Lady Lan

Chapter 359: Lady Lan

Han Li and the man sat on opposite sides of an octagonal table. They exchanged a few glances, but neither showed any intention of starting a conversation.

Those who came to this place to buy goods had no interest in getting friendly with strangers. It only invited suspicion.

Still, the man sitting across from him couldn’t help but cast a few curious glances at Qu Hun, who stood by the staircase without entering the hall. With his eyesight, he had long recognized Qu Hun as a refined corpse, and the spiritual energy fluctuations on its body only deepened his confusion.

After all, the living corpses refined by cultivators—Iron Armor Corpses and the like—were generally nothing more than immensely strong laborers. They weren’t supposed to possess magical power.

The man suppressed the urge to ask. Han Li’s cultivation, like his own, was at mid Foundation Establishment, which gave him considerable pause.

By the time Han Li had nearly finished his cup of tea, the woman finally returned to the hall.

Only now, two burly men followed behind her. They radiated not a trace of magical power, and their expressions were wooden and rigid—they were lifelike puppet golems.

Each carried a large tray, piled high and covered with red silk. These, it seemed, were the treasures the hostess had spoken of.

A flicker of surprise passed through Han Li’s eyes. He had just attempted to probe through the red silk with his divine sense, only to find the unremarkable cloth blocking him completely. That was unexpected. He glanced sidelong at the man across from him.

The man’s face also showed a trace of astonishment—clearly, he had done the same.

The middle-aged woman strode up to the two of them and spoke with a smile before they could say a word.

“I’ve already made the acquaintance of Fellow Daoist Fan here. But I haven’t yet learned how this fellow Daoist would like to be addressed. My surname is Lan. You may call me Lady Lan.” She introduced herself with practiced ease, as if they were old acquaintances.

Seeing this, Han Li felt it would be rude not to respond. Somewhat reluctantly, he said:

“My surname is Han.”

Then he fell silent, wearing an expression of cold indifference that suggested he had no wish to talk further.

Lady Lan did not take it to heart.

After all, eight or nine out of ten cultivators who visited this place put on the same aloof act. She was long accustomed to it.

With a faint smile, she raised a delicate hand and beckoned to one of the puppet golems behind her. The burly puppet strode forward.

Lady Lan’s slender fingers grasped the red silk and pulled it away, revealing the items on the tray.

A gleam of light flashed simultaneously in the eyes of Han Li and the man surnamed Fan as they focused intently on the tray’s contents.

On the tray lay a long sword, a short blade, a flying dart, a ring-shaped magic tool, and even a pitch-black suit of armor. Each one glimmered, clearly no ordinary piece.

After taking a good look at the several magic tools on the tray, Han Li and the man had markedly different reactions.

The cultivator surnamed Fan stared fixedly at the tray, a hint of infatuation in his eyes. Han Li, after a single glance, quickly looked away, showing an expression of utter disinterest. This caught Lady Lan off guard, and she gave him an extra look.

“This one is called the Cold Crystal Blade. It is refined from rare Mysterious Crystal and Ice Jade. Not only does it have formidable offensive power, but it also carries a rare yin-cold aura that can silently weaken an opponent’s strength during a prolonged battle. It is truly a top-grade magic tool of the finest quality.” The woman reached out, picked up a crystalline, translucent short blade from the tray, and raised it to introduce unhurriedly.

Then she gave the magic tool a slight flourish. A chill of cold air abruptly filled the room, causing the several maidservants, who were only at the Qi Condensation stage, to shudder involuntarily.

“Madam, may I take a look at that blade?” the man surnamed Fan said, a trace of excitement creeping into his voice.

Lady Lan smiled slightly at his request and handed the blade over without the slightest hesitation. Then she cast a subtle glance at Han Li.

What she saw was Han Li’s expression unchanged. He was simply staring down at his empty teacup, showing no sign of interest in the blade. Lady Lan felt a pang of disappointment.

“Alright, I’ll take this Cold Crystal Blade. How many spirit stones will it be?” Just then, the man surnamed Fan, who had been examining the short blade, announced in a loud voice.

Hearing this, Lady Lan was somewhat surprised.

“Fellow Daoist doesn’t wish to look at the other items?” Lady Lan asked, her expression unreadable.

