Hán Lì heard the lady speak thus and showed no objection, yet gently asked, "Of the several varieties previously found by your friend Yan, although relatively rare, the truly useful ones are not many." "The lady need not worry," she smiled gracefully in the black mist. "As for the others, I shall certainly gather the ones you specifically mentioned. To be honest, had the great battle not been approaching so urgently, I would never have incurred such a substantial cost to obtain these seedlings. Now, I have no time to attend to anything else. As for the ten-thousand-year-lived herbs you brought this time, I wonder if the quantity is sufficient." "Haven't you traded with me on several occasions?" Hán Lì replied with a somewhat strange smile. "On any of those occasions, have I ever received fewer than a single herb from you?" "Indeed, that's true. Yet these seeds are truly exceptional in rarity. In terms of long-term value, they surpass even your ten-thousand-year-lived herbs. Only because your ten-thousand-year-lived herbs are hard to find—otherwise, I would have been reluctant to offer them for trade." The woman giggled softly several times, then flipped her hand, bringing forth a jade-green wooden box that she tossed toward him. Intricate, ancient patterns adorned the box, with faintly glowing runes shimmering subtly within—clearly no ordinary item. Han Li's face remained composed as he swiftly drew the box into his hands, neither opening it nor lifting the lid. With a flash of blue light in his eyes, his gaze pierced straight through the lid, and his powerful consciousness seeped into the box, carefully scanning its contents. For a moment, Han Li stood motionless, his hand gently holding the box as if it were a shield. The woman in the dark atmosphere found his actions entirely natural, neither surprised nor urging him on—she simply watched him with steady, shifting glances, as though trying to peer through the silver radiance and see his true form clearly. After a while, she sighed quietly, drawing her gaze back. While she claimed to be unimpressed, it was clearly a lie. To offer such a vast array of ten-thousand-year-old elixirs, one had to be no ordinary person. According to her guess, the other party was most likely from one of the most secluded true spirit families among the human clans—particularly the Min family, renowned for their expertise in cultivating medicinal herbs, which seemed the most probable. Yet the other party was extraordinarily cautious. Through subtle inquiries during several interactions, not only did they fail to uncover the other’s lineage, but inadvertently, they themselves were drawn into revealing their own family name. This left the young woman deeply懊恼 for a considerable time afterward. Though it was impossible for the other party to simply deduce her origins from a single title, this experience effectively extinguished her desire to pursue further inquiries, and she now completely avoided mentioning either of their respective backgrounds, fearing that any slip might reveal even more personal information. Nevertheless, as she reflected upon the exchange of rare, thousand-year-old medicinal herbs she had secured through her dealings with the other party, she found herself unusually excited. Though she came from a somewhat distinguished lineage within her clan, possessing a certain status, such a substantial quantity of medicinal herbs—something she would otherwise have found exceedingly difficult to gather, even with ample spiritual stones—now seemed truly remarkable. As long as this transaction succeeds, these medicinal herbs will be enough for her to commission several urgently needed elixirs to break through her current bottleneck. Of course, she is also curious about the herbs seeds that Han Li has been gathering—provided he pays her the agreed-upon herbs, she naturally has no interest in digging into the details. While the female immortal from the demonic race was uncertain, Han Li had already inspected the contents of the box and nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent—most of them are indeed the seeds I mentioned to you before. These are your due herbs; please check them over." Saying this, he also produced several jade boxes from his person and handed them over to her. The woman, not wanting to be careless, carefully examined each one as well. "Indeed, they are all herbs of around ten thousand years old. This will be our final transaction in recent times. But if my friend manages to survive this current crisis, we may well have the opportunity to collaborate again." With the herbs safely stored, the female immortal smiled warmly. "I hope so." Since everything on the east and west sides has been settled, I'll take a look at the other guests to see if any of them have something valuable to offer. Given the current situation, there should be quite a few fine treasures being brought out. Han Li glanced around at the various stalls, thoughtfully remarking. "You truly have good judgment. I just checked, and indeed, there are quite a few rare items appearing. But I have other matters to attend to, so I'll have to leave you now." The lady promptly offered her goodbyes. "Please go, Lady Immortal!" Han Li bowed gracefully without showing any change in demeanor. The woman, dressed in black, was neat and efficient, immediately turning and heading toward the entrance of the demonic race's section. After the lady had departed from the hall, Han Li's lips curled slightly, and a smile broke through. Originally, the Yuqing Dan was only effective for cultivators at the initial stage of the Huashen phase. But through several transactions with this lady, he had now successfully gathered two additional