Chapter 323: Those Who Know the True Value
The figure enshrouded in black qi remained silent as he pulled out a pair of stone boxes that he placed down onto the auction platform, and with a sweep of his sleeve, the lids of both of the boxes flew off at once to reveal a semi-transparent purple crystal and a rather strange-looking ball of black mud.
The crystal was around the size of a human fist, and its surface was riddled with pits and bums, as well as overlapping purple lightning veins.
These lightning veins were constantly flashing with purple lightning, as if they were lightning captured in solid form, and they were giving off a violent lightning aura.
As for the ball of black mud, it appeared to have been rather unremarkable at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one would notice that it was giving off a layer of extremely faint black light that seemed to be able to devour all surrounding light, giving it a very mysterious appearance.
"I'm exchanging this Lightning Soul Crystal for a lightning-attribute immortal treasure or 300 Immortal Origin Stones, and this ball of High Zenith Yin Mud for a 100,000-year-old Yin Dragon Ginseng," the figure declared.
A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.
He had thought that he had become far more knowledgeable about the spirit materials of the Immortal Realm since joining the Blaze Dragon Dao, but it seemed that this was still very much a work in progress as he hadn't heard of either of those two types of materials.
His gaze settled on the ball of black mud for a moment before quickly moving onto the purple crystal.
The ball of black mud was clearly some type of yin-attribute material, so he didn't have any use for it at the moment, but the purple crystal was giving him a sense of familiarity.
The lightning power imbued within it was very similar to the purple lightning in the clam bead he had obtained from the Thunderstorm Sea, and he couldn't help but wonder if this crystal had come from the same place.
The purple crystal wasn't very large, but it contained a truly formidable amount of lightning power, far more so than even that purple clam bead.
There were also faint spiritual fluctuations emanating from the deepest part of the crystal, indicating that the lightning power contained within it was so dense and abundant that it had developed some sentience.
Han Li was carefully inspecting the crystal with a thoughtful look in his eyes when a voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
Daoist Xie had woken up, and he communicated to Han Li through their psychic connection, "Fellow Daoist Han, please purchase this Lightning Soul Crystal. It will be of great use to me."
Ever since fusing with the Golden Immortal puppet, Daoist Xie had been in a state of hibernation, and Han Li had attempted to contact it a few times to no avail.
"What is this Lightning Soul Crystal and how will it be useful to you, Fellow Daoist Xie?" Han Li asked.
"The Lightning Soul Crystal is a type of special crystal that will only arise in places with extremely abundant lightning power, and not only does it contain immense lightning power, there's a type of special spiritual power interspersed within it as well. Not only is it very beneficial to those using lightning-attribute cultivation arts, it can also be worn to nourish the soul and avoid the negative influence of inner demons.
“I've been striving to completely fuse with the Golden Immortal puppet this entire time, but progress has been very slow. With this crystal, I'll be able to gain complete control over the puppet in a very short time," Daoist Xie explained.
"I see," Han Li replied with a contemplative expression.
As their communication was taking place, the other cultivators present were also appraising the two items on display, but no one was saying anything, and it seemed like there weren't going to be any takers.
The black figure remained standing still on the stage in silence, seemingly unfazed by the lack of response.
A short while later, a slightly raspy voice rang out to break the silence. "Are you not going to introduce these two types of materials? Pardon my ignorance, but I've never heard of this Lightning Soul Crystal or this High Zenith Yin Mud before."
"I'm only offering these two things to those who know their true value," the black figure replied in an indifferent voice.
The one who had raised the question fell silent upon hearing this.
Right at this moment, a streak of light flew onto the stage, and it was none other than Han Li.
"I'll take the Lightning Soul Crystal, here are 300 Immortal Origin Stones."
He pulled out a storage pouch and tossed it at the black figure as he spoke.
Right at this moment, another portly cultivator also flew onto the stage, then pulled out a flying bident that was flashing with dazzling lightning as he declared, "Hold on, I have a lightning-attribute immortal treasure refined using Lightning Raise Steel that I'm willing to exchange for this Lightning Soul Crystal."
The black figure faltered slightly as he took a glance at Han Li's storage pouch and the flying bident, then accepted Han Li's storage pouch in silence before handing the Lightning Soul Crystal to him.
"Hold on a second. If I'm not mistaken, surely you want a lightning-attribute immortal treasure more than those Immortal Origin Stones," the portly cultivator hurriedly said.
"That's true, but you're a little too late," the black figure replied in an indifferent voice.
The portly cultivator faltered slightly upon hearing this, clearly not anticipating such a response. In the end, he could only stow his flying bident away again before flying back to his seat. "I hope you won't regret this!"
Han Li was also rather surprised by the black figure's decision, and his surprise was also tinged with a hint of admiration. It was very rare to see someone who could abide by their word so strictly, particularly in the often deceitful and immoral world of cultivators.
