"How much is the Evergreen Technique?"
At his question, the glimmer of anticipation that Sword Flight had kindled in Steward Liu's eyes promptly faded.
He cupped his hands rather perfunctorily, his tone turning businesslike. "This is a basic wood-element cultivation method for the Qi Refining Stage, consisting of thirteen levels. Mastering the entire text will bring you to the peak of the Qi Refining Stage.
"Since it is widely circulated and copies are readily available, our tower sells it for ten Spirit Stones."
Jing Wen had only asked in passing. He simply wanted to get a sense of the Heavenly Palace Tower's prices and compare them with the street stalls. Once he knew, he said no more.
His gaze soon settled on another secret art, and he looked up to ask, "What about the Disguise Technique?"
"Twenty Spirit Stones." Steward Liu took an Image Recording Stone from his Storage Bag and quietly channeled spiritual power through his fingertips.
Amid shifting light and shadow, the figure of a cultivator abruptly appeared. His face rippled and changed like water, taking on an entirely different appearance in an instant. Even the aura surrounding him changed, leaving him utterly unlike his former self.
"This art not only lets you change your appearance at will, but also imitate another person's aura and bearing. It is an excellent means of concealing your identity."
Jing Wen asked no further questions. The price of twenty Spirit Stones already told him a great deal.
His fingertips rubbed the edge of the table as his spiritual sense continued probing the Jade Slip.
"How much is Array Formation Basics?" His tone was level, yet carried a barely perceptible gravity.
Steward Liu's eyes lit up at once. He leaned forward slightly, a perfectly measured smile rising to his lips. "You have a discerning eye, fellow Daoist!
"This secret art costs fifty Spirit Stones. It contains detailed explanations of eight basic formations: Spirit Gathering, Concealment, Alert, Enemy Binding, defense, Illusory Form, Evil-Breaking, and Countermeasure."
He lowered his voice, his tone enticing. "Once you learn it, you can not only lay down a simple defensive formation to protect yourself in a crisis, but also use formations to harness your surroundings and overcome the strong with the weak.
"If you are ambushed, a 'Bewildering Illusion Array' can buy you a chance to escape;
"if you need to enter seclusion, a Small Spirit-Gathering Array can improve your cultivation efficiency."
Jing Wen's gaze darkened slightly as understanding settled in his mind.
The art of formations was as vast as a sea of mist. Even a lifetime of study might not reveal its inner mysteries.
He had never aspired to become a master of the Formation Dao. He only hoped that, if he stumbled into someone else's array, he could distinguish the gate of life from the position of death and find a thread of hope for survival.
Suddenly, the words "Compendium of Spirit Medicine" at the end of a Jade Slip caught his eye. His brow lifted, and a trace of surprise entered his voice. "Oh? You also have the Compendium of Spirit Medicine?"
Steward Liu's smile immediately deepened, eagerness to recommend it shining in his eyes. "A fine choice, fellow Daoist! This is one of our bestselling manuals."
He tapped the Jade Slip with a fingertip and explained in detail. "The book not only thoroughly records the properties, growth habits, and secret habitats of various spirit medicines, but also includes many highly practical harvesting tips. Methods for avoiding the restrictions protecting the plants and preserving their medicinal potency are all clearly laid out."
"More valuable still, it contains dozens of basic pill formulas. Whether for strengthening your foundation during daily cultivation or treating injuries in an emergency, they can prove extremely useful."
Steward Liu shifted to the price. "Such a practical manual offers excellent value. It costs only fifty Spirit Stones."
Jing Wen unconsciously rubbed his Storage Bag as he quickly weighed his options. Breath concealment, Sword-Riding, disguise, formations, identifying spirit medicines... all five manuals I wanted on this trip are now accounted for.
Though expensive, all of them would be highly useful.
He hesitated no longer and looked up. "I'll take all five manuals."
The smile in Steward Liu's eyes deepened, and he immediately tallied the price. "The complete Breath-Concealing Art is one hundred Spirit Stones, Sword Flight is five hundred, the Disguise Technique is twenty, Array Formation Basics is fifty, and the Compendium of Spirit Medicine is fifty. That comes to seven hundred and twenty Spirit Stones."
