Two minutes later, the doors opened and a woman in black robes handed Jiang Feng a small gem. It was cut in such a way that it looked jagged and with points like a star on the sides. He waved a hand and a pedestal emerged from the floor in front of his desk.
He placed the crystal on the pedestal and the air above it shimmered until Jie was looking at a three-dimensional image, like a hologram, of a spherical pill. The image was so detailed it looked like the pill was actually there, and Jie could even smell the scent from it. Similar to that of the heavenly moon pills, but with a grassy hint to it.
"This is a nine clouds healing pill," Jiang Feng said, "they're made with the finest ingredients, by the most skilled of alchemists, and only those alchemists in the Saint rank or higher can make them. They heal any wound on a cultivator of the Saint rank or lower in mere moments, and can even help to heal the wounds of higher ranked cultivators. They're exceedingly rare, given how few Saint ranked experts there are. Especially those who are also alchemists. We only sell them at auction, however, and the average bid price it reaches is around three spirit coins per pill."
Jie nodded thoughtfully. Would a few hundred of those help Ming at all? Ming gave me more than enough spirit coins to buy a lot of them... if they even help a little... wouldn't that be worth it?
"Is this the most powerful pill you have?" Jie asked.
"Yes," Jiang Feng said, "anything more powerful is exceedingly rare, but I'll be sure to notify you if one comes up."
"Do you have a stockpile?" Jie asked.
Jiang Feng's smile quivered like she'd just slapped him, but he held it there even so. "We do sometimes keep a few in reserve," he said, "after all, there are only a handful of families that can afford one of these pills in this entire region. And, even they can only purchase a few a year at most."
"I see," Jie said, "how many can you get me?"
"Well... they're only available for auction..." Jiang Feng said.
Jie frowned. Why was the man suddenly so flustered? "So?" she pressed, "how many can you put up for auction each month at most."
Jiang Feng's smile returned. "At most?" he said, "perhaps... five? I could contact some of our other branches and get maybe seventy a month. But, I can't guarantee this number."
Jie nodded. "Okay," she said, "have your proxy bid for me and make sure to bring out all of them as soon as you get them. You'll make sure I remain anonymous, correct?"
"Yes..." Jiang Feng said, "What limits would you like to set?"
If it's to save that old snake, I don't care how much it would cost... but if I go too high that could drain the funds too quickly. There's no telling if they'll be honest. But... I still want some leeway. With me buying everything the price will probably go up like that book on economics said... demand and supply.... Jie thought.
"No bid higher than ten spirit coins per pill," Jie said.
"I see..." Jiang Feng said as he wrote out her instructions, "And how many would you like?"
"No need to set a limit on that. Just give me everything you get each month. Is there any way you could have it delivered directly to my residence within the Crimson Academy?" she asked.
Jiang Feng swallowed. "We sometimes make arrangements with the noble sons and daughters in the academy. If we speak with the academy, I'm sure we'll be able to arrange that without any issues," he said, "we'll need you to provide the funds to be used for the bidding upfront of course."
Jie nodded. "Of course," she said, "we'll arrange that after we've gone through the rest of the items."
Jiang Feng nodded though sweat beaded his brow. "Yes, you're quite right. No need to get into that just yet," he said.
He waved his hand and the image changed to a different pill. Where the last one had a green hue, this one was bright white, and it smelled richer. Not unlike chocolate cake in a way.
"This is a twin moons pill," Jiang Feng said, "it's similar to Heavenly Moon Pills, but more than twice as effective it's made by--"
"How much?" Jie asked.
"They usually auction for seven gold a pill," Jiang Feng said.
Jie nodded. The difference in price between cultivation resources for her level and healing resources that still weren't enough for Ming was apparent given that it was a hundred gold coins to one qi coin and a hundred qi coins to one spirit coin.
"I'm guessing you have a far larger supply?" Jie asked.
"Naturally, it's much easier to get ahold of," Jiang Feng said.
"I'll want two a day," Jie said, "you can bid up to fourteen gold a pill if need be. I'll also want a way of letting you know when they're no longer of use to me."
"That can be arranged," Jiang Feng said.
"Good," Jie said, "what else do you have?"
They went through several more cultivation resources for Jie. Her cultivation base didn't seem to have a problem with using the amount of cultivation resources she'd used thus far, so she didn't expect it would be a problem if she increased a bit.
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If it started to become a problem, she could quickly cut back on resources and focus on stabilizing again anyway. She got the best pills she could for her current cultivation level, which should last her until she broke through into the middle dantian, but also got a few pills in anticipation of doing so. Or, set things up so her proxy would bid on them at least.
The resources for her were a fraction of the cost of the pills she was getting for Ming. She asked a few probing questions about other healing pills, but the effectiveness apparently diminished so much that it would probably just be a total waste of Ming's time to even bother to eat them.
Even so, she set it up to buy some for herself at least. And was glad to get a small supply without even needing to wait for the auction. It seemed wise to be prepared for anything and having some healing pills in her possession took a small weight off the back of her mind.
The image changed once more, this time displaying a wicked-looking sword. "This wasn't something you asked for, but it's one of the items I mentioned earlier that I think might suit you rather well," Jiang Feng said.
Jie looked at the sword skeptically. She already had martial skills. What was the point of a sword?
Jiang Feng continued in her silence. "This is a dark moon blade for the lower dantian. A rare treasure attained from a secretive sect. It's exceedingly sharp, and the metal is strong enough to give even cultivators of the middle dantian trouble in the right hands. It can be further empowered with qi and is unbelievably deadly when paired with sword arts," he said.
"No," Jie said, "I don't think I'm interested in swords. At least not at the moment. The same goes for any other weapons you might have. Unless you have something far more impressive than this blade that I can use even at my cultivation level."
"Unfortunately, we don't have anything like that," Jiang Feng said, "Moving on..." he swept his hand and the image changed again. This time, it displayed a necklace. The illusion gave off waves of power, so Jie hoped it wasn't just some useless bauble.
"This is a protection amulet forged by Movar Grek, a controversial master smith in the Iron Kingdom. It's incredibly rare for such an item to make it all the way here as Iron Kingdom nobles tend to purchase all the protection amulets he produces for their own children.
"Simply push some of your qi into it and it will activate a defensive barrier around you. The barrier's strength is equivalent to a defensive skill of the Spiritualist rank. It can only be used once, but should you face a danger you cannot handle, this necklace may be enough to allow you to escape alive. It's a fairly rare item and as such the price can fluctuate wildly. I would expect it to sell for around fifty qi coins, but it's impossible to be sure," Jiang Feng said.
Jie nodded thoughtfully. Ming wanted her to survive, and so did she. Fifty qi coins was only half a spirit coin. It seemed a small price to pay if she needed it one day.
"And, you're sure I can activate it even at my current level of cultivation?" Jie asked.
"Even those at the first star of the Disciple rank can do so," Jiang Feng said, "that's what makes it such a valuable item."
"Have my maximum bid be a spirit coin then," Jie said.
Jiang Feng nodded.
Next, an image of a variety of carefully prepared food dishes appeared before Jie. Many of them looked alien to Jie's eyes and she couldn't help wondering what they'd taste like.
"We don't tend to sell these dishes through our auction, but rather act as an intermediary service for some of the best chefs in this and other cities. For a monthly fee, they will craft each meal to suit your stage of cultivation and send it to you through us.
"The meals will arrive in a few hundred carefully designed containers at a time that will ensure they remain utterly fresh until they're consumed, giving you a supply of rations anywhere you choose to go," Jiang Feng said, "the fee will of course depend on how many meals you consume, what type they are, and for which cultivation level they're designed for. And as such, will grow more expensive as your cultivation grows.
"Unlike cultivation pills, the meals are not something that typically requires focused attention on your part and are a more passive boon to your cultivation, happening without effort as your body naturally digests the meals."
"Is it worth it?" Jie asked.
Jiang Feng nodded. "I use the best of these services myself. Almost all who can afford to do so use them or something similar. It's yet another way to further one's cultivation. Although for me, the fees are quite exorbitant. But who would not pay any price they can bear to enhance their growth?" he asked.
Jie nodded. "And which meals would I receive?" she asked.
Jiang Feng walked Jie through the entire process, described each ingredient, and helped her set up her order with the best meal service in the city. The same one Jiang Feng himself used. Provided he wasn't lying to her. But Jie thought she could see for herself whether the food improved her cultivation. And perhaps ask Pan Tian about it later. No doubt the older girl knew all about such things.
Jie ordered a wide variety of dishes as she had no idea what the majority of dishes would taste like and thus had no way to tell which she'd like without first trying them.
Jiang Feng assured her that she could easily modify her future orders after determining what her tastes were.
Jie also created a second recurring order with the meal service for the strongest meals they could make and in large quantities to be delivered to her residence. It was expensive, but Ming had given her so much money that it wouldn't even put a dent in it and Jie hoped that perhaps the food would help his recovery.
Unfortunately, she was only able to get food prepared for the higher ranks of the middle dantian. But even if it didn't help him recover, she hoped it would at least give him tastier food of a larger variety than the school offered.
After the meal service, the display changed once again to show a strange pill that looked something like a semi-translucent metal ball bearing.
"This is a steel body conditioning pill," Jiang Feng said, "it won't aid your cultivation but will rather help to strengthen and toughen your body. Everything from your muscles to your skin, hair, bones, tendons... you name it. The bidding typically reaches around four gold a piece."
Jie nodded. "Have my maximum bid be ten gold then. How many should I consume per day?" she asked.
She worked out the details in short order with Jiang Feng before the display changed again. This time to a yellowish-green pill.
"This is a feline's grace body pill. For improving your speed and agility. The typical maximum bid is again four gold..."
Again Jie set it up to purchase a supply.
Next was a light blue pill called a rapid thought pill for improving mental abilities. The average bid was higher at five gold. But, Jie supposed that made sense as it was said to help with cultivation and martial skill insights, making it sound like quite a useful body conditioning pill indeed. Who did not wish to be smarter, after all?
After that Jiang Feng showed her a reddish brown pill called a tireless endurance pill. Said to improve stamina and endurance. Shockingly, the average winning bid was six gold a piece.
"Why is the price so much higher than the others?" Jie asked.
Jiang Feng smiled smoothly. "Because stamina and endurance are highly prized. Particularly among adult cultivators," he said.
Jie wondered at that. Perhaps their fighting style relied on increased staying power? Slowly wearing down her enemy didn't seem to fit with Jie's fighting style, but she supposed that more endurance was likely never a bad thing. So, as with the others she set up the order.