A Bargain Struck with a Leak

The man in blue was speaking to the thin, wiry man. This left the thin man visibly startled, a flash of panic passing through his eyes before it was replaced by an expression of anger. The others exchanged bewildered glances, unable to fathom the blue-clad man’s intentions.

“Rest assured, fellow Daoist! I am not asking for your spot for nothing. I have here two tier-five demon beast inner cores, as compensation for ceding your place. I trust you will not find this offer lacking.” The man in blue spoke unhurriedly, reaching into his robe and producing two azure-glowing orbs from somewhere within.

The spiritual energy radiating from them confirmed they were genuine tier-five demon cores.

“Hmph, do you think a mere two demon cores are enough to make me give up my spot?” The thin man stared at the two cores, a flicker of greed passing through his eyes, but then, as if recalling something, he let out a cold snort of refusal.

Hearing this, the man in blue did not grow angry. Instead, he gave a strange smile.

Then, his lips began to tremble silently, and right in front of everyone, he initiated a voice transmission to the thin man, uttering a few unknown words.

The thin man started with an air of complete indifference, but after only a few sentences, his face suddenly turned ashen.

“That is all I had to say. I trust you will not refuse my transaction now?” The man in blue wore an unhurried expression. This time, he did not use voice transmission but spoke aloud.

The thin man’s expression grew tense; fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as the blue-clad man spoke.

“Fine! Since you have put it that way, I will cede my place to you!” After glaring fiercely at the other for a long moment, the thin man, whose expression had been shifting unpredictably, finally gritted his teeth and agreed.

This declaration immediately changed the expressions of the other six who had arrived together.

“Fellow Daoist Zhang, what are you saying? Did we not agree to advance and retreat together? What is the meaning of this now…?” The burly, richly dressed man’s face darkened as he stared coldly at the thin man.

“My sincerest apologies, but I am afraid I will have to part ways with you all for now. Please go on ahead. Perhaps we can collaborate again another time.” The thin man gave a bitter smile and said helplessly.

At this, the richly dressed man said no more. Because not only he, but everyone else could see that this Fellow Daoist Zhang seemed to have some hold over him, forcing him to yield the teleportation spot.

Since that was the case, they naturally could not say anything more.

Fortunately, with one person missing, the impact would not be too great.

“Hmph! Who said you could simply swap people as you please?” The bald, elderly man frowned and suddenly glared, his voice dripping with menace.

“Senior Gu, I…” The thin man was startled, mumbling as if trying to explain, but he could not find the words.

At that moment, the man in blue flipped his palm over, and two jade boxes appeared in his hand. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the boxes shot toward the bald elder and the refined-looking scholar.

Seeing the jade boxes flying toward them, the two caught them reflexively and then calmly looked at the man in blue.

“Inside are two treasures I happened to come across, as a gift for you, seniors.” The man in blue spoke with a serene demeanor.

The two opposite exchanged a glance, curiosity showing in their eyes. They had instantly checked the boxes and knew there were no tricks attached to them.

But to be cautious, they each opened their box only a crack, and a few strands of red light shot out.

After casually glancing inside, both were visibly delighted.

“Fellow Daoist Qu truly intends to gift us these treasures?” The refined-looking cultivator was somewhat moved.

“As you both know, though these items are precious, with my current level of cultivation, I cannot yet use them. I, your junior, am more eager to reach the Outer Star Seas and continue my secluded cultivation in peace.” The blue-clad cultivator gave a faint, meaningful smile.

“Ha ha! Excellent! Since Fellow Daoist Qu has offered such generous gifts, we are not the kind of people to refuse. You may go and be teleported along with the other six.” The old man named Gu, looking at the object in his box, said joyfully, his excitement overriding any need to consult his companion, and he agreed first.

Although the cultivator named Qian was somewhat displeased, he seemed equally tempted by the object in his hand and did not voice any further objection, silently acquiescing to the matter.

This scene made the others suspicious, and most of them were curious to see what was inside the boxes.

But the two jade boxes were quickly closed by the bald elder and the other man, and they naturally did not dare to use their spiritual sense to probe them openly, so they gained nothing.

Only the richly dressed man took a closer look at the two jade boxes, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

Though he could not see what was inside, after hearing the man in blue’s words, the term “magical treasure” involuntarily came to his mind. Could this person really have given them magical treasures? This speculation sent a chill through his heart.

