Chapter 766: Ice Snow Silkworm and Gengjing

"Junior Brother! Come with me for a moment; I have something to discuss with you privately!" As soon as the others had left, the black-robed man, expressionless, spoke to the Old Devil Yunlu. Then, without looking back, he headed towards a side hall.

Old Devil Yunlu's eyes flickered, and after hesitating for a moment, he silently followed. He seemed to hold great respect, even awe, for the black-robed man.

As soon as the black-robed man and Old Devil Yunlu had departed, Venerable Zhiyang, instead of leading Han Li and the woman elsewhere, spoke to them solemnly right there in the main hall. "Fellow Daoists Han and Bai, we can now discuss things properly. I understand that you both wish to examine the items first before deciding whether to participate in the wager battle. This journey is extremely perilous, and no one would readily risk it without sufficient incentive. Regardless of whether the items meet your satisfaction, I still hope you both will join this wager battle."

Meanwhile, Wei Wuya stood to the side, hands clasped behind his back, observing them both with an unperturbed expression.

Before Han Li could respond, the beautiful woman's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and she replied coldly:

"I am but a lone, frail woman. I care not whether the Mulan invade Tiannan or Tiannan invades Mulan. Had you not sent word that you possessed that item, I would never have left my seclusion. Let me be frank: if what you have doesn't satisfy me, I will turn and leave immediately."

The woman's words were surprisingly blunt towards Venerable Zhiyang. "Fellow Daoist Bai, there's no need for that! Although I admit some fault in the events of the past, it was genuinely for your own good," Venerable Zhiyang said gently, without showing any anger.

"Hmph! I will judge right from wrong myself. Don't mention the past again. Bring out the item now." The woman's expression darkened as she snorted coldly.

Hearing this, Han Li's expression remained calm, but he felt a sense of surprise inwardly.

It seemed this woman, surnamed Bai, had some past entanglement with Venerable Zhiyang. He wondered what history lay between them.

Seeing the woman's unyielding expression, Venerable Zhiyang could only shake his head helplessly and reached into his storage pouch. A white jade box appeared in his hand.

The jade box appeared ordinary on the surface, seemingly no different from common white jade. However, the moment it appeared, the temperature throughout the hall plummeted, instantly feeling like the depths of a bitter winter. Even Han Li, who was long immune to extreme temperatures, felt a strong discomfort and couldn't help but glance at the jade box twice.

Sensing the icy aura emanating from the box, the woman surnamed Bai showed a hint of excitement on her face.

At this, Venerable Zhiyang silently presented the jade box to the woman.

Taking the jade box, the woman gently opened the lid and peeked inside. Even without looking, Han Li's divine sense clearly perceived the item within the box.

It was a pair of translucent, crystal-clear silkworm cocoons, emitting faint wisps of white mist. Han Li's brows subtly furrowed. These cocoons had such peculiar forms, resembling the larvae of Ice-Snow Silkworms, a creature ranked lower on the list of exotic insects.

Although this exotic insect wasn't particularly powerful in combat, it possessed other incredible divine abilities and was extremely difficult to find. If the woman had something that absolutely required these silkworms to resolve, then agreeing to Venerable Zhiyang's wager battle would be understandable.

"Why are they cocoons? Not adult Snow Silkworms?" Somewhat to Han Li's surprise, the woman's expression darkened the moment she saw the cocoons.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, these Snow Silkworms were discovered in an ice layer a hundred zhang beneath the Frigid Ice Cave. They are not ordinary Ice-Snow Silkworms, but rather the top-grade Azure King Silkworms among them. If you examine them carefully with your divine sense, you will find their unusual qualities within these cocoons," Venerable Zhiyang said calmly, his expression unchanged.

"Azure King Silkworms?" The woman's expression shifted, and she probed deep into the cocoons with her divine sense, half-believing, half-doubting. After a long moment, her expression softened.

"What do you think? Although this pair of Azure King Silkworms are still cocoons, once they hatch, even their larvae should be sufficient for your needs," Venerable Zhiyang asked, gazing at the woman.

"I will accept the item. I will participate in the wager battle," the woman said after a brief hesitation, then put away the jade box.

"Good. With Fellow Daoist Bai's Cloud Snow Art divine ability, you'll surely achieve victory against mere Earth Spirit cultivators," Venerable Zhiyang said with a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face. The woman surnamed Bai, her expression unchanged, merely uttered a faint "Farewell" and walked out of the hall, displaying extreme coldness.

Venerable Zhiyang let out a wry smile, then shook his head.

Wei Wuya saw this, let out a sneer, but said nothing.

After the woman had exited the hall, Venerable Zhiyang turned his attention to Han Li and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Han, how much Geng Jin do you require? Do you have an exact quantity?"

"I need a substantial amount; you could say the more, the better. Of course, Geng Jin is valuable, but as long as you two fellow daoists can provide it, I am willing to exchange it for items of equivalent value. I will not let you suffer any loss," Han Li said candidly, without any pretense.

"Haha! Listening to Fellow Daoist Han's tone, it seems you are also quite wealthy. However, do you know that at our cultivation level, there are very few items that can truly tempt me and Brother Wei? Otherwise, for this grand battle, the three of us wouldn't have brought out so many external possessions all at once," Venerable Zhiyang said with a slight chuckle after a moment of surprise.

