Chapter 760
Snow Silkworm and Auric Essence
“Junior Brother! Follow me. I have something to discuss with you in private!” The large black-robed man waited for everyone to leave before expressionlessly saying this to Old Devil Cloud Dew. He then walked towards the side hall without looking back.
Old Devil Cloud Dew’s eyes flickered. After a moment of hesitation, he silently followed after the black-robed man as if he held great respect for him.
After the black-robed man and Old Devil Cloud Dew left, Master Sunreach solemnly said to the two of them, “Fellow Daoists Han and Bai, we can have a proper discussion. You two plan to take a look at what you want before deciding whether or not to participate in the battle. This humble Daoist can understand this. After all, this trip will be extremely dangerous. If you don’t receive a sufficient reward, no one will easily take the risk. However, regardless of whether or not the item is satisfactory to you two, this humble Daoist still hopes that you two will participate in this battle.”
Meanwhile, Wei Wuya stood at the side with his hands behind his back as he appraised the two of them with a calm expression.
Hearing Master Sunreach’s words, before Han Li could reply, the beautiful woman had already frowned and coldly replied, “I am a weak woman who is alone. Regardless of whether Moulan invades the Heavenly South Region or the Heavenly South Region invades Moulan, if you hadn’t sent me a message saying that you had that thing in your hands, I wouldn’t have come out of seclusion. Let me make things clear. If the item in your hand doesn’t satisfy me, I will turn around and leave.”
The woman didn’t hold back in the slightest in front of Master Sunreach.
“Fellow Daoist Bai, there is no need for that! Although I was in the wrong back then, it was for your own good.” Master Sunreach didn’t become angry and instead spoke with a gentle tone.
The woman’s expression sank and she coldly harrumphed, “I will make my own judgment. Let’s not talk about the past. Take it out.”
When Han Li heard this, his expression remained normal, but he was surprised in his heart.
It seemed that this woman surnamed Bai had some sort of entanglement with Master Sunreach. It was unknown what sort of past relationship they had.contemporary romance
When Master Sunreach saw the woman’s unfriendly expression, he could only helplessly shake his head. He reached into his storage pouch and took out a white jade box.
The jade box looked ordinary on the surface, as if it were no different from ordinary white jade. However, the moment the box appeared, the temperature in the entire hall dropped drastically, as if it were a cold winter. Even Han Li, who had long been unable to withstand the cold or heat, felt very uncomfortable and could not help but take a few more glances at the jade box.
When the white-haired woman sensed the ice-cold Qi emanating from the box, an excited expression appeared on her face.
Master Sunreach wordlessly delivered the jade box to the woman.
After receiving the jade box, the woman gently opened the lid and took a look. With Han Li’s spiritual sense, even without looking, he could clearly sense what was inside the box.
It was a pair of translucent silkworm cocoons that emitted wisps of white Qi.
Han Li frowned. This cocoon had such a strange appearance. It seemed to be the cocoon of the Ice Snow Silkworm, which was ranked at the bottom of the list of strange insects.
Although this wondrous insect wasn’t very powerful against enemies, it had other inconceivable abilities and was extremely difficult to find. If this woman had any problems that needed to be resolved by this silkworm, it was understandable that she would agree to Master Sunreach’s participation in the gambling match.
“Why is it a cocoon? It should be an adult snow silkworm.” To Han Li’s surprise, the woman’s expression turned unsightly when she saw the cocoon.
Master Sunreach’s expression remained unchanged and he calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Bai, this pair of snow silkworms were discovered in the ice 300 meters below the ice cave. They aren’t ordinary snow silkworms, but top-grade Azure King Silkworms. If you use your spiritual sense to carefully examine them, you’ll be able to discover something special.”
“Azure King Silkworms?” The woman’s expression stirred and she doubtfully probed the depths of the cocoon with her spiritual sense. After a long while, her expression relaxed.
Master Sunreach looked at the woman and asked, “How is it? Although this pair of Azure King Silkworms are still cocoons, once they hatch, even their larvae should be enough for you.”
The woman hesitated for a moment before putting away the jade box. “I’ll take it. I will participate in the battle.”
Master Sunreach heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. “Alright. With Fellow Daoist Bai’s Snowcloud Arts, you’ll definitely be able to defeat a mere spell warrior.”
When the woman surnamed Bai heard this, her expression remained unchanged and she indifferently said, “Farewell.” She then walked out of the hall with an indifferent expression.
Master Sunreach bitterly smiled and shook his head.
When Wei Wuya saw this, he chuckled coldly but didn’t say anything.
“Fellow Daoist Han, how much Auric Essence do you need? Do you have an accurate quantity?” After the woman left the hall, Master Sunreach turned his attention to Han Li and asked with a smile.
“I need a lot. The more, the better. Of course, this Auric Essence is very valuable. As long as you can provide it, I’m willing to exchange it for something of equal value. I won’t let you suffer a loss.” Han Li didn’t intend to hide anything and went straight to the point.
