even if they aren’t the same person, they are certain to be closely related. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent someone to follow us. If that person is truly an elder of the Ye Clan, it will be somewhat troublesome.”
The Saintess smiled and said, “Is the Imperial Clan that large? I recall that the Ye Clan was under the control of many large sects, including your own. What is there for you to fear?”
“The Ye Clan isn’t a common cultivator clan,” Ge Tianhao explained with a sigh, “Their identity as the top clan in the Great Jin doesn’t come from their status as the royal imperial family. It is because they possess seven Nascent Soul-stage elders, not to mention the large number of vagrant cultivators that they’ve recruited and the secret powers they nurtured in secret. Their true strength isn’t any lesser than a large cultivator sect. Although the person following us didn’t have great cultivation, his flag was exceptionally effective. Were it not for Fellow Daoist Lin’s Clearsound Mirror, it would’ve been difficult for us to detect him following us.”
“It was nothing. Because of my cultivation art’s enhanced senses, I was able to faintly perceive something amiss ever since we left the market. It was only a matter of luck that I used the Clearsound Mirror at the right time.” The Saintess stared at Ge Tianhao and calmly asked, “How does Brother Ge Plan on handling this matter? Does your sect still plan on fulfilling your agreement with our Endless Sky Temple?”
Ge Tianhao looked into the distance and chuckled. “The Ye Clan might be powerful, but my sect has nothing to fear from them. Besides, it involves our sect’s signature treasure and the life of our enforcement elder. Even if he was truly a Ye Clan Elder, our sect can make an exchange for him. Fellow Daoist Lin shouldn’t worry about the matter. Now that the time has arrived, let us go to the trade meet.”
“Brother Ge’s words have put my worries to rest.” The Saintess nodded with a satisfied expression.
Soon after, the three departed in streaks of light.
Unbeknownst to them, not long after they left, a flicker of black light appeared nearby, revealing an azure-robed youth. He sneered as he looked in the direction that the three had flown off in.
“So the Yin Sifting Sect and the Endless Sky Temple are working together... That’s fine. I’ll let you live for the time being, so to have that draw out that Youth Han. I still haven’t forgotten my hatred for the death of my main soul.” After muttering that, the youth blurred and disappeared from sight.
...
Han Li was now covered in a mist of green light and was wryly laughing in his mind.
He stood in a dim hall with about four hundred seats arranged in a circle around an empty space.
To his surprise, when he was about to enter the trade meet, a masked gatekeeper stuck a unique talisman onto him, and he then passed through a simple teleportation formation. Afterwards, he found himself shrouded in a mist of green light as he stood inside the hall. His appearance was completely hidden.
He then quickly looked around him in alarm and found several tens of cultivators scattered throughout the area that were similarly concealed in mists of various colo
rs. A few of them were standing of their own discretion.
Curious, Han Li took a seat at the corner of the hall and began to stealthily release his spiritual sense nearby, wanting to see whether he could see past the mist of light. He was astonished to discover that he wasn’t able to forcefully break through it with his powerful spiritual sense. Although he hadn’t used all his strength, he reckoned it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
As these thoughts appeared in his mind, he unconsciously swept his spiritual sense through the hall to discover that it was under the influence of a strange spell formation. Although it didn’t appear to possess any formidable restrictions, the spiritual Qi it released matched the light that concealed the cultivators present.
Skilled both in talismans and spell formations, Han Li pondered for a moment before finding himself in awe.
It was clear that the talisman was specially made for synchronized use with the spell formation. With the talisman attached, one only needed to enter the range of the spell formation before the talisman shroud is activated. Then no matter how strong a cultivator’s spiritual sense was, they wouldn’t be able to overpower the spell formation.
Without fear of recognition, these eccentrics may now openly exchange the items they wish without fear of meeting any mishaps, no matter how rare the items may be.
Han Li let out a sigh and his original worries of the Yin Sifting Sect cultivators participating in the trade meet were alleviated. He then placed his jade plate on the table in front and he began to rest in his chair.
As time slowly passed by, more cultivators gathered in the hall through the teleportation formation.
When Han Li opened his eyes once more, there were nearly two hundred cultivators in the hall and a ten-meter-wide white jade table had appeared at the center. He narrowed his eyes and stared at it in silence.
Not long after, the jade table flashed with light and a silhouette covered in white light appeared behind it.
“As our appointed time had arrived, everyone should’ve arrived by now. Let us start the trade meet.” The white silhouette turned to look at everyone in the room and swept his sleeve to reveal four bulging storage pouches onto the table.
All the cultivators looked over with clear excitement.
The white silhouette slowly said, “This trade meet will be the same as the last: It will primarily focus on rare materials. Ancient treasures and magic tools can take part in this meeting if they are rare enough. As per common practice, you may put up a few materials for spirit stones and can trade for them if your price is high enough. But, there is something that will be different about this trade meet. This time, we were entrusted by an important client to sell a grand treasure for him. He will only trade this treasure for a few materials that are rarely seen in this world. If there is truly no one that has these materials, there will then be an auction using spirit stones. Fellow Daoists, it will be up to rate whether you will be able to acquire it.”
Someone from the crowd then said, “A grand treasure? And what does he want to exchange it with? Materials, medicine pills, or magic treasures? If there is something they want in particular, how about you tell us first? If we traded it away, we will definitely feel regretful.”
The white silhouette chuckled and said, “This item is difficult to describe in worldly terms. You will know what it is when the time comes. As for your worries, they are unfounded. The items that are traded for it are something that common cultivators would never let go.”