As soon as he finished, he stepped half a pace closer and lowered his voice with an air of mutual understanding. "But since you are so decisive, fellow Daoist, I'll take it upon myself to round that down. How does seven hundred Spirit Stones sound?"
Jing Wen did not rush to pay.
With a turn of his fingers, a pill the size of a longan appeared in his palm. It was golden all over, its markings like clouds, with a faint dragon-shaped phantom roaming within. It was a Yellow Dragon Pill.
"Does your shop buy pills?" His tone was calm, but his gaze was sharp as a needle as he looked Steward Liu straight in the eyes.
Steward Liu's pupils contracted slightly, and a flash of delight he could scarcely conceal crossed his eyes.
Buying pills not only yielded considerable profits, but also counted toward his personal sales commission. It was far more worthwhile than selling a few basic cultivation manuals.
He nodded hastily, even speaking a little faster. "Yes! Of course we do!
"The Yellow Dragon Pill is a superior healing pill, with a market price of around one hundred Spirit Stones. Our purchase price is... eighty Spirit Stones."
Jing Wen's expression did not change. He had already expected as much.
The difference of twenty Spirit Stones was both the shop's profit margin and a hedge against risk-
after all, authenticating pills and checking their remaining potency both incurred appraisal costs.
That was simply how business worked.
Still, after their conversation, he had formed something of an opinion of Steward Liu:
the man spoke frankly and quoted fair prices, neither inflating the prices of cultivation methods nor deliberately driving down his offer for the pills.
Either he was new to the trade and had not yet been steeped in the Market's reek of money;
or... he was an old-fashioned merchant who truly believed that lasting business rested on honesty.
Such people were rare in the cultivation world, where the strong devoured the weak.
During their casual conversation, Steward Liu also let slip a few details: each Market permitted only one shop to specialize in cultivation methods and secret arts. In the Yellow Maple Valley Market, that monopoly naturally belonged to the sect's own Heavenly Works Tower.
After all, cultivation methods and secret arts were highly profitable, while copying them cost virtually nothing.
Yet unaffiliated cultivators desperately needed cultivation methods. Simply blocking access would only aggravate tensions. Better to channel that demand, earning Spirit Stones while maintaining order in the Market.
However, such shops mostly carried widely circulated basic cultivation methods. Hoping to find high-level secret arts there was little more than a fool's dream.
With a movement of his fingertips, Jing Wen took out nine more smooth jade bottles and set them on the table.
A faint halo of spiritual energy lingered around the bottles. Rich pill fragrance escaped in wisps through the gaps around their mouths, soon filling the entire shop with a crisp scent underlain by mellow medicinal notes.
Steward Liu's nostrils twitched. Delight first flashed in his eyes, only to be replaced by intense curiosity.
He lowered his voice, probing with a hint of disbelief:
"Fellow Daoist... could all these have been... refined by your own hand?
"Could you be... an alchemist?"
Jing Wen's expression remained as still as an ancient well, his tone so calm it bordered on distant. "I'm only a beginner. I barely managed to produce pills, and their quality is average."
"Average?" Steward Liu laughed in disbelief. Unable to restrain himself, he picked up one of the bottles and gently twisted its stopper.
With a soft pop, medicinal fragrance gushed out like a spring.
He closed his eyes and sniffed lightly, then abruptly raised his brows. "Very few impurities, even pill markings, perfectly controlled heat-
"How is this average? These are clearly superior Yellow Dragon Pills!"
He inspected the other eight bottles in succession, his surprise deepening with each one he opened.
"You are too modest, fellow Daoist." He solemnly sealed the last bottle, his voice now carrying a measure of respect.
"This level of skill could never be achieved through mere luck.
"Even the first-rank alchemists hired by the Heavenly Works Tower are no better."
Jing Wen merely shook his head gently, lowering his gaze as though helpless. "My success rate is too low. Out of ten batches, only two or three succeed.
"I'm short of Spirit Stones, so I had no choice but to bring these out to exchange for resources."
A keen light flashed in Steward Liu's eyes. He was already thinking of recruiting him.
He slowly replaced the stopper, his smile growing warmer and more earnest. "To achieve such proficiency when you have only just begun studying the Pill Dao-your talent truly is remarkable!
"May I ask which master alchemist taught you?"
Jing Wen was already prepared, his tone remaining level. "I'm merely an unaffiliated cultivator, with neither school nor sect.
