Han Li stared at the pill formula spread before him, furrowing his brow in speechless bewilderment.
It was now noon on Han Li's second day at Yanling Fortress.
After a morning of heated discussion among the newly arrived cultivators, the dozen-odd practitioners from various sects inside the room had begun to trade with one another. Each person took turns naming the items they needed and what they were willing to offer in exchange, checking whether any of the other cultivators present were interested.
Even at such a small trading gathering, a few cultivators did produce some genuinely impressive goods.
For instance, a woman surnamed Fang from Heavenly Fortress brought out a piece of Heavenly Flow Stone — the premier material for refining top-grade earth-attribute magical artifacts. Even some earth-attribute magic treasures with modest requirements could be crafted using this material.
A newly arrived cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain produced a first-tier high-grade beast egg — a Wind Howl Eagle. Once hatched, it would make an excellent companion for a cultivator, whether for scouting or searching for objects.
The items others brought out, while not as dazzling as these two, were still rare raw materials seldom found in ordinary marketplaces.
Among them, Han Li actually managed to find a medicinal herb needed for refining Gathering Spirit Pill, which came as a pleasant surprise. In his excitement, he spent seven or eight low-grade talismans to acquire it. The herb was, of course, insufficient in maturity and would need to be cultivated further once he got back. But even so, both parties left the trade beaming with satisfaction.
When it was Han Li's turn to speak, he bluntly announced that he had a number of low-grade high-quality talismans available for exchange. He named the remaining two medicinal ingredients he still needed for pill-refining one by one, and after a moment's hesitation, added that pill formulas of any kind were also welcome.
Since these were ingredients from an ancient formula, and Han Li had been unable to gather them all at either Yellow Maple Valley or Celestial Star Sect's marketplace, they were clearly not common items. Most of the other cultivators had never even heard of the materials Han Li listed, and even the one or two who had vaguely heard of them didn't possess any. As for pill formulas, these cultivators certainly weren't about to trade them for a few talismans — they all knew Han Li was only making a casual remark.
Seeing that despite everything he'd said, no one stepped forward to trade, Han Li realized there was no hope. Disappointed, he was about to sit back down. But then, quite unexpectedly, someone suddenly spoke up: "Any pill formula at all? I happen to have one here. It's a bit peculiar, though — take a look and tell me how many talismans you'd offer for it."
Han Li's heart leaped with joy. Without a moment's hesitation, he replied: "Of course — as long as it's a pill formula, I'm willing to make the exchange."
Only after speaking did he notice that the person offering the formula was Wuyouzi, that rather aloof Daoist priest.
Upon hearing Han Li's words, Wuyouzi's face broke into a rare flicker of a smile. He then tossed a green jade slip to Han Li. The other cultivators, seeing someone actually bringing a pill formula to trade for talismans, broke into hushed whispers, their faces showing expressions of disbelief.
Wuyouzi's senior martial brother, Wufazi, turned a blind eye to the whole affair and simply closed his eyes to rest.
Han Li caught the jade slip and gave it a brief scan. He immediately understood why the man was willing to trade it.
It was another ancient formula — one specifically used by ancient cultivators to nurture spirit beasts: the Spirit Beast Feed Pill. According to the formula, this pill was not only highly favored by most magical beasts, but prolonged consumption could actually help spirit beasts advance in rank. It was absolutely the finest medicine for cultivating spirit beasts.
Reading this, Han Li was startled. A pill formula of such tremendous value — why would this Daoist priest be willing to trade it? But when he examined the required refining ingredients further down, he understood at once and mocked himself silently for ever having doubted it. Now he knew perfectly well why the man had shown no reluctance to let it go.
The materials needed to refine the Spirit Beast Feed Pill were staggeringly rare for an ordinary cultivator. They were just as precious and hard to come by as the ingredients Han Li needed for his Qi Refining Powder.
Setting aside the difficulty of gathering the ingredients, even if someone could assemble all these rare herbs, who would actually waste them on making some "Spirit Beast Feed Pill"? Naturally they would keep them for their own use — advancing one's own magical power was far more worthwhile than spending it on a spirit beast.
"Benefactor, you did say any pill formula would do. You wouldn't go back on your word now, would you?" A cunning glint suddenly appeared on the gaunt Daoist's face, completely dispelling the dull, honest image he had presented to Han Li earlier. Han Li could only laugh bitterly at the sight.
And so, that was how the opening scene came to be.
Still, while this pill formula was useless to everyone else, its value to Han Li was obvious. There was no way he was going to let it slip through his fingers.