“The Setting Sun Tomb!”
Demon and human alike called this place by that name.
To tell the truth, during ancient times, there weren't seven suns, but nine. But when the human and demon clans had first arrived in the spirit realm, an enormous battle swept through most of the races in the spirit realm.
Hundreds of characters with cultivation comparable to those in the Immortal realm battled throughout the spirit realm for an unknown reason.
As a result, not only did the weak perish, but vast lands, mountains, and seas underwent amazing changes, splitting the earth itself and destroying two of the suns.
It was said that one of the suns descended here, resulting in an enormous depression in the ground.
However, flying across this so-called depression would take a high-grade cultivator at least a year to fly through, even by using the full power of their magic treasures. The depressing itself contained countless mountain ranges and tens of giant lakes that spanned myriads of kilometers, not to mention anything of the forests and plains it contained.
It is said that even if ten million cultivators were to enter the Setting Sun Tomb, they would only amount to a drop in a vast ocean.
Such a large region naturally had a few human settlements on its border. One of the more well-known settlements was the cultivator controlled giant scale city “Setting Sun City”.
The city was constructed close to the Setting Sun Tomb. Although it was about the same in size to other cultivator cities, many mid and high-grade cultivators appeared there, ranking it among the top three cities in the Heavenly Origin Region. In addition to the cultivators there, there were also a large number of high-grade body refiners.
The body refiners possessed strength that was equivalent to the power of Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators, but their number was at least ten times greater.
If it weren’t for the pitifully few numbers of peak grade body refiners and the Deity Transformation-stage cultivators present in the city, it would be difficult to call it a cultivator city.
But funnily enough, on the other side of the Setting Sun City in the demon lands, there was a city by the same name that was established by demon cultivators.
It was said the demon city was even larger than the human’s Setting Sun City.
High-grade demon cultivators gathered there in droves. There were even powerful human cultivators that went over to observe the city from a distance and gave honest descriptions of it.
However, Han Li held little interest towards the demon city.
At that moment, he was walking down one of the streets in the human Setting Sun City and was looking at the tidy tall stores to either side of him with an odd expression on his face.
This was just a common street in the city and the shopkeepers of these stores weren’t Qi Condensation cultivators, but low-grade body refiners.
The items being sold in this store ranged from demon beast materials to magic and spirit tools. There was a wide assortment of items, but there were no stores that specialized in selling common mortal items.
Not long after Han Li entered the gates of Setting Sun City, he walked down several streets and found a different scene each time.
This city was enormous. Even with a vast number of cultivators and body refiners, a majority of the people in the city were mortals. In fact, they lined the streets and could be spotted everywhere. However, they were all robust men and were exceptionally busy, running errands for cultivators and body refiners alike.
When Han Li turned a corner, he swept his gaze and suddenly found himself looking at a skinny man letting loose spittle on a group of people.
The man was a Qi Condensation cultivator and he was talking down to a group of common mortals. They looked miserable in the face of the cultivator’s torrent of words.
“Do you not know that this fanged beast pounced at my head as soon as it saw me. I, an Immortal master, with a mere sweep of his hand, released my Black Cloud Sword and easily lopped off its two claws. My magic tool can be exchanged for ten mid-grade spirit stones. Although it is only a low-grade magic tool, its might… Huh, who are you?” When a hand pressed on the skinny man’s shoulder, he hastily yelped and turned around, discovering a young man looking at him with a beaming smile.
Just as the skinny man thought to rebuke him, he noticed that the golden sparkling ring on Han Li’s finger. He then wore a forced smile and asked, “My name is Tiang Xing. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Body refiners that could wear spirit rings weren’t ordinary folk. They possessed power at mid-grade or higher. They weren’t someone that a trifling Qi Condensation cultivator could provoke.
“My name is Han,” Han Li calmly said, “I just saw how happy you were chatting and it seemed that you know much about the city. I hoped you could answer a few of my questions or even be my guide for a few days if that’s possible.”
The skinny man’s face lit up and he said, “So it turned out that Brother Han has just arrived in this city. Well, you found the right person! While I won’t say that I know everything about this city, I did live here for a few decades. But might I ask how you plan on employing me?”
Han Li rubbed his chin and bluntly proposed, “I’ll give you ten spirit stones for each day.”
