Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 183

After an hour, Han Li and Gok-hon left the shop.

They had finished discussing with Shopkeeper Seo that Han Li would return with the materials and start making the magical artifact once the shopkeeper had finished planning the refinement process for the next day.

Han Li planned to take this opportunity to look around the market.

He had already resolved the questions he had when entering the market with the old man.

It turned out that news of the great defeat of the Yue and Yang cultivators had already reached Yuan Wu, and whether they were disciples of a sect or hermits, everyone was busy preparing for what was to come.

As a result, more people were selling their precious possessions to exchange for better weapons, and in a short period, rare magical artifacts, elixirs, and other unusual items flooded the market.

These items, in turn, attracted more cultivators looking to buy, making the market so crowded.

Han Li couldn’t miss such a good opportunity. He organized his thoughts and went in and out of the shops. There were indeed more good items than before, and quite a few top-grade magical artifacts were visible.

However, ordinary top-grade magical artifacts did not catch Han Li’s eye. After roughly looking around the market, he only bought a few types of herbs he hadn’t seen before from some stores.

Now it was time to go to the Star Dust Pavilion.

To buy truly top-grade items, it was best to go to the largest store. In fact, small stores did not have the financial capacity to purchase top-grade items.

Hadn’t he also not found many precious items at the Manbo Pavilion in the Huangfeng Valley market street? Han Li took Gok-hon and arrived in front of the Star Dust Pavilion, which was run by the Heavenly Star Sect.

He stopped as soon as he entered the first floor.

In the main hall, about 30 cultivators were noisily haggling with clerks in red clothes at several counters.

Han Li, noticing that no one was paying attention to him, scratched the back of his head and approached one of the counters.

There were already three Qi Refining cultivators there, and one of them, holding a formation flag in his hand, seemed dissatisfied with what he was saying to the clerk.

Nevertheless, the Star Dust Pavilion clerk was explaining with a polite demeanor. They all stopped talking when they saw Han Li and Gok-hon approaching.

They were clearly wary of the appearance of a strange cultivator. The cultivator holding the flag quickly gave dozens of spirit stones to the clerk and left with his companions.

Han Li had no idea what was going on. Then, the clerk spoke politely.

“Senior, I apologize, but you probably won’t find what you’re looking for on the first floor. Please look for what you want on the third floor or higher, which is specifically for high-level cultivators.”

Han Li was a little surprised by those words, but he spoke again in a normal tone.

“Then, explain the different floors of the Star Dust Pavilion.”

“It seems this is your first time visiting, Senior. Our Star Dust Pavilion has a total of nine floors, and the last two floors are off-limits to outsiders. From the first to the third floor, we mainly serve Qi Refining cultivators; from the fourth to the sixth floor, we handle items for high-level cultivators like you; and the seventh floor is only open to Core Formation cultivators.”

After the clerk quickly finished explaining, Han Li nodded and went straight to the third floor. As he went up each floor, the area became smaller, but the decorations and furniture inside the store became more luxurious.

He intended to pass through the fourth and fifth floors and go straight to the sixth floor. However, someone blocked him as he tried to enter the sixth floor. It was a rather handsome young servant.

“Guest, according to the rules of this pavilion, you must have the permission of the owner of the fifth floor to go up to the sixth floor.”

The servant was only a Qi Refining cultivator, yet he was not intimidated at all by Han Li, who was in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. Han Li raised an eyebrow and returned to the fifth floor without saying anything.

In the not-so-large space, a man and a woman were talking.

The man was in his mid-thirties with an ordinary appearance, and the woman was a dignified middle-aged woman in her forties. Both were Foundation Establishment cultivators, and it was a bit surprising that the middle-aged woman was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

“Are you looking for something?”

The middle-aged woman looked at Han Li and said with a warm smile.

“I am looking for truly rare items, whether they are magical artifacts or talismans.”

The man was surprised by his words and glanced at him.

“Haha! If you are looking for rare items, you have come to the right place at our Star Dust Pavilion. If you pay enough, you can take what you want.”

The middle-aged woman’s laughter was as pleasant as a young woman’s.

“It just so happens that this guest also made a similar request, so please wait a moment, and I will bring out the items to show you.”

She smiled, her eyes crinkling. However, when she turned her head, her tone changed abruptly.

“Ja-ryun! Bring tea for our honored guests!”

“Yes, Madam!”

While the middle-aged woman disappeared somewhere, the maid next to her served tea to Han Li and the man.

Han Li and the man sat at the same small table, but they did not talk, only making eye contact a few times.

Cultivators who came to buy items were wary of strangers. However, the man looked at Gok-hon, who was waiting on the stairs, several times with curiosity.

It was clearly refined, but it was strange that he could feel the fluctuations of spiritual power. Usually, the living corpses refined by Taoists were only strong and tough, and they did not possess spiritual power. He wanted to ask about the corpse right away, but he was hesitant because Han Li was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him.

Just as they were finishing their tea, the woman returned.

Two sturdy servants followed behind her, and they had no spiritual power and blank expressions, indicating they were well-made puppets.

The puppets were carrying a large tray covered with a red cloth.

