The cultivators below took turns presenting their wares, and as expected, none were ordinary goods — practically all were rare treasures usable only by Core Formation cultivators. No wonder the secret market held this exchange gathering specifically.
Han Li watched from the sidelines with a detached gaze, unimpressed by what he saw. But these items stirred the other cultivators' emotions, and the atmosphere gradually heated up.
When it was Han Li's turn, he casually pulled a few rare materials from sixth and seventh level demon beasts out of his storage pouch and laid them before him. This naturally drew surprised and delighted looks from the others.
In the blink of an eye, it came to the last person — a dark-skinned middle-aged cultivator, one of only three mid-stage Core Formation cultivators present.
The others naturally regarded him with an added measure of reverence.
The man's expression remained unchanged. He leisurely produced two items from his person and placed them on the table with little ceremony.
One was a palm-sized copper piece, dull and devoid of luster. The other was a half-foot-long, grayish-white bone rod, resembling the vertebra of some creature.
Most of the cultivators were momentarily stunned, unable to see anything remarkable about the two items, and they wanted to hear him elaborate.
But after setting them down, the middle-aged cultivator simply said in a slow drawl: "I'll only sell these two things to someone who knows what they're looking for. If you don't have the fortune to appreciate them, don't force it!" After that, he leaned back without a care, narrowed his eyes slightly, and paid absolutely no attention to the stunningly beautiful female cultivator clinging to his side. This left her visibly embarrassed.
The others heard his words and exchanged helpless glances, momentarily at a loss for speech.
Only Han Li and Yun Tianxiao recognized the two items, and their expressions shifted subtly, one after the other.
A strange look flickered across Han Li's face. Though the items were some distance away, his powerful spiritual sense swept over them, bringing every detail into sharp clarity.
The bone rod was nothing special — while it wasn't ordinary demon beast material, it wasn't something he particularly valued. But the copper piece piqued his interest. Strange, archaic characters were etched upon its surface, and these characters bore a striking resemblance to the ancient writing on the beast-hide scroll recording the nameless Qi refinement technique. Could there be some connection between them?
He had never been able to decipher the contents of those ancient texts.
While Han Li was silently deliberating, Yun Tianxiao suddenly broke into hearty laughter.
"Haha! I never expected Brother Sun to be so generous — producing a spirit bone from an eighth level demon beast. Even I'm tempted." He glanced at the bone rod as though making a casual joke.
The words sent a jolt through the entire room, followed by a wave of commotion.
This was by far the most valuable item to appear so far.
An eighth level demon beast — what kind of existence was that? For Core Formation cultivators, this spirit bone was an absolutely rare and extraordinary treasure.
And when Han Li heard these words, his heart stirred even more. Could it be that this man actually had information about eighth level demon beasts?
The cultivator surnamed Sun merely chuckled when Yun Tianxiao identified the bone rod's origin. He gave him a meaningful look but said nothing more.
The exchange gathering's atmosphere truly erupted into a frenzy. Excitement that was impossible to conceal lit up every face.
The accompanying female cultivators, too, stared at the items on the round table, their eyes brimming with unconcealed desire.
Seeing this, Han Li couldn't help but glance down at Wen Siyue nestled in his arms, and noticed that her eyes held a similar trace of envy.
It seemed that for cultivators, regardless of gender, these kinds of treasures were nearly impossible to resist.
At that moment, the plump elder spoke up, stating the items he wished to exchange and his conditions.
"I'll trade the Heavenly Spirit Seed for several spirit herbs aged five hundred years or more. The demon core requires a seventh level demon beast's spirit tendon in exchange, though if someone offers enough spirit stones, I'm willing to sell it as well. And..." The plump elder's air of arrogance had largely faded after seeing the rare items produced by those who followed him.
However, when he mentioned exchanging for a spirit tendon, his gaze swept almost unconsciously toward Han Li's side — because among the materials laid out before Han Li, there happened to be exactly one item that met the requirement.
But unfortunately, Han Li had no interest in a sixth level demon core. He had no intention of standing up to make an exchange, simply holding Wen Siyue half-encircled in his arms, sitting perfectly still with his expression unchanged.
"I would be interested in that sixth level demon core, but I don't have a spirit tendon. How many spirit stones would it take for you to part with it?" Another elder with grayish-white hair asked with keen interest.
"Fellow Daoists all know that things aren't like they were in previous years. Demon cores are getting harder and harder to come by. Naturally, the price for this sixth level one is higher. If you're willing to part with fifteen thousand spirit stones, you can take it." The plump elder seemed rather reluctant to sell the demon core for spirit stones alone, and he quoted a clearly inflated price.
The gray-haired elder let out a cold snort and said nothing more. He evidently felt the price was too steep and abandoned his original intention.
"I'll take the demon core!" A white-haired old woman spoke coldly, her face devoid of emotion.
And as her words fell, a storage pouch shot across toward the plump elder.