Under control of Han Li’s spiritual sense, the threads of lightning continued to weave together in the pattern of the branch.
However, this level of control was extremely difficult. Even with his vast spiritual sense and Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he successively failed, resulting in eruptions.
Eight times later, the golden lightning cloth eventually took form, floating motionlessly in the air.
The cloth was the size of a palm, woven in eye-catching lightning patterns. It appeared rather mysterious.
When Han Li saw the finished product, his face slightly changed and he waved his hand, summoning the cloth into his hand.
It was exceptionally soft with a sleek surface. It was actually somewhat more exquisite than silk and he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.
Han Li gently stroked the golden cloth and examined it for a moment more. His gaze flickered and he tossed the item into the air, striking it with a spell seal.
The cloth turned into a streak of golden light and began to circle from his hands. It rang with soft rolls of thunder.
The cloth dispersed inch by inch, revealing a hollow image of lightning patterns in a faint golden glow. As the translucent pattern appeared, an immense spiritual pressure burst out from it.
This was the mysterious power he sensed from the branch previously.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and attentively stared at the golden pattern. His heart lit up with excitement.
Although he still couldn't completely control the lightning patterns, the force of its spiritual power was over ten times what was originally contained in cloth weaved from Divine Devilbane Lightning. If it was harnessed into an attack, the protective restriction in the stone room might not be able to withstand it.
With that in mind, Han Li beckoned to the lightning pattern.
Thunder clapped and the lightning patterns flashed, returning to its form as cloth and dropping back into his hand.
Soon after, he spat out more lightning, using it to weave together another item of lightning. After another string of failures, he successfully created something.
This time, it wasn’t a cloth, but a glistening golden ball. Lightning patterns faintly shined from its surface.
Han Li grabbed ahold of it and thoroughly examined both of the items with his spiritual sense.
A short moment later, he thought of something and spat out a ball of silver flames.
He then pointed at the flame with an incantation gesture.
Bang. The flame ruptured and scattered into countless silver flowers.
Han Li chanted and used his spiritual sense to change the form of the flames into thin strings.
A similar scene occurred, but when he weaved it together halfway, the flames burst and turned into a silver fireball.
When this happened, a pensive expression appeared on his face. With another command, the fireball turned into a bird and flew back into his body.
Afterwards, he used his magic power to condense together blue strings, but the result was similar to the spirit devouring flames. His attempt ended in failure.
Han Li didn’t continue his experiments and sank into deep thought.
While both lightning objects originated from the same principles, many small details varied. The lightning int he cloth was steady and pure, but the golden orb’s lightning was restless and dangerous as if it could erupt at any moment.
As Han Li fiddled with the two items in his hand, he eventually smiled after some meticulous thought.
According to his guesses, the lightning patterns were a type of naturally formed talisman characters. Each pattern should create unique properties similar to the talisman characters formed from Immortal Clan’s silver runes.
These lightning patterns’ effects and skillful use weren’t something he could come to understand in a short amount of time.
As such, Han Li placed the two lightning items in a jade box and carefully sealed them with several restriction talismans before finally putting them in his storage bracelet.
For the rest of the time before the auction, Han Li carefully withdrew his spiritual sense and shut his eyes in meditation.
On the morning of the third day, hl Han Li opened his eyes and withdrew the restriction from the seclusion room before heading out.
When he left the room, he immediately released his spiritual sense out of habit and unconsciously swept his spiritual sense past the entire hall.
As a result, he heard someone’s voice.
He looked to the side and frowned.
Without making the slightest sound, he walked out of the main hall.
Before he fully made his way out, he heard a man’s voice wildly laugh, “Fairy Xu, if you can’t take a loss, then don’t make the bet in the first place. Did you not agree to become my apprentice’s wife?”
The laugh sounded extremely foreign as if it came from a broken gong.
Han Li calmly walked out and swept his gaze across the entire hall.
He saw two pairs of people standing in confrontation.
One of the pairs consisted of a man and a woman. The woman was Fairy Xu, but her face was deathly white. The other was the large green-eyed man, but his face wore an unsightly expression.
They faced two black-robed men.
One of them had a slim face and long triangular eyes, wearing dark azure armor. The other was a pock-marked middle-aged dwarf with diseased hair.
