Chapter 386 Golden Puppet Pavilion
Han Yan pointed to a building shaped like a golden palace and said:
"That's the most prestigious Wanbaolou in the Yunhai Business Alliance. It only sells second-tier spiritual artifacts and third-tier magic treasures, and also buys refining materials. This conflicts with the business of the sect."
There are five floors in total. The first floor sells second-grade low-level spiritual artifacts, the second and third floors sell mid-grade to top-grade spiritual artifacts, and the fourth floor sells magic treasures.
As for the fifth level, no cultivator from the Western Continent has ever set foot there; it is said to only receive Nascent Soul True Monarchs.
Compared to Wanbaolou, one can see the sect's shortcomings in weapon crafting; they are simply not on the same level as the opponent.
Wanbaolou's magical artifacts are of higher quality, and of course, their prices are also higher.
Under the sunlight, Wanbaolou emitted a golden halo, like a circle of Buddha's light.
Ji An withdrew his gaze and asked:
"Do you offer custom-made top-tier spiritual artifacts? What's the transaction method?"
"Of course they do. Besides accepting refining materials, they can also trade with high-grade spirit stones. However, if you want to buy with spirit stones, the premium is very high."
Han Yan looked puzzled and said:
"Junior brother, you already have two top-grade spiritual artifacts, and their offensive and defensive combinations are quite reasonable. Is there any need to buy more?"
Top-grade spiritual artifacts can be stored in the dantian for nurturing, but they constantly consume the life-giving fire.
"If we find a suitable one, of course we'll buy another one. Let's leave Baolou for last and browse the other shops first."
If other types of Five Elements flags could be customized, he would definitely be willing to pay for them.
The aerial city, composed of merchant airships, is very regular, forming a standard rectangle. This has the advantage of making it easy to find a particular shop.
The two started exploring from the outermost layer, with Han Yan acting as a guide.
"The Yunhai Business Alliance was jointly established by many chambers of commerce in Zhongzhou. By banding together, they can reduce costs when conducting long-distance trade."
The outer shops were opened by smaller forces within the merchant alliance, and some were leased by families from the Central Continent. They mainly dealt in goods for those at the Foundation Establishment stage.
The sect's beast tamers enjoy browsing; they can buy many monster eggs with special abilities, and if they're lucky, they might even find a monster cub.
One drawback of viviparous monsters is that they cannot be preserved for a long time like eggs.
The two explored the outer area quickly, and Ji An saw many elixirs that were not found in the Western Continent.
Because cultivators had never taken this type of pill before, it was very effective when they first took it, and cultivators bought it in droves.
Han Yan sold many pills, exchanging them for a large amount of mid-grade spirit stones. She explained in a low voice:
"We purchase pills from other continents, and cultivators in other regions also have a demand for pills from the Western Continent."
Several years before each arrival of the Central Continent merchant fleet, I would purchase large quantities of specific Foundation Establishment level pills from the disciples of the Pill Refining Academy to resell.
Ji An smiled and said, "Senior Sister, are you making money off the disciples' share of the profits?"
"My purchase price is 10% higher than the normal price."
"If my disciples sell them, the quantity is too small and they'll be pressured to lower the price. Plus, their cultivation level isn't high enough to intimidate me, so they'd get less profit than if they sold them to me."
Han Yan's lips curled up slightly. The unexpected windfall she received every thirty years made her happy, easily earning her four or five hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
In addition to the Chaoyuan-level pills and unique spiritual herbs she had accumulated over the years, she could earn several thousand more mid-grade spirit stones, or exchange them for rare medicinal materials.
The two strolled to the magical artifacts section, where Ji An discovered that the artifacts here were more exquisitely designed and more beautiful than those from the sect.
He saw a top-grade magical artifact shaped like a golden peacock that could fly; the peacock's feathers could transform into countless sharp blades to attack.
If a cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage is accidentally hit, he will be riddled with holes.
Han Yan pointed to the cultivators dressed in sect robes walking among them and transmitted her voice:
“The cultivators of the Western Continent face more battles than those of the Central Continent. The magical artifacts and spiritual weapons in our region are relatively crude, and we haven’t put much effort into their design.”
But junior brother, don't think that the magical artifacts of Zhongzhou are just pretty; they are also practical.
Senior Brother Zhu Xiangrong used to be a regular here. The sect would buy some magical artifacts to take back and disassemble for the weapon refiners to study.
The prosperity of the Weapon Forging Hall is closely related to this action.
After spending most of the day quickly exploring the outer area, the two slowed down as they entered the core area.
In a certain medicine shop, Han Yan carefully put away the Lingzhi Immortal Fruit she had purchased and nodded in satisfaction.
"Junior brother, do you need to buy any pills?"
She was slightly embarrassed, saying that they would go shopping together, but she was the one buying things or selling pills the whole time, while the other person accompanied her without buying anything.
