Chapter 161 Marketplace
After several sleepless nights of torment, Han Li, torn between the prudent choice of self-preservation but forever losing the opportunity for immortality and the daring gamble for success in Foundation Establishment despite the risks, gradually leaned towards the latter.
After all, he was unwilling to live his life in mediocrity!
However, being naturally cautious, before making a decision, Han Li made a trip to the Yueguo Palace.
From the greedy old man, he once again confirmed that there would be no spiritual herbs outside the forbidden areas and the gruesome reality of the Blood Prohibition Trial.
This made him completely abandon any thoughts of luck.
Since he understood that there was no turning back, Han Li finally made up his mind and decided to participate in the Blood Prohibition Trial and take a gamble.
If he couldn't succeed in finding spiritual herbs and achieving Foundation Establishment, then he would perish in the struggle for the forbidden land!
With a clear goal of life and death, Han Li began to prepare for the journey into the forbidden land half a year later. In this short time, he needed to strengthen his strength to increase his chances of survival.
Breaking through to the eleventh layer of Changchun Gong without the assistance of pills was impossible. If he wanted to enhance his strength, his only option was to learn more new spells and purchase powerful talismans and magical instruments.
Learning new spells wasn't too difficult to arrange.
He could ask Senior Brother Wu for guidance, and he wouldn't refuse.
However, given his aptitude, he could only learn a few more basic intermediate-level spells in this half a year, or barely master one intermediate-level spell.
High-level spells were out of the question.
Therefore, the fastest way to improve his strength was through talismans and magical instruments.
Speaking of magical instruments, Han Li did have some now. Aside from the ring and the small flag given by Senior Brother Ye, the two items he harvested from the two men in yellow were still usable: the long knife that could transform into a rope and the gourd that could automatically attack.
As for the items he received when he first joined, like the Flaming Sword and the Frosty Moon Saber, they were just the lowest-grade magical instruments attached with some fire and frost attacks, barely useful in significant battles.
In terms of talismans, Han Li was originally lacking. But thanks to Senior Brother Ye, who kept many things from him, aside from withholding some talismans, he gave Han Li more than a dozen intermediate-level talismans and two rare high-level talismans, giving him much-needed confidence.
Additionally, there was the talisman with a small sword drawn on it that Han Li hadn't figured out yet.
The two men in yellow he killed once called it a treasure talisman, indicating its significant origin.
However, as stolen goods, Han Li had never dared to let others know about this talisman, only secretly pondering over its meaning, waiting for a suitable opportunity to inquire about its significance.
Of course, faced with the terrifying Blood Prohibition Trial, these items alone were not enough. So Han Li planned to leave the sect and go to the nearby marketplace to purchase some top-grade magical instruments and talismans.
However, without a large amount of spirit stones as backing, this purchasing trip would definitely not be satisfactory.
Although Han Li could barely afford these spirit stones with his current wealth, these spirit stones were also important props for survival and enduring battles in the forbidden land in the future, which made him reluctant to part with them.
After careful consideration, Han Li decided to cultivate a few rare herbs over the short term to exchange for spirit stones or simply trade them directly.
In fact, concocting the Calming Pill would be a better choice, with potentially greater value. However, the materials needed for the Calming Pill were too numerous, and it was impossible to gather them in time, so he had to directly trade the herbs.
But in order to avoid attracting the attention of others in the sect, Han Li secretly decided that he would only sell the cultivated herbs to foreign cultivators, never directly trading with fellow sect members, to avoid arousing the attention of those with ill intentions.
With a plan in mind, Han Li began to busy himself.
He first selected the most practical "Concealment Technique" among the many basic spells from Senior Brother Wu.
This was a middle-grade spell that could completely counter the Eye Technique.
As long as it was cast without being seen by the opponent, it could completely conceal one's own spiritual energy and hide oneself.
Of course, this spell would definitely not have any effect on cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage. It was only a means of confrontation between high-level Qi Condensation cultivators, much more practical than the Concealment Technique.
However, the reason Han Li didn't choose other offensive or defensive spells was entirely based on his own combat experience.
Because in the only battle he had with other cultivators, he found that the opportunity to formally cast intermediate-level spells was too rare.
Instead, more often, it relied on quickly launching attacks or defenses using lower-level spells, magical instruments, talismans, and other means.
Therefore, if one wanted to use intermediate-level spells or above in combat, using talismans would be more practical.
Of course, if there were companions to help secure casting time, that would be another matter.
After receiving the cultivation mantra for this spell and inquiring about the secrets of cultivating it from Senior Brother Wu, Han Li began to practice it wholeheartedly.
However, as a middle-grade spell, the Concealment Technique was completely different from auxiliary spells like the Wind Concealment Technique and the Concealment Technique he had learned before.
It was extremely difficult and challenging to cultivate, and mastering it completely within half a year was indeed a considerable challenge.
So, during the day, Han Li diligently practiced the Concealment Technique, and at night, he collected the green liquid and focused on cultivating several commonly used spiritual herbs.
Moreover, to prevent Master Ma from discovering these herbs, he deliberately staggered the time when the other party came to collect the herbs and transplanted them to a very remote corner of the herb garden.
After all, herbs that had been cultivated for over a thousand years emitted a slightly different medicinal fragrance.
But fortunately, Master Ma was always so punctual in coming to collect things, neither early nor late.
He always came in a hurry and left in a hurry, as if he were always busy with something, and Han Li had no interest in knowing what he was doing.
For him, it was best if Master Ma kept busy like this, so as not to interfere with his actions and let him complete his plan to cultivate herbs.
When Han Li initially mastered the Concealment Technique, more than four months had passed.
And he finally cultivated two thousand-year-old spiritual herbs. In today's cultivation world where even hundred-year-old herbs were hard to come by, they would surely bring a small surprise to the marketplace of Huangfeng Valley.
Han Li obtained a token to leave the sect from the familiar steward at Baiji Hall and left the sect.
In fact, disciples of Huangfeng Valley could go out once a year, but as cultivators, no one would waste time going out, so the number of disciples who actually applied to go out was very few.
Han Li flew out of the sect's array and headed northeast towards the marketplace.
Speaking of which, the marketplace of Huangfeng Valley was quite famous and
much more prosperous than the marketplaces of other sects.
This was because the Taiyue Mountains were adjacent to Jianzhou, where the Yuanwu Kingdom was located, and the cultivation world of the Yuanwu Kingdom was not in a hostile relationship with the cultivation world of Yueguo.
Therefore, cultivators from the Yuanwu Kingdom often came here to trade goods, bringing many special items that Yueguo did not have.
This unexpected surprise attracted many casual cultivators and cultivation families to come here.
The marketplace was located on the northeastern edge of the Taiyue Mountains, so after flying for most of the day, Han Li arrived at his destination.
After landing nearby, Han Li did not rush over immediately. Instead, he changed into a gray cloth shirt, concealed all the items that could be seen as belonging to a disciple of Huangfeng Valley, and made himself look like an ordinary cultivator before heading towards the marketplace.
According to the rules of the cultivation world, cultivators were not allowed to fly in the air within five miles of the marketplace, so Han Li encountered many pedestrians on his way, some of whom were dressed very strangely, making him suspect that they were cultivators from the Yuanwu Kingdom.
It seemed that the popularity of this marketplace was quite good.
As Han Li was pondering this, he arrived at the intersection of the marketplace.