Chapter 876: Cultivation Art Exchange

The meeting went on for about fifteen minutes before the stone door was slowly opened, and as everyone departed, no communication took place between them, but all of them had excited smiles on their faces.

Following their departure, Chen Yang slowly emerged from the shadows near the entrance of the conference hall with a cold look in his eyes, and he turned and spat onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Han Li had just returned to the ninth area following his battle when he was greeted by the sight of Toxic Dragon standing by his door.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "I can't treat you in my current condition. You'll have to wait for me to rest and recuperate a little first."

"Don't try to fool me," Toxic Dragon scoffed. "With your current powers, killing a Black Scaled Elephant isn't a difficult task at all. I'm not sure even I'd be able to defeat you in a battle now. How many profound acupoints have you actually opened? Forty-five? Forty-seven?"

"Even if that's the case, you can't just stand in front of my door and force me to treat you. Besides, that profound acupoint of yours has already been remedied to the point that it doesn't really require any further treatment. I'm sure you can sense that yourself," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"That's not the reason why I'm waiting here for you," Toxic Dragon said.

"Oh? Then why are you here?" Han Li asked.

"Some of the elite gladiators from all of the arena's different areas will be gathering today to hold a small exchange event. Everything can be put up for exchange, including profound points, bodily refinement cultivation arts, or other items, and you can exchange cultivation insights with others as well if you'd like. Are you interested?" Toxic Dragon asked.

"Is an event like this not prohibited by the city lord's manor?" Han Li asked.

"Not at all. If anything, it's encouraged by the city lord's manor. After all, these types of events can help gladiators further enhance their own powers, thereby making arena battles more riveting for spectators to watch, so this actually benefits the city lord's manor," Toxic Dragon explained.

"I see," Han Li replied with a nod.

"On top of that, not all gladiators are here against their will like us. A considerable portion of them have come here voluntarily to hone their own powers, and they have more freedom than we do, so they're able to procure items from the outside that are completely out of our reach," Toxic Dragon continued.

"In that case, this does sound like a splendid opportunity. I'll go and take a look with you," Han Li said with a smile.

With that, Toxic Dragon led the way out of the ninth area before making his way to the first area with Han Li in tow.

As they passed through each area, they were stopped by armored guards from the city lord's manor, but they would quickly be granted free passage once they were identified.

"Looks like being the leader of an area comes with many privileges," Han Li remarked with a smile.

"You don't necessarily have to be an area leader, anyone will be able to enjoy the same privileges as long as they've displayed enough power. Honestly, if you show your true power and fight a few more spectacular battles, then you'll be able to participate in events like this even without my accompaniment," Toxic Dragon said.

Han Li nodded in response, then asked, "Has there been any news on Shi Kong and the others?"

"I don't think the beautiful woman that you mentioned has ever appeared in Green Goat City, and I haven't been able to dig up any information on Shi Kong, either. However, I have heard that Daoist Xie is currently with Chen Yang," Toxic Dragon replied.

Han Li fell silent upon hearing this. He had ventured into this Scalptia Spatial Domain in search of Violet Spirit, but so many years had passed by, and he was still trapped here with no progress made.

The two of them continued onward in silence, and before long, they reached a spacious hall in the first area.

As soon as he entered the hall, Han Li immediately heard a loud commotion, and he was greeted by a lively and bustling sight resembling a busy market.

The hall was packed with people, and the ground had been divided up into a series of stalls where all types of items were being displayed, including weapons, armor, and boxes crafted out of bone or stone, containing different types of precious pills.

"Sun Binghe has a scaled beast bone saber that I'd like to get my hands on, but I'm not sure if he'll be willing to sell it, so I'm going to ask him. Do you want to come with me?" Toxic Dragon asked.

"You can go on your own," Han Li replied with a shake of his head. "I don't know what I want to buy for now, so I'll do some exploring by myself."

Toxic Dragon nodded in response before departing, while Han Li made his way down the narrow aisles between the stalls, seeing if there was anything that caught his interest.

Over the years, he had earned quite a large sum of profound points, most of which had been spent on beast cores. Up to this point, he had only purchased a single weapon, which was that bone spear that he had used against the Black Scaled Elephant.

Right at this moment, Han Li caught sight of a pair of familiar figures not far up ahead, namely Gu Qianxun and Tu Gang.

