Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1046

As Han Li tossed the jade slip, a white hand emerged from the black mist to receive it. “Haa, many of the materials you need are from our demon race, including bones and inner cores. It’s quite something that you’d list these and show them to me. Are you planning to refine some magical artifacts with them?” “I intend to refine a few treasures. Bones and demon cores are materials that demon race cultivators use anyway, aren’t they?” Han Li replied calmly to the woman’s words. “Humph! That’s true, but demon race cultivators tend to use other materials unless it’s absolutely necessary. Even if they do, they don’t touch their own race’s bones and inner cores. Many are displeased with human race cultivators freely taking demon race bones and inner cores.” “It seems you don’t mind such things?” Han Li chuckled lightly, and the woman hesitated before slowly opening her mouth. “I don’t mind as long as it’s not from my own race. However, the items listed on the jade slip are difficult to find even in the demon race, so I think I can only get about half of them for you. The prices will be very high as well.” “The price doesn’t matter. If it’s something I’m looking for, I’ll give you plenty of ten-thousand-year-old spirit herbs.” Han Li replied readily, his face showing delight. “I’ll take your word for it. But it’s inconvenient to trade these items in Heavenly Fiend City, so would you mind meeting at the Myriad Treasures Assembly in a few years? It’s a large-scale trade fair held once every thousand years between the human and demon races, and the location has already been decided. It’s said to be Mount Nine Immortals, located between the Xuanwu Territory and the land of the Heavenly Fox.” “I’ve heard about the Myriad Treasures Assembly. I’ll follow your suggestion,” Han Li nodded at the woman’s proposal. “Then, I’ll show you the seeds I have now. Choose what you want and let’s exchange tokens. We need to be able to recognize each other at the Myriad Treasures Assembly.” The woman smiled gently and proposed in a soft, kind voice. * * * An hour later, Han Li walked out of the trading hall with a faint smile on his face. It was worth visiting the market. The jade slip he had given to the demon race woman contained not only materials for refining pills but also items needed for refining the Grand Azure Mountain. The refinement of the Grand Azure Mountain was much more difficult than the Primal Magnetic Mountain. It required many more auxiliary materials, most of which were already extinct in the Spirit Realm, making them difficult to find. Fortunately, most of them could be replaced with other materials, and those substitutes were the bones and demon cores of the demon race. These materials were not widely available to the human race, so he hadn’t asked the four Nascent Soul cultivators to procure them. When he met the demon race woman again at the trading hall today, the idea suddenly struck him, and he presented the list. The demon race was not a particularly powerful force, but there were at least millions of species, including birds, beasts, and fish. Moreover, they had lived in the Spirit Realm for a long time, so how many bones and inner cores must the demon race have left behind? Even if she could only find half of the items on his list, it would be a great help. If he was lucky enough to find the necessary items at the Myriad Treasures Assembly she mentioned, he wouldn’t mind searching for the remaining few himself. Han Li organized his thoughts and slowly walked back to the material shop he had visited earlier. The shopkeeper had already prepared the storage pouch and was waiting for him. He received the storage pouch, checked its contents, and frowned. As expected, the materials they had procured were not many. It seemed he would have to rely on the four cultivators. Han Li paid the spirit stones and left the shop. Instead of heading elsewhere, he flew to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, a guest house in Heavenly Fiend City specializing in high-level cultivators. Although they were all nominally called Drunken Immortal Pavilion, they were actually a dozen or so separate pavilions. The three-story pavilions were far apart from each other and had individual restriction formations. There were no other conditions, but staying here required a lot of spirit stones, and only cultivators at the Void Refinement stage or higher could reside here. Thus, the Drunken Immortal Pavilion was usually reserved for Void Refinement cultivators, and in the past few hundred years, only one or two Combination stage cultivators had stayed there. Han Li did not hide his aura as a Combination stage cultivator in front of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion’s owner. “A, a Combination stage senior!” The startled Nascent Soul cultivator was very polite and gave him the best pavilion, selecting the most beautiful maids to arrange in the pavilion. Since he didn’t plan to stay here long, Han Li didn’t refuse. While the maids were cleaning the pavilion, he went up to the third floor and quietly sat in meditation. The next morning, his eyelids twitched as he kept his eyes closed. “So, they’ve come after all. But I didn’t expect a mid-Combination stage cultivator to come…” It was definitely not Elder Chek, who had come to the Eastern Region last time. A moment later, light footsteps echoed from downstairs, and a nervous maid’s voice was heard. “Reporting to the senior, Venerable Jin Yue of this city has come to visit.” “Understood. I’ll be right down,” Han Li replied immediately upon hearing the visitor’s name. Although he didn’t know the other Heavenly Fiend City elders, he had heard the name ‘Venerable Jin Yue’ so often that his ears were calloused. He was one of only two ascended Combination stage cultivators in Heavenly Fiend City. Venerable Jin Yue, who was from the Buddhist Sect, had been in secluded cultivation, making it difficult to see his face unless one was a member of the Elder Council. The appearance of such a big figure was enough to make the maid nervous. Han Li had anticipated that someone from the Heavenly Fiend City Elder Council would come after he revealed his identity to Qing Mingwei. He calmly got up and formed a hand seal. Then, his body shimmered with spiritual light and became indistinct. Inside the main hall on the first floor of the pavilion, a monk wearing a light golden kasaya [a traditional Buddhist robe] was standing. He was admiring the paintings