Chapter 318: Exchange Event
"That man is quite a renowned mid-True Immortal Stage elder of our sect. His name is Shu Tiansheng, and illusions are his forte. He's not a bad person, but he's very mischievous and often uses his illusions to play pranks on others. Rest assured, he has no ill intentions," Qi Liang explained to Han Li through voice transmission.
It was indeed true that the illusion just now hadn't tried to harm him in any way, so Han Li decided not to pursue the matter, merely withdrawing his gaze and paying no further heed to Shu Tiansheng.
Shu Tiansheng was quite relieved to see this, but he was still occasionally darting curious glances at Han Li.
An hour passed by, and during this time, two more True Immortals arrived.
Another 15 minutes passed without any further new arrivals, and the white-robed elderly man opened his eyes as he said in a cold voice, "It's about time we began, is it not, Fellow Daoist Changhe? I still have matters to attend to after this."
A hesitant look appeared on Daoist Changhe's face upon hearing this. There was still some time left until the scheduled start, but it didn't appear as if anyone else was going to show up.
"Alright, let's begin. There are 19 fellow daoists attending this exchange event. On behalf of our Heavenly Scorpion Sect, I would like to thank you for your patronage."
Daoist Changhe rose to his feet and cupped his fist in a salute to everyone present as he spoke.
"Let's skip all the formalities and begin, Fellow Daoist Changhe," a square-faced Blaze Dragon Dao elder said.
Despite being repeatedly rebuked, Daoist Changhe wasn't irked in the slightest as he declared, "It seems like everyone's in quite a hurry. The rules of this exchange event are the same as before. Everyone takes turns displaying the treasures that they prepared, then provide a short description of the treasure, as well as what you're looking for in exchange.
“If both sides agree to the deal, then it'll be finalized. On top of that, our Heavenly Scorpion Sect is only providing this venue, and we're doing so free of charge, so if any disputes arise after an exchange is made, we accept no responsibility. With that, let's begin."
As soon as his voice trailed off, a bald man seated next to him immediately rose to his feet.
The man patted the storage pouch strapped to his waist, and a blue jade box appeared in his hand.
The jade box was surrounded by a small cloud of blue mist, and it was giving off a bone-chilling aura.
It was clear that the box held something quite remarkable, and everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it.
A pleased look appeared on the bald man's face at the sight of everyone's reactions, and he opened the box in a slow and deliberate fashion to reveal a fist-sized blue crystal with liquid-like blue light flowing around it.
The crystal was giving off a glacial aura coupled with faint law power fluctuations, and as soon as it was revealed, the air temperature in the hall plummeted, causing all of the moisture in the air to freeze into ice crystals, presenting a beautiful spectacle to behold.
"This is a piece of Blue-veined Glacial Crystal. It‘s near-indestructible and contains extremely formidable glacial qi, making it an ideal material for refining frost-attribute immortal treasures," the bold man declared with a proud expression.
Many of the people present were clearly interested in the crystal, but Han Li only took a glance at it before withdrawing his gaze.
To the average True Immortal, materials that contained law powers were very precious, but he possessed many such items, so this one wasn't of particular interest to him.
"That's a very precious material, Fellow Daoist Xin. Have you considered what you would like in exchange for it?" Daoist Changhe asked.
"I would like a metal-attribute spirit material or demon beast core of the same caliber," the bald man replied.
Everyone remained silent, and the people that were interested in the crystal could only shake their heads with wry smiles.
The Blue-veined Glacial Crystal was indeed a precious material, but what he was asking for was just as precious and rare.
The bald man's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
"I don't have either of the two things that you stated, but I'm willing to purchase that crystal from you using Immortal Origin Stones," an elderly man wearing a round hat declared.
"I'm not short on Immortal Origin Stones at the moment. If no one can offer me what I asked for, then I'll be keeping this crystal for now," the bald man replied as he closed the jade box and sat back down.
The elderly man wearing the round hat could only heave a forlorn sigh in response.
After the bald man sat down, the young woman seated next to him rose to her feet, then swept a hand through the air to release four or five azure bones, all of which were giving off a faint azure glow. "These are some True Immortal demon beast bones, and in exchange, I would like some pills to assist me in my cultivation."
Demon beast materials generally weren't that precious, so the bones on display didn't attract much interest.
However, these were still the remains of True Immortal Stage demon beasts, so they were ultimately taken by a Blaze Dragon Dao in exchange for two vials of pills.
After the young woman came Shu Tiansheng.
"Fellow daoists, I've brought with me a set of 49 Lost Soul Flags, every single one of which is a spirit treasure in their own right, while the three primary flags are top-grade spirit treasures. When unleashed all at once, the 49 Lost Soul Flags are just as powerful as the average immortal treasure.
“In exchange for them, I would like one piece each of Profound Devilish Metal Essence and Heavenly Softwater Crystal," Shu Tiansheng declared as he swept a sleeve through the air, and 49 palm-sized black flags appeared in front of him one after another, with three of them clearly larger than the rest.
Shu Tiansheng made a hand seal, and a dark cloud that was as black as ink erupted out of the flags to instantly fill the entire hall. A burst of horrific howling also rang out from within the black cloud, causing the surrounding space to shudder.
Everyone was quite amazed to see this, and Han Li took an extra glance at the flags as well. Up to this point, these flags were the most precious item that had been presented, but he still wasn't interested.
