Thankfully, Liu Shui'er and the others had clearly just traveled through the same point, so after Han Li revealed his identity to the armored warriors, they allowed him to pass through without any fuss.
After a short while, Han Li appeared outside a massive pavilion atop the mountain peak.
There was a golden plaque above the pavilion gate, upon which the words "Starcloud Pavilion" were inscribed in large shimmering silver ancient characters.
There were eight silver-robed beings with longswords on their backs standing on either side of the gate in an expressionless manner and to Han Li's surprise, there was a slightly chubby yellow-robed elderly man who was standing in front of the pavilion with his hands clasped behind his back.
As soon as Han Li appeared, the yellow-robed man immediately approached him with a smile. This elderly man was none other than Qian Jizi of the Myriad Ancient Race.
Chapter 1751: Spirit Medicine and Exchange
Han Li extended a respectful greeting, in response to which Qian Jizi merely waved a hand with a smile. "No need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Han." He then swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which his expression suddenly changed slightly. "Hmm? You've already reached the ninth tier, Fellow Daoist Han?"
Han Li heaved an internal sigh, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied, "I encountered some minor opportunities that allowed me to make these breakthroughs."
Even though his cultivation base had progressed to the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, he had used a secret technique to conceal it, so Liu Shui'er and the others naturally failed to detect this.
As for Fairy Yue, she had progressed to the Body Integration Stage, but her progression was quite recent, so her spiritual sense was still inferior to Han Li's, and she naturally also failed to detect anything as a result.
As for the young man with the Weng surname, he was able to immediately identify Han Li's progression, but as a Grand Ascension Stage being, he naturally didn't pay much heed to this and didn't even bother to mention it.
As a late-Body Integration Stage being, Qian Jizi was also able to identify Han Li's progression.
The surprise on Qian Jizi's face quickly disappeared, and a calm smile returned. "Surely progressing two ranks in succession can't be referred to as a minor opportunity, hehe. In any case, I came here especially to see you, Fellow Daoist Han. Please come with me; there are two other people who would also like to see you."
"Two other people?" Han Li was naturally slightly taken aback to hear this.
"Indeed, but don't worry, these two are both acquaintances of yours, Fellow Daoist Han," Qian Jizi assured in a meaningful voice.
A series of thoughts rapidly raced through Han Li's mind upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied, "I'm naturally happy to comply with your wishes, Senior."
"Alright, then come with me." Qian Jizhi nodded in a pleased manner before turning and walking into the pavilion.
Han Li hesitated momentarily before also following along. He wasn't afraid that Qian Jizi would turn on him. After all, he was the elder of a race, and there were so many witnesses around, so he certainly wouldn't do something that would ruin his own reputation here in the Starcloud Pavilion.
With Qian Jizhi leading the way, the silver-robed guards on either side of the gate naturally granted them free passage.
Inside the pavilion was a large hall that was completely empty aside from a few small teleportation formations.
Qian Jizi led Han Li directly into one of the formations, and light flashed before Han Li found himself in another hall.
This hall was only just over 200 feet in size, and the teleportation formation underfoot lay at the direct center of the hall.
There were some tables and chairs positioned around the hall, and there were huge head-sized crystals embedded into the ceiling, releasing white light that illuminated the entire hall so that it was as bright as day.
Han Li cast his gaze around the hall, upon which his attention was immediately drawn to the four people in it.
There were two men and two women, two of whom were seated while the other two were standing. All of them were indeed acquaintances of his; they were Cai Liuying and Liu Shui'er, as well as Duan Tianren and Shi Kun.
Han Li was rather perplexed about why they would want to see him, but his expression remained unchanged as he extended a respectful salute. "Han Li pays his respects to Senior Cai and Senior Duan."
"Hehe, no need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Han. It was all thanks to you that Fellow Daoist Cai and I were able to secure the items we were looking for," Duan Tian replied as he appraised Han Li, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
It was quite clear that he had also identified the startling progress Han Li had made.
Cai Liuying hadn't said anything yet, but a peculiar look also flashed through her eyes.
"I was only doing what was expected of me; I'm not worthy of your gratitude, seniors," Han Li replied with a modest smile.
However, he was feeling a little befuddled by this situation. Qian Jizi was standing right beside him, but he wasn't surprised at all by what Duan Tianren was saying. It seemed that he already knew of their agreement.
"There's no need to be so modest, Fellow Daoist Han. I heard from my disciple that you're far more powerful than even we had anticipated, and if it weren't for your efforts, we wouldn't have been able to secure the treasures from the Vast Glacial Realm anywhere near as smoothly as we did. Now that you've made such significant progress in your cultivation base, your powers are most likely no less inferior to those of a holy race being, so you can refer to us as equals," Cai Liuying said with a smile.
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before glancing at Qian Jizi and Duan Tianren, both of whom wore calm expressions and raised no objections to Cai Liuying's words.
A series of thoughts quickly raced through his mind, and he smiled as he asked, "I must've been called here for a reason right? Could it be that there are some difficulties surrounding the super teleportation formation, seniors?"
