Chương 19: 14.2. Selling and Trading

Knock! Knock! The formation around the manor pricked Faust with something like a small needle against his toe.

"Hrmm…" Faust exhaled through his pillow as he wormed out of bed. The Clear Mirror sect was surprisingly generous with bedding. Even the Outer Sect residencies had large, comfortable beds. Knock! Knock!

"Haaa…. Yeah, yeah… I'm coming…" Faust complained. Pale golden light filtered through the paneled fabric windows, illuminating the spacious mini manor, complementing the honey coloured floor planks. Pulling some Water Qi from the surroundings, Faust twisted and turned his hand making hand signs with just one hand. A ball of water appeared in front of him and he threw it onto his face, washing away some of the groginess and smoothing down his hair as he approached the door. Knock! Knock!

"I'm coming Dammit!" Faust shouted, crossing the small manor to reach the front. The door opened smoothly, a testament to its quality.

"Oh? Look who's finally awake?" Rozaline greeted, holding her fan over her face.

"..." Faust looked at her blankly, his back slightly hunched and his long blonde hair still disheveled after being smooth down with some water.

"Bye." Faust began closing the door. Rozaline jammed her fan into the opening to prevent it closing, then forced it open and invited herself in. Faust didn't put up much resistance, watching her take a seat at the table, crossing her legs, once again wearing that crazy red and gold, scandalously high double slit dress with the thigh high and elbow glove combo. She waved her fan around and red gems inset in gold swayed with her long straight golden hair.

"Oh, come now. We have business to discuss." Rozaline said.

"Is this some kind of new early morning delirium negotiation strategy I've never heard of?" Faust grumbled before waving his hand and levitating a tea set and bag of leaves to the table and sitting across from her.

"Oh, please, we're cultivators, how often do we sleep? It's purely coincidence."

"..."

"Now, about purchasing your foundation method, I just received the payment from the clan. Do you have a copy of the method prepared?" Rozaline asked, placing a spatial pouch on the table. Faust flicked his hand again and several scrolls and books shot out from their places on shelves and atop piles of books and technique manuals. The collection of items landed on the table while Faust prepared the tea. Rozaline reached out to one of the books and flicked through it.

"Oh? You're also offering your personal notes and the mathematical version of the methods?" Rozaline asked in thinly veiled surprise.

"Isn't this relationship supposed to be made in goodwill?" Faust asked with a sly smile, finishing the tea with a few techniques and spells, pushing a cup to Rozaline before picking up the spatial pouch and examining the contents. 100 liters of Purified Spirit Glazed water, a 3rd level material. 10 drops of sea dragon blood, a minute quantity of 6th level material. 200 kilograms of Sky Stone, a 2nd level material. 300 grams of Fairy Dust, a 4th level material.

Most relevant to the Roze clan were the 3 bottled Fire Spirits, the product that made up a majority of the Roze clan's revenue. There was more, but 200 thousand imperial gold was a substantial sum and Faust had asked for most of it to be paid as the materials he actually needed, making the list extensive.

Among other things, there was also several sets of Golden Sand, Crushed Spirit Jade, Steelpine Sap, Minotaur Clam powder, Dark Slate, Star Iron, Iridescent Ashes and Spirit Glazed Platinum to let 4 people breakthrough to Open Palace and reach the peak of early Open Palace using Faust's palace foundation laying method. Faust raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of the deep golden tea he had prepared this time.

Apart from the materials, there was a collection of three Golden Core assembly methods with their Inner Palace blueprints, Foundation Laying diagrams, and Meridian Maps alongside 20 thousand gold coins.

"... This seems like too much." Faust said after a moment. If he developed his cultivation method to the Nascent Soul realm, it would certainly be astronomical in value as all Nascent Soul methods and above were, but he hadn't made it yet. There was no guarantee the investment would pay off.

"It's all for good will." Rozaline responded with a smirk, taking a sip of the served tea as well. Faust eye twitched, "Why does it feel like one upping me takes more precedence than profit?"

"Oh, my, how could I ever do something so wasteful?" Rozaline giggled, tapping her lips with her fan. Faust rolled his eyes, taking another sip of hot tea.

