A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1801-Chapter 2000)

"I don't have a 30-feet-long section of Snowspirit Wood, but I do have a section that's 10 feet in length; would I be able to make up the rest with spirit stones?" the same woman from before asked. It was quite clear that she really did want this treasure.

"I'm afraid not. The size of the Snowspirit Wood is very important to us, and we won't be able to use it even if it's just a single inch too short," the golden-masked man replied without any hesitation.

"That's rather disappointing. I really want this Heavenmatch Bell, but I'll have to give up on it," the woman sighed before falling silent.

"If I don't have any of the things on this list, can I offer other items for exchange?" A completely emotionless voice rang out from a stone pavilion in a secluded corner of the hall.

"Theoretically, yes, but we will only take materials that we require, and they have to be of the same caliber as the ones we've listed," the golden-masked man replied with a smile.

The man who had spoken seemingly hesitated momentarily before speaking again. "In that case, take a look at this and tell me what you think."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the pleasant cry of a crane rang out from that stone pavilion, and a snowy white crane with a black wooden box held between its beak flew out of the pavilion. With a single flap of its wings, it reached the white light barrier in a graceful manner, then passed through it without any impediment, presumably as the golden-masked figure had done something to grant it passage.

The golden-masked figure raised his hand, and the crane immediately opened its mouth, releasing the wooden box and allowing it to fly into the man's grasp.

After that, the crane continued to circle around in the air above the stone platform, refraining from landing, but also displaying no intention to return right away.

Meanwhile, the golden-masked man had already opened the black wooden box, and a burst of green light flashed from within it. His pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the item in the box, and a serious look appeared on his face.

He didn't reach into the box to touch the item, but light flashed through his eyes as he examined the item intently for a long while.

The owner of the white crane knew that the item was being carefully appraised, and he waited patiently for the verdict.

All of the other people present were naturally curious about what was inside the wooden box, and they were also waiting for the response.

If that item failed to satisfy the golden-masked man, then they would still have chances to secure this Heavenmatch Bell.

After a while, the light in the golden-masked man's eyes finally faded, and he heaved a long wistful sigh.

"Are you not satisfied with this item, Fellow Daoist?" The owner of the crane seemed to be quite taken aback.

"Normally, the value of this item would indeed match that of many of the materials on my list, but if I want to truly make use of it, I'll have to nurture it for at least 10,000 years. The tribulation is about to befall us within 1,000 years, so I would rather take more pragmatic things such as spirit stones and materials that can be used right away," the golden-masked man replied in a euphemistic manner.

He then placed the lid over the wooden box again before tossing it into the air. The white crane let loose a sharp cry before swooping down to catch the box between its beak again, and it then flew out of the light barrier and headed back to its master.

After a brief silence, the owner of the white crane heaved a slightly forlorn sigh. "That's quite a pity."

The golden-masked man's brows furrowed slightly in response to the lukewarm reception that the Heavenmatch Bell was receiving, and after a while, he heaved a resigned sigh. "Are there other fellow Daoists wishing to offer items for exchange? If not, then I'll have to auction off the item for top-grade spirit stones or spirit medicines."

Everyone remained silent, and no further offers were made.

"In that case, let's commence the auc..." A wry smile appeared on the golden-masked man's face, yet just as he was about to commence the auction, a coarse male voice suddenly rang out.

"Please wait, I have something that your Black Realm wants. No, to put it more accurately, it's something even more precious. Would you like to see it, Fellow Daoist?"

A hint of surprise flashed through Number 11's eyes, and her massaging hands faltered slightly. The man who had just spoken was naturally none other than Han Li.

At this point, he had already flipped a hand over to produce a yellow jade box.

"Of course, I would be more than happy to see it. If you really do have something of exceptional value, then I'll definitely offer an exchange that's worth your while." The golden-masked man was elated to hear this.

Han Li merely remained silent as he swept a sleeve through the air, and a white snake flew forth before swallowing the jade box, then shot forth as a streak of white light.

"Hmm?"

The golden-masked figure glanced at the snake right as it flew into the white light barrier and slowly descended beside him, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face. He had clearly identified that this was no ordinary puppet.

After landing beside the golden-masked man, the white snake opened its mouth to expel that yellow jade box. Compared to the special properties of this puppet, the golden-masked man was naturally more interested in what lay in this jade box, and he carefully caught the box before removing the lid.

A ball of black light was hovering within it, and within that ball of light was a shimmering silver spirit herb that was several inches tall.

"This is a Yin Phoenix Herb!" the golden-masked man exclaimed in an ecstatic manner.

Right at this moment, Han Li's voice transmission sounded beside his ears. "That is indeed a Yin Phoenix Herb, and it's been growing for hundreds of thousands of years, so it's far more precious than the 70,000-year-old Yin Phoenix Herb that your Black Realm is searching for."

"It's been growing for hundreds of thousands of years?" The golden-masked figure drew a sharp breath upon hearing this before hurriedly releasing his spiritual sense to encompass the entire herb and commencing a thorough appraisal.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

He had obtained this spirit herb from that medicine garden in the Vast Glacial Realm, and he had given most of them to the Body Integration cultivators of the Heavenly Cloud Races, leaving only one for himself so he could secure the spirit herb's seeds.

After returning to Deep Heaven City, he had already used a special secret technique to secure those seeds, so he had a superfluous Yin Phoenix Herb that wasn't really useful to him. Of course, he also had a few other spirit herbs that were no less rare and precious than this Yin Phoenix Herb, and he had secured seeds from all of them as well.

Han Li hadn't originally intended to exchange for that Heavenmatch Bell, so if Yin Phoenix Herb hadn't been on the list that the golden-masked figure had presented, then he would've merely passed up this treasure.

However, seeing as they were actively searching for this spirit herb and he didn't have much use for it, he was naturally going to maximize its value by exchanging it here.

On top of that, he really was quite interested in the foreign body refinement art enclosed with this Heavenmatch Bell, so he finally decided to speak up after some careful contemplation.

This appraisal was clearly more thorough than the last one, and it also took a lot longer.

Finally, the golden-masked figure exhaled as he concluded his appraisal, and his lips tremored as he transmitted his voice to Han Li. "Where did you obtain this Yin Phoenix Herb from, Fellow Daoist? I was unable to determine its exact age, but it's at least been growing for 200,000 years. Can you verify its exact age?"

The golden-masked man's voice was filled with unbridled excitement.