"We promised to let you use the formation, so we naturally won't go back on our word. Besides, Senior Weng has also spoken to us about this matter, and none of us would dare to go against his wishes," Qian Jizhi replied as he stroked his beard.
"Then..." Han Li could roughly deduce what he had been summoned here for, but he gave nothing away.
"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist. We heard from our disciples that you emptied the entire medicine garden within that restriction, and I'm sure many of the spirit medicines in there are extremely rare or even extinct in the Spirit Realm, and most of them would likely be very useful to holy-grade beings like us. You are indeed very powerful, but you haven't progressed to the holy race yet, so those spirit medicines won't be overly useful to you at the moment. As such, the three of us would like to propose a mutually beneficial exchange," Cai Liuying said with a smile.
"An exchange? What do you propose, seniors?" Han Li remained quite calm upon hearing this, and his calm demeanor came as a slight surprise to Qian Jizi and the others.
The three of them exchanged a glance before Duan Tianren cut straight to the chase. "All three of us have reputations to uphold, so we definitely won't force you into any unfair trades. The three of us each have some spirit pills that will assist in breaking through the holy-grade bottleneck, as well as some treasures and materials that will be of use to you, and we would like to use them to exchange for your spirit medicines. Those medicines must indeed be extremely precious, but I'm sure making a breakthrough to the holy grade is more important to you, Fellow Daoist Han."
"Pills that can assist in breaking the holy-grade bottleneck?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.
"Indeed. We all prepared large quantities of such pills back when we made our breakthroughs, and even though most of them were consumed during that process, the three of us combined naturally still have quite a few
of these pills left. With these pills, your chances of making a successful breakthrough will be increased by at least 20% to 30%," Duan Tianren said in a proud manner.
"Of course, the amount of pills and treasures we're willing to offer will depend on the types and quantity of spirit medicines you obtained from the medicine garden," Cai Liuying added.
Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were naturally already aware of the reason why Duan Tianren and the others had summoned Han Li here, and both of them were appraising him with envy in their eyes.
They had also received immense benefits from Duan Tianren and Cai Liuying following their return from the Vast Glacial Realm, but those benefits still couldn't compare with what was currently being offered to Han Li.
A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face as he pondered this proposal.
Qian Jizi and the others also fell silent to allow Han Li to process the situation.
After a long while, Han Li finally exhaled as he made a decision. "I did indeed secure a large quantity of spirit medicines in the restriction, but most of them are completely unrecognizable to me. It would naturally be fantastic for me if I could exchange them for the aforementioned pills, but I'm not sure if the spirit medicines will be of interest to you."
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han, the three of us have some experience, and I'm sure we'll be able to identify most of the spirit medicines. Even if we can't identify some of them, we'll be sure to do our best to give you a fair price," Qian Jizi hurriedly reassured. He was ecstatic that Han Li was willing to proceed with the exchange, as were Duan Tianren and Cai Liuying, who also made similar promises.
"In that case, I'll bring out the spirit medicines for inspection."
Han Li nodded before flicking his wrist, and a loud buzzing sound rang out from his storage bracelet as a burst of azure light erupted forth.
The azure light flashed through the air, upon which hundreds of jade boxes of different styles appeared, and all of them were shimmering with faint spiritual light.
Duan Tianren's eyes lit up as he made a grabbing motion toward the nearest jade box to him, and the lid of the box flew off on its own to reveal a crimson coral-like spirit plan that was around a foot in length and emitting a faint glow.
"What a massive Flame Coral Herb!" Duan Tianren exclaimed with a stunned look on his face.
Han Li's pupils contracted ever so slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged. This was one of the spirit medicines that he had been unable to identify, and if he recalled correctly, he had collected about six of them in total. Out of all of them, he had only brought out one. Cai Liuying and Qian Jizi exchanged an excited glance upon seeing this before also beginning to carefully inspect the contents of the jade boxes.
As expected of holy-grade beings who had lived for over 10,000 years; most of the spirit medicines that Han Li couldn’t identify had been recognized by them, and judging from their elated reactions, these were clearly all extremely precious spirit medicines.
There were over 100 jade boxes that had been summoned, but the inspection of their contents was soon complete.
After Qian Jizi appraised the spirit flower in the final box, he put the flower back into the box in a slightly reluctant manner, then turned to Han Li with a smile. "These are indeed all spirit medicines that are very difficult to find in the Spirit Realm, but judging from the size of that medicine garden, I'm sure there would've been more spirit medicines in there. How much more do you have, Fellow Daoist Han? You can bring them all out for our inspection."
Chapter 1752: Mutual Benefit
Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this. He had already plundered the entire medicine garden before Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had a chance to reach it, but from the size of the medicine garden, one could still roughly deduce the number of spirit medicines that had been planted in there, which was why Qian Jizi was convinced that there were more.
"I do indeed have some spirit medicines that I've yet to reveal, but shouldn't you show me some sincerity as well, Senior?" Han Li countered with a smile.
Qian Jizhi's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Are you doubting our integrity, Fellow Daoist Han?"
