Taiping Chamber of Commerce.
Meng Haize navigated the familiar paths to find Manager He, stopping Yan Xiaosan, who was about to march ahead and wander around.
"The first floor of the Taiping Chamber of Commerce only has ordinary goods," Meng Haize explained. "If Big Boss wants to browse, the second and third floors are where the good stuff is."
Yan Xiaosan understood. He raised a hand, produced a piece of paper, and handed it to the manager nearby.
"Give me a hundred copies of each spiritual medicine on this list. Can you get them all ready?"
Manager He took the list and saw that it was filled with low-grade spiritual medicines of various attributes used for solidifying the foundation and nurturing vitality. Some were quite rare, but not impossible to gather.
"No problem at all, Young Master. Rest assured."
Led by a maidservant, they arrived at the second floor of the chamber of commerce. Yan Xiaosan walked and stopped, his gaze falling from one display cabinet to another.
[This is Spring-Born Leaf, used in refining many middle and high-grade healing spiritual medicines; this is Fire Spirit Fruit, which has great benefits for cultivators with a Fire Spiritual Root when consumed long-term, and we'll need this later; this is Acacia Vine... cough, cough, skip that; this is...]
The system introduced them to Yan Xiaosan one after another. Every time the guiding maidservant saw his gaze linger and a look of keen interest cross his face, she stepped forward to introduce the item, only for him to nod and walk away the next second.
The maidservant: "......" These commissions are too hard to earn.
Meng Haize chose a few items instead and asked Manager He beside him, "Are there any new items on the third floor?"
Manager He replied, "Yes, quite a few people have returned from the Divine Miracle recently. If a few of the items weren't damaged, they could reach auction tier."
Yan Xiaosan had looked at things enough to get a general idea. He had taken a fancy to quite a few items, but none were things he needed at this stage. He wasn't in a hurry to buy them either; he had to keep some spirit stones in reserve for unforeseen emergencies.
Hearing this, he asked curiously, "Can I go take a look?"
Manager He replied, "Ordinarily, no. But Young Master Meng is a valued guest of the Taiping Chamber of Commerce, and Young Master Meng's friends are naturally welcome as well."
With that, he led the group toward the third floor.
The maidservant's rank was not high enough, so she remained behind on the second floor.
The items displayed on the third floor were far fewer than on the second, but the price of a single random item could match a whole pile on the second floor.
"Water-Traversal Pill!"
Meng Haize's eyes instantly locked onto a pill placed near the middle.
Yan Xiaosan glanced at it curiously, then found his attention caught by a figure in black armor nearby.
He stepped closer to examine it carefully.
[Fifth-tier Divine Mobility Spirit Puppet. Its combat power is slightly weaker than ordinary puppets of the same tier, roughly equivalent to a Nascent Soul combat strength, but its spiritual intelligence is very high. It doesn't just blindly execute its master's commands; in sudden situations, it can make its own judgments.]
Just the good stuff he needed!
He turned and asked Manager He about the price.
"The fifth-tier Divine Mobility Spirit Puppet. Although its combat power is a bit lower, its spiritual intelligence is very high, so the price is no lower than an ordinary sixth-tier one. One hundred thousand upper-grade spirit stones per unit."
"Young Master Meng is a valued guest of the chamber of commerce, and the friends he brings along also enjoy a discount. If Young Master wants it, ninety-eight thousand upper-grade spirit stones will do."
Gasp, just how many Put Chai Ko would he have to sell for that?
Yan Xiaosan drew a sharp breath. He wanted it, true, but all his compensation money combined would barely be enough to buy a single one.
He needed a puppet, true; the Divine Mobility Spirit Puppet was great, true; and he was dirt poor, also true.
No matter where you go, the smart ones are always more expensive than the ordinary ones.
With a sigh, he cast one last lingering look at it, turned around, and prepared to leave.
Mu Jian, who had been silent the entire time, blocked his path and asked Manager He, "How many are there?"
