Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 950

Han Li made up his mind and put the white jade box back into his storage pouch. He closed his eyes on the bed and remained still. Three days passed in this seclusion.

Three days later, Han Li, who had been focusing on his cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes. With a flip of his hand, a message talisman appeared, and small characters were written on the white talisman. After confirming the contents, Han Li left the room.

Half a day later, he was inside a cave located on Yunmeng Mountain, one of the Eight Cloud Mountains, looking around with a satisfied expression.

The spiritual energy was as rich as that of Yunxia Mountain, and all facilities, including the alchemy room, the refining room, and the herb garden, were well-equipped. Even the herb garden had commonly used spiritual herbs already planted.

Han Li was very satisfied. Nevertheless, he did not start cultivating right away. Instead, he used his spiritual sense to thoroughly examine every corner of the cave and set up over a dozen various restrictions. With these in place, even a Composite Body cultivator [a cultivator at a high level of power] would not be able to suddenly barge in.

He planned to plant the necessary spiritual herbs and refine pills for a while. He intended to create a certain amount of Dragon Ascension Pills, consume most of them while cultivating, and exchange the rest for top-grade spirit stones in the market.

The number of top-grade spirit stones needed to control the Spirit Puppet or operate the super-large teleportation array was beyond imagination. Simply trading spiritual herbs, even if they were ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, would not gather a sufficient quantity. Moreover, trading too many ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs could draw unwanted attention.

That was why he had thought of the Dragon Ascension Pill. With its potent medicinal properties, it was certain that the Cloud Race cultivators would covet it and it would sell for a high price. Of course, he would release the Dragon Ascension Pills two or three times to avoid suspicion.

If he still could not gather enough top-grade spirit stones, he was willing to put up the Golden Thunder Bamboo. Considering how rare the Golden Thunder Bamboo was in the Spirit World, selling just one would be enough.

Tianji Zi would never have imagined that Han Li had a plan to secure top-grade spirit stones from the beginning. As he guided him here, Tianji Zi had informed him that he had finished negotiations with the other races.

The conditions they had presented for using the teleportation array were not too harsh. Most of them requested additional fees, and the Stone Bug Race demanded refining materials that could only be found in the Glacial Continent.

They gave him a map marking the locations of the materials and said there was no room for negotiation. After much deliberation, Han Li eventually accepted all the conditions. Finding just one type of material would not be too risky.

Han Li had reached a smooth agreement with the Heavenly Cloud Race. Once he finished his business in the Glacial Continent, he could use the super-large teleportation array anytime, assuming he paid the fees.

In the meantime, Han Li entered the cave and did not come out for over a year.

While refining pills by combining spiritual herbs, he cultivated the Great Development Devil Arts while consuming Dragon Ascension Pills. Thanks to the medicinal effects of the Dragon Ascension Pills, the Law Manifestation Devil Form became much clearer, though it had not been a long time.

One slightly strange thing was that the woman from the Spirit Race, Xian Xian, had not contacted him even once using the message talisman. It was as if she had completely forgotten about him. Han Li found it strange, but he did not contact the woman first.

One year later, one day, he finally left the cave and turned into a streak of light, descending the mountain. Coincidentally, a white streak of light that had been flying from the mountain peak landed on the mountainside next to him, one after another.

The light faded, and Han Li and a bald giant appeared. The giant had a fierce appearance and grayish-white skin. The two looked at each other with surprised expressions.

“I am Tie Jian of the Stone Bug Race. You look unfamiliar; it seems you haven’t been on this mountain for long,” the giant said.

Contrary to his fierce appearance, his tone was quite polite.

“I am Han, and I have recently acquired a residence here,” Han Li said, knowing that Tie Jian was at the peak of the late-stage Core Formation realm, and he put on a smile.

“So you are Cultivator Han. Could it be that you are the outsider cultivator who activated the Glacial Token last year?”

The giant seemed to be well-informed, deducing Han Li’s identity just from his surname. Han Li was a little surprised but did not lose his smile.

“I am indeed the one who activated the Glacial Token. I didn’t know I had become so famous. I am honored that you recognize me, Cultivator.”

“Haha, Brother Han, you are the first guest elder to activate the Glacial Token, so there was quite a buzz about it for a while. But seeing you leave your residence now, are you perhaps on your way to the Four-Race Auction?”

“The Four-Race Auction?”

“Oh, haven’t you heard? Well, it’s understandable since you haven’t been in Cloud City for long. The Four-Race Auction is an auction held once every ten years, co-hosted by four of the thirteen Heavenly Cloud Races. Usually, many rare treasures are put up for auction, so it’s very popular, and high-level cultivators never miss it.

Moreover, this time, due to repeated defeats in the battles against the Horned Tooth Race, they are putting out items that are incomparably more precious than before, under the pretext of boosting morale. Among them is the Myriad Mystery Pill! It’s said to help cultivators in the Core Formation realm break through their bottlenecks, making it the best auxiliary pill! It’s a pill that only Spirit Race master alchemists can refine, and it has never appeared in previous auctions.”

“I have heard of the Myriad Mystery Pill as well,” Han Li said, his heart moved by the name of the pill. It was a pill that the Yi Race valued more than Spirit Puppets in the Green Light Star. If he could obtain the Myriad Mystery Pill, it would be a great help in breaking through future bottlenecks.

“If it’s such a grand auction, I would like to see it as well.”

“Then, would you like to go with me? To be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll be participating in this Glacial Continent expedition. It’s possible that I might be assigned to the same group as you, Brother Han! Please take care of me then.”

“What are you saying! Cultivator Tie, who is at the ninth level of the Superior Race, is far ahead of me in cultivation. Since I am not yet familiar with Cloud City, I should be asking for your help, Brother Tie.”

