Chapter 159: Market

I've made three trips to the internet cafe today. The first two times it was completely full, with no available computers, which was incredibly frustrating! Fortunately, on the third try, I finally secured a spot, allowing me to upload this chapter. What a hassle! I also want to mention that I've seen many readers recently urging me to update, and I genuinely feel ashamed. This book needs to go through several more rounds of recommendations before it can be re-listed for sale. To make a living, I've had to take on a part-time job for half a day, and I also need to build up a backlog of chapters. Therefore, I can only fully dedicate myself to writing and release more chapters during 'strong recommendation' periods and after the book is back on sale. I ask for everyone's understanding; after all, I need to eat too!

After several nights of restless torment, Han Li was torn. He could wisely preserve himself but forever lose the chance at immortal cultivation, or he could take extreme risks to achieve Foundation Establishment. He gradually leaned towards the latter, unwilling to live such a mediocre life.

Naturally cautious, Han Li made a trip to Yue Lu Hall before making his final decision. There, he reconfirmed with the greedy old man that no heavenly spiritual medicines would be found outside the forbidden area and that the Bloody Trial was indeed brutal. This confirmation made him abandon any lingering hope of luck.

Realizing there was no turning back, Han Li finally hardened his resolve. He would participate in the Blood Forbidden Trial and give it his all. He would either successfully find the spiritual medicine and achieve Foundation Establishment, or he would perish in this struggle for the forbidden area.

With a clear goal concerning his life and death, Han Li began preparing for his trip to the forbidden area, scheduled for half a year later. He aimed to significantly improve his strength within this short time, thereby increasing his chances of survival.

Breaking through to the eleventh level of the Evergreen Arts was impossible without elixirs. To enhance his strength, his only options were to learn several new spells and acquire powerful talismans and magic tools.

New spells were manageable. He figured if he asked Senior Brother Wu, he wouldn't refuse to teach him. However, given his aptitude, in six months he could at most learn two more low-level spells, or barely master one mid-level spell; high-level spells were out of the question. Therefore, the fastest way to improve his strength was through talismans and magic tools.

Speaking of magic tools, Han Li actually had a few. However, among them, only a few were genuinely useful: the ring and small flag given by Martial Uncle Ye, and the two items he acquired from the two yellow-robed men who ambushed him—the long blade that could transform into a rope, and the gourd that could spray self-attacking spheres.

As for items received when he first joined, such as the Blazing Sun Sword and Cold Moon Blade, those were merely the lowest-grade magic tools, with rudimentary fire and ice attacks imbued in their blades. They were completely useless in serious combat.

Regarding talismans, Han Li was originally severely lacking. However, fortunately, Martial Uncle Ye, who had embezzled many of his belongings, while shortchanging him on the quantity of talismans, did not cheat him on their grade. He actually gave him over a dozen primary mid-grade talismans and two rare high-grade talismans, which significantly bolstered his confidence.

Additionally, there was a talisman Han Li still hadn't figured out, depicting a small sword. This item, which the yellow-robed man he killed had astonishingly called a 'Talisman Treasure,' likely had a significant origin. However, as ill-gotten gains that couldn't see the light of day, he had never dared to let others know about it. He secretly kept the term 'Talisman Treasure' in mind, planning to find a suitable opportunity to inquire about its meaning from others.

Of course, facing the extremely terrifying 'Blood Forbidden Trial,' these items alone would certainly not suffice. Therefore, Han Li planned a trip outside the sect, to the sect's market near the mountain range, to acquire some top-tier magic tools and talismans.

However, without a substantial sum of spirit stones as backing, this acquisition trip would certainly not be satisfactory.

Although Han Li could barely afford these spirit stones with his current wealth, they were crucial for preserving his life and fighting prolonged battles during the future trip to the forbidden area. This made him extremely reluctant to spend them.

After much deliberation, Han Li decided to cultivate a few rare medicinal herbs over a thousand years old in the short term, to exchange for spirit stones or simply barter.

In fact, concocting the Face Preservation Pill might be a better and perhaps more valuable choice. However, the medicinal materials required for the Face Preservation Pill were simply too numerous, and there wasn't enough time to gather all the ingredients. Therefore, exchanging the raw herbs directly was the only option.

To avoid attracting the prying eyes of others within the sect, Han Li secretly decided that he would only sell the cultivated medicinal materials to external immortal cultivators. He would never directly trade them with people from his own sect, so as to avoid attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives.

