The visual degradation of the buildings around her was more and more clear to Anishka… until, suddenly, she was in an area with well paved streets and shiny buildings. She thought they were merely passing through until Nezihe pulled into a side lot, where there were other similar vehicles.

“This is… not where I was expecting to end up,” Anishka said.

“I imagine not,” Nezihe said. “Even when I started I had somewhere else in mind. But this place is important to see.”

“As a representation of what can be?”

“If you think so,” Nezihe answered.

Which meant she didn’t think that was the reason. So what went on here, in this district? Anishka looked around, taking it in. People in nice clothes walked around between various buildings. Their cultivations were generally greater than what she had previously sensed, and she could feel the way the enchantments radiated off of their equipment. A few, at least, had the cultivation of the Righteous Inscription Sect, which had put forth the main envoy for the Shining Cooperative. That was one of the few sects whose auras she’d been familiarized with before arriving.

Nothing necessarily felt wrong on the surface. But then she saw something unusual. Or rather, someone. A young man, low in cultivation. There was nothing wrong with that, it was just that said individual stood out from the surroundings. Something he was carrying drew her attention. Anishka began to follow him. Though, it was not like she made it so obvious.

She simply headed for the same building he’d gone inside. “What is this one, Nezihe?” she asked. There was a sign, of course, but she didn’t let that dissuade her from asking.

“The Crystal Clear Trading Company,” Nezihe said. “I can’t say I know too much about them in particular. However, they may be able to explain more of their business.”

“Splendid,” Anishka said, strolling inside.

Heads turned. Even though Anishka was subduing her natural energy to seem more on the level of a Life Transformation cultivator, two of them walking in together was something noteworthy.

“Can I help you, senior?” said a woman, scurrying up to Anishka.

“Yes indeed. I have many questions about your business policies.”

“Of course. Come, let me arrange for a private room.”

Anishka wondered if someone would be getting kicked out. It seemed rather busy, after all. She just hoped it wouldn’t be that young man, mostly because she was here to spy on what happened with him.

This was quite a fascinating place, she observed. Some rooms clearly had more security than others. And upon stepping into the room she was guided to, she hadn’t been able to feel much of anything inside, until the door was opened. Yet she could feel out of the room, which was good. She didn’t want to waste her time not spying.

The young man was on the opposite side of the building, about a floor above. His section was hardly secured, and even her passive senses were enough to get a vague feeling. Just a little increase in her gathering, and she felt quite a bit more- but not focused anywhere. To anyone looking, it would seem as if she was just generally alert, even though she was ignoring most information that wasn’t of interest. Though she supposed others similarly situated to the young man might also be worth paying attention to.

“You sell crystals here, right?” Anishka said. “I mean, obviously you sell more than crystals. But I was wondering if you had any fire and ice crystals available.”

“Of course,” the representative said. “We have an abundance of any element you need, in a variety of power levels.”

“Perhaps I was unclear,” Anishka said. “I was speaking of dual element fire and ice crystals. As you may see, with my cultivation I am quite interested in such.”

“I see. Senior is truly interested in some rare objects. Such things are rarely in stock for long. I will have to inquire about whether or not we have any. If you will excuse me.” The woman bowed her head, and Anishka waved her off.

Perfect. Now she had more room for spying. Nezihe just sat behind her, silent.

“... while it has a certain level of rarity,” Anishka picked up the voice of a woman, “Unfortunately few cultivators can make use of it. Thus, the sum we can offer you is less than what it might have been.”

Technically, most of those words were true. Very few cultivators could use a fire and ice crystal. That was what made her notice the young man to begin with, carrying one only shielded by a weak insulating chest. However, that only inflated the value for them, as they desired such all the more.

“Well… alright…” the young man said. “How much are you willing to offer?”

The woman named a price, and Anishka’s eye twitched. Was she buying a pebble on the side of the road? Obviously it was much more than that, as even the lowest cultivator could not mistake the level of natural energy in the crystal. But it was nowhere near the value of the object.

The young man at least had the good sense to try to haggle the price higher. And the bravery to double the offer. Such things might lead to immediate rejection… if it were actually unreasonable.

Eventually, the woman settled for about one and a half times her initial offer, which had to be still around a tenth of the actual value. Anishka was considering running over there and kicking down the door. But she restrained herself.

“Nezihe,” Anishka commented. “I don’t have much local currency.” The other woman frowned, until Anishka pulled out a pair of bracers radiating a strong air elemental current. “I hope you can assist me with that.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Nezihe didn’t know if she was supposed to be purchasing the bracers or if she might otherwise profit from the venture, but she didn’t care. They weren’t something that could simply be found on the market, and they would greatly augment her core element. Passing up an opportunity to have those and win favor with an Assimilation cultivator would be crazy.

Anishka observed goods and currency exchange hands across the building… and soon enough her representative was coming back towards her with two small chests. She practically burst into the room.

“Senior,” the woman said. “We did indeed have fire and ice crystals. Two, in fact. Come, take a look.” She placed the containers gently on the table in the middle of the room, opening them one at a time.

Anishka looked at them, even picking them up with her hands to study carefully. And while she’d already made her decision, she took some time to show it. “These are… not high enough quality. How much are they? I might still consider purchasing them.” The woman quoted her a number about one and a half times what they were worth.

They weren’t each equivalent. The one they seemed to have already had in stock was a few tiers higher in practical usefulness and thus value. The young man wasn’t so lucky that he could find something suitable for Life Transformation while merely in Spirit Building.

Anishka got up and began to walk out. The woman immediately lowered the price to something in the ballpark of reasonable. Merchants did have to make a profit, and they had some value in facilitating the movement of goods between individuals who might never meet in time or space.

“I am no longer interested. Though perhaps at a lower price I might be interested in giving the smaller one to my disciple.”

“Of course,” the woman said. “As a special deal, though it will destroy our profits, I can cut off an additional twenty percent and no more.”

Interesting. She actually seemed to believe that. Was the one who made the purchase lying about the sale price? Clipping coins at both ends? That was quite possible, but it wasn’t any of Anishka’s business. Okay, it was a little bit her business since she’d been brought here.

“Very well. I suppose I will accept that.” Nearly half of the initial asking cost- but hardly a discount or any actual dent to their profits.

Nezihe pulled out money to pay, like a proper attendant, then followed Anishka outside. “I did not know you had a disciple,” she said. “It would have been appropriate for you to bring them, if you wished to.”

“Oh,” Anishka said. “I don’t have one.”

“Then why…?”

“To make a point to someone,” Anishka said. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t legally make this point to all involved. And I’d rather not cause too much trouble on my first day here.”

“Indeed. Please don’t.”

Anishka removed the crystal from its protection, tossing the small chest into her storage bag simply because she didn’t want to litter. It had some value, but she would have left it at the merchant’s building in most cases.

Her steps brought her after the young man whose name she had never learned. The merchants hadn’t even asked. That was also the case with her, but she might have intimidated them into forgetting accidentally. What could she do about it? She was confident for a reason. And maybe they should be afraid.

She was playing with the crystal as she passed the young man. Then she turned. “You are staring.”

He instantly bowed his head. “I’m sorry, senior. It is just I just sold a crystal of the same type as that. It was a great boon for me.”

“Indeed?” Anishka said. “I just purchased this, in fact. I found it pretty. It was not terribly expensive, so I bought it for the sake of my disciple. I just paid something along the lines of… what was it, Nezihe?” Anishka remembered, even if she wasn’t familiar with the local currency exchange values. She just wanted someone else to say it.

Nezihe played along, and the young man’s eyes widened.

“What is it?”

He shook his head. “I suppose mine was smaller or something. I didn’t get nearly so much.”

“It most certainly was not different in any area,” Anishka said. “Because this is the same one.” She took a step towards him.

“Oh. Then I…” he hung his head. “I really lost out, didn’t I? Did senior follow me just to rub it in?”

“To make the point. It is easy to be blinded by shiny things and money,” Anishka said. “And in some ways they are necessary and cannot be done away with. Thus, we must be cautious with them. Otherwise…” she took the crystal between her thumb and index finger, squeezing. “They can disappear like nothing.” The crystal shattered, the condensed energy within it scattering to the winds in mere moments.

The young man just watched, trembling. “W-wasn’t that for your disciple?”

“It served its purpose best as an object lesson,” Anishka said. “Besides, you neither cultivate fire nor ice currently.”

He seemed to want to leave, but was afraid to turn away or otherwise insult her. “That is true, senior,” was all he could manage.

“You’ll have to be more cautious with your gains,” Anishka said. “Think well how you spend that money.” She pulled out a scroll from her storage bag. “And study this.”

The young man read the first line aloud. “Fire and Ice Palace basic forms.” He looked up at her. “Is this…?”

“The same style I use. We shall see how you do by the end of the week. I may come to retrieve it after that time.” Anishka turned as if to walk away.

“Wait, senior! How will you find me?”

She looked over her shoulder. “Are you planning to leave the city?”

“... Not immediately,” he admitted.

“Then I will find you.”

Anishka took Nezihe away from the scene. The other woman commented when they were out of earshot. “Was that all necessary?”

“No. But I wanted to do that, so I did. It’s not too late for him to restart his cultivation, and his method is terrible so even if he has little affinity he can hardly do worse with this one.” Anishka looked towards Nezihe. “But what did you expect me to do?”

“Nothing. Not in particular, at least.”

“Someone else would be more suited for this. I have neither the knowledge of the finances or laws required. However, I would suggest more closely keeping track of exchanges of a certain magnitude.”

“That is quite a difficult task,” Nezihe admitted. “We have so many people.”

Oh right. They didn’t even have computers. Anishka wondered if it would be quicker to wait for the okay to introduce technology to them, or to influence them to make something similar fully formation based. Formations tended to go large, while technology related to computers relied on very small scales so it might not make sense. Either way, relying on people to keep accurate records would still be necessary to catch grievous harms, but it was somewhere to start.

She wondered if this was what Nezihe wanted her to get out of coming here, or something entirely unrelated.