Chapter 697: Candle-Eye Pearl

Li Yi walked through the North Wild City market with E Ji and Su Ji, where he always saw goods he had never encountered before—items that would be rare treasures in other worlds, yet here they were commonplace.

Li Yi saw merchants displaying boxes of treasure pearls that emitted brilliant light even in daylight; these were not gemstones, but dan born within the bodies of strange beasts, brimming with immense cosmic energy.

Yet in this barbaric world, such treasure dan were merely used as decorative jewelry; in a cultivation world or a world where the Dao had faded, they could be refined into precious elixirs to enhance one's strength.

He also saw many naturally miraculous things, such as herbs that had become sentient beings—with hands and feet, able to run and move—but bound by beast sinews, unable to break free.

He saw gleaming metals of divine radiance; though he did not know their origin, they could be forged into weapons.

He also saw many ancient and mysterious bones, perhaps from gods, perhaps from terrifyingly powerful strange beasts—yet even after countless years of death, the residual power within them remained formidable.

Unfortunately, since entering cultivation, Li Yi had always focused solely on improving his own strength and knew nothing of these things.

Still, adhering to the principle that since he had come, he might as well take something, he purchased a few treasures.

"Merchant, how much for this box of treasure pearls?" Li Yi walked over and asked.

"One box of treasure pearls costs only a hundred gold," the merchant said, beaming at Li Yi's attention and offering a fair price with great enthusiasm.

Li Yi picked up one of the treasure pearls from the box and examined it.

Feeling the astonishing energy within, he asked, "Do you have better treasure pearls?"

The merchant immediately replied, "Of course there are better ones—wait a moment."

He was sincere and sensed this divine-blood warrior found his ordinary goods beneath notice, so he immediately ordered a servant to fetch better stock.

Soon.

A servant emerged carrying another simple, ancient box.

When the merchant opened it, an astonishing energy surge erupted, and a golden energy field filled the air, enveloping dozens of meters around and instantly drawing the attention of many.

"Indeed," Li Yi thought sharply.

This was a wonder.

He had sensed the immense energy within the treasure pearls before, but that energy was insufficient to form an energy field—it did not reach the level of a wonder, and would merely dissipate slowly over time until it became an ordinary jewel.

So Li Yi had asked if there were better treasure pearls.

He had not expected the merchant to produce something truly surprising.

"This is the Candle-Eye Pearl—worth a thousand gold," the merchant said with a smile, quickly closing the box to hide its faint golden glow; had Li Yi not been a divine-blood warrior, he would not have dared to display such a treasure.

A thousand gold?

That price was already high—even by the market's standards, it was a true treasure.

Those with the means and willingness to spend a thousand gold on a single pearl were few; precisely because of this, such an expensive pearl had remained unsold.

Though the merchants of this world did not understand wonders, their eyes were sharp—they knew this was something special, unlike the other treasure pearls.

"A thousand gold? I won't haggle—add me two boxes of ordinary treasure pearls, and I'll take it," Li Yi said, unskilled in bargaining, merely requesting the two ordinary boxes as a gift.

The merchant immediately beamed and replied, "Agreed."

He gestured for Li Yi to take the two boxes he had chosen.

Li Yi wasted no time—he pulled out ten crimson gold pieces and handed them to the merchant, then stowed the Candle-Eye Pearl and the two boxes of ordinary treasure pearls directly into his Five Elements Bracelet, completing the transaction.

The merchant took the ten crimson gold pieces, delighted, yet noticed the way the items vanished into thin air—he fixed his gaze intently on the five-colored glowing bracelet on Li Yi's wrist.

An experienced merchant instinctively realized: the bracelet on Li Yi's wrist was a rare treasure.

"Do you have more of this item?" the merchant could not help asking.

Li Yi said, "Are you trying to buy my storage device? This one is not for sale—but I have others."

He pulled out another storage magic artifact: a delicate jade ring.

Though it looked ordinary, it contained an inner space.

"How much?" the merchant asked immediately.

Li Yi smiled. "Exchange it for a thousand-gold treasure pearl."

He knew rarity increased value; selling storage artifacts was unwise—but trading one for a wonder was more than worth it.

"I have only one thousand-gold treasure pearl, but I can search for more," the merchant's eyes lit up. "If I find one, where can I find you?"

"I am a guest of the Xiu Xiang family. If you find a thousand-gold treasure pearl, come to Xiu Xiang's home," Li Yi said.

"Agreed," the treasure pearl merchant replied at once.

Li Yi said no more—he tucked away the storage artifact and left with E Ji and Su Ji.

