Chapter 356: Star Dust Pavilion

Seeing the old man's eagerness, Han Li smiled faintly. He casually took out a storage pouch filled with materials, gently tilting the pouch opening towards the ground and spraying its contents. Immediately, after a flash of white light, a pile of white spider and mantis materials covered the floor.

“What are these…?”

Shopkeeper Xu lowered his head, picked up a white spider's lower limb, and examined it intently. A look of confusion appeared on his face.

It was clear that although the old man was a master artifact refiner, he was unfamiliar with these rare exotic insects. Thus, even though he recognized the extraordinary nature of these materials, he remained bewildered.

Seeing his expression, Han Li smiled and began to explain:

“Most of these materials are from the outer shell and lower limbs of a white spider demonic beast. The rest are the forelimbs and wings of a giant mantis. Both are Level Four demonic beasts, especially the latter, which is a top-tier Level Four demonic beast—very powerful. I hope you can make excellent use of these materials; acquiring them took considerable effort!”

“Materials from Level Four demonic beasts!” the white-haired old man exclaimed in surprise, then immediately fell into ecstasy.

One must understand that he rarely encountered even Level Two or higher demonic beast materials, let alone Level Four ones, in his daily life.

“Yes, Shopkeeper Xu! However, for this artifact refinement, I have some specific requirements that I hope you can meet. Only if you can fulfill them will these materials be entrusted to you for refining. The remuneration will follow our previous arrangement: you may keep a portion of the materials as payment for refining the artifacts,” Han Li said with unusual calm.

“Senior, please rest assured, no matter the requirements. This old man will absolutely comply! To personally refine such top-grade materials, my life’s study of artifact refining will finally not have been in vain!” Shopkeeper Xu picked up a huge mantis arm and gently caressed it, his eyes filled with fervent excitement.

Seeing the other party's expression, Han Li was a little surprised, but his heart felt more at ease. He then spoke gently to the old man:

“The artifacts I require for this refinement are quite special. Firstly, I hope you can refine these spider limbs into a set of offensive artifacts that can be used together. And as for the mantis…?”

One hour later, Han Li and Qu Hun emerged from the artifact refining shop.

He had arranged with Shopkeeper Xu for the latter to first examine the materials and carefully conceive the refining methods. Han Li would then bring the materials tomorrow for the official start of the refining process.

Now, Han Li decided to take the opportunity to explore the market. From the old man's words, he had finally confirmed his suspicions.

It turned out that news of the disastrous defeat suffered by the cultivators of Yue Kingdom and the other two nations had already reached Yuanwu Kingdom. Now, in Yuanwu Kingdom, both cultivation families and rogue cultivators were unsettled. Everyone had a premonition of impending trouble.

Consequently, numerous cultivators flocked to the market, bringing many rarely seen precious items to exchange for things they urgently needed. This was to bolster their own strength in preparation for the impending calamity.

Thus, within just a few days, news of rare artifacts, elixirs, and other treasures appearing one after another spread throughout the various markets of Yuanwu Kingdom. This attracted even more cultivators who heard the rumors, leading to the current prosperity of all the markets.

With such a good opportunity before him, Han Li naturally wouldn't let it slip away.

Thinking this, Han Li began to stroll through the shops around him.

Indeed, there were many more good items in these shops than usual; surprisingly, quite a few top-tier artifacts had appeared. This greatly surprised Han Li.

While ordinary top-tier artifacts no longer held much appeal for Han Li, when he had visited last time, there were very few shops that had any top-tier artifacts.

After roughly touring the area, Han Li only purchased a few rare medicinal herbs he hadn't seen before from these shops, then gave up on further browsing. He then headed straight for the "Stardust Pavilion" in the center of the market.

Having gained some experience trading in markets, Han Li already knew that to truly acquire good items, one should visit the powerful, large establishments. Only they had the capability to truly collect rare treasures, a stark contrast to the limited collections of smaller stores.

He recalled how, in the past, when he visited the "Myriad Treasures Pavilion" in the Huangfeng Valley market, he had found many treasures shortly after.

With this thought in mind, Han Li, accompanied by Qu Hun, entered the "Stardust Pavilion" of the Heavenly Star Sect, a massive structure two or three dozen zhang tall.

Upon entering the pavilion, Han Li paused, surprised.

