Among Nascent Soul-cultivators, there were only a few that still had an interest in refining puppets and odd treasures. As such, Han Li only had to compete with four people over the item, and managed to win the bid for a hundred seventy thousand spirit stones, much to his delight.
The white silhouette continued to auction more items and two of them also caught his interest, resulting in him buying one at a hundred-ninety thousand and the other at three hundred ten thousand spirit stones. Since the last item was a particularly famous treasure, there was no choice but to furiously bid over it with the others, resulting in its extremely high price.
These few items had consumed a small majority of the spirit stones in his bag. Fortunately, he was relieved to find that no more of his required materials had made an appearance.
When the last item was sold off and the storage pouches on the jade table were finally empty, the auctioneer appeared rather pleased by the result. “The auction for our items is concluded. Fellow Daoists may now trade of their own accord, but I will get the ugly talk out of the way first. Because these are unmonitored trades, we are not responsible for fake items or poor judgment. We only serve to provide the location and will not interfere with your matters so long as you don’t violate our rules. And in accordance with our rules, if you wish to exchange any number of your items, you are required to give us ten thousand spirit stones at the end. Now then, you may all do as you please.”
With those few words, he quickly blurred to the side and sat down cross-legged, appearing to enter meditation.
Unsurprisingly, several people from the crowd suddenly blurred and rushed to the stage in streaks of light. However, one red streak was clearly faster and was the first to arrive behind the table. The silhouette of red light then quickly cupped his hands in a salute and said in a cheerful tone, “Thank you for letting me go first. Your turn will come.”
When the other masses of light saw this, they had no choice but to return to their seat.
Han Li smiled when he saw this. Those who went first to exchange their goods would be in a more convenient position as it would prevent others from acquiring what they needed. Of course, this only applied to more common items. There were many materials that were particularly obscure or weren’t heavily desired. As such, a vast majority of cultivators wouldn’t fight over the right to trade first.
Since the materials Han Li lacked were more obscure, he wasn't in a hurry.
The red silhouette then took out many rare materials and wanted to trade them exclusively for pill refinement. A moment later, he managed to exchange a large number of said materials and left the stage with a satisfied strut.
The following traders had also experienced smooth proceedings and appeared to have gained quite a bit.
However, there was a yellow silhouette that was trying to sell a sparkling blue metal for an ice attribute material that Han Li hadn’t heard of before. He asked three times, but there was no one that would accept the offer and he could only walk back dejectedly.
Cultivators like this one gradually appeared in greater number down the line, and eventually several tens of people went up on stage with most of them ending up empty-handed.
It wasn’t that the items weren’t valuable, but that many felt that the terms of trade were unfavorable or were uninterested. It was clear to see that rarer item weren’t always easier to trade.
Of course, there were also cultivators that desired the materials, but didn’t have the needed items to trade for it. They would often negotiate through voice transmission but most were met with cold rejection. Only a sparse few succeeded, one of which included Han Li.
In his case, it was quite simple. He exchanged several rare thousand-year old spirit herbs and a few high-grade demon cores for a material that he required. Although one might be able to occasionally find one or two of these at a market, they’d never be able to gather such a large quantity in a single instance. As such, the cultivator had agreed to the trade with only slight hesitation.
In addition to this, Han Li managed to trade for two more required puppet materials with some items in his reserve. Now, he was only missing the two rarest materials. However, they were so incredibly scarce, he reckoned that ordinary eccentrics wouldn’t use them to trade.
Monarch Soul Divergence spoke to Han Li, “Youngster Han, what do you plan on taking out? If they aren’t of high enough quality, I fear that they won’t be traded for.
“I’ve already thought about it. Since a majority of the cultivators here are from the Devil Dao, don’t I already possess their most sought after material?”
“Really, you’re willing to part with it?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked with amazement.
“There is nothing I can do if they don’t wish to part with them, but now that we’ve gathered everything except for the last two pieces, I can’t have my efforts be in vain. If Senior’s puppet is truly as formidable as you say, it is worth at least this much.” Han Li chuckled and then glanced around the room.
When a dismayed cultivator backed down from the stage without managing a single trade, Han Li calmly stepped forward and arrived behind the table.
The cultivators in the hall turned their sights on him, wishing to see what rare wonders he would take out.
With a twist of his hand, he produced two exquisite jade boxes, but he wasn’t in a rush to open them. He glanced around the hall and spoke with a changed, hoarse voice, “This is a refinement material for precious Devil Dao treasures, two Devil Essence Diamonds[1]. I will exchange them for Elemental Jade and Brilliant Glow Gem.” With that said, he flicked his hand and the boxes all began to open, revealing dim black gems that were several inches large and released a faint black Qi.
[1] Han Li collected four of them in the Heavenly South when he dived into the depth of devilish Qi below the giant whirlpool. Chapter 878.
“Devil Essence Diamonds! The material used to refine Devil Dragon Blades? Did I hear correctly?”
“Impossible, how could such an item appear in this world?”
“Is it true?”
After Han Li finished speaking, an uproar surged through the hall. Many cultivators had shouted out in alarm.
The white silhouette that had been meditating since the beginning suddenly opened his eyes in amazement, staring at the two Devil Essence Diamonds in front of Han Li.
“To tell the truth, I wouldn’t be trading these items if I were a Devil Dao cultivator. As for whether it is genuine, if you are able to produce the items I require, I will allow you to carefully inspect them.”
Han Li’s confident tone had silenced the doubtful, and all of them quietly looked at the Devil Essence Diamonds with various expressions.
Elemental Jade and Brilliant Glow Gems were rarely ever seen in this world, but they were less valuable than the diamonds and made the trade quite tempting.
Greatly against everyone’s expectations, the master of the trade meet — the white silhouette — suddenly said, “I do have a Brilliant Glow Gem, but because it was too precious, I didn’t take it out for sale. If I have someone fetch this item, will you let me inspect the Devil Essence Diamond?”
Han Li’s face wore an astonished appearance, but he immediately said, “I have no reason to doubt you. You can inspect them.”
The white silhouette nodded and sent off a streak of fiery light, disappearing through the ceiling of the room. Then, he slowly stood up and walked over to Han Li.
When the other cultivators heard their conversation, there was another unrest, but this time not much was said. Since the white silhouette was sent to be in charge of the trade fair, he was certain to be vastly experienced. Everyone in the hall looked over with wide eyes to see what he would determine.
As if in a display of familiarity, the white silhouette nimbly took the Devil Essence Diamond into his hand and spit out a thread of white Nascent flame. When the flames made contact with the diamond’s black Qi, the flame was thoroughly blocked from approaching.
Excitement appeared on the his face and he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture, recalling the Nascent flame and spitting out a ball of blue glacial Qi. The Qi covered the diamond, but it wasn’t able to freeze it.
The white silhouette’s gaze flickered and he raised his finger to it, pouring in a stream of black devilish Qi into it. As a result, the Qi was completely absorbed and the diamond showed no reaction.
“It’s true, a genuine Devil Essence Diamond! I want it.” As soon as he said this, a masked cultivator wearing grey robes suddenly appeared ten meters away.
He saluted the white silhouette and handed over a jade box before disappearing from sight.
