A blazing sun hung high in the sky, and the market vibrated with a dense crowd. Carriages and occasional tamed beasts threaded through the streets, accompanied by the intermittent clatter of hooves and cries of beasts.
On the main street, two magnificent towers stood facing each other. One was named Duize Tower, and the other was Tongyi Pavilion.
These were the two largest shops in the market, dealing in a wide array of goods—from magic treasures and pills to natural treasures—while also buying goods and exchanging currency.
Large shops generally offered fair prices without driving too hard a bargain. Lacking the patience to waste time haggling, Shi Yu headed straight toward them.
Carrying her finished jade talismans, Shi Yu picked one at random and walked toward Duize Tower.
Inside, the decor was resplendent and luxurious, displaying a dizzying array of goods. Pills sat inside sealed display cases, stored in exquisite jade caskets and bottles that firmly trapped their medicinal fragrance within. Not far from the pills lay various spiritual talismans—offensive, defensive, and auxiliary—though most were low rank, predominantly Tier-1, with a few Tier-2 talismans scattered among them.
Along the adjacent wall were jade shelves holding several decent-quality magic treasures.
There were also various ores and spiritual materials of many kinds.
Around a dozen shop clerks were busy attending to customers, while a manager patrolled the floor, stepping in to personally greet any guest of distinguished status.
When Shi Yu entered, the manager happened to be wearing a beaming smile as he saw off an honored guest. He was bowing slightly and following closely behind a pretty young woman.
Seeing them coming toward her, Shi Yu stepped aside slightly, overhearing their conversation.
The middle-aged manager held a stack of about ten spiritual talismans in his hand. “Miss Lu has only been studying source runes for a year and a half, yet she can already craft Tier-1 spiritual talismans,” he said. “You truly are a natural genius.”
The young woman, named Lu Yujiao, glanced casually at Shi Yu before averting her eyes. Pouting her lips into a smile, she said, “Manager Yan, you praise me too much. It took me a year and a half just to barely cross the threshold of talisman crafting. I am quite dull, truth be told.”
Though she spoke humble words about being foolish, a faint trace of pride glinted in the depths of her eyes.
Shi Yu had no intention of eavesdropping, but a few words still reached her ears.
Her eyes swept over the talismans in Manager Yan's hand. They were Tier-1 Thunder-Conducting Talismans. Judging by the quality of the source runes, they barely qualified as Tier-1; compared to a properly made Thunder-Conducting Talisman, they would likely unleash only sixty to seventy percent of their true power.
Manager Yan narrowed his eyes, his smile growing even more flattering. “If Miss Lu is dull, then there are truly no clever people left in this world! That being said, if you have more spiritual talismans to sell in the future, please bring them directly to Duize Tower. We will certainly offer a price that satisfies you.”
Lu Yujiao nodded. “Of course. I naturally trust your service, Manager Yan. There is no need to see me out further.”
“Ah! Then take care, Miss Lu.” Manager Yan beamed. Once she walked far away, he turned to look at Shi Yu standing nearby, the smile vanishing from his face instantly.
As the manager overseeing an establishment as large as Duize Tower, Manager Yan possessed a Sixth-Layer Qi Refining Realm cultivation, just one step away from the seventh layer and entering the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Naturally, he harbored a fair share of pride and arrogance.
Seeing that Shi Yu possessed no cultivation whatsoever and wore mortal clothes and shoes devoid of any mystical aura, he immediately looked down on her.
How many spirit stones could someone like this possibly have? Duize Tower had no interest in attending to such shabby guests who could barely scrape together a few coins.
Withdrawing his gaze, devoid of the previous attentiveness he had shown Lu Yujiao, he asked lazily, “What does the customer wish to buy?”
Shi Yu stated her purpose: “Does your shop purchase jade talismans?”
Hearing that she was here to sell rather than buy—and was selling an unranked gimmick like jade talismans, no less—Manager Yan scoffed. “Jade talismans?”
Those who sold jade talismans were usually novice talisman masters who hadn't even formally entered the trade. Yet even an uninitiated novice generally needed at least a Third-Layer Qi Refining Realm cultivation before attempting to study the art.
Take Miss Lu Yujiao just now: as the only daughter of the Lingle Peak Master in the Yuxu Sect, guided daily by a Foundation Establishment True Person, she was only twenty-two years old and already reached the Fourth Layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
What was even rarer was that a year and a half ago, Lu Yujiao showed talent in talisman crafting. After a year and a half of diligent study, she could already craft Tier-1 spiritual talismans.
Geniuses like her were the figures Duize Tower needed to fawn over and build strong connections with.
Once Miss Lu grew in skill and crafted higher-tier spiritual talismans to sell to Duize Tower, he, as the managing agent, would receive rewards from his superiors.
He sized Shi Yu up once more; she wasn't even at the First Layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
His tone turned mocking. “Customer, while jade talismans are unranked trinkets, they aren't something you can just make by carving a few random lines and calling it a day. I suggest you go back and focus on cultivating instead of dreaming about becoming a talisman master.”
