Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 838

Han Li returned to his residence and stayed there until early the next morning, when he headed to the trade fair. This time, he arrived safely without any issues.

The building was constructed on a thousand-foot cliff, with a large gate at the mountain’s waist plaza. On either side of the massive gate, a dozen or so armed soldiers stood in a line, through which the Sky Peng Clan members passed.

Han Li narrowed his eyes from afar, observing for a moment before flapping his wings and descending. A soldier in front of the gate scanned Han Li, his expression changing as he quickly bowed in respect.

Han Li nodded in acknowledgment and naturally entered through the gate. Inside, a vast space unfolded, a different world from the outside.

On either side of an endless long passage, tall buildings resembling palaces were visible. Upon closer inspection, each was ten stories high, with each floor thirty feet tall and about a hundred feet apart, each having its own separate entrance.

Numerous Sky Peng Clan members flew back and forth between them, conducting trades. Han Li followed them, entering a nearby door on the second floor.

The bustling sounds filled his ears, and his gaze moved rapidly. In the small plaza, which was several hundred feet in size, there were shops of various sizes all around, and hundreds of Sky Peng Clan members were going in and out.

In the center of the plaza, there was a blue stone pillar, about a dozen feet high, with something written on it. A dozen or so people stood below the pillar, looking at it and seemingly discussing something.

Han Li, intrigued by the sight, quietly approached.

The surface of the stone pillar, densely covered with characters, was divided in the middle, one side red and the other jade green. Upon reading, they were all names of items, some familiar and many unfamiliar.

These characters appeared and disappeared, as if they were moving around on the surface of the stone pillar. Below the stone pillar, a middle-aged man, seemingly a guard, sat cross-legged, guarding the spot.

‘This is…?’

Han Li looked at the characters and the man below the stone pillar, puzzled. Just then, one of the men in the group handed a few spirit stones to the guard.

The middle-aged guard’s eyes flashed open, and he nodded, taking out a short red club from his large sleeve and exchanging it for the spirit stones.

The man who received the club swung it at an empty spot on the stone pillar. It was a very quick motion, but Han Li, having activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes [a technique that enhances vision], clearly saw it. The moment the club was swung, several red characters appeared and entered the stone pillar, and after a moment, the red characters floated on the surface of the stone pillar.

A look of surprise crossed Han Li’s face.

After waiting a little longer, another person stepped forward. This time, without paying spirit stones to the middle-aged guard, he flapped his wings and floated a few feet, then pointed at a few green characters on the surface of the stone pillar.

Swoosh.

At the same time, a jade-green light came out of the characters and flowed into his fingertip, and his body shimmered with spiritual energy. The Sky Peng Clan member who had reached out his hand narrowed his eyes as if receiving some information, then withdrew his hand and flew towards the door.

Those gathered below either wrote something on the stone pillar like the first two, or flew up and touched the red or green characters.

Han Li, having observed this, roughly understood and immediately stepped forward, pointing at the green characters at the bottom of the stone pillar. A jade-green light flashed from the characters, and information was transmitted to his mind.

‘Selling high-quality Willow Light Wood. No quantity limit. 30,000 spirit stones per piece. 4th floor, 5th hall, No. 31!’

Han Li, with a slight smile, pointed at another red character.

‘Buying a set of Phoenix Tail Bird bones. Price negotiable. 9th floor, 2nd hall, No. 10!’

Han Li’s expression was strange. He had never imagined that the Sky Peng Clan would trade items in this way.

The items on the surface of the stone pillar were either urgently needed or rare, but it was an excellent method. This made it easier for those who needed them to know the news, increasing the likelihood of a transaction. It didn’t seem too difficult to implement, so it was a method worth trying in the human race’s markets as well.

After a while, Han Li took a few steps back and this time focused on the green characters.

Most of the items had different names depending on the race, but strangely, the rarer the item, the more likely they were to use the same name. This was especially true for materials that each race valued highly.

This was a fact he had learned when he first encountered the Bi Ling Clan language. He was curious, but now was not the time to dwell on it. Han Li silently checked the list on the stone pillar, and then his heart began to beat faster when he saw a newly appeared character.

‘Azure Luo Fruit! Are they selling such a thing!’

Han Li’s face flushed, and an undisguised desire appeared in his eyes. The Azure Luo Fruit was the main ingredient of the legendary Sacred Azure Luo Pill, one of the spiritual fruits that Han Li most wanted to obtain in the world.

The Azure Luo Pill did not have the heaven-defying effect of increasing the probability of a late-stage Transformation cultivator overcoming a bottleneck like the Black Flame Pill, but it was a pill with a value greater than the Black Flame Pill for most high-level cultivators, even those above the Integration stage [a high cultivation realm].

Taking this pill would slightly help Transformation stage cultivators overcome bottlenecks. However, most cultivators did not use it this way but combined it with other ingredients.

The Azure Luo Pill had a very unique effect, perfectly fusing with most spiritual medicines without clashing. The most mysterious thing was that when taken with other pills, it had a certain probability of amplifying the effects of the other pills by 30% to 50%, a heaven-defying effect.

For example, if a pill that increased lifespan by 10 years was taken with the Azure Luo Pill, it would increase cultivation by 13 to 15 years. Moreover, this effect was effective for most pills, except for a few pills called divine elixirs.

Because of this, the more rare pills human cultivators obtained, the more they craved the Azure Luo Pill. The idea of further enhancing already great effects was something everyone yearned for.

However, this effect was random, so it was not certain whether one would actually benefit from it.

