The words "Myriad Slave Tower" were emblazoned in large devilish text on the plaque, and it was the first time that Han Li had seen a place like this. Thus, after a brief hesitation, he made his toward it with an intrigued expression.
Upon entering the pagoda, he found himself in a grandiose hall. On either side of the hall were around a dozen devilish young women in silver palatial dresses, welcoming guests with elegant smiles.
At the center of the hall was a row of intricate jade tables and chairs, and there was a black-robed middle-aged man who was serving three guests with a few of the devilish young women.
Before Han Li even had a chance to inspect his surroundings, the middle-aged man caught sight of him and immediately rushed over to him after extending an apology to the other three guests.
"Greetings, Senior; is there anything I can do for you?" the middle-aged man asked in a respectful manner.
He was a Deity Transformation Stage devilish being, so he naturally didn't dare to give a powerful Spatial Tempering Stage being like Han Li the cold shoulder.
"What kind of establishment is this Myriad Slave Tower? I've never seen such a place anywhere else," Han Li asked.
"This must be your first time visiting Illusion Night City. Indeed, our Myriad Slave Tower is very rare as it specializes in selling slaves and devilish beasts," the middle-aged replied.
"Slaves and devilish beasts?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.
"Indeed. Those guests over there have come here to purchase some slaves; you can take a look as well if you're interested, Senior. As for devilish beasts, we only have some ordinary breeds, so you most likely wouldn't be interested in them," the middle-aged man introduced with a smile.
"In that case, I'll go take a look" Han Li replied with a nod.
"Great! Please come with me, Senior." The middle-aged man immediately gestured for one of the young women to bring the three other devilish beings over, then led them all to a simple teleportation formation at the corner of the pagoda.
The three guests were comprised of two handsome men and an elegant woman. They were only at the Nascent Soul Stage, but they were only appraising Han Li with curiosity rather than awe and veneration.
Han Li took a brief glance at them to find that a nondescript "Ning" character had been emblazoned on each of their sleeves.
Could they be from the Ning Family?
After everyone stepped onto the teleportation formation, the middle-aged man cast an incantation seal toward the edge of the formation, and they were all instantly teleported away.
In the next instant, they reappeared within a similar teleportation formation on a different level of the pagoda.
Han Li opened his eyes and immediately inspected his surroundings, upon which he discovered that there was a long and narrow bluestone passageway up ahead, situated between two stone walls with countless runes carved onto their surfaces, clearly indicating the presence of a restriction.
On the other side of the passageway were several large golden gates, in front of each of which stood two burly armored guards.
Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the guards, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
These guards were all humanoid puppets.
The middle-aged immediately led Han Li and the others out of the teleportation formation, then strode through the passageway and arrived at the nearest golden gate.
The two puppets in front of the gate seemed to have sensed their arrival, and they turned toward the group as they brandished their halberds, looking as if they would attack anyone who dared to approach them.
The middle-aged remained completely unflustered and flipped a hand over to produce a metal badge, then waved it forward while chanting a short and simple incantation.
The cold light within the puppets' eyes instantly faded, and they also set down their halberds again.
The three devilish beings from the Ning Family paid no heed to this, but Han Li carefully inspected the pair of puppets with blue light flashing through his eyes, then suddenly asked in an intrigued voice, "These puppets seem to even more powerful than the average Nascent Soul Stage being, but the refinement method used on them seems to be quite special. Did your pagoda refine these puppets yourselves or purchase them from elsewhere?"
According to the information that he had gathered about the Elder Devil Realm, these two puppets clearly hadn't been refined using any of the several types of common refinement techniques in the Elder Devil Realm. The refinement method and materials used were both very crude, but the puppets' powers belied the rough craftsmanship, and that was quite interesting to Han Li.
"Hehe, indeed, the refinement method used for these Devil Crystal Puppets was rather special. They can't be possessed and controlled by spiritual sense, but they can complete some simple tasks while being controlled by treasures prepared in advance. They were crafted using our pagoda's secret refinement technique that isn't sold anywhere else, but if you're interested, a deal isn't entirely non-negotiable," the middle-aged man replied with a smile.
"Devil Crystal Puppets, eh? I am indeed interested in them, but we'll discuss this later," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.
The middle-aged man was slightly disappointed to hear this, but he still maintained his smile as he replied, "Alright, then I'll be opening the gate now."
Immediately thereafter, he strode over to the golden gate before pressing the metal badge against it.
The golden gate opened on its own, and faint white light came spilling out from within.
The middle-aged then stepped away to the side and made an inviting hand gesture.
Even though the other three devilish beings were from the Ning Family, they didn't dare to disrespect a Spatial Tempering Stage being like Han Li, so they could wait for him to enter first.
Han Li gave a slight nod before making his way through the gate.
Beyond the gate were several formations of different sizes, which formed a series of cylindrical white light barriers, within which were trapped several tens of devilish men and women in different attire.
All of them had faint devilish patterns on their faces, clearly indicating restrictions had been placed on their bodies.
The ones with the highest cultivation bases among them were only at the Core Formation Stage, while the weakest ones were only at the Qi Condensation Stage.
The middle-aged man was about to start talking again, but Han Li interjected, "You can go now; I'll take a look here for myself."
The middle-aged man naturally didn't dare to speak any further upon hearing this. "In that case, I'll go and serve the other guests; please pardon me, Senior."
Thus, the middle-aged men made their way over to the people from the Ning Family. "Fellow daoists, if you'd like to buy some servants, then these ones should be ideal. They're Earth Yin beings from deep within the Illusion Howl Desert, and not only are they all adept in earth-attribute devilish arts, once they reach maturity, all of them become handsome men and beautiful women. Most importantly, these ones possess decent aptitude and could be nurtured to the Nascent Soul Stage with minimal effort. In fact, it's possible that they could even progress to the Deity Transformation Stage."
Han Li reflexively turned toward the Earth Yin beings upon hearing the term "Illusion Howl Desert", and there, he discovered eight disheveled young men and women who appeared to be around 13 to 14 years of age. They were all at the Foundation Establishment Stage, yet seemed to be quite feeble.
"Earth Yin beings? That's quite rare to see in this pagoda, but do they really possess aptitude that's as good as you proclaim?" a young man from the Ning Family with red scales on his face asked in a skeptical manner.
"Hehe, if you don't believe me, you're free to examine their bone age. Isn't it already sufficient testament to their aptitude that they were able to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage at such a young age?" the middle-aged replied in a confident manner.
"How do we know if your pagoda hasn't fed them some pills to tap into their latent potential?" the woman from the Ning Family asked with a smile.
A wry smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face as he replied, "Those types of pills are all quite expensive; we wouldn't use them on some slaves. Besides, there are always telltale signs that can be detected to indicate consumption of such pills; our pagoda wouldn't dare to risk offending your Ning Family over something like this. If you're interested in them, you can take them right away after issuing the required devil stones."
The three people from the Ning Family seemed to have been convinced, and they began to negotiate a price as opposed to continuing to linger on the topic of the Earth Yin beings' aptitude.
Around 15 minutes later, they finally arrived at an agreement, and the woman from the Ning Family issued a large sum of devil stones, then departed with the group of Earth Yin beings.
Following their departure, the middle-aged man made his way back to Han Li in a respectful manner. "Have any of these slaves caught your eye, Senior? If not, I can take you elsewhere; perhaps there will be some other slaves that are more to your liking."
"There's no need for that; I'm used to traveling alone anyway. Take me to see the Devil Crystal Puppets that your pagoda is selling," Han Li replied.
