44 Trade Mee

Cha Ming and company proceeded into the auction house after their registration. Once they were out of earshot, Cha Ming asked Gong Lan about the young man at the entrance.

"Oh, him?" she said. "He is a professional inquisitor. They appear frequently in large cities, and their profession does not require any complicated materials or training. All inquisitors are required to cultivate light and have innate spiritual force.

"From what I understand, their profession allows them a few minor abilities that are quite useful. They can determine the strength of cultivators or demon beasts within about three levels of their own cultivation. In addition, they can determine the veracity or falsehood of spoken statements. It is rumored that they can manifest additional abilities, depending on their talents. I heard my brother say that some inquisitors can 'see' the merit or sin of a person, and that some legendary inquisitors can also identify disguises and break illusions.

"Overall, they are commonly employed as investigators, prosecutors in court, and police officers. They all have one thing in common—they abhor lies and deceit and are all morally upright. Deceit is the antithesis of their profession. In fact, excessive lying—even by omission—can lead to the deterioration of their profession and cultivation. As such, their statements are universally trusted."

"But why would an inquisitor need to verify entry into an auction house of all things?" Cha Ming asked as they headed toward a marble service desk.

"Beats me," she replied. "It's not unheard of, but it seems unnecessary. That is, unless there are hidden details pertaining to the mission that we are not aware of. In addition, the organizers of this event incurred great expense in hiring a scribe to create the contracts."

"A scribe?" asked Cha Ming.

"Yes, scribes are professionals that cultivate fate," Gong Lan explained. "They use spiritual force to create contracts that are binding through karma. The stronger the scribe, the stronger the contract they can enforce. I would imagine that they prepared many tiers of contracts, as the cost of a contract is proportionate to the strength of the enforcement. In fact, these contracts are very similar to talismans and could be considered a subset of the talisman artist profession."

At this point, Cha Ming felt overwhelmed by the massive amount of information he'd been exposed to since his arrival in the city. "There are too many professions. I naively thought there were only a dozen different occupations," Cha Ming thought out loud, sighing. Huxian nudged his leg in agreement, which reminded Cha Ming of a question that had been pushed to the back of his mind.

Huxian, why couldn't that man sense your strength? He should have been strong enough to detect your cultivation. I also don't remember you having strong spiritual force, Cha Ming asked mentally.

Oh. Well, at first, his spiritual force washed over me, and my bloodline power burnt it. Then he got a little aggressive and increased the strength of his probing. It was annoying, so I ate it, the little fox explained nonchalantly.

You… ate it? You mean, you ate his spiritual force? Cha Ming asked.

Yeah, it was tasty. I wanted to eat more, but he stopped. Huxian's mental voice was tinged with disappointment.

***

At the service desk, a beautiful female attendant in a red dress was stationed. Judging by her expression, she was tired of the less-than-savory company in attendance that morning. Cha Ming couldn't blame her. Mercenaries didn't know how to dress, they didn't wash or clean up frequently, and they often made crass and rude remarks. Seeing that she was distracted, he lightly cleared his throat. The attendant quickly snapped back to reality and shot them an overexaggerated smile.

"My dear guests, I assume you wish to set up a stall for the trade meet?" the beautiful woman asked politely. The phrase seemed well-rehearsed. It was likely a canned expression she'd been using to save energy and avoid much conversation.

"Yes, I would like to set up a talisman shop," Cha Ming replied. This seemed to pique the interest of the lady in red. She straightened up a little and pushed a loose lock of hair back before continuing.

"May I see the goods in question? Also, may I know what grade of talismans you will be selling? We are required to register the approximate value of goods, for tax purposes. Of course, the hosts will be covering the tax for this exchange, so you need not worry about paying a commission."

He neatly placed all the talismans he had produced on the desk. According to the Swiftwind Intelligence Agency, his talismans had a list price of 105 mid-grade spirit stones.

"Two hundred and five sixth-grade talismans," he declared.

The lady in red's face flushed as she heard his declaration. She then picked up one of the papers, which had been intricately decorated at the borders with ink matching the key character. While she had no idea what the talisman was used for, she couldn't help but admire the exquisite calligraphy. The elegance in the brushstrokes could easily match the exquisite runes she had seen on goods produced by top-tier weaponsmiths.

"Young master, may I ask if you absolutely insist on selling these at the trade meet?" Her form of address quickly adjusted itself to his perceived station; high-level artisans were practically worshiped in Fairweather.

"Oh? Should I be selling these elsewhere?" Cha Ming inquired after understanding her meaning.

"I believe there is the possibility of including your goods in the auction itself. Would you be available for a short meeting with my manager?" the lady asked in a hopeful tone. After all, there was actual commission at stake here.

A quarter hour later, they were seated in a luxurious office in front of a man with long black hair. Wisps of silver flowed down his head onto his shoulders, giving the impression that it was intentionally dyed this way for decorative purposes. He wore a silk cultivation robe, which was dark blue and decorated with silver runic patterns.

