When the green-eyed man arrived near the Essensefused Mountain, he held out the gourd to the transparent beast underneath.
With a light toss, the gourd spouted out a silver mist in midair, and the mist circled around the huge mountain. It suddenly turned into giant silver characters, entering the body of the huge beast in an instant.
As silver light enveloped the entire monster, its figure quickly shrunk to the size of a fist.
But strangely enough, the Essensefused Mountain shrunk at the same speed as the transparent beast, denying the beast any chance of escape.
The gourd then released another wave of silver mist that enveloped the shrunken beast.
Meanwhile, Han Li pointed from far away and the small black mountain slowly rose into the air, allowing the beast to be absorbed in the gourd.
The green-eyed man hastily put a lid on the gourd and stuck a golden talisman on top of it, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
The others had already withdrawn their magic tools and landed on the ground. But when they looked at Han Li, it was with newfound respect.
The recent battle clearly displayed that their squad leader possessed unfathomably profound abilities. He was by no means an ordinary Deity Transformation-stage cultivator.
While they were overjoyed by this, they also felt a degree of awe.
“Take another moment to rest before we continue.”
Having taken the mountain back into his sleeve, he simply gave the squad a short word. He walked aloofly to the side and sat down with his eyes closed.
Naturally, none of the others raised any objections. They also spread out and took a moment of rest to recover their magic power.
Fairy Xu, however, remained standing.
After some brief hesitation, she walked over to Han Li and curtsied, “Many thanks for Senior’s a.s.sistance. My Ice Crystal Sword would’ve been destroyed otherwise.”
Han Li opened his eyes and gave the woman a probing glance, “An Ice Crystal Sword? You must’ve refined it from Myriad Year Profound Jade.”
Fairy Xu’s heart trembled, “Senior has great wisdom. The primary material in my sword refinement is profound jade!”
Han Li slowly asked with a flicker of his eye, “Since you use a sword of extreme cold, your cultivation art must also be ice-attributed. Can I ask if you know a person?”
“Please go ahead, Senior!” After a brief pause, Fairy Xu immediately agreed.
Han Li stared at her twinkling iris and continued in sound transmission, “There was an ancient cultivator by the name of Fairy Ice Soul. She was an ascended cultivator who practiced techniques of extreme cold. Do you know this person?”
When he looked at the woman, he felt an air of familiarity. Upon closer inspection, he found that her eyes appeared to be the same as Fairy Ice Soul’s image during the opening of the Spirit Void Hall in the North Night Palace. There was a striking resemblance.
Although it was only an image, Fairy Ice Soul’s irises were flowing with light like twinkling stars. The remarkable sight had left a deep impression on his memory.
Now that he saw the woman cultivated ice-attributed techniques and used a treasure refined from profound jade, he decided to ask her out of curiosity.
“Fairy Ice Soul? That was a deceased ancestor of my Xu Clan! Did Senior know her? Could it be Senior also came from the same lower realm!?” Fairy Xu quickly replied in voice transmission with complete shock.
“Hehe, I definitely didn’t know her, but I did benefit from what she left behind in my lower realm.” Brus.h.i.+ng the rest off with a laugh, he asked, “Hm... Why isn’t your flying sword completely refined from Myriad Year Profound Jade? Its magic power would’ve been raised by at least another half.”
Shocked at Han Li’s connection with her ancestor, she soon recovered and replied, “Senior must be joking. The Myriad Year Profound Jade might not be as valuable as the top-grade materials found in the wildlands, but it is still very difficult to collect. The profound jade in my flying sword was all purchased at extravagant cost.”
Han Li ran through his thoughts and said, “So that’s the case. I happen to have some Myriad Year Profound Jade on hand. It’s enough for you to fully refine the flying sword. Since Fairy Xu has a connection to Fairy Ice Soul, I’ll give it to you. This can be considered as returning the favor!” He swiped his hand through his storage bracelet and summoned a footlong jade box into his hand before handing it over to her.
“Many thanks, Senior!” The woman appeared overjoyed and hastily uttered thanks. And when she opened the box, she gasped.
There were four fist-sized lumps of white rock, each emitting a white glacial light.
Not only was it enough profound jade to refine the flying sword, there was enough to craft a magic treasure as well.
A fiery gaze flashed through the woman’s eyes and she gave Han Li a deep salute after putting away the box.
