It did not take long for people to find out about the changes in the Earthly Treasures Pavilion. Soon an endless number of bags made its way out of the shop. People were coming in with empty bags and were leaving with filled ones, full of various goods. Sometimes just on foot, sometimes with a cart that they left outside the shop.

Fruits like strawberries and melons, bananas and oranges, as well as all kinds of vegetables, some of which the population did not even know about.

"Have you heard about this new exotic fruit? You can harvest it in the Earthly Treasures Pavilion and don't even have to wait for it to grow! It's a field with fully grown fruit trees and plants and you simply have to pay a little bit to harvest them."

"I heard of someone who harvested the spirit crops. They said they are coming from a famous restaurant in some far away city, hoping to compete with some other place that obviously has some superior ingredients as well. Seems like this restaurant business is not as simple as I thought it is!"

"Yeah, people paying so much just for a meal, I'm just happy to have all of these regular exotic fruits. They might not be special in spirit power, but at least they are affordable for me and taste really good."

-

Terada Sen, apprentice alchemist of the Greenfire Sect and frequent visitor did also find out about the new crops. People were all happily talking about it and some were even sharing a few of their recent spoils by letting everyone try the exotic fruits.

The inside of the shop had all of a sudden turned from a mostly empty place just for buying talismans to a place of gathering and conversation.

Reason for this change, was not the introduction of the new crops, however. While many people were curious about them and happy about the delicious fruits, most were still hanging out here to share their experiences about this [Dungeon of Many Things] the owner introduced.

"Miss Tai, can you not give us a hint how to solve the riddle on the third floor? How are we supposed to get to the other side of the river without the chicken eating the corn, or the fox eating the chicken?"

Yui shook her head and smiled.

"You have to figure it out by yourself. Also, the riddles will change every time you enter the dungeon. You can discuss it with others, but different people are unlikely to find the same riddles."

"That is so difficult!"

Terada Sen looked at this dungeon and asked the other people what it was all about.

"I heard about the new crops, it is simple enough to understand even if there are exotic fruits, but what is this about the owner's [Dungeon of Many Things]?"

"Oi lad, ye see, the Tai lass has made a real tricky place filled with riddles. If ye solve a riddle ye can move through the place to another floor and after each riddle ye get a reward. Tellin' ye it's real' fun. Nothin's tryin' to eat ye either."

Araki Hachiro, one of the frequent customers and miners explained. He would usually leave as soon as he acquired some more metals, but this time he stayed around to share his experience of the dungeon with the other people.

He took out a box colored in the typical red and black style of the Earthly Treasures Pavilion.

"Look here lad. I only managed to pass two riddles before failin' and gettin' kicked out of the third, but I got meself these two new tools that are real' useful."

"This box here is workin' with spirit power on its own and ye can use it like an ice cellar or an iced box. Cools down things on its inside but isn't cold on the outside. Came filled with some brown stuff in a wrappin' that looked really odd but turns out it's some sweet stuff called chocolate."

"Chocolate?" Terada Sen was always curious about new things. "What is it? Can you show it to me?"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Ahh sorry lad, me got so excited by the taste I already ate all of it. The Tai lass said it's called chocolate and made of some beans of some sort and milk."

Hachiro put away the cooling box and reached into his pocked to take out a small rectangular shaped item instead.

"This here is some splendid thing too. Ye can start a flame, just by holdin' down the button here. Might not be something special for ye powerful cultivator people, but real' useful for meself."

"Why is it only open to Qi Condensation stage or lower? I'm already at the beginning of foundation stage after all. I think this is the first time I regret progressing with my cultivation so fast."

Everyone laughed at Terada Sen's distraught look. Everyone but those other people who were also above Qi Condensation stage that is.

"Ah boss, boss I'm back! We've got a problem!"

Hachiro looked over to the subordinate who entered the new mining area [Depths of the Star Mountain] not long ago. He was sent there to scout the area and gather some ore pieces to inspect it and see if it would be useful to them.

"It's not been an hour and ye'r already back. What's wrong with ye you wood skulled moron! That talisman's got two hours of time, ye tellin' me ye wasted one!"

The miner looked unhappy about his boss' choice of words but started to explain, nonetheless.

"Boss, those ore deposits are way too hard to mine. All my tools barely scratched 'em."

He took out his pickaxe that was visibly dented, showing off his efforts with acquiring said ore.

"Aww, that's no good. Hey Tai lass. Why's it that yer new mine's ore is so sturdy and cannot be mined with me regular tools?"

Yui looked over and thought about it for a while.

'I've never worried about that aspect, because I've always used the tools provided by the Earthly Treasures Pavilion. All those mortal and low stage cultivators however will have a hard time mining them with their normal iron and steel tools.'

"You have access to first tier spirit metals, obviously in order to mine second tier spirit metals your normal iron tools won't be enough. Why not make yourself some spirit tools instead?" she offered some advice.

"Spirit tools? Ye mean lass, I am s'posed to use that expensive spirit metal on tools?"

Mining regular first tier spirit ore was all he had ever known about. Second tier metals were something beyond the grasp of regular people. Even sects would treasure them and not let others get easy access to it.

While second tier metals were not much to powerful cultivators, it was a different story when talking about mortals and low-level cultivators after all.

Yui nodded to his question, picking up the dented pickaxe of the miner and giving it a closer look.

"Is it not obvious? To acquire better materials, you need the appropriate tools. It's the same with hunting spirit beasts. If you're not strong enough you won't have a good chance of hunting them, right? Why should it be any different with tools and mining?"

Thinking about all the people who came here, who didn't all have access or the skills to make their own tools she considered a different approach. After all they wanted to offer great service.

"I guess we could start selling some tools of decent quality for people who have none, not that I think the famous Araki family will need any. I'm sure as craftsmen, you can make your own."

Taking pride in Yui's words but knowing the tricky tongue of a merchant all too well Hachiro was rather amused. "Haha! Didn't know ye lass could be this flatterin', ye'r right though we should look into makin' some better tools before we try to take on that tool wreckin' place."

"Lads, take yer spoils and stop stuffin' yerself with all the food here, we still have work to do and it's gettin' crowded here as well! Take care Tai lass, we see ye again tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." With Yui happily waving goodbye to them, many of the newer customers wondered what their relation is.

"Is that shopkeeper lass always so nice? I wonder what those miners bribe her with to be this friendly." The person only mumbled his words with a lewd smile but he quickly got many people staring at him, some looking upset, while others looked at him as if he were a fool.

"Ouch. Oy why are you hitting me?" his friend had obviously smacked his head.

"Don't spout nonsense. If you mess with the owner of the shop, not even the Royal Guard would be able to protect you." his friend whispered in an upset voice. "Don't make me regret bringing you here."

"Owner?" – "Yes she's the owner of the shop and she's this friendly to everyone. Everyone knows that she is charming like a celestial fairy, but nearly everyone has heard the rumors of what happens to people who mess with her."

"Is she dangerous? She looks like a normal young woman."

"They say that a powerful elder sent by the King himself got so trashed recently that he could barely walk back by himself. The Greenfire Sect has already thrown out one of their disciples who flapped his mouth in public and talked trash about the Earthly Treasures Pavilion due to ignorance."

"Some say this alchemist sect has cut its costs by over 80 percent while improving the quality of their pills and elixirs at the same time, all because of the Earthly Treasures Pavilion. If you mess up, the owner of this shop won't even have to raise a finger, everyone else will rip you to pieces just to make a favorable impression."

Now with his friend explaining all these things, the stares of these people who were obviously upset felt a lot more dangerous. He gulped and reconsidered his approach.

"Ah I'm sorry I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way." he quickly said, before people went back to ignoring him again.

"Who would have known such a hidden scary place existed in this town."