However, many of the other cultivators present were very keen to get their hands on this set of flags, and after a fierce round of bidding, they were ultimately exchanged for a piece of Profound Devilish Metal Essence and 2,000 top-grade spirit stones, as well as several other treasures.
The items presented by the next few people after Shu Tiansheng were also quite remarkable, and the atmosphere in the exchange event was gradually beginning to heat up.
Up to this point, the most precious items presented had been three purple flowers called Purple Devil's Trumpets, and each one contained enough poison to kill a True Immortal. At the same time, they were an extremely precious type of spirit material for refining poison-attribute immortal treasures.
In exchange, the owner of the flowers was asking for the core of a True Immortal Stage demon beast known as the Crimson Crown Fire Crane, but no one had such a demon core in their possession.
As time passed, the atmosphere in the exchange event gradually peaked to a climax.
Qi Liang had his turn right before Han Li, and he was quite fortunate, exchanging a pair of spirit treasures for a 100,000-year-old spirit plant.
Finally, it was Han Li's turn, and he swept a sleeve over the table to produce two items, namely a black ball and a crimson crystal the size of a human head.
The black ball was the demon core of Zhong Luan's black crane steed, while the crimson crystal was the material that contained fire law powers that he had obtained from the thin elderly man.
Through some investigation, Han Li had discovered that this was a type of material known as Blush Cloud Fire Crystal, and while it did contain fire-attribute law powers, its natural limitations meant that it couldn't hold a large amount of fire-attribute spiritual power, thereby making it unfit for use as a tool refinement material.
However, it had an alternative use, which was to tame fire-attribute spiritual power.
Fire-attribute spiritual power was generally extremely violent, yet any fire-attribute spiritual power that was passed through a piece of Blush Cloud Fire Crystal would instantly become extremely mellow and mild.
It was exactly because of this that this crystal was one of the best materials for refining pill cauldrons or tool refinement cauldrons. Even if only a small amount of this crystal were added to a cauldron, its stability would be significantly enhanced. This chunk of Blush Cloud Fire Crystal was definitely large enough to refine an exceptional cauldron, so it would've definitely been able to fetch an astronomical price in a sect that was proficient in pill or tool refinement.n--0vELb1n
Compared with the Blush Cloud Fire Crystal, the black demon core was also very precious, but far less so.
Daoist Changhe initially faltered slightly at the sight of the Blush Cloud Fire Crystal, following which an intense look appeared in his eyes as he stared at the crystal with an unblinking gaze, and he was so excited that his cheeks had become slightly flushed.
Most of the people present weren't able to identify this crystal, but they could tell from Daoist Changhe's expression that it was an extremely precious item, and they began asking one another about it through voice transmission.
"I have here a True Immortal Stage demon beast core and a piece of Blush Cloud Fire Crystal. I'm looking to exchange the demon beast core for a Myriad Axis Fruit and a Blood Crystal Lotus Root, both of which must be over 50,000 years of age, and I'll accept anyone of a list of nine materials for the Blush Cloud Fire Crystal," Han Li declared, then rattled off the list of nine materials that he was searching for.
The excitement in everyone's eyes gradually faded upon hearing what Han Li had to say, and a long period of silence ensued.
Right at this moment, the white-robed elderly man broke the silence, and he was looking at the black demon beast core as he said, "I have a Myriad Axis Fruit, but no Blood Crystal Lotus Root. Would you accept something else as a substitute?"
"Let me take a look at your Myriad Axis Fruit first," Han Li said.
The white-robed elderly man pulled out an azure wooden box, but instead of immediately tossing it to Han Li, he asked, "Would I be able to take a closer look at that demon core as well, Fellow Daoist?"
"Of course," Han Li replied with a smile, then swept a hand through the air to release a burst of azure light that carried the demon core to the elderly man.
In return, the white-robed elderly man tossed his wooden box to Han Li as well.
There was a talisman adhered to the wooden box, and with a sweep of Han Li's hand, the talisman was removed amid a flash of azure light, while the lid flew off on its own
A golden fist-sized spirit fruit was laying inside the box, and there was a series of ring-shaped patterns on its surface. The fruit wasn't releasing any special aroma, but it was giving off an immense aura of vitality.
Han Li gently picked up the fruit for a closer inspection, then nodded with a pleased expression.
This was indeed a Myriad Axis Fruit, and it was at least 60,000 to 70,000 years old, so it was old enough for his pill refinement needs. Furthermore, the core of the fruit was also completely undamaged, so he would be able to plant it.
After inspecting the black demon core for a while, the white-robed elderly man was clearly also quite pleased with what he saw, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release four or five more jade boxes of different colors.
"Like I said, I don't have a Blood Crystal Lotus Root, but these items should be comparable in value."
The elderly man swept his sleeve through the air once again as he spoke, and all of the lids of the boxes were removed to reveal their contents.
Han Li took a glance at the items in the boxes, then said, "These are indeed all comparable in value to the Blood Crystal Lotus Root, but I'm afraid none of them fit my needs, so I'll take some Immortal Origin Stones instead."
After their exchange was complete, Daoist Changhe said, "Fellow Daoist Li, the nine materials that you're looking for are extremely rare, and it seems like no one has what you're looking for. May I ask if you're willing to exchange that Blush Cloud Fire Crystal for spirit stones as well?"