After a while, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he reopened his eyes.
A ball of golden light was flying out of the giant city that belonged to the Long Family, and it quickly arrived in the air close to Han Li.
Within the golden ball of light was a middle-aged man; it was none other than the Long Family patriarch.
He was appraising Han Li in an expressionless manner from above, and Han Li calmly rose to his feet before cupping his fist in a salute. "Greetings, Brother Long."
"I heard that you had progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage, and I had thought that was just a rumor. However, it seems that you really made another breakthrough, Fellow Daoist Han. Your rate of progression may not be unmatched by anyone of the past or the future, but there's certainly no one in the entire human race who can currently compare with you," the Long Family Patriarch said in a slightly awestruck manner.
"You're far too kind, Brother Long; I'm sure you haven't come out to see me just to discuss my cultivation progression, right?" Han Li said in an indifferent manner.
The Long Family patriarch's lips twitched slightly as he replied, "Of course not, but I think the purpose for your visit is already quite apparent. You've progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage, so you've clearly already decided to come with us on our journey to the Elder Devil Race."
"Indeed, I've decided to join you on this journey, but that's not the main purpose for my visit; I would like to propose an exchange with you, Brother Long," Han Li said as he crossed his arms in a calm manner.
The Long Family patriarch faltered slightly upon hearing this before a curious look appeared in his eyes. "Oh? What's the exchange?"
"I heard that your Long Family is able to refine a type of pill known as the Dragon Spirit Pill using Dragon True Spirit Blood as the main ingredient, and that this pill is rather useful for breaking through Body Integration Stage bottlenecks. Also, I've heard that your family seems to have replicated the legendary Giant Atlas Ark," Han Li replied without giving a direct response.
"That is indeed the case. Are you interested in those two items, Fellow Daoist? That's a pity for you, then, because there's no way I would offer those two items for exchange," the Long Family patriarch chuckled coldly.
"Why speak in such absolute terms, Brother Long? There is nothing in this world that can't be exchanged; it's all about whether I can offer you something that'll be sufficiently tempting to you," Han Li chuckled in a confident manner.
The Long Family patriarch's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged. "Oh? You sound very confident, Fellow Daoist."
Han Li smiled, and continued, "I heard that you've been held back by a late-Body Integration Stage bottleneck for tens of thousands of years already; would you be interested in something that can help you break through that bottleneck?"
The Long Family patriarch was stunned to hear this, but he quickly regained his composure, and said, "I would indeed be interested in something like that, but that'll depend on what it is. If the effects are very minimal, then it won't be very useful to me."
"Why don't you take a look at this, Fellow Daoist Long?" Han Li smiled as he swept a sleeve through the air, sending a thumb-sized jade vial flying directly toward the Long Family patriarch.
The Long Family patriarch's eyes narrowed slightly as he drew the small vial into his grasp, and his expression changed slightly as soon as he injected his spiritual sense into the vial. An incredulous look appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly removed the lid on the vial before bringing its opening to his nose to inhale the scent of its contents.
"Is this Celestial River Silver Elixir? No, not quite; it seems to be something even more potent. It's rather similar to High Zenith Immortal Elixir, but the color is a little different." The Long Family patriarch's wooden expression had completely been replaced by elation at this point.
"How is it? I'm sure this Divine Infernal River Elixir will be of assistance to you, right, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li wasn't surprised at all to see this.
The Long Family patriarch's expression quickly returned to normal, and he said in a contemplative manner, "So this elixir is known as Divine Infernal River Elixir? I've never heard of it. This elixir will indeed be able to assist me in breaking through my bottleneck, but surely you have more than just a few drops, right? Otherwise, it will still be of no use to me."
Han Li smiled as he flipped a hand over to produce a small white vial, then replied, "Of course, I have an entire vial of this elixir, but I want to exchange it for a vial of Dragon Spirit Pills and a Giant Atlas Ark."
"You're asking for far too much, Fellow Daoist! Our Long Family's Dragon Spirit Pills are indeed somewhat inferior to this elixir, but it definitely won't be by much. On top of that, you're asking for a Giant Atlas Ark as well; don't you think that's a bit too unfair?" A cold light flashed through the Long Family patriarch's eyes as he spoke.