His bold tone had stirred an uproar in the cultivators in the hall and they couldn’t help but turn curious. Still, nobody had asked any further questions.
At that moment, the silhouette appeared behind the jade table and grabbed one of the storage pouches in front of him. In a flash of black light, he took out something that resembled a jujube shining with dim black light.
“A Yin Jujube, born from a human tomb on the alignment of a Yin Year, Yin Month, and Yin Day, something that only occurs once every three hundred years. Additionally, it was refined with a vengeful ghost’s hatred by using a secret technique for a consummate forty-nine days until its reincarnation. The jujube may be taken as a pill itself or be refined into medicine. The minimum bid is a hundred thousand spirit stones and the price must increase by five thousand each time.
The item’s description had left Han Li in shock; he had never heard of such thing.
“A hundred-twenty thousand!”
“A hundred-forty thousand!”
“A hundred forty-five thousand spirit stones!”
In the blink of an eye, the Yin Jujube was sold at a terrifying price. All the bidders had a faint black haze covering them, revealing them to be Devil Dao cultivators.
In the end, the Yin Jujube was sold for a hundred-ninety thousand spirit stones.
The white silhouette accepted the spirit stones for it, and proceeded to put up his next item on sale: a half-foot-long block of scarlet red metal that emitted an intense heat. “Blood Yang Iron, refined from Scarlet Sun Iron and the primal souls of three fire-attribute Core Formation cultivators. It is a rare material for refining Yin Fire Treasures. The starting bid will be a hundred-fifty thousand spirit stones. Every bid will increase in ten thousand stones.”
“A hundred-eighty thousand spirit stones!”
“Two hundred thousand!”
Han Li had recalled hearing of this material before. Although there weren’t many people bidding on it, they all had great financial resources and none of them were willing to let it go. Eventually, it was won at the price of two-hundred-fifty thousand spirit stones.
“Ghostblight Grass...”
Items brimming with evil Qi were repeatedly taken out and all of them were exchanged for vast numbers of spirit stones that far exceeded what was seen at the grand auction.
Han Li stroked his storage pouch and he couldn’t help but wryly smile.
He was somewhat worried that he wouldn’t have enough spirit stones. Although he knew that he could exchange a few items for spirit stones before the trade meet, he didn’t expect for the items that appeared to be so precious. The bids far exceeded the amount that appeared at the grand auction.
“Jade Rubber. It is a worldly spiritual wood that is produced from a Jade Oak Tree once every a thousand years. It can be used to refine fantastical treasures and is an ideal material for mechanical puppets. The minimum bid will be a hundred twenty thousand spirit stones and each increasing bid must be five thousand mor-”
“A hundred fifty thousand!”
When the white silhouette took out a white gelatinous object, Han Li suddenly felt lightning strike through his mind and he shouted a bid without hesitation.
Chapter 955: An Uproar
Among Nascent Soul-cultivators, there were only a few that still had an interest in refining puppets and odd treasures. As such, Han Li only had to compete with four people over the item, and managed to win the bid for a hundred seventy thousand spirit stones, much to his delight.
The white silhouette continued to auction more items and two of them also caught his interest, resulting in him buying one at a hundred-ninety thousand and the other at three hundred ten thousand spirit stones. Since the last item was a particularly famous treasure, there was no choice but to furiously bid over it with the others, resulting in its extremely high price.
These few items had consumed a small majority of the spirit stones in his bag. Fortunately, he was relieved to find that no more of his required materials had made an appearance.
When the last item was sold off and the storage pouches on the jade table were finally empty, the auctioneer appeared rather pleased by the result. “The auction for our items is concluded. Fellow Daoists may now trade of their own accord, but I will get the ugly talk out of the way first. Because these are unmonitored trades, we are not responsible for fake items or poor judgment. We only serve to provide the location and will not interfere with your matters so long as you don’t violate our rules. And in accordance with ou
r rules, if you wish to exchange any number of your items, you are required to give us ten thousand spirit stones at the end. Now then, you may all do as you please.”
With those few words, he quickly blurred to the side and sat down cross-legged, appearing to enter meditation.
Unsurprisingly, several people from the crowd suddenly blurred and rushed to the stage in streaks of light. However, one red streak was clearly faster and was the first to arrive behind the table. The silhouette of red light then quickly cupped his hands in a salute and said in a cheerful tone, “Thank you for letting me go first. Your turn will come.”
When the other masses of light saw this, they had no choice but to return to their seat.
Han Li smiled when he saw this. Those who went first to exchange their goods would be in a more convenient position as it would prevent others from acquiring what they needed. Of course, this only applied to more common items. There were many materials that were particularly obscure or weren’t heavily desired. As such, a vast majority of cultivators wouldn’t fight over the right to trade first.
Since the materials Han Li lacked were more obscure, he wasn't in a hurry.
The red silhouette then took out many rare materials and wanted to trade them exclusively for pill refinement. A moment later, he managed to exchange a large number of said materials and left the stage with a satisfied strut.
The following traders had also experienced smooth proceedings and appeared to have gained quite a bit.
However, there was a yellow silhouette that was trying to sell a sparkling blue metal for an ice attribute material that Han Li hadn’t heard of before. He asked three times, but there was no one that would accept the offer and he could only walk back dejectedly.
Cultivators like this one gradually appeared in greater number down the line, and eventually several tens of people went up on stage with most of them ending up empty-handed.
It wasn’t that the items weren’t valuable, but that many felt that the terms of trade were unfavorable or were uninterested. It was clear to see that rarer item weren’t always easier to trade.
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