Some people took three or four pills in a row and greatly increased the effects of their pills, while others spent their entire fortune to buy seven or eight Azure Luo Pills but failed completely.

Nevertheless, once the Azure Luo Pill appeared in the world, countless cultivators would be desperate to obtain it. That was why the Azure Luo Fruit near the human race was almost extinct.

Unfortunately, the Azure Luo Fruit only ripened after 5,000 to 6,000 years, and the Azure Luo Fruit tree only bore one fruit, which, once picked, would lose its spirituality and return to being an ordinary tree.

Large sects and forces had tried to cultivate them in large quantities, but they had failed.

Therefore, when someone occasionally found this fruit in the Great Desolate World and the Azure Luo Pill appeared in the world, high-level cultivators would rush to get it. Of course, most of them ended up in the hands of old monsters above the Integration stage.

Han Li was tempted when he learned that such a spiritual fruit existed in the Natural City. How wonderful would it be if he could mass-produce the Azure Luo Fruit using the green liquid!

Unfortunately, the Azure Luo Fruit itself was both a seed and a spiritual medicine, so it could not be preserved for long. Even in the Natural City, where all kinds of goods from the Three Realms and Seven Lands gathered, he could not find Azure Luo Fruit seeds.

But today, the Azure Luo Fruit was being traded, and he could not suppress his excitement. Han Li ignored the other items and immediately flew up, touching the Azure Luo Fruit characters on the surface of the stone pillar. As expected, a jade-green light flashed, and information was transmitted.

“Negotiating the price is a bit troublesome.”

After reviewing the information, he calmed down a bit. But that didn’t mean he would give up the opportunity to obtain the Azure Luo Fruit. He immediately flew to the location indicated by the characters.

Leaving the hall, Han Li flew high and moved along the passage.

After a while, he checked the numbers above the hall and immediately entered. It was the same as the previous hall. Only about 20 or 30 Sky Peng Clan members were present.

Quietly looking around, Han Li headed to a medium-sized shop on the second floor in one corner of the main hall. The first floor was covered by a blue curtain, making it impossible to see inside, but a red jade plaque with ‘Myriad Thunder Shop’ written on it hung in front of the door.

Han Li was a little puzzled by the jade plaque but soon returned to his usual expression. Entering through the light curtain, his eyes brightened, and a large space appeared.

There were only wooden tables, yellow chairs, and shelves piled with miscellaneous items. And next to the table were a middle-aged man, who seemed to be the owner, and two Sky Peng Clan members.

Han Li carefully examined them, and his expression changed slightly.

The middle-aged man and woman, who seemed to be customers, looked like a couple and were discussing something with the owner. One of them had early-stage Nascent Soul cultivation [a cultivation stage], and the other had mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation. Even the owner surprisingly had late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation.

‘How can someone with such cultivation be running a shop in a place like this?’

Han Li couldn’t help but be surprised. As Han Li entered the shop, the Sky Peng Clan man and woman turned their gaze to him. They seemed surprised by his cultivation and unfamiliar appearance.

However, the shop owner glanced at him and, as if he couldn’t be bothered, continued to talk to the middle-aged couple.

“If you can’t bring the Spirit Absorption Stone, you won’t get the Purple Immortal Wood. I have enough high-level spirit stones for my needs.”

The shop owner, with a gaunt face, spoke very boldly.

“Brother, isn’t it too demanding to trade the Spirit Absorption Stone for the Purple Immortal Wood? It only grows in the depths of the Earth Abyss, and even some elders, not just Nascent Soul cultivators, would find it difficult to obtain.”

The woman complained.

“I don’t know about that! If you want my Purple Immortal Wood, bring the Spirit Absorption Stone, or don’t even dream about it.”

Faced with such a response, the customer couple also showed difficulty. After that, they tried to negotiate other conditions for the trade, but the owner flatly refused and did not budge.

In the end, the middle-aged couple left the shop, seemingly with no other choice. They didn’t say a single word to Han Li throughout.

“Boy, what brings you here?”

As the Nascent Soul couple left the door, the owner asked, as if annoyed.

“I heard that senior is selling the Azure Luo Fruit. Is it true?”

“Azure Luo Fruit? It’s one of the most precious items in this shop. It’s something a mere Bi Ling Clan member like you can’t trade for, so don’t waste your time and get out.”

The owner paused at Han Li’s words, looked at him closely, and snorted.

“You haven’t even stated your conditions, how do you know whether I can trade or not?”

“Hmph, do you have to taste the bitterness?”

The lean middle-aged man became furious, spread his wings behind his back, and flapped them in Han Li’s direction.

Thump.

A dull sound was heard, and an invisible, immense pressure flew towards Han Li, causing the air to buzz. However, Han Li raised his eyebrows, did not dodge, and raised one hand, lightly drawing it like a sword.

Kwakwakwang.

A golden light flashed, and the immense pressure split in two, scattering to both sides of Han Li.

“Hmm? You’re not just full of ambition, you’re quite skilled.”

“Do I now have the qualifications to trade with you, senior?”

“Alright, let’s say you do. But trying to get the Azure Luo Fruit is just wishful thinking.”

“You need to tell me what you want in exchange so I can offer what you desire, senior.”

As the owner calmed down, Han Li replied with a strange expression, neither smiling nor frowning.

“Since you’re so confident, and there are no other customers anyway, I’ll tell you! You should know how precious the Azure Luo Fruit is without me having to say it. I’ll give you three options. If you can satisfy any of them, the Azure Luo Fruit is yours.”

The owner, who had been lost in thought for a moment, spoke in a much more generous tone.