“No need. I know the things behind are certainly better. But unfortunately, my purse is light. I’m afraid I can only afford this blade. Even if the others are finer, I wouldn’t have the means anyway. Better not to look—it’ll only make me envious!” This Fellow Daoist Fan was remarkably candid, and even a little witty, drawing a light laugh from the beautiful woman as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“This Cold Crystal Blade costs eight hundred spirit stones. If Fellow Daoist Fan pays the price, you may take it.” The woman smiled, then stated matter-of-factly.

“Good. Madam, please check and see if the amount is correct.”

The man surnamed Fan was very straightforward. He took out his storage pouch and poured its contents onto the table. In an instant, a pile of spirit stones of various colors appeared on the tabletop.

Lady Lan’s gaze swept lightly over the table. The corner of her mouth curled up as she said with a smile:

“How could I not trust you, fellow Daoist? No need to check.”

With that, she produced a storage pouch and sucked all the spirit stones into it.

Lady Lan’s actions created a wave of goodwill in the man surnamed Fan. He took his leave with a friendly smile.

Han Li, watching from the side, showed not a trace of emotion on his face. Inwardly, however, he gave a cold sneer.

‘What do you mean, “no need to check”? What was that faint divine sense hovering over the spirit stones just now? This Lady Lan clearly has a divine sense far more powerful than the average cultivator’s. She can instantly verify the number of spirit stones without being detected, then pretends to be generous by saying such cheap words.’ Han Li laughed contemptuously in his heart.

Lady Lan did not realize that her little trick had been seen through by Han Li. Still wearing a smile, she watched the man surnamed Fan descend the stairs, then turned her attention back to Han Li.

“Fellow Daoist Han, you seem rather uninterested in these items. Could it be that these magic tools do not meet your standards?” Lady Lan said with a faint smile.

Strangely enough, even though she knew the man before her was of a slightly lower cultivation than herself, she felt an inexplicable sense of danger emanating from Han Li. This made her unconsciously more deferential in her speech, instinctively reluctant to offend him.

“The quality of these magic tools is certainly good,” Han Li replied calmly. “But the kind of magic tool I’m looking for is somewhat special. It must complement my cultivation technique. And what I desire is not limited to magic tools and talismans—I also want some less common items.”

“Oh! If Fellow Daoist Han has such requirements, you should have said so earlier! I thought you were like Fellow Daoist Fan, willing to take any type of magic tool.” Lady Lan let out a soft, silvery laugh.

“As long as you can afford the price, our Star Dust Pavilion can produce anything you desire.” The woman sounded supremely confident.

Hearing this, Han Li let out a dry chuckle but did not respond directly. Instead, he asked bluntly:

“Since you’ve said that, then I’ll come straight to the point. I want to ask if your pavilion has any pill formulas suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators for sale. Or perhaps a complete set of magic tools—the more pieces in the set, the better, of course.”

After hearing Han Li’s request, Lady Lan’s expression shifted slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.

“Your requirements are indeed a bit unusual. If you had come half a month ago, I’m afraid I would have been at a loss. But recently, our pavilion has indeed received two pill formulas and a complete set of top-grade magic tools. However, these two items are truly not cheap. This is not something I can decide on my own. You will need to go up to the sixth floor to negotiate.” Lady Lan’s beautiful eyes fixed on Han Li as she spoke slowly.

“Then may I go to the sixth floor?” Han Li asked, appearing to have expected this answer.

“Of course you may. But according to the rules, I must first verify your qualifications.” Lady Lan brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and smiled lightly.

“What qualifications?” Han Li asked indifferently.

“It’s very simple! If you have over a thousand spirit stones on you, or goods of equivalent value for trade, that will suffice.” The woman’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“Is this enough?” Without another word, Han Li pulled out the storage pouch containing his spirit stones and tossed it to the woman.

The spirit stones on Han Li’s person had long since exceeded a thousand. He now had nearly two thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Lady Lan caught the storage pouch, swept her divine sense over it briefly, nodded, and tossed it back.

“Fellow Daoist Han, follow me. I will personally escort you to the sixth floor.” With that, she turned and walked toward the staircase without looking back.

Seeing this, Han Li silently followed closely behind.

The young attendant in red stationed by the staircase, seeing Lady Lan approach, immediately and silently stepped aside to clear the passage. The two of them ascended to the sixth floor of the Star Dust Pavilion, one after the other.