Chapter 161: Treasure of the Brocade Box

At this moment, Shopkeeper Tian began introducing the items inside the brocade boxes to Han Li.

“A set of Golden Cicada Mother-Child Blades,” he began, pointing to a set of pale golden, peculiar blades in one of the boxes. “It consists of one mother blade and eight child blades, crafted from refined iron and gold by a Foundation Establishment stage master over three days and three nights. Holding the mother blade allows simultaneous control of all eight child blades to attack the enemy, making them impossible to guard against. They are incredibly sharp.”

Han Li remained silent. He reached out, picked up a child blade, examined it carefully for a moment, then nodded and put it back down.

“The Profound Iron Flying Shield,” Shopkeeper Tian continued, picking up a palm-sized miniature iron shield. “This is an extremely rare defensive artifact, refined from a large chunk of profound iron found in lands of extreme yin. Not only is it incredibly sturdy and unbreakable, but once activated, it automatically defends all around you.” He then casually handed it to Han Li for examination.

Han Li took the shield, gently traced its patterns, and after a moment of contemplation, asked,

“May I try activating it?”

“Of course, Brother Li, please feel free to use it!” Shopkeeper Tian replied generously.

Since the other party had given permission, Han Li didn’t hesitate. He slowly infused his spiritual energy into the object in his hand.

The iron shield instantly glowed with a dark light, expanding several times its size in the blink of an eye. It then lifted from his palm, hovering in the air and slowly orbiting him. Its size was just right to cover several vital points on his body.

Han Li’s heart swelled with joy. He slightly diverted his attention to manipulate it, and indeed, the item could automatically float up and down at his will, proving extremely compact and flexible.

After testing it, Han Li was very satisfied with this artifact. What he lacked most was precisely this type of life-saving artifact. With this shield, he believed his chances of survival in the Blood Forbidden Trial would significantly increase.

However, Han Li didn’t immediately express his intentions. He simply placed the iron shield back into its box in silence, anticipating the next item Shopkeeper Tian would introduce.

Shopkeeper Tian showed no dissatisfaction with Han Li’s actions and continued to enthusiastically recommend the next item: a pellet-sized blue orb.

“The Heavenly Thunder Orb,” he announced, “Hundreds of years ago, a mysterious cultivator inadvertently captured and condensed heavenly lightning to create these. Each orb possesses immense power; it’s said that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator facing this thunder head-on would be annihilated. Originally there were seventy-three orbs, but few remain today. This particular one was acquired by our establishment with great effort.”

After saying this, Shopkeeper Tian couldn't help but show a hint of pride, illustrating the precious and rare nature of this thunder orb.

Han Li was visibly moved by the revelation. An item capable of slaying Foundation Establishment cultivators was truly a rare and invaluable find! If he could acquire it, it would be a crucial trump card for his journey into the forbidden land. However, he suspected its price would be astronomical; otherwise, it wouldn’t still be unsold.

After introducing the blue thunder orb, Shopkeeper Tian fell silent. Instead, he gave Han Li a meaningful look, then slowly picked up a cup of aromatic tea and began to savor it. Although another tightly sealed brocade box remained on the table, he didn't mention it at all.

Han Li smiled faintly, well aware of Shopkeeper Tian's intent. He knew it was time to display his own capabilities; otherwise, the treasure in the final brocade box would not be easily revealed to him.

For this visit, and as a precaution, Han Li had brought all his spirit stones in addition to two thousand-year-old spiritual herbs. This included two mid-grade spirit stones and nearly a hundred low-grade ones.

However, Han Li would not easily use these spirit stones. His reliance was primarily on those two spiritual herbs.

Truth be told, although Han Li knew that herbs over a thousand years old were extremely rare in the current cultivation world and should be quite valuable, he had little idea of their exact worth in spirit stones or what kind of artifacts they could exchange for.

Nevertheless, he believed they would be more than enough to acquire the small shield and the Golden Cicada Mother-Child Blades he saw earlier. As for the Heavenly Thunder Orb, which he coveted even more, Han Li felt uncertain.

He didn’t simply take out both spiritual herbs immediately. Instead, he first retrieved an exquisitely crafted small wooden box from his storage pouch, containing one of the herbs.

Han Li did this, fully understanding the principle that "man needs clothes, Buddha needs gold attire" – knowing that good packaging could increase the herb’s value by a significant margin, preventing him from being at a disadvantage.

Han Li did not open the lid; he simply handed the entire box to the other party.

Shopkeeper Tian had been secretly observing Han Li’s every move. Seeing this, he took the box without a word, examined it for a moment, then calmly lifted the lid.

“Oh?”

After clearly seeing what was inside the box, Shopkeeper Tian was somewhat astonished, but then his expression turned displeased.

“Brother Li, do you intend to exchange this Solomon’s Seal for treasures from my establishment?” Shopkeeper Tian said coldly. “This is not a rare item; unless it’s a top-grade specimen over two or three hundred years old, it’s practically worthless.”

Han Li sneered a few times, offering no explanation or words. Instead, he leisurely poured himself a cup of aromatic tea, imitating Shopkeeper Tian’s earlier actions, and began to drink it with relish.

Upon witnessing Han Li’s confident demeanor, Shopkeeper Tian grew suspicious. He concentrated intensely, lowered his head, and once again scrutinized the spiritual herb in the box.

“Hiss!”

As Shopkeeper Tian continued to examine it, he suddenly gasped, drawing a sharp breath. Excitedly, he immediately rose from his chair and carried the box to the brightest spot in the room, meticulously examining it again and again, murmuring to himself, “Impossible! Could it really be over a thousand years old? Or does it just look similar?”

Han Li clearly saw the other party’s expression and heard his words, finally putting his mind at ease. Only then was he certain that the thousand-year-old spiritual herb’s value was higher than or equal to his initial estimate. It seemed there was a good chance of acquiring the thunder orb.

After examining it for a while, Shopkeeper Tian suddenly realized he had lost his composure, revealing much of his true assessment to the other party.

However, at this point, he no longer cared. The item before him had already completely captivated his attention. If this object truly was the thousand-year-old supreme grade he imagined, then he would acquire it for the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, no matter the cost. It would bring untold benefits to both him and the establishment.

However, his only dilemma was that he had only heard about thousand-year-old spiritual herbs but had never seen one in person, making it impossible to absolutely confirm the exact age of the item in the box. Yet, even if the Solomon’s Seal before him wasn’t truly over a thousand years old, it certainly had a maturity of at least seven or eight hundred years, which still made it an extremely valuable item—of that he was certain.

“Someone!”

After examining it for a long while, Shopkeeper Tian finally called out, summoning a young attendant from downstairs.

“Go and invite Elder Ding,” he commanded solemnly. “Tell him there’s a rare treasure here that requires his esteemed appraisal.”

During this interval, Shopkeeper Tian and Han Li engaged in casual conversation with remarkable tacit understanding, yet both carefully avoided mentioning the herb. It seemed, for a moment, as if the item in the box had been completely forgotten by both of them.

Before long, a gray-haired elder, assisted by an attendant, slowly ascended the stairs.

Upon seeing him, Shopkeeper Tian immediately went forward to respectfully greet him and offered the elder his seat, remaining standing himself. It was clear that Elder Ding was indeed a highly respected figure.

However, Han Li also noticed that this elder, like Shopkeeper Tian, was merely an ordinary old man, without the slightest aura of a cultivator.

“Shopkeeper Tian,” the elder said shakily, after taking a few shallow breaths, “You’ve called out an old man who’s practically on his deathbed. Is there truly something here that even you cannot appraise?”