"I'm aware of this, but there's an important difference between this elixir and Dragon Spirit Pills; this vial of Divine Infernal River Elixir is the only one in the entire human race. I've already consumed the rest of the elixir, and that's how I was able to make another breakthrough so quickly. In fact, it's hard to say whether a second vial of this elixir exists even on the entire Tian Yuan Continent. In contrast, your Long Family can continue to refine Dragon Spirit Pills indefinitely. If you miss out on this vial of elixir, I can assure you that you won't see another vial of this elixir during your lifetime. As for those Dragon Spirit Pills, your Long Family proclaims that it's not for sale, but some of those pills have found their way out of your Long Family through one avenue or another; if I spend some time to search for them, there's a good chance that I'll be able to track some down," Han Li said with a faint smile.
"Hmph, your spiel may work on others, but it's not going to work on me. No matter what you say, there's no way I'll agree to this exchange," the Long Family patriarch harrumphed coldly without displaying any willingness to back down.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but his expression then quickly reverted back to normal. "In that case, just pretend I never offered this exchange in the first place; you can keep those drops of elixir as a gift from me."
Han Li and cupped his fist in a salute as he spoke, and spiritual light flashed from his body as he turned to leave.
The Long Family patriarch's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and immediately called out, "Hold on!"
"Have you changed your mind, Brother Long?" Han Li turned around with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Hmph, there's no need for beings like you and I to play these immature games. Your Divine Infernal River Elixir is indeed extremely useful to me, but the exchange you've proposed is too unreasonable. If you want to exchange this elixir for my Dragon Spirit Pills and a Giant Atlas Ark, you have to hand over another item or a huge sum of spirit stones as well; that second item can be of a slightly lower value than the Giant Atlas Ark," the Long Family patriarch said in a cold voice.
"Alright, I can consider this condition. How about this? Aside from the Divine Infernal River Elixir, I'll throw in a batch of materials worth over 100,000,000 spirit stones for a Giant Atlas Ark; what do you think?" Han Li proposed as he stroked his chin.
"Materials worth 100,000,000 spirit stones? What kind of materials are these?" the Long Family patriarch asked as his lips twitched slightly.
"I have a list here for you to inspect, Brother Long," Han Li said in a confident manner, then swept a sleeve through the air to send a jade slip flying through the air as a white ball of light.
"You sure came prepared, Fellow Daoist Han," the Long Family patriarch could only sigh in a resigned manner before drawing the jade slip into his grasp.
After only briefly inspecting the contents of the jade slip with his spiritual sense, a stunned look appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face.
"What do you think of those materials, Brother Long? Those are all items that your Long Family require, right?" Han Li asked in a meaningful voice.
The Long Family patriarch was silent for a long while before he finally said with a peculiar look on his face, "To think that you were able to source these items that several major powers desperately need; it looks like you've had your sights set on our Long Family's Giant Atlas Ark for a long time. Otherwise, there's no way you would have gathered all these materials in a short time; these items can't even be purchased with spirit stones at this point in time. Very well, it seems that this is not an unfair exchange, so I'll accept it."
"You've definitely made a wise decision, Brother Long; this is a mutually beneficial exchange." An elated smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he brought his hands together in front of his own chest before separating them to reveal an azure bracelet and the white jade vial again.
However, he didn't immediately toss the items over to the Long Family patriarch. Instead, he merely looked up at him in an expectant manner.
The Long Family patriarch was naturally aware of his intentions, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air to summon two balls of spiritual light, one golden and one black.
These were none other than a golden vial, and a glossy black miniature ark.
There wasn't anything remarkable about the golden vial aside from a few leaf-like patterns engraved onto its surface, but the miniature ark, which was only several inches in length, was intricate beyond belief.
Not only was the surface of the ark as black as ink, the ark was a three-mast barquentine with a cabin that had as many as five levels. Furthermore, there were countless colorful formations engraved onto the surface of the ark that were far too miniature to be visible to the naked eye, but they were clearly extremely profound.
The Long Family patriarch flicked his wrist, and the two items were tossed toward Han Li.
Han Li's eyes immediately lit up, and he also tossed his jade vial and storage bracelet upward without any hesitation, then drew the two items descending toward him into his grasp.
He removed the lid of the golden vial and slowly swept his spiritual sense over each and every crimson pill within the vial, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face.
With this vial of pills that were vastly renowned in the entire human race, he had increased his chances of making a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage by 5%. He then turned his gaze toward the miniature black ark.
"So this is the Giant Atlas Ark, eh? It does indeed look quite extraordinary, but I'll have to examine its powers."
Thus, Han Li tossed the miniature ark into the air before pointing a finger toward it.
