Chapter 767: Xuan Tian Immortal Vine

Volume 5: Renowned in One Region

While Han Li was deep in thought, Wei Wuya breathed a sigh of relief.

"Excellent, this is indeed a scale shed by a transformed poisonous flood dragon. It suits my needs perfectly; it seems my treasured artifact has the potential to become even more powerful."

After expressing his delight, Wei Wuya, beaming with joy, placed the blood-red scale back into the box. With a flash of light, the jade box vanished.

He then looked up and re-examined Han Li before speaking with a serious expression:

"To be honest, Fellow Daoist, it was truly beyond my expectation that you could produce something so precious. This poisonous flood dragon scale is incredibly important to me. While this exchange is a mutually beneficial one, Fellow Daoist Han will also be representing our Heavenly South in the upcoming wager battle. I wouldn't want you to be at a disadvantage. How about this: I still have one last piece of Geng Jing, which I originally intended to keep for my descendants. Since you genuinely need it, I'll give it to you as well. This way, I won't be taking advantage of you."

Wei Wuya flipped his palm, and another piece of Geng Jing, the size of an egg, appeared in his hand, which he then tossed to Han Li.

"So, there was indeed more Geng Jing!" Han Li's lips curved slightly, and he happily accepted the item.

With this additional piece of Geng Jing, all thirty-six Flying Swords could be refined simultaneously with more than enough material. This largely fulfilled his original intention behind producing such rare materials.

Otherwise, an eighth-level demonic beast material would be slightly more valuable than the Geng Jing. If he didn't offer something extra and still had to participate in the wager battle, it wouldn't make much sense.

If Wei Wuya and the other individual still had Geng Jing, they would likely be compelled to produce it due to his gesture.

Of course, this intention didn't need to be stated explicitly; they naturally understood the meaning behind Han Li's generosity.

After all, they were all Nascent Soul cultivators. No one would treat the other as easily fooled. Otherwise, Han Li could have simply accepted the Geng Jing, left immediately, treated it as a regular transaction, and not mentioned the wager battle at all. Those two old monsters would have been left staring, with nothing to complain about.

At this moment, Reverend Ziyang on the other side had also finished examining the item in his hand. A faint smile appeared on his face, indicating that he was equally pleased with the turtle shell.

However, upon seeing Wei Wuya produce another piece of Geng Jing, a hint of hesitation appeared on his face. After a brief contemplation, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a pale yellow object, about the thickness of a thumb and five or six inches long, resembling a segment of a plant root.

"I observe that your body's wood spirit energy is exceptionally strong, so you must primarily cultivate wood-attribute techniques. I don't currently have anything suitable for you, but I do have this small section of ancient immortal vine root. It is highly useful for refining wood-attribute artifacts or for nourishing wood spirit energy when carried on one's person. It should be sufficient to compensate for the eighth-level black tortoise shell you provided," Reverend Ziyang said in a deep voice.

"Oh, this item is..." Wei Wuya's face showed surprise when he saw what Reverend Ziyang held, seemingly a bit taken aback.

Han Li was initially somewhat disappointed, but seeing Wei Wuya's change in expression, a sudden thought struck him.

Ancient immortal vine? Could it be the Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine that both righteous and demonic sects had tried to revive by stealing pure liquid?

Han Li looked at the item in the other's hand, a surprised expression on his face.

Reverend Ziyang, seeing that Wei Wuya recognized the item, showed no surprise. He simply stated calmly:

"Given Fellow Daoist Han's status, you must be aware of the recent emergence of the Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine. Unfortunately, despite all our methods, we couldn't revive it. In the end, we and the demonic cultivators divided it, to be used as refining material. This piece is one-quarter of that immortal vine's root. My cultivation technique is fire-attribute profound art. While this material is rare, it's useless to me, so I'll give it to you." After speaking, Reverend Ziyang immediately tossed the item over.

"Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine!" Han Li murmured to himself as he took the pale yellow object, his heart filled with surprise.

Han Li had read numerous ancient texts. He naturally knew what the Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine was and why both righteous and demonic sects had gone to such great lengths to revive it.

"Immortal Vine" was a general term, referring to any vine-like spiritual root of great use in this realm.

However, the Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine was different.

Only a select few of the most ancient vine-like spiritual roots were worthy of being prefixed with "Profound Heavenly." These immortal vines were all ancient spiritual roots that appeared at the dawn of a realm's creation, when chaos first began. The spiritual flowers they bloomed and the spiritual fruits they bore possessed incredible divine abilities that could disregard the laws of this world. They were truly heaven-defying existences.

However, precisely which types of Profound Heavenly Immortal Vines existed and what their great divine abilities were had long been lost over countless years. No one could identify them now.

The cultivators from both righteous and demonic sects knew that this seemingly ordinary withered vine in the ancient cultivator's cave was the Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine based on the remaining words of that ancient cultivator.

Initially, both sides naturally regarded it as a supreme treasure. In fact, the righteous and demonic factions even fought several battles over it.

Later, after the higher-ups from both sides appeared, they decided to first see if the immortal vine could be revived. After all, even if it were revived, when it would bloom and bear fruit was uncertain, possibly tens of thousands of years for a single cycle, which would not be surprising for the Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine.

So, they tried every conceivable method. First, they attempted to stimulate it with miraculous techniques and secret arts, then irrigated it with spiritual water and liquids. They even set their sights on the sacred tree's pure liquid from sects like the Falling Cloud Sect. But all their efforts were in vain; the immortal vine showed no sign of revival.

