A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

Yellow Maple Valley’s market city looked like Han Li’s hometown, Green Ox City. The entire market was only one street that pointed north and south. In the south, there were dozens of houses of various sizes. Some were tall, some were short. Some were buildings, while others were just huts. It was very inconsistent and uneven.

These were all industries of the Yellow Maple Valley, but only less than half were personally managed by Yellow Maple Valley’s disciples. The other large half was leased to the cultivator families and rogue cultivators who usually dealt business here. Most of these businesses were stores that traded raw materials, talismans, and magic tools. There was also a five elements bookstore that specialized in selling elementary spells, and there were two restaurants and inns that were convenient for people to get food and rest.

Aside from the lower level disciples at the market city, there were also a number of Foundation Establishment experts who stayed there regularly, keeping order in the city and preventing people from causing trouble.

A large portion of the northern part of the street was empty. It was reserved for cultivators who wanted to set up a shop on the spur of the moment. As long as they paid the Yellow Maple Valley disciples with a low-grade spirit stone, foreigners could set up a shop for a whole day on the side of the empty street without any interference. They would even have the protection of the disciples during the time that they had set up a shop, enabling them to have no fear of any enemies who would want to take revenge.

With these measures encouraging foreign cultivators to come here and do business, along with the special geographical location of the market city, the Yellow Maple Valley’s market city had been prosperous for many years. There would even be rare items that would appear from time to time in the market city, attracting even more cultivators.

However, because Han Li wanted to avoid arousing suspicion, he didn’t enter the market city from the convenient south street entrance. Instead, he circled around and entered from the north. Before setting foot into the street entrance, he covered his face with a blue cloak in case there was anyone here who could recognize him.

It was already the afternoon. The street of the market city didn’t seem to have many people at a first glance. However, this was normal. After all, this market city was not some secular world downtown market that would be noisy all day long. The people who were qualified to come here were unique cultivators; you would only find one cultivator in ten thousand people! It was already pretty good to have this many people.

Han Li mocked himself a little after realizing this fact and walked towards the small shops on the side of the street. He decided to see if there was anything worthwhile in the small shops before going to the large stores.

After going through all the small shops, Han Li’s heart sank. The magic tools and talismans at these small shops were completely useless to him, with the exception of three or four items that could barely be considered passable. Buying them would only be a foolish expense, so he stopped wasting his time. He turned around and sprinted towards the large stores.

“Seven Opportunities Pavilion.”

“Wind Guiding Study.”

“Heavenly Crafts Store.”

……

…

This time, Han Li didn’t recklessly find a random store to walk into. He took his time and slowly strolled along the street. After he familiarized himself with the name, size, and type of each store, he picked the one that looked the largest and frequently had cultivators streaming in and out: Ten Thousand Treasures Store. He went inside.

(TL: 万宝Wanbao means ‘ten thousand treasures.’)

From simply hearing the store’s name, one could tell that the owner of the store was confident of his goods, so Han Li hoped to find some rare treasures here and not leave empty-handed.

Han Li slightly hesitated as soon as he entered.

The bright hall was large enough to accommodate dozens of people without feeling crowded. There was an extraordinarily long front desk, built with precious Red Aleurite wood, and seven or eight servants in blue uniforms. All of this gave off an impressive atmosphere of grandeur.

In the hall, two of the servants in blue were explaining something to a few people who looked like customers.

Inside the counter, there was a large variety of items. From the style of the items, it seemed like they were things that only cultivators would use. From the lowest grade raw materials to the commonly used talismans and magic tools, the Ten Thousand Store had everything.

Han Li smiled. It seemed like he had really found the right place.

At this moment, a servant in blue came over and said with a big smile, “Esteemed customer, what are you looking for? Do you want me to help introduce you to something? This store’s goods will definitely satisfy all of our customers’ needs!”

“I want to look at magic tools and talismans, but I only want the best. Do not show me inferior goods!” Han Li spoke softly through his cloak.

The servant in blue was slightly stunned by this remark, but then he carefully looked and judged Han Li’s manners. After making sure he wasn’t joking, the smile on his face grew even wider. He knew he must be a big customer, so he quickly invited Han Li in and personally led him to the VIP room on the second floor.