Ji An shook his head and said softly:
“I asked my senior brother Jia Yu to help me buy it, and I don’t have any other needs for the time being.”
The jade token contains hundreds of thousands of minor merits, which are more than enough to spend within the sect, so this is the only opportunity to use them up.
His request was to purchase elixirs to strengthen the Earth Palace, Metal Palace, and Water Palace; he didn't need too many elixirs for the Earth Palace.
The benefits of opening up all the divine palaces became apparent. After arriving in the Southern Continent, he could consume any of the five elements' energy he needed and would not miss any benefits.
Han Yan nodded slightly, "The sect has long-term cooperative shops, so the prices will be more favorable."
Ji An turned to the shopkeeper and asked:
"Does your shop sell seeds of spirit trees? They must be able to grow to the second-tier top-grade level, preferably spirit fruit trees."
He inquired at every shop that might sell spirit seeds, but so far he has found nothing.
The shopkeeper, with a benevolent-looking face, squinted his eyes and replied with a smile:
"Our shop only sells finished pills and has never engaged in the business of reselling spiritual seeds."
There's a Ascension Pavilion near Wanbaolou; you might be able to go inside and inquire, and perhaps you can buy a spirit seed.
Unless it is a precious plant, the price of spirit seeds is relatively low, because even if a spirit plant has potential, it takes skill to actually grow it.
Ji An nodded slightly, feeling a little disappointed.
Han Yan transmitted her voice and said, "Spirit seeds that can be sold are not considered rare."
Regardless of the region, all cultivation factions that obtain rare spiritual plants are strictly forbidden from leaving the area; they keep only a small portion of the profits for themselves.
Ji An understood this situation and gave a helpless smile. The bigger the power, the less likely it was to give people a chance to take advantage of others.
The two left the shop and continued shopping until the sun set and night fell.
The flying boat and the building were illuminated with a soft light, as if it were daytime. The two entered a restaurant and ordered a table of exotic spiritual food and wine.
Han Yan smiled and said, "The shops will be open until midnight, so why not continue shopping in the evening? That way, you can finish shopping in three or four days."
We'll rest for one night at the sect's headquarters, and then set off for the Southern Continent the following morning. What do you think, Junior Brother?
"OK."
After eating the spiritual food and resting for a while, the two continued their journey. During this time, Ji An took a liking to a beast egg with earth-grade aptitude.
Upon inquiry, he discovered it was a turtle-like monster, and he immediately abandoned the idea. Keeping a blue water turtle had given him a very unpleasant experience.
Unless it is a turtle of exceptional quality, it will not be considered.
The third day.
Ji An walked out of the Ascension Pavilion with a disappointed look on his face and sighed:
"I was unlucky; the items were nice, but none of them were what I urgently needed."
Aside from the shops selling classic texts and cultivation techniques, they could easily browse through all the shops, but despite carrying a large amount of resources, he couldn't find anything he liked.
Fortunately, his efforts were not in vain; he exchanged spirit fruits and jade dew golden bud tea for some high-grade refining materials.
For him, this exchange was clearly a win-win situation, as he could obtain tea leaves and spiritual fruits in a continuous stream.
"Could it be that my junior brother's good luck has been transferred to me?!"
Han Yan's eyes sparkled, revealing a set of pearly white teeth.
She had just purchased a lot of medicinal herbs and also bought many elixir formulas at relatively low prices.
These pill formulas are all for the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, which can help her gain a deeper understanding of the medicinal properties of various spiritual herbs.
This knowledge base may not produce direct results, but it can be of great help when studying traditional Chinese medicine formulas.
She pointed ahead and said, "There are only a few shops left. Maybe there'll be something my junior brother likes. Let's go."
“I hope so,” Ji An nodded gently.
They continued forward and stood in front of a shop, gazing at the black plaque with gold lettering—Jin Kui Pavilion.
Han Yan whispered:
"This is a very famous sect in the Central Continent that specializes in puppets. They are able to create puppets at the late Golden Core stage."
As long as the core components are not damaged, puppets can be used indefinitely and passed down from generation to generation.
The guardian spirit beasts need resources to help them grow, and some rare resources cannot be bought with spirit stones.
Puppets are different; even the most powerful puppets are driven by spirit stones.
Once successfully refined, the consumption of spirit stones is very low if there is no combat. If the puppet is not needed to maintain a standby state, there is no need to reload spirit stones.
It lacks growth potential, and activating the puppet requires consuming divine sense; otherwise, this thing could completely replace beast taming.
The two entered the shop, and a low-ranking steward stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting:
"Senior, what kind of puppets do you need? If you haven't decided yet, I can introduce them to you slowly."
As a shopkeeper, you must have a keen eye.
Although the Western Continent is considered a barren land by cultivators from the Central Continent, even the most barren places have powerful cultivators.
He was familiar with the major powers in the Western Continent. The robe the other party was wearing indicated his identity: a cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage of the Golden Spirit Sect, who still had considerable purchasing power.
