Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 780

Intrigued, Han Li examined the items, scanning them with his spiritual sense.

The branch of wood had a faint wood-attribute spiritual energy, but it was brimming with an intense lightning-attribute spiritual power, making it seem like a tree condensed from lightning. Just looking at it reminded him of the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo from before.

The blood-red crystal stone had a bloody scent, like the inner core of some beast, but he couldn’t identify it.

After briefly showing interest in the branch, Han Li quietly moved on to another stall. There, a demon cultivator sat with a black ore exuding cold air in front of him.

In this manner, Han Li slowly walked around, examining each stall, and occasionally stopping to observe in detail if something caught his interest.

He didn’t say a word the entire time, nor did he even glance at the stall owners. After quickly looking around the stalls, Han Li was a little disappointed.

Everyone had brought out rare items, but nothing truly piqued his interest. Some were from the Savage Wilds and were very rare, but they were items with specific uses.

Just as Han Li was considering leaving the Grand Profound Hall, he heard footsteps approaching.

Han Li turned around instantly, and a black aura flickered, stopping in its tracks. It seemed surprised by Han Li’s quick reaction.

A slender demon cultivator surrounded by a black aura sized Han Li up and down.

“Do you have something to say?”

“You haven’t found anything you like?”

“Yes, that’s right. Why are you asking, Fellow Cultivator?”

“It seems you’re new to the Grand Profound Hall. The truly good items aren’t displayed here; they’re traded secretly.”

The demon woman explained calmly.

“Why is that? If you trade openly, it would be easier to find trading partners.”

“You can’t possibly be asking that because you don’t know, can you? If you trade such precious items openly, even if you use a Light-Shielding Pendant and a Cloud-Concealing Banner [magical items used to hide one’s presence], you’ll still attract attention. Besides, it’s best to keep the origin and destination of such items a secret. So, are you going to trade or not?”

The demon woman’s tone became slightly cold, as if she was a little annoyed.

“If you have what I want, I’m willing to trade. But why did you seek me out, Fellow Cultivator?”

Han Li responded to the offer with a question.

“The reason is simple. Looking at every stall in detail means you’re new to the Heavenly Essence City. And even if your cultivation is restricted, if you look closely, it’s easy to tell that you’re a Nascent Soul cultivator [a high level of cultivation]. So, I thought you would be a suitable trading partner. In fact, I’ve already asked several others if they were interested in trading. Now, if you’re done, tell me what you have that might be useful to a demon cultivator. I have several items, including some that other demon cultivators asked me to trade, so it’s worth considering.”

The demon cultivator said casually. Hearing this, Han Li smiled, raising the corners of his mouth.

“I do have some suitable items. But how about you give me a hint about what you have first?”

“Hmph, I have everything from elixirs and materials to human treasures and ancient artifacts. What do you want?”

The demon woman also sneered.

“Finished products are not what I need; I need materials. If you have the blood of a True Spirit Beast, I’d like to trade for it.”

“The blood of a True Spirit Beast, you’re a demanding one. That’s a very useful item for us demon cultivators, so no one trades it in the Grand Profound Hall.”

The demon woman flinched and shook her head.

“Then how about this? A Golden Grass that’s over 5,000 years old…”

Han Li, unconcerned by the woman’s scoff, began to list other materials he needed for refining pills.

However, the more the demon woman listened, the more her face contorted, and as soon as Han Li finished speaking, she said with displeasure,

“You’d better give up on trading for those things here. Most of the main ingredients for pills that enhance cultivation can only be found in the Savage Wilds. We demon cultivators have the same problem, we can’t get them either. Even if we did, would we trade with humans?”

“There’s no need to be so hasty in your refusal. I’m also willing to buy the seeds or saplings of these spiritual herbs at a high price.”

Han Li added calmly, not showing much disappointment.

“…In that case, it might be possible to obtain them, but I don’t have them right now.”

“If you can get them, I can come back to trade again.”

“Well, I’m just saying I’ll try. Spiritual herbs from the Savage Wilds, even the seeds or immature ones, are rare. But what will you trade with? If you’re thinking of using spirit stones, forget it. I have no shortage of high-grade spirit stones.”

The demon woman said arrogantly. Hearing this, Han Li moved his lips without expression.

“What did you say? You really have a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herb?”

“If you can get me what I need, I can trade with spiritual items of that level.”

“If you have something like that, why not refine pills yourself instead of trading with me?”

The woman, who had been happy, asked suspiciously.

“That’s my business, and I can’t tell you. If you want to trade, bring me what I need. Consider this a deposit.”

Han Li brushed his storage pouch and took out a half-foot-long wooden box, throwing it to her. The demon woman in the black aura took the wooden box with a complicated expression, slightly opened the lid, and scanned it with her spiritual sense.

“Ah! Are you really giving this as a deposit? I might not come back with it.”

“It’s just a 3,000-year-old spiritual herb. First, I believe you wouldn’t act that way given your cultivation. Second, this is a sign that I sincerely want to trade with you. It’s proof that I can give you the promised spiritual herb if you get me what I’m looking for.”

“Alright. But there’s no guarantee that I can get what you’re looking for in a short time. If you give me a few years, I might be able to get two or three things.”

The woman accepted the wooden box without hesitation and said confidently.

“Very well. Then I’ll wait for good news.”

Han Li was inwardly pleased and cupped his fist in a salute. To him, a few thousand-year-old spiritual herbs were nothing, so he didn’t mind giving one to gain the other’s trust. Besides, to get a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herb, the other party would do their best to find the items he wanted.

