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“It’s too early to tell. The ones that came today are just here to feel you out. They don’t have the resources to hire the more established alchemists, so they were the most willing to take a chance on you. Your results will determine what happens from here.”

“Tell me,” I said, glancing at the girl out of the corner of my eye. “Are there any dangers here? Will any of this cause problems?”

The girl hesitated but answered. “Not with these groups… but working with more powerful factions could cause friction. If you help one group, their enemies will put pressure on you. Manager Bai will do her best to handle this for you. At least, she will let you know when a contract could cause problems.”

“Manager Bai?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My boss, the woman that yelled at you in the Alchemy Office? She… She has a temper, but she’s good at her job. You can trust her.”

That last comment made me chuckle. Could I trust anyone, really? Still, I would trust her to do her job. At most, she would show me where potential pitfalls existed in the city by throwing me into them.

The attendant began to gather her things to leave when I stopped her with a question. “Does the Pavilion sell any storage bags? Like, a bag that can hold more than it looks like it should.”

She gave me a strange look. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it?”

A smile spread across my face. “How expensive are they? Can anyone buy them?”

“It’s a pretty basic item. Nearly everyone at the Martial Master level has one, but the price will depend on the size and quality you want. Do you not have one?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not yet…” I said, feeling a little embarrassed. “Do you know anything about how they are made?”

My current long-term goal was to expand my storage space. Getting the fire seed was an option, but maybe there was another path.

She nodded. “They’re pretty simple things for Master Formation Specialists to create. Anyone with a spatial spirit fire can make one. Just pump qi into the spirit fire to create a pocket space and then stabilize it with a formation.”

I immediately sat up straighter. “Spatial spirit fire? Where do they get it from?”

Again, she looked at me strangely, as if she was explaining simple things to a child. “Usually at an auction. Spatial spirit fires are extremely popular for formation specialists, so they are sold frequently. A Formation Lord creates a jade box for storing a spirit flame, someone with a suitable fire seed injects the flame into it, and it’s ready to be sold off to anyone willing to pay the price.”

My eyes lit with excitement. This wouldn’t help me expand my storage space. Since the space was located within my soul, I needed a fire seed because regular spirit fires only resided in the body, not the soul, but it still opened possibilities.

“Do you know where the spirit fires come from? Where the fire seed is?”

“No,” she shook her head. “They are shipped down from the central region. The auction houses might know, but they have rules against sharing that information.”

“Do they sell Profound Rank fires? Do you know the cost?” I asked, thinking of another possibility.

“They do, but Profound Rank spirit fires aren’t something you can buy with gold. No Lord-level item is, really. You can only use spirit stones to buy them, and they won’t be cheap.”

“Spirit stones?”

She sighed at my constant questions. “Spirit stones are the currency used by Ruler-tier cultivators. Gold is meaningless to such figures, but spirit stones are not. Aside from their use as currency, they are an invaluable cultivation resource that can help support a Lord’s cultivation.”

“Spirit stones can be used to help Lords cultivate?” I asked excitedly. “How?”

“I… don’t know. I’m not a cultivator…” She glanced toward the room’s exit.

“But—" I began, but I saw that the conversation was wearing on the girl, so I let her go. “Thank you for the information,” I said, bowing.

“Of course, Grandmaster Su.”

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Storage bag, spirit fire, spirit stones.

I had three new short-term goals, the first of which I could check off without much effort.

I headed to the fourth-floor Alchemy Office and ordered several batches of ingredients for common pill types. Before I could begin purchasing, I needed sufficient capital.

It wouldn’t take much effort to concoct a few Rank 3 pills, but it was already getting late, and I wouldn’t be able to get much done before the attendants retired for the day. Members could conduct business after hours, but there was no reason to cause trouble. As a Grandmaster, I could put off resting for a few days if I needed to, so I decided to work through the night.

Around noon the next day, I left the workshop with ten pills in hand. I could only hope it would be enough for a good storage bag.

