Chapter 917: Fire-Molten Crystal

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volume 6: Heavenly Spiritual Treasures

Inside the Heavenly Secrecy Chamber, Han Li observed the Soul-Devouring Beast and realized it wouldn't finish its task anytime soon. After some thought, he finally put the Soul-Devouring Beast and the Vajra Cover back into his spirit beast pouch. He then walked out, shrinking the stone room to its original size.

After returning to the main hall and handing the Heavenly Secrecy artifact back to the middle-aged female cultivator, Han Li returned to the plaza.

It was already afternoon. The number of cultivators in the plaza had suddenly decreased by almost half; they had all gone to another stone hall across the way to attend the auction.

Han Li didn't hesitate, simply strolling towards the hall.

At the entrance of the great hall stood two cultivators in white robes. As soon as they saw Han Li approach, one immediately cupped his hands and said:

"Fellow Daoist, to prevent an excessive number of bystanders, according to regulations, attending the auction requires a fee of three spirit stones."

Han Li smiled upon hearing this. Without a word, he reached into his storage pouch, pulled out three low-grade spirit stones, and handed them over.

The two cultivators immediately broke into smiles. After taking the spirit stones, they promptly gave Han Li a palm-sized jade plate and opened the entrance for him.

Han Li glanced at the jade plate in his hand. In its center, a silver number "243" was displayed.

He showed no surprise on his face and calmly walked inside.

After passing through a twenty-zhang-long passage, Han Li saw four more cultivators ahead. Behind them was a large white door covered in spiritual light. As soon as Han Li approached, these individuals scrutinized him for a few moments, but remained expressionless and silent.

Han Li paid no attention to them either. He walked past them, pushed open the large door, and entered the main hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, he heard a man speaking loudly.

"A five-hundred-year-old Phoenix Tail Flower! Seven hundred ninety spirit stones! Alright, no other fellow Daoist is bidding higher. This spiritual medicine now belongs to this fellow Daoist. Fellow Daoist number 130, please proceed to the back shortly to pay for and collect your spiritual medicine."

Only then did Han Li get a clear view. The hall was densely packed with two to three hundred people. On the table in front of each person was a jade plate identical to his own, with faint silver numbers flashing on them, clearly visible to everyone.

At the very front of the stone hall, a middle-aged man in blue robes, with a shrewd and capable expression, was holding an open jade box and speaking loudly.

Inside the box was an exceptionally vibrant purple spiritual herb. The purchaser, a corpulent old man seated among the crowd, immediately stood up with a joyful expression as soon as the middle-aged man confirmed the auction result, and walked directly towards a side door, looking utterly impatient.

Han Li glanced around with his usual calm expression and walked towards an empty seat nearby.

The snow-white tables and chairs didn't seem to be made of jade, which piqued Han Li's interest. After sitting down, he touched the white table in front of him and felt a warm sensation.

"This is..." Han Li pondered for a moment, recalling all the jade-like materials he knew. He had never encountered this material before. A slight smile touched his lips, revealing a hint of surprise.

"Fellow Daoist, is this your first time seeing Warm Stone?" a woman's voice suddenly came from his side, seemingly with a hint of amusement.

"Warm Stone?" Han Li turned his head to look, only then noticing the cultivators sitting beside him. They were two young female cultivators with similar appearances, looking like twin sisters.

One woman wore yellow, the other green. While not possessing breathtaking beauty, they were still strikingly attractive. The green-clad woman, sitting closer to Han Li, was the one who spoke, teasing him for his seemingly naive act of touching the table.

"Sister, don't speak carelessly. Fellow Daoist, please don't take offense," the other woman, who appeared slightly older, quickly apologized. "My cousin is on her first journey out. If her words were inappropriate, I hope you can forgive her."

Cousin! They weren't twin sisters after all, which somewhat surprised Han Li. But to have successfully formed their foundations at such a young age, their cultivation aptitude must be extraordinary.

Thinking this, Han Li smiled dismissively and said:

"It's nothing. I've only ever heard of 'jade,' and this is indeed my first time seeing this 'Warm Stone.' Do you know the detailed origin of this material? It shouldn't be a common one, right? Otherwise, even though I've been cultivating in remote areas, I wouldn't be completely ignorant of it."

"Warm Stone, naturally, cannot be compared to jade," the yellow-robed woman explained to Han Li with a smile. "It's not surprising that Fellow Daoist hasn't heard of it before, because this unique stone is a specialty of the Snow Ridge Mountains and cannot be found anywhere else. However, apart from being exceptionally white, warm, and not cold, it doesn't have any other special properties compared to ordinary stones. But in the mortal world, it is naturally a bit more expensive than ordinary jade."

"I see. Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for clarifying." Han Li nodded, a hint of realization in his eyes. He then sat upright and composed, watching the middle-aged man auction off the next high-grade magical artifact.

