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

by Translator: Johnchen

  At the very heart of the city, there was a huge hall that let to an area where both humans and demons could trade materials or wilderness items.

  After all, there were items that weren’t useful to either humans or demons, but were possibly valuable to the other side.

  As for the auction, that would take place at a side chamber in the hall.

  In a streak, Han Li landed in a street in the market, next to a medicine shop, and casually walked in.

  “Senior, what are you looking for? Although my shop may be small, I have many medicines.”

  The shop wasn’t large. There were a Core Formation-stage middle-aged shopkeeper and two Foundation Establishment servants. There were no other guests.

  When they saw Han Li walk inside with his dark azure armor, the shopkeeper smiled and personally stood up to welcome them.

  “Are there any pill formulas and spirit medicines that can progress one’s cultivation?” Han Li bluntly asked.

  “For a Deity Transformation cultivator? I have two pill formulas, but many of the required materials are too precious to be held in my store.” When the shopkeeper heard there was business, his spirits were roused.

  Han Li frowned and said, “Oh, then go ahead and take out the pill formulas. I’ll take a look.”

  “Yes, please wait a moment Senior. I’ll have it right out.” The shopkeeper respectfully said. He then gave the order to a servant and hastily gave Han Li a seat with tea. Then he headed into the back of the shop.

  Chapter 1334: Clear Jade Pills

  Han Li rejoiced at being able his wanted items with ease.

  He sat in a simple bamboo chair and sipped on some spirit tea in a leisurely manner.

  A while later, the middle-aged shopkeeper came back with a storage bracelet.

  When he arrived in front of Han Li, he swiped his hand past the storage bracelet and took out a white and a blue jade slip. He then took out a large assortments of boxes and bottles, placing them on the side of the table.

  Then he respectfully stood there and waited.

  Han Li swept his gaze and summoned the two jade slips into his hand before immersing his spiritual sense into them.

  “The Clearjade Pill and the True Toad Liquid,” Han Li muttered to himself. He frowned and withdrew his spiritual sense.

  The Clear Jade Pill was acceptable. It used rare medicinal herbs, some of which he hadn’t heard before. A majority of the herbs had to be at two or three thousand years of maturity, but they were considered quite common. As for the True Toad Liquid, it was rather odd. The liquid’s primary ingredient was the spirit blood of an ancient beast in the wilderness called the green-eyed toad. It had common supplementary ingredients. While both could be used by Deity Transformation-stage cultivators, the Clear Jade Pill was only useful to early Deity Transformation-stage cultivators. It had diminished results in mid-stage cultivators.

  The True Toad Liquid is much stronger but was more suited for late-Deity Transformation stage cultivators. If used at mid stage, the overbearing medicinal power could pose a great risk.

  With his eyes shut, he began to think about the medicine’s usage, refinement and portioning. Then he opened his eyes and examined the boxes and medicines on the table.

  As the middle-aged shopkeeper said, he lacked about half of the materials required for the medicines. The toad’s spirit blood obviously wasn’t there.

  Han Li stroked his chin and asked, “Are the missing ingredients something I can purchase at other shops? Since the True Blue-eyed Toad is an ancient beast from the wilderness, it should be difficult to find.”

  “The required materials for the Clear Jade Pill doesn’t really need medicines of the right maturation. It can be refined even with plants of lesser age, but its effects will be lacking. They can be acquired so long as Senior has enough spirit stones. As for the toad’s spirit blood, it is a truly rare material. Although it will go on sale occasionally, it will be immediately bought. There are one of the most in-demand materials for large medicine stores. It won’t be easy for Senior to acquire this item. However, there will soon be an auction where it might be sold.”

  “So it was like that. I want those items.” After some consideration, Han Li nodded.

  “Many thanks for your business, Senior. I will give you the bill. Two pill formulas is a hundred thousand spirit stones, the three stalks of five thousand-year-old gold herb is...” With a smile, the shopkeeper hastily spoke and began to list out the prices of the items on the table.

  Han Li simply narrowed his eyes as he listened, betraying nothing from his face.

  After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li calmly left the medicine store and entered another store nearby.

  As such, he began to stroll through all the medicine shops nearby as if planning to visit all the medicine shops on the street.

  In other medicine stores, Han Li gathered together eight other useful pill formulas, but they required materials that were even harder to obtain that the spirit blood of the True Blue-eyed Toad. Han Li had no choice but to put them off. So long as he could acquire the required materials for these medicines, he would spare no money.

  However, he wouldn’t gather extremely expensive materials, but seeds or young stalks.

  This way, Han Li could acquire large quantities of materials without bankrupting himself.

  As a result, he acquired all the medicinal herbs he required for the Clear Jade Pill and more. After he matured the herbs using the spirit liquid, he’d be able to start refining the pills.

  Of course, it wasn’t easy to refine medicine that could be used by Deity Transformation-stage cultivators. With his attainments in pill refinement, he may need to take multiple attempts to make a pill.

  With Han Li’s small bottle, he had unlimited attempts, so he had nothing to worry about.