"I happened to obtain a book on alchemy and have been working things out on my own from its instructions."
Hearing this, Steward Liu grew even more certain: either the man was deliberately hiding his abilities, unwilling to reveal his background;
or he was a heaven-gifted genius who had mastered the art without a teacher.
Either way, he was someone worth cultivating a close relationship with.
He immediately smiled. "Feel free to bring any pills you refine in the future to our shop, fellow Daoist. Our prices will certainly be fair!"
As he spoke, he paused, then asked tentatively, "What plans do you have for the future, fellow Daoist?
"Have you considered a long-term partnership with our Heavenly Works Tower?"
Without betraying anything, Jing Wen politely declined. "I appreciate your kindness, Steward Liu.
"For now, I only wish to focus on improving my alchemy skills. I would rather not take on too many constraints.
"Besides, I only refine pills occasionally, and my output is limited. I'm afraid I could not meet the Heavenly Works Tower's needs."
Steward Liu did not give up. His eyes shifted, and he continued persuading him. "You need not worry about that, fellow Daoist. The Heavenly Works Tower imposes no production requirements. Whenever you have pills, we will purchase them.
"Moreover, working with the Heavenly Works Tower would give you access to all manner of rare alchemical ingredients and ancient pill formulas. Those would greatly benefit your efforts to improve your skills."
Jing Wen smiled faintly, his tone modest but leaving no room for argument. "What you say certainly makes sense, Steward Liu.
"It's just that... at this stage, I would rather explore the Pill Dao on my own.
"When the time is right, it will not be too late to consider working with the Heavenly Works Tower."
Seeing his firm stance, Steward Liu could only set aside his plans to recruit him for the moment, despite his reluctance, and turn to calculating the bill:
"Ten bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills, at eighty Spirit Stones per bottle, come to eight hundred Spirit Stones;
"after deducting seven hundred Spirit Stones for the five secret arts, one hundred Spirit Stones remain."
Jing Wen's expression was calm, and he nodded slightly in agreement.
In truth, there were still several things he urgently needed to buy-talismans, a few supplementary medicinal ingredients...
But he had already spent a considerable amount at the Heavenly Works Tower today and revealed his ability to refine pills. Further lavish purchases might draw attention.
In this Market, where fish and dragons mingled, displaying wealth was an invitation to disaster.
Yet Steward Liu was hardly willing to let him go so easily. His face filled with an even warmer smile. "One moment, fellow Daoist!
"We have just received a batch of magical artifacts, all personally forged by master artificers. Whether used with Sword Flight or for everyday self-defense, they are a perfect match for the cultivation methods and secret arts you have purchased. Would you care to take a look?"
Jing Wen hurriedly waved his hand, his refusal carrying a touch of casualness. "Thank you for your kindness, Steward Liu, but I have already gained a great deal today, and I have few Spirit Stones left.
"I must save these remaining hundred Spirit Stones for alchemical ingredients. I really cannot afford anything else.
"When I need something in the future, I'll come trouble you again."
Initially, he had thought very well of Steward Liu, finding him enthusiastic and honest. He had even considered exchanging Sound Transmission Talismans to make future dealings more convenient.
But Steward Liu's almost relentless sales pitch was gradually becoming more than he could handle.
A slightly stiff smile tugged at Jing Wen's lips. He slowly rose from his chair, politely taking his leave as he accepted the Spirit Stones Steward Liu handed him.
As he spoke, he unobtrusively stepped back half a pace, quietly putting distance between them.
Steward Liu seemed oblivious to his withdrawal and continued pouring out words. "Don't miss this opportunity, fellow Daoist!
"These magical artifacts are of excellent quality, and their prices are fair. Once you pass this village, you won't find another shop like it..."
"I'm truly sorry!" Jing Wen cupped his hands, his tone courteous but decisive, giving the other man no chance to interject. "My Pill Furnace is still over a low flame, so I cannot stay. Farewell!"
With that, he turned and left. His steps appeared unhurried, but in fact he quietly channeled spiritual power beneath his feet, sweeping through the corridor like the wind.
Behind him, Steward Liu's voice chased after him once more. "Take care, fellow Daoist! Remember to visit often-"
Jing Wen turned a deaf ear, his figure soon disappearing into the Market's crowds.
Before you continue