Han Li's action made the green-clad woman glance at him. Her lips twitched slightly, seemingly with a hint of disdain. She seemed to want to say something more, but her cousin gave her a stern look, and she reluctantly closed her mouth.

Han Li acted as if he hadn't noticed any of this, silently watching as magical artifacts and herbs were auctioned off one by one.

Although this kind of auction, run by local aristocratic families, was certainly not high-level—in fact, it could be considered relatively low-tier—Han Li intended to use it to understand the prices of spiritual herbs and artifacts in the Great Jin, and how much they differed from those in Tiannan. This would help him prepare for finding rare materials in the future.

After observing dispassionately for a while, Han Li finally gained some understanding. It was clear that both spiritual herbs and magical artifacts in the Great Jin were significantly more expensive than in Tiannan, and the prices for slightly rarer items were even more outrageous.

He then thought for a moment and understood why.

Although the Great Jin's territory was ten times larger than Tiannan's, its cultivation system was more complete, and the number of cultivators was likely far more than ten times greater. This led to an even greater scarcity of spiritual artifacts and herbs compared to Tiannan.

However, relatively speaking, the Great Jin was still a vast land with many rare items never before seen in Tiannan or even the Scattered Star Seas. Especially certain medicinal herbs and refining materials; within this short period, three or four items whose uses he didn't know had already appeared.

This filled Han Li with delight. It seemed that if he visited a few more of the Great Jin's top markets, gathering the rare materials he needed might not be impossible.

As Han Li was pondering this, the middle-aged man on the stage suddenly had someone bring out a tray. On the tray were three deep red crystals. The red light emanating from these crystals resembled fiercely burning flames, making them very eye-catching.

"Three Firemelt Crystals," the blue-robed middle-aged man announced with a smile, stating the name, use, and price of the items on the tray. "Excellent materials for refining top-tier fire-attribute magical artifacts. Starting bid: five hundred spirit stones. Interested fellow Daoists may begin bidding."

Han Li casually glanced at them and was about to look away, but then his gaze sharpened, and he let out a soft "咦."

"What's wrong, Little Han? With your wealth, would you still be interested in these few crystals?" Grand Ascension Cultivator's lazy voice came through.

"Crystals? Could it be that even Senior makes mistakes sometimes?" Han Li transmitted with a light chuckle. At the same time, he suddenly called out a bid of "six hundred spirit stones," having actually joined the bidding for these three crystals.

"What? Is there anything special about these three crystals?" Grand Ascension Cultivator said, somewhat disbelievingly. "Although this old man's cultivation is completely gone, my spiritual sense is still intact. I don't believe I could have overlooked anything."

"When it comes to experience and knowledge, Senior is naturally beyond comparison," Han Li suddenly said with a strange tone. "However, if we're talking solely about knowledge of demon cores, this junior wouldn't dare claim to be unrivaled in the world, but there are probably very few who are stronger than me."

"What does this have to do with demon cores?" Grand Ascension Cultivator asked in astonishment, startled by Han Li's confident words. If he didn't know Han Li wasn't one to boast, he might have immediately thought Han Li was losing his mind.

"However, since you've said so, you must have your reasons," Grand Ascension Cultivator said after a moment of silence, still seeming unconvinced. "But without a convincing reason, this old man finds it hard to believe there's anything unusual about three Firemelt Crystals. You should know that not only did this old man not detect anything unusual about these crystals, but even the cultivators responsible for appraising materials at the auction are all highly experienced individuals. How could they also be mistaken about a material that isn't particularly rare?"

Hearing Grand Ascension Cultivator's skeptical words, a smile touched Han Li's lips, and he called out an even higher bid, finally causing the other competitors to stop bidding and automatically withdraw.

"Alright, eight hundred spirit stones!" the man announced loudly, extremely pleased that the Firemelt Crystals had fetched such a high price. After glancing at the number on the jade plate in front of Han Li's table, he continued, "These three Firemelt Crystals now belong to Fellow Daoist number 243. Fellow Daoist, please proceed to the back hall to pay for and collect the crystals."

Hearing this, Han Li immediately picked up his jade plate and walked towards a side door.

A Qi Condensation stage cultivator in white robes was already waiting there. As soon as he saw Han Li approach, he immediately led him through a few turns to a small hall in the back. A moment later, a female cultivator, dressed like a maid, served a cup of spiritual tea and then withdrew.

Han Li glanced at the tea but didn't touch it. Instead, he calmly surveyed the hall's interior. Soon after, a bald old man with deep-set eyes, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, walked in.

"I'm truly ashamed to have kept Fellow Daoist waiting for so long," the old man said with a smile as soon as he entered. "Fellow Daoist, please take a look. Is this what you bid on?" He then handed over the jade box that had been presented in the main hall earlier.

Han Li didn't stand on ceremony. He took the box and opened the lid; inside, glowing red, were indeed the three fiery crystals. Without changing his expression, he picked one up with his fingers and carefully examined it, remaining silent for a long time.