Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 530

The middle-aged man was bewildered, unsure of what was happening, when an old man’s voice boomed from below the pavilion.

“Is it true someone wishes to trade with me? I was deep in cultivation and rushed out here.”

His voice was ancient, yet full of vigor. The heavy thumping sounds suggested the old man was quite large.

“I invited you, Senior, so of course it’s true. How could I deceive you, Senior Bu?”

A robust cultivator appeared at the main hall’s entrance, and the middle-aged man in white robes quickly approached, answering respectfully.

The newcomer was a tall old man in a pale robe, radiating an astonishing spiritual aura, having reached the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

Han Li slightly narrowed his brows.

The red-faced old man looked at Han Li after hearing the middle-aged man’s words. He was surprised by Han Li’s youthful appearance and mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, but he immediately smiled warmly and approached.

“Are you Fellow Daoist Han, whom Manager Jo mentioned? It’s unlikely an ordinary early-Nascent Soul cultivator would possess the materials I desire.”

The old man approached casually, chuckling.

“I am rather impressed by Senior Bu’s cultivation.”

“At my age, it’s nothing to be surprised about. I’m a straightforward person, so let’s get to the point. What item do you wish to trade for the Thunder Spirit Essence?”

“I don’t have much else, but I do have a Fire Attribute Red Essence Earth. It’s over a thousand years old.”

It was something he had cultivated from the seeds of the three-thousand-year-old Red Essence Earth he had traded for at the Heavenly South Exchange Meeting.

“If it’s a Red Essence Earth over a thousand years old, it’s definitely worth trading for my Thunder Spirit Essence. Can you show it to me?”

Old Man Bu was overjoyed.

“Of course, I should show it to you. But can you also show me your spirit stones, Fellow Daoist?”

“Ah, I wasn’t thoughtful enough. Manager Jo, quickly bring out the spirit stones.”

“Yes, Senior. I’ll be right back.”

The middle-aged man in white robes quickly replied and left the main hall.

“Fellow Daoist Han’s face is unfamiliar, yet you already possess mid-Nascent Soul cultivation. Have you been secluded somewhere, focusing solely on cultivation?”

“It’s natural you don’t know me, Fellow Daoist. I’ve always cultivated on a small island and rarely come to the Great Jin mainland.”

Han Li calmly recounted the story he had prepared.

“So, Fellow Daoist Han is a cultivator from the sea! I’ve heard the cultivators there have great divine abilities and cultivate unique techniques. Seeing you’ve come all the way to Jing Capital, are you planning to attend the auction?”

The red-faced old man asked, as if he finally understood. As they exchanged a few words, footsteps approached from outside.

“Brother Bu, why didn’t you contact me when you came to the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion? I should have greeted Fellow Daoist Han myself. I apologize for my rudeness.”

A clear voice was heard, and a cultivator in a silver robe walked into the main hall.

“Haha! It’s been a while, Brother Huang! I thought you were still in seclusion, cultivating the Ghost Spirit Art.”

Old Man Bu greeted the silver-robed old man warmly, as if they were old friends.

“My progress with the Ghost Spirit Art has been stagnant for a long time. It seems I have no hope of reaching the mid-Nascent Soul stage in this lifetime. Manager Jo said a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator had come to trade for the Heavenly Secret Talisman that has been here for hundreds of years, and since you were here too, Brother Bu, I came up.”

The silver-robed cultivator, who appeared to be in his fifties, scanned Han Li and clasped his fist. He was undoubtedly Elder Wang, whom the middle-aged man had mentioned. Han Li scanned him with his spiritual sense and found he was an early-Nascent Soul cultivator.

“I’ve heard of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s reputation, and I’m finally visiting it today.”

Han Li smiled and greeted him.

“Fellow Daoist Han, are you even planning to trade for the Heavenly Secret Talisman? You sea cultivators are quite extravagant. It seems the rumors about the abundance of treasures there are true.”

“No, how can it compare to the rich resources of the mainland?”

