"Wait, you're not Wan'er!" Han Li then immediately sensed that something was amiss, and his expression instantly darkened.
"I'm truly surprised that you're the human senior who recently progressed to the Body Integration Stage, Fellow Daoist Han. Looks like my captivation technique is completely ineffective on you," the woman who was identical to Nangong Wan in appearance chuckled, and a layer of white Qi abruptly surfaced over her face.
After the white Qi dissipated, she had completely transformed into another woman, who was still quite beautiful, but looked nothing like Nangong Wan.
"Were you trying to test me, Qin Su'er?" Han Li's dark expression didn't ease at all upon seeing this, and he appraised the woman in a cold manner.
"Of course not; I wouldn't dare to do that, Senior. It's just that I've only just cultivated this Great Captivation Technique, and I'm still unable to fully control it. Please forgive me for any offence I may have caused," the woman hurriedly explained.
"Great Captivation Technique? I've heard of this ability; it's a powerful innate ability of the Heavenly Fox Race that can disguise one as the person closest to the beholder's heart. This must mean that you're a Heavenly Fox being; what connection do you bear with the Heavenly Fox Monarch?" Han Li asked as his expression eased slightly.
"My sister and I are indeed Heavenly Fox beings. We are related to the Heavenly Fox Monarch, but only on a very distant basis," Qin Su'er said as she extended a respectful curtsey before inviting Han Li to take a seat.
"Your Great Captivation Technique had to have been enhanced by the restrictions around this place for it to have worked momentarily on me, right?" Han Li chuckled as he took a seat.
Qin Su'er was quite surprised that Han Li was able to glean the function of the restrictions set up here so quickly, and she gained some admiration for him as a result. "You have a sharp discerning eye, Senior! Indeed, this is a shop set up by our Heavenly Fox Race, and we've set up a few special formations within it. The formations won't be able to enhance other abilities, but they can indeed significantly bolster the efficacy of captivation and illusionary techniques. If we had met outside this shop, you most likely wouldn't have been fooled even for a single instant."
It wasn't all that difficult to identify that restrictions had been set up in this shop, but for him to be able to determine that these restrictions could enhance the Great Captivation Technique indicated that he had extensive knowledge and expertise in the art of formations himself.
According to the circulating rumors, Han Li had to have encountered some kind of miraculous opportunity in the primordial world to have reached the Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries, so it was quite remarkable that he had still managed to become this adept in the art of formations despite those difficult circumstances.
Thus, the hint of skepticism and disdain that the woman had harbored toward Han Li as someone who had merely been outrageously lucky naturally immediately vanished.
"Alright, I heard from my disciple that you agreed to meet me here today, so I presume you've prepared the things I want; please bring them out." Han Li was still slightly annoyed that she had taken on Nangong Wan's appearance to test him, but he set that matter aside and cut straight to the chase.
"Of course. After returning to our demon race, I've secured most of the ingredients you requested through various avenues, and I'm sure you'll be pleased with what I've gathered. Mei'er, bring out everything for Senior Han. I had to take care of some troublesome business recently, so I entrusted everything to my sister as a precautionary measure." Qin Su'er nodded in response before turning to the little girl, then back to Han Li.
"Yes, Sister Su'er!" the little girl immediately replied before opening her mouth to expel a faint yellow translucent bead that was only around the size of an egg.
Han Li was slightly taken aback to see this.
"The demon beast materials you requested are relatively taboo items among us demonic cultivators, so we stored them in this special bead rather than an ordinary storage bracelet. This is a half-Xumi treasure that a senior of our race failed to refine, but it has far greater storage capacity compared to normal storage treasures, and it can also be refined directly into one's body, so it's quite secure and discreet," Qin Su'er explained with a smile.
"A half-Xumi treasure? That's quite rare." An intrigued look appeared on Han Li's face as he raised a hand before making a grabbing motion to draw the bead into his grasp.
At the same time, a serious look appeared on his face, and he injected a wisp of his spiritual sense into the bead. In doing so, he discovered that it was filled with all types of precious demon beast materials that were piled up into a small mountain.
There were also some other containers that were undoubtedly carrying some more valuable materials, presumably including things like the inner cores of high-grade demon beasts.
With Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, he was naturally able to assess everything in an instant, and even the items in the containers were tallied in the blink of an eye.
"You've indeed gathered most of the items on my list. I must say, I'm very impressed," Han Li said as a smile finally appeared on his face.
"I certainly can't take all the credit, Senior. I contacted some good friends from other races, and it took all of us an enormous amount of time and effort to just barely track down all of these items," Qin Su'er said with a wry smile.
