A Well-Paid Loss; The Stone House Meeting

When Han Li spoke these words, the manic joy on the old Daoist’s face vanished without a trace, replaced by renewed composure.

“Fellow Daoist Han intends to use this to blackmail me, it seems.”

“Blackmail? Your words are mistaken, True Person. Up to this point, I have not asked you for a single concrete thing. Instead, I first gifted you several rare Soul Stones. If you feel the exchange is not worthwhile, then consider my second question as never having been asked. I will not ask for these Soul Stones back, either.” Han Li’s expression was calm as he spoke.

Hearing this, Tianjing True Person’s face stiffened, then flickered with uncertainty.

Han Li was in no hurry. He stood opposite the man, showing no sign of urging him.

“The puppet refining technique I gave you; you should be able to roughly determine whether it is genuine or not. But regarding this talk of Yin Beasts, how do I know you aren’t lying?” the old Daoist said coldly after a long pause.

“To be honest, Fellow Daoist, even if you knew the location of the Yin Beasts, you would not be able to enter. The place is incredibly dangerous. Even if one were lucky enough to get in, they would never return. I only survived that year by a fluke. However, even if you don’t believe what I say, the Soul Stones are the real goods. Using a portion of them to exchange for the puppet refining technique in your hand is no loss to you. Otherwise, what use is an empty puppet refining method without the Soul Stones?” Han Li said calmly and unhurriedly.

After hearing this, Tianjing True Person frowned, a look of hesitation appearing on his face.

“Fine! I have no desire to ponder whether the origin of your Soul Stones is true or false. I only ask you this: how many Soul Stones are you willing to trade for the puppet refining technique? If the number is too small, I’d rather keep it for myself.” The old Daoist finally relaxed his expression, having weighed the pros and cons.

“That depends on the value of the ancient puppet technique you provide. If it can only refine those puppets from the other day, then even if you showed it to me for free, I would have no interest.” Han Li was overjoyed inside, but his face remained impassive.

“Those puppets I traded during the day were merely defective products I found in the ruins. From what you say, it seems the more powerful the puppet I can refine, the more Soul Stones you are willing to give.” The old Daoist’s face took on a strange expression.

“Mn, that is the idea. If you have a puppet technique that can produce a puppet with the power of a single full-force strike at the Nascent Soul stage or above, what harm would it be for me to give you twenty or thirty Soul Stones?” Han Li said calmly, pursing his lips.

“All of the same quality as the ones you gave me at the start?” Tianjing True Person asked with a serious tone.

“Could this ancient puppet technique truly refine a puppet comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator?” Han Li was startled, then overjoyed. He spoke without hesitation:

“Since I have said so, my words are no empty boast.”

“Excellent. Here is the jade slip for the ancient puppet refining technique. No need for borrowing; I am gifting it to you directly.” The old Daoist quickly pulled a white jade slip from his storage pouch and tossed it directly to Han Li, a fox-like cunning smile spreading across his face.

Han Li was taken aback by the old Daoist’s move, a vague feeling of unease stirring in his heart. But after a moment’s thought, he accepted the jade slip without ceremony and scanned it with his spiritual sense.

After a long moment, Han Li’s face alternated between red and white. The moment he withdrew his spiritual sense, he stared at Tianjing True Person, speechless.

“What’s the matter? This puppet technique offers several types of puppets, the highest of which can even rival the attack of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. Does it not meet your requirements?” The old Daoist said with a slight smirk.

“Hmph! Meet my requirements? But these puppets require materials like ten-thousand-year-old Ironwood as their main ingredient! That is an absurdly rare material. As for the auxiliary materials, not to mention their scarcity, there are several I have never even heard of. Where am I supposed to find these?” Han Li said with a look of anger.

“Hehe! That, I’m afraid, is your problem, Fellow Daoist. However, the jade slip does contain illustrations of all the materials. Perhaps, with your deep fortune, you may one day gather all the ingredients for the puppets.” Tianjing True Person said slowly instead.

“Has Fellow Daoist Tianjing already gathered all the materials mentioned on the slip? Otherwise, why would you be going around collecting Soul Stones?” Much to the old Daoist’s surprise, Han Li’s anger subsided quickly, and he immediately countered.

“When did I ever say I would personally refine the puppets? I merely found two semi-finished high-grade puppets in the ruins. By fusing the Soul Stones into them, they can be used directly. Why would I bother doing it myself?” Tianjing True Person said without changing his expression.

“You…” Han Li was momentarily at a loss for words. This old Daoist was truly difficult to deal with.

“Alright, I have already handed the puppet refining technique over to you. Now, for my…”

“Here!”

Before the old Daoist could finish his oily smile, Han Li waved his sleeve with an exasperated air. A green light flashed, and a small pile of Soul Stones appeared on the table.

They glittered brightly, a striking sight.

Tianjing True Person was overjoyed but felt a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to say something, Han Li waved his hand and said:

“This time, I was careless and suffered a loss, but I won’t complain. Now that the accounts are settled, I’ll take my leave.” Han Li cupped his fist, his face full of frustration as he turned and walked out of the pavilion without looking back.

The old Daoist watched Han Li’s receding figure, first shaking his head with narrowed eyes, then nodding. Only then did he calmly store all the crystals into his storage pouch.

This time, he had traded a completely useless puppet refining technique for so many Soul Stones. He was naturally extremely satisfied.

With this pile of Soul Stones, he could finally complete those few semi-finished puppets.