But before the richly dressed man could ponder this further, the two Core Formation cultivators opposite simultaneously pulled out a white jade token from their robes. Then, facing the teleportation formation behind them, they began to chant incantations.

Seeing this, the richly dressed man’s group showed no reaction, but the man in blue let out a long, silent sigh of relief, thinking to himself, “Lucky escape.”

“These teleportation formations were indeed tampered with. If I had tried to force my way through without thinking, I would have failed to achieve my goal. It seems those two magical treasures, which I was loath to use and reluctant to discard, were finally put to good use.”

With this thought in mind, the man in blue was, of course, Han Li in disguise, having used a technique to conceal his cultivation level.

Inside the jade boxes were two red, gleaming flying-knife treasures.

These two flying knives were originally Hu Yue’s, who had been killed by the Profound Bone Saint. Now, Han Li had casually used them as bribes.

Although he still had several of these treasures that possessed no special extraordinary abilities, they were still precious and rare items for some Core Formation cultivators.

Being able to use a magical treasure directly without spending time cultivating its power, even if it could not achieve spirit-link synchronization and its power could only be exerted to seventy percent at best, was still a stroke of incredible fortune for many ordinary Core Formation cultivators.

For although many magical treasures had been left behind over the ages, most had been destroyed or lost in cultivator battles. Even the few that remained were largely held by Nascent Soul old monsters or exceptionally powerful Core Formation cultivators.

Others were secretly hoarded by unknown cultivators or small factions.

A massive power like the Star Palace naturally had a large collection of magical treasures. But precisely because of its immense size, there were also hundreds of Core Formation cultivators within the palace.

These two were both early Core Formation cultivators. Without having rendered any significant meritorious service, they naturally could not obtain extra treasure rewards.

Thus, unexpectedly acquiring these flying-knife treasures, they were overjoyed.

After refining them, their combat power would increase dramatically!

As for why the thin man had obediently ceded his spot, Han Li indeed had a hold over him.

That day, when Han Li noticed the thin man returning from the Starry Sky Hall with a peculiar expression, he had sneaked into his room that very night and drugged him into unconsciousness using a secret technique.

Though there was no spell capable of truly controlling another’s consciousness, it was possible, by keeping the target in a half-awake, half-asleep state and using hypnotic arts combined with a powerful spiritual sense, to make them reveal some of their deepest secrets.

And Han Li’s luck was fairly good. From the fragments of words the man had uttered, he had indeed confirmed information that he and two Star Palace cultivators had deliberately inflated the teleportation fee in order to extort the others.

Now, using this information as leverage, combined with the temptation of two demon cores, the thin man was indeed terrified and obediently submitted, without even daring to hold out. Perhaps he believed that all of this had been deliberately leaked by the two Star Palace cultivators!

As the incantation echoed through the hall, white light flickered around the teleportation formation. Then, a clear ringing sound came, and the white light around the formation suddenly vanished.

“Alright. Under normal circumstances, there would be another person in charge of this hall. But it so happens that he was sent out of the Starry Sky Hall on business these past two days. Otherwise, no matter how many spirit stones you offered, the two of us would not have accepted them. Now, hand over the spirit stones.” The bald elder glanced at the teleportation formation, whose restrictions had been lifted, then turned and spoke to the richly dressed man and the others in no uncertain terms.

Upon hearing this, the group, who had been prepared, immediately took out storage pouches and handed them to the old man.

Han Li, in turn, produced two more demon beast inner cores, which caused the bald elder to show a faint flicker of surprise.

After inspecting them one by one, the bald elder nodded in satisfaction. It was then that the refined-looking, middle-aged cultivator reached out and took out a few talismans, handing one to each of Han Li and the others.

“Wear these teleportation talismans. You may go now.” He pointed to the teleportation formation and said coldly.

The others hesitated momentarily, but Han Li, without a word, walked over first.

It was not that he was exceptionally bold; he had already used his spiritual sense to quickly scan the teleportation formation and confirmed that everything seemed normal.

On the stone stele in front of the teleportation formation, two characters were engraved: “Qi Yuan.”

Han Li’s mind processed the name, but it carried no special impression. It seemed the island he was going to was probably nothing particularly out of the ordinary.