Han Li smiled, saying nothing. However, Wei Wuya, standing to the side, sighed and suddenly spoke:

"Fellow Daoist Zhiyang, you're underestimating him. How can Fellow Daoist Han, with his early Nascent Soul cultivation, who could safely escape from a Mulan Divine Master, be compared to ordinary cultivators?"

"Haha, indeed, I spoke rashly. Regardless of what Fellow Daoist Han intends to exchange, let's first show you the Geng Jin. If you truly possess something that can tempt us, we have no objection to you taking all the Geng Jin," Venerable Zhiyang said dismissively.

He then unhooked the storage pouch from his waist, gave it a gentle shake with the opening facing downwards, and a white shimmering light unfurled from it.

Three pale golden stones of varying sizes shot out within the shimmering light, were snatched by the Daoist, and immediately handed to Han Li.

Han Li's heart skipped a beat. He politely accepted the long-desired items and examined them.

One large and two small, these three pieces were indeed Geng Jin.

The larger piece was roughly the size of a walnut, similar to the one he had seen at the trade fair that day. The two smaller pieces were only half the size of the large one. This amount should be enough to incorporate into more than ten flying swords. However, it was still short of the quantity Han Li had in mind. Han Li's expression remained neutral, but a hint of disappointment was visible in his eyes.

Seeing Han Li's expression, Venerable Zhiyang was somewhat surprised. Could it be that even this much Geng Jin wasn't enough for the person before him? That seemed rather odd.

Thinking this, he glanced at Wei Wuya.

Wei Wuya naturally saw Han Li's expression, and upon receiving Venerable Zhiyang's gaze, he immediately flicked his sleeve, his expression unchanged. A fist-sized piece of Geng Jin appeared in his hand, which he gently held up.

When Han Li saw the large piece of Geng Jin in Wei Wuya's hand, his heart immediately swelled with joy.

Although even with this piece, it would still not be enough for seventy-two flying swords, just a little more would make it highly possible to gather enough for thirty-six flying swords. And thirty-six flying swords, combined with the divine ability of Sword Shadow Splitting Light Technique, would barely be enough to form a small Great Geng Sword Formation.

Feeling a surge of excitement, Han Li took the Geng Jin tossed to him by Wei Wuya, took a deep breath to calm his mind, and then spoke again.

"It seems this is all the Geng Jin. Although it's still somewhat insufficient, it's enough for me to participate in the wager battle. Now, please take a look at the items I offer for exchange and see if they satisfy you."

Han Li put away the Geng Jin, and with one hand, took out two jade boxes of different colors from his storage pouch, tossing one to Wei Wuya and the other to Venerable Zhiyang.

Venerable Zhiyang took the jade box, casually opened the lid, and glanced inside. Wei Wuya, however, first weighed the jade box in his hand before opening it without a change in expression.

One box contained numerous blood-red, fingernail-sized scales, while the other held a black tortoise shell the size of a fist.

"What is this?"

"Demonic beast materials!"

Both men showed some surprise.

Seeing their reactions, Han Li explained:

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Wei, what you hold are scales from an eighth-level poisonous flood dragon demonic beast. And in Venerable Zhiyang's hand is the shell of an eighth-level tortoise demonic beast. While I wouldn't claim these items are heaven-defying, materials from transformed demonic beasts of this caliber are exceedingly rare in Tiannan. They should be more than enough to exchange for this Geng Jin, wouldn't you agree?"

Han Li's voice was calm and confident.

Even in the Scattered Star Seas, eighth-level demonic beasts are extremely rare entities. Few cultivators who frequently venture into the Outer Star Seas ever encounter such high-level beasts, let alone slay them to obtain their materials.

In Tiannan, let alone eighth-level demonic beasts, even sixth and seventh-level beasts are on the verge of extinction. Aside from a few major sects that nurture a few such guardian beasts, there have long been no reports of high-level demonic beasts appearing elsewhere.

"Scales of an eighth-level poisonous flood dragon!" Venerable Zhiyang, though filled with surprise, quickly regained his composure. Wei Wuya, upon hearing the origin of the scales in the box, couldn't help but exclaim, his voice brimming with indescribable delight.

Han Li was momentarily startled, but then he recalled that Wei Wuya seemed to cultivate poison-based divine abilities. Since poisonous flood dragons were inherently extremely venomous, could their scales hold some special use for him?

As Han Li hesitated, Wei Wuya impatiently extended two fingers, picked up a blood-red scale, and began to examine it meticulously, his face filled with a mixture of anxious anticipation and fear of loss.

"Haha! It seems what Fellow Daoist Han has presented is exactly to Brother Wei's liking. I am also quite interested in this tortoise demonic beast shell. If it truly comes from an eighth-level demonic beast, it is certainly no small matter. It would be an excellent material for forging artifacts like battle armor and shields, more than enough to exchange for this Geng Jin." Venerable Zhiyang was slightly astonished by Wei Wuya's unusual behavior, but his odd expression quickly vanished, and he spoke to Han Li with a smile. He also cupped the black tortoise shell in his palm and began to calmly examine it.

Although he didn't think Han Li would lie, the Daoist still found it hard to believe that an early Nascent Soul cultivator could produce eighth-level demonic beast materials so readily. He couldn't help but feel a mixture of belief and doubt, and naturally, he needed to verify the authenticity of the tortoise shell first.