Chapter 1296: Spirit Lord Huang Liang
Han Li examined the spirit tools materials in various stores, passing through at least eight of them but finding nothing to his liking. He let out an inward sigh.
The materials in these stores weren’t bad, some could definitely be considered high quality. But with Han Li’s Vajra Arts about to reach its peak, these materials wouldn’t prove very useful to him. If he used them to refine a spirit tool, they would only amount to the level of the golden wyrm sword he made for the fat merchant.
It just wouldn’t be useful for him.
Looking at Han Li with a probing gaze, the skinny man Tian Xing quickly asked, “What? Were those materials not good enough for Brother Han?”
“I have no use for those materials.” Han Li shook his head, making no effort to hide his disappointment.
“If they aren’t good enough for you, then I will bring you to another place. There are a few peculiar items there. However, I won’t guarantee it will have what you want.” Worthy of being a local, Tian Xing immediately thought of another place.
“Oh? Go ahead.” When Han Li heard this, his interest was piqued.
The two left the street and fetched a beast carriage.
But just as Han Li set foot on it, he suddenly heard a dragon’s roar in the sky, followed by a tiger's cry.
Those two sounds overlapped and spread through the nearby air, causing an uproar amongst mortals and cultivators alike.
Han Li’s attention also turned to the source of the sound.
Han Li quickly saw a black dot shooting around in the air, quickly arriving above him.
It was a strange three-headed beast with one tiger and one dragon head. It pulled a faint azure carriage quickly through the air. The sounds of the beast quickly faded into the distance.
“Spirit Lord Huang Liang left his cave residence. How is that possible?” Tian Xing cried out.
“Who is that person?” Han Li asked.
Tian Xing was startled by Han Li’s question and couldn't help but examine Han Li with an odd gaze.
Han Li blinked and chuckled, “What? Could it be a flower bloomed on my face?”
“It appears that Brother Han has come from a place far away.”
“You mean to say this person is quite famous in Setting Sun City?” Han Li frowned.
Tian Xing excitedly explained, “Although the city master is a mid Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, the strongest cultivator isn’t him, but rather, Spirit Lord Huang Liang who lived in a nearby mountain for over ten thousand years. It is said that he is at the stage where he merged five elements, an early Void Refinement-stage cultivator.”
“Void Refinement stage!” Han Li’s heart trembled.
When he became a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, Han Li came to understand the huge gap between Deity Transformation-stage and Void Refinement-stage. In the past few decades in the spirit realm, the high grade of cultivation he heard of was the Integration stage. The three human sovereigns were examples that completed that realm of cultivation.
From what he heard from mortals and other cultivators, he never heard any rumors of Great Ascension or ascension tribulation.
It was as if the highest grade existences in the spirit realm never made an appearance.
Of course, it was possible, he was interacting with the lower rungs of society where such information was sparse.
After they boarded the beast carriage, Tian Xing excitedly gave Han Li some information regarding Spirit Lord Huang Liang, but most of it was regarding his grand reputation.
Han Li listened to it with a smile but said nothing in response.
As a result, the carriage rushed through the city for several hours before suddenly stopping at the end of an unfamiliar street.
Han Li leaped off the carriage and looked around him to find a large store.
The store appeared uncommon.
The door was rather tall and was decorated with provocative gold colors. The words Sky World Pavilion was written on its sign.
The sides of the door were two three-meter-tall iron pillars. There were silver chains that chained red lizard-like creatures to the pillars.
The two creatures immediately stood up when they saw Han Li descend from the carriage and they looked at him with a hostile gaze.
“Let’s go!” Tian Xing looked at the beasts without much care, and fished out a yellow tile, waving it at the two beasts.
The two lizards then let out a strange roar and lazily crouched back on the ground, allowing the two to pass.
When Han Li arrived inside, he unconsciously frowned.
There was only a simple room that spanned over two hundred meters side. Although a few goods were on display, most of the place was empty.
At the corner of the room, there was a staircase with a chair next to it. A sickly old man with a drooping nose sat on it, half asleep as if he weren’t expecting any guests.
“Old Xu, wake up! I brought a customer!” Tian Xing bluntly walked several steps forward and shook the old man’s shoulder.
“A customer? Where?” The old man lazily opened his eyes, appearing only half-awake.