With a plan in mind, Han Li began to get busy.

He first selected the most practical 'Qi Concealment Art' from a multitude of elementary spells from Wu Feng. This was an auxiliary mid-level spell capable of completely countering the Heaven's Eye Technique. As long as the practitioner wasn't seen by the opponent's naked eye after casting it, they could completely conceal their spiritual energy and hide themselves.

Of course, this spell would certainly have no effect on cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage. It was purely a means of confrontation among high-level Qi Refining stage cultivators, and much more practical than the Concealment Technique.

However, Han Li's decision not to choose other offensive or defensive spells was entirely based on his own practical combat experience. His only direct combat with another immortal cultivator had made him realize that opportunities for cultivators to formally chant incantations and cast mid-level spells in battle were simply too rare. More often, battles relied on low-level spells with the shortest casting time, as well as magic tools and talismans, to quickly launch an offense or defense. Therefore, using talismans was more practical if one wanted to deploy spells above the mid-level in a fight. Of course, if a companion helped him gain casting time, that would be a different story.

After Han Li obtained the cultivation mantra for this art and inquired in detail about its cultivation tips from Wu Feng, he began to practice wholeheartedly. However, as a mid-level spell, the Qi Concealment Art was absolutely different from the 'Wind Control Art,' 'Concealment Art,' and other auxiliary spells he had learned before. It was extremely difficult and cumbersome to learn, and fully mastering it within half a year would truly be a considerable challenge.

Thus, Han Li diligently practiced the 'Qi Concealment Art' during the day. At night, he collected green liquid to focus on cultivating several commonly used spiritual herbs. Moreover, to prevent Martial Uncle Ma from discovering these herbs, he specifically staggered his cultivation time to avoid when the other party came to collect medicinal materials and transplanted them to very secluded corners of the medicine garden. After all, herbs over a thousand years old always emit a slightly unique medicinal scent.

Fortunately, Martial Uncle Ma was always punctual in collecting his items, neither arriving early nor delaying. He always came and went in a hurry, seemingly in a constant state of busyness, though Han Li didn't know what exactly kept him so busy.

Han Li wasn't interested in what Martial Uncle Ma was doing. For him, it was best if Martial Uncle Ma remained busy like this, as it wouldn't interfere with his own discreet actions, allowing him to complete his grand plan of cultivating medicines.

By the time Han Li had a preliminary grasp of the 'Qi Concealment Art,' over four months had passed.

He had successfully cultivated two thousand-year-old spiritual herbs. He believed that in today's immortal cultivation world, where even hundred-year-old medicinal materials were hard to find, these would surely bring a pleasant surprise to the Huangfeng Valley market.

Han Li obtained an exit token from Steward Yu, with whom he was familiar in the Hundred Arts Hall, and then left the sect.

Huangfeng Valley disciples actually had one opportunity to go out each year. However, as immortal cultivators, no one would waste time on such outings, so very few disciples actually applied.

After Han Li flew out of the sect's restrictive formation, he set his direction northeast and flew straight towards the market.

The Huangfeng Valley market, it must be said, was quite famous, far more prosperous than the markets of other sects. This was because Jianzhou, where the Taiyue Mountain Range was located, bordered the Yuanwu Kingdom to the north. Furthermore, the immortal cultivation world of the Yuanwu Kingdom was not hostile to that of the Yue Kingdom. Therefore, immortal cultivators from the Yuanwu Kingdom would often appear in the Huangfeng Valley market to trade items, bringing many special items not found in the Yue Kingdom. This was an unexpected bonus, attracting many rogue cultivators and members of immortal cultivation families to visit specially.

This market was built on the northeastern edge of the Taiyue Mountain Range, so Han Li arrived at his destination after flying for most of the day.

After landing nearby, Han Li did not immediately rush over. Instead, he changed into a gray cloth shirt and put away all items that could identify him as a Huangfeng Valley disciple, making himself look like an ordinary immortal cultivator before walking towards the market.

According to the conventions of the immortal cultivation world, cultivators were not allowed to fly within five li of a market. As Han Li walked along, he encountered many hurried passersby. Some of them were dressed quite strangely, making Han Li suspect they were immortal cultivators from the Yuanwu Kingdom. It seemed the market was indeed quite popular.

While Han Li was idly pondering, he arrived at the street entrance of the market.

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