A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 601-Chapter 800)

There was no need for him to consider the smaller shops. They weren’t likely to have anything apart from ordinary magic tools, let alone top grade ones.

While there was a slim possibility of a small store carrying such a rare item, Han Li was unwilling to waste the time necessary to search through each one. With so many shops in Soaring Heavens City, he simply didn’t have time to go searching through all of them.

In addition to Han Li, there were many other cultivators walking down both sides of the street and purchasing their own desired items. While a majority of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage, there was also an occasional Core Formation cultivator. As for Qi Condensation cultivators, there were hardly any of them apart from the city’s natives.

Han Li concealed his cultivation as a mid Core Formation cultivator while he browsed through the markets, merely attracting a few respectful glances from Foundation Establishment cultivators. As for Core Formation cultivators, they simply ignored him after a glance when they didn’t recognize him. He was able to avoid much attention in this manner and was could take his time browsing through each of the large stores.

Just as Han Li left another pavilion feeling disappointed, he discovered that most of the day had unknowingly passed.

With darkness falling, the various stores began to successively place down moonlight stones. After a moment of hesitation, Han Li decided to look through two more stores before returning to his residence.

Right after coming to this decision, he heard the sounds of a quarrel not far away from him. There were a group of cultivators that had curiously gathered around the source of the noise.

Han Li frowned as he immediately placed his hands behind his back, before he expressionlessly turned around and began to walk back to his residence.

As he took his first step, he heard a fierce and resentful voice, “What, are all of you Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators merely thieves? You want to just walk away after ruining my talisman?”

A young man’s voice loudly refuted him with an angry tone, “It isn’t that I don’t want to pay, but that I am short on spirit stones since I’ve just bought other items. Also, this is only an elementary mid-grade firecloud talisman. How could it possibly cost three hundred spirit stones? It should only cost a hundred spirit stones at most. Moreover, didn’t I offer to leave my sect medallion here as collateral? I’ll return once I’ve borrowed some spirit stones from my sect members at the inn.”

Han Li ceased his steps as the man’s voice seemed familiar. It seemed to be someone he recognized from the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Han Li rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before heading in the direction of the dispute. Regardless of who it was, he was a grand elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect after all. It was unbecoming of him to feign ignorance and walk away.

A short moment later, Han Li found himself looking at a small miscellaneous goods store from a distance. There seemed to be several cultivators standing in front of it in confrontation. Amongst them was a heroic black-clothed figure, Firecloud Mountain’s Sun Huo who Han Li had last seen at the Sword Trial Assembly.

In a short twenty years, this youth had experienced a vast increase in cultivation despite the little change to his appearance. He was currently being confronted by three cultivators with unfriendly appearances who seemed to be the shopkeeper and his assistants.

At that moment, the short-bearded shopkeeper glared at Sun Huo and said, “A single worthless medallion is useless to me. You can simply return to the Drifting Cloud Sect and leave it behind, but I can’t track you down all the way over to the State of Xi. So quit talking nonsense. Since you don’t have any spirit stones, lay out the items in your storage pouch and I will hold them as collateral. As for that Firecloud Talisman, you believe it to only be a mid grade talisman but it is actually a quality good refined by a talisman grandmaster of our Soaring Heavens City. As such it’s already generous to only charge three hundred spirit stones. Could it be that all Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators are such scoundrels?”

Once that was said, the shopkeeper glanced at the wooden box in his assistant’s hands and revealed a regretful expression as if he had suffered a great loss.

Sun Huo unexpectedly responded to these words with a smile, “Fine! The things are yours. If you say it, then so be it. This ordinary Firecloud Talisman was refined by a talisman grandmaster.”

“What? Are you able to tell whether or not it was refined by a talisman grandmaster? Do you simply wish not to pay us back? In that case, don’t blame me for notifying the city’s enforcers.” The shopkeeper coldly laughed and bluntly threatened him.

Sun Huo’s face turned white then red as there was little question as to which party the Nine Nations Union enforcers would favor. Moreover, this matter was vague and unclear so he was all but certain to lose the dispute!

His expression wavered for a long while before he stepped forward. He slapped the storage pouch at his waist and took out a bundle of talismans.

Sun Huo gritted his teeth and said, “Although these talismans aren’t of a high grade, they are worth at least three hundred spirit stones.”

The shopkeeper’s expression relaxed and he reached out to take the talismans, “This will do!”

“Yi! Not this one!” Before the shopkeeper took the talismans, Sun Huo swept his gaze over them and his expression vastly changed as he pulled back the talismans. He immediately took the half-torn yellow talisman back before handing over the rest of the talismans.

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment before sneering, “Humph! You’re so nervous over a torn piece of blank talisman paper? Are you Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators really so poor?” He then reached once more to take the talismans.

But at that moment, a figure suddenly appeared between the two in a blur.

Sun Huo felt his heart drop while the shopkeeper hastily took several steps back and furiously shouted, “Who are you? What do you think you’re doing?”

The cultivator that interrupted them expressionlessly responded, “It’s nothing. I merely overheard our Drifting Cloud Sect being mentioned in a certain way three times in a row. How about your esteemed self say it to my face?”

Once that was said an astonishing pressure was released, causing the nearby cultivators to recoil in shock. A few of the cultivators with shallower cultivation felt as if the world itself now weighed down on them, and they fell onto their knees.

The two Core Formation cultivators that happened to pass by fared somewhat better but their bodies were also shaken. One of them became panic-stricken and they cried out, “Nascent Soul cultivator! Senior, you...”





Chapter 683: Two Choices


Han Li turned his head and coldly glanced at the two Core Formation cultivators that were passing by, causing them to immediately swallow their words. He didn’t recognize the two middle-aged cultivators, nor did he know which sect they belonged to.

At that moment, the shopkeeper and his two assistants had already been thoroughly forced to the ground due to their close proximity to the immense spiritual pressure. They were incapable of moving in the slightest, seeming panic-stricken, only to grow even more terrified upon hearing that Han Li was a Nascent Soul cultivator. They hurriedly tried to beg for forgiveness, but they could barely even gasp for air, let alone speak.

The surrounding cultivators all paled, while a few of the more cowardly ones had already fled in fear of being implicated.