Bamboo Mound

"okay!"

The shop assistant readily agreed.

"This shop is the fourth branch of Lingbao Pavilion in the outer city. I am the shopkeeper here. Fellow Daoist, you can call me Lian Ping."

The branch stores operate on the same business as the main store, selling various elixirs, spiritual herbs, standard and custom-made spiritual artifacts, exchanging spirit stones, and providing various information.

"As for the fees, we charge both spirit stones and silver, but there is a certain exchange rate. Five taels of silver equals one spirit stone."

"Outer city? Branch store?" Ning Chang realized the key point.

Lian Ping nodded. "That's right. Lingbao Pavilion is a commercial organization that specializes in selling spiritual resources and items used for cultivation. It has branches in most cities of Wangzhou Kingdom."

"As for the headquarters, it is located in the center of Wangzhou City, on the outskirts of the imperial capital."

Meanwhile, five branches were established in various locations outside the city; this branch is number four.

As he spoke, a hint of pride unconsciously appeared on Lian Ping's face.

"Moreover, in the entire Wangzhou Kingdom, Lingbao Pavilion is the only dominant entity, monopolizing all spiritual item transactions!"

"Monopoly? Does that mean the prices won't be too low?"

Ning Chang asked, his jaw dropping in astonishment.

"Um..." Lian Ping crossed his arms and stroked his chin, pondering for a while.

"I'm not sure if it's high or low, but since the establishment of Lingbao Pavilion, the prices of low-level or commonly used materials have basically remained unchanged."

As he spoke, he walked to a counter on the side and pointed to the pills displayed there, saying:

“Like this first-tier Spirit Gathering Pill, it’s for use by those in the Spirit Gathering Realm, and it’s always been one spirit stone per bottle.”

"This second-tier Spirit Gathering Pill is for use in the Spirit Fusion Realm. It costs five spirit stones per bottle, but the price may vary in distant cities, sometimes around three or four."

"This third-tier Spirit Gathering Pill is for use on the Spirit Platform. It costs twenty spirit stones per bottle. As far as I know, it used to cost fifty. Later, we got closer to Medicine King Valley, and the Spirit Treasure Pavilion provided the materials, which brought down the price and cost."

"As for the Spirit Gathering Pills used above the fetal heart rate, only headquarters will sell them," Lian Ping said, shrugging.

"Um... since you guys sell information, doesn't what you just said count as information?"

"Oh, that's public knowledge. You can find out by asking around," he explained calmly.

"I see." Ning Chang nodded, indicating that he understood some of it.

Right now, what he needs is some fasting pills, to find a sect to join, and a larger spatial bag. If possible, he also needs to find a way to earn spirit stones.

As they were taking inventory, Lian Ping interjected, "By the way, there are also some pieces of information that are easy to find out; you'll be charged spirit stones for asking them here."

"However, the fees are relatively lower."

"Well, then get me some fasting pills first... You must have fasting pills, right?" Ning Chang asked uncertainly.

"Don't worry, fellow Daoist. As long as it's related to cultivation, no matter how miscellaneous, Lingbao Pavilion can get it."

"Bigu Pill, one spirit stone for thirty pills, how many do you need, fellow cultivator?"

"This price is pretty good; thirty pieces should be enough."

"Alright, one Bigu Pill. Is there anything else you'd like to buy, fellow Daoist? We can settle the bill together!" With that, Lian Ping took out a small notebook and wrote something on it.

"By the way, does Lingbao Pavilion buy pills?" Ning Chang, who was about to buy a third-tier Spirit Gathering Pill, suddenly remembered that he still had nineteen bottles of second-tier pills left, which were basically useless now. If he could sell them, it would reduce the waste.

"We'll buy anything that Lingbao Pavilion sells, but we'll offer a discount."

"That's good." Ning Chang took out the nineteen bottles of pills.

"These should be second-tier Spirit Gathering Pills. Please check them."

Upon hearing this, Lian Ping immediately sent out several strands of spiritual energy to probe into the bottle and sense its contents.

A few breaths later, he withdrew his spiritual power and nodded to confirm, "That's right, it is indeed a second-tier Spirit Gathering Pill. At the price of four spirit stones per bottle, you can give me seventy-six spirit stones."

"Let's use sixty of these to buy three bottles of Tier 3 Spirit Gathering Pills," Ning Chang said, handing over nineteen bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills.

After putting away the pills, Lian Ping wrote two more strokes in the notebook and added some numbers at the end.

Do you have a storage bag?

Upon hearing the word "space bag," Lian Ping's eyes lit up. "A space bag costs one thousand spirit stones per cubic meter, depending on its internal space."

"If you want two or more items, I can even offer a 9.5% discount!"

"Hmm... alright, I'll come when I need it later," Ning Chang said, trying to sound calm.

He only had a little over 360 spirit stones, not even enough to buy half a square, so he immediately stopped thinking about the space bag.

However, thinking of his spatial bag, he remembered his two bags of Azure Bamboo Leaves. It seemed that without replenishment, these would eventually run out!

Therefore, he needed a method to promote plant growth, not only for the Green Spirit Bamboo, but also for the Yi Sang Tree later on.

As for the methods, one was the formation he had heard about in Stone City, the second was cultivation techniques, and the others were modification and spiritual fertilizer.

After making this request, Lian Ping pondered for a few moments. "We don't have any formations, and as for cultivation techniques, the Spirit Treasure Pavilion doesn't sell them. For this, you can seek help from Medicine King Valley."

This was the second time he had heard Lian Ping mention Medicine King Valley, and he immediately asked, "What is Medicine King Valley? Is it a sect that refines pills?"

"Ten spirit stones to buy information on all the sects in the entire Wangzhou Kingdom."

Lian Ping did not answer directly, but instead announced the price first.

"Take it from the second-tier Spirit Gathering Pill."

Lian Ping drew a line again before speaking: "There are four sects in Wangzhou: Medicine King Valley, Weapon Refining Workshop, Astrology Pavilion, and Ascension Gate."

"The four sects are closely related, and apart from the Ascension Gate, each sect has its own set of cultivation methods."

"Among them, Medicine King Valley mainly focuses on alchemy and the cultivation of medicinal herbs..."

Before Lian Ping could finish speaking, Ning Chang interrupted him.

"They also grow herbs, so why did you just say that Lingbao Pavilion provides them with materials?"

"Oh, that's because they have to refine pills and grow medicinal herbs, which naturally slows them down a lot. The Lingbao Pavilion provides people to grow them, so the people of Medicine King Valley can devote more time to refining pills and only need to take care of some special spiritual plants."

"Understood." Ning Chang nodded, signaling Lian Ping to continue the introduction.

"The weapon refining workshop is a sect that refines various spiritual weapons and processes materials. After supplying other sects, the spiritual weapons it produces flow into the Spirit Treasure Pavilion for sale."

"Most of the space bags circulating in the market are also made by them."

"The Astrology Pavilion specializes in formations and talismans. The communication talismans and teleportation arrays are their creations."

Lian Ping paused for a moment at this point.

"As for the Ascension Gate... it combines the strengths of the other three sects. However, when we talk about strengths, it's just that they record cultivation techniques and such. It's mainly a sect that focuses on cultivation."

"The three sects send their most talented and skilled disciples, who have reached the Fetal Heart Realm, into the Ascension Gate. These disciples then cultivate within the Ascension Gate until they reach the peak of the True Nascent Soul Realm, after which they ascend to the outer realm!"