  As for the True Toad Liquid, it was something he required.

  He would have to purchase it in the coming auction.

  Han Li felt somewhat apprehensive.

  But before the auction, he would need to acquire more spirit stones. He was currently lacking them, so he would have to trade for more.

  In the spirit realm, spirit stones were abundant, causing the price of items to be several times more than in the mortal realm.

  Of course, even with more spirit stones in the mortal realm, it would still be impossible to acquire the ingredients needed for Deity Transformation-stage pills.

  Han Li with confident that with enough medicine pills, he would be able to advance a grade without a problem.

  Having come to that conclusion, he quietly entered an empty corner of a street.

  He looked around him to see that no one was looking and a series of cracks sounded from his body. He shortly transformed into a large man with a purple face.

  Afterwards, Han Li strut into a large store by the name of the Revival Hall.

  In the markets of the spirit realm, thousand year spirit medicines weren’t as rare as in the mortal realm. But when Han Li presented several stalks of medicine at eight thousand years of maturation, the shopkeeper exchanged them for an astronomical sum of spirit stones without any hesitation.

  Han Li grabbed the spirit stones and nimbly departed. He didn’t stay in one place for long in order to avoid attention.

  Han Li didn’t depart from the city. Instead, he walked past several streets and took note of the various magic tools, treasures, materials, and talismans that were on sale.

  As a result, he had gained much experience.

  It was clear the spirit realm was filled with abundant materials. The quality and might of treasures here far exceeded that in the mortal realm. Even larger stores had fantastical spirit treasures on sale.

  As for talismans and secret seals, they were even more fantastical, much to Han Li’s surprise. They were beyond the mortal world’s talismans.

  There were several talismans among them that were written in silver runes.

  The majority of these talismans were eit
her assistive or defensive, with hardly any offensive types among them. The few he saw held astonishing prices. But there were talismans with a silver silhouette that caught his interest.

  Han Li asked all the store owners about it and came to know that they all came from the Heaven Spirit Region. These silver rune talismans were puppet talismans.

  One can summon the puppet phantom that is inscribed in the talisman. Its abilities and might depend on the refinement quality and the skill of its user.

  It was said that the finest puppet talismans could even mimic the cultivation and techniques of its user. It was a rather practical talisman.

  After he was finished, his heart stirred and he couldn't help but think of the damaged jade book remnants in his possession.

  The talisman attainments it detailed also mentioned the refinement method for a puppet talisman, but he hadn’t researched it. As the selling cost of these talismans was incredible, he’d have to take a proper look at them.

  With that in mind, Han Li bluntly looked for too talisman stores and picked up the materials he needed to refine silver rune talismans in large quantity.

  With that done, Han Li leisurely made his way to the auction site, the Profound Zenith Hall where human and demons mixed.

  Although the auction was still two days away, he wanted to take a look at what the demons were trading.

  After all, demon clan hadn’t participated in human auctions.

  In order to prevent any clashes from occurring in the hall in the middle of business, human cultivators that wanted to trade needed to carry a palm-sized jade pendant.

  So long as the jade pendant was on their body, it would immediately conceal them in a white mist and would also restrict the user’s cultivation. In addition, if anyone in the hall used their magic power, the grand formation in the hall would not only restrict their abilities, but it would also teleport them outside. They wouldn’t be able to enter for a short time.

  The demon clan’s side had a black banner that hid their appearance in a demon cloud as well.

  In addition, there were four Spatial Tempering-stage gold guards from both races standing at guard. There were also ten dark azure guards preserving order on either side.

  Such power naturally prevented anything unwanted from occurring.

  In order to enter, Han Li had to pay a large number of spirit stones. He took a jade pendant from the guard and put it on his waist, producing a white mist around them. Then he walked down a long corridor and through a large gate.

  As a result, he arrived in a large hall over a kilometer long with an exact door on the other side.

  There were over a hundred white and black balls of mist in the hall, each representing a human or demon.

  There were thirty of them sitting cross-legged on the ground with several items laid out in front of them. They were all silent.

  Most people stood by the vendor stalls, carefully examined items, or had quiet discussions with the vendors. There were also blurs occasionally spotted in the hall. From time to time, people who hide in a corner and have their secret discussions there.

  Han Li stood in place and looked at his surroundings. He then wordlessly walked over to a nearby vendor’s booth.

  The vendor was hidden in a silver mist, showing he was human.

  Placed in front of him were two odd items.

  One of them was a faint green and resembled a branch. The other was a sparkling crimson stone about the size of a fist.

  Chapter 1335: Lightning Turned Wood

  Han Li curiously examined the items on display and swept his spiritual sense past them.

  The branch had extremely thin wood spiritual Qi, but it also possessed an intense lightning-attributed power as if it was formed from lightning. He was astonished by its existence.

  This immediately reminded him of the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

  But even ten-thousand-year-old Golden Lightning Bamboo didn’t possess such fearsome lightning power. Its Divine Devilbane Lightning is usually well restrained.

  As for the crimson gem, it let out a fishy scent as if it were the inner core of a beast, but he couldn't tell its origins.