types of pills that are particularly useful for those at the mid-stage of Huashen. Thus, in the near future, he no longer needed to worry about a shortage of medicinal supplies After finally settling the matter he had been anxiously awaiting, Han Li felt a great relief and strolled calmly toward a nearby human settlement stall. After circling the stalls, however, he slightly furrowed his brow. Though there were many stalls and the rare treasures offered by the two races had grown considerably richer than before, with his current discerning eye, he found it hard to settle on any法宝 or materials that truly caught his interest. As for the secret techniques and cultivation methods he had been most eager to find, such offerings were rare—when they did appear, they were often ones he found unappealing. Shaking his head slightly, he decided to leave without further delay and slowly stepped out of the hall. As soon as he stepped outside the Taixuan Hall, Han Li activated his flight spell and headed toward his stone tower residence. He would not miss the day when the Tianguang Hall elders summoned him in another half-month. Moreover, even without this matter, he had another affair to attend to, so he would not be leaving Tianyuan City immediately. Han Li returned to the stone pagoda. First, he exchanged his jade plaque, which recorded his achievements, for a token in a certain hall, then proceeded to his team's quarters, where he casually selected a quiet chamber and sat in meditation to rest. Three days later, a streak of azure light swiftly departed the pagoda, heading straight toward a location outside the city. Half an hour later, another streak of azure light appeared above a valley outside the city. The valley was lush and verdant, yet beyond its scenic beauty, it appeared unremarkable. However, the streak of light spiraled once before suddenly descending into the valley. As the light faded, Han Li stepped into view in front of a towering stone wall, over thirty zhang high. After a brief glance and confirming no anomalies, he shook his sleeve, sending a golden scroll into the gray stone wall, where it vanished. Then Han Li remained silently before the stone wall, speechless. Moments later, an astonishing scene unfolded. A hazy glow suddenly surged across the stone wall, and instantly, a square passage two zhang high materialized before Han Li. The walls of the passage were of pale green stone, softly shimmering with a faint luminous aura. Han Li smiled slightly and stepped into the passage. The passage stretched nearly fifty zhang in length, ending in a white jade door veiled by a translucent, pearl-white light screen. Without hesitation, Han Li pressed his palms together, murmuring incantations, and as soon as he finished, the screen trembled and split neatly in two. Then, he entered calmly. Beyond the door lay a hall thirty zhang in size, empty except for twenty-some stone chairs and a large stone table at its center. Already seated in these chairs were several cultivators—both men and women, dressed in varied attire—each of whom clearly possessed a cultivation level of above the Huashen stage. Upon seeing Han Li enter, several of them immediately smiled warmly and greeted him: "Ah, Brother Han has also arrived!" "Ah, your arrival is rather early today," said one. "He captured a Green Shadow just now, I hear—what a splendid achievement for us ascending cultivators! Truly a source of pride!" A moment later, a soft male voice suddenly came from outside the hall: "It seems everyone who could make it has arrived. A few of the guests have commitments that prevent them from joining on time. Zhao, shall we begin?" "Yes, indeed, the attendance is nearly complete. As Wen suggests!" The voice sounded familiar. Upon hearing it, Han Li's eyes suddenly widened and he opened them fully. At that moment, two middle-aged men walked in together through the main gate—one dressed in a white robe, smiling gently, the other with a pale face and no beard, expression neutral. They were precisely the two cultivators Han Li had recently met—the one who had evaluated Han Li's merit plaque, Wen, and Zhao Wugui. Upon seeing these two cultivators of Lingxu stage, the guests in the hall stirred slightly, clearly recognizing both of them. "Well, the original host of this gathering for the newly promoted cultivators, Fan, has been unavoidably occupied with urgent matters, so it is now our responsibility to host the event. Does anyone have any objections?" Zhao Wugui glanced around, speaking calmly. All the cultivators were struck silent, with no one speaking. The white-robed elder smiled warmly and said, "Originally, it was only necessary for Zhao friend to arrive and take charge. However, recently the circumstances have been somewhat special—there are several important matters that require discussion with each of you. That is why I have come along as well." "Are you referring to the possibility of the non-human tribes launching an assault on the city?" asked an elderly man with a red face and a prominent nose, suddenly speaking up. Upon hearing this, everyone else grew still, their eyes fixed intently on the elder named Wen and Zhao Wugui. "Ah, we'll discuss that later. Following the usual procedure, we will first hold a mutual exchange session and share our cultivation insights. Should any difficulties arise in our practice, we will gladly offer guidance. However, just as with Fan friend, there will be no reduction in the required compensation." Finally, if you have any useful news or intelligence to report, do please share it with us. As long as it proves valuable, the Shuochen Pills and other precious herbs and medicines will never be in short supply," Zhao Wugui said coldly.