"I wouldn't dare. It's just that I've already brought out all of the spirit medicines I've collected from the Vast Glacial Realm, and I only have repeats of the same spirit medicines left. Hence, I would like to see the spirit pills being offered to me in exchange; I'm sure that's not asking too much," Han Li replied in a slow voice, displaying no intention of backing down.
Duan Tianren was holding a thumbs-sized red fruit in his hand, and after engaging in a brief voice transmission conversation with Cai Liuying, he said, "Fellow Daoist Han's request is a reasonable one. Let's show him the spirit pills that we have as confirmation that we're serious about this exchange."
"Many of the spirit medicines that Fellow Daoist Han has brought out are ones that we need, so it is indeed only fair that we also show him what we have to offer. Hence, I'm willing to take the lead and show Fellow Daoist Han the spirit pills I have to offer first," Cai Liuying said with a smile.
Qian Jizi faltered slightly upon hearing this before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Seeing as neither of you has any objections, I would only be making myself look bad if I were to turn down this request."
"Thank you for your kindness, seniors!" Han Li immediately cupped his fist in a grateful salute.
Thus, Cai Liuying flipped a hand over, and spiritual light flashed, upon which three medicine vials appeared before being tossed to Han Li.
"These three types of spirit pills will all assist in breaking your bottleneck, and they're all quite renowned, so I'm sure you've heard of them. They are Silver Floss Pills, Myriad Wonder Pills, and Bitter Azure Pills. I had to expend countless time and effort to secure these pills, and I've used up half of them already, but the remaining half should be sufficient for your consumption. In particular, the three Myriad Wonder Pills will be extremely potent in assisting you in your breakthrough attempt..."
Han Li caught the medicine vials before carefully inspecting their contents while listening to Cai Liuying's introductions.
With Han Li's pill refinement prowess, he was able to easily identify the authenticity of these pills, and after confirming this, he gave a slight nod.
At this moment, Duan Tianren also produced two medicine vials, as well as two medicine boxes, while Qian Jizhi brought out two palm-sized gourds, one of which was red while the other was blue.
After a few minutes, Han Li had verified all of these pills. The pills that Duan Tianren was offering were not inferior to Cai Liuying's, while the two gourds brought out by Qian Jizi contained two types of precious spirit liquids that could only be found on the Thunder Continent.
Directly consuming the spirit liquids wouldn't do anything, but they were important ingredients for refining several types of spirit pills, and they were extremely rare in the Spirit Realm.
A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face, and he flicked his wrist again, upon which even more jade boxes were released from his storage bracelet.
"The spirit pills and spirit liquids that have been offered are indeed all priceless treasures, but just these alone won't be enough to exchange for all of my spirit medicines," Han Li said in a slow voice as he looked at the hundreds of jade boxes he had just summoned.
Duan Tianren was ecstatic at the sight of the hundreds of jade boxes in front of Han Li, and he chortled, "Haha, with our collective wealth, we'll be sure to have something that catches your fancy, Fellow Daoist Han. Go right ahead and tell us what you'd like."
"Indeed, we'll be taking all of these spirit medicines; please feel free to raise any conditions you have, Fellow Daoist Han."
Qian Jizhi was aware that Han Li had a vast quantity of spirit medicines, but he didn't expect Han Li to be willing to bring out so many at once, so he was also ecstatic.
"I don't need any treasures at the moment, but I'm in need of some rare materials. I have a list with me here, a
nd I was wondering if you had any of the items on there. I've also heard that the Crystal Race's Crystal Moon Liquid was considered to be a holy medicine for body refinement, so I would like to secure a vial from Senior Cai if possible. On top of that, I'm also interested in the refinement methods for sentient puppets and Myriad Wonder Pills, and I was hoping to secure those as well." Han Li rattled off a list of many conditions.
Qian Jizi and the others couldn't help but exchange a glance upon hearing this.
"Aren't you going too far, Fellow Daoist Han? Setting aside the materials, only the pill refinement masters have the refinement method for Myriad Wonder Pills. Crystal Moon Liquid is also something that many holy-grade beings are desperately searching for..." Cai Liuying's brows furrowed in a display of displeasure.
"I don't think I'm asking for too much. These are almost all of the spirit medicines I obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm, and if any of them were to be presented to an auction house, countless holy-grade beings would undoubtedly fight to get their hands on them. There are hundreds of these spirit medicines here, and many of them are already extinct in the Spirit Realm. Furthermore, the ages of these medicines are also completely unfathomable, so I think I'm already making a huge concession by asking for such an exchange," Han Li countered in a calm manner.
"There's no way we can give you the refinement methods for Myriad Wonder Pills and sentient puppets. Those are fundamental to our Heavenly Cloud Races and can't be leaked to outsiders no matter what," Qian Jizhi refused in an implacable manner.
"Crystal Moon Liquid is also extremely precious, but I guess I can spare a vial," Cai Liuying said with a pained expression.
Duan Tianren's expression had also darkened slightly, but Han Li didn't pay this much heed. He had only been trying to probe the bottom lines of the three seniors with his proposed conditions, and even though Qian Jizi clearly wasn't open to negotiation, being able to secure a vial of Crystal Moon Liquid was still a massive victory.
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