"Are you the owner of this establishment?" Brax questions as he observes the fat man in front of him.

Brax's Qi-sensitive eyes immediately notice that the man in front of him is a 1st stage Qi condensation realm cultivator. This is a man who went out of his way to pursue cultivation but failed, eventually.

His wealth allowed him to take the first step, but that single step was all he could take.

"Yes, Honored disciple. Do you find anything that catches your interest?" the fat shop owner asks, rubbing his hands together.

"Do you have any books on artifact making?" Brax asks. The shop owner's eyes immediately light up when he hears this question.

"You are in luck, honored disciple. I have recently come into possession of a 3-star artifact crafter's personal crafting book," the shopkeeper says.

Brax is now interested.

Just like alchemists, artifact crafters are also identified by their star levels. The higher the star level, the better they are.

Unlike alchemy, artifact crafting doesn't follow strict rules where a simple mistake will ruin the whole process. Artifact crafting completely relies on the understanding of the crafter. The better their understanding, the more freedom they can have while crafting artifacts.

Because of this freedom, experienced artifact crafters create their own crafting methods. That is why books of renowned artifact crafters with unique crafting methods are highly sought after.

These things are especially priceless for low-ranked artifact crafters who can only rely on higher-ranked artifact crafters and copy their designs.

This practice is very common. Whenever a high-ranked Crafter makes something unique, the low-ranked crafters try to copy their work or at least try to replicate the effects of the original artifact.

Almost all of them fail to even replicate half of the original artifact's ability, but they still profit from it. Poor and weak cultivators buy these copied artifacts as they don't have the ability and means to get the real deal.

'I need to get this manual,' Brax thinks. "How much is it?" Brax asks.

"Hehe, since sir is an honored disciple of the Eleven Mountain sect, I will sell it to you for just 5000 low-grade spirit stones." the shop owner provides Brax with his price. 'That's quite high. I wonder if all the items I have will be enough,' Brax wonders.

The door of the shop opens once again and the labor staff start bringing in all of Brax's items inside.

The shop owner is dumbfounded seeing all the items entering his shop. Unlike the regular workers, his keen eyes can immediately tell that these things are much more expensive than they look.

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To an ordinary person's eyes, they already look expensive. But to a cultivator who is sensitive to Qi, the shop owner can already tell that some of these are artifacts.

"I want to sell all of them in exchange for that manual," Brax says.

The shop owner looks at the items placed in front of him and then back at Brax.

"Honored Disciple, why don't we continue our business inside," the shop owner says as the items are getting too much attention from the crowd inside.

"Sure lets go,"

"Bring it all in and be careful to not drop anything or I will have all of you dead," the shop owner threatens his labor staff and guides Brax and Anna inside the shop, away from the prying eyes.

The young man who approached Brax outside watched the shop owner leave with contempt in his eyes. Now that the shop owner himself is taking charge of this sale, he won't get a commission. His colleagues look at him with a mocking gaze.

___________________

Inside the shop, Brax is guided to a luxurious private chamber. Brax takes a seat while Anna stands beside him. The shop owner too rests his ass down on his massive chair.

He then begins evaluating the items placed in front of him. Some of them are just normal treasures made by skilled mortals, but they are still expensive, as they are made of precious metals and stones. However, the shop owner is more interested in the weapon artifacts that are in the pile.

These artifacts range from basic low level to basic high level, each can be sold for a lot of spirit stones.

After evaluating everything he gives Brax his estimation, "I can give you 4260 spirit stones for everything,"

A low-level basic weapon artifact can cost 100 low-grade spirit stones, and If it is a high-end one, it can be sold for upwards of 1000 low-grade spirit stones.

As Brax hears the number, he knows that the shop owner has given him a fair price. But it's still 740 spirit stones short of 5000.

"I think it's a fair trade," Brax says implying that he wants the artifact book by trading his items. He isn't going to pay a dime more.

The shop owner is no pushover. "I apologize, but I already gave you a very reasonable price for the manual. If it was anyone else, I would have charged much more," the shop owner says, and he is not lying. A 3-star artifact crafter's books go for a much higher price in the market.

He purposely gave Brax a low price to get in his good grace.

"I know that, but I also know that you are going to sell all of these at a much higher price as well. You will easily be able to cover up your expense," Brax says.

"Yes, but I won't be making any profit. Please understand that I am a businessman first," the shop owner continues to reason as politely as possible.

Brax looks at the shop owner and realizes that he might not budge. 'I could threaten him, but violence is unnecessary here, plus I don't know how deep his connection runs. I need to think of another way.'

"I am soon going to become an inner sect disciple," Brax provides the show owner a branch to latch on to. In a world where power and status are everything, you need connections.

If you have a connection with an inner-sect disciple of the Eleven Mountain sect, you are golden.

The shop owner's ears perk up.

"Oh, congratulations honored disciple... I don't dare doubt your abilities, but... how confident are you?" the shop owner asks hesitantly.

Brax smirks hearing the show owner. He doesn't take offense to it because the shop owner is just looking out for himself.

"A hundred percent. I am already a 10th-stage Qi condensation cultivator, becoming an inner sect disciple is now just a formality," Brax says, and releases extreme pressure on top of the shop owner.

The shop owner immediately feels it. He feels as if massive boulders are resting on his shoulders. Even his chairs start making cracking noises from the pressure.

"Hahaha, I never doubted you honored disciple, or should I say esteemed inner sect disciple." the shopkeeper immediately changes his tune.