The skinny man took a close look at Han Li and then smiled, saying, “That is too little. Please give me a bit more. I am a cultivator too. I can get that number of spirit stones by fetching spirit medicines outside.”
Han Li snorted. Although he disliked fussing over little matters, he didn’t want the skinny man to be greedy and bluntly said, “Ten spirit stones is already much. Let’s see you find some spirit medicines outside and not be afraid of being a demon beast’s dinner. I’ll give you twenty spirit stones and that will be all.”
“Alright, I agree! You lot can continue talking. This Immortal master and I will be heading out first.” Seeing that Han Li was unhappy, the skinny man quickly agreed and waved his hand to the others behind him.
When the mortals heard this, they immediately dispersed.
“May I ask where you wish to go?” The skinny man cautiously asked while attempting to guess Han Li’s strength.
Body refiners and cultivators differed. A body refiner’s cultivation depended on the hardiness of their body. It couldn't be determined with spiritual sense.
Han Li turned around and spoke without looking at him. “First bring me to the nearby spirit tool and materials shops. Give me an introduction to the city as well.”
The skinny man quickly followed after Han Li and eloquently spoke, “That will be no problem. Setting Sun City has eight main districts. Three of them are occupied by ordinary people. Five of them are the shops and quarters for body refiners and cultivators. However, there are a few differences in these five districts.
In four of them, including this one, everyone can sell and buy as they please. But in the fifth district, everyone must pay a spirit stone to be present there. It is the center of Setting Sun City.
Be it quality spirit tools or top-grade treasures, they are all exchanged in the heart of the city. Most of the large businesses in the Heavenly Origin Region are also gathered there. I heard even spirit treasures are sold there.”
“Spirit treasures?” Han Li’s heart stirred, but he maintained a calm expression, “I don’t care about those. Tell me about other things.”
“That is so. Information on spirit treasures won’t do much for you. On the other hand, these businesses will have many top-grade spirit tools for sale. Ah yes, there is some information you might be interested in, Brother Han. I heard that one of the auction houses acquired a set of martial tools that the Heavenly Origin Sage used back when, calling them the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment. They are preparing to bid them off.
The set has five items, each a top-grade article equivalent to a cultivator’s magic treasure. It is said that these spirit tools can be used to cultivate a body refiner’s body with a different, more powerful strength. This was before the Heavenly Origin Sage cultivated spirit roots and still managed to slay many formidable enemies. When this information spread out, many high-grade body refiners stayed in the city, preparing to join in the auction.” The skinny’s man’s words caused Han Li to stop in his tracks.
“The Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment! It truly has such wondrous abilities?” Han Li finally showed his interest.
“It should prove true. These are words that the auction released.” The skinny man pledged, slapping his chest.
After a moment of silence, Han Li asked, “When does the auction start?”
“Although they didn’t give any concrete dates, it should be in four months at the latest. The auction doesn’t dare to keep so many high-grade body refiners waiting.” When the skinny man heard this, his heart trembled. Could it be he came across a stroke of luck? The person before him was a high-grade body refiner. Although he possessed a young face, he might have preserved his appearance with a medicine pill.
As Han Li thought of this, Tian Xing became unconsciously reserved.
In the following moment, Han Li asked a few more questions about the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment. Furthermore, he also inquired about other areas in the city.
Although feeling somewhat bewildered, the skinny man answered all of Han Li’s questions and led Han Li down several streets until they arrived at a store specialized in spirit tools and their materials.
Although he heard that the top-grade items were being sold in the heart of the city, he didn’t plan to immediately head there.
Although spirit tools and their materials were considered rare, they were still far more common than materials needed for magic and ancient treasures. It was also possible he wouldn’t be able to find suitable spirit tool materials if he looked at a place specializing in selling higher quality goods.
Of course, they would have top-grade spirit tools without a doubt.
When Han Li walked into the store, he felt his spirits roused.
Although he thought about using the dangers of the Setting Sun Tomb to see if he could break through the bottleneck of the final stage, he would need to make preparations or his life would be in danger.
He first planned on refining two top-grade spirit tools that were to his satisfaction, giving him a greater chance of victory in high battles.
But from what he heard about the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment, he feared it would be difficult to acquire. He had many spirit stones, but he might not have an opportunity to bid on the items.
It would also attract too much attention to himself. After some further thought, he abandoned the idea of bidding for it and planned on refining his own spirit tools.