Han Li smiled back at Tie Jian’s straightforward personality. Tie Jian immediately summoned a spirit beast carriage and offered Han Li a seat. Han Li did not refuse and got into the carriage first.

“To the Cloud Intent Auction House!” the bald giant said to the coachman, and the carriage began to speed away. Inside the carriage, Han Li asked about the Four-Race Auction.

The Four-Race Auction had been open for a few days, but the best items had not yet appeared, so the real auction was starting today. The giant said he had even borrowed a large amount of spirit stones from a close friend to try and win the Myriad Mystery Pill.

There was also news that the Myriad Ancient Race had put up two Spirit Puppets at this auction. The carriage traveled for over an hour and entered a very wide avenue.

There were many spirit beast carriages passing by on the avenue, and on both sides, cultivators with considerable cultivation were heading in the same direction, their robes fluttering. When Han Li’s carriage stopped at the end of the avenue, other carriages also stopped at the same place.

Tie Jian and Han Li got out of the carriage and looked around.

In front of them was a huge square building, about a hundred zhang [a unit of measurement, roughly 3.3 meters] high and a thousand zhang long. On the roof of the building, a cylindrical altar rose, and above it floated a yellow sphere with a diameter of about a dozen zhang.

The sphere, which was neither metal nor wood, was made of an unknown material, but it emitted a chilling aura that enveloped the building. The soldiers standing around the building in armor were, upon closer inspection, puppets with quite high cultivation.

There were a total of three entrances to the main hall, with the middle entrance being the largest and the others slightly smaller. The navy-blue robed soldiers guarding the entrances were all surprisingly at the Core Formation realm or higher.

“I need to go to the side hall to sell some of the items I have. I need to secure enough spirit stones. Would you like to come with me, Brother Han?” Tie Jian asked, turning his head as Han Li was staring blankly.

“There’s a place to trade in the side hall? I thought this was an auction house?” Han Li asked, surprised.

“Well, everyone needs a large amount of spirit stones to participate in the auction. So, many cultivators try to exchange their rare materials for spirit stones before the auction. That’s why cultivators trade with each other before the Four-Race Auction to gather spirit stones or exchange for other items.

The good thing is that the four races are backing it, so no matter how rare the items are, there are enough spirit stones prepared. The side halls on both sides of the main hall are specialized in selling items.”

“So, you can sell items as well…?”

“Do you have any items you want to sell, Brother Han? Then, I suggest you first look at the items others are selling. If you can exchange for something you need, that would be the best.”

“That makes sense. Then, I’ll go to the place where they sell items first.”

Han Li nodded in agreement at Tie Jian’s words.

“Let’s go in together! If we’re lucky, we might find some good items.”

Tie Jian smiled brightly and led Han Li to the right entrance. The navy-blue robed soldiers scanned Tie Jian and Han Li and let them pass without any special inspection.

“The Four-Race Auction itself is meant to increase the popularity and reputation of Cloud City, so anyone with a Superior Race status or higher can participate in the auction. That’s why people of various statuses and cultivation levels participate. Because of this, many more cultivators come here than to other auctions in the Heavenly Cloud.”

“If anyone with a Superior Race status or higher can participate, can this place accommodate so many people?”

“Haha, you’ll find out soon enough. There’s no need for me to explain it.”

At Tie Jian’s playful answer, Han Li’s gaze turned forward. He realized that even though they had entered the entrance a while ago, they had not yet arrived at the side hall.

‘Something is strange.’

The brightly shining exit was not far away, but no matter how much they walked, it did not seem to get any closer.

“It’s a space-related technique!”

“Haha, did you finally notice? This auction house itself is like a huge treasure. It can increase or decrease its size on its own and has some spatial divine abilities. The interior space is ten times larger than it appears from the outside, so it can easily accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.”

“No wonder the sphere on the roof is so strange.”

“This entrance is also affected by spatial divine abilities. We’ll arrive soon, so don’t worry.”

Tie Jian, walking briskly towards the shining exit, seemed very familiar with the place. Han Li nodded silently.

As Tie Jian had said, the scene in front of them soon brightened, and the exit was right in front of them. They passed through it and entered a very large plaza, where many people were walking around.

Around the plaza, there were numerous semi-circular barriers, and cultivators were going in and out of them. In the center of the plaza, a platform made of white jade was set up, and on it was an ordinary wooden table. Two pure-looking children were distributing something to various races there. As Han Li was looking around, Tie Jian clasped his hands.

“Cultivator Han, let’s part ways here. I want to quickly get rid of the items I have and choose suitable items.”

“Go ahead. I was about to look around on my own anyway.”

“Brother Han, be careful, and I’ll see you later.”

Tie Jian finished speaking and walked away briskly. Han Li, watching the giant’s back, turned his gaze to the center of the plaza.

The Yi Race people were giving a bag of high-grade spirit stones to the two boys and receiving small flags of various colors. When the Yi Race people went to the edge of the plaza and waved the small flags, a semi-circular light barrier appeared, concealing them. Han Li scanned the barrier with his spiritual sense. As soon as his spiritual sense touched the light barrier, it was repelled by the restrictions, and he could not spy on the inside at all. The light barrier provided a space where cultivators could trade freely within the plaza.

Looking around, light barriers were flashing everywhere, and the depths of the plaza were also crowded with cultivators.

Han Li sighed and shook his head. Wandering around this place one by one to find what he needed was like looking for a needle in a haystack. To aim for the Myriad Mystery Pill, he needed to obtain a large amount of spirit stones.

He calmly walked slowly along the edge of the plaza. He mostly glanced at the outside and passed by, and even when he went inside the light barriers, he quickly walked out.