Chapter 164: The Chamber of Commerce Alliance

With a series of notification prompts and increases in hostility points, Yun Qing analyzed the name alone and immediately deduced that it was most likely related to Wei Ji.

With Liu Liu warning her of danger and the system displaying names, Yun Qing was not worried about failing to recognize anyone harboring malicious intentions.

Her top priority right now was to process the resources she was carrying, exchange them for spirit stones, and leave this treacherous human world as soon as possible.

Wei Ji had just vanished into that alleyway, which suggested he had gone to inform his accomplices about his storage pouch being snatched. Since his accomplices would likely be in the vicinity, Yun Qing quickened her pace to leave.

Walking deeper into the city and putting distance between herself and the alley where Wei Ji was, she passed several elixir shops along the way. Fearing that she had not traveled far enough and might run into trouble, she did not stop to inquire whether they purchased medicinal herbs.

After walking about ten li, Yun Qing gradually entered a bustling area where cultivators, projection stones, and shops became much more numerous.

A huge statue stood not far ahead. Yun Qing stopped in her tracks—not because she was awed by the statue, but because she was captivated by several imposing, three-story grand buildings with identical architectural styles, occupying an extremely vast area not far from the statue.

Huge emblems were displayed on the exteriors of those buildings, making them clearly visible even to her, standing hundreds of meters away.

Chamber of Commerce Alliance!

Yun Qing was overjoyed! The Chamber of Commerce Alliance was right here.

The Chamber of Commerce Alliance was one of the four major forces of the Central Continent. It was perfectly normal for Profound Crystal City to have one, and it was equally normal for her, having never seen the city's branch before, not to have known it.

She was a member of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance belonging to the Ninth Caravan's Profound Iron Mine outpost. Even though she had gone missing after working merely twenty days or so just cooking for the caravan, she still had a certain understanding of the Chamber of Commerce.

Aside from completing their assigned tasks, those responsible for caravan travel were also permitted to buy and sell their own goods, usually taking them along with the caravan to different regions to fetch a good price. For someone like Yun Qing, whose belongings technically belonged to her alone, failing to keep up with the caravan meant fetching a good price would not be so easy.

The Chamber of Commerce Alliance naturally allowed the buying and selling of goods, and as a member, she could even obtain internal pricing.

As for why Song Bin had not told her about the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, he had likely figured that since she didn't have many items, getting internal pricing wouldn't be as cost-effective as trading in the regular market.

The Profound Iron Mine outpost mainly focused on acquiring ores, whereas the Chamber of Commerce Alliance in Profound Crystal City was different—it functioned much like a large-scale department store.

Yun Qing approached the outermost building, instinctively sensing that the Chamber of Commerce Alliance was extremely wealthy in spirit stones. With silver-gray exterior walls, dark gray roofs, and ancient brown double doors, the construction materials were completely unknown to her, yet she instinctively felt they were far superior to the refined profound iron stone used in many houses.

Of course, she did not use Spirit Observation Art to examine what material the building was made of. This place could be considered a branch store under her corporate group's banner; she couldn't afford to look so unsophisticated.

She walked straight inside without casting sideways glances. The moment she entered, she spotted a large directional sign: Cultivation-stage items on the first floor, Foundation Establishment-stage items on the second floor, Golden Core-stage items please proceed to the third floor, Nascent Soul-stage items please move to the Chamber of Commerce Alliance Monarch Building Number One, and so on.

Next to the sign were stairs, the entrance of which shimmered with spiritual light as if protected by a barrier.

The items Yun Qing wanted to sell belonged to the Cultivation and Foundation Establishment stages, so she chose to visit the Cultivation-stage area first.

The display counters in the Cultivation area showcased a wide array of goods, including elixirs, magical tools, spells, talismanic arrays, and apparatuses. Most of them were clearly priced and fully stocked. Almost everything Yun Qing wanted to buy could be purchased right here.

There were quite a few cultivators in the great hall, as well as numerous shop assistants from the Chamber of Commerce. They wore uniform winter attire bearing the emblem of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance—Yun Qing possessed a similar outfit, though hers was for the summer.

Spells—Fireball Spell, Earth Spike Spell, Flying Leaf Spell, Golden Needle Spell, Water Arrow Spell. The spells she had been yearning for were right there inside the counter, yet Yun Qing hesitated. It wasn't because she lacked spirit stones, but because she had no idea what spells she was even capable of learning. She harbored a slight doubt: could someone like her, who could only absorb ordinary spiritual qi and light spiritual qi, really learn a Fireball Spell and other magical arts?