Manager He was startled. "The chamber of commerce only has four left at present."
"I'll take them all."
[Cool Point +1]
Yan Xiaosan: "!"
Manager He, how are you secretly getting your kicks?
Meng Haize: "!!"
He had only turned away for a moment to buy a Water-Traversal Pill—how had his chance to show off been stolen away? He hated this!
Recovering his wits, Yan Xiaosan hurriedly waved his hands in refusal. "No, no, no, you can't do that, this won't do..."
Mu Jian ignored his rejection. "Pack them up."
"Hey!"
"You want them."
Yan Xiaosan was so anxious he hopped on one foot. "I want them, true, but I won't accept rewards without merit. I'll buy them myself in the future."
"I'm buying them."
"......" Yan Xiaosan sighed. Fine, whatever, chalk it up as another debt and pay him back later when he had money. "Treat it as a loan. I'll pay you back later."
"No need."
Whether you want me to or not, I'll just shove it right back at you later!
Stiff-faced, he continued browsing the third floor. The more he looked, the more he resented his flat wallet; he couldn't even straighten his back, and turning away in a huff, he prepared to leave.
As he passed a corner, however, his steps came to an abrupt halt because the system started yelling in his mind.
[Host, look at that egg. You can take it. The egg should be sealed; I can't detect what's inside, but I can feel that whatever is in there is not some fiendish, murderous entity.]
[The seal on the outside could only be cast by a Tribulation Transcendence expert or the joint efforts of several Great Tribulation experts. The seal plunges the creature inside into a deep slumber, minimizing the drain on its vitality. If no one breaks the seal from the outside, it will never be able to hatch.]
"I can't sense its life force. Is the thing inside dead?"
[Not yet, but if the seal isn't broken, it will likely perish within ten years.]
"System, you're talking so much—don't tell me we're the ones who can break the seal?"
[Yes! Breaking the seal requires pure spiritual Qi, which we happen to have. It's something that could prompt Integration Stage or even Tribulation Transcendence experts to cast a seal—Host, go for it!]
Manager He had stayed right by Yan Xiaosan's side. Seeing the look of interest flicker across the young man's face, he stepped forward to introduce it. "Although the grade of this egg is unknown, the seal applied to its surface is extraordinary. The chamber of commerce's appraiser believes that anyone with the means to break the seal would find it holds a certain value, even if the creature inside has lost its vitality."
"How mu—"
Before the word "money" could leave his lips, Mu Jian, who had been trailing closely behind Yan Xiaosan the entire time, spoke up. "Pack it up."
Yan Xiaosan: "......"
Forget it. When you have too many debts, you stop feeling the weight. He'd just pay it off slowly.
Watching Yan Xiaosan thump his chest and exhale heavily, Mu Jian asked, puzzled, "You're spending a bit of pocket change. Why sigh and groan like that?"
Yan Xiaosan shot him a dirty look and followed Manager He downstairs.
"Everything Young Master Yan purchased is inside the storage ring, and Young Master Mu has already paid the spirit stones in full." Manager He naturally wouldn't let slip the chance to build connections with such valued guests. "This is a Taiping Dark Card. Present it for a ten percent discount on purchases at the Taiping Chamber of Commerce."
"In a few days, there will be a large-scale auction jointly hosted by various commercial firms. These are three invitations. If you young masters have the time, we hope you'll grace us with your presence."
Mu Jian kept strangers at a distance and wasn't easy to cozy up to, but having clawed his way up to the position of manager, how could he fail to see that this Young Master Mu's eyes were brimming entirely with Young Master Yan?
Although the one paying wasn't Young Master Yan, giving everything to Young Master Yan could never be wrong.
The money of young couples was simply too easy to make.
In a corner where no one was paying attention, Meng Haize looked resentfully at Mu Jian, clenching his fists and punching the air impotently.
With everything bought already, what lingering chance did he have to show off in front of the Big Boss anymore?!
Buy, buy, buy—you're the only one who knows how to buy!