The demon woman nodded and left. Han Li narrowed his eyes, watching the woman’s back before turning around and walking away. Just as he was about to leave the main hall, he paused as he passed the first stall. His gaze fell on the green branch.

“Can you tell me about the origin of this item?”

Han Li asked, picking up the green branch with one hand and examining it.

“Origin? A dead spiritual tree was struck by lightning, and I saw it sprout afterward. This is a branch from it, but I don’t know its specific use.”

“A tree created by Heavenly Lightning! How interesting.”

Han Li continued to fiddle with the branch, muttering to himself.

“Haha, it is a strange thing. To be honest, the lightning power it contains is too strong to absorb into the body or use as a material. So, I brought it here in case any demon cultivators were interested. But it seems you like it?”

The old man looked at him and grinned.

“Ah, it doesn’t matter. I also deal with the power of lightning, so I’m just curious. So, what do you want to trade for it?”

Han Li said calmly, playing with the Thunderwood. The old man in the white aura paused and sized him up.

“I don’t know the use of this Thunderwood, but it’s a spiritual wood created by Heavenly Lightning, so it must be quite valuable! I’m trying to refine a Qian Yuan Pill recently, and I need a 5,000-year-old spiritual herb of any kind. If you give me just one, I’ll trade it for the Thunderwood. Or, I’ll trade it for top-grade spirit stones or something of similar value.”

“How did you know I had a spiritual herb, Fellow Cultivator?”

Han Li’s heart chilled at the other’s hoarse voice.

“Don’t be too surprised. It’s a meager skill, but my sense of smell is much better than others. I smelled the scent from the wooden box you gave to that demon woman earlier, and I thought maybe… That was probably a spiritual herb that had grown for about 3,000 years, right? If you’re willing to give something like that, there’s a good chance you have a spiritual herb that’s over 5,000 years old.”

Han Li was speechless for a moment at the old man’s words.

He had heard that the Buddhist sect had powerful divine abilities that developed a cultivator’s five senses. Things like the legendary Mind-Reading, Clairvoyance, and Clairaudience.

Perhaps his Brightspirit Eyes were similar to those in some ways. Han Li, who had been internally assessing the truth of the other’s words, relaxed his expression and said calmly,

“I see. I happen to have a spiritual herb that you need. See if it’s useful.”

Han Li didn’t bother to haggle and flipped his hand, taking out a wooden box and throwing it to him. The old man was surprised that the other party had agreed to trade so quickly, but then he revealed a happy expression and received the wooden box.

He opened the box for a brief moment, glanced at it, and then closed it immediately.

“Excellent. It’s exactly the 5,000-year-old spiritual herb I needed.”

Han Li smiled as he watched the old man’s delighted expression, and soon the branch in front of him blurred and disappeared. Han Li cupped his fist in a salute and then turned around and walked away without a word.

‘It’s best to say as little as possible in front of a sly old fox like that.’

Han Li left the Grand Profound Hall and looked around the other alleys of the market, but nothing caught his eye. A few hours later, he returned to the Blue Stone Pagoda.

Inside the secret room of the hall where his squad was staying, Han Li threw a hand seal at the stone door to activate the restriction. Still not feeling at ease, he sent out various colored lights, which disappeared into the four corners of the secret room.

He formed a hand seal, and a white aura of light barrier rose on the stone wall to prevent any peeping. Only then did Han Li feel at ease, sitting on a cushion and shaking his hand to take out the half-foot-long Thunderwood.

The surface of the jade-colored branch, as thick as a finger, had tiny vortex-like patterns that caught the eye. Rather than looking at it, he closed his eyes, running his fingertips over the branch.

The lightning within the bark was truly ferocious, and it was amazing that it was condensed in this form.

Han Li tried to slowly inject spiritual power into the branch with a blue light. However, as soon as the spiritual power entered, the branch vibrated lightly, and the spiritual power was repelled by the rebound force.

His hand gradually turned a deeper blue. Then, the branch vibrated, and a faint white light appeared, and the blue light flickered, as if the two forces were repelling each other.

Buzz!

As time passed, the two lights began to hum faintly. Han Li narrowed his brow and withdrew his hand, scattering the blue light.

If he continued to send a large amount of spiritual power, it might be forcibly injected. But then the branch would explode and be damaged. With his experience, there was no way he would analyze it with such a violent method.

Bang! Bang!

Thunder rumbled from his palm where the branch was placed, and golden lightning threads rose, instantly enveloping the branch. The golden lightning continued to bounce, but the branch did not react.

However, Han Li was not discouraged at all.

“If it were that easy to figure out its use, that old man wouldn’t have sold it like this.”

With a whoosh, he threw the branch into the air and flicked his fingertip. A golden streak flashed and flew, splitting the branch in the middle.

Tsutsut!

With a crackle of lightning, white lightning flashed, and the branch lightly split into two pieces. Han Li reached out and pulled them towards him.

Looking at them, the cross-section was silver-white, and when he examined it with his Brightspirit Eyes [a special vision technique], he was surprised to see that the silver-white surface was covered with countless thin lightning threads, regularly woven into strange patterns.

They were so detailed and complex that he wouldn’t have noticed them at all if not for his Brightspirit Eyes. Suddenly, silver lightning flashed on the cut surface, and it was covered with jade color, turning into two independent branches.

Han Li was a little surprised by this. He was also an expert at controlling and condensing lightning to create shapes. But it was impossible for him to create such thin threads to form a structure.

The lightning that formed the branch was far more advanced than the lightning nets or lightning beads made with Evil-Slaying Divine Lightning. It was hard to imagine how powerful the consciousness controlling the lightning would have to be to create something like this.