"In any case, you've fulfilled your end of the agreement, so I certainly won't go back on my word. Please examine these myriad-year spirit medicines and see if they'll be sufficient compensation," Han Li said with a pleased nod before flipping a hand over to produce a faint red storage bracelet, then tossing it toward Qin Su'er with a flick of his wrist.
Qin Su'ers eyes lit up as she raised a hand to draw the storage bracelet into her grasp, then carefully injected her spiritual sense into it.
Meanwhile, Han Li began to transfer the demon beast materials from the bead into his storage bracelet without any hesitation. Qin Mei'er pouted slightly upon seeing this, but she didn't dare to say anything to stop him.
It was quite clear that she felt Han Li to be too overbearing in transferring the items before her sister had even finished verifying the spirit medicines. However, the demon race respected power even more so than the human race, and Han Li was a Body Integration cultivator, so she could only swallow her complaints.
Thankfully, Qin Su'er finished her examination very quickly, and after withdrawing her spiritual sense from the storage bracelet, a hint of elation intermingled with bewilderment appeared on her face.
"Thank you, Senior Han; I noticed that there are more myriad-year spirit medicines in here than what we initially agreed on. May I ask what your intentions are, Senior?" She asked in a hesitant manner.
Instead of answering her question, Han Li asked in a calm manner, "Fellow Daoist Qin, are you aware of the tribulation that's about to befall our two races within the next 1,000 years?"
Qin Su'er's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and only after a while did she murmur, "Are you referring to the devilish tribulation, Senior Han?"
"So you're already aware of this. Indeed, the devilish tribulation is imminent, and in order to ensure self-preservation, everyone aware of this information is doing everything they can to accumulate more power. In a short time, there will most likely be a severe shortage of spirit medicines and materials among our two races. As a precautionary measure, I plan to continue our deal. You and I can continue to exchange for items that we need prior to the devilish tribulation, but next time, I'll be asking for other things that can only be found in the demon race outside of demon beast materials," Han Li said in a serious manner.
"I only unintentionally stumbled upon this information about the devilish tribulation during the past few days. As for continuing our exchange, I would certainly love to. If you need anything, you can go directly to any of the shops opened by the Heavenly Fox Race in Deep Heaven City and leave me a message there. For now, I'll be taking these spirit medicines; thank you again, Senior," Qin Su'er agreed without any hesitation.
No matter how many myriad-year spirit medicines she obtained, the supply would be exhausted in a very short time. A main contributing factor behind her rate of cultivation progression lay in the myriad-year spirit medicines that Han Li had provided her with in the past, so she was ecstatic that Han Li was proposing to continue their exchange.
"Alright, I won't stay here for any longer, then. I wish you luck in finding what you need during the rest of the Myriad Treasure Convention." Seeing as everything had been said and done, Han Li had no intention of lingering any longer and stood up to take his leave.
The Qin sister naturally accompanied him to the ground floor before bidding farewell to him in a respectful manner.
After returning to the shop, Qin Mei'er asked in a puzzled manner, "Sister Su'er, why didn't you bring out that thing? We expended so much effort to get it; wasn't your objective from the very beginning to exchange it for more myriad-year spirit medicines?"
"A few days ago, I would've naturally done that, but I received an invitation slip for the Black Realm Exchange Conference from a demonic senior yesterday; I want to see if I can exchange that thing for something better during that convention. If not, I can exchange it for myriad-year spirit medicines with that man as a backup plan. In any case, he's expressed the urge to continue our exchange, so I'm not in any hurry," Qin Su'er explained in a confident manner.
"Alright, seeing as you've made up your mind, I have nothing to say. However, that item isn't very useful for us demonic cultivators, but it's like a ticking time bomb in our hands. If word were to spread that we're in possession of such a thing, we'll most likely be hunted down and killed, so it's best to get rid of it as quickly as possible." Qin Mei'er nodded in response, but her concerns clearly still hadn't been completely erased.
"Rest assured, I know what I'm doing. This is why I didn't dare to reveal it on all those normal markets and decided to save it for this Black Realm convention," Qin Su'er said in a serious manner.
At this point, Han Li was already on the way back to the Immortal Welcome Palace, and he was naturally unaware that by expressing the urge to continue working with the two demonic women, he had unwittingly missed out on a treasure.
At the moment, he was merely very pleased by all of the demon beast materials he had secured. Now, he was only missing a few types of materials before he could begin refining his second extreme mountain.
The Myriad Treasure Convention had only just begun, so even though the remaining materials were quite precious, it definitely wouldn't be an issue for him to gather them.
However, much to Han Li's surprise, right as he returned in high spirits to the Immortal Welcome Palace, he discovered that he had a guest.