"Elder Ding, could I trouble you to take a look at this item? I believe it might be a thousand-year spiritual herb, but I'm not entirely certain. I was hoping you could help determine its age." Shopkeeper Tian said with a humble tone, then handed over the brocade box.
"A thousand-year spiritual herb?" Elder Ding heard this and looked somewhat incredulous, but still accepted the brocade box.
"Please look carefully! Is it really a thousand-year Yellow Essence Fungus?" Shopkeeper Tian suppressed his excitement and asked with some urgency.
The old man didn't respond verbally, but narrowed his eyes, concentrating intently on the item's shape, color, and even texture in the box. He occasionally brought the box to his nose, taking several light sniffs.
This herb had been cultivated by Han Li himself, so whether it was a thousand-year spiritual herb, he naturally knew the answer. Therefore, he remained composed throughout, sitting to the side and paying little attention to the old man's actions. What he was thinking about was only how to bargain with Myriad Treasures Tower.
Shopkeeper Tian was the opposite of Han Li. He watched the old man's every move without blinking. The composed demeanor he had shown when meeting Han Li had completely vanished. His face was now filled with a mixture of anticipation, anxiety, and other complex emotions of worry and hope.
Finally, Elder Ding gently placed the box on the table, then stroked his beard with his fingers and closed his eyes in contemplation for a while. He then opened his eyes and said calmly in a very certain tone:
"Congratulations, Shopkeeper. This is indeed a thousand-year Yellow Essence Fungus, and what's more, it's an excellent specimen that has just been unearthed, with its medicinal properties completely intact. I can guarantee this!"
Hearing this, Shopkeeper Tian's face lit up with joy. He then respectfully escorted the old man down the stairs, and then ecstatically picked up the box containing the spiritual herb, looking at it repeatedly several times.
"Shopkeeper Tian, shouldn't the two of us discuss the transaction now?" Han Li couldn't help but remind him when he noticed that the other seemed to have forgotten that the herb's owner was still sitting nearby.
"Oh... ah!... I've been so foolish, please forgive me, Brother Li!" Shopkeeper Tian was momentarily stunned, then remembered that the herb didn't yet belong to Myriad Treasures Tower, and his face flushed slightly with embarrassment.
"Hehe, it's nothing! But how do you plan to conduct the transaction? Seeing how much Shopkeeper Tian likes this item, I'm sure you won't disappoint me!" Han Li said with a light laugh, slightly pressuring the other party.
At this moment, Shopkeeper Tian's expression had returned to normal. He placed the item he was holding back on the table and said:
"Since Brother Li can bring out a thousand-year spiritual herb, you must not be an ordinary Immortal Cultivator. Then I won't use the usual business tactics to deceive you. I'll give you a fair price!"
He paused to think for a moment, then continued in a very sincere tone: "This spiritual herb can be exchanged for any two of the treasures I showed you in the brocade boxes, or it can be exchanged specifically for the item in the last box. If you're still not interested in any of them, then our Tower can offer you spirit stones in an amount that will absolutely satisfy you. To buy the spiritual herb outright. Brother Li, what do you think?"
Han Li felt the sincerity in the other's words. After turning it over in his mind several times, he also felt this price was reasonable and didn't exceed his bottom line. He secretly made up his mind to agree about seventy or eighty percent. However, before that, he still wanted to see what was actually in that final brocade box.
But before Han Li could speak, Shopkeeper Tian had already thoughtfully opened the lid of the final brocade box and pushed it toward Han Li, saying with a smile: "What's inside this box is our Tower's treasure that safeguards the entire establishment. However, it depends on whether you can recognize its value!"
Han Li's curiosity was greatly piqued. He looked into the box and was immediately stunned. Inside the brocade box was a solitary talisman, painted with the image of a golden brick. It shimmered with golden light, vivid and lifelike.
After seeing this item clearly, Han Li's mind raced, immediately connecting it to his own talisman with the small gray sword painted on it. Could it be the same kind of thing?
"A Talisman Treasure?" Han Li let out a deep breath and asked uncertainly.
A flash of surprise passed through Shopkeeper Tian's eyes, then he said with astonishment:
"I really didn't expect that Brother Li could recognize this item! In theory, very few Immortal Cultivators should know about this treasure. You truly have extensive knowledge and experience. I'm impressed!"
After hearing this, Han Li laughed bitterly a few times, then shook his head and sighed:
"You think too highly of me, Brother Li. I've only heard of this Talisman Treasure, but I know very little about it. However, since Shopkeeper Tian can bring out this item, you must know a thing or two about Talisman Treasures. I hope you can enlighten me!"