Han Li waved his arm in a casual manner and resumed meditation.
Be it the Heavenvoid Cauldron, the Glacial Quintessence, or the glacial flames, they all seemed to be largely related to Fairy Ice Soul. Since he acquired much benefit from them in the past, helping out one of her descendants have relieved him of this debt, leaving him with less to worry about the next time he faces his inner demons.
Having acquired this valuable treasure, she tactfully ceased bothering Han Li and quietly departed.
The others naturally took notice of Han Li’s actions with the woman from afar.
Seeing her obvious delight at the jade box, a large departure from her usually collected att.i.tude, many grew curious, but none were so foolish as to directly ask them.
About six hours later, Han Li gave the command and they set off.
For the rest of their journey, they didn’t discover any other foreign tribes. Having finished their patrol route, they arrived at a predetermined point and awaited the arrival of a Gold Court Boat.
The squad was then taken back to Deep Heaven City in two waves.
In their encounter, they captured a beast that was tamed by the Savage Beastman. When they handed it over to the Foreign Spirit Hall, they acquired a significant reward.
According to the rules, there was a half year of rest after each patrol and they finished their patrol a.s.signment after a ten year period. Afterwards, the patrol area and route would change.
Because Han Li finished the patrol on his own for the first time, he was awarded an Earth Cleansing Pill and he promptly took it.
Soon after, the small squad arrived back at the hall and separated. The cultivators all bid their farewells to Han Li before taking off.
Just as Fairy Xu was about to depart, she said, “Senior Han, in two days, there will be a triannual auction for items found from the wilderness. You might want to take a look at it.”
Han Li raised his brow and asked, “Items from the wilderness? Are you interested in it too?”
“Senior must be joking. One must be at Deity Transformation-stage in order to partic.i.p.ate. As I am only a trifling Nascent Soul cultivator, I don’t qualify. In addition, each item is bid at extraordinary prices. They aren’t something I can hope to afford. Perhaps you might find some luck.” She said with a wry laugh.
“Thanks for telling me, Fellow Daoist. I’ll be sure to take a look.” Han Li said with a neutral tone.
Seeing that Han Li received her friendly tip, she respectfully bid farewell.
Han Li glanced at her back and unconsciously narrowed his eyes.
In truth, even if the woman hadn’t mentioned there was an auction, he had no intention of immediately leaving the city.
Ever since he arrived in the spirit realm, he didn’t have an opportunity to acquire suitable pill formulas and medicines. He originally planned on doing so after he finished the patrol. Now that there was an auction happening, he may as well take a look along the way.
After all, he already knew of the inconceivable reputations about items from the wilderness.
With that in mind, Han Li calmly departed from the huge stone paG.o.da and flew to the location of the market as noted on his map.
The Deep Heaven City Market was extremely large. It had about every rare material from the three human realms and seven demon lands.
The occasional appearance of wilderness items aroused even more activity.
Both city guards and outsiders freely wandered the markets.
But what was most astonis.h.i.+ng was the huge light barrier that separated human and demon clans, splitting them into two areas.
At the very heart of the city, there was a huge hall that let to an area where both humans and demons could trade materials or wilderness items.
After all, there were items that weren’t useful to either humans or demons, but were possibly valuable to the other side.
As for the auction, that would take place at a side chamber in the hall.
In a streak, Han Li landed in a street in the market, next to a medicine shop, and casually walked in.
“Senior, what are you looking for? Although my shop may be small, I have many medicines.”
The shop wasn’t large. There were a Core Formation-stage middle-aged shopkeeper and two Foundation Establishment servants. There were no other guests.
When they saw Han Li walk inside with his dark azure armor, the shopkeeper smiled and personally stood up to welcome them.
“Are there any pill formulas and spirit medicines that can progress one’s cultivation?” Han Li bluntly asked.
“For a Deity Transformation cultivator? I have two pill formulas, but many of the required materials are too precious to be held in my store.” When the shopkeeper heard there was business, his spirits were roused.
Han Li frowned and said, “Oh, then go ahead and take out the pill formulas. I’ll take a look.”
“Yes, please wait a moment Senior. I’ll have it right out.” The shopkeeper respectfully said. He then gave the order to a servant and hastily gave Han Li a seat with tea. Then he headed into the back of the shop.