For a mid-True Immortal cultivator, it was only a matter of time and energy for them to accumulate 300 Immortal Origin Stones, but the same certainly didn't apply when it came to acquiring a suitable immortal treasure, particularly a lightning-attribute one.
Perhaps the portly cultivator was also aware of the value of the Lightning Soul Crystal, just like Daoist Xie, but he was slightly unwilling to part with his lightning-attribute immortal treasure, and that had allowed Han Li to seize the initiative.
With that in mind, he gave the black figure a nod, then returned to his chair.
"Give me the Lightning Soul Crystal!" Daoist Xie urged as soon as Han Li sat down.
Han Li duly obliged, sending the Lightning Soul Crystal in his storage bracelet to Daoist Xie.
The Lightning Soul Crystal instantly vanished into Daoist Xie's body amid a flash of golden lightning, and only then did Han Li notice that Shu Tiansheng's seat was vacant.
He took a glance at his surroundings, but failed to discover Shu Tiansheng anywhere in the venue, and it seemed that he really had left.
His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he didn't think much of it.
On the auction platform, the black figure waited for a while longer, but there were no takers for his High Zenith Yin Mud, so he could only fly back down from the stage in the end.
Han Li rose to his feet upon seeing this, yet right as he was about to fly onto the stage, a female voice suddenly rang out from beside him. "You must be Fellow Daoist Li, right?"
Immediately thereafter, the female cultivator who had purchased the Profound Glacial Scenic Painting earlier appeared in Shu Tiansheng's seat.
"Who're you?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
The female cultivator dodged the question as she asked, "Would I be able to take up some of your time?"
Han Li hesitated momentarily, then sat back down as he nodded in response.
"Just now, I happened to notice you trading a Blush Cloud Fire Crystal with the fellow daoist that was sitting here before me. Do you have any more of these crystals in your possession, and if so, would you be willing to trade them? I'll be sure to offer you a satisfactory price. For a fist-sized crystal like the one from before, I'm willing to offer you 100 Immortal Origin Stones, and the more you have to sell, the better," the female cultivator said in an earnest voice.
"You seem to already be aware that I have more Blush Cloud Fire Crystals in my possession, and you also know my surname. I'm assuming Shu Tiansheng must've told you those things, right?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.
The female cultivator nodded in response. "I did indeed learn these things from the fellow daoist from before."
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was contemplating how to proceed.
Blush Cloud Fire Crystals were extremely precious, but he had quite a few of them, and he didn't really need them at the moment, so he was certainly open to selling them for Immortal Origin Stones.
However, he wasn't sure if he was going to have a use for them in the future, and if he were to sell them now, he could be left regretting his decision at some later point.
"Agree to her offer, Fellow Daoist Han."
Daoist Xie's voice had suddenly rung out again.
"Why?" Han Li asked through their spiritual connection.
"I'll tell you why once I've completely fused with the Golden Immortal puppet. For now, just agree to her offer," Daoist Xie said, then fell silent again.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing Daoist Xie's ambiguous response, but after a brief hesitation, he nodded as he replied, "Alright, I can sell my crystals to you."
"You've definitely made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist. I can assure you that no one else would be willing to offer such a high price for these crystals."
The female cultivator's voice was a little cold, but there was an unmistakable hint of elation as she spoke.
Han Li offered no response as he swept a hand over his storage pouch, and a new storage pouch appeared in his grasp with a flash of azure light.
He handed the storage pouch to the female cultivator, who accepted it before inspecting its contents with her spiritual sense, then immediately flipped a hand over to produce a storage pouch of her own that she handed to Han Li.
Han Li accepted the storage pouch and merely took a glance at it before giving the female cultivator a nod.
The female cultivator cupped her fist in a salute, then returned to her original seat.
Han Li looked on at her departing figure, and his brows furrowed ever so slightly.
Thanks to his immense spiritual sense, he was able to see through the blue and white light barrier to make out a blurry outline of the woman's figure, and he felt as if he had seen her from somewhere before.
All of a sudden, he recalled who she was.
She's the woman in red staying at the same inn as me!
Not only that, but the woman had struck him with a sense of familiarity back when he first saw her in the inn, and during their second meeting here, that sense of familiarity had only grown more pronounced.
Right at this moment, another cultivator just so happened to have stepped down from the stage, and Han Li immediately flew onto the auction platform, then displayed some of the precious materials in his possession while laying out the dao pill ingredients that he wanted.
Unfortunately, none of the auction-goers had any of those materials, and he was ultimately disappointed once again.
Close to an hour later, the final cultivator stepped down from the stage, and the exchange event drew to a conclusion.
Han Li issued the Immortal Origin Stones required to purchase the Blood Crystal Lotus Root, then examined it briefly before carefully storing it into a jade box. After that, he adhered a few talismans to the box before stowing it away in his storage bracelet.
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