The man's face twisted with rage. He clenched both fists and took a threatening step forward.
"What? You trying to force a sale on me? The Ye Family isn't someone to be trifled with!" The stall owner's eyes narrowed as he spoke without the slightest courtesy.
"Hmph! The Ye Family is so fearsome!" The black-clothed man's words carried no concession, but he unclenched his fists nonetheless—the Ye Family's reputation clearly weighed heavily on him.
The man seethed inwardly at being threatened with the Ye Family's name. As a cultivator at the tenth level of the Qi Refining stage, he was accustomed to deference and flattery. The humiliation burned, and under normal circumstances he would have turned and walked away. But the Wind-Return Bowl was simply too valuable to abandon. This particular magical artifact resonated perfectly with his cultivation technique—if he could acquire it, his combat strength would increase dramatically. Yet apart from this treasure fragment, everything else he owned served a purpose, and his spirit stones had been completely depleted days ago. He was trapped in an impossible situation.
"A brother, how about selling that fragment to me? I'll offer ten spirit stones." From the watching crowd, a figure in a loose gray robe stepped forward and approached the man with a clasped-fist salute, his tone earnest.
"Not for sale! If you want it, bring thirty spirit stones." The black-clothed man shook his head violently, his refusal absolute. The price was simply unacceptable.
"Ah, if your fragment were just a few sizes larger, it might indeed be worth that price. Unfortunately, it's far too small—it can conceal precious little!" The gray-robed cultivator showed a look of genuine regret but didn't press the matter, returning quietly to the crowd.
"Twelve stones—would you sell?"
"Thirteen from me?"
Around them, more than a few cultivators were tempted by the treasure fragment. Even if they couldn't use it immediately, having it for study might reveal something useful—perhaps they could even glean some forgotten secret from it.
The bidding climbed steadily. Before long, the price had reached twenty spirit stones. The highest bidder was a round-faced young man with an earnest, simple-looking expression.
At that price, the rest of the crowd fell silent. Twenty stones was steep by any measure—any higher and one would be flirting with recklessness. These were low-level cultivators, after all. Carrying a dozen spirit stones was considered respectable. The recent bidders had been predominantly disciples of established cultivation families, who alone possessed that kind of disposable wealth.
"Twenty?" The black-clothed man's expression shifted. That figure had reached his threshold. With a small supplementary item thrown in, he might just convince the stall owner to part with the Wind-Return Bowl.
"You're willing to pay twenty spirit stones?" The man turned to the round-faced youth, his demeanor softening considerably.
The young man's face cycled rapidly between red and white, panic evident in every feature.
"I—I don't—have that many stones!" The stammered confession tumbled out, leaving every onspectator stunned into silence.
"You don't? Then why did you bid? Were you playing games with me?" The black-clothed man's patience snapped. The fury he had been suppressing erupted outward, and a powerful spiritual pressure surged from his body, crushing down upon the young man.
"I just thought it was fun when others were bidding! The words just slipped out—I didn't mean anything by it!" The round-faced youth scrambled to explain himself. Sweat poured down his face in fat droplets. At merely the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage, he had no way whatsoever to resist such overwhelming spiritual pressure.
"Whoever bid nineteen—please, I'll give you one stone for free if you'll take it off my hands!" The youth grasped desperately at a straw.
Silence. Whoever had bid before had evidently changed their mind and vanished.
"And the one who bid eighteen?" The young man looked at the black-clothed man's increasingly hostile expression and nearly broke into tears. He was nothing more than an impoverished independent cultivator who owned exactly two spirit stones—hard-earned over an entire year of labor.
Just when every onlooker expected the spectacle to escalate further, a calm, unhurried voice cut through the tension.
"Hold on."
A figure emerged from beyond the crowd and stepped toward the black-clothed man.
"And who might you be?" The man's expression turned dark and menacing. His patience had been worn thin, and if this newcomer intended to play hero, he had no objection to dealing with both of them at once—even though the newcomer was no weakling, clearly a cultivator at the ninth level.
"I'm quite interested in that item and would like to acquire it." The newcomer pointed toward the cloth and offered a composed smile.
This cultivator—the one the black-clothed man had taken for a meddler—was none other than Han Li.
From the moment he had heard that the fragment could render objects invisible and mask spiritual energy, something had stirred in the back of his mind—a vague notion taking shape. When the black-clothed man had demonstrated the hidden blade's concealment ability, Han Li's plan had crystallized with absolute clarity. The treasure fragment was now an item he must possess. Even if the round-faced youth had genuinely possessed twenty stones and completed the purchase, Han Li would have intervened to seize it.
"How much are you offering?" The black-clothed man blinked in surprise, then relaxed his tone.
"I'm not proposing to buy it—I'd like to trade." Han Li drew a talisman from his sleeve with practiced ease and laid it flat upon the stall for all to see.
"A Flight Talisman!" Someone in the crowd immediately cried out in recognition.
"A high-grade one from the initial tier!" The other cultivators murmured in astonishment. Since the start of the Tailan Assembly, only five or six such high-grade talismans had appeared, and each had sold for astonishing sums.
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**Glossary**
| Term | Meaning | |------|---------| | Ye Family | One of the established cultivation families on Qin-Ye Ridge | | Wind-Return Bowl | A magical artifact that enhances wind-attribute techniques | | Flight Talisman | A high-grade talisman enabling instantaneous flight | | Qi Refining Stage | The foundational cultivation realm, divided into thirteen levels | | Tailan Assembly | The major trading and competition gathering held in Tailan Valley |