A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

"He did that intentionally to send a message. In the beginning, he allowed you to serve as his guide as a gesture of respect to me. He then dismissed you upon reaching the Imperial River Market to warn me not to overstep my boundaries and. It's clear that he's not very pleased with my surveillance measures, but he's expressing his discontent in a very tactful manner," Shi Pokong analyzed with a smile.

"Such insolence from a mere human! Does he not know that he's currently in the capital city of our Holy Realm? I think you've been too kind and tolerant of him up to this point, Your Highness! Hu Jingjing said in a disgruntled voice."

"That's enough. He's a guest of Chuankong's, so we should be respecting his boundaries. Instruct everyone not to conduct any further surveillance on him," Shi Pokong said.

"Yes, Your Highness," Hu Qingqing hurriedly replied.

"Alright, you can go now," Shi Pokong said with a dismissive wave.

Hu Qingqing immediately departed as instructed, while Shi Pokong turned to stare at the giant artwork with a thoughtful expression.

After a long silence, he murmured to himself, "As expected, he's quite an interesting character..."

......

Inside the Imperial River Market, Han Li had already left the Immortal Spirit Pavilion and arrived in front of a strange building that was situated by the river with its entrance facing the river rather than the main street.

The entire building was constructed from some type of black stone material, and it had a dome ceiling with circles of peculiar patterns etched onto its surface.

At this moment, he was standing in front of the building, looking up at the plaque above the entrance, which read "Exotic Wares Shop".

After a brief hesitation, he made his way into the shop, and as soon as he did so, he discovered that there wasn't even a single customer inside.

The items sold in the shop were split up into two clear sections, and hanging on the counter to the left was a black wooden sign that read "reserved for those who possess discerning eyes". The writing was very old, and a thick layer of dust had accumulated over the sign's surface.

There was a wooden sign hanging from the counter on the right as well, and this one appeared a little newer, bearing the words "reserved for those who possess plentiful wealth".

There was an employee standing behind each counter, and one of them was yawning in a sleepy fashion, while the other was engrossed in an antiquated azure book that he was reading.

Upon closer inspection, Han Li discovered the book to be a raunchy romance novel, rather than any cultivation art.

The employee's brows furrowed slightly with disdain at the sight of Han Li, and he turned away slightly before putting the book away.

"How can we help you today? You won't find much legitimate wares in our shop, but we stock a lot of weird and wacky items," the employee declared, and Han Li was momentarily rendered speechless by this bizarre spiel.

He took a glance at the shelves behind the employee to find that they were laden with all types of devilish treasures and pills, all of which were placed haphazardly with no rhyme or reason to be found.

All of the items were of a high caliber, but the price tags attached were downright astonishing, and they were very expensive in Han Li's eyes, even after securing Daoist Master Bone Shine's entire wealth.

However, after some inspection, Han Li didn't find anything that caught his eye, so he shook his head before turning to the counter on the left.

The employee seemed to be accustomed to customers displaying no interest in the shop's wares, and he casually picked up his book again before continuing his reading.

The items on the shelves behind this counter were strewn around even more haphazardly, and they had no price tags attached, either.

Han Li could see various beastly appendages on the shelves, some of which were still giving off a faint sheen, while others were looking completely withered and lifeless.

Beside all of these appendages were many transparent vials that held spirit liquids of different colors, submerged within which were eyeballs that belonged to different types of beasts and even human cultivators.

All of a sudden, an eyeball that resembled a gray rock caught Han Li's attention, and he pointed at it as he asked, "How much for that one?"

Only then did the employee at the counter stop dozing off, and he turned to look at the eyeball in question in a bleary-eyed manner, then replied in a lazy voice, "3,500 Devilish Origin Stones."

"Why is it so expensive? Aren't these items supposed to be reserved for those who possess discerning eyes?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"They are indeed reserved for those who possess discerning eyes, but we never said that we were giving out these items for free," the employee yawned in a lazy manner.

Han Li had no response to this.

If he wasn't mistaken, the eyeball belonged to a mature Primordial Fei Beast, so it was an item that contained time law powers.

However, a restriction seemed to have been cast onto the vial that housed the eyeball, sealing in all of its energy fluctuations.

Han Li turned his attention away from the eyeball, then asked, "Do you have any maps of Night Sun City here?"