The furnishings upstairs were different from the decor downstairs. Not only was the scale of the second floor a lot smaller, but there were some antique furniture on the second floor. It was decorated in an elegant, comfortable, and cozy manner. The most surprising thing was that there was a precious incense burner and a bundle of burning incense in the corner of the room that filled the room with a faint smell of sandalwood.

A gentle-looking, middle-aged man holding an old book was standing in the room, reading its contents aloud. He seemed to not have any magic power like a completely ordinary man.

Han Li was somewhat stunned. This place did not look like a place to do business. Instead, it looked like some rich person’s home. The person who was reading saw Han Li come in and calmly closed the book. The servant in blue who had escorted Han Li quickly walked up to the man and whispered a few words.

After the middle-aged man finished listening, he cupped his hands and said with a smile,

“I am Ten Thousand Treasures Store’s shopkeeper, Tian Buli. How should I address you?”

“Li Feiyu,” Han Li unceremoniously borrowed his good friend’s name.

“Oh it’s Brother Li. Brother, please sit down!”

The middle-aged man led Han Li to sit down, then ordered the servant, “Go brew a pot of our best Jade Cloud Tea!”

After Han Li sat down, the middle-aged man started asking politely. “This is the first time Brother Li came to this store, right?”

“Hehe! Shopkeeper Tian is really observant. This is indeed the first time I have visited this store.” Han Li deliberately changed his voice and made himself sound like a tough man with a deep voice.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time visiting this place. As long as you are willing to come here, it shows your favour to our Ten Thousand Treasures Store. This store will definitely satisfy Brother!” Shopkeeper Tian confidently said.

“I wouldn’t want to go through the trouble of going to multiple stores if I could just find all the items I need at one store! I hope this store’s goods are really exceptional,” said Han Li in a dubious tone.

“Hehe! Brother Li can rest assured about that. Our store’s credibility is definitely one of the best on this street. If this store can’t satisfy Brother, then there’s no need to bother checking out the other stores!” said the shopkeeper unhurriedly, exuding confidence.

At this moment, a serving maid came upstairs with a teapot and several teacups. The refreshing smell of tea filled the room before she had even approached the two of them.

Shopkeeper Tian waited for the serving maid to set up the tea set and took a sip first. While smiling, he said, “This is a special tea made here in the store. It’s rare in other places. Not only does it smell refreshing, but drinking it can make people energized. Brother Li can give it a taste.”

Han Li looked at the fragrant tea in front of him. He shook his head lightly and said in a slightly impatient tone,

“Shopkeeper Tian, we can drink tea later. First, let’s get down to business!”

“I never thought Brother would have such an impatient personality! Very well! Please wait a moment, I will be right back!” Shopkeeper Tian stood up with a slightly disappointed expression. He cupped his hands towards Han Li and went downstairs, leaving Han Li alone.

After approximately the time to brew a cup of tea had passed, Shopkeeper Tian once again appeared before Han Li. However, this time he was carrying a few brocade boxes that were in different sizes.

Shopkeeper Tian patted the brocade boxes and spoke with a grin. “I heard that Brother Li wants the best magic tools and talismans from the servant downstairs, so I went downstairs to the collection room and brought up a few pieces of treasure that I have collected for a long time for Brother to see. I hope Brother Li is happy with them!”

Han Li’s eyes widened when he heard this. He was very curious about the content in the brocade boxes. He wondered what rare items they would have to be in order for them to be called treasures by the shopkeeper, and whether or not the content would be above his expectations.

Shopkeeper Tian had already placed the brocade boxes on the table and opened each of them for him to see. However, Han Li noticed that as soon as the brocade boxes were opened, two magic pressures that were definitely stronger than him came out of nowhere and tightly locked onto his every move.

Han Li was surprised at first, but quickly understood that this was a security measure that the Ten Thousand Treasures Store had employed to secure the treasures in case he were to suddenly steal the items inside the brocade boxes. He then relaxed and had a deeper understanding of the Ten Thousand Treasures Store’s ability.