"Steward, have you made a mistake? This should have been exchanged one for one. How did it turn into this?"
"There is no mistake. This is the floating exchange rate mechanism personally established by the newly appointed Grandmaster, His Excellency Li Zun. His Excellency said that the old mandatory exchange rates could not accurately reflect the purchasing power parity of Talisman Coins, nor the true value of spirit stones. Consolidating the Talisman Coins independently issued by various powers was complicated, with many drawbacks, and made exchanges across continents and Dao Paths inconvenient. Hence, we must adopt a market-based approach..."
"Uh, I understand every word you're saying, so why don't I understand any of it?"
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Fellow Daoist, you only need to know that these are rules laid down by the towering Great Powers. Both the Immortal Alliance and the Puppet Dao have acknowledged them, and the major merchants' associations, trade leaders, and Spirit Peak Blessed Lands all know of and approve them."
"From now on, the new currency will be recognized by both Dao Paths and all the various powers. Our money house will be responsible for its exchange rates against the old currency and spirit stones."
Someone waiting in line behind him grew impatient and urged, "Hey, old man, why all the chatter? Are you exchanging or not? We're all in a hurry to get to work! Besides, isn't getting more money a good thing?"
The old merchant's face darkened at those words. This was an ignorant fool. Spirit stones were the hard currency, like actual gold and silver in the Mortal World. What damn use was getting more of this money?
Getting more money meant that the same amount of money would buy fewer spirit stones!
Still, the money house employee had