These words from Han Li were entirely sincere. He truly wanted to take this opportunity to thoroughly understand the origins and background of "Talisman Treasures," so he wouldn't continue being in the dark about them.
Shopkeeper Tian looked at Han Li with some surprise, feeling that this wasn't something that needed to be kept secret. It was just that fewer people knew about it, and it wasn't worth offending a major customer over this. So he readily agreed and explained everything about "Talisman Treasures."
The item called "Talisman Treasure" really did have an impressive origin. It was actually a peculiar item that could only be created by cultivators at the Core Formation Stage or above.
It was a specially created talisman made by high-level cultivators who had refined Magic Treasures. They would seal a portion of a Magic Treasure's power into specially made talisman paper, allowing other Immortal Cultivators to temporarily wield the power of a Magic Treasure. This gave it the dual characteristics of both a talisman and a Magic Treasure, and was jokingly called a "pseudo-Magic Treasure" by those Immortal Cultivators who knew of its existence. It was highly sought after by them.
This "pseudo-Magic Treasure" was very special. Creating it required a cultivator at the Core Formation Stage or above, but using it was possible for Immortal Cultivators of any level. Even a cultivator with only three or four layers of cultivation like Superior Jin Guang, whom Han Li had killed, could use it quite effectively.
However, Immortal Cultivators before the Foundation Establishment Stage didn't know the condensation technique. Using a Talisman Treasure could only unleash one-tenth or one-fifth of its power, which didn't seem much higher than top-tier magical instruments.
But cultivators who had reached the Foundation Establishment Stage could use the mental condensation method, which allowed them to unleash the "Talisman Treasure's" power without leaving any unused potential. While the power couldn't match that of a real Magic Treasure—earth-shattering, causing tsunamis and collapsing mountains—it was still enough to disdain all other magical instruments. Therefore, after reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, every cultivator hoped to possess a "Talisman Treasure." This would give them a significant advantage in combat, allowing them to look down on others.
Although the power of a "Talisman Treasure" was astonishing, using it would continuously consume the Magic Treasure's power sealed within it. If the power was completely exhausted, the Talisman Treasure would be utterly ruined. Therefore, how to control the use of the Magic Treasure's power was also a matter that couldn't be taken lightly.
Additionally, the creation of "Talisman Treasures" was not a simple matter.
Because Magic Treasures were originally items that could only be refined by cultivators at the Core Formation Stage or above. Not only were they scarce, but they also needed to be tempered day and night within a cultivator's true essence to increase their power. They were rarely brought out for display, let alone used to create "Talisman Treasures."
You had to understand that creating a "Talisman Treasure" was equivalent to dividing a portion of a Magic Treasure's power—a self-damaging act. Every time a "Talisman Treasure" was created, the Magic Treasure's owner had to spend a long time re-tempering it to recover its power. This was a typical act of benefiting others while harming oneself. Therefore, under normal circumstances, no cultivator at the Core Formation Stage or above would do such a foolish thing.
But as the saying goes, nothing is certain in this world. Refining "Talisman Treasures"—this seemingly foolish act—was something most high-level cultivators would frantically do before their lifespan came to an end. It was merely to leave behind a significant source of assistance for their descendants or juniors.
You had to understand that when a Magic Treasure left behind by a predecessor was inherited by someone else after a long period of refinement, the new owner couldn't achieve complete spiritual unity with the Magic Treasure. The original power of the Magic Treasure would lose more than half, and this still required the person to have reached the Core Formation Stage. Otherwise, they could only stare helplessly at the Magic Treasure, unable to use it at all. In this way, compared to leaving the Magic Treasure intact, refining "Talisman Treasures" was more suitable for their descendants.
But creating "Talisman Treasures" also had many restrictions.
First, the amount of a Magic Treasure's power that could be sealed in each "Talisman Treasure" was at most only one-tenth of the Magic Treasure's total power. It could only be reduced, not increased. Therefore, even "Talisman Treasures" sealed from the same Magic Treasure had varying levels of power.
Second, refining Talisman Treasures not only reduced the Magic Treasure's power but also caused significant loss of vital essence to the Magic Treasure's owner. Therefore, the scenario of continuously refining "Talisman Treasures" was impossible. Each time a Talisman Treasure was refined, the Magic Treasure's owner had to rest for three to five years to recover their vital essence. This was even on the condition that they didn't waste their true essence and didn't plan to re-temper the Magic Treasure. Otherwise, the time required would be even longer.
Therefore, such a scenario often appeared in the cultivation world.
Before their lifespan came to an end, high-level cultivators would prepare themselves before passing away. What they left behind after their death was often a Magic Treasure with greatly reduced power, along with several "Talisman Treasures" containing the same amount of sealed power. This had to be described as a very helpless situation!