on the wall, and beside him, beautiful maids stood in a row, unable to hide their excitement, waiting for instructions. When the monk suddenly turned his body and gazed at one spot in the main hall, a blue aura flashed, and Han Li appeared. “This humble monk, Jin Yue, has come uninvited,” the monk said, reciting a Buddhist chant and greeting Han Li first. “Uninvited? I’ve long heard of the Venerable’s esteemed name,” Han Li also quickly clasped his hands and carefully examined the monk. The old monk with a long white beard had a face full of wrinkles and looked so old that it was hard to tell if he could even open his eyes properly. “Haha, this humble monk also heard about Fellow Daoist Han through Elder Chek. You reached the Combination stage from the Nascent Soul stage in just a few hundred years and are an ascended cultivator who served as Qing Mingwei in this city. Is all of that true?” Venerable Jin Yue smiled and got straight to the point. “You’re a straightforward person. Yes, it’s all true! I’ve encountered many fortuitous encounters that allowed me to reach my current level,” Han Li hesitated for a moment before answering with a smile. “Hahaha! To reach our level, everyone needs to have tremendous luck. It’s not that there haven’t been cases of cultivators reaching this level quickly, but you’d be among the few in the history of human race cultivators,” the old monk smiled kindly, and Han Li humbly lowered himself. “I heard from Elder Chek that you have no intention of joining Heavenly Fiend City. It’s truly a pity. Now, this humble monk is the only ascended cultivator in the Elder Council.” “If I remember correctly, there was Daoist Lei Luo. Could it be…” “Daoist Lei Luo lost his life during the invasion of the alien races,” the old monk sighed and smiled bitterly. “So that’s what happened. I only heard that two members of the Elder Council had passed away, so I didn’t know that Daoist Lei Luo had met with misfortune.” “Although I know that you have already rejected Elder Chek’s request, this humble monk, as a member of the ascended cultivators, would like to ask you once again to join the Elder Council. As you know, our ascended cultivators are different from the local cultivators. Moreover, 90% of the ascended cultivators are gathered in Heavenly Fiend City…” “If you, Fellow Daoist, were to protect the ascended cultivators like this humble monk, we could greatly improve our treatment.” Venerable Jin Yue earnestly gave various reasons to persuade Han Li to take the position of elder. Han Li listened carefully to his words but ultimately shook his head. “I am also a member of the ascended cultivators, so I know the situation well. But how much can we change with just my and the Venerable’s power? If I join the Elder Council, I would only be in the midst of conflict. I have been focused solely on cultivation on my path of cultivation. Moreover, I have just reached the Combination stage, and it is still a long way to ascend to become a True Immortal. How can I focus on other things?” “This humble monk admires your will to focus solely on cultivation. If you have made up your mind, I will not persuade you any further. Then, it seems you have a separate purpose for coming to Heavenly Fiend City this time. Is there anything this humble monk can help you with?” “I appreciate the Venerable’s kindness, but I’m just here to procure some necessary materials and handle a request from someone else.” “Haha, I see. If you need my help later, please feel free to come to me anytime. Even I can help with matters within Heavenly Fiend City.” Han Li expressed his gratitude at the old monk’s words. They did not discuss other matters and only began to share their insights on cultivation. When Combination stage cultivators with friendly relations met, they almost always took the time to share their insights. This was because opportunities to meet fellow cultivators of the same level were rare. In some minor races, there were only one or two Combination stage cultivators, and with the legendary Great Ascension and Tribulation Transcending stage cultivators being almost nonexistent, they had to exchange insights with each other to resolve difficulties in their cultivation. Venerable Jin Yue was a mid-Combination stage cultivator, but he was not far from the late stage, so his level of enlightenment was incomparable to Elder Chek, who was at the early Combination stage. Han Li also possessed many powerful divine abilities and was cultivating the unprecedented dual cultivation technique of the Mortal Origin Devilish Art, so he was pioneering a unique path. Thus, their exchange was of great help to both of them. In this way, a day passed without them realizing it, and it was not until the next morning that Venerable Jin Yue returned with a cheerful face. After Han Li returned to his residence, no other Combination stage cultivators came to visit for several days. He guessed that they were either busy with other matters or had heard through Venerable Jin Yue that he had refused the position of elder. * * * Six days passed, and the person he had been waiting for arrived. Han Li got up abruptly and headed downstairs even before the maid could announce it. The maids who were chatting on the first floor were startled by his appearance and quickly bowed. However, Han Li waved his hand and calmly ordered. “The person I’ve been waiting for has arrived, so bring them in, and you all may leave.” At those words, the maids quietly replied and hurried out of the pavilion. He sat on the main seat in the hall and waited for a moment. Then, a pale-faced woman walked in with a maid. She was Fellow Daoist Xu, dressed in a navy palace dress, and she had already become a Nascent Soul cultivator. “It really is Senior Han! You’ve really reached the Combination stage!” Han Li’s face was the same as it had been hundreds of years ago, so the woman recognized him at a glance. Back then, Han Li had taken good care of her because she was a descendant of Immortal Bing Bai and had given her guidance in her cultivation several times. That was why, as soon as Fellow Daoist Xu returned to Heavenly Fiend City and heard that he was looking for her, she had put aside her other matters and flown to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. Of course, she was just as surprised as Old Man Mo when she heard that he had become a Combination stage cultivator. She couldn’t believe it until she saw it with her own eyes, but all her doubts disappeared when she felt Han Li’s powerful aura.