The office seemed more like a showroom than a place to fill out paperwork, due to the dozens of collectible items adorning the walls. Beautifully crafted weapons, armor, clothes, sculptures, and jewelry pieces had been carefully laid out, often inside clear glass cases. Not a speck of dust could be seen.

The man in question was the manager of the auction house. He was currently observing the talismans Cha Ming had crafted one by one, nodding his head in appreciation.

"Where did you learn your craft?" the man asked softly.

"In Green Leaf City, sir. I was taught by Elder Ling, the best talisman artist in the city," Cha Ming replied.

The man continued nodding his head. "I'll be honest, I've never heard of Elder Ling. However, I have frequented many auction houses and spoken to many craftsmen. Regrettably, calligraphy is seldom used by talisman artists, as it substantially increases the difficulty. There are maybe one or two talisman artists in the kingdom that would bother, and they are both foundation-establishment elders. They usually wouldn't bother themselves with mid-grade talismans like these.

"That being said, I'm not mocking your talismans. Quite the contrary, your attention to detail and exquisite penmanship is exactly what people look for around here, particularly in noble and craftsman families. Coincidentally, we expect at least half of the guests at this auction with higher-level cultivations to be in this demographic.

"Here is what I propose. I can give you a base price of twenty-five percent over list price. In addition, if this is insufficient, I offer to add these goods to tomorrow's auction. If they don't sell as I predict, I will buy them from you at said price, because I can eventually sell them at a hefty profit. The starting price at the auction will be a twenty-five percent premium, and I am confident in our ability to fetch a thirty to fifty percent premium. These goods are in short supply, especially just before the rescue mission. Combined with their artistic value, I think this is a fair estimate.

"Normally, we would ask for a five percent commission on anything that we auction. In this case, I propose zero commission for the base price but a twenty-five percent commission on anything over and above the base price. This will give us plenty of incentive to fetch you the best price possible. What do you think of my proposal?"

"How about twenty percent?" he countered. "In addition, I want a letter of credit for 125% of their face value so that I can shop around during the trade meet and at earlier stages of the auction."

"Deal," the manager replied. They shook hands, and the trio walked out of the office with a stack of bills of credit. Each bill was redeemable for ten thousand spirit stones at the auction house.

***

Lively. That was the only way to describe the trade meet. A total of three hundred mercenaries consisting of foreign and local cultivators had chosen to participate in the mission. Truth be told, half of them were little more than cannon fodder. Alas, their situation was akin to the employees of pleasure houses. Mercenaries usually chose the profession out of desperation. And just like their sister occupation, they did not live long.

Of course, that did not stop them from somehow accumulating odd treasures from time to time. Three quarters of the stalls dealt with low-quality goods or unknown goods. These rubbish treasures were of little or no use to these cultivators. That or they were saving up for something important like a life-saving treasure or a better spirit weapon. While everyone had heard that there would be plenty of spirit weapons at the auction, no one knew the exact number. Many of the warriors did not possess even the lowest grade of precious weapons, not to mention their upgraded versions.

Therefore, a young man, a young lady, and a baby fox decided to take advantage of the fire sale. Most of the goods were displayed on simple tables covered in black fabric, lest the tables draw attention from their glittering wares. What Cha Ming and company were doing now was akin to junk diving—sifting through the rubble in the hopes of finding a precious treasure.

A few hours passed, after which they stopped at an interesting stall, where a grizzled veteran's deep voice caught their attention. His hefty mane was draped across a set of burly shoulders. A suit of black armor covered his torso, his upper arms, and his thighs. Such a suit of armor was commonly used by cultivators since it did not restrict mobility. Cha Ming evaluated that it was a mid-grade spirit armor, given the runes that were inscribed. Spirit armor came with a substantially higher price tag than spirit weapons. The man had a dozen items laid out in front of him.

"This bottle of pills was obtained from an expert's tomb. I lost five brothers to obtain it, but alas, I am unsure of its contents. Breaking open the seal on this glass bottle will cause the medicine to quickly lose its efficacy. Therefore, I haven't had the heart to take the risk and open it."

Seeing Cha Ming was about to turn and leave, he tried again. "Young man, I'm quite desperate to obtain a mid-grade spirit weapon in this upcoming auction. Therefore I'm willing to part with this precious bottle for three mid-grade spirit stones." The man looked deeply aggrieved, as though he was selling his firstborn son. Given the man's professional-grade acting talent, Cha Ming would not have been surprised if he'd shed a tear.

Gong Lan, being the hot-tempered one, scolded him immediately. "How could anyone ever buy this bottle of pills from you for three mid-grade spirit stones? That's a small fortune! In addition, the pills in this bottle would need to be at least eighth or ninth grade for me to make a profit! Have you no shame?"

This was the third stall they had stopped at. Try as he might, Cha Ming had been unable to convince Gong Lan to stop buying things. Her demeanor made her easy prey for the various shady characters who had set up their stalls. This battle-hardened veteran was more cunning than the last two, however, and he immediately laid out some bait, which she bit into with gusto. It was only a matter of time until she obtained her "victory."

He sighed. "But how am I to afford a sixth-grade spirit weapon at this auction unless I sell these possessions of mine for a hefty profit? Without a good weapon, I might very well die!" the man replied in a saddened voice.

