The group browsed through the market, picking and choosing, until they finally found something suitable in a Hundred Treasures Tower flying the banner of the Universal Trade Association.
"Jadeite! Good stuff. It may not count as a rare treasured material, but its sources are scattered all across the world, and plenty of places are desperately short of it!"
Jadeite was a jade-type treasured material imbued with spiritual properties. Just as Lin Ziguan and the others had said, its value varied widely because of where it was produced. These small pieces were not worth much individually, yet gathering them for sale in bulk was no easy task. They were something of a chicken rib-too little meat to savor, too much to simply discard-and held little appeal for merchant associations.
But that lack of interest gave members of the Heavenly Dao Alliance an opportunity. They could resell it without worry.
Moreover, jade-type treasured materials had another advantage: their value remained relatively stable while stockpiled. Even if they sold cheaply here, the next official assignment might take them somewhere else where they could fetch a good price.
Unlike certain spiritual waters or materials of earth and wood, they required no special storage or maintenance conditions. Sealed up normally and placed in a Storage Bag, they would neither spoil nor rot.
"Would you five gentlemen like some? Our jadeite is top-quality stock from the local Cloud Mountain Mine. Whether you want crystal-flower, ice-grade, water-hued, or solid-colored jadeite, we have it all..."
Reading their expressions, the shopkeeper immediately approached and launched into an enthusiastic sales pitch.
"No need to say any more, shopkeeper. Water-hued jadeite, twenty-eight spirit jade apiece. Give each of us fifty pieces," Lin Ziguan said with practiced ease.
"Five gentlemen... you want that much jadeite!" The shopkeeper was startled. It was not