  Han Li looked at this with some interest, but after a moment more, he quietly left to another vendor’s booth.

  He then arrived at demon vendor with head-sized chunks of black ore that gave off a chill.

  ...

  Han Li slowly paced through the hall and looked at what was on display. He would occasionally stop and take a close look.

  From start to finish, he hadn’t said a word as if he were ignoring the vendors entirely.

  Han Li quickly looked through all the items on display, but he found himself somewhat disappointed.

  Although all the items were rare enough, there was nothing that truly tempted him.

  Although these items have come from the wilderness, there were unfamiliar items and would only be useful to an odd few.

  Han Li swept his gaze around. Just as he thought about whether he should leave the hall, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

  The white mist around him blurred and he suddenly turned around. The footsteps then came to a stop as if in surprise of Han Li’s quick reaction.

  The person was a demon cultivator as they were covered in black Qi. They had a slim body and was examining Han Li.

  They were both hidden by secret techniques. Apart from a faint silhouette, nothing could be made out.

  “Is there anything you want from me?” Han Li calmly asked.

  “Did you not find any suitable items, Fellow Daoist?” A pleasant female voice spoke from the black cloud.

  “Yes, I haven’t found anything that caught my interest. Why did you ask me that?”

  “It appears this is your first time at the Profound Zenith Hall. In truth, apart from what is put on display the truly good items are found in private exchanges,” the woman calmly said.

  “So it was like that. But wouldn’t it be easier to find a suitable customer if one showed it in the open?” Han Li said with a frown.

  “So you don’t know, Fellow Daoist, or you’re being deliberately dense. Even with the concealment pendants and banners, it is still easy to tell one apart. Furthermore, some items are quite provocative so it isn’t best to have too many people know about it. Alright, that’s enough for now. Do you have any items you wish to trade?” The woman’s impatience seemed to grow colder out of impatience.

  “So long as you have good items, I am willing to trade. However, I must ask why did you seek me out.” Han Li said.

  “It’s rather simple,” the woman said with an indifferent tone, “I was able to tell that you were most likely someone new to Deep Heaven City when you were closely examining the vendor items. Although our cultivation is restricted, I can tell on closer inspection that you are most likely a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. You are a suitable person to trade with me, and you weren’t the first person that I sought out. Tell me what you have that is suitable for a demon. Apart from a few of my own items, I’ve also been entrusted to several items by my comrades. That’s why you take out all your good things.”

  When Han Li heard this, he smiled.

  “I do have a few things that are suitable for demons. But can I take a look at your things first?”

  “Hmph,” the woman coldly chuckled, “I have spirit medicines, materials, a few human magic treasures and ancient treasures. What do you want?”

  Han Li’s eyes wandered for a bit and he asked, “I don’t need any finished goods, but I am interested in materials. Do you have any True Toad spirit blood? I require it.”

  The woman paused and immediately shook her head, “True Toad spirit blood. Hehe, you sure know how to pick them. True Toad Liquid is not only useful to humans but demons as well. No one would be selling it in the Profound Zenith Hall.”

  “If that’s the case, then do you have any five-thousand-year-old gold grass and...” Han Li didn’t pay any mind to the woman’s mocking tone and promptly lis
ted other materials that he lacked from his pill formulas.

  When she heard Han Li, her face turned unsightly. When Han Li was finished, she gloomily said, “Don’t delude yourself. Those materials are for cultivation progression pills. They are all found in the wilderness, so our demon clan is lacking them as well. We definitely wouldn’t be trading those to humans.”

  Han Li wasn’t disappointed by her words and calmly proposed, “There is no need to be anxious. I don’t even need the right year of the herbs. Saplings and seeds will do as well. I am even willing to trade at cost.”

  After some hesitation, the woman said with a doubtful tone, “In that case, it could be possible, but it is also troublesome as I don’t have any of those right now. Let me see what you have.”

  “So long as you can gather them together, I will trade with you the next time I am here.” Han Li said with a happy tone.

  “Yes, but this is something that I must take a look at first. Even if seeds and saplings are commonly scarce when few people wish to buy them. But in case I do find them, what will you be giving to me? I won’t be considering spirit stones, even high-grade ones.” The woman said with an arrogant tone.

  When Han Li heard this, he sent her a voice transmission with a calm expression.

  “What? You actually have ten-thousand-year-old spirit herbs?” The woman trembled inside the fog and she spoke with delight.

  Han Li smiled and said, “So long as you can find the items I require, I will give them to you.”

  After her delight passed, doubts filled her mind. “Why don’t you make medicine pills with those herbs? Why do you want to trade with me?”

  “Please don’t ask too much about my circumstances. If you feel that it is suitable, please do your utmost to gather those materials. The next time I come here, I will trade with you. Consider this one to be a down payment.” Han Li soon swiped his hand over his storage bracelet and took out a half-foot-long wooden case and casually handed it over to her.

  The woman in the black Qi was startled and unconsciously reached out for it. Her expression wavered and she quickly brushed her spiritual sense past the gap in the wooden box.