After Li Yi departed, the treasure pearl merchant immediately began asking other merchants if they had any thousand-gold treasure pearls; he now deeply regretted not buying more of them earlier.

In his experience, he had seen many such treasure pearls.

But they were hard to sell, so he dared not stock many.

"Ten crimson gold pieces for a wonder—I've made a fortune," Li Yi thought, in high spirits; he was beginning to like this world.

With such abundant resources, if used well, his future cultivation would proceed smoothly.

Along with the Candle-Eye Pearl, Li Yi now possessed several complete wonders: the Phoenix Feather, Dragon Scale, World Heart Gem, and the repairing coin blade.

"Here—these two pearls are for you," Li Yi then took out two radiant treasure pearls and handed one each to E Ji and Su Ji.

After all, they had accompanied him—he owed them a small gift.

"Thank you, Da Yi."

E Ji and Su Ji accepted the pearls with great delight; they planned to wear them forever as adornments.

"Let's keep exploring," Li Yi nodded slightly and continued walking through the market.

Soon.

Following his memory of the route, he walked forward and soon arrived at the strange-beast market—here, strange beasts were endless; some had been slaughtered, their hides made into armor, their meat piled on slabs for sale.

Many people from North Wild City came here to buy meat, so it was busier and noisier than before.

Li Yi saw a ten-meter-tall Shan Yi, its feet bound, head severed, and carved into large chunks for display—this Shan Yi was no weakling, nearly matching the strength of the one he had tamed.

But strength meant nothing here—no matter how powerful a strange beast, it would be hunted and killed.

Its flesh shimmered faintly, translucent and crystalline.

Many were willing to buy Shan Yi meat.

Because Shan Yi meat had a miraculous property: it could neutralize poison; in this barbaric world, poisoning was a dire matter, so some stored Shan Yi meat as an antidote against emergencies.

He also saw a dragon with a single horn, bound and set aside, as a customer negotiated with the merchant to purchase it.

Li Yi joined the crowd and spent ten gold to buy a large chunk of Shan Yi meat, stowing it in his Five Elements Bracelet.

He had wanted to buy the horned dragon too, but the customer had paid first—he had to abandon the idea and continue exploring elsewhere.

He hoped to buy powerful strange beasts and store them in his Five Elements Bracelet, to see if he could tame them; if not, he could always slaughter them for meat.

The Five Elements Bracelet was a Dao artifact—its space permitted living creatures, unlike other storage magic artifacts.

"If only I could buy a true dragon," Li Yi thought.

A true dragon—if tamed—would be extraordinary.

Unfortunately, he saw no true dragons in the market; he saw mostly jiao dragons, all young, around three hundred years old—far weaker than the one Xiu Xiang had bought when he first came.

Seeing nothing worth buying, he did not waste money—he decided to visit the slave market.

But just as he prepared to leave, he suddenly heard a chorus of beast roars and growls ahead—the ground trembled, and nearby people rushed toward the commotion, clearly fleeing danger.

"Which merchant is so incompetent, letting a fire beast escape?"

"Get away from here—that fire beast is powerful; ordinary warriors cannot defeat it."

"My goods are destroyed—worth a hundred gold!"

Voices rang out everywhere.

Amid the chaos, a wave of heat suddenly swept through the air—wherever it passed, objects ignited instantly; those nearby were reduced to charred corpses.

Then Li Yi saw a crimson pillar of flame surging toward them, like a tidal wave, instantly swallowing many.

Yet the people of this world were naturally strong—he saw some perish in the flames, while others withstood the searing heat, bursting free, and swiftly fleeing.

"Cloud Soar."

Li Yi immediately cast a Dao technique—a blessed cloud lifted him, E Ji, and Su Ji into the air, avoiding the destruction.

Once airborne, he saw the distant market had become a sea of fire.

Amid the blazing sky, a massive beast clad in crimson scales raged, spewing torrents of flame—this fire was no ordinary fire; its extreme heat melted the ground, turning its location into a lake of magma.

Yet powerful warriors also charged forward, stepping on the magma, wielding great swords and axes to battle the fire beast.

Terrifying power erupted, and shockwaves of flame spread wildly.

Though the fire beast bore wounds and still wore unremoved shackles, its strength remained unmatched—each roar and lurch sent powerful warriors flying.

"This strange beast is strong—no wonder it broke free and caused such chaos in the market," Li Yi said calmly.

He had walked the market earlier; this was the strongest strange beast he had seen here so far.

Of course, dead ones didn't count.

(End of Chapter)