However, the fact that Han Li had taken out so many Soul Stones at once had truly surprised him, and he couldn’t help but think slightly higher of Han Li.

What the old Daoist did not know was that Han Li, now several streets away, had long since swept away the look of frustration from his face. Instead, he was fiddling with the white jade slip, a strange smile on his lips.

Ten-thousand-year-old Ironwood? Impossible for others, perhaps. But for him, it was no problem at all. It would just take a little more time.

As for the other materials he couldn’t name, if his memory served him right, he could probably find them among the puppet remnants in the Void Heaven Palace.

If his luck held, he should be able to piece together the materials for a few puppets. Of course, besides these materials, there were other rare auxiliary materials that would require some time to gather. The puppets, capable of unleashing attacks almost comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator’s full force, would naturally be immensely powerful once refined. This would allow him to resurrect the puppet art he had abandoned, turning it into one of his trump cards once more.

Unfortunately, the jade slip only recorded the refining methods for a few types of puppets equivalent to Core Formation cultivators.

The materials required for these lower-grade puppets were also not something that could be easily found in the current cultivation world. Some of the materials had already become extinct for who knows how many years. Otherwise, having five or six of these puppets would not pose a threat to Nascent Soul cultivators. But if he could refine over a hundred of them as he had done before, even Nascent Soul cultivators would have to keep their distance.

However, this was merely a thought Han Li could entertain.

He didn’t need to guess to know that even if he could refine these Core Formation-level puppets, the material cost would certainly be equivalent to the price of an ordinary magic treasure. Let alone a hundred; even a few dozen would be a burden Han Li could not bear.

Refining the several hundred third-grade puppets of the Thousand Bamboo School back in the day had nearly driven him to bankruptcy. He had even sold off most of the demon beast materials he had accumulated at the time just to scrape together the funds for the materials. But compared to these new puppets, those were now like a small witch meeting a big one.

Han Li smiled bitterly at the thought, then identified his direction and headed straight for the west gate of Tiantian City.

Although it was already dusk, there was no difference between day and night for him. The first order of business was to find the owner of the Geng Essence.

Compared to refining external tools like puppets, enhancing the power of his own intrinsic magical treasure was the highest priority.

After all, the potential for improving one’s intrinsic magical treasure was limitless.

He hoped the conditions of the Geng Essence owner wouldn’t be too excessive. It would be best if he could exchange it for some demonic cores.

Han Li could only hope for the best.

…

Half a month later, the centennial trade fair officially commenced. Cultivators from all over the Heavenly South region poured into this city of cultivators.

The city’s auction house began auctioning off various rare items on the second day of the trade fair.

The numerous rare items in the hall attracted many wealthy cultivators. Large numbers of high-grade cultivators streamed into the auction house.

After several consecutive days of auctions, the hall was incredibly lively.

On the final day of the auction, a few items were especially sought after by the high-grade cultivators, and even some cultivators leveraged the power of their sects to participate.

“Seventy-six thousand spirit stones! This piece of Geng Essence is won by this Fellow Daoist.” A middle-aged cultivator standing at the front of the auction hall said with a beaming smile.

On the rosewood table before him sat a green tray containing a walnut-sized, unremarkable piece of pale gold ore.

A cultivator in a silver robe, his features indistinct, walked out from the audience with some excitement. After paying the spirit stones, he took the Geng Essence and left.

Han Li, sitting in the audience, let out a soft sigh. Suddenly, he stood up and walked out of the auction hall. Whatever was being auctioned next, no matter how precious, had nothing to do with him.

That evening, he had easily located the owner of the Geng Essence with his spiritual sense. But what the other party wanted in exchange was actually a seventh-grade beast egg or another legendary refining material, “One Essence Divine Mud.” Han Li had neither. After an ineffective negotiation, he had returned disappointed.

However, from the other party, Han Li had learned that the piece of Geng Essence was not large. Even if he had obtained it, it would only have been enough to mix into seven or eight flying swords, which was still insufficient.

Nevertheless, when the auction with Geng Essence began this day, Han Li still attended.

But the moment the price exceeded five hundred thousand spirit stones, Han Li completely gave up on the item.

It seemed that his Great Geng Sword Formation would not be able to be deployed for the time being.

After leaving the auction house, Han Li did not go anywhere else. Instead, he made a round of a few market towns, taking advantage of the trade fair to gather some of the materials needed for refining the ancient puppets.

Although he was still missing many materials, and cultivating the Ten-Thousand-Year Ironwood would take a great deal of time and Green Liquid, it was impossible to refine the Nascent Soul-level ancient puppets immediately. But given enough time, once the puppets were refined, his strength could immediately increase significantly.

Next, Han Li headed straight for a corner of Tiantian City.

Today was already the fourth day of the trade fair. He remembered what Nanlong Hou had said to him. Driven by curiosity, he followed the location indicated in the jade slip. After walking for a while, he found the place.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense briefly over the area, then stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary stone house.

On the surface, this stone house appeared to be just two isolated rooms connected together, utterly unremarkable.

He walked over, hesitated for a moment, and had not yet raised his hand to knock when the door creaked open, seemingly on its own, much to his surprise.

A man with a jade crown, purple robes, and a long beard walked out with a smile.

“Fellow Daoist Han, you’ve finally arrived. Let me introduce you to a few fellow Daoists.” Nanlong Hou seemed to have known all along that the person standing outside the door was Han Li. Standing before him, he greeted him with a beaming face.