Han Li glossed over the topic, and the other two cultivators didn’t press further. If they misunderstood that he was trying to spy on them, the deal would fall through.

As they finished speaking, the middle-aged man walked in behind the silver-robed cultivator and placed a large and small jade box in front of Han Li. Then, he retreated behind Elder Wang and remained silent.

“Since you are interested in our pavilion’s Heavenly Secret Talisman, I brought it along with Fellow Daoist Bu’s Thunder Spirit Essence. Let’s take a look together.”

Elder Wang pointed to the slightly larger jade box.

“Brother Wang, show me the Heavenly Secret Talisman later. Let me trade first.”

“I didn’t know you were in such a hurry, Brother Bu. Then let’s do that. I’m also curious to see what treasure Fellow Daoist Han will use to trade for the Thunder Spirit Essence.”

Han Li, who had been listening to their conversation, took out a palm-sized cyan wooden box from his storage pouch. It was sealed with gold and silver talismans.

Old Man Bu’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the intricately sealed wooden box. Han Li pushed the box towards Old Man Bu. The old man also flicked his sleeve and handed a small jade box on the table to Han Li.

When Han Li opened the jade box, a silver light spread out. A blue light flickered in his eyes for a moment, and he could see a fist-sized silver-white stone.

He raised a finger and poked it into the jade box, and a thin blue light shot out, colliding with the silver-white stone.

Clang!

Silver lightning jumped from the stone, easily blocking the blue light.

“It’s indeed the Thunder Spirit Essence. It’s a pity it’s of average quality, but it’s still usable.”

“It’s hard to find the highest grade Thunder Spirit Essence. I went through great hardships to catch a rare thunder-attribute demon beast and found it in its belly.”

Old Man Bu also examined the Red Essence Earth in the wooden box and looked satisfied. It seemed he was very pleased with Han Li’s Red Essence Earth.

“However, my Red Essence Earth is a top-grade spiritual medicine with no spiritual energy dissipated at all.”

Han Li said calmly. Even if he needed the Thunder Spirit Essence, he couldn’t trade at a loss.

“It’s true my Thunder Spirit Essence is of lower quality compared to Fellow Daoist Han’s Red Essence Earth. Then, I’ll give you 30,000 more spirit stones to make up for the difference.”

“There’s no need to rush. Please take a look at the list of materials I need. If you know any information about them, I won’t accept the spirit stones.”

Han Li smiled and took out a jade slip from his pocket, placing it on the table.

“You need other materials?”

The old man immediately picked up the jade slip and examined its contents. After a while, Old Man Bu, having checked the contents of the jade slip, looked at Han Li with a strange gaze.

“These materials are too rare, and I don’t possess any of them. However, I can give you some information about them.”

The old man hesitated, but eventually decided to speak.

“You’re not talking about the auction, are you?”

“Although the auction in a few days is large in scale, the probability of the items you need appearing is extremely low. Most of these rare items are traded for other items, like us.”

“Oh, that sounds like there will be an unofficial exchange meeting somewhere.”

Han Li, having figured something out, asked with great joy. Old Man Bu’s expression changed, and he suddenly moved his lips, but no sound was heard.

A moment later, the old man’s voice echoed clearly only in Han Li’s ears.

“The Jing Capital’s auction, held once every ten years, has long been divided into two. Everyone knows about the exchange meeting held by the righteous path. But the underground exchange meeting hosted by the demonic path and rogue cultivators is conducted secretly.

At that place, ordinary items are auctioned with spirit stones, but most of the materials cultivators need are exchanged for rare items. However, most of the items at the underground exchange meeting are prohibited from being traded in the cultivation world, so only cultivators with a clear background can participate. It will be difficult for you to participate since you are a cultivator from outside the sea. If you are willing to trade with me, I will try my best to recommend you so you can participate.”

The old man quickly said what he needed to say and stared at Han Li, waiting for his answer.

“I see. But I can’t miss the official auction held in the market, and I wonder if it overlaps with the underground exchange meeting?”

“The two exchange meetings are held at the same time, but the auction and exchange of the rarest materials are held on different days. You probably won’t care much about ordinary items, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on good items.”