At this point, both the righteous and demonic factions gave up hope. After a brief discussion, they decided to divide the Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine, including its roots and branches, into more than a dozen sections. Both sides then equally shared the material. It was at least not a complete waste of their efforts.

As a Grand Elder of the Righteous Alliance, Reverend Ziyang naturally had cultivators trying to curry favor with him, and thus, he received this small section.

Wei Wuya recognized the item because he also possessed a part of the immortal vine, though his was just a small section of a branch. He didn't know how that cultivator from the Nine Nations Alliance managed to exchange it from the righteous and demonic factions, but it too ended up in Wei Wuya's hands.

A Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine that couldn't be revived and was thus broken into more than a dozen pieces could, at most, serve as a top-tier material. Naturally, its value greatly decreased in Reverend Ziyang's eyes. Despite its fearsome reputation, he didn't hold it in high regard. Moreover, this wood-attribute material was somewhat superfluous to him due to his fire-attribute cultivation technique, which was why he didn't hesitate to exchange it with Han Li.

Wei Wuya now understood Reverend Ziyang's thoughts, and his surprised expression quickly vanished.

Although he knew the origin of the root in his hand, Han Li felt no joy, only a faint disappointment.

He wasn't lacking in top-tier refining materials at the moment. He simply hoped to acquire more Geng Jing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought out the poisonous flood dragon scale and tortoise shell of an eighth-level demonic beast.

He hadn't even had time to nourish and refine his own Natal Artifact, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, so he had no spare spiritual power to refine new artifacts. It would be more practical to acquire a couple more ancient treasures.

It seemed Reverend Ziyang truly had no more Geng Jing, otherwise he wouldn't have produced such a precious Profound Heavenly Immortal Vine root.

So, Han Li said no more, directly taking out a jade box and placing the immortal vine root inside.

He had made up his mind. Upon his return, he would use the green liquid from the small bottle to catalyze this item. Han Li always felt the mysterious green liquid produced by the small bottle was unfathomable; it could even mature the three divine trees. Perhaps a miracle would occur, and this Profound Heavenly root would be revived.

Though the hope was likely slim, if it did happen, he would naturally gain an immense advantage.

Thinking this, Han Li's sense of disappointment vanished.

Before the two others could say anything more, Han Li lightly coughed and, being tactful, spoke up:

"Since I have obtained the Geng Jing, I will naturally participate in the wager battle seven days from now. It's getting late, so I shall take my leave. After all, I need to make some preparations before the great battle." Han Li had no intention of prolonging the conversation and immediately bid farewell.

"Unexpectedly, Fellow Daoist Han is quite impatient. The wager battle is no small matter, so preparations are certainly necessary. We won't keep you any longer," Reverend Ziyang said with a slight smile and politely.

Han Li nodded immediately, clasped his fist, and turned to walk out of the hall.

However, as he approached the entrance, Wei Wuya, who was standing still and watching Han Li leave, suddenly moved his lips a few times, a strange expression on his face.

A low, almost inaudible sound transmission drifted into Han Li's ears.

"Fellow Daoist Han, for the sake of the poisonous flood dragon scale, I won't pursue the matter of you taking Fellow Daoist Nangong. Besides, a forced melon isn't sweet; let's consider the matter between Fairy Nangong and my nephew settled!"

Upon hearing this, Han Li was initially startled, his body involuntarily pausing. But after hearing the entire message, his heart swelled with joy.

However, he did not turn back, simply quickening his pace as he walked out of the main hall.

Watching Han Li's back disappear from the hall entrance, Wei Wuya and Reverend Ziyang fell silent, their eyes gleaming.

But a moment later, Reverend Ziyang slowly spoke:

"What do you think? It's truly incredible that Fellow Daoist Han possesses eighth-level demonic beast materials. Could it be as our investigation suggested, that during the period he vanished through the ancient teleportation array, he obtained the complete inheritance of an ancient cultivator? Otherwise, how could he have advanced to the Nascent Soul stage and possessed so many treasures in such a short time?"

"Perhaps! But that has nothing to do with us. He's not the only one to acquire ancient cultivation techniques and treasures; luck is hard to explain. Why be envious? Do you intend to kill him for his treasures?" Wei Wuya sneered.

"Kill him for his treasures? Brother Wei, you jest! Not only is a major battle imminent, making such an act impossible, but even in normal times, given his ability to escape from the Divine Masters of Mulan, this humble Daoist would not do something so futile and troublesome. Furthermore, no matter how rare his treasures are, can they help me break through to the late stage and enter the Deity Transformation stage? Why would I provoke such a difficult person? Moreover, he is from the Dao of Heaven Alliance. The Dragon Han couple are not easy to deal with either." Reverend Ziyang chuckled, shaking his head with a light smile.

Speechless. Another one down! My Big Cat and Potato are competing for the new book list, and it's like a fire at the city gate affecting the fish in the pond for me. It seems I really need to ask for monthly votes, otherwise I can't even maintain my original ranking. Fortunately, I managed to code two chapters this time, so I can finally shyly make a few calls. "It's the end of the month, Fellow Daoists, be bold and cast your monthly votes if you have them. Don't keep them in your hands until they expire. These things become void after their expiry date and won't be extended or appreciate in value!" Haha, after shouting a few times, I feel much better. Regardless of the monthly vote ranking, I have to do my best. Although I don't like to use emotional or passionate words, I am just a mortal and won't pretend to be aloof and not ask for votes. Last two days, everyone, please cast your votes!