She could buy one and try it out; perhaps the miraculous system would bring her a pleasant surprise.

Different spells varied in price. The cheapest was the Fireball Spell, priced at 200 low-grade spirit stones. Knowledge truly was wealth; at these prices, an average cultivator would need to gather twenty decent-quality Qi Gathering Grass plants just to exchange for a single Fireball Spell.

A low-grade alchemical furnace surprisingly cost 500 low-grade spirit stones, and crafting furnaces were priced similarly. Originally, she had thought the materials she obtained could be traded for a mountain of spirit stones; now, it seemed that acquiring a complete set of equipment would still be somewhat difficult.

"Wei Ji's hostility towards you has increased by +2."

"This fellow Daoist, what are you looking for?" Perhaps sensing she had lingered for too long, a shop assistant cupped his hands and greeted her via voice transmission.

White text appeared: Name unknown, Level 50.

Taking out her caravan token, Yun Qing said, "I am Yun Qing from the Ninth Caravan. I've come here to sell some items and also wish to purchase a few things."

The assistant swept the token with his divine sense, confirming it was genuine and that this person's aura matched the token perfectly.

He felt a slight ripple of curiosity. The Ninth Caravan was primarily responsible for the relatively sparse spiritual qi regions east of the Immortal Alliance; he wondered why this Yun Qing had appeared here.

On second thought, since she was already at the early stage of Qi Cultivation, coming to Profound Crystal City to trade for some supplies was entirely reasonable.

"I am Qi Hua. Fellow Daoist Yun, please this way!" The assistant led Yun Qing into a small room enveloped by a barrier.

After activating the barrier and inviting Yun Qing to sit down, he asked, "I wonder what items Fellow Daoist Yun wishes to buy or sell?"

Yun Qing retrieved a stalk of Qi Gathering Grass from her system inventory and said, "Trouble you, Fellow Daoist Qi. I would like to know at what price these can be acquired, though the quantity is not very large."

After inspecting it, Qi Hua stated, "Fifty-year Qi Gathering Grass, brimming with spiritual qi, though imperfectly preserved. Regardless of quantity, twelve low-grade spirit stones per stalk."

The price was good—it was the absolute highest price she could have squeezed out of the open market.

Yun Qing produced fifty stalks of Qi Gathering Grass, selling them at a total price of six hundred low-grade spirit stones, while keeping a few back just to see if she might be able to try alchemy herself.

"Wei Ji's hostility towards you has increased by +2."

"Song Bin's favorability towards you has increased by +2." Yun Qing understood why Wei Ji kept adding to her hostility, but she had no clue why Song Bin would inexplicably increase his favorability toward her.

Favorability could be used for lotteries, which was a good thing. Yun Qing placed a spiritual mountain ram horn on the table and asked, "Fellow Daoist Qi, this spiritual mountain ram horn should be from the Foundation Establishment stage. Does the first floor also purchase these?"

After inspecting it, Qi Hua remarked, "A fifth-rank spiritual mountain ram horn, complete and well-preserved. However, the uses for this horn are rather limited; it's not sharp enough for making weapons, yet too small for protective armor. Two hundred low-grade spirit stones each. Perhaps it could fetch a higher price if Fellow Daoist Yun goes up to the second floor and consults our Foundation Establishment seniors."

Merchants of the Chamber of Commerce needed to study resource pricing, and people like Duan Mengrou and Zhang贺 frequently studied such matters. Yun Qing naturally felt that Qi Hua was trustworthy, especially since his quoted price was already double what that young man in the market had offered.

She produced eighteen spiritual mountain ram horns and said, "I have fourth-rank and fifth-rank ones here. Naturally, they won't be priced the same. Please trouble Fellow Daoist Qi to calculate what they are worth."

"Qi Hua's favorability towards you has increased by +1."

"Qi Hua's favorability towards you has increased to Acquainted."

That someone from a caravan chose not to move up to the second floor came well within Qi Hua's expectations. Such trust inevitably stirred a modest sense of goodwill within him. He meticulously inspected every single spiritual mountain ram horn and calculated the total price, which ultimately came to three thousand low-grade spirit stones.