Master Sunreach chuckled and said, “Hehe! From Fellow Daoist Han’s tone, it seems you have something valuable with you too. However, do you know that at our cultivation, there are very few things that can tempt Brother Wei and me? Otherwise, we wouldn’t have taken out so many worldly possessions for this battle.”
Han Li smiled and did not say anything. However, Wei Wuya sighed and suddenly said, “Fellow Daoist Sunreach, you’re being arrogant. Fellow Daoist Han was able to escape from a Moulan Divine Sage with his early-Nascent Soul cultivation. How can he compare to ordinary cultivators?”
Master Sunreach indifferently said, “Hehe, I was too abrupt. Regardless of what Fellow Daoist Han intends to exchange with us, let’s first let you take a look at the Auric Essence. If Fellow Daoist truly has something that tempts us, we have no objections to exchanging all of the Auric Essence.”
Soon after, he took off the storage pouch from his waist and shook it upside down, releasing a burst of white light.
Three golden stones of different sizes shot out from the light. The Daoist priest grabbed them and immediately handed them to Han Li.
Han Li’s heart skipped a beat, and he took it without hesitation. He examined the dream items in his hand.
One large and two small; these three pieces were indeed Auric Essence.
The large one was about the size of a walnut, and the smaller two pieces were only half the size of the large one. They should be enough to mix in a dozen flying swords. However, it was still a little inferior to the quantity Han Li had in mind. Han Li’s face remained calm, but his eyes revealed a trace of disappointment.
Seeing Han Li’s expression, Master Sunreach was somewhat surprised. Could it be that so much Auric Essence was not enough for the person in front of him? This was rather strange.
With that thought, he turned to Wei Wuya.
Wei Wuya naturally saw Han Li’s expression, and when he caught Master Sunreach’s gaze, he immediately shook his sleeve with an unchanged expression. A fist-sized piece of Auric Essence appeared in his hand, and he gently held it up.
When Han Li saw the large piece of Auric Essence in Wei Wuya’s hand, he was overjoyed.
Although this piece of Auric Essence wasn’t enough for the seventy-two flying swords, there was a good chance that he would be able to refine thirty-six flying swords with just a little bit more of it. With the Swordlight Reflection Technique, he would be able to set up a small-scale Aureate Sword Formation.
Excited, Han Li took the Auric Essence from Wei Wuya and took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking again.
“It seems this is all of the Auric Essence. Although it is still lacking, it is enough for me to participate in the battle. Fellow Daoists, please take a look at the items I offer and see if you are satisfied.”
Han Li put away the Auric Essence and took out two jade boxes of different colors from his storage pouch before tossing them to Wei Wuya and Master Sunreach.
Master Sunreach took the jade box and casually opened it. Wei Wuya weighed the box in his hand before calmly opening it.
One of the boxes contained many bright red fingernails and scales, while the other contained a fist-sized black tortoise shell.
“What is this?”
“Demonic beast materials!”
The two of them were somewhat surprised.
Seeing this, Han Li explained, “That’s right. Fellow Daoist Wei holds the scales of a grade eight demon beast, the Venomous Flood Dragon, while Fellow Daoist Wei holds the shell of a grade eight tortoise demon. Although I don’t dare to say that these two items are heaven-defying, I fear that it will be very difficult to find these materials in the Heavenly South. They should be more than enough to exchange for these Auric Essences.”
Han Li’s voice was calm and confident.
Even in the Scattered Star Seas, grade eight demon beasts were extremely special existences. Even cultivators that frequently went to the Outer Star Seas rarely saw grade eight demon beasts, let alone kill them for materials.
In the Heavenly South Region, let alone grade eight demon beasts, even grade six and seven demon beasts were on the verge of extinction. Apart from a few large sects that were feeding these demon beasts as guards, there was no news of high-grade demon beasts anywhere.
“The scales of a grade-eight Venomous Flood Dragon!” Master Sunreach’s expression remained unchanged, but when Wei Wuya heard the origins of the scales in the box, he couldn’t help but cry out in surprise.
Han Li was stunned, but he immediately recalled that Wei Wuya seemed to be cultivating poison techniques. This Venomous Flood Dragon was extremely poisonous to begin with. Could it be that its scales had some other wondrous effect on him?
Just as Han Li was hesitating, Wei Wuya impatiently stretched out two fingers and picked up a blood scale. He carefully observed it, his face filled with concern.
“Hehe! It seems Fellow Daoist Han’s gift is to Brother Wei’s liking. I am also quite interested in this tortoise demon’s shell. If it is truly a grade eight demon beast’s item, then it is naturally no small matter. It is the best material for refining armor, shields, and other magic treasures. It is enough to exchange for this Auric Essence.” Master Sunreach was also slightly stunned by Wei Wuya’s loss of composure, but the strange expression flashed past his eyes. Instead, he smiled at Han Li and held the black tortoise shell in his hand, calmly appraising it.
Although he felt that Han Li was not lying, the Daoist priest still found it hard to believe that an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would take out a grade-eight demon beast material. He could not help but be skeptical. Naturally, he had to first verify the authenticity of the tortoise shell.
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