“Hello,” I said to LiPin when I entered the Alchemy Office, “I need to sell these. They are all pills from the list.”

She took the bottles and put them behind the counter. “Alright. We’ll have an appraiser look at them and credit the value to your account within a few hours.”

“Do I need to plan for any meetings today?” If there were going to be any, I didn’t want to have to trudge all the way back from the Wind District.

“Not today. The people you met with yesterday haven’t contacted us yet, and others are waiting to see what happens with them first.”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it\'s taken without the author\'s consent. Report it.

“Alright then,” I said with a wave, “then I’m headed to go buy some things. Let me know if anything comes up.”

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I slowly made my way to the Blue Wind Merchant Exchange in the Wind District. Since I needed to wait for funds to be credited to my account, I wasn’t in any rush, so I took the long way around the city.

On the way, I passed through the Marsh District where there were not only schools for children but also art and music studios. Remembering the lack of a wind-based trade skill, this made me wonder if wind could be attached to music. I spent some time exploring the Marsh District but didn’t see any signs representing wind.

Giving up my search, I continued on my journey.

When I arrived at the Merchant Exchange, it was bustling with far more people than I had gotten used to in the Workshops, but there were still attendants ready to go for anyone who walked in.

“Hello, sir,” the young woman who approached me said. “How may I help you today?”

“I’m looking for a spatial bag.”

“Of course. Do you have any specific requirements?”

“No. I was hoping you could introduce me to them.”

“Understood. Right this way sir.”

She led me off to the left side of the shop floor where several leather and cloth bags of varying sizes sat on counters. She picked up a larger one, around the size of a loaf of bread, and introduced it to me.

“This is our basic model. The storage capacity is roughly ten cubic meters, and, barring damage to the formation inside, we guarantee its performance for five years.”

For some reason, I had expected the bag to lie flat on the table as if it were always empty. Instead, this empty bag was bulging as if it were full to the brim.

“How does it work?”

“The bag you see is a normal canvas bag. A Master Formation Specialist has expanded the space inside and placed a small, inscribed stone within to stabilize it. The stone floats near the center of the bag. It is protected from minor damage, but the protections are limited, and rough handling could cause damage. If destroyed, the expanded space within will collapse and all items placed within the bag will be ejected.”

“When I move, will the items inside shift? If it’s ten cubic meters, how will I be able to retrieve anything?”

“Yes, with this model, you must be careful how things are stored inside to avoid damage during transit, and you will need to handle the bag delicately to move items within reach so they can be removed.”

This bag seemed nearly unusable. It must have been placed here to prepare buyers for an upsell.

“I would like a smaller bag I can comfortably carry on my waist even when full, where the contents won’t shift around, and that lets me retrieve items through the use of spiritual force,” I said, thinking through some of the features of my storage space.

The attendant smiled, “Of course, sir. Right this way.”

She took me to a different counter with more richly ornamented bags. She held up a belt pouch that looked to contain little more than a large marble.

“This is one of our more premium Grandmaster-level options. As you can see, the external size has been greatly reduced. With other options,” she said, gesturing to larger, fuller-looking bags, “upgrading to a Grandmaster-level bag will provide significantly more internal storage. This one, though, retains ten cubic meters, but decreases the external size.”

“And it has the options I asked about?”

“Yes, sir. The formation stone is designed so that items inside can only be moved through the use of spiritual force. Place your items inside and arrange the space as you desire. The items will stay right where you put them.”

This bag was even small enough to fit within my storage space. Was this a possible workaround?

“What happens if you put a storage bag inside another storage bag?”

The attendant smiled, picked up another bag, and placed it in the opening of the one she was holding. The second bag floated in the space, not willing to enter.

“As you can see, the two condensed spaces repel each other. When space is created for storage bags, it creates a natural spatial barrier. Normal items can pass through, but one condensed space cannot enter another. If you try to force them together, there is a possibility of overtaxing the formation stone within, leading to an implosion.”

Did the same hold true for my storage space? I wasn’t sure, but was I willing to take such a risk when the space was located in the center of my soul? No, no I was not. Better to check with the System before trying anything like that.

"How much?” I finally asked.

The attendant winced slightly but tried her best to hide it. People who could afford such high-tiered goods would usually not ask about prices. “100,000 gold. Please understand, this is a premium product that took a Grandmaster Formation Specialist a significant amount of time to create.”

I nodded but was unsure how much money I had. I hoped the value of the pills I turned in earlier had already been credited to me, but I wasn’t sure, and I also wasn’t sure how much they were worth.

“Can you help me check how much is in my account, please,” I said, handing over my badge.

The attendant’s face dropped. My words told her I definitely wouldn’t have enough money, but when she saw I was handing her a three-star gold-level badge, she regained her smile.

“Of course, but as a gold member of the pavilion, you are entitled to a loan sufficient for your purchase.”

“Great, then I’ll take the bag,” I said with a smile, “but I would still like to know my current balance.”

The girl took the storage bag and my badge to another counter and processed the purchase. When she arrived, she was in a much more excited state.

“Here you are, sir,” she said, handing the items over to me. “Your remaining balance is 510,620 gold. Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

I was stunned. Did that mean I started with over 600,000 gold? Where did it come from? I didn’t think the pills I handed over earlier in the day would be worth more than 10 to 20 thousand, but I wasn’t sure. They could have also credited me for the sample pills I gave them, and I did occasionally sell pills while traveling with Mei. I just didn’t realize how much my account had accrued over that time.

I thought about it and decided that since I was here and had the money, I might as well spend some.

“Show me the alchemy ingredients you have available. I’m particularly interested in any herbs connected to the secondary elements. Also, I would like to purchase any recipes available that utilize those herbs.”

“Right this way, sir,” she said, nearly jumping with joy.

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When I walked out of the Blue Wind Merchant Exchange, my account had shrunk by over 400,000 gold, but my storage bag was brimming with unusual herbs, and I had a dozen new recipes to study. Instead of returning to the Water District immediately, though, I went to find that old man’s shop I had visited earlier.

It took me a long time to finally remember where it was, so when I finally arrived, the sun had already set, but the door of the shop was still open. When I walked in, I saw the same old man in the same posture reading the same thing as last time.

“Hey old man,” I said, trying to get his attention. He didn’t respond.

I walked up to the counter and tapped on it.

“What do you want?” he asked, though his voice lacked any interest in my answer.

“I want to buy all your herbs. How much?”

“Prices are on the bins,” he said simply, refusing to engage with me.

Did he expect me to do all the math myself? Or did he want me to bring up each individual bin?

“Old man, I want all your herbs. How much for everything in the shop.”

“Prices are on the bins.”

I shook my head. I walked over, picked up two large bins the size of fruit crates, and placed them on the counter. I walked back, picked up two more, and dropped them right next to the first two. This finally got the old man’s full attention.

“What are you doing?” he asked annoyed.

“I want to buy these. How much?”

“Just take what you want, don’t bring the entire thing over here, you stupid boy.”

“I told you, I want all the herbs in the shop. How much?”

“That…” he began but stopped when he processed my words. His eyes widened. “I… don’t know.”

“Please help me calculate it,” I smiled.

With him finally assisting me, I purchased his entire stock of hundreds of Rank 1 and 2 herbs for less than fifty gold. Buying low-quality herbs was by far the best way to save money.

“Last time I was here, you told me to see Old Lady Mu. Where is she?”

“Right… Right this way, young master,” the old guy said ingratiatingly.

Old Lady Mu’s shop was nearly identical to the old man’s, but the quality of herbs on display was slightly higher. Importantly, she had many that were connected to secondary elements. This raised the price, so I had to spend over a thousand gold, but I cleaned out her entire supply.

When I finally left the Wind District, my storage bag was nearly bursting with possibilities.