Han Li immediately tried to scan it with his spiritual sense [a cultivator’s ability to sense their surroundings], but surprisingly, his spiritual sense was blocked outside the cloth. He unconsciously glanced at the man next to him.

Seeing the bewilderment on his face, it was clear that the man had also tried to spy with his spiritual sense and failed.

The middle-aged woman approached them and smiled.

“Cultivator Beon is someone I know, but how should I address this cultivator? You can call me Madam Nam.”

Han Li spoke bluntly, showing that he didn’t want to talk much.

“My surname is Han.”

However, Madam Nam did not care about such an attitude.

After all, most of the cultivators who visited the Star Dust Pavilion would finish their transactions with such a cold expression and disappear.

She gestured to the puppets, and they came forward. She used her jade-like white hand to remove the red cloth from one of them, revealing the items.

Only then did Han Li and the man next to him’s eyes light up, and they rushed to check the items on the tray.

There were various forms of magical artifacts, such as long swords, daggers, and rings, and even a helmet and armor that were completely black.

All the items were shining, and there was no doubt that they were high-quality items.

Han Li and the man showed completely different reactions after checking all the magical artifacts on the tray.

Cultivator Beon couldn’t take his eyes off the magical artifacts as if he were mesmerized, but Han Li roughly scanned them and then looked away, as if he had lost interest, surprising Madam Nam.

“This is a rare magical artifact called the Frost Crystal Blade, refined with black crystal and ice jade. It is not only powerful in attack but also emits a cold aura, allowing it to strike the enemy without them noticing. It is an outstanding item even among top-grade magical artifacts.”

Madam Nam raised a transparent dagger among the magical artifacts, bending her wrist gracefully.

As soon as she swung the Frost Crystal Blade, a cold air rushed out, causing the Qi Refining servants on the fifth floor to shiver.

“Can I take a closer look?”

Cultivator Beon shouted excitedly.

Madam Nam smiled and handed him the item, then secretly glanced at Han Li. However, Han Li was just drinking tea again, showing no interest in the magical artifacts.

“I’ll take this one. How many spirit stones will it be?”

Cultivator Beon swung the dagger a few times and made his decision right away. Madam Nam seemed a little surprised by his words.

“There are many items, won’t you look at the others?”

“It’s okay. Of course, the items that come out later will be better, but I don’t have the financial means to trade for better items. Since I can’t have them anyway, there’s no point in looking at them and making myself feel bad.”

Cultivator Beon was quite a romantic. Madam Nam laughed for a while at his words.

“The Frost Crystal Blade is 800 spirit stones. If you are paying with spirit stones instead of other items, you can give them to me now.”

“Here, please check.”

Cultivator Beon immediately released one of his storage pouches and placed it on the table. Madam Nam quickly scanned the storage pouch and opened her mouth.

“Oh, of course, I trust you. There’s no need to check.”

She naturally took the storage pouch. Such an attitude left a good impression on Cultivator Beon, and he smiled as he went down the stairs.

However, Han Li, who had been watching everything with a blank expression, sneered inwardly.

‘Trust? I clearly felt the spiritual sense scanning the spirit stones just now. That Madam Nam is using a strong spiritual sense to count hundreds of spirit stones in an instant.’

Madam Nam escorted the man down the stairs and then turned her head back to Han Li.

“Cultivator Han, is there nothing that catches your eye?”

Madam Nam did not lose her smile, but she couldn’t shake off the strange feeling.

The cultivator in front of her was clearly a little weaker in magic power than her, but for some reason, he exuded a dangerous aura that made her nervous.

“It’s not that the quality of these magical artifacts is poor, but what I’m looking for is a bit special. I’m looking for magical artifacts or talismans suitable for my cultivation method, as well as rare materials.”

“Ah! If that’s the case, you should have said so sooner. I thought you didn’t care about the type of magical artifact. If you can pay the price, our Star Dust Pavilion will provide you with what you want.”

Her voice was full of confidence. At those words, Han Li immediately got to the point.

“Does your pavilion have a suitable pill recipe for Foundation Establishment cultivators? I’m also looking for a set of magical artifacts, and the more items in the set, the better.”

At Han Li’s request, the smiling woman’s face stiffened for a moment before returning to normal. Madam Nam looked at Han Li and calmly explained.

“That is indeed a very unusual request. If you had come a month ago, our Star Dust Pavilion would not have had anything to offer you. However, two pill recipes and a set of top-grade magical artifacts have recently been received. However, the price is too high for me to decide, and you will have to go up to the sixth floor to discuss it.”

“Go to the sixth floor?”

“Yes, but according to the rules, may I briefly verify your qualifications?”

“What qualifications are you talking about?”

“It’s simple. You just need to show that you have more than 1,000 spirit stones or items of equivalent value.”

“…Will this be enough?”

Without saying anything more, Han Li immediately took out one of his storage pouches and handed it to the woman. The storage pouch contained not only 1,000 spirit stones but almost 2,000.

She quickly counted them and nodded, returning it to him.

“Please come this way. I will guide you myself.”

She went straight to the upper floor, and Han Li silently followed behind her. The young servant guarding the sixth floor saw Madam Nam and immediately opened the passage, clearing the way.