Gu Qianxun spotted Han Li out of the corner of her eye, and she excused herself before making her way toward him.

"By the looks of it, you must've come here straight after a battle, right, Fellow Daoist Li?" Gu Qianxun asked with a faint smile.

"That's right. If it wasn't for Fellow Daoist Toxic Dragon, I wouldn't even have been aware of this exchange event," Han Li replied with a nod.

"I've watched a few of your battles, and I've won quite a bit of stuff from Fellow Daoist Tu Gang and the others from betting on you," Gu Qianxun chuckled.

"In that case, shouldn't you share some of your spoils with me?" Han Li jibed.

"Winning bets is a matter of luck and sound judgment. If you'd like, you can come and watch a few of my battles and make some winnings for yourself by betting on me," Gu Qianxun replied.

Han Li was just about to say something when Gu Qianxun's voice rang out in his mind: "Before we stray too far off topic, there's something that I would like to exchange from you."

"Oh? What could I possibly have that would be of interest to you, Fellow Daoist Gu?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.

"In the past, I had always been under the impression that the cultivation arts that you've been using are quite crude, and that's why your profound acupoints are distributed all over your body with no particular areas of focus.

“However, I've recently come to notice that you've been specifically refining your legs, and you've also earned the moniker of 'Shadow' for your exceptional movement techniques. At this point, your reputation is almost on par with that of Toxic Dragon's in the ninth area, so this leg refinement cultivation art of yours must be quite exceptional," Gu Qianxun said.

"Is that what you want from me?" Han Li asked.

"That's right," Gu Qianxun replied with a nod.

"In that case, I'm afraid that I'll have to turn you down. The cultivation art you're referring to is called the Wingform Ascension Arts, and I obtained it through some special means, so it's not up for exchange," Han Li said.

Gu Qianxun remained completely unfazed as she said, "Don't be in a hurry to turn me down, Fellow Daoist Li. Why don't you have a listen to what I have to offer in exchange first?"

"Go ahead," Han Li prompted.

"Are you interested in a cultivation art that focuses on refining the arms?" Gu Qianxun asked.

"I'm still yet to fully master the Wingform Ascension Arts, what good would another cultivation art do me? If I take on too many cultivation arts at once, I'll risk biting off more than I can chew," Han Li said.

"It's clear that your Wingform Ascension Arts focuses on opening profound acupoints on the legs, thereby greatly enhancing your speed, but it doesn't benefit you much in other areas. On top of that, I'm not just offering any ordinary cultivation art in exchange. Instead, the Titan Vajra Arts that I'm offering specializes in enhancing one's strength," Gu Qianxun said.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. He had heard of the Titan Vajra Arts from Toxic Dragon, and he knew that this was a cultivation art used by Tu Gang, so Gu Qianxun had most likely obtained it from him.

"Pardon me for being frank, Fellow Daoist Li, but your Wingform Ascension Arts may allow you to deal with C tier scaled beasts with ease, but it won't be enough for you to take on a B tier scaled beast or above. After all, the higher the tier of a scaled beast, the more physical prowess they possess, so speed alone won't be enough to break through their defenses," Gu Qianxun continued.

Han Li was well aware of this himself. He hadn't challenged a single B tier scaled beast up to this point, and one reason for this was that he didn't want to expose his true number of profound acupoints, but the main concern was that he simply lacked the power to go toe to toe against such fearsome scaled basts.

"I do indeed require a cultivation art like the Titan Vajra Arts, but given the fact that I obtained my Wingform Ascension Arts through rather special means, a one-for-one exchange is not very appealing to me," Han Li said.

"Truth be told, I obtained the Titan Vajra Arts from someone else as well, and it cost me dearly. I'd say it's no less precious than your Wingform Ascension Arts, but as a gesture of sincerity, I'm willing to throw in three additional C tier scaled beast cores. How does that sound?" Gu Qianxun asked after a brief pause.

"Three C tier scaled beast cores? What a stingy offer! This cultivation art of mine is the basis for my success as a gladiator, how could it possibly only be comparable in value to the Titan Vajra Arts?" Han Li countered as he raised an eyebrow.

Gu Qianxun fell silent again for a moment, then said, "In that case, I'll throw in a B tier scaled beast core as well. How about that?"