The ground floor hall was surprisingly bustling with twenty to thirty cultivators. They were all gathered around several counters, speaking with red-robed shop assistants, and not a single person glanced at Han Li.

Han Li scratched the back of his head and glanced at the nearby staircase leading to the second floor. Yet, he slowly approached one of the counters, appearing nonchalant.

At this counter, there were three Qi Condensation cultivators. One of them was repeatedly examining a white formation flag, muttering something to a shop assistant, seemingly quite dissatisfied.

The Stardust Pavilion staff member, however, maintained a polite smile, appearing unfazed, and continuously offered explanations.

But when these cultivators saw Han Li and Qu Hun approaching behind him, they immediately fell silent.

Clearly, they were highly wary of unfamiliar cultivators!

The cultivator holding the formation flag hastily took out dozens of spirit stones from his person, handed them to the shop assistant, then quickly departed with the set of formation flags and the other two.

Han Li felt a little annoyed as he watched them leave, feeling somewhat bewildered.

Just then, the shop assistant politely addressed Han Li:

“Senior, my apologies! This is the first floor, and I'm afraid there are no items suitable for a senior like yourself here. If you truly wish to purchase something, please proceed to the third floor or higher; those floors are specifically for high-level cultivators.”

Hearing this, Han Li was slightly startled, but his expression quickly returned to normal. He then calmly asked a question.

“How many floors does your Stardust Pavilion have in total? Please introduce them to me.”

The staff member showed a hint of surprise but still respectfully replied:

“Of course. Since this is your first visit to our Stardust Pavilion, it is only proper to introduce our establishment to you.”

“Our Stardust Pavilion has a total of nine floors. The first seven floors are open to the public, while outsiders are prohibited from the upper two floors. Among the first seven floors, the first to third floors cater to low-level Qi Condensation cultivators. The fourth to sixth floors serve high-level cultivators like yourself, and the seventh floor is exclusively open to Core Formation cultivators.”

The staff member swiftly provided a general introduction to Han Li. Han Li listened, nodded, and without another word, headed straight for the staircase leading to the second floor.

The second and third floors were progressively smaller in area, but their decor was noticeably more luxurious and elegant. It seemed that the higher the floor, the more valuable the items for sale were.

With this thought, Han Li did not linger on these two floors, even passing directly through the fourth floor to reach the fifth.

When he intended to proceed to the sixth floor, he was stopped by a red-robed attendant guarding the staircase.

“Esteemed guest, according to our pavilion's regulations, access to the sixth floor requires the approval of the fifth floor's shopkeeper,” the handsome young attendant said expressionlessly. Though he was only a Qi Condensation cultivator, he showed no fear of Han Li's Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Han Li frowned slightly but did not get angry. Instead, he entered the fifth-floor hall as instructed.

Although the hall wasn't large, several young, beautiful maids were attending to it. When Han Li entered, a man and a woman were casually chatting there.

The man appeared to be around thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with an ordinary appearance. The woman was about forty, possessing the dignified charm of a noblewoman; it was evident she had been a rare beauty in her youth.

Both individuals were Foundation Establishment cultivators. What made Han Li's heart tighten was that the middle-aged woman had actually reached the late Foundation Establishment stage.

“Fellow Daoist, is there anything I can help you with?” the middle-aged woman asked, turning and smiling sweetly as soon as she saw Han Li approach. Her voice was exceptionally clear and pleasant to listen to.

“I wish to purchase some genuine treasures, be they artifacts or talismans, anything will do. Does Madam have such items here?” Han Li said coolly after glancing at the noblewoman.

Hearing Han Li's somewhat bold tone, the man glanced at him in surprise.

“Hehe! If you wish to purchase treasures, Fellow Daoist, you’ve truly come to the right place. As long as you can afford them, we can certainly ensure your satisfaction,” the middle-aged woman chuckled. Though she was no longer young, her laughter was as captivating as a young woman’s.

“What a coincidence, this other Fellow Daoist also wishes to purchase treasures. Please wait a moment, both of you; I will bring out the items for your inspection now,” the woman said with a smile.

Then, she turned her head, her expression becoming serious as she instructed:

“Zilian! Serve tea to our esteemed guests!”

“Yes, Madam!” replied a maid standing behind the woman, her expression respectful.

Following this, the woman calmly walked away, while the maid, smiling, poured a cup of clear tea for both Han Li and the man.