"We do, but there are some sensitive places in the Naraka Area and elsewhere in the city that aren't displayed on the map," the employee replied.

"That's fine. If you could throw in a brochure that introduces all of the noteworthy locations in the city, then that would be even better," Han Li said.

"The map of Night Sun City costs fifty Devilish Origin Stones, and we also sell journals that lay out all of the noteworthy locations in the city for three hundred Devilish Origin Stones each. If you want to purchase some pieces of information that aren't publicly available, we can help you as well, but those services will be rather pricey," the employee replied.

Han Li hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then said, "I'll pass for now. Just get me a map and a copy of the journal."

After handing over the Devilish Origin Stones in exchange for a black jade slip and a thick black book, Han Li turned to depart, but right as he was about to step out of the shop, the employee suddenly called out after him, "Would you like to reconsider the Primordial Fei Beast eyeball? The price is negotiable."

"Oh? How so?" Han Li asked.

"The deputy shopkeeper of our shop has established a rule for us, which states that if a customer can offer something of sufficient value, then the prices of items on the shelves reserved for those who possess discerning eyes can be negotiated," the employee replied.

"Something of sufficient value?" Han Li mused.

"Something that's sufficiently strange or exotic will do as well. We'll decide if it's valuable or not," the employee added.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li suddenly asked, "I can see that you have many beastly appendages here, do you purchase complete bodies?"

"That would depend on what body you have to offer. Generally speaking, we only purchase bodies of beings at or above the High Zenith Stage. Otherwise, the body of a normal cultivator has no use to anyone," the employee replied.

"I want to sell the body of a Gray Immortal," Han Li declared.

A look of intrigue instantly appeared in the employee's eyes upon hearing this, and he asked, "What cultivation base?"

"He was a Golden Immortal during his lifetime," Han Li replied.

A hint of disappointment flashed through the employee's eyes upon hearing this.

"If it were a High Zenith Stage Gray Immortal's body, then you could even directly exchange it for this Primordial Fei Beast eyeball. However, if it's only a Golden Immortal Stage body, then it'll only cover part of the eyeball's cost."

"How much do I have to pay to make up the difference?" Han Li asked.

"Five hundred Devilish Origin Stones," the employee replied.

"Deal," Han Li declared with a nod, then swept a sleeve through the air, and a white-robed body of a Gray Immortal appeared on the counter.

This was the body of the first Gray Immortal that he had encountered back in the True Mantra Sect ruins.

The employee approached the body, then pried open its eyelids, and after conducting a close examination, he pulled out a palm-sized silver mirror before hovering it over every single inch of the body from head to toe.

After putting the mirror away, he nodded as he confirmed, "This is a satisfactory body."

With that, Han Li paid five hundred Devilish Origin Stones in exchange for the Primordial Fei Beast eyeball, then left the shop.

Not long after his departure, a tall and slender woman slowly emerged from behind the screen at the back of the shop.

She was wearing a suit of tight-fitting silver armor that only covered her chest and abdomen, and it perfectly highlighted her exceptional curves. Her silver hair was arranged into a tall bun that was fastened with a silver hairpin, and her features were strikingly beautiful.

The two shopkeepers hurriedly rushed out from behind their counters before extending respectful bows as they greeted, "Welcome, Shopkeeper."

The woman waved a dismissive hand, and her gaze was fixed on the body of the Gray Immortal on the counter.

She then cast her gaze outside as she murmured to herself, "I tried to give you an opportunity to gather more information, but it seems like you're a very patient man."

Upon returning to the main street, Han Li took a glance up at the sky to find that it was still quite early, so he continued to stroll through the Imperial River Market, but he made a point not to visit the Flowing Wind Pavilion, which had the backing of the eldest prince.

......

Only at night did Han Li return to Shi Pokong's manor on a beast-drawn carriage that he had purchased, and he quickly retired to his room.

After activating all of the restrictions, he sat down onto a chair, then flipped a hand over to summon the Primordial Fei Beast eyeball that he had purchased earlier.

He slowly injected a wisp of time law powers into the eyeball, and a series of cracks instantly appeared on its surface, with golden light shining through all of the cracks.

Only after the outermost layer of rock-like skin had completely peeled off was the golden eyeball inside completely revealed, and it was giving off tremendous time law power fluctuations.