"By the way, the spatial bag is part of the payment." Rozaline said, stowing all the scrolls and books Faust had compiled in the week between their last negotiation and the Sect Recruitment Mission.

"Thank you." Faust thanked simply, a second spatial pouch meant he could delay that flying ship he had been thinking about.

"However, I believe the included methods from the Roze clan's collection are overpaying."

"Those are a separate investment." Rozaline answered.

"For which part of me?" Faust asked.

"Technique Master." Rozaline sipped her tea calmly, "To become one, you need more study materials, no?"

"..." Faust didn't answer immediately. He gazed into the deep golden tea instead, briefly glancing at the nearby shelf. One of the books"Reverse Engineering Emphamism Coded techniques and methods by Faram Platier". Had three copies, one filled with notes from when he first started developing his own flying sword technique, a second he notarised as an exercise when he had far more experience. The third copy remained in mint condition to show respect to the author and to give him inspiration without his own biases.

Seeing Faust silent, Rozaline spoke up again, "We both plan to reach Nascent Soul at the least. Maybe this investment won't pay off for centuries or even millenia, but in that realm, we'll have a few thousand years for it to pay off." Faust settled into his chair, thinking it over. With one more month until he turned 30, the idea of living for thousands of years was still a strange thought to him. He took another sip of his tea.

"I guess so." Faust responded. Unless there was some falling out with the Roze clan or one of them died somehow, he was probably going to know Rozaline for thousands of years. He may as well accept the investment. He would have plenty of time and resources to pay them back in the far future.

"Hmmm… Before I leave, can I ask some questions about the method we're buying from you? While I'm here?" Rozaline asked.

"Naturaly. If there's any questions while I'm alive, feel free to ask or send a letter, consider it after sale service." Faust responded, enjoying the tea as he waited for Rozaline to inquire. Rozaline nodded and made her first query, pointing to one part of Faust's notes. Faust answered to the best of his ability and the two went back and forth for much of the morning. … Rozaline left after asking several questions about the Meridian Map, Foundation Laying method and Inner Palace Blueprint.

Faust watched her go, then leaned back into his chair, flicking a finger to open the window. A gentle creak from the wood sounded as Faust looked out into the small forest surrounding the manor, before it dropped off into a near vertical gray cliff face.

"Huuu…" Faust exhaled, enjoying a cup of tea in the quiet soft light of the small manor. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. He didn't have anything much that needed to be done urgently. With the twenty thousand gold from the Roze clan and the various external materials they provided in the exchange, he could work on finishing off his Inner Palace foundation at any time. Faust nodded to himself.

He would prepare himself to enter mid stage of the Open Palace realm before heading to the Grand Archive. As such, he should make arrangements today for a prolonged seclusion. Properly fixing his hair and wearing the Inner Sect's purple robes, Faust headed out. Step 1, Faust decided, would be to have a difficult conversation with Mue Dian and Persius, he would see if he could find them in the inner sect courtyard before he went and looked for them elsewhere.

After waiting in the inner sect courtyard, working on the Heaven's Smite spell technique, the sun was well past its zenith. Faust hummed to himself, then closed his notebook and stowed it and the charcoal pencil away. It was time to ask around.

"Excuse me, senior brothers, have you seen Mue Dian and Persius around?" Faust asked a pair of slightly older looking men whose calm discussion had reached a lul, seated at one of the stone tables placed around the courtyard. He cupped a fist in his hand to show respect.

"Hmm?" One of the men thought about it, rubbing their stubble before suddenly asking, "You mean those two young spearmen, the lanky man and woman who are usually together? Who got into a fight with Sue Jane not long ago?"

"They should be the ones." Faust nodded"They usually come out together in the mornings, but I haven't seen them for the past few days. You should try the mission hall, junior brother." The man offered some direction.

"Thank you, senior brother." Faust gave a small bow and the senior brother cupped a fist in his hand to see Faust off as he turned away. Faust's expression changed, from neutral, to concerned. He felt something sink in his gut. Power walking through the sect, Faust reached the mission hall on Diamond Mountain, where disciples crowded around the mission board as usual, while others dragged their proof of mission completion to the deacons at the counter.

Faust narrowed his eyes as he scanned the hall, before he approached one of the deacons. The deacon, an older man with graying blonde hair, raised an eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me, senior, do you know if Mue Dian and Persius from the Inner Sect have taken a mission?" Faust asked, cupping a fist.

