Chapter 98: Bck Market's Spiritual Veins
He initially hypothesized that a single spirit stone cost ten thousand in the Huaixu Realm—an amount representing a few months’ worth of savings for a moderately prosperous household. If they saved diligently, they could manage to buy one, so it wasn’t excessively costly.
In the Tianyuan Realm, one merit point equated to a hundred credit points. That might not be enough for a day of comfortable living, but it would at least cover essential food and clothing.
An Jing was just running the numbers. With no reliable reference at hand, he had to rely on vague recollections from his past life, so his estimates were bound to be imprecise.
He made a rough calcution. “In the Tianyuan Realm, one liang of empty spirit stone would be worth about fifteen hundred merit points… assuming one merit point is roughly a hundred yuan, that would put an empty spirit stone at around one hundred fifty thousand. And that’s just for the empty ones—if it were a fully intact spirit stone, it wouldn’t be surprising if the price doubled.”
“The difference in price across the two realms is more than thirtyfold… that’s a 3,000% profit.”
An Jing halted his calcutions. A thirtyfold price disparity was staggering.
Of course, the actual figure could be lower or even higher. Even so, this crude estimate clearly demonstrated the huge price gap for spirit stones between the two realms.
“I want to make a trade.”
After a long moment of thought, An Jing looked up. He took out a piece of spirit jade from his chest and said calmly, “I’ll exchange this for jade-cleaving steel.”
“Very well.” The female manager nodded, though there was a note of pleasure in her voice. “We’ll count that empty spirit stone of yours as well and exchange five liang of jade-cleaving steel for it.”
“Eight liang,” An Jing said softly. “Two liang of spirit stone and two liang of empty spirit stone in exchange for eight liang of jade-cleaving steel—you’d still make a profit.”
“You don’t have a chip, and the purchase price never matches the sale price.” The female manager shook her head reflexively but relented when she saw someone coming. “Six and a half liang. We’ll count five liang of that as the spirit stone portion; take it and go. It simplifies my accounting.”
It appeared that genuine spirit stones were indeed far more valuable than empty ones. Was pure, untainted spiritual energy really so precious in this realm?
Then again, this was the polluted Tianyuan Realm.
Having confirmed a rough price range for spirit stones, An Jing feigned indifference to any further negotiations. “Deal. Let’s finalize the trade.”
The female manager withdrew five ingots of jade-cleaving steel from a hidden compartment in the counter, pced them into a jade box, and handed it over. “Jade is the soul of stone and can preserve the Yang aspect of the Five Metals. Keep it sealed properly if you’re not going to use it. If the jade box gets damaged, you can substitute treated gss with the same method. We won’t be liable for losses due to improper storage.”
An Jing stowed the items and passed the spirit stones to the female manager. Even through her mosaic veil, he could tell she was so excited her fingers trembled. Only when the arbiter and a shop assistant approached did her excitement begin to fade.
Under the arbiter’s supervision—a bck-cd guard—An Jing used another piece of empty spirit stone, roughly two liang, to trade for one liang of jade-cleaving steel. He then exchanged the remaining half-liang for five hundred merit points.
Little Ochre Mountain could manufacture these merit-point tokens. He obtained five pieces of pale red talismanic jade, each valued at one hundred merit points. In their centers, crimson talismanic patterns glowed, radiating a sturdy energy.
Overall, this was the standard emergency buyback rate—half the typical bck market price. It was reasonable enough, especially advantageous for those needing to offload items in a hurry.
Meanwhile, the five jade-cleaving steel ingots he obtained with spirit stones probably netted him a modest gain—above the usual buyback rate—but not enough to cause the female manager a loss.
As a result, An Jing—who had started with only six hundred thirty merit points—now had six pieces of jade-cleaving steel and one thousand one hundred thirty merit points in total, making him suddenly quite well-off.
“Do you need any further assistance?” the female manager asked, obviously pleased, as An Jing prepared to go.
“Is there a secure pce here where I can stay? Preferably somewhere suitable for cultivation.”
An Jing paused, turned around, and inquired, “We… I need a stable spot to settle in. We can discuss additional deals another time.”
“Understood.” Although An Jing wasn’t certain what the female manager believed she had deduced, he had intentionally acted like someone from a barbarian tribe, letting her interpret things on her own. Behaving as though she understood him completely, the female manager added, “We have private, secluded cultivation chambers right within the bck market. This arbiter will guide you.”
“Ten merit points per day, including basic provisions,” said the bck-cd arbiter wearing a bronze pixiu mask. “But you’ll need a guarantor.”
“Iron Hand,” An Jing replied without pause. “I’ll take three days.”
He had only been in the Tianyuan Realm for just over three shichen so far; with over two and a half days remaining, three days of rent was ideal.
Once he had the jade-cleaving steel, he could cultivate the Radiant White Spirit Divine Restriction, swiftly raising his power and leaving himself a day or two to shop for weapons.
With greater strength, he’d be more assured in handling different weapons, and the number of flying swords he could deploy would also grow.
“We’ll cover that,” the female manager cut in unexpectedly. “Just charge it to our account.”
An Jing looked at her and saw the shop assistant didn’t even blink. He thought, “They must have really made a tidy profit… At least it saves me some trouble.”
“Do come again,” the female manager said, waving casually as he departed.
“Follow me.”
The arbiter guided An Jing out of the shop and onto a floating ptform, eventually arriving at an isoted chamber on the twelfth underground level. A small fountain sat in the center, its water faintly luminous—evidently an underground spiritual spring.
They were roughly a hundred meters below ground level. A distinct freshness filled the space, and An Jing realized this must be the location of the so-called “spiritual veins.”
“This is your room,” the arbiter said, leading An Jing to a small, somewhat remote chamber. Although it was a bit away from the spiritual spring, the air remained just as fresh. Clearly, these rooms were arranged according to some feng shui configuration that circuted spiritual energy. “Little Ochre Mountain has already paid for your three days here. This whole area is yours for that period. If you need anything, you can request a maid or attendant—though that will cost extra merit points. Enjoy your cultivation.”
An Jing pushed the door open and entered. The room reminded him vaguely of hotel rooms from his past life, except for the simple, faintly translucent white gss ptform at its center, apparently designed for seated meditation and cultivation.
Next to it stood a wooden figure. It looked light, but it was evidently quite sturdy, presumably for guests to practice strikes and techniques.
He tested it with a punch. His Internal Energy Like Rivers should have generated several hundred jin of force—enough to knock back or topple a rge beast—but the wooden figure didn’t budge in the slightest. His force simply dissipated.
“This is an ironwood golem,” the Sword Spirit expined. “It’s meant for cultivators in the early to mid stages of Qi Refining, equivalent to the early or mid phase of Internal Fortification. It’s also considered a Magical Artifact on its own, boasting considerable defensive properties.”
“You’d have to condense your vital essence and Internal Energy, forming a thread of spiritual power before you could deal any real damage.”
“Seems I still have a ways to go.”
He let out a heavy breath and settled onto the gss ptform.
“Fuxie,” he mused, “with this quantity of jade-cleaving steel, can I make some initial headway in cultivation? At least enough to form a strand of spiritual power?”
“Plenty,” Fuxie answered, his voice brimming with excitement. “Even half a piece would be enough for you to master the first Law Restriction of the Radiant White Spirit Divine Restriction!”
(End of Chapter)
*The Pixiu (貔貅) is a mythical Chinese animal that is thought to bring luck and ward off evil, having the head of a dragon and a lion's body, often with hoofs, wings, and a tail. I felt like adding photos, so here's what a statue of it looks like:
