15 Soul Pearl Manifestation

Wang Jun stared at Cha Ming in shock, then burst out laughing.

"En, yes! Absolutely correct! You could have made 15,000 to 20,000 more spirit stones if you'd focused on only grade-one talismans. But that may be a little too narrow-minded. Currently, you can expect to earn a profit of 4,250 to 6,000 per week making grade-one talismans, 2,500 to 5,000 per week with grade-two talismans, and 0 to 3,400 when making grade-three talismans. Unless you have a good buyer, you're slightly losing out on grade-three talismans and losing out big on grade-four talismans. However, you've also improved your skill.

"When your cultivation increases and your talisman crafting improves, your success rate and crafting rate for grade-two talismans should skyrocket. Let's say you're currently making 2,250 grade-one talismans per week, at a ninety-percent success rate. If you can make half as many grade-two talismans, you could make up to 16,250 spirit stones per week! So think of these 'lost' spirit stones as an investment. So far you've paid 20,000 spirit stones to learn, and you can make it up in one week in the future. Also note that you're able to craft talismans of your cultivation level. While they are expensive, they will be a valuable lifeline in the future. You also get them at cost, without having to sell them through an intermediary." Wang Jun was looking quite pleased with himself. This was his area of expertise, after all, and everyone loved talking about their own interests.

Thinking about it more, Wang Jun added, "I happen to have connections at the Jade Bamboo Auction House in town. If you have any leftover talismans after you trade them in for contribution points, I can get you ninety percent retail price for them. Honestly, for you, contribution points are currently the most effective route, but don't underestimate the value of money! Also, I advise that you keep some for yourself. Talismans can be extremely useful in life-threatening circumstances. After all, the heavens are jealous of the talented." His eyes momentarily darkened, after which he walked to his desk and continued to focus on his work.

Seeing that his friend wanted to be left alone, he made his way to Elder Ling's house. After a brief discussion, Elder Ling agreed to take 10,000 spirit stones' worth of assorted talismans for 50,000 contribution points, which he transmitted to his Green Leaf jade. As for money, he didn't want to be bothered with it and offered Cha Ming seventy percent of market value. He was not a storefront, after all. He heaved a sigh of relief once he saw that Cha Ming would take care of it on his own. Before Cha Ming took off, Elder Ling gave him a few words of advice.

"Cha Ming, my student, while talisman crafting is a very fulfilling career and quite lucrative, to advance in cultivation you should go out adventuring a little. I have a suggestion for you." The eccentric elder took out a book from his shelf and handed it over to Cha Ming.

"This is a book of various ingredients that you can find throughout the world for mortal-grade talisman ink. Quite a few of them can be found in Green Leaf Forest. Meanwhile, you could go out with some of your friends. Any herbs you turn in can be exchanged for contribution points. While some people might have moral qualms about hunting the beasts in the forest unless they have to, if they come to fight you, its okay to fight back. If they don't run away it, would even be all right to kill them. This experience will also help temper your battle techniques and even your cultivation." Elder Ling went to his desk and retrieved a list of medicinal ingredients and expensive alchemical ingredients.

Cha Ming accepted the list, nodding. Makes sense, and it would be a shame to be gifted in creating talismans but not be able to make your own ink.

Ink was very specific to the type of talisman, after all. Perhaps he could eventually learn some elementary alchemy and be able to blend the herbs himself.

--

Cha Ming was in quite a good mood after having gained 50,000 contribution points. He calmly walked down the streets and looked at the beautiful scenery. He was imagining what kind of fierce battle techniques he could obtain. The last time he was at the library, he only had a pittance. Surely 50,000 contribution points would get him something good.

His heart bled when he recalled his initial 1,000 contribution points and remembered that he would once again have to split his points for each element. Specializing definitely had its advantages. As he approached, he noticed a long line and queued up.

The wait seemed a lot longer than it actually was. After an hour, he finally made it into the library. On the first floor, he was greeted by Elder Xiao, who was quite happy to see him. He didn't get to go out too often, and a friendly face was always welcome. After explaining his thoughts, Elder Xiao thought for a moment. 50,000 contribution points, while not normally a small number, was indeed quite limiting for Cha Ming.

After a few minutes of thinking, Elder Xiao decided to bring Cha Ming to the second floor. "The first floor doesn't have a lot to offer you," said Elder Xiao. "The most expensive technique there is 5,000 contribution points. One the second floor, the cheapest technique is 2,000 contribution points, while the most expensive is 50,000."

Upon hearing this, Cha Ming realized that he was a lot less rich than he thought he was. He could blow his whole fortune on a single technique!

"There are quite a few bronze and silver techniques on the second floor, but the amount of merit required to enter higher floors is very astronomical," explained Elder Xiao. "That being said, you've somehow earned 50,000 contribution points in a couple of months. This amount is truly staggering. Did you pick up a lucrative profession?"

"I've begun learning the art of talisman crafting from Elder Ling," Cha Ming said. While this made sense, Cha Ming could tell by the expression on Elder Xiao's face that he was still quite surprised that someone could make so much in a year, much less a couple of months. His curiosity piqued, Elder Xiao continued.

"If your earning power is so high, I believe I have something that's suitable for you. You could consider it a very strong foundation technique. It takes a while to master, but when it is mastered, it can be used to build up other techniques.

"These techniques are not very strong on their own, as they are single-element techniques," said Elder Xiao. There is one for each element, and they are collectively called the Soul Pearl manifestation techniques. It seems like the technique was made for dual-element cultivators. At its strongest, it can use about eighty percent of a dual-element cultivators' qi for a single element."

Eighty percent? That seemed a little too coincidental. The technique was clearly made for perfect five-element cultivation. No one would know, but that was exactly 100% of Cha Ming's qi pool. Seeing Cha Ming's excitement, he continued.

"The advantage of the technique is that with spiritual force, you can control many types of qi at the same time. The qi is focused into soul pearls and kept separate, so they don't interfere with one another. Initial mastery of the technique controls twelve pearls, mid-level mastery controls up to thirty-six pearls, high-level mastery controls seventy-two pearls, and perfection of the technique controls a hundred and eight. You can also mix and match the different levels. Once one has attained mid-level mastery, there is the option to learn combination techniques. These are quite expensive, and we keep them on the third floor. In the future, I am sure you will be able to afford them.

"The combination technique forms the pearls into more complicated arrays, which augments its power. This augmentation is not additive, it is multiplicative. Thirty-six pearls would then have the power of a hundred and eight pearls. This is why these gold-level techniques are on the third floor. A dual-element cultivator can explode with 160% of the power that a normal gold-level single-element technique could. There are ten possible combinations for the technique."

Cha Ming was very intrigued by this. "How much is it for a single technique?" he asked.

"Twelve thousand!" replied the elder.

Cha Ming paled—he couldn't afford that! He would need to go back and sell his talismans, and then he would be broke. Seeing Cha Ming's resigned look, the Elder chuckled.

"That is the normal price of the technique. It can also be sold as a set for 50,000 contribution points. Also, since the scrolls take a while to master, they can be kept for six months."

Cha Ming's face regained a bit of color. While it was still very expensive, he could at least afford it. It was almost as if the technique was tailor-made for him.

Finally, Cha Ming nodded, and the Elder obtained illusory scrolls of the technique. Fifty thousand contribution points gone, just like that! Elder Xiao consoled him, saying it was all worth it in the long run. That led Cha Ming to thinking: How much were the combination techniques? Once he got the door, he finally mustered up the courage to ask.

"Elder Xiao… please don't tease this young one, how many contribution points do the combination techniques cost?"

As the door was shutting Elder Xiao yelled, "Nothing much, just fifty million! You can do it. I believe in you!"

Cha Ming fainted on the spot.

--

Two hours later, Cha Ming woke up to the sound of an ink brush. The brushing stopped, and Wang Jun muttered softly, "You're awake."

Cha Ming rubbed his eyes and was surprised to find that he was in his bed. Looking over to the desks, he saw Wang Jun working away. He continued for five minutes, after which he stacked a pile of papers together neatly, looking rather satisfied. By then Cha Ming was sitting on the bed, making sure he hadn't suffered any internal injuries due to the shock of fainting. He figured he was fortunate not to have suffered any lasting damage.

"I heard from Elder Xiao, who brought you here, that you'd literally fainted after hearing the contribution point requirement for the combination Soul Pearl manifestation techniques. I've never laughed so hard in my life. It's the first time I've heard of such a thing happening. Relax, my friend. It's really not a lot of money." Wang Jun was smiling lightly. Somehow in the time that he was finishing his paperwork, he had made tea for both of them. They sat down on the floor outside the room, breathing in the fresh evening air.

"You need to realize that these fifty million contribution points only amount to ten million spirit stones. These are lesser-quality spirit stones that we currently use to trade. Ten thousand low-quality spirit stones can be traded in for a single mid-quality spirit stone, and ten thousand of these can be traded for high-quality spirit stones. So these five techniques are only worth a tenth of a high-quality spirit stone. You'll soon find that this is no great fortune.

"There's no point in me elaborating on the total income of the kingdom; you will have no reference point, and this point is a bit far removed from your current situation. Really, you also need to take into account that it's very difficult to gain these types of skills anywhere else. Schools, sects, and kingdoms guard skills like hawks and accumulate them over many generations. It's actually very convenient that the schools make it so easy to obtain them. I estimate that by the time you get to the ninth level of qi condensation, you will be able to afford the techniques."

They continued to drink their tea, admiring the frosty leaves on the trees. The cold could easily be dispelled by cultivators, and there was no need for additional clothes as it was an automatic function provided by the body of any cultivator. It was the same for avoiding the rain, drying off, and avoiding the heat—all very useful things for an adventuring cultivator. This was, of course, unless you voluntarily wanted to feel these sensations.

"Brother Jun, I've been assigned to a task by Elder Ling to gather medicinal herbs in the forest. He suggested it would be good experience to wander out and adventure, and we could cobble together some contribution points. I understand that you're quite wealthy, but it would be nice to have you along." Cha Ming looked at Wang Jun hopefully.

After thinking for a bit, Wang Jun said that he would need two weeks to settle some things before heading out, and he could leave for two weeks at most due to the ongoing negotiation of several business deals. Cha Ming was overjoyed.

Just as he was about to rush out of the room to recruit his other friends, Wang Jun called him back and handed him a bright green jade card. The card was etched in darker green with a bamboo forest.

"I had Auction Master Xie draft up this simple trade contract. You don't even need to bind it, as it is an offer from the Jade Bamboo Auction House itself. It simply states that you can trade in any number of talismans with a minimum total value of 5,000 spirit stones for eighty-five percent of the retail price.

"Of course, this offer is a little disproportionate to the usual value of the talismans, but consider this a future investment on their part due to my recommendation. If you can trade in 50,000 points' worth in one transaction, you can get ninety percent. If you can trade 500,000 points' worth you can obtain ninety-five percent value. This is because of three reasons: first, the cost of the transaction will reduce relative to the sale price above 50,000. Above 500,000, they can be sold at auction for slightly higher than retail price due to shortages in supply. Last, the auction house values friendship and hopes you remember the favor when you have large value items to transact or when they are looking to commission work.

"In addition, I made them add a clause which states that you can buy raw ingredients from them at a twenty percent discount. This way your margins on making talismans will increase significantly." Wang Jun patted his shoulder and went back to working at his desk. His pace seemed to have increased compared to before.

Wang Jun is very thoughtful, thought Cha Ming. The matter had just been brought up that morning, and as soon as he came back he had a no-strings-attached trade contract ready for him. Wasn't Brother Jun a little too proactive? Of course, Cha Ming was one who valued friendship greatly, and the thoughtfulness of the gesture was not something he'd soon forget.

Over the course of the next day, he sought out Hong Xun, Hong Xin, Gong Lan, and Feng Ming. Hong Xun wasn't very interested in going since he'd already been out for several weeks. Hong Xin, however, was very enthusiastic. She'd never left the city, after all, and she was very excited to see the outside world. They had a whole two weeks to prepare, so her brother assured Cha Ming that he would make sure she prepared for the trip properly. As her elder brother, he was very worried for his sister and would likely spend the next two weeks telling stories about his previous adventures.

Gong Lan had been out adventuring a few times in the past several weeks. She was always out adventuring due to her idolization of her brother, and she just happened to be back. Still, she jumped on the opportunity right away. Feng Ming hadn't been out yet, and he'd gotten similar advice from his family on adventuring.

Now that the group had been assembled, they started to prepare for the adventure. There were too many things to do, now that he thought about it. He would need supplies for traveling, food, and water. While he had his staff, he would feel a lot more comfortable after he achieved a certain level of mastery over his Soul Pearl manifestation technique. Above all else, he needed information.

Information was quite crucial to adventuring. In addition to knowing which herbs to gather, they would need to know about the various animals, the different regions in the forest that were safe for them to explore at their level, and any prohibited zones in the forest. This sort of information was not difficult to find. After all, adventuring was the lifeblood of the city. He was able to find this information and obtain a map of the least dangerous areas of the forest for ninety spirit stones. Realizing that he was broke again, he then proceeded to the Jade Bamboo Auction House.

The Jade Bamboo Auction House was located in the commercial district. It occupied a central position among the nearby shops and sported the same Jade Bamboo Forest signature at the front. Unlike the entertainment district, the commercial district was a lot more pragmatic. The entertainment district was built to keep people inside the entertainment district. The commercial district decorated their shops individually to attract attention, and the publicly owned streets were left clean but very plain. Businesses that performed well could afford a central location and a beautiful shop, while those who did poorly were shoved to the outskirts and alleys.

The Jade Bamboo Auction House was built out of stone, using its signature jade bamboo garden to advertise. They were very well reputed and offered a guarantee of quality on anything they auctioned. Some auction houses would offer speculative treasures, leaving it up to the customer to sift through the trash. The Jade Bamboo emphasized trust and quality. Higher-quality items had pedigrees, while items that were not normally valuable as a single unit could only be found in larger quantities.

As a result, the various guilds, schools, aristocratic families, etc. would shop there, as they would need to expend a lot of effort to gather large quantities of items otherwise. It was more worthwhile to have the auction house gather them and sell them at a premium every week or so. These were not commodity goods, after all, and they were difficult to acquire in numbers, even with a storefront. Every once in a while, the auction house would have items shipped in and auctioned off to the various families that did not have good connections in larger cities.

As it was his first time at such an establishment, Cha Ming built up his courage and headed toward the entrance.