bookbashuk Chapter 5 First Encounter with Han Li in Tainan Valley
Chapter 5 First Encounter with Han Li in Tainan Valley
Time flies, and six years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Inside Tainan Valley, the annual Tainan Small Conference is in full swing.
Cultivators could be seen coming and going everywhere in the valley, and the shouts of vendors and the conversations among cultivators rose and fell incessantly.
Behind a small stall with cloth casually spread out by the roadside, a handsome young man dressed in black sat on the ground, holding a book in his hands, reading it very intently.
Unlike the other stall owners around him who stood up to solicit customers and shouted loudly, he was completely out of place in the bustling and noisy valley.
This person is none other than Mu Chunfeng.
The other stall owner next to him was a pretty young woman with a shy and bashful air about her, who was earnestly introducing the items on her stall to passersby and occasionally chatting softly to answer their questions.
Having finally gotten a moment's respite, the girl turned to look at Mu Chunfeng, who remained motionless to the side, and gently scolded, "Brother Mu, several customers stopped to look at your talismans just now, why didn't you even say hello? How are you going to sell anything like this?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Chunfeng's gaze remained fixed on the pages of the book. He slowly said, "If you look at something but don't buy it, it means it doesn't suit your taste. If you really want to buy it, you will naturally ask me."
Upon hearing this, the girl couldn't help but sigh softly, rubbing her forehead.
She already considered herself a very incompetent seller because she was shy by nature and dared not shout loudly. She never expected that Brother Mu would be even more casual and undisciplined than her.
She didn't try to persuade her any further, and turned around to continue looking after her stall.
The girl's name is Han Yunzhi.
Mu Chunfeng's purpose in coming here was very clear: to stake out Han Li and make contact with the future Heavenly Venerable Han in advance, so as to see for himself what this famous Old Demon Han was really like.
As for which one is the real one? He was certain that as soon as the other party showed up, he would be able to tell at a glance based on his familiarity with the original plot.
After a while, a man and a woman walked up to Han Yunzhi's stall, bent down and picked out items. Han Yunzhi quickly stood up and introduced them softly.
Just then, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old slowly walked up to Mu Chunfeng's stall.
The young man had regular features and a handsome face. He wore simple clothes and carried a coarse cloth bundle on his back.
He crouched down, seemingly examining the talismans laid out on the ground, but Mu Chunfeng had already seen through him. In reality, the other man's gaze was constantly glancing at the book "Changchun Gong" placed to the side. He was just pretending to be casual to deceive others.
This little trick was nothing to Mu Chunfeng, who had dealt with Wanbaolou for many years and was used to all kinds of merchants' tricks. He didn't point it out, but thought to himself: This person will definitely ask about all the other items first, and only ask about this "Changchun Gong" at the end.
As expected, after asking about two low-level fireball talismans and several basic cultivation techniques, the young man finally picked up the "Eternal Spring Technique" and asked, "How much is this technique worth?"
Mu Chunfeng was slightly surprised: Could it be? This person is really Han Li? How is he even remotely handsome compared to the description in the original work? Not only is he not dark-skinned at all, but his handsome appearance is almost as striking as hers.
A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but his face remained impassive. He slowly closed the book in his hand, looked at the young man, and said calmly, "Two low-grade spirit stones."
"Spirit stones?" the young man muttered to himself, seemingly oblivious to the price, before calmly raising his eyes and asking, "Would it be possible to barter?"
Having arrived here, Mu Chunfeng was ninety percent certain that the person before him was Han Li.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the couple haggling with Han Yunzhi at her stall; they must be Senior Brother Lu and Chen Qiaoqian.
Mu Chunfeng withdrew her gaze and looked at Han Li, feigning hesitation as she asked, "Oh? What would you like to exchange for it?"
Han Li casually took out a medicine bottle and handed it over.
Mu Chunfeng uncorked the bottle and saw that the pills inside were of uniform yellow color, and a familiar medicinal fragrance wafted out. He immediately understood and said, "Yellow Dragon Pill, the quality is acceptable. One pill is worth two spirit stones, that's enough."
After saying that, he took only one pill and returned the medicine bottle to Han Li.
Han Li held the medicine bottle in one hand and the "Eternal Spring Technique" in the other. He was slightly taken aback and thought to himself: "A single Yellow Dragon Pill is actually worth two low-grade spirit stones?"
Just then, the man in front of Han Yunzhi's stall suddenly started shouting, attracting the surrounding cultivators to gather around.
Mu Chunfeng and Han Li also glanced over and saw several people arguing over a fragment of a magical artifact. Han Yunzhi blushed and kept explaining, but the man was being unreasonable and kept trying to lower the price, clearly trying to force a sale.
Han Li looked at the fragment, a barely perceptible glint in his eyes.
The people around him joined in the bidding, but no one actually made a move. Only the man remained, trying to force Han Yunzhi to agree to a very low price.
Just then, Han Li slowly stepped forward and said calmly, "Two bottles of essence pills in exchange for this fragment of your magic weapon."
Han Yunzhi timidly looked up at him: "You...you mustn't lie to me."
Without saying a word, Han Li handed over the two bottles of pills.
Upon seeing this, the man beside him immediately fixed Han Li with a hostile gaze.
Mu Chunfeng knew in her heart that the man must be her senior brother Lu Mingyuan, and the woman beside him was naturally Chen Qiaoqian.
He simply crossed his arms and watched quietly, showing no intention of getting involved.
After carefully examining the pill, Han Yunzhi's face lit up with joy, and she quickly said, "Deal!" She then handed the fragment of the magic weapon to Han Li.
Han Li packed his things and turned to leave.
But as soon as he took a step, Senior Brother Lu shouted angrily from behind: "You brat, stop right there!" Seeing that a conflict was about to break out, the surrounding cultivators quickly moved aside.
Han Li slowly turned around, looked at Senior Brother Lu, and said without changing his expression, "Fellow Daoist, what brings you here?"
Senior Brother Lu rubbed his hands together, his tone full of hostility: "Why did you have to ruin my deal out of the blue?"
Han Li calmly replied, "But this is a fair trade for me."
"I don't care about any of that!"
Senior Brother Lu's expression grew increasingly fierce. A flash of spiritual light appeared in his hand, and his wind-attribute magic was already circulating. He was about to make a move.
Seeing Lu Mingyuan's aggressive demeanor, Han Li frowned slightly, his aura shifted, and he already harbored some killing intent.
Just then, Chen Qiaoqian quickly stepped forward and pulled Lu Shixiong back, offering him some kind words of advice. He managed to suppress his anger, but still uttered a harsh threat to Han Li: "You just wait, I'll never forgive you next time!" With that, he angrily turned and left with Chen Qiaoqian.
Han Li breathed a slight sigh of relief and slowly left the crowd.
After watching this farce, Mu Chunfeng chuckled to himself: This Senior Brother Lu has personally triggered Old Demon Han's aging state; he's in for a rough time.
Two days later, the Seven Sects Ascension Conference was held as scheduled, and cultivators from all walks of life flocked to the Ascension Tower.
Mu Chunfeng followed the crowd through the gate and looked up to see representatives from the seven sects of Huangfeng Valley sitting on the upper floor. The woman at the head of the group stood up and walked to the front of the stage, saying in a loud voice, "Fellow Daoists, this Ascension Ceremony will be hosted by our Yanyue Sect."
She then began to read aloud the rules of the conference.
Mu Chunfeng glanced at Nangong Wan on the upper floor. Her face was covered by a light veil, so he couldn't see her features clearly. He didn't dare to use his double pupils to spy on her in public, as he might be discovered and something unexpected could happen.
His gaze then shifted downwards, sweeping over the densely packed cultivators in the arena. Apart from Senior Brother Lu, Chen Qiaoqian, Han Li, and Han Yunzhi, he didn't recognize any of the others.
A moment later, the rules were read out, and the cultivators in the arena rushed forward, scrambling for the spirit-testing orbs on the platform.
Mu Chunfeng stood quietly at the back of the crowd, watching until nearly half of the people had finished their tests. Then, she used her Wind Control Technique to dash out like a wisp of smoke, and seized the Spirit Testing Orb in her hand while the person in front of her had just finished their test.
Two rogue cultivators at the eleventh level of Qi Refining immediately caught up from behind him, wanting to snatch it.
Mu Chunfeng patted his storage bag with his other hand, and a stack of talismans suddenly appeared in his hand, numbering more than twenty at a glance.
He held the talisman in his hand, ready to activate it and throw it out. The two people had just flown into the air when they saw what he was holding. They were so frightened that their faces changed, and they quickly withdrew and retreated.
Almost simultaneously, a clear and melodious female voice rang out from the attic: "Metal, Fire, and Wood spiritual roots, passed."
Upon hearing this, Mu Chunfeng casually tossed the spirit-testing ball back onto the stage, put away the talisman, and with a sway of his body, slowly retreated back into the crowd.
Whispers immediately arose from the surroundings: "Is this person a scion of some immortal cultivation family? He threw out more than twenty mid-level talismans in one go, that's quite a generous gesture."
What Mu Chunfeng just took out were more than twenty beginner-level mid-grade Fire Cloud Talismans.
Over the past six years, his cultivation has steadily improved, and his talisman-making skills have also risen accordingly. He can now barely draw one or two high-level talismans.
Although most of the finished products were given to Wanbaolou in exchange for the pills and resources needed for cultivation, he also accumulated a considerable amount of wealth to protect his life.
Now, he is a genuine rogue cultivator at the eleventh level of Qi Refining.
He also carried a top-tier magic artifact. Although he hadn't saved up many spirit stones and had almost none left, he had prepared plenty of life-saving talismans and pills.
Mu Chunfeng retreated back into the crowd, looking at the cultivators on the stage who were still fighting tooth and nail for the spirit-testing ball, and couldn't help but sigh slightly.
The path of independent cultivators is extremely difficult. Some people have qualified spiritual roots, but because of their poor cultivation, they can't even get a spirit testing ball or the qualification to register.
Time passed slowly, and after the last person finished testing, the person in charge on the stage immediately announced loudly that the registration process was over and the Ascension Tournament arena competition was officially beginning.