"Hmmm…" The deacon hummed in thought, rubbing his beard for a moment.

"We're not supposed to tell people about other missions. However I remember you and them being together and you look worried. I believe they took a mission to harvest the poison gland of a Red Spotted Needle Frog in the Red Glazed Swamp." Faust felt his stomach drop. The Red Glazed region, where the plants and leaves all took a red hue and even the mountains seemed dyed red, was swarming with Open Palace realm beasts, with Golden Core and Nascent Soul realm beasts thriving.

"How long ago did they leave?" Faust asked.

"Five days ago."

"Ah…" Faust felt like he'd just been punched. He quickly rushed out without paying respects to the deacon and jumped onto his flying sword. Faust shot out of the mission hall, making a wide arc across the sect before falling back downward to Setting Mirror Mountain, which stood high above Clear Mirror Cavern. The sky seemed to darken as Faust landed on the mountain, a massive stone gate rose up hundreds of meters into the air, tall and thin.

Immediately, Faust felt something go through him, scanning him from head to toe. Someone's Divine Sense, he thought. There was also something else though, like a probe that poked at his mind, causing a phantom pricking sensation. Faust ignored the scan from whichever Nascent Soul elder and rushed through the stone gates. A long hallway seemed to stretch endlessly, illuminated in blue hues by glowing blue torches lining the halls, the ceiling stretching so high it became a black void, like back in the mines.

Faust burst out of the hallway into a massive cavern, one that stretched into darkness up and down. Countless bright specs however filled the cavern, resembling stars in the night sky as countless gently glowing mirrors floated around the cavern. A man with long white hair floated in the center of the cavern, high above the bridge that stretched out to its center. Faust went halfway across the bridge before bowing deeply, cupping a fist in his hand.

"Inner Disciple Faust requests the status of Mue Dian and Persius." He spoke respectfully. Silence. Faust could still feel the elder before him scanning him, even with their eyes closed. Two mirrors suddenly shot out from the vortex of swirling lights in the cavern, landing in front of the elder. Faust watched in trepidation, every mirror contained a wisp of one's Origin Qi, gathered by the Clear Mirror Phantom in the Clear Mirror Cavern.

It allowed powerful elders to briefly see what the disciples could see through the mirror. Silence stretched again as the elder examined the mirrors. Faust maintained his bow even as the seconds stretched to minutes and then what seemed like hours.

"Poisoned… And paralysed… Inside of a Jade Toad's nest." The elder's voice spoke slowly. Faust felt another punch to the gut and began to turn. He remembered that Jade Toad's would wait until their venom turned their prey into mush which could take days to weeks depending on the target. With Open Palace's solidified spirit body, the poison should take over a month to fully dissolve them, 2 weeks before it becomes lethal. With 5 days already passed, there was just over a week to mount a rescue.

"Thank you! Elder!" Faust shouted, bowing even deeper before turning and trying to rush out.

"URGH!" Faust grit his teeth as the force of a mountain settled on his shoulders, forcing him to the ground.

"Don't rush." The elder's voice rang out melodiously, "You have more than a week before the two succumb to the poison and the Red Glazed region is dangerous even for Core Disciples." The weight on Faust's shoulders slowly lifted and a piece of paper floated in front of him. It was a mission slip, the ink still drying, filling out the details of the mission slip as an emergency rescue mission for disciples.

"I saw another group of disciples trapped in the nest. It will be close to the entrance of the Red Glazed Swamp. Take an alchemist with you and a proper team. Lest you die in vain, meeting the same fate." The elder continued, the weight dissipating entirely. Faust stood up slowly, but didn't rush out. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. One breath… Two… After falling half into meditation for a while, Faust opened his eyes again and stood up straight before facing the elder.

"Thank you for your guidance." Faust bowed as deep as he could, cupping a fist in his hand.

"Mhm." The elder acknowledged, before waving his hand. Faust left the mirror hall, taking flight on his sword from Setting Mirror mountain towards Purple Gem mountain. Faust's thoughts swirled. He would push back his seclusion for a while for this mission. As a friend, he owed Mue Dian and Perisus this much, even if they had reached their limits in their cultivation. Thinking through the mission location, Faust recalled what he knew about it.