Those who engage in long-distance trade can only earn more profits by selling higher-end goods.
Based on the shopkeepers' experience, only three sects and a handful of large families in Xizhou are considered high-quality customers.
Han Yan said in a deep voice:
"Bring me some defensive puppets that can withstand attacks from the Chaoyuan stage for an extended period of time. I want to test them myself."
She possesses a top-grade offensive spiritual weapon, a mid-grade second-tier defensive spiritual weapon, and a Golden Feathered Eagle at the late Foundation Establishment stage.
When traveling, one is bound to encounter monsters. In her opinion, what she needs most right now is a tank to draw their fire.
A defensive puppet is an excellent choice; this is something she had already decided on.
"Okay, please follow me to the third floor."
The puppets produced by our Golden Puppet Sect will definitely satisfy the two seniors.
The butler smiled broadly, and from the tone of the other party's voice, he knew that this person sincerely wanted to buy the puppet.
Ji An began to speak:
"Get some more reconnaissance puppets. There are two requirements: they must be fast and stealthy!"
"Another question I'd like to ask is, do you have any offensive puppets capable of deploying at the Chaoyuan stage?"
His experiences with demonic and evil cultivators made him value intelligence highly, enabling him to detect potential enemy traces in remote, desolate areas.
The Golden-feathered Eagle alone cannot meet his needs; with early warning, he can deal with various situations more easily.
The butler said proudly:
"Yes, we have a wide variety of puppets. There's nothing we can't make, only things you can't imagine."
He diligently led the way, hoping to close the deal. If he could trade for a puppet at the Chaoyuan stage, he would receive a considerable reward.
The three of them arrived at a spacious room, slightly larger than a basketball court, with a high ceiling of about 30 feet and an arched roof.
A table and chairs were placed on one side of the room, with spirit fruits and pastries on the table, and a beautiful maid standing beside it.
"This is the testing ground. Please have a seat, seniors. I will go and fetch the appropriate puppet."
"Xiao Cui, immediately serve our two distinguished guests a pot of spiritual tea!"
The steward gave instructions to the maid and left in a hurry.
When Mu brought out the spirit tea, her voice was as gentle as water:
"Please enjoy your meal, senior."
"Thank you," Ji An nodded slightly, noticing the apricot-green tea in the cup, clear and bright.
Han Yan took a small sip and smiled:
"I think the second-grade mid-level spiritual tea is pretty good, but my junior brother might not be so satisfied."
The other party's current standard has reached the second-tier high-grade spiritual tea. Although they also drink second-tier mid-grade tea, it is Jade Dew Golden Bud.
Ji An smiled, "How could that be?"
He doesn't nitpick when it comes to free drinks.
A moment later, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside.
The butler's breathing was a little rapid. It was rare for him to need two big clients, so he ran all the way to the warehouse to get the goods.
He paused for a moment near the door, slowed his breathing, and then entered the room:
"We apologize for keeping you waiting, seniors. Were you satisfied with the tea?"
Han Yan smiled and said, "That's good, let's start the demonstration."
The butler took out a puppet shaped like a gorilla and said enthusiastically:
"This puppet is made of five-hundred-year-old ironwood and is engraved with thirty layers of magical restrictions. It ignores spell attacks at the Foundation Establishment level and can withstand attacks from the Chaoyuan level for a long time."
The puppet was about ten feet tall and entirely black.
He paused, a proud smile spreading across his face, and then said:
"When I say Foundation Establishment level spells, I mean spells cast by cultivators in the Origin Rebirth stage. Senior should know what this means."
The quality of the puppets produced by the Golden Puppet Sect is among the best in the Central Continent, and he, as a disciple of the Golden Puppet Sect, is proud of this.
Han Yan's eyes lit up, and she smiled:
"I'll give it a try."
The steward immediately loaded the puppet with spirit stones and activated it, and yellow patterns resembling mountain and river patterns lit up on the puppet's body.
"Seniors, feel free to try! If there is any damage, it is not your responsibility."
Of course, the senior can only unleash spells at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Han Yan nodded slightly and released a burst of fireballs by making a hand seal.
Fireballs the size of human heads, bright yellow, kept blasting out, sparks flying like fireworks, but the puppet remained motionless, as if it had grown onto the ground.
Ji An could sense that his senior sister's magic had reached a perfect level.
After unleashing ten fireballs, Han Yan stopped casting her spell and approached the puppet for a closer look.
Her hand touched some black ash on the puppet, but other than that, the puppet was indeed unharmed.
The butler activated the puppet, and the gorilla began to move with extraordinary agility.
"Senior, are you satisfied?"
There was a hint of deeply hidden smugness in his tone.
Han Yan hummed in agreement; she was indeed very satisfied. She turned and said:
"Junior brother, do you know any other types of attack spells? If so, please test them for me."
(End of this chapter)
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