Han Li arrived at the sea area near Heavenly Star City with astonishing escape speed, finally drawing the sidelong glances of several cultivators.
With only a few days of flying left to reach his destination, Han Li swapped his blood-colored cloak for regular escape light instead.
This stretch of ocean was undoubtedly filled with all manner of people and factions right now. It wouldn't be surprising at all if Nascent Soul stage cultivators were present here.
Han Li had no intention of attracting the notice of such figures, so he naturally kept a low profile.
Fortunately, he hadn't heard that the Opposite Star Alliance had appeared in the vicinity yet. It seemed he wasn't too late, and his mood relaxed considerably.
Ahead lay the last transit island before reaching Heavenly Star City: "Southern Bright Island." Although not large in area, it housed a significant garrison of Star Palace cultivators, serving as an outpost for the Heavenly Star City.
In normal times, this island's harbor would be bustling with ships of all sizes coming and going, with numerous mortals and cultivators passing through.
But now, as Han Li swept his gaze from the air, he saw only about a dozen small boats scattered about. Even among cultivators, only a few occasionally flew in or out.
It seemed the mortals and cultivators doing business here all knew a great battle was imminent and had sensibly avoided this area during this period.
The cultivators who still dared to enter or leave this island were mostly agents from various large and small factions, sent to gather intelligence.
Having traveled for so long, Han Li felt somewhat weary. He decided to make a temporary stop on this island and visit its market to stock up on supplies he would need for the Outer Star Sea.
After all, who knew what the current state of Heavenly Star City was? It would be best to finish his resupply here, in case something unexpected happened and left him unprepared.
As soon as Han Li landed, he felt that the alertness level of "Southern Bright Island" was noticeably higher than before.
The moment he entered the range of the harbor's protective formations, he sensed at least three Core Formation cultivators simultaneously sweeping him with their spiritual sense. One even tracked him persistently for quite a while before finally disappearing when it confirmed he wasn't suspicious.
This showed that the Star Palace was also on guard against a sudden attack by the Opposite Star Alliance.
At that moment, Han Li headed unhurriedly for the island's market.
The market on Southern Bright Island was located in a small city not far from the island's harbor, established purely for the convenience of passing cultivators and merchants.
Han Li had been here once before.
While perhaps not as famous or vast as the markets on several larger islands, the variety of goods sold here was complete, not inferior to other places by even a fraction. Some items were even slightly cheaper than those in Heavenly Star City.
This was because a considerable amount of cargo destined for Heavenly Star City was unloaded directly on this island, then transported by Heavenly Star City merchants from here.
Han Li had no time to waste, so as soon as he entered the city, he took out the Nine-Turn Spirit Ginseng recipe given to him by the old devil Xuangu and studied it carefully.
After committing the required ingredients and spirit herbs to memory, he began ransacking various raw material shops of all sizes without the slightest courtesy.
...
"Senior, I'm truly sorry! This junior has run a raw materials shop for so many years, but I've never heard of 'Thousand Leaf Dew' as an ingredient. As for the 'Agate Horn,' it's the single horn grown by the rare spirit beast, the Agate Beast. Ordinary cultivators would never get the chance to see one. I'm afraid Senior will have to check other shops or the major auction houses."
This was a reasonably spacious hall. Standing before Han Li was a middle-aged cultivator of decent appearance. He spoke to Han Li with extreme caution.
"You're supposedly the largest raw materials shop here. If you don't have it, other shops certainly won't. As for the auction houses, I don't have time to wait for any auctions right now," Han Li said, frowning slightly as he sat on a wooden chair before the middle-aged cultivator, lightly tapping the chair's armrest with one finger, clearly not entirely satisfied.
Hearing Han Li's words, the middle-aged cultivator looked embarrassed. However, he truly had no solution for what Han Li wanted and could only continue wearing an apologetic smile.
After all, the person before him was a rare Core Formation expert; he didn't dare offend him lightly.
Seeing the shopkeeper's expression, Han Li knew the man genuinely didn't have these two items. He sighed, stood up, and walked towards the door.
It seemed the last two spirit herbs missing for refining the Nine-Turn Spirit Ginseng would have to be found another way.
However, the Nine-Turn Spirit Ginseng itself wouldn't be needed until he reached the peak of the late Core Formation stage and began condensing his Nascent Soul, so there was no urgent rush.
But as the middle-aged cultivator was respectfully seeing Han Li to the door, he seemed to recall something. After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly said to Han Li again.
"Actually, this shop might not necessarily lack that 'Thousand Leaf Dew.' It's possible the name has simply changed."
"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Han Li's eyes flashed with interest. He stopped and asked out of curiosity.
"This isn't junior boasting, but I've worked in this raw materials shop for over a hundred years. I've seen all sorts of rare and strange ingredients. If there really is a material or spirit herb I haven't heard of, then nine times out of ten, its name is what ancient cultivators called it. Nowadays, it goes by a different title. I've encountered such situations a few times before. Perhaps the Thousand Leaf Dew Senior mentioned is just a very common spirit herb nowadays," the middle-aged man explained honestly.
Hearing this, Han Li's heart stirred. He felt the man's reasoning made a lot of sense.
After all, the Nine-Turn Spirit Ginseng was itself a legendary celestial spirit herb. Its refining recipe was likely handed down from ancient times. It seemed the only way to find the true identity of the Thousand Leaf Dew was to consult some ancient texts.