The laugh came from the old man.
“Senior Han!”
As soon as Han Li appeared, the large man glanced at Han Li and quickly saluted him with a face of deep relief.
Fairy Xu also appeared overjoyed when Han Li appeared.
Han Li stopped and many thoughts quickly flashed through his hand, but his face remained unchanged.
The old man’s wild laughter suddenly stopped and he examined Han Li with a trace of surprise. “So your esteemed self must be the newly arrived Fellow Daoist Han.”
At nearly the same time, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the old man to discover he was a mid Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. He couldn't help but raise a brow at the old man.
“Who are you Fellow Daoists and why are you making a commotion?” Han Li coldly asked.
The old man was enraged by Han Li’s rude demeanor as his cultivation level was a level above his.
But when he recalled that Han Li was an ascended cultivator, he forcefully suppressed his rage and wore an artificial smile, “I am Huang Bao. Leader of the twenty-seventh squad. I’ve come here because I have some matters to discuss with Fairy Xu. It’d be best if you didn’t interfere.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” Fairy Xu gritted her teeth, “This matter only concerns your disciple. Shouldn’t Senior stop interfering with this matter and making this bigger than it is?”
“What? Didn’t Fairy Xu miss an appointment with my disciple? Since you didn’t say anything, he had requested others to help him. If you have the skill, you can look for help. Otherwise, disaster will befall your Xu Clan.” The old man’s voice turned cold and he gave the woman a deathly stare.
“My affairs have nothing to do with the Xu Clan. Senior can’t involve the unrelated.” Fairy Xu couldn't help but betray her anger.
The old man laughed. “How are they unrelated. The moment you made an agreement with my disciple, the Xu Clan were made witnesses. If you don’t keep your word, I will have to seek out the witnesses.”
Fairy Xu’s face paled even further and she glanced in Han Li’s direction. Although she didn’t say anything, her plea for help was beyond obvious.
As for the green-eyed man, he wore a helpless expression.
Han Li stroked his nose and calmly asked, “What was the agreement?”
To tell the truth, if it wasn’t for the fact the woman was a descendant of Fairy Ice Soul, or the fact they had some friendship between them, he wouldn’t have asked.
With his status, he showed his intention to involve himself upon asking that question.
The old man’s expression faintly changed.
The dwarf rolled his eyes and chuckled, “It’s quite simple. I wanted to marry Fairy Xu, and the Ice Crystal Sword is of incredible cold. She promised that if my treasure could withstand a strike of her sword without freezing over, she would agree to marry me. I had already done that, but she planned on reneging her word and has hidden here since.”
“Is this true?” Han Li asked her.
“It is true, but something was done to my magic treasures. Otherwise, an early-stage cultivator like him wouldn’t have been able to endure my strike.” She wore a furious expression and couldn't help but glance at the old man.
Although the old man didn’t say anything, his eyes betrayed a trace of smugness.
“Regardless of the region, you weren’t able to freeze over my Green Wave Blade! Now, you’ll have to agree!” The dwarf giggled.
Fairy Xu remained silent with an extremely icy expression.
An icy glint appeared in Han Li’s eyes and he imposingly said, “So it was like that. However, I don’t believe that your magic treasure can withstand her Ice Crystal Sword. Demonstrate this right now. If it is true, I will turn a blind eye to this matter. But if it isn’t, I will ask you two to leave. This is the quarters of the fifty-sixth squad, not the seventh-seventh.”
“Senior, I…”
“Good, then let it be so. I hope Fellow Daoist Han can remember his own words.”
When Fairy Xu heard this, she was greatly shocked. She thought to say something, but the old man agreed with glee.
Because Han Li was an ascended cultivator, the old man was unwilling to incur any grudges over this incident.
The dwarf tactfully spat out a green flying sword and had it circle in front of him, a sinister smile clear on his face.
The flying sword shined dazzlingly with incredibly light. It appeared to be of no small matter.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and blue light flashed from his eyes, clearly seeing through the surface of the sword.
This so-called Green Wave Blade possessed two entirely different concentrations of spiritual power. One was weak, while one was incredibly strong.
It was clear something had been done to this treasure.