Han Li examined the old shopkeeper and calmly said, “I heard this store had a few peculiar items so I thought to take a look.”
The shopkeeper’s gaze focused on Han Li for a long while before he broke out in a smile, “The customer wants peculiar items? That will be easy. This shop specializes in unordinary items, selling them to those who need them. What are you looking for?”
“Spirit tool materials!” Han Li calmly said.
“Yi! We don’t get many of those. However, I do have two such items. Do you want me to fetch them?” The shopkeeper smiled and then walked up the staircase.
When Han Li looked at the shopkeeper’s back, Han Li narrowed his eyes and said, “This person seems to be a body refiner and an accomplished one at that!”
Tian Xing explained, “Of course. Old Xu was a famous high-grade body refiner in the past. But a few decades ago, he encountered mishaps in the Setting Sun Tomb. There was a ferocious poison that sapped away all the strength in his body. All he could do was open this shop.”
“So it was like that!” Han Li nodded in recognition.
Tian Xing smiled and thought to ask Han Li about what he thought of the old man when suddenly they heard a beast snarl, followed by a shout, “Beasts! You’re courting death!”
Two muffled thuds sounded as if something heavy landed.
Han Li and Tian Xing astonishedly turned around to find a man and a woman standing outside. The two beasts standing guard were lying motionlessly on their backs.
Tian Xing yelled out in alarm, but when he heard the beasts whimper, he sighed in relief.
Han Li glanced at the pair that arrived.
Both the man and the woman appeared young. The man was handsome and dignified, while the woman was gorgeous; together they appeared to be a lovely couple. And, they released a spiritual pressure that was quite powerful, signifying that the two were Core Formation-stage cultivators.
With Han Li’s sight, he was able to tell at a glance that they were about as young as they looked.
With such dense spiritual Qi in the spirit realm and the addition of large quantities of treasures and high-grade spirit stones, it was far easier to achieve Foundation Establishment and Core Formation than it was in the mortal realm. However, it was still astonishing that such young people could possess that level of cultivation.
When the man saw Han Li and Tian Xing, he swept his spiritual sense past them to find one of them a Qi Condensation cultivator. He harshly yelled, “Are you the shop attendants?” His words and face contained obvious pride.
As for the ring Han Li wore on his finger, it revealed he was a body refiner, but the youth was disinclined to speak with a body refiner that associated with a Qi Condensation cultivator.
Tian Xing sensed the two were Core Formation cultivators and hastily wore an ingratiating smile, “No. This Junior is only a guest that has come on business.”
“You’re customers? Then where is the shopkeeper!” The youth asked with a snort.
“Old Xu is upstairs fetching something. He will attend to you in a moment.” Tian Xing carefully replied.
The youth paid no heed Tian Xing and turned to the young woman at his side. He said with a warm tone, “Junior Martial Sister Lu, we’ll have to wait for a moment. Is that fine?”
“It is no problem. I reckon that my grandfather is currently speaking with the master. There is no need to rush and bother them. However, does this place truly possess what we want?” The gorgeous woman looked around, curious about the empty shelves on display.
“This is also my first time coming to this shop. According to my friend, this shop truly has rare and fantastical items. Even if we can’t find what you’re looking for, we may see something interesting.” The young man spoke to her with a fawning tone.
“Since Senior Martial Brother Qian said that, I will definitely take a look.” The young woman chuckled.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from above. The old man slowly descended while holding two decorated boxes.
“Oh? More customers have come.” The old man was surprised to see the two, but when he looked outside, his face sank, “Yi! It seems you’ve injured my guard beasts.”
“Don’t worry! I’ve only taught them a lesson. There is no risk to their life. Junior Martial Sister Lu is a descendant of Senior Huang Liang. Your guard beasts truly alarmed her, so I had no choice.” The youth seemed to know the shopkeeper’s origins, but his body remained still and his face still calm.
“So she’s a descendant of the Spirit Lord. I will overlook this only once!” The old man’s expression faintly changed and his expression remained normal.
Soon after, he was disinterested in continuing to speak with the two and he walked towards Han Li and presented the boxes to him.
Without reaching for the boxes, a glint flashed from Han Li’s eyes and he asked, “How about Shopkeeper Xu give me an introduction to these two items. They appear quite odd.”