“Then I’ll trust you, Senior. I’m really looking forward to the underground exchange meeting.”

“Good! Then wait for me at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion again on the last day of the auction.”

The old man, who had saved tens of thousands of spirit stones in an instant, said happily. Elder Wang smiled and opened his mouth only after watching the old man and Han Li divide the Thunder Spirit Essence and Red Essence Earth.

“It’s fortunate that both of you have obtained the items you desired. Shall we now take a look at our pavilion’s Heavenly Secret Talisman? Let me tell you in advance, the Heavenly Secret Talisman is our treasure, so it will be difficult to trade for it with just a thousand-year-old Red Essence Earth.”

“It doesn’t matter. If I like the item, I’m not the type to trade stingily.”

“Indeed, considering Fellow Daoist Han’s background, it wouldn’t be strange if you possessed items worthy of trading for the Heavenly Secret Talisman. Then, let’s move to the Mustard Seed Space [a pocket dimension] specially prepared by our Heavenly Secrets Pavilion to show you the original form of the Heavenly Secret Talisman.”

Elder Wang’s smile deepened at Han Li’s confident tone.

“Mustard Seed Space?”

“Is this the first time you’ve heard of it? Ah, the secret art of refining space rifts to create personal spaces was developed in the Great Jin a thousand years ago. So, you, a cultivator from outside the sea, might not know about it!”

Elder Wang said, slapping his knee.

“Refining space rifts to create a Mustard Seed Space? Such a heaven-defying secret art exists in the world…”

Han Li was so surprised he could hardly believe it.

Secret arts related to space were already common in the cultivation world. Even storage pouches were everyday magical tools that used space secret arts. However, storage pouches had limited capacity depending on their grade, so they were fundamentally not true space secret arts.

Many cultivators even believed that high-level space secret arts were not from the human realm but were divine abilities only possible for cultivators from the upper realms.

“There’s no need to be so surprised. The Mustard Seed Space is not as high-dimensional as you think. It was created by chance.”

“As Brother Bu said, the Mustard Seed Space is mostly a burden to cultivators. It’s extremely difficult to refine, and there are many restrictions when using it. There are only about a dozen Mustard Seed Spaces in the Great Jin, but our pavilion was the first to create one.”

Elder Wang smiled wryly.

“That means…”

“Yes, it’s a secret art that some of our pavilion’s grandmasters accidentally created. So, there are only two grandmasters in the world who can refine Mustard Seed Spaces, and they are both from our pavilion. In fact, items like the Heavenly Secret Jade and Heavenly Secret Talisman can be seen as secret arts created by applying the refining method of the Mustard Seed Space.”

“So that’s what happened. Then, I should definitely take a look at the Mustard Seed Space to broaden my horizons.”

Han Li regained his composure and smiled.

“Brother Wang, please take Fellow Daoist Han. I’ve already been to the Mustard Seed Space, so I won’t go. I need to deal with the Red Essence Earth, so I’ll take my leave first.”

“You have things to do, so I can’t keep you here. Brother Bu, I’ll see you again soon.”

As Elder Wang finished speaking, the old man’s request not to miss the trade on the last day of the underground exchange meeting was conveyed to Han Li’s ears.

Han Li nodded slightly towards him, and the old man went down the stairs without delay, thumping as he went.

“Shall we go? The Mustard Seed Space is behind the pavilion, so we can get there quickly.”

Elder Wang smiled at Han Li and casually retrieved the remaining jade box into his sleeve.

Han Li didn’t refuse and followed him through the strict restrictions to a small open space behind the pavilion. In the middle of the open space, there was a strange teleportation array that he had never seen before.

It looked more complex and much larger than an ordinary teleportation array. Han Li narrowed his brows at the unexpected situation.

“We have to use the teleportation array to go to the Mustard Seed Space.”

‘We have to use a teleportation array to go? Is the refining of space rifts done in a fixed location?’

Han Li was surprised, but he didn’t ask. He followed after the other party entered the teleportation array first.