Seeing his attitude, Shi Yu frowned slightly. “Manager, won't you even look at the jade talismans I wish to sell?”
Seeing that she hadn't left, the manager waved his hand impatiently and laughed mockingly. “Even if they are real jade talismans, so what? As I said, unranked items worth barely a dozen or so taels of silver are beneath Duize Tower's notice.”
With a cold snort, he added, “We have other guests in the shop. You had better leave quickly, lest you offend a noble guest and bring trouble upon yourself.”
Growing up, when had Shi Yu ever suffered such cold mockery? Suppressing the anger rising within her, she reminded herself that this was the cultivation world where the strong devoured the weak. Things were different now. She reined in her temper and turned to leave.
Having experienced the snobbery of such a big shop, Shi Yu glanced at Tongyi Pavilion across the street.
“It's probably the same over there—they won't care for mere jade talismans either.”
She turned to leave, intending to check out smaller shops instead. But after taking only a few steps, a voice behind her called out, “Young master, please wait.”
Shi Yu turned around to see a gentle-looking middle-aged man wearing a scholar's cap walking toward her.
“Are you calling for me?” Shi Yu asked.
The middle-aged man stopped before her and nodded with a smile. “Indeed. I am Jiang Qihe, a manager at Tongyi Pavilion. I noticed that you only paused briefly at Duize Tower before leaving. May I ask if you found what you were looking for?”
Seeing that Manager Jiang Qihe didn't put on airs or look down on her despite her lack of cultivation, Shi Yu paused for a moment and said, “I came to sell something.”
Jiang Qihe nodded slightly. “I see. Tongyi Pavilion also purchases items. May I ask what you wish to sell?”
As he asked, he motioned for Shi Yu to follow him toward Tongyi Pavilion. “Come inside with me, young master, and we can discuss it.”
Seeing how polite he was, Shi Yu offered no further objection and followed him inside.
The interior of Tongyi Pavilion was arranged far more elegantly than Duize Tower. At the center of the shop sat a flower bed enclosed in jade, planted with spiritual flowers whose swaying stems radiated specks of spiritual light, emitting a delightfully refreshing fragrance.
Jiang Qihe led her to the counter. Shi Yu flipped her hand, retrieving the six jade talismans and placing them on the surface. “Does your shop buy jade talismans?”
Jiang Qihe's expression didn't change at all upon seeing her produce only six jade talismans. Maintaining his gentle demeanor, he pinched one of the slips between two fingers, examined it, and smiled. “Of course we do. One hundred taels of silver for the six jade talismans—what do you think, young master?”
Shi Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Jade talismans were quite popular among mortals, but in the end, they were merely minor trinkets usually priced around fifteen taels of silver each. For Jiang Qihe to offer one hundred taels of silver for six was more than fair.
She nodded, sealing the deal. Jiang Qihe summoned a clerk to fetch the silver and said, “If you have more items to sell in the future, young master, you are welcome at Tongyi Pavilion at any time.”
With his amiable attitude and fair pricing, he was easy to deal with, so Shi Yu agreed.
The clerk fetched the silver. Once Shi Yu stowed it away, Jiang Qihe gestured politely. “Young master, feel free to look around the shop and see if there is anything you might need to purchase.”
Shi Yu nodded, stepping away from the counter to browse elsewhere.
Seeing her walk away to look at other goods, the young clerk scratched his head and asked the manager in a hushed voice, “Sir, why did you offer such a high price?”
Jiang Qihe chuckled softly. “To forge good will. Besides, the quality of these jade talismans is indeed superior to ordinary ones.”
The clerk muttered, “No matter how good they are, they are still just a few jade talismans—trinkets used by mortals.”
Jiang Qihe shook his head. “Which talisman master didn't start with jade talismans?”
The clerk asked in surprise, “Sir, are you saying that young master might become a talisman master in the future?”
“These jade talismans likely weren't made by that young master. That youth has barely any cultivation and looks to be only fourteen or fifteen years old; there is likely someone else behind them.” Jiang Qihe put away the jade talismans. “Regardless of who it is, forging good will costs little. If the creator of these jade talismans truly becomes a talisman master in the future and remembers today's goodwill, giving Tongyi Pavilion priority when selling spiritual talismans, it will all have been worth it.”
Tongyi Pavilion was a chain merchant guild. This branch within the Yuxu Sect's territory in Changyuan Prefecture had opened not long ago, and its buying and selling volume could not compare to the long-established local Duize Tower.
In business, first, guests from all directions were welcome, and second, eye-catching goods were needed to retain customers. If any of Tongyi Pavilion's many managers could recruit or win over a talisman master, alchemist, weaponsmith, or array master, it would elevate their status among their fellow managers.
Jiang Qihe had been sent to serve as a manager in this remote part of Changyuan Prefecture precisely because he had been framed and suppressed. Though he harbored no hopes of rising in status at the moment, he always remembered to treat customers with kindness and goodwill.
He looked at the six jade talismans Shi Yu had sold to Tongyi Pavilion once more. The more he looked, the more he felt these six talismans were truly exceptional. At one hundred taels of silver, Tongyi Pavilion certainly wasn't taking a loss.
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