"That's not my problem! You can't rip people off just because you need more money. Five thousand spirit stones is a much more reasonable price." Unknowingly, Gong Lan had started to haggle with the grizzled veteran.

"Come on now, lass, that price is outrageous! Clearly fifteen thousand spirit stones is a much more reasonable price." The man looked quite heated now, but it was clearly all an act. Everyone but the young lady arguing with him saw it clearly.

"Well, you deserve it! You're the one who highballed us in the first place! Fine, since you're willing to be reasonable, lets settle this in the middle. One mid-grade spirit stone!"

Cha Ming coughed a couple of times to get her attention. "Are you sure you want to get this bottle of pills? You would have to go get them appraised later, and who knows exactly what's inside the bottle?"

In all fairness, the bottle seemed positively ancient. The seals placed on pill bottles had a convenient function that identified the date of sealing. Such a time-keeping function was difficult to tamper with, and the person who had established this specific seal was definitely an impressive elder. The bottle's seal was one hundred and six years old.

While the probability of there being at least a seventh-grade pill inside was very high, there was always a chance that the pills had been damaged despite the seal. In addition, the pills in the bottle might not be very useful for Gong Lan. Therefore, a price of ten thousand spirit stones was not unreasonable, given the potential risks and rewards.

The man was not one to give up, however. He immediately agreed to one mid-grade spirit stone in order to minimize the chance that Cha Ming would be able to convince her otherwise.

"Yeah! Here you go, sir! And remember to be more honest in the future!" Gong Lan laid down a mid-grade spirit stone and picked up the pill bottle, humming joyfully. Just as she was about to depart, she paused after noticing that Cha Ming was still observing an item on the table.

"Where did you get this?" Cha Ming asked the man, who was currently in a good mood. The object in question was an old and crumpled talisman. It had clearly been through many hardships. The edges were worn, and the paper was torn in many places. Despite its wretched appearance, Cha Ming could sense a mysterious power fluctuation.

Despite Cha Ming's proficiency in runic characters, he could not decipher the meaning behind the script. Not only was this script much longer than normal, but the characters were nonsensical. It was as though there was a mysterious veil that had been placed over them, making it impossible for him to clearly interpret their meaning.

Brother, that's space power! It's definitely a spatial transmission talisman, the usually silent Huxian chimed in.

Oh? How are you so sure? I've never sensed such power before, but I can tell that it's at least a magic-grade talisman, Cha Ming replied. The little fox was full of secrets, which he'd only discovered with the passage of time. Huxian had once called them inherited memories, and they only surfaced by chance or whenever they were useful.

My kind has a very strong affinity to space. I'll gain the ability to perform short-distance teleportation much earlier than most cultivators or spirit beasts. I can tell that this talisman is a damaged spatial transmission talisman. Unfortunately, the talisman is severely damaged. There is a ninety-eight percent chance that it will outright fail, while there is a one percent chance that it will work as intended and teleport the user and up to five people to a random destination within ten thousand li, the fox replied proudly.

What about the other one percent? Cha Ming asked.

I'm not too sure. Given the nature of spatial powers, my guess is that the user will get torn to pieces under the ravages of space and time, Huxian replied in a jovial tone.

That's… encouraging.

"Sir, did you hear me?" The man looked concerned, as Cha Ming had spaced out for a good sixty breaths.

Having regained his focus, Cha Ming looked a little embarrassed. "My apologies, could you repeat what you just said?"

"Yes, of course." The man was a little embarrassed but continued to explain. "This talisman was found in the same tomb as the bottle of pills. While it's clearly a high-level talisman, its ability to function is… questionable at best. I once sought out an expert, who took great interest in this talisman. In exchange for a few days time to study it, he reported that it was likely a minor teleportation talisman capable of traveling one thousand li in a chosen direction. In addition, the damage meant that there was less than a one-in-a-thousand chance of activation, but a ten percent chance of activating a less-than-pleasant function."

"I happen to find this trinket a little interesting. That and the eighth-level beast core on the table. Would five thousand spirit stones be sufficient?" Of course, the beast core had been identified by Huxian as a tasty morsel. Strictly speaking, the price of an eighth-level beast core was ten thousand spirit stones, but this was a fire sale, not an auction.

"The talisman is nothing. If you buy the beast core, I'll throw it in for free. However, the going rate for these is ten thousand spirit stones. But I can bring it down to nine thousand, since the auction is tomorrow…" the man said hesitantly.

"Eight thousand, take it or leave it," Cha Ming replied. After all, Huxian was easily capable of harvesting such items himself.

The trio soon left the merchant stall in a happy mood. They continued to peruse through the remainder of the stalls for the rest of the day, and Cha Ming made sure to pick up a few necessities at a cheap price. Fasting pills, while not particularly tasty, enabled one to continue for days without a meal. He also purchased low-level healing pills, which were useful in emergencies when his wood qi was depleted.

Their business finished, they spent the rest of the day in leisure at their new favorite restaurant, the Phoenix Cry Pavilion.