I just shook my head and politely, but firmly, refused his offer and pointed at the pile of stuff. [Look, everything I wish to sell is over here, but if you are not interested…]

“No, no, wait! I didn’t say that. It’s just that spatial relics such as that are so hard to come by. Only a few Elders here have them, and there is nobody in our Sect that knows how to make one. I just wish I could get one for myself. These pouches are so cumbersome.”

[I completely understand. But I’m still not selling it.] I nodded.

Merant then sighed, crouched beside the pile, and started examining my stuff. I just let him dig through things even as he started sorting them into smaller piles. I could hear him quietly murmur to himself, sometimes praising the craftsmanship of some pieces, other times shaking his head at a broken part of armor or a damaged relic.

By my calculation, it took him nearly an hour to sort through it all and he diligently wrote everything down into an old notebook, even going back to examine some pieces multiple times.

“Well… Most of these relics are in decent condition, though some are damaged beyond repair and can be only considered scrap metal. As for the talismans and pills… They seem in great shape, even though I don’t know what half of them do.”

He looked at me, waiting for an explanation. I told him everything I could remember, though even then, for about 10% of those things I had no answer. There were plenty of anti-curse talismans left from Lao Huli, and apparently, those were worth the most.

“Alright. Then, combined with the beast parts and everything… 300 Spirit Stones.” Merant offered.

I almost wanted to laugh. That was such a low-ball offer. As expected from a shrewd merchant.

[600 big ones.] I countered.

“No, no, no.” Merant shook his head. “You could maybe get that much in a big Sect, but people here don’t have that kind of money. I think 400 is more appropriate.”

[Come on, man. We both know how much those things are worth. You are already getting a great deal with 550.]

He thought for a few seconds and then shook his head again. “I can’t. 450 is just about my limit. I’m not borrowing money for these things.”

[475. That’s my final offer. And you can even take the broken items for free. The materials ought to be worth something at least.]

I watched Merant as he chewed his bottom lip. I knew he was tempted. The combined value of everything on display was between 800 and 1000 Spirit Stones. It just depended on his skill in finding the right customer if he could extract that much out of it.

I had no time for such things. Better get rid of the items in bulk and not worry about them taking up space. Especially since some bones and beast skins I was selling were really bulky.

“Fine. Fine! 475 Spirit Stones!” Merant eventually capitulated. I knew he was doing that just for show. He was getting a great deal, he would have to be crazy not to take it.

We shook hands and the goods exchanged owners.

[Say…] I began.

“What is it?”

[I know my gear is tempting. Why didn’t you try to push for it harder, or, you know, just take it?]

My two guards looked at me sideways almost as if they didn’t even consider it and Merant began to laugh.

“Oh, that’s simple. My reputation I everything. Even if you are an outsider, I can’t just blindly rob you. I don’t even know who you are. Besides, I think that would be really bad for my health.”

My eyes went wide and I grinned. [Oh? You got some skill, I see.]

“It’s all in this little thing.” Merant smiled and pointed at his monocle. “It reveals the truth of things. Just like I can see all your relics.” He pointed at my rings.

[Oh! Then maybe you can confirm something for me! Look at this.] I took out the Ring of Stability, the one that supposedly prevented spatial distortions.

“A ring? What about it?”

[Don’t you see anything special about it?]

“If you are trying to say this is some kind of relic, I’m telling you, you got scammed. This is a piece of junk. A very nice piece of junk.”

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[Oh… Well, that confirms it then.] It was unfortunate, but it’s not like I wasn’t already suspecting that to be the case. That would explain why I could hurt Elder De Danw despite his many barriers.

“Never mind all that.” Merant looked at my guards. “Your escort, right? Think you can take them?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Daren said.

I gave him and his partner a once-over. [Oh, yeah. Without breaking a sweat.]

“Hahaha! Oh by the Heavens, that’s so scary!” Merant laughed. “You said that with a straight face too. Wow. Are you sure you are just at the First Layer?”

[Sure am.]

“Incredible! I can see you have more Essence than the three of us combined, yet you are so much younger. I’ve never seen a fellow Cultivator like that. Then again, I don’t exactly travel much.”

[Then I guess you wouldn’t know where the Ancient Ironbark Timberland is located?]

The man shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I don’t deal with selling information. Why? Is that where you came from?”

[Kind of.]

“Wow… Must be a far-of place. I’ve never heard of it. You come from a large Sect?” He asked.

[I think so. The mountain range is pretty large indeed.]

“M-mountain range?! Not even a just mountain, but a whole mountain range?!” Merant exclaimed and even my guard gasped at the mention of it. Was it really that big of a deal? They sure thought so and they looked at me differently from then on.

It was a sort of reverence and awe. Not enough to be annoying but, uh… I wasn’t used to it. As if I was some kind of celebrity.

[Well, anyway…] I rubbed the back of my head. [Got any place we could eat? I’m getting kind of hungry.]

“Ah! Yes, of course!” Daren stood to attention and gestured for me to follow. “This way.”

I cupped my fist at Merant and he did the same with a smile.

“If you got any more things to sell, or if you are trying to get rid of that ring, don’t forget about me. The offer still stands!” He said and I just nodded. I doubted I would ever sell my storage ring since it was so convenient.

“Here we are. The Sect gives free food to those who can’t afford it.” Daren said as he pointed at an open place with tables and people bunching around a large pot with bowls in their hands. Half of the guys there shuffled slowly and looked like zombies, and the other half appeared as if they just came back from battle.

“Take a bowl.” Daren said and I saw he and his friend already had one as they moved to the back of the line. I went to the table with empty bowls on it and took one. It was the most normal of normal woods you could find. Plain lumber that started to crack in some places. I gave it a little squeeze and it snapped in my hands.

I quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed, and then made the broken bowl disappear into the ring. I then took another one and carefully held it in my hands as I moved to the back of the line.

While I waited it was hard not to notice the state of the place. It was all rundown furniture and dirty floors. I couldn’t imagine what would happen when it rained, because already the grounds were muddy around the tables where the walking dead spilled their soup.

A few of them were smoking and stumbling all over the place, clearly fried from powerful narcotics. Even Daren took out a few dried leaves, rolled them into a tube, and lit them up before inhaling the smoke. It actually had a weirdly pleasant sweet smell that reminded me of bubblegum.

What wasn’t so nice, was the fat guy from before, making out with the toad at one of the far-off tables. The toad was the size of a basketball, with green warty skin that oozed some kind of white substance, and looked absolutely disgusting.

The fact that he was forcing his tongue all over the animal made me want to vomit and I had to turn around. Not that that made it any better. The woman serving the soup was a young one, I think, but she looked old! As if she went through multiple lifetimes of trauma at once and was also super thin. Almost like a corpse. Actually, most of the people there were thin.

I guess that’s what happens when you can’t even afford your own food.

“Oh, no, no. People here can afford food, it’s just that if you can get it for free here…” Daren explained after I questioned him about my observations. That just made it worse. They were willingly starving themselves apparently. Fasting gave them increased mental clarity and they could Cultivate easier.

That was all true, but you couldn’t fast every single day! That’s just a quick way to die.

While I mentally scolded the people for taking it too far, it was finally our turn. Each of us got a bowl of some kind of green slop, with roots and small tubers mixed in between. I scanned it and confirmed my fears. There was not a single drop of meat or Essence in it.

It was a soup made out of the most common Mortal trash! I then noticed the woman serving the food start to cough and hunch over, spraying the soup with her insides. She then wiped her mouth and nose with her sleeve and continued serving food. Nobody seemed to react to it, however, or even acknowledge it, and that just made me even more traumatized.

I stared at the bowl in my hands and the still bubbling boiling slop.

“Come, let’s sit here.” Deren invited and we sat at a table. And by that I mean I briefly tried to put my weight on the chair, and when it began to creak, I went into a squat and hovered just over a millimeter above the chair.

Even with the Ring of Weightlessness, I was apparently too heavy.

“You know what this soup is called?” Daren asked and the other guy began to snicker. “It’s called Flavor.”

His friend began to howl with laughter.

[Flavor? Let me guess, it’s because it has none.]

“That’s right! Hahaha! You are clever!” Daren began to laugh as well.

I looked at my bowl and then stood up. [You can have mine. I think I lost my appetite.]

“Really? Oh, thank you!” Daren gladly accepted my offer and shared it with the other guy. While they ate, I just walked around, looking at people. Did I forget to mention that none of them shaved? Yeah, and they stank really badly too. Must have been months since they last took a shower.

Saw some women too. They looked even worse than the men. All scrawny and gaunt looking. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was like a Sect full of drug addicts. Then again, that’s exactly what it was, the Joyous Weed Sect.

But if those were the Disciples, I dreaded to see what the Elders looked like. How did they even survive this long? The Cultivation was one hell of a cheat code, allowing them to live that long. Or maybe the Elders were those who kept a level head and didn’t sink into depravity. I didn’t hold much hope, but I sure wished for it to be so.