A quarter of an hour later, Han Li walked out of Star Dust Pavilion without a care in the world.
He glanced back at the towering building, a hint of a mysterious smile playing on his lips, then strode away.
Now, inside Han Li's storage pouch, the "Red-Line Escape Light Needles" and the jade slip containing the pill recipe rested quietly.
Not long ago, after casually inquiring about the price of a thousand-year spirit herb from the girl, he hadn't produced any spiritual grass for her to see. Instead, he had taken out two "Eternal Youth Pills" containing ingredients from a thousand-year spirit herb and presented them to the girl.
Han Li remembered it vividly. The originally extremely cold girl, once she understood the miraculous youth-preserving effect of the "Eternal Youth Pills," immediately displayed a feverish excitement. That starkly contrasting change in expression had startled him quite a bit.
Subsequently, the girl quickly summoned an alchemist from Star Dust Pillar, having her personally appraise this pill that was widely rumored but rarely ever refined.
The result confirmed that these two pills were indeed "Eternal Youth Pills" and truly possessed miraculous youth-preserving effects. Immediately afterward, the girl, in a state of extreme tension, called up Madam Lan from the fifth floor.
After a brief whispered exchange between the two women, Han Li exchanged for the pill recipe and the magical tool at the cost of two Eternal Youth Pills plus one thousand spirit stones.
Thinking back on it now, Han Li still found it a bit amusing.
Being able to preserve one's appearance forever was indeed an irresistible temptation for women, one they couldn't withstand at all. Even a female cultivator as shrewd and deeply practiced as Madam Lan, upon hearing that Han Li had "Eternal Youth Pills," displayed the same fervent gaze as the girl. This gave Han Li a thorough understanding of how much women cared about their own appearance.
However, this also meant the selling price of the Eternal Youth Pills far exceeded his expectations.
He had originally thought they might be worth at most two thousand spirit stones, but the two women's opening offer left Han Li greatly satisfied. Naturally, he wouldn't be ungrateful enough to haggle further. It seemed lucky that the proprietors here were two women; if they had been men, they might have offered Han Li only a few hundred spirit stones at best.
After the transaction, Madam Lan, somewhat sobered from her frenzy, finally couldn't resist asking about the origin of the pills. Han Li brushed it off with a casual "obtained by chance."
When Han Li left Star Dust Pavilion, he felt a twinge of reluctance.
He knew that given how easily Star Dust Pavilion had produced items as rare as the "Red-Line Escape Light Needles" and the pill recipe, they must possess even more precious things. But unfortunately, he really couldn't produce any more pills or spirit herbs to trade. Otherwise, the consequences of revealing his wealth were something Han Li didn't need to think twice about to know how dangerous they would be.
Harboring this sense of regret, Han Li found an inn catering to cultivators within the market district and settled in.
For the remaining time, he began refining qi and meditating, preparing to visit Shopkeeper Xu the next day to have him forge the magical tool.
The next morning, Han Li arrived at the weapon-forging shop as promised.
Shopkeeper Xu had been waiting for a long time. As soon as he saw Han Li enter, he excitedly beckoned him toward the backyard. Han Li smiled faintly and went in...
...
More than half a month later, Han Li finally emerged from the shop.
However, contrary to his demeanor when he entered, his face was now filled with gloom, as if his mood were extremely poor.
Behind him, Shopkeeper Xu followed out, his face full of shame, and kept mumbling something behind Han Li.
Han Li let out a long breath, and his mood seemed to improve slightly. He then spoke a few words to Shopkeeper Xu in a kind tone before slowly heading out of the market district, leaving behind the bewildered old man.
Not long after, Han Li left the protective barrier of the market district and flew directly on his magic tool toward Xin Ruyin's nameless little mountain.
Standing on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li's expression turned gloomy again, all due to the repeated failures in forging over the past half-month.
He had greatly overestimated Shopkeeper Xu's forging skills, causing most of those precious materials to be ruined before finally producing just one set of magical tools. And the mantis demonic beast materials, which he valued the most, were completely destroyed during the forging process.
This left Han Li feeling incredibly regretful afterward, almost giving him the impulse to unleash a magical tool and strike Shopkeeper Xu hard.
However, seeing the old man's own deep shame, he ultimately let it go. He even said a few comforting words in a kind tone before leaving.
Sighing at this thought, Han Li patted his storage pouch, and five pure white flying knives flew out, circling erratically around him.
Seeing this complete set of magical tools forged from the white spider's legs, Han Li's mood improved slightly.
Although three more legs had been ruined during forging, and the battle armor he had envisioned made from the spider's shell had also fallen through, at least they hadn't been completely destroyed like the giant mantis's materials. This could be considered a blessing in disguise! Han Li could only smile bitterly at this thought.