The red glazed territory was dangerous and filled with toxins and poisons. Phalecia was a must, ideally a second alchemist as well. They needed a tracker, he knew one from the outer sect who was close to breaking through. Apart from those three, he needed at least 6 combatants so they would have 8 people at the Open palace realm, letting them use the Golden Mirror Formation, which would let them deal with early stage Golden Core beasts in the worst case scenario.

Faust took another look at the mission slip given by the elder. The emergency mission had a special note where team size should be.

"Team size is left to the discretion of the leading disciple. Mission rewards will scale by team size." With that note from the elder, Faust didn't have to worry about using his own savings to pay people to join, the mission rewards would be provided in full to every disciple. Faust landed on Purple Gem mountain, then blitzed up the stairs to Sirius's abode.

"Oh? Faust? I was just looking for you about the—""No time." Faust cut Rozaline off as he shot past her up the stairs.

"... Oh?" Rozaline watched Faust go for a moment, then hummed before continuing down the stairs. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Faust rapidly knocked at the courtyard door of Sirius abode. The door opened a moment later. Sirius's face looked blank for a moment before she suddenly smiled and bounced out.

"Senior brother Faust! I wasn't expecting you so soon!"

"I just came back from the mirror hall." Faust passed the mission slip to Sirius.

"... Ah." Sirius looked conflicted for a moment before putting her smile back on.

"So are we assembling a team!" Sirius asked with enthusiasm. Faust nodded.

"You've been in the Inner Sect longer than me, do you know a good tracker? I'm also hoping to invite Satheon and Phalecia, ideally an extra alchemist just in case as well."

"Hmm…" Sirius hummed for a moment, then gave a thumbsup, "I know some people! The mission rewards for this are good too! I can find Phalecia and another alchemist and invite Satheon too! Six of us in total!"

"Then, I'll try to find two more." Faust said.

"A double sized team?" Sirius asked.

"Theres plenty of Golden Core realm beasts in The Red Glazed territory, with eight people we can use the Golden Mirror Formation if we run into one." Faust answered.

"Ohhhh… Good idea senior brother!" Sirius bounced out of her courtyard, "I'll go find the others then!" Faust nodded, "Ideally we leave as soon as possible, tonight or tomorrow morning." he said before turning and rushing back down the Purple Mountain stairs, while Sirius went upwards towards where Satheon's abode must have been.

Faust rushed past Rozaline again, before reaching the Inner Sect courtyard, he wondered who he could invite, or if he might have to stalk the mission and call out to any inner disciples who entered for a mission, or rely on Sirius, Satheon or Phalecia's connections.

"Isn't it senior brother Faust? You look like you're in a rush?" Sue Jane, who was walking up the stairs to the Inner Sect courtyard suddenly said, a step behind Damarius, whose wild pitch black hair fluttered in the wind as he walked with his eyes closed.

"An emergency mission to the Red Glazed region." Faust didn't stop for Sue Jane, about to pass them.

"Wait." A pressure on Faust's back made him pause. He turned to face Damarius, who didn't even turn around.

"What part of the Red Glazed region?" Damarius asked.

"The Red Glazed Swamp." Faust responded, narrowing his eyes as his whole body tensed in front of the supposed strongest Inner Disciple.

"I will be stopping at Blood Mirror Lake."

"It's a disciple rescue mission, we're on a timer, can it be done on the way back?" Faust asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"... Then, I would be honoured, Senior Brother, if you joined." Faust cupped a fist in his hand out of respect.

"Hmm? Then I would like to join as well." Sue Jane added as well. Faust didn't reply immediately, but ultimately, Sue Jane was strong. Not compared to the strongest, but she was in the upper middle range if Faust had to guess.

"Of course. Then. I plan to leave either tonight or at first light tomorrow, does senior brother have a preference?"

"It doesn't matter." Damarius didn't turn even once.

"We'll convene in the Inner Sect courtyard by tonight then." Faust said.

"Mhm." Damarius snorted in acknowledgement before continuing to climb the stairs. Faust watched him for a moment, then